This website is a great resource with and extensive collection of articles and online books.  It has many tools and credible sources that can be used for research.  I felt this website would be a valuable tool that would benefit librarians and students and give them a lot of information and tools needed to do research on a wide variety of topics.  

 

Article:

Mead, B. & Dankowski, T. (2017, June 1).  The Library of Things 2017.

retrieved from

This article shares the importance of libraries offering unusual and different items for checkout.  These items can vary depending on the library but can definitely benefit all learners.  I felt this article was just ok and could have gone more in-depth with its description and shown more of its offerings. 

I have not had experience in this setting and I think that led me to be somewhat naive to these issues until I read more in our text and the articles provided.  "Hyper-compliance to copyright laws may keep students from the fair use of intellectual property" (Johnson, 2013, p. 143).  I thought that complying to the copyright laws was a given and hadn't given this much thought until I did the reading and thought more closely about this issue.  I understand that we should not filter everything and be hyper vigilant about everything but I was under the impression that we need to be the real advocates for this in our schools to make sure that policies are followed and that students and staff are not accessing things that are inappropriate.  

"As professional librarians, our role in helping others understand the principles and importance of intellectual freedom is among the most important duties we have" (Johnson, 2013, p. 127).  This statement resonates with me because I really took a hard look at what I would need to do in order to follow this duty.  I think that I will definitely need some practice in this respect and will need to be more open to how things work and why they work the way they do when I get into a library.  Giving others intellectual freedom is so important yet my lack of knowledge on these topics would have pushed me in a different direction and might have led me to be a tougher filtering person than I needed to be.  Staff members and others having the opportunity to change these thoughts and ask about taking off filters will definitely be on my radar as I will make sure to look more closely at this idea before I simply use the filter as my guide.  

"Follow it, but don't go overboard" (Johnson, 2013, p. 127) seems like a good motto and I hope that I will be able to do that.

I know that I might struggle with this at first but with more practice and guidance from others I think I will be able to maneuver the tricky slopes of digital intellectual freedom and filtering.  

As a beginning librarian how do most of you handle this thought?  Are you in charge of this in your building or is it now directly related to the technology department?  I am curious to learn how you handle this and if others are involved in these decisions.  

The first rule of advocacy states "Never advocate for libraries or the librarian-advocate for the library users." (Johnson, p. 54) therefore the students will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this program/system as they will gain more independence and get to use the library more often and use it in a more efficient manner for their needs.  Staff and administration will also need to be involved and invested as they will have to learn the process as well and get used to the change in how the library works.  This is drastically different from how it works now and everyone will need to adjust to the change for the better.  Parents will also be stakeholders in this effort as they will need to understand that their children will become independent in the library and will  be allowed to access the library on their own at different times and be given more opportunities to experience books and continue to grow their love of reading. 

Research shows that many schools are trying this and loving it and sharing that it is teaching young children a skill that will move forward with them to the future and give them access and experience that they never had before.  Librarians are using visual models to show procedures and modeling the process themselves to children and giving children the opportunity to practice the procedures.  "A critical role of our profession is to scan the horizon for educational, technological, and societal changes that will affect our students, teachers, schools and communities" (Johnson, p. 2).    This change will definitely affect them but in a positive way and give them many more opportunities to have books in their hands and knowledge they need for their future.  

The team will consist of: 

Lynn Cutting (librarian)

Tim Lannan (principal)

LJ Dutton (Technology)

Karen Kuntz, Michelle Witt, Tori Mallett (other teachers)

Parents (volunteers)

Students

These team members will meet to discuss the possibilities and to create the vision and mission statement to move this project forward.  The team will meet over the summer to get beginning stages in place and then they will meet monthly to move the project forward.  If more meetings are needed we will schedule them as we see fit.  They might need to be more frequent at the beginning if there are technology issues or other issues that we need to address.    

The project will begin in the summer with the team meeting and me discussing the plan and what I want to do.  The technology piece will be put in place over the summer so that we can start with second graders learning the process in September.  They will help with the process as they will be able to be models to the younger children along with helping out their peers.  They have had experience in the library for 2 years so they know how some of the logistics work.  "We know the more informed decision makers, critical thinkers, and lifelong learners we create, the better society will become" (Johnson, p. 55) By giving second graders the go ahead to be the leaders, we are creating a society that will foster learning and a love of books and reading.  They will be able to share their knowledge with other grades and pass along information and experience.  First graders will get some experience with the library and then they will begin self check out in October.  Kindergarten will be the last to learn as they are the youngest learners and just need to be experiencing the library and the books for a while.  My vision is that they will also start self checkout sometime in October or November.  There will be a lot of modeling, teaching, practicing and then using for all students.  

I will also bring in parent volunteers at some point to assist with the self checkout as it is getting off the ground.  The parents will simply be there to assist and guide students as they work through the process.  The other teachers will also be involved in the process and will be shown how it is  going to work and I will use them as ambassadors to the rest of the school so they can help spread the word and share what is going to happen as it will be a big change and change is hard for a lot of people.  

