Week eleven is here! It's a bit miraculous to think it is already the 11th week of school! With Halloween approaching more bats and pumpkins and fall themed activities are starting to pop up. Halloween isn't discussed much in classes because of respect for cultural diversity, but many things about fall and spooky creatures can be fun to include in lessons without actually talking about Halloween.
So this week 3rd graders watched a Magic School Bus about bats and then had check out time.
Fourth ad Fifth graders are about to start their classroom unit on the American Revolution so Mrs. Jennings helped build a foundation for this learning with an introduction to the famous figures associated with this historical event. Each student was passed a biography of a famous person, asked to read the biography and pull two important facts they learned. Then one at a time Mrs. Jennings would ask students to tell the class what they had learned, she would type their response on the smart board. Once all the famous figures were discussed they would use this information to fill out a bingo board and play the American Revolutionary bingo board. Pulling facts from text is such an important standard and this lesson is wonderful at reinforcing this skill.
Kindergartners heard Harold and the Purple Crayon, then watched a Harold video. We also sang Flip Flap Jack and helped them put magnetic pieces on the board to build Flip Flap Jack- a man made of food! I had never heard this song but I really enjoyed it. An interesting developmental moment that Mrs. Jennings and I noticed was the difference between pre-school and kindergartners in respect to places felt or magnetic pieces on the board. Pre-school kids are not concerned with where their pieces land on the board, however kindergartners are very aware of where pieces should go and want to make sure they have placed them just so.
More Grimm fairy tales for the second graders as this week we heard The Brave Little Tailor. We listened to the tale from our big Grimm's fairy tales book and then watched an animated version. The version we watched was from Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simsala_Grimm. Two characters Yo-Yo and Doc. Croc fly on their magic book through many fairy tales helping the characters succeed. Most of the time the animated version is similar to the print version, however this time they were quite different. In the print version the King did not want the tailor to marry his daughter for fear he was an evil monster. In the animated tale the tailor did not boast or try to deceive the King about what he had done, instead the evil villain was another knight who wanted to marry the King's daughter.
Reading aloud is something I love to do but struggled with when reading from a text heavy book such as the Grimm's Fairy tales. I often found myself leaving the page and recalling the story the best I could to tell the students. I messed up with the ending of Hansel and Gretel so for the Valiant Tailor I wanted to try and read the text more accurately from the book. It was tough. I had to stop twice because I had lost my place and apologize to students. Thankfully they were great about the issues and listened very well! Still, I highly recommend reading the original text aloud to students, but perhaps photocopy and enlarge the pages you need prior to teaching the lesson. This way the print is larger and might help you keep track of your place.
CEBS Dispositions:
Values diversity - Willingly works with others from
different ability, race, gender, or ethnic groups. Welcomes feedback and
interaction with others. Listens carefully to others and respects the views of
those perceived as different from self.
Values collaboration. Actively seeks out and incorporates
ideas of others. Takes leadership in working with others to improve the overall
environment. Regularly share information and ideas.
I'm grouping weeks nine and ten together because of holidays and conferences these weeks ended up just being two days- Thursday 8th and 15th and Friday the 16th. These were two exciting days!
We started Grimm's fairytales with the older graders, reading the 6 Swans and the first Thursday and Rumplestiltskin on the second After reading the story aloud to the class, we watched an animated version of the story. After the video I asked students to tell me differences they saw between the written version of the story and the animated video. The 6 Swans was not familiar to me before this class. It was exciting to read it aloud to students and learn of it as they were hearing it for the first time as well. Our goal was to also read Hansel and Gretel on the 16th but because of testing we were only able to read the story and watch the movie with one class.
During these days we also taught about the water cycle. The class listened All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon.
After hearing the story read aloud volunteers helped demonstrate how water evaporates and forms clouds, when the clouds can no longer hold water it falls back to Earth as some form of precipitation. This was demonstrated with cotton balls! One volunteer was the cloud and the other acted as evaporation, picking the cotton balls up from the ground and placing them in the 'clouds' hands. When the volunteer student could no longer hold more cotton balls they fell from her hands acting as precipitation!
