Teen Read Week 2009

CC licensed flickr photo shared by suhzn

Teen Read Week came extremely quickly, only a month into my first year as a high school media specialist. I used the celebration to celebrate reading, create excitement center around the library, and introduce myself to the entire student body. I invited English classes to come to the library for 20 minutes or longer where I introduced myself, gave students a chance to select books and begin their independent reading, share in discussion about reading, and eat popcorn (which seemed to attract the most attention and excitement).

This week was successful and I am already thinking of ideas for improvement next year. Students now recognize me as the librarian and are beginning to come to me more frequently for help. After popping bags of popcorn for 1500 bags of popcorn I thought I would never want to see it again, but strangely I can’t wait until the next opportunity!

 

WordPress versus Blogger

While I have used WordPress for my personal blog I decided to try something new when I began my library blog this month setting up my first Blogger account. I have limited experience with Blogger and am still learning new things. So far I have added polls, created posts, and added my library logo to the header. One noticeable difference is Blogger’s lack of a built in stats page. Blogger requires its users to set up an additional account with a third party statistic tracker such as statcounter. Blogger however seems to offer a much larger collection of built in widgets, as well as the option of adding a unique widget. I’m hoping this increase the quality of the blog for my students making up for the extra step it will take me to glean statistics.

 

New Teacher Orientation

I have begun my high school library position this week with days one and two of a three day new teacher orientation. So far the experience has been wonderful and beyond my expectations, the administrators, teachers, and staff have been very friendly and welcoming, already demonstrating support for the library program. Day one and two pertained to policy and procedures, curriculum and the districts instructional framework. I am looking forward to learning more about the school, my colleagues, the students, and the library resources as I work to foster a welcoming and engaging environment in the library.

 

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea by Valerie Zenatti

After receiving the boxes containing boxes from a multicultural grant I received I sifted through the piles and this book caught my eye. Although the book is a fictional account, the story is powerful and feels real. The references to “The Diary of Anne Frank” and felt before they are noted.

Told primarily through email communication between Tal and Naïm, the story provides insight into life in Israeli and Palestine balanced with humor and romance that allows readers to connect to the characters despite cultural differences. The compelling story is a must read for both the storyline and the message it provides.

 

Position filled

After interviews, offers, and contemplation over what grade level/district I would prefer I recently accepted a postion as a high school library media specialist in a subburb of Rochester. I will be going in soon to meet with the library staff and begin getting acquainted with the facility.

 

Podcasting Presentation for “Day of Sharing”

On Friday I presented for the Genesee Valley BOCES School Library System “Day of Sharing” on the topic of podcasting. When I was first asked to participate as a presenter I was extremely nervous. I have taught students podcasting in libraries and taught the librarians and teachers I have worked with one on one, but I always find it difficult to stand up in front of a large group of my peers to give a presentation.

During the presentation I went over the benefits of podcasting for the classroom and the individual student, how to get teachers on board for collaboration and how to create podcasts using Audacity, Garage Band, or VoiceThread. Although the presentation didn’t go as smoothly as it had when I practiced with a pretend audience, it was a success. The library media specialists had a lot of questions and added to the presentation by sharing their own experiences with podcasting.

Handouts:

• Introduction to Podcasting
• Audacity How-To
• Garage Band How-To

*Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danimal0416/145053162/

 

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I recently finished reading the book “If I Stay” by Gayle Forman. This book is a must read for both teens and adults including serious themes and a bit of humor. Mia is a 17 year old girl with a family, friends, a boyfriend, and a passion for classical music (most particularly the cello). When her small town in Oregon gets a dusting of snow and school is closed Mia and her family pile into the car, driving to visit friends and family. This is the last thing Mia remembers. The next thing she knows she is out of her body watching the medics tend to her and her family. Mia watches the events unfold, flashes back to how she got there, and fights her own feelings as she decides whether to live or die. As Mia takes in the aftermaths she thinks to herself, “I don’t feel anything. I have had nightmares before – falling nightmares, playing-a-cello-recital-without-knowing-the-music nightmares, breakup-with-Adam nightmares – but I have always been able to command myself to open my eyes, to lift my head from the pillow, to halt the horror movie playing behind my closed lids. I try again. Wake up! I scream. Wake up! Wakeupwakeupwakeup! But I can’t I don’t!”

Mia’s story drew me in from the beginning. She was easy to relate to, yet very unique. Her account of the aftermath of the accident, the time in the hospital, and her relationships with family and friends made every character seem real. I highly recommend reading this book.

 

Author visit with Laurie Keller

Laurie Keller, author and illustrator of “Arnie the Doughnut”, “Do Unto Otters”, and “The Scrambled States of America” spent the last week visiting school in western New York speaking about her writing, illustrations, and life. Not only is she an excellent author/illustrator, she is also great at connecting with children. She showed pictures of her home, her childhood artwork, college artwork, and picture books. After students watched the Weston Woods video of “Do Unto Otters”, Laurie guided them in the drawing of the characters from her book and answered questions. She talked to the library club members in between sessions and signed books. The students loved the opportunity to draw with the author/illustrator and their drawing turned out great. Teachers and students raved about their experiences and many requested to have her back next year. I highly recommend Laurie Keller for elementary school visits!

 

Planning Ahead: Teen Read Week

Last October I lacked the preparation to fully participate in Teen Read Week. The library media specialist I worked with did not own many of the “Teen Top 10” nominations and I had a short amount of time to collaborate with teachers, organize activities, and promote the event. This year I have already checked out the list of nominations and have added those I haven’t read to my summer reading list. I have assisted the library media specialists I have worked with, putting together orders and promotions for their libraries next fall.

Last year I collaborated with English teachers to bring all students in grades 9-12 to the library for hot chocolate, popcorn, deserts, and a relaxed atmosphere for reading. I created Glogster posters and displays to promote the event and reading materials coinciding with the theme “Books with Bite”. I found this free reading event extremely successful and students enjoyed the opportunity to read materials of their choosing. I would like to expand on these activities, promoting the “Ten Top 10″ books and participating in the voting process. I would also like to take my experience with podcasting, online book reviews, and book discussion groups to allow students to share their experiences with the “Teen Top 10” and 2009 themed books.

What have you done for Teen Read Week, or what are you planning for next year?

 

Weeding the library

Weeding is kind of like cleaning out your closet. You keep buying new things until your closet is over crowded and the old dusty clothes hide all of the good ones. How can students find the cool new book that just came in when it is squeezed in the shelves between the Twilight and Crank of the sixties and seventies? Why should students have to sift through non-fiction books predicting what will happen “when we go to the moon” or even books about “the nine planets” before they can locate what they really need? Although the later may be more obvious both senerios present a big problem. School libraries are not archival institutions. They exist to provide students with resources to use as they pursue personal and academic growth. This doesn’t mean throw out all of the classics because they’re old, they still get used. It is the books that are covered in dust, the ones that look like they’ve never been read or the ones that haven’t been checked out since 1982 or even 1992 that need to go. It’s addition by subtraction, decreasing the size of collection to increase circulation, reading, and access to information by making the books students want to read and the books with current and accurate information visible and easy to find. Instead of packing the shelves full, use face out shelving and other marketing technique to sell the materials.