Learning in Progress

After a lot of thinking, I finally decided to take the leap this summer and move the fiction section of my elementary library from the traditional first-three-letters-of-the-last- name organization to a genre based organization. Now that the project is almost complete, I cannot wait to get the kids back in the library so I can show them! Deciding Factors There are many reasons individual teacher librarians might choose to genrefy their library.  For me, I was driven to start with the fiction section because I've noticed an alarming drop off in students checking out books by the time they get to fifth grade.  This drop off could be for any number of reasons: increased activities after school, loss of interest in the materials they see on the shelf, lack of time, or they could be overwhelmed by book after book organized by letter. I realized, too, that although my 3-5 graders don't ask for "funny" books or "animal" stories, they seem to get stuck on c

Choosing to include center-based learning in your library can be one of the most invigorating things you could do for your library program and for your students! Center-based learning can help to increase communication and collaboration with other teachers in your building as you seek information about what they are doing in their classrooms and what skills their students need reinforced.   Ideally, your centers will relate directly to those teaching standards valued in your school, and should align with your school/district vision and mission.  By tying your center activities directly to the standards, you are demonstrating the value of the library program in real ways to administrators. It can also lead to greater student engagement, as students look forward to collaborative, hands on activities, that offer them a break from a more structured, teacher-centered environment.   While there are many benefits to starting a center-based library program.  It can be a daunting tas

In the book Drive , Daniel H. Pink describes what he calls, Motivation 3.0 - which is: "the upgrade that's needed to meet the new realities of how we organize, think about, and do what we do" (75).   Pink proposes that the behavior that will strengthen our organization and achieve new, creative thought is what he refers to as Type I behavior; behavior that is fueled by intrinsic desire and a "third" motivational drive, which is an intrinsic desire to perform a task, simply because the person enjoys doing the task.  Pink further states that Type I behavior is born and made, it is renewable, it promotes greater well-being and it depends on three nutrients: autonomy, mastery and purpose (76-78).  As educators, we have the ability to foster this Type I behavior in our students and help students understand what motivates them intrinsically, and help them to understand the tools they need to explore their interests and see new ways to channel those interest

The days of the standard 2 minute book talk in front of a stack of books could very well be coming to an end as the ever growing number of ways that you and your students can share information about favorite books expands. You and your students have your choice of a variety of technology tools to create and share books.  You can create podcasts, videos , interactive multimedia, and augmented reality and share your work with interactive displays, QR codes, and online with a world-wide audience.  Check out an example of how you can use interactive multimedia with Thinglink for the Kentucky Bluegrass Awards here . Check out the Thinglink examples below for more ideas: Counting by 7s   Sure Signs of Crazy Steelheart Solider Dog Paperboy Getting Organized & Considering Your Options With all the choices, it's important to get organized and consider some of your many options.  You also want to think about how you're going to share your work.  Check out the Thinglink b