On Monday and Tuesday October 12th and 13th I had the privilege of attending a local conference on summer programming and outreach, called SPOKcon. I heard speakers from all over Kentucky discuss programming and outreach they were able to offer their communities even when they had small to no budgets.
I always find conferences extremely beneficial for networking and inspiration. At this conference I learned some great program ideas for group art projects with the community.
CEBS Dispositions:
Values collaboration. Actively seeks out and incorporates
ideas of others. Takes leadership in working with others to improve the overall
environment. Regularly share information and ideas.
EPSB Code of Ethics:
Values professionalism: Professional development and
involvement. References and makes use of professional organizations or
publications. Willingly participates in professional activities or events that
promote professional development.
This week in the library flew by! This week student's are becoming more familiar with the library and how to locate materials on their own. Mrs. Jennings has created note cards with call numbers and asked students to locate the book which matches the call number. Students are assessed by presenting the note card and book to myself or Mrs. Jennings to verify call numbers. Students really seem to enjoy this game and I like to see students get excited to find items. We do this game with 4th, 5th, and 3rd grade classes.
It was interesting and actually a bit frustrating. I came face to face with the Fred Jones' 'the helpless hand raiser.' I would start to help in big general terms, for example if they asked where 941.2 was I'd say 'the 900s should be on the last shelves of the non fiction.' But some of them would come back five, ten minutes later with the same card saying they were still not able to locate the item. It was definitely a test of patience. Whether the student wasn't trying, was legitimately struggling, or just didn't want to try was hard to distinguish. I want every student to succeed so I helped as best as I could, often times going through title by title with a student helping them understand how to search for a Dewey Decimal number. Fred Jones would say to help the student and move along quickly so that you are not lingering and presenting them with an opportunity to continue to ask for help.
Some students had no problem locating materials, zipping through many index cards before the time was over.
Eric Litwin, author of the wildly popular Pete the Cat books was the topic of the 1st graders as they continued on their author study. We read Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons and then watched a quick version of the story found online.
CEBS Dispositions:
Values diversity - Willingly works with others from
different ability, race, gender, or ethnic groups. Welcomes feedback and
interaction with others. Listens carefully to others and respects the views of
those perceived as different from self.
This week we introduced the Kentucky Bluegrass awards to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.
"The Kentucky Bluegrass Award is a student choice program.
The KBA promotes and encourages Kentucky students in kindergarten through grade
12 to read a variety of quality literature. All Kentucky public and private
schools, as well as public libraries, are welcome to participate in the
program."
A committee creates a list of books each year and students are able to read the the books throughout the year and vote on which title they liked the best. Many schools in Kentucky participate in the program to encourage student reading and engagement. I like the program because only Kentucky students can vote on titles, making them feel special! I've been attempting to read as many KBA books as possible, so far I've read Crossover and The Boundless and both have been wonderful!
The Crossover / Kwame Alexander –
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.
Fourteen-year-old
twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off
the court as their father ignores his declining health.
The Boundless/ Kenneth Oppel.
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2014.
The Boundless, the greatest train ever built, is on its maiden voyage
across the country, and first-class passenger Will Everett is about to embark
on the adventure of his life as he enlists the aid of a traveling circus to
save the train from villains.
The Crossover is written in verse, one of my favorite styles as it is emotional and succinct. The Boundless is an adventure novel about a young boy who witnesses a murder and now finds himself hunted on the strongest, fastest moving train in the country during the time when settlement and exploration were still alive in young America.
The full list of titles for KBA books can be found at: http://kba.nku.edu/
In other classes Mrs. Jennings started an author study with Pete the Cat and Eric Litwin. I love Pete the Cat books- I'm not sure of anyone who doesn't! The class listened to The New Guy and then watched a video of the story.