Below is the link to my infographic that I created to share with administration, staff, parents, school board etc. to give them the benefits I see for offering self checkout.  

 

Johnson, D. (2013). The Indispensable librarian: Surviving and thriving in school libraries in the information age (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

First and foremost I would get technology back into my library.  Currently there are no computers and the only technology is the check out system and the projector (which is not used during library time...mostly for staff related activities/presentations etc.).  I would start by having a computer station with hopefully 4 computers set up and possibly some Ipads as well for students to be able to use during library class.  I would also set up a small (to begin with) MakerSpace area to bring that into the library for all to enjoy.  

The projector in the library is not utilized and I would try to figure out how to use that and possibly get a Smartboard or other type of interactive board in their so that the students could use it and experience it in the library.  

As far as the print collection goes, I would have to do a major overhaul to the fiction section because I would want to change how it is organized.  It is currently organized in alphabetical order by author's names and I do not feel that is very helpful or beneficial to the younger students (it is a K-2 school).  I want to make labels and classification for different sections so that books are more easily accessible to students.  Like Sharp et al. state in their article I want to use whole word labeling, child friendly categories and visually compelling signs to help aide in circulation and make it stronger.  I plan to reorganize into some categories like animals, fairy tales, community helpers, machines, vehicles, and holiday books.  I will organize chapter books in their own section by topic or type as well.  I will keep the non-fiction section as it is now (Dewey Decimal system with some labeled categories such as computers, folk tales, seasons) because it seems to work and I don't want to undertake in a complete library revamping system yet but I will see how the reorganizing of the fiction goes and possibly move the non-fiction when the time comes if needed.  

As far as furniture goes I would like some flexible seating (bean bags, scoop chairs, lower tables) to give students a welcome feeling and as Sullivan states a flexible appeal to hopefully make books more attractive and be the focus of the library.  

I would also like my checkout system to be a self checkout system that I plan to teach and model for them to that it can be easier for them and help with making circulation stronger and getting more books into more hands when they want them and need them.  

Sullivan, M.  (2011). Divine design: How to create the 21st-century school library of your dreams.

Sharp, C., Alverson, B., MacGregor, A., Bird, E., Jonker, T., Willis, R., & Hunt, J.  (2012)  Are Dewey's days numbered? Libraries nationwide are ditching the old classification system.

 

eSchoolnews.com--Best Practices for Integrating Chromebooks into Teaching and Learning.  March 2, 2016

Another Smore video about Chromebooks, policies, use etc.  Retrieved from www.smore.com/21twz-chromebooks-best-practices.

A YouTube video about Chromebooks.  Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opu9Rd-sixE

Another YouTube video that was slightly older but I felt it was a valuable resource.  Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvX2J_UBvq4

The Chromebooks enhance learning by giving students access to technology.  Connecting educators to students through a variety of differentiated instruction and projects.  Chromebooks have been shown to increase student engagement and inspire them to try new things and take risks in their learning.  It empowers students to engage in new activities without intimidation and helps bring forth their creativity through collaborative models.  They are able to teach and become teachers by sharing screens with other students and they are able to work with other students in many different ways.  Students and teachers in all areas (including Arts, Music, PE, technology) are able to connect and work on projects together to create different ideas and projects that will enhance their learning and teaching.  By using Chromebooks and trying these new things, students will be more prepared for the future and will be able to have more success in the future due to this exposure at a young age.  Teachers are able to have a flexible approach with more hands-on learning opportunities which students will enjoy and want to learn more about and won't see it all as learning because they will be enjoying their work.  

As stated on the flyer the audience is a PreK-2 school and the flyer would be for the 23 classroom teachers as well as the Integrated Arts teachers.  The school has a little under 500 students total and it is in a small town in Hampton NH near the beach with a slightly transient population due to beach housing and rental properties.  We are currently not 1:1 with Chromebooks but there has been discussion of moving towards that and this year our 2nd graders were introduced to Chromebooks and next year they are supposed to be 1:1 with them if all the funding and budget items are approved.  First grade and Kindergarten have some access to Chromebooks but it is not 1:1 and probably won't be for several more years.  First grade might have them sooner but the Kindergarten and PreK would not for many years simply because of their age and building that foundation with technology.  

Librarian & Reading Across the Curriculum

Lynn Cutting

Plymouth State University

LM 5300

May 3, 2018

Abstract: Discusses the role of the librarian in reading across the curriculum.  Expectation of librarians to be involved in reading across the curriculum and teaching and incorporating reading into different curriculum areas.  Collaboration between teachers and librarian with reading and working towards one goal.  

