#GeniusHour in the Library

During Genius Hour, a librarian has to be ready for anything.

In case you haven't heard about Genius Hour, it's a time set aside where learners pursue their own topics and interests. (Chris Kesler and Joy Kirr provide great resources for anyone interested in learning more.)

Our students participate in Genius Hour once a week. During this time, students come into the library throughout the hour to meet their learning needs. (They come in groups or individually, and each will need something a little bit different.)

Some will need resources: Example: "Where are the books about origami?"

Some will need help with tech tools. Example: "How do I make a QR Code?"

Some just want to sit and read, while others need the space to make something. Groups also come in to meet and make decisions about their projects.

Whatever the needs, I must be ready to manage different requests simultaneously. When learners are using the online card catalog, I give mini-lessons to help them navigate. When they get stuck in research, I serve as a sounding board and help them formulate questions. When they are reading and don't quite understand a paragraph, I'm a reading teacher scaffolding with a quick one-on-one conference. (Something I'm very comfortable doing!)

And other times, I'm the subject of an interview (I've been interviewed several times by learners) or training a young apprentice who wants to be a librarian. (This happened yesterday!) I've also been a consultant on everything from best presentation tools to color choices for designs.

Though this hour is busy and unpredictable, it's also exciting. I'm getting to know our students by learning about their interests, and it allows me to see their learning needs, too. The best part is that the library serves to its potential all at once to all grade levels. 
 

Genius Hour gives me the opportunity to see our students doing what they love! Also, it shows our students that the library can help them in ways they might not have imagined.

I'm still learning about #GeniusHour and its possibilities, but that's what makes it so wonderful!

Are you implementing #GeniusHour at your school?
 

Monsters and Carrots in the Library!

What a busy week in the library! Looking back helps me appreciate the awesomeness and set more goals for the future!

• This week, I read CREEPY CARROTS to first grade, and then we designed our own "creepy" carrots. I also used it to discuss the difference between TRUE and FANTASY.
• I read THE MONSTERS' MONSTER by Patrick McDonnell to kindergarten, and we used it to discuss characters' actions in a story. (This monster says "thank you" and shares jelly doughnuts with friends!)

• I taught commenting skills to 3rd graders. They use Kidblogs and I love reading their posts. Now, I'm commenting on the blogs, too!
• Our 4th and 5th graders wrote Readers' Responses in Edmodo using their iPads, and now all have more book recommendations from their classmates.
• Two of our 4th grade classes Skyped with other 4th graders in Maine. Both groups had read RULES by Cynthia Lord.

Students talked about their favorite parts in the book and how many awards this book had won! (Newbery Honor 2007, Schneider Family Book Award, 2007 are just 2 of the awards this book has earned.)

• I connected one of our 5th grade classes with another class from Connecticut. They compared their "fall" weather.

Of course, our students checked out many books, and our wonderful parent volunteers were such a HUGE help as always!

Do you reflect on your week? How does it help you set goals for the future in your own classroom or library?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 10/28/13

When I blog on Mondays, most likely I will be using this wonderful meme started by Sheila over at Book Journeys. My friend Jen at Teach Mentor Texts continues this meme and gathers other posts from librarians, teachers, and other readers everywhere. Make sure you visit her blog to see the rest of these posts!

Despite how busy the week has been, I've been reading because reading truly brings me happiness--as simple as that sounds.

Here is what I read last week:

THE CANDY CORN CONTEST by Patricia Reilly Giff
Published by: Yearling
Published: 1987

REGGIE by Eve Bunting
Published by: Cricket Books
Published: Aug. 18, 2006

 

 

LOCOMOTIVE by Brian Floca
Published by: Athenium/Richard Jackson Books
Published: Sept. 3, 2013

I also read READING IN THE WILD by my Donalyn Miller (with Susan Kelley).
If you've read my blog, you know how much I loved Donalyn's first book: THE BOOK WHISPERER. (Over the years, I've bought many copies and shared them.) Her second is just as great, and you can find it by clicking here.

What I'm currently reading:

 

ALLEGIANT by Veronica Roth
Published: Oct. 22, 2013
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books

I'm probably the last person to read Allegiant. But I AM reading it, and it will be my treat every night this week!

What are YOU reading?

Current (and Potential) Library Projects

Sometimes when I talk about my library, I just can't stop. There are so many great things I want to do, and so many things I'm thinking about. These thoughts get translated into projects sometimes, while others remain on my to-do list.

Here are the questions/projects I'm currently thinking about for my library:

1.) Gamification: I went to a great session at #edcampdallas where  @ZachSnow talked about using gaming in the classroom. This session was very interesting to me, especially since I'd read REALITY IS BROKEN by Jane McGonigal last spring, and watched her TED Talk. I know learners love games, and I know they are using them in their classroom. How can I incorporate this into the library in a fun AND meaningful way? My friends and fellow librarians Nancy Jo Lambert and Tina Berumen and I are working on this one.