With second grade classes Mrs. Jennings is continuing to teach about fables and tall tales. We worked together on this lesson, I was able to introduce and remind the class about key characteristics of a fable- that they normally have animal characters and teach a lesson or moral. Then we read the story Mr. Murry and Thumbkin about a mouse who worries too much and a mouse who worries too little, Each were able to meet in the middle and become best of friends. Mrs. Jennings jokes with students that one character is her, and one character is her husband and students are asked to guess which character they think Mrs. Jennings it- Thumbkin who never worries or plans, or Mr. Murry who worries all the time. It was funny to see what student's thought!
CEBS Dispositions:
Values diversity - Willingly works with others from
different ability, race, gender, or ethnic groups. Welcomes feedback and
interaction with others. Listens carefully to others and respects the views of
those perceived as different from self.
Values collaboration. Actively seeks out and incorporates
ideas of others. Takes leadership in working with others to improve the overall
environment. Regularly share information and ideas.
This week was extremely busy! Most exciting, and a bit terrifying was teaching my first lesson today. Mrs. Jennings and I collaborated to plan a lesson to help first graders learn how to choose a book that is just right for them. This means it isn't too hard, too easy, but is just right. On Monday Mrs. Jennings modeled how she normally presents the lesson, and today I took a turn reading to the class and explaining the five finger test. We read a book called "We're going on a book hunt"
Then I talked with students about the five finger test. This is to be used when looking for a just right book. Students open a book they think they might be interested in to any page and start reading, if they get to a word they don't understand, they put up a finger. If they have put up five fingers by the time they've reached the end of the page, the book is too difficult and they should try another. Most students should look for books where two or three fingers are raised by the time they finish a page. This means the book is challenging but not too difficult. Next students watched a video that talked more about the five finger test and finding a just right book.
Finally students were giving an extension exercise to help them remember what we talked about.
After students colored their extension sheets they were allowed to check out using the five finger test. Once they chose their books and had checked out, they received a bookmark to help them remember.
It is seems impossible that week six of school is already here! What a busy week this will be! Working as a public children's librarian I've always wondered how school librarians teach catalog searching. This week is all about learning to search the OPAC, a refresher for 4th and 5th graders but a brand new lesson to 3rd graders.
Professional Development
Also this week I attended a very interesting professional development class with Mrs. Jennings. I learned a great deal about the poverty facing those 18 and under. The PD was called What Is Poverty? given to educate participants on their role as educators in teaching students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. We learned what poverty truly means, local and national statistics related to poverty, and also the risk factors associated with poverty. For example, 46% of youth 18 and under are living in poverty nation wide. In Jefferson county, 67% of Louisville students are living in poverty and we have 10,000 displaced/homeless students. I knew that Kentuckians were struggling, especially in Appalachian towns or coal mining towns because of lower demands for coal, but I had no idea that so many students in Louisville suffered from lack of basic needs. More startling is the fact that these students have a much higher risk of suicide and shorter life expectancy because of their economic situation.
KLA/KASL 2015 Joint Conference
On top of all the other exciting things this week- I also lucky enough to be selected to present at this year;s Kentucky Library Association joint conference held in Louisville each year.
http://www.kww.net/kla/myscheduleall.php
I, along with my three other managers presented on building our new regional library, it's opening to the public, and the adventures we've had while adjusting to a new work environment. Our presentation was titles "Standing out when you can barely stand up after becoming the most popular library in town." I have never presented at a library conference before so it was a great experience. Louisville Free Public Library is a large organization- with 18 locations and many levels of administration. My fellow managers and I were consulted during the design process, but overall we had little control over decisions that were made towards the new building. Moving into a space that designed by others was difficult- there's no way around that. The work flow was entirely new and often clunky, much of the building still needed finishing touches, and even now a year later they are still fixing things. Staff were miserable because of the increased work- we went from an average day of 300 patrons to now over a 1000. Our book drop went quickly to completely unmanageable and was often overflowing when we arrived each morning. Patron's complained of the new technology they were asked to use, staff complained about everything, and managers were working double shifts late into the night just to try and get the book drop under control.
