It's Beginning to Look a lot ...

Are you ready?  Second quarter is coming to a close.  The holidays are just around the corner.  It's cold, then warm, then cold again!  Don't you love Missouri in December?

Mr. Allison thinks Animoto is awesome.

In our cozy library, we just finished up an awesome colonial iAdventure with our 8th grade social studies students.  They learned what it was like to move to the colonies, create a new life, and ultimately choose sides in the American Revolution.  They also learned how to create a video using Animoto.  Our top videos will be posted to YouTube in the near future.  We are catching up to 21st century learning!


We also are trying something new; video book trailers.  Sometimes our students need a reminder of the cool books we have to offer in the library.  And who wants to listen to the boring librarian give a book talk? Wouldn't a short video be more entertaining and engaging?  We'll find out!

Stay warm and happy reading!

Back in the Saddle...

Hello out there.  It appears as though I have taken a vacation from Blogsville, and I kind of have.  It has been a few weeks since my last post.  Lots and lots of awesomeness has occurred in that time.  I am going to do a short recap this time around and get more out to you as I can.  Your patience and support is greatly appreciated.

Here goes...

We had the most wonderful treat on November 6th.  Author Richard Paul Evans, yes THE Richard Paul Evans from the fantastic Michael Vey series, visited our intermediate school.  And Mrs. Clark, intermediate librarian, was kind enough to invite our junior high Michael Vey fans (veyniacs) to hear Mr. Evans give a book talk and to meet him in person for a book signing.  Being a veyniac myself, I jumped on the opportunity and found 20 other veyniacs from the junior high to make the trip up the hill for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.  We laughed and cried (well I did a little bit) and had a great time.  Mr. Evans is one of the nicest people, famous or otherwise, that I have ever met, and you could feel his sincere joy in being with our students that day.  A-W-E-S-O-M-E-N-E-S-S...with pics to follow.

Mr. Cruzado's & Ms. Duggan's classes
learning about the iAdventure

Coming back down to earth was difficult, so I collaborated on a BIG colonial America project with my social studies friends (Ms. Duggan & Mr. Cruzado) for our 8th graders.  We are in the thick of it as I type; travelling to the colonies, serving as an apprentice or indentured servant, and ultimately deciding on being a patriot or a loyalist.

Mr. Cruzado's class in the "fish tank."

"iAdventure" is the name of the game, and our students can all be winners at the end.  I hope they learn a lot about pre-revolutionary America and have some fun to boot.  An added bonus to the activity is the end project: an Animoto video created by each student showing their journey from England to the revolution.  We hope to create an 8th grade social studies YouTube channel and upload the videos for all to see.

Hard at work in colonial America

Well. I don't know about you, but Ms. Patty and I are ready for Turkey Day.  So, enjoy our short week coming up, grab some turkey and family time, remember what you are thankful for, and pick up a bargain or two if that's your thing.  We'll see you back here in December...let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Over and Out

We did it!  The Scholastic book fair has come and gone and we had lots of fun along the way.  Our little library was transformed for six days into a mini-bookstore and we had many happy customers in and out of our door.

Having fun at the Fair

We will be adding some new, fun decor to our library with the Scholastic dollars we earned from the book fair.  Thanks so much to everyone who visited and made our fair a big success.

Open for Business

We also have a big thank you to shout out to our Mothers Club.  Thanks to a generous donation they made toward reading promotion for this school year, we were able to gift several of our students with a book from the fair.  In all, 34 students received books thanks to the Mothers Club reading promotion donation.

Thank You Mothers Club!!

 So, now it is back to business for Mrs. Fears and me.  We had fun at the fair, but are glad to get back to normal!  See you in the stacks.

Full Speed Ahead

So, we made it.  First quarter is officially in the books and we are moving forward.  Before you know it, winter break will be on our doorstep.

We have accomplished a lot in these past nine weeks. I have included a fun infographic that provides a little snapshot into what was going on in the library during this time.

Click here for a larger version.

Next up, and this is a biggie, is our Scholastic Book Fair.  This is a first for me and it has been several years since the junior high has hosted a book fair. Our fair begins on Wednesday, October 23rd and continues through the following week, ending on Halloween, Thursday, October 31st.  Our fair times are from 7 am until 6 pm on October 23rd & 24th. Yes, we will be open during parent/teacher conferences.  We continue the following week, October 28th through the 31st, with hours from 7 am until 3 pm.

I know you are all wondering, "But what if I won't be able to come to the wonderful junior high library to check out the book fair?"  No worries.  We are also online.  Starting today and running until November 7th, you can access our fair online. Click on this link to go to our online fair.  All purchases, whether at the book fair in our library or online, go to support our library's reading promotion program.

Next week's post will come out a day early because, drum roll please...Next Friday there is NO SCHOOL. Yes, teachers get excited about no school days, too.  Enjoy your weekend and this wonderful thing called second quarter.  Semester is just around the corner...Go Hawks!

Moving Right Along

Moving right along...sing along if you like!

Second quarter is right around the corner and we are...moving right along.  I can't believe we have been going strong for eight weeks.  We are checking out books left and right, which is a good thing.  We are moving forward in our implementation of new educational technologies, which is a great thing.

Mrs. Wright's class enjoying
new reads.

This week we enjoyed a book tasting in the library with a few of our classes.  We "sampled" books about animals, space, adventure, and humor.  A good time was had by all and some books that had been lonely on the shelf for a long time were checked out!

A sampling of our funny books.

We have a new book display for October to celebrate the upcoming fun-time known as Halloween.  Vampires, ghosts, paranormal, scary movie characters; if it's ghoulish, you can find it on display.

Check out something ghoulish today.