2.) Inquiry-based learning: How can I extend this into the library? I see many students every day, and they are always asking great questions. I want to create learning experiences for my students that will promote thinking and questions and strengthen their problem-solving. So I'm going to start working on library centers that I've seen other librarians use. I know I can create little pockets of learning everywhere!

3.) Making the library an inviting place: With the arrival of fall, I've decorated the library a bit. I want all who enter the library to smile and feel happy when they visit. I found little Pinterest project ideas, and my wonderful parent volunteers turned them into reality!

FLY GUY is just one of the book character pumpkins I have on display.

 

4.) The Newbery Award: Which book will win the award in Philadelphia this January? I am thinking a lot about this now, and hurrying to read some titles I've heard mentioned in the same sentence as Newbery. Reminder: I absolutely loved COUNTING BY 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan. I have already been talking about award-winning books with my classes.

5.) What I'm currently reading:

Speaking of book awards, THE THING ABOUT LUCK is one of the #NBAAward (National Book Award) finalists.

Also, I saw these shoes today:

I did not buy this shoes. However, don't they look like the cute ones on my blog badge?

I'm sticking to my flats, though!

Book Fair Reflections

Book Fair week was such an awesome time! Our library literally became a little book shop!

(The Scholastic theme for fall book fairs was "Reading Oasis". Isn't that a great way to see reading? Books as refreshment and relief!)

 

All throughout the book fair, there were so many pockets of great things happening. Parents reading to their children. Teachers sharing books with students. Everywhere I turned, everyone was talking about books or reading. All in one place! All in our library! How happy was I? EXTREMELY happy!

Sometimes parents asked me questions about books. Sometimes students asked me about books. And, sometimes I talked about books without being asked. (Talking about books is never a problem for me.)

Today, after the Fair had been packed up and put away, I came to see two important things:

• I must continue to KNOW children's books. Thankfully, because I had read a lot of the books at the book fair (I wished I'd read all of them), I could share from experience. I've met some of the authors and heard them speak, and I've celebrated their work with fellow readers. Everything ties together and helps me share books with others.
• Literacy brings people together. Our great school community gathered together in our library to celebrate books. We are all unique (from different places, different ages, different backgrounds), but the sharing of reading connected us.

I know I can recreate these experiences in other ways, too, and that I want to see these great things happen again. This can be done through a book fair or any other type of literacy event. 

I am thankful for the experience and thinking about the possibilities of the future. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

On Mondays, many librarians and teachers join a meme called "It's Monday! What are you reading?" It's hosted by my friend Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts. Check out the link or follow the #IMWAYR hashtag on Twitter to see more great titles and add to your shelves!

I'm happy  to share what I read this past week:

Paperboy by Vince Vawter
Published: May 14, 2013
Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages: 240

Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers of Animals Lives by Lola M. Schaefer
Published by: Chronicle Books
Pages: 40
Published: Sept. 24, 2013

The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck
Published: July 2, 2013
Published by: Dial Books for Young Readers
Pages: 224

How Do Dinosaurs Say I'm Mad? by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague
Published: Sept. 24, 2013
Published by: The Blue Sky Press
Pages: 40

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
Published: Sept. 17, 2013
Published by: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 240

Bugs in My Hair by David Shannon
Published: Aug. 27, 2013
Published by: The Blue Sky Press
Pages: 32

Despite a busy, busy time at school with book fair prep, I managed to get a lot of reading done! I am so proud of that! In truth, having all of the books around me inspired me to amp up my reading.

What am I reading now?

What are you reading this week?

Making a Little Decision Can Help with a Bigger One

As you can probably imagine, when you make a change from one job to the other, there are many, many new decisions to be made. I'm still in the process of making m y way through some of these decisions as I continue through my first year as a school librarian.

Some of these decisions are little ones, and some are a bit grander in scope. One decision I made early on was probably little AND big: shelf-markers. I use these in my school library to help students remember where books belong as they browse through titles on the shelves.

I asked a lot of my librarian friends where they got them and how they were stored.  I followed their advice for the most part, but added my own little twist. The idea came to me as some ideas come to us: when we least expect them.

I decided to cover the shelf markers in decorative duct tape. The kids love using them because they're fun-looking, and that makes they use them more. I know it has helped keep in our efforts to keep books in the right place which helps everyone find what they need. That is super important!

Most of my decisions aren't this easy, but these help me make the bigger ones. Also, it helped me see that taking in everyone's input is helpful because it leads me to my own answer. Can this help with bigger decisions? Yes. As we make our way through easy or tough decisions, listening to what others have done is helpful. It gives us a model of what is possible. Applying the possibility to our own world requires time and reflection and stepping away.

If you are a librarian, do you use shelf-markers?