Librarians do not only read to students and help them choose books to read.  Their role is significantly greater and the value we place on librarians is increasing due to their knowledge and experiences with books and reading.  Students, teachers and anyone who enters the library knows that they will be able to find what they need or want and they know that the librarian will be there to help them.  “I am arguing that Reading Across the Curriculum should be the real goal of all courses in colleges and universities, in the public schools and in community programs” (Horning, p. 10).  Reading Across the Curriculum is critical in getting students to read more and to have a deeper understanding of what they read.  Students need to be exposed to reading and be given ample opportunities to read so that they can gain the skills needed to be able to read and analyze different things in their future.  Librarians can serve as models and show students the importance of reading and can give them what they need to be able to read over many types of areas and styles.  

Librarians should be giving tools to students to help them learn and grow and by sharing these tools, they will give students what they need to be successful adults and move forward in different careers.  “Reading is clearly the key to work in all courses and in every discipline” (Horning, p. 13).    This is so true and needs to be addressed by all librarians in every school district and university.  If reading is the key then we need to make sure that we are addressing it in all areas and giving students all they need to succeed.  If we address this issue in a ‘workshop’ type model students can gain understanding by being taught how to use their tools and resources, practice these tools and then discuss/share about the process and what they learned.  The ‘workshop’ model is a good way for everyone to get more information and be more involved.  The ‘workshop’ model consists of a mini lesson given by the librarian, a time for independent practice by the students and then a sharing time for the students.  During the sharing time the librarian can assess their learning.  Students can be given many opportunities to actively experience different genres such as non-fiction, poetry, information etc.  “Active learning refers to any number of techniques in which learners are motivated to interact directly with curriculum content, not merely gain exposure to it through the traditional avenues such as reading, listening, or observing” (Holmes & Hoffman, p. 314).  Students can use many different methods and models to learn about the topic and the active piece gives them more understanding and allows the librarian and the teacher to see what they have learned.

Collaborating with teachers is a critical piece of this and will strengthen the teaching and give the librarian a way to assist and show them new ways to differentiate their units and curriculum by showing them technology and books that will help students understand the curriculum and give them new ways to figure out answers to questions surrounding the curriculum.  Connecting with students and teachers gives the librarian a way to be active in the school and shows them all that the library isn’t only for books...it is for research, learning, technology, finding answers to questions and digging deeper into the topics.  

Technology is another critical piece to this issue.  There are many ways that technology can enhance learning.  Students can be given websites on Ipads or computers and use these websites to find information or they can listen to books from these devices to learn more about a topic of interest.  Curriculum can be taken to a different level with technology.  Students can see videos and listen to discussions about topics and be given different perspectives about a topic.  By allowing students to use technology, we are opening many doors to them and putting more information in their hands and giving them new and different ways to use this information to understand and integrate curriculum.  

The librarian has an important role in all of this and needs to be included in the curriculum and should want to be included and working with the teacher to promote reading and give students ways to use books and other things to strengthen their understanding of a topic across the curriculum.  Collaborating with the teachers and engaging students in different activities to help them see the importance of reading and the knowledge they can gain from it will make learning more fun and give students a way to see that not only can they get more than books from the library, they can learn and grow.

“Libraries support the curriculum, promote literacy development, and foster lifelong reading habits among children through the development of carefully selected print collections and the infusion of educational technology” (ISTE, p. 1).  Since libraries are used to support the curriculum and promote literacy development why wouldn’t we want to support reading across the curriculum and use the library as a stepping stone to so much more.  Students can get their love of books and develop a love of reading from the library but they can also learn and understand things and gather information from different sources.  By using the library as a venue to teach and learn about all different curriculum, the students, teachers and librarian can get so much more.  The students can get a better understanding of topics and know how to use the library to find the topics and gather the information.  The teachers can have support from the librarian and know that their students are going to be getting a better sense of the curriculum through different genres of books, different technology to enhance their understanding and more assistance with curriculum.  The librarian will be able to share her knowledge of topics and the library with the students and the teachers and be able to foster a love of reading as well as a love of learning by giving them what they need to be successful in all curriculum areas.  

In conclusion, I feel that librarians being involved with Reading across the curriculum is very important and should be a common practice.  I am very much in favor of this and think that this should be a normal expectation.  Librarians can give students and teachers many opportunities and examples of ways to use reading across the curriculum and they should pass these on so that knowledge is gained by all.  As we move further into the future, librarians are going to be setting the standard for information gathering and reading and by starting now and making this a regular part of their teaching, they will be a step ahead of the game.  

REFERENCES:

The Role of School Librarians in Promoting the Use  of Educational Technologies.  Retrieved from:

http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/the-role-of-school-librarians-in-promoting-the-use-of-educational-technologies

Horning, Alice S.  (2007, May 14).  Reading across the curriculum as the key to student success.  Across the Disciplines, 4. Retrieved from https://wac.colastate.edu/docs/atd/articles/horning2007.pdf

Tracy Bicknell-Holmes, Paul Seth Hoffman, (2000) “Elicit, engage, experience, explore: discovery learning in library instruction”, Reference Services Review, Vol. 28 Issue: 4, pp. 313-322, https://doi.org/10.1108/00907320010359632