News and other things

Things are coming to end and soon another year at the middle school will be over. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by...

On the public library side of things, it's been good. Probably because I've cut my days there. I never knew how important it was to have a weekend off to just do things that I want, like rest. Also, it actually frees up my time to focus on things for school!

On the school library side, things are excellent. I signed on for another year and there are enough changes that I am not feeling unchallenged. I am teaching 2 new courses, a SCRATCh class, this summer and a Tech Leadership course next fall. I am nervous about both. I might also guest instruct a class on audio and video in relation to journalism. It's funny, I ran into one of our upper school kids and he reminded me that I taught that class 2 years ago! Time really flies in a school.

Things I am brushing up on and reading:

• Cataloging - RDA specifically. Can we make the book at least a little humorous?
• The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long, Jim Demonakos and Nate Powell (graphic novel)
• Dead to You by Lisa McMann

Also, taking that feel CS 101 class through Stanford. It's so cool. Unfortunately, I need that kind of direction when learning. I wish I could just be disciplined enough to do things on my own...but at least, I know that about myself.

The Library as a Maker-space

Just finished reading a story on NPR about libraries making "hackerspaces." I am always put off by adding the "hacker" in front of words but that is a whole other post entirely.

Anyway, one of the standouts of this article is the quote from Library Director, Jeff Krull,

      "We see the library as not being in the book business, but being in the learning business and the exploration business and the expand-your-mind business," he says. "We feel this is really in that spirit, that we provide a resource to the community that individuals would not be able to have access to on their own."

I love that public libraries have the opportunity to create these kinds of spaces. I think, this has been done in the craft world, with places like the now-closed Home Ec. Shop (I LOVED this place and I met the most wonderful Mrs. Jenny Ryan there), Urban Craft Center, and Tech Shop SF, places where people can rent equipment and hangout and create with like-minded people. It also reminds me of the Makery, which I learned about at http://www.punahou.edu/page.cfm?p=3238 this past summer. These are places where people learn and collaborate, just like a library.

Maybe I can use this to justify teaching kids how to bind books. :)

The Sunday Library: Etiquette

Working on Sundays for the past 4 years here at the BPL, I am sometimes surprised at what our regular kids are interested in. Today, one of our regulars asked for George Washington's book on etiquette. We actually do have a copy at one of the other branches. I have never even heard of this book - Rules of Civility and neither has my cohort. But I am so glad that I get to read them now.

Here are a few links:

NPR - George Washington's Rules of Civility

History.org - Colonial Williamsburg

I think that I was a bit surprised that there is this interest in etiquette especially when there is a lot of bullying out there.

Anyway, something to think about on a Sunday afternoon.



You Mean, I Can't Leave My Girlfriend's Kid Unattended?

Yes, folks! That's right! There are rules to leaving kids unattended in the Children's room, especially if they are under 9 years old. Today, in the PL, a little kid was left in the library. Because you know, the library is safe and also, we offer free babysitting services. NOT! A lot of time, parents will leave there kids in here for a short bit of time so they can browse the main collection and do work on the computers in the main area. Usually, they drop in to just make sure their kids are here and doing all right. That's normal. However, this jackass (excuse me but I'm pissed) just dropped the kid off and went about his way. The kid came up to me and mentioned being done on the computer and headed out. Our supervisor came back to the Children's library to call the mom. They paged this paged this guy, walked around the library calling out his name and then nothing. So, we called the kid's mom. I sat with the kid for 30 minutes playing Life. Finally the guy shows up. And starts reprimanding the kid about how he told him where he was sitting and blah blah blah. Then walked away. After that the kid says "oh, I'm going to be in so much trouble." I told the kid it was an honest mistake. They tried everything they could do to find that guy but the kid seemed a little nervous of course. Then I guess, the mom kept calling the guy. Our supervisor warned him that if he did that again, she would call the police. And this guy had all this attitude about it too. WTFringe? I hope the kid will be ok. At one point the kid was all "Oh no...she's [Mom] not his girlfriend. He's just a friend." So who knows what kind of drama that's about. OY!

Bake Sale for Louisville Free Public Library!!!

Mark your calendars if you live or are in Louisville, Kentucky on August 26, 2009. There was a flash flood that destroyed Louisville Free Public Library and they are closed until they renovate and restock the place. But they need some help! So check out their website. Here are some of the things going on to help LFPL get back to helping and serving their community.