It was a rough time. I also spoke about my ordering experience with Baker and Taylor the book publishing company. Moving from a smaller building to a large we had to have more items to fill it! We went from 70,000 items to around 140,000 and of that I was in charge of ordering all new teen and children's items totaling around 23,000 items and about 300,000 dollars. The catch was I only had 4 months to order everything! This on top of all of my normal duties being one of two branch managers and one of two children's and teen staff in the building. It was quickly realized that a team was needed and after working with other system managers I was able to divide up the work and get everything done, it was a challenging learning experience! We grew in staff- going to four managers and a youth staff of five instead of two and that took organization, patience, flexibility, and communication! Sharing our experiences with attendees at the conference was a wonderful experience. I can only hope that others found it interesting and can learn something from our professional growth and transition!
CEBS Dispositions:
Values diversity - Willingly works with others from
different ability, race, gender, or ethnic groups. Welcomes feedback and
interaction with others. Listens carefully to others and respects the views of
those perceived as different from self.
Values collaboration. Actively seeks out and incorporates
ideas of others. Takes leadership in working with others to improve the overall
environment. Regularly share information and ideas.
EPSB Code of Ethics
Values professionalism: Commitment to self reflection and
growth. Recognizes personal limitations and strengths and uses them to best
professional advantage. Actively seeks suggestions and constructive criticism.
Regularly practices critical thinking. Regularly engages in learning through
self-reflection.
Values professionalism: Professional development and
involvement. References and makes use of professional organizations or
publications. Willingly participates in professional activities or events that
promote professional development.
The Jefferson County Public School system is located in Louisville Kentucky and is a huge district. With around 172 schools, 101,000+ students, and over 54,000 teachers. JCPS is the 27th largest school district in the United States and has more than 18,000 employees. With so many employees the odds are high that each year they will need to fill employment positions. What better way to recruit teachers than to market themselves to a captive audience- their student teachers. Each semester JCPS holds two informational sessions for their student teachers. I attended the first informational session of the semester on September 8th 2015. The faculty discussed what pay scales would be like working for JCPS, how many days a year teachers work, how many PTO days are offered, medical benefits, who you would interview with depending on your certification, etc.
As I have never been through a recruitment process, it was an interesting experience. Every job I have been lucky enough to be hired for followed the typical process- fill out an application, go for the interview, get hired. I've never had to go through a process where you might possibly be interviewed several times. I was glad that I attended this event. I know some might look at it as a waste of time, especially if they do not plan to teach within JCPS, but I would still urge people to go. There is no such thing as being too prepared when it comes to job search. Even if a person who student teaches within Jefferson County does not plan to work within JCPS, I still wouldn't discredit the preparation they are offering for free. Mock interviews and discussion of the hiring process can give someone an invaluable leg up in the job market. There's always something to learn and I found it wise to take advantage of opportunities offered. I'm not sure where my teaching future will lead me, there are pros and cons of working for a large system such as JCPS, but I'm grateful they take the time to invest in their student teachers.
EPSB Code of ethics
Values Professionalism: Professional development and involvement
All week long we have a special guest at the library- book fair!
Librarians have choices when it comes to book fairs. Most librarians I've talked with use a company called Scholastic when offering a book fair at their school. Mrs. Jennings is the first librarian I've known to use a company called Backyard Book Fair. There are different benefits to using one company over the other. Scholastic, for example, does not offer any school level support while Backyard Book Fair sends staff members along and runs the entire book fair leaving the media specialist free for lessons and classroom management. Also, Scholastic gives a bigger percentage of profits back to the media specialist than Backyard Book Fair. I personally feel that both have equal amounts of positive and negative- Backyard Book Fair has limited title availability for book fairs but Scholastic materials tend to fall apart easier. Media Centers that do not have support staff such as a clerk or an active PTA would find the benefits of having Backyard Book Fair staff available to handle the whole process a huge positive while those in schools that have a large support network would see the return profits on Scholastics as the bigger positive.
Because each media center and school environment is unique I found it very helpful to learn different options when approaching book fairs. Previously, I really only knew about Scholastic and it was nice to learn a little more about different companies available.