Our Scholastic Book Fair, the first in quite a while, is right around the corner.  We open for business October 23rd and run through October 31st.  In addition to the live book fair going on in the library, we have an online fair that runs from October 18th through November 7th.  All purchases from the online fair benefit our library just like the "in-person" purchases.  Click here to check-out our online fair homepage.  

That's it for this week.  Next week is the end of the quarter.  Are you ready?  I am...moving right along.

Progress

Image courtesy of Gwyneth Jones
licensed as free to use on GoogleImages

We are moving forward here at Hillsboro R3.  Google Apps is the name of the game and we are full time players.  All of our 7th graders (Thank you Mrs. Fete and Mr Holley) are now Google ready. They have Google accounts for school and know how to use them.  We had fun creating a shared document about the Pros & Cons of using Google Drive at school; and Mrs. Fete had her students take a fun 'quiz' using Google.

Image courtesy of Alastair Creeman
licensed as free to use on GoogleImages

Our teachers are moving forward with technology, too.  We will not be left behind!  We are using these Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with those in our Professional Learning Communities on various projects, including professional development with AFL (Assessment for Learning) and jointly creating common assessments. Ask one of our health teachers about their recent experience.  Mr. Allison's using Google, too!  We are moving forward, Hillsboro.  While it's true that change, and especially change related to technology, can be scary, we are ready.  If you have any questions about Google Apps for Education, please let me know.  I might not know the answer, but I bet I could Google it. =)

That's it for now.  It's time to get ready for the parade.  Go Hawks!

In the Thick of It

So, a few weeks have passed since my last post.  My good intentions of communicating, or "getting out the good word," every week did not come to pass.  I am officially calling a do-over; and here we go.

We have really been hopping in the library here at good ol' Hillsboro Junior High.  All of our students have usernames and passwords for using computers here at school.  They also have the ability to check their assignments and grades on Infinite Campus.  This is something new for the junior high and we are excited to offer our students the opportunity to begin their journey to responsibility and accountability. Look out high school, here they come!

Our immediate future includes working with the 8th grade English Language Arts classes on using the free online tool, "EasyBib" in creating work cited pages to promote the understanding of intellectual property and plagiarism.  We will also be working with two 7th grade classes (Mrs. Fete and Mr. Holley) in beginning our newest Web 2.0 tool -- GoogleDocs.  This is a very exciting venture into using technology to create and collaborate on our path to knowledge.  I will be sure to keep everyone updated on this new endeavor.

Of course, we have check-outs going on non-stop; it's kind of like a revolving door and I love it; Lots of books serving their purpose.  We also have a first (at least for me) coming up next month.  We will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair from October 23 through October 31.  The first two days coincide with parent-teacher conferences and we will be open in the evening for those parents who want to stop by before or after meeting with the teachers.  We haven't had a book fair at the junior high in a while and I have only participated as a parent in the past.  I'm super excited...and a little nervous.  As soon as I know how to set up the online version of the fair, I'll be sure to get the link out to the masses.

I'm going to end this week's post with a little bit about me.  This is my second year at the junior high and as a librarian.  I made the move from the high school last year and, while I was very content in my role as English and Drama teacher, I am so glad I made this move.  I am working with some amazing educators and I really appreciate the special nuances of our student population. Until next time...

Week One and Done

The first full week of school has come and gone and we in the land of the library have survived.  Those of you not familiar with what happens in a school library at the beginning of the school year might be thinking, "How hard is it to check out some books?"  The days of the library as a book warehouse are long gone.  Don't get me wrong; we checked out books.  In fact, every English Language Arts class came to the library this week and every student had the chance to check out books.

But wait, there's more.  Every student in 7th and 8th grade must have a username and password set up on the school network and must have a compute usage agreement signed and on file before their computer account can be enabled.  Guess where they go for that task...the awesome library learning commons.

So, for those of you keeping track, every student visited with us in the library this week; that's 269 7th graders and 278 8th graders.  They learned about changes to library policies for this year (ALL books are now a 2 week checkout instead of a month for most books and 2 weeks for Truman nominees), reviewed the rules and consequences of computer usage at school (FYI there are 9 rules), reset their password so that they are now able to use computers here at school, and checked out books.

Our next project got a jump start on Friday; Infinite Campus training for all students.  We started with Mr. Cruzado's 8th grade social studies classes.  Ms. Duggan's classes are next, set for this Wednesday, and we'll finish up with our 7th grade social studies classes (Mrs. Crocker and Mrs. Fete) on September 9th and 10th.  Our students are entering the age of accountability.  They will have the tools available to them to check assignments and grades as they happen in real time: No more surprises and no more excuses.  It's great to see them learn the skills they will use and need as they move on to high school and beyond.

I love it when the library is a busy place.  The school day flies by and we get to see and interact with so many students and staff members which often times leads to great conversations and learning experiences.  By the end of the day Friday I was looking for the truck that had left me in it's dust...and I wouldn't change a thing.  Bring on week two!

Welcome Back!

It's that time of year again.  Summer is fading into the sunset as a new school year is dawning.  Our building has newly waxed, shiny floors, an amazing new trophy case, and a few new faces.  Our library is kind of new, too.

We are transforming from a library media center to a library learning commons.  Our goal, as it has always been, is to work with our teachers and students on accessing the most accurate and relevant information to assist them in their educational journey.  And while sometimes that information is found in print format, more often than not we are accessing information out there in that wonderful world called the Web.

We have some new reading initiatives in the works, too.  Reading and lifelong learning go hand in hand.  As Mark Twain so eloquently stated, "The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read."  You can explore the world and beyond in the pages of a good book.  Let's get ready for a great adventure.