1. August 15 - there is a rally at Newburg Library - 4800 Exeter Avenue
2. Steve Lawson's fundraiser on PayPal
3. August 26 - Library Bake Sale - Michelle J over at Consuming Louisville is setting it up.

If you want to know more click on the link :) I'm sure she would appreciate it!

Tools at the Library: Atomic Learning

Dave, who's now blogging library stuff over at Big Building, Lots of Books, was cool enough to check out Atomic Learning. Atomic Learning provided training movies (screencasts) that teach you how to use different applications, from the practical Microsoft Office programs to things like PowerTeacher Gradebook. The tutorials are short, step-by-step videos that teach you how to use the program you are interested in. I have been using it to get a better grasp of how to use Excel and also to learn DreamWeaver. It also provides a whole list of other resources, like their Lesson Accelerators, which are basically project-based lesson plans, that you can use with your students.

As a school, you can get a subscription for teachers and students, which is another added bonus. We have students who love just opening up Photoshop or Publisher and just go in and try to figure things out by clicking away. Since we do not really offer classes in using these tools, this is another way to let students learn on their own.

So far I am pretty excited about it and have shared it with students who are interested in programming. I think, it might be a great way to get more girls interested in technology. This way they can learn on their own time, at home and not feel so self-conscious about being a girl who likes programming.

Is anyone else out there using this in their schools? And if so, how are you using?

Safety in the Children's Library

On Saturday, a man was arrested for trying to lure kids out of the library by telling them that he had a puppy and he wanted to show it to them. The older you get, the more distance you have from those old PSAs and educational movies we watched in Elementary school. However, working with children, it is still such a real danger. This is just a reminder to be aware. Get to know the kids who go to your library so that they are comfortable enough to tell you when someone is acting strange or making them feel uncomfortable. A coworker thwarted this attempted kidnapping by being aware and approachable.

However, I am not saying that we, as librarians, are the only ones who need to be responsible for the well-being of our youngest patrons. Parents need to be there. They need to not assume that librarians are there to babysit their children. They need to educate their kids on some harsh realities and give kids strategies on what to do if this happens to them. Yes, sometimes they laugh at those PSAs "stranger danger! stranger danger!" But this is twice that I have heard of and seen on the news that that call has helped a kid stay out of harm's way.

Here are some links:
Safefromharmvideo.com - they have a good video to watch with your kids and it's free!
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The National Alert Registry - you can keep aware of child predators in your neighborhood
The LAPD or your local police department
McGruff - the National Crime Prevention Council (as a kid, I loved McGruff)
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention - great resources for parents, kids and educators, etc.

Easing on down the road...

Coming back from winter break, I always tend to feel a off, but today was especially odd. The library was the most desolate it's felt in a long time. I was in the lab for most of the day and each period there would only be a handful of kids or no kids at all in there with me. During a couple of periods no one was there. My office mates were also gone so it was strangely quiet. There is usually a fair amount of talking kids and sometimes adults but it seemed as if everyone needed to ease back into the school day.

Nothing particularly exciting happened today though I did have a pretty good class. We had an activity where the students write a part of each other's story in addition to showing that they understand and can use the skills we are teaching. My friend, Missy, figured that one out and it was super fun though they still had trouble settling down. I have to read their mini stories but I can tell they will be funny.

Today, Ambookgeek commented on how he always gets really good classes because there is something about the types of classes and kids he gets. I think, he's also a great teacher but I also think that for some reason, I get kids who are into the same things and are also very social. Even the "quiet ones" are super social! I have yet to get a group that's mellow. I wonder if that has more to do with my personality and class management skills? I keep thinking and rereading parts of Fred Jones' book and I consciously apply them but I also wonder if it also has to do with the type of personalities drawn to having 6th period odd for the LT7 class.