Because book fair runs all week long that is the main focus of each class. Students are allowed to check out as quickly as possible at the start of each class and then students are allowed to watch a Jeff Corwin movie about frogs while taking turns with their classmates to shop. Students make a wish list during their class time which lists the title and price for each item they'd like to buy. Then their parents either approve or deny the purchase, giving their child money to come back during the week. Mrs. Jennings normally does not allow students to come into the library when it is not their normally scheduled class time, but during book fair week students are allowed to come after they have had their initially wish list visit to purchase approved items.
I greatly enjoyed watching the book fair process. I had no idea that so many aspects had to be approved and organized. I think it has helped prepare me for when all of these responsibilities fall to me.
CEBS Dispositions:
Values professionalism: Respect for school rules, policies,
and norms Knows school rules and policies. Follows them consistently.
Understands the purpose of regulations and respects their intent. Accepts
responsibility for personally following them in patterns of dress, behavior,
etc.
EPSB Code of Ethics
Values professionalism: Professional development and
involvement. References and makes use of professional organizations or
publications. Willingly participates in professional activities or events that
promote professional development.
This week in the library I was able to be a fly on the wall while Mrs. Jennings attended an all day training for OPGES, the new system used to evaluate other professionals within the education field.
OPGES is designed and built by the school districts. It is always growing and evolving to continue to improve the way other professionals are evaluated. Because other professionals do not interact with students in the same manner as teachers, and on many levels give support to teacher's primary role, a new way to evaluate these professionals had to be created.
Mrs. Jennings is the team leader for the special areas at Trunnell Elementary. Attending this training allows her to better prepare the special area teachers (art, PE, computers/technology, and media center) for the process they will be completing this year for their evaluation.
Some parts of the evaluative process will include a self-reflection, professional growth plan, student voice, student growth plan, overall performance rating, and peer observation.
Since my hope is to eventually be hired into a JCPS school, this was an informative training to attend and gave me a sneak peak of how I might be evaluated soon.
CEBS dispositions covered in this interaction:
Values professionalism: Respect for school rules, policies, and norms. Knows school rules and policies. Follows them consistently. Understands the purpose of regulations and respects their intent. Accepts responsibility for personally following them in patterns of dress, behaviors, etc.
Values professionalism: Commitment to self reflection and growth. Recognizing personal limitations and strengths and uses them to the best of your professional advantage. Actively seeks suggestions and constructive criticism. Regularly practices critical thinking. Regularly engages in learning through self reflection.
Values Professionalism: Professional development and involvement. References and makes use of organizations or publications. Willingly participates in professional activities or events that promote professional development.
Values professionalism: professional responsibility. Accepts responsibility for own actions and for helping all student learning and actively seeks self-improvement.
I've been told that it takes a few weeks for students to get back in the school swing. With so many new faces Mrs. Jennings likes to play a back to school bingo game with 2nd-5th graders. Each student receives a blank 'bingo board' and is asked to fill in the names of their classmates in the boxes. Next after filling in all the names on their bingo board students receive a 'bingo calling card.' Students are asked to fill out the calling card by placing their name at the top of the page and then listing three things about themselves. Next week when all of the classes have completed the bingo boards and calling cards, Mrs. Jennings will read the calling cards, students will have to guess who the card is about, and then place a bingo chip on that student's name. It's a great way for students to get to know each other!
Here are some pictures of a 3rd grade class filling out their boards and calling cards with the help of Mrs. Jennings:
Kindergarteners continue to learn expectations and rules. This week Mrs. Jennings read the books Clifford Goes to Dog school. She also had students participate in a magnetic version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin and Eric Carle. Different laminated and magnetized animals from the story were passed out, when Mrs. Jennings told the story aloud students were asked to listen for their animal and then place it on the magnetized board when it was their turn. After moving around for the activity, students watched an animated Clifford story, went on a bear hunt with the action rhyme, and then finally completed a coloring page of Clifford.