Year 3-Week 1: Applying some workshop lessons

The first days of school have come and gone and I have to admit that it was great! I applied a couple of the techniques discussed at the Fred Jones Workshop in Santa Cruz I attended in June and also tips from the First Days of School book.
I have been steadily working on the goals for the school year I had listed here. I am happy to say that I did learn all of my students names and also met some really great 7th graders, who are not in my class. My students are pretty eclectic mix of personalities like every class room and about a 1/3 of them went to the same school. I learned that this is the only class where they actually have more than 1 or 2 people from their old school in the room. How does this happen? And why does it happen to me? I swear, sometimes I think someone is plotting against me :) It is not so bad though I have been re-arranging my seating chart every class meeting. I actually like doing this because I can see who talks to who during the period and then I can adjust accordingly next class meeting.
Learning all of their names before hand has made a huge difference. Who would have thought? Ok, every person who has written a class management and first days of school book! But remember I am not from a education background, I'm a librarian/art history major! Whether they are conscious of it or not, I think, they are pretty happy when you see them and know who they are. I even greeted them at the door and have made it a point to be there when they walk through the door of my class. Last year, I would be rushing from lunch and the set up was not very conducive for greeting them because there were 2 entrances. When you are standing right there when they walk in and are not hovering in the back somewhere, it makes a huge difference.
I have also been "working the crowd" and it has changed the talking level of the room though I work in a computer lab with a strange L-shaped set up so it makes it difficult to keep the space between me and a student to a minimum. I have been picturing the red/yellow/green zones and it has helped me immensely with keeping on moving and checking my students.
I really should keep writing about my class managment progress and in the end, I will probably write a letter to Fred Jones thanking him for a great workshop.
Hope everyone else's beginning of the year is off to a fabulous start as well!

Moving-In Time

I am about to start my 3rd year as a school librarian/teacher at the prestigious school I work at. I wrote earlier about how challenging last year was for me (I was definitely rethinking my career choice - well, the teaching part anyway) but I have a strong feeling that this year will be more interesting and challenging in other ways.

Things I will focus on this year include, but are not limited to (I got this wording from helping my friend, George, who was a architectural spec writer):

• applying the techniques discussed and practiced at the Fred Jones workshop I attended in June


• "work the crowd, or the crowd works you"


• remembering that my students' have enough friends


• preparing for each class, even though I feel I know the material (there are always surprises)


• learning my students' names before I meet them


• being a lot more open with my co-workers (I admit, I was a recluse last year)


• asking for help before it's too late!!!


• be better at taking criticism (thanks for the reminder BSB-"a thick skin")
  

Last week was officially my first week back. We spent 4 days unpacking books, organizing shelves, fixing magazines, organizing boxes for our offices and of course, catching up with my friends. Everyone had a pretty decent summer and I am hoping that I score on some Alaskan halibut that the Library Goddess caught in Homer.

My hands are pretty wrecked from all the moving but today I can actually type for a decent period of time. I still cannot open jars or bottles (e.g. water) but hopefully they will be back to normal tomorrow.

I have to say that the library looks absolutely beautiful! Lots of natural light, cream-colored shelving and the books are not super cramped! The stacks are not super tall! (I'm small and we have small kids) We can even have the tall books stand with their spine labels showing! You would not think that having books with their spines showing is a big deal but visually, it makes a big difference.

They will be moving in furniture soon so I will definitely take pictures after they are all in place.

With all the changes that have occurred this summer, it is fitting that we are in a new library.

Paper Planes and Bib Cards

Before I forget, "Happy Thanksgiving!!!" I cannot wait to eat. Too bad Thanksgiving is not tomorrow then I can get to all my favorite foods sooner.

I am almost done with the library lessons portion of class. This is where the librarians teach a bunch of 7th graders how to conduct research. We introduce them to the library and staff, familiarize them with the various tools available for their use, and help them understand the research process. It is a great and important class to have because I know for a fact that not a lot of students get this kind of hands on and practical instruction.

Though these classes are important, at this time in the school year, I am exhausted and a little burned out on the lessons. I do not know how some teachers/instructors stay motivated when they teach the same lesson one class after the other. Luckily, today's class was on bibliography cards and most of the students were pretty successful in completing the task. We had enough time at the end to make paper airplanes and have a mini contest.

I was being a little selfish because I was gaging how many students would be interested in a paper plane flying contest. A couple of the boys, who had finished the assignment, took part and I was very impressed with what they created. The rules were just folded paper planes, no glue, paper clips or anything other attachments. A couple of them made really great gliders. At the end of class, they asked if they could throw them off the balcony. Some times, you need to be a little lenient to engage students and gain their trust. They were well-behaved, there were not a lot of people in the library and it was research for me.