First graders heard one of my favorite stories, The Pout Pout Fish. This is the story of a fish who thought he was glum and gloomy no matter which one of his friends tried to cheer him up. The book is filled with repetition and sing-able passages that encourage student participation.
I'm the Pout Pout fish
with the pout pout face
and I spread the dreary wearies
all over the place
The story has a sweet conclusion, the Pout Pout fish falls in love and turns into a Kiss Kiss fish spreading cheery merries all over the place. The class then watched a video of The Pout Pout Fish Goes to School sung by Gordon True.
CEBS dispositions expressed this week:
Values Collaboration: Actively seeks out and incorporates ideas of others/ Takes leadership in working with others to improve the overall environment. Regularly share information and ideas.
Values Professionalism: Professional development and involvement. References and makes use of professional organizations or publications. Willingly participates in profession activities or events that promote professional development.
These dispositions and ethics were demonstrated when Mrs. Jennings and the new art teacher at Trunnell, Mrs. Dahl, conferences about grant money available to bring local productions of Shakespearean plays and other art related activities to the school. Previously, Mrs. Jennings had the opportunity to bring just one performance to Trunnel. But by working together to fill out the grant money both teachers have the opportunity to bring creative and enriching programs to their students.
Trunnell is one Elementary school within the Jefferson County School system. A large school system in Louisiville Kentucky. The school system is so large that they have created a central office which offers support to all schools. At the central office there is also someone who is the head of all media services and librarians. Mrs. Jennings often calls to this office for help answering policy questions and procedures. This is an example of professional and valuing rules, norms, and regulations.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Week two! Check out!
This week each class reviewed check out rules and procedures. Check out rules varied based on grade level. Kindergartners need a bit more time adjusting to school and new responsibilities and do not start checking out books until week six or seven. First graders are only allowed to check out books from the picture book section and the paperbacks. Mrs. Jennings shows students books from the previous year that were damaged by students as examples for how students should respect library books. After explaining how students should care for their books, Mrs. Jennings shows each class a short video about how to use the library. She shows this video to the first graders:
Second graders got to see a fun video about Oscar the Grouch visiting the library:
Third, fourth, and fifth graders watched a video on BrainPop.com about exploring your library, using a catalog, and finding a call number.
A neat feature of teaching each class about check out was Mrs. Jennings turning off the lights and with a flashlight highlighting each area of the library for check out.
I learned about LibraryWorld and helped each class check out items.
Hello! I am excited to welcome you to my blog where you will get a front row seat to the challenges and joys I will encounter while student teaching! First, a little about myself. My very first job was as a bookseller at Barnes and Noble. I loved everything about this job. Eventually I became their children's department lead and was able to spend all my days organizing and displaying children's books. This grew into a passion which lead me to library school for my MLS. I studied at the University of Kentucky and soon found employment at the Louisville Free Public Library. Fast forward to today and I am now once again back in school for a second advanced degree to allow my transition from public librarian to school librarian! I am attending Western Kentucky University and am almost done with the program. The one things standing in my way? Student teaching! This blog will share my adventures, and mis-adventures, in learning what school librarians experience and overcome throughout their days. My student teaching will be split into two placements- the first one with Mrs. Jennings at Trunnell Elementary and the second with a middle or high school librarian (I don't know yet who will have the pleasure of my company!)
Yesterday was the first day of school for students. Mrs. Jennings and I welcomed students with introductions about our own lives. I showed pictures of my family and loved ones:
Norah
My family during my sisters wedding
Willie
My new niece Adelaide- 8 months old
After we introduced our selves, Mrs. Jennings read each class a book, showed a video, and handed out an activity.
One of the books she read was
One of the videos she showed was when Cookie Monster visits the library.
After introducing ourselves to students, going over the rules and expectations, reading a story to students, Mrs. Jennings then handed out a getting to know you worksheet where students were asked to interview another classmate in order to meet new people.
Watching Mrs. Jennings build the foundation of classroom respect has been beneficial and will hopefully help me when I need to build respect in my own future media center.
