A Chat With A School Librarian: Lindsey

 

Lindsey Arant is the school librarian at New Heights Middle School in Pageland, SC.  As the school librarian, Lindsey works hard to create an environment that is welcoming for all of her students.  

Lindsey and I had a discussion on the curate foundation.  She said that a top priority for her is to diversify her collection.  When she buys new books and materials, she works hard to select materials that represent all students.  She also takes teacher and student requests into consideration.  As the librarian, these are both important things to consider when building a collection.  Students need to see themselves in the books they are reading; they serve as mirrors for students.  We also want to instill a love of reading in all students.  By taking suggestions from students, she is able to select books that she knows her students will want to read.  Collaboration with teachers is also a crucial part of being a school librarian.  Teachers will likely give suggestions that they know align with their students interests and the standards they are teaching.  

Students at New Heights Middle all have Chromebooks.  Lindsey uses features on Chromebooks to help students organize information as they gather it through research.  Technology is enhancing the way in which students are able to curate information.  There are numerous apps, but also learning to use the Google Drive for students with Chromebooks is a great way to help students store information and resources.  

While curation of materials is a crucial aspect of being a successful school librarian, there are challenges that prevent school librarians like Lindsey from being as successful at this as she would like.  Lindsey said that she is not able to collaborate with classroom teachers like she would like to.  She said she does not have time to meet with teachers due to the extra demands of her job such as handling Chromebooks.  She, like many others, is required to do much more than the role of her job description.  She also has a low budget that prevents her from purchasing many materials.  Working in a low income school and district presents its challenges, but teachers like Lindsey do what they can to provide access for students as best they can.  

That's A Wrap!

This semester has taught me many things.  I have considered myself pretty technology sound in terms of knowing how to use technology.  I have thoroughly enjoyed learning new and innovative types of resources to use in my teaching.  I've never really looked at blogs all that much.  One of my favorite things from this semester has been reading blog posts of my classmates.  I have learned so much and found out about so many things from reading their posts.  In fact, I've shared some of the resources that I've read about on those posts with teachers at my school!  I have also enjoyed finding other blogs related to library and information sciences.  I plan to continue to use blogs as a resource for growing in the profession. 

Another take away from this class is the crucial role that librarians play in school settings with implementing technology.  The district that I work in has been so far behind in the technology depart.  After having to close down due to COVID, our district officials made a quick shift to enhance technology in the district.  In a years time, all of our students in grades 3-12 have Chromebooks and teachers as well, and our teachers are currently receiving new touchscreen panels for their classrooms.  While this may not sound like much, it is huge for us!  With all of this new technology, who does everyone turn to for assistance?  You guessed it, the librarian (me).  This class has taught me that as a librarian in the 21st century, it is my job to help teachers and students become acquainted with technology and engage students in using it.  Teaching students to program and giving them the chance to use modern technology is huge in preparing them for their futures.  

A final take away that I gained is equity of access.  I learned about so many assistive technology's.  Again, through blog posts from classmates, I learned some great resources to use to assist students with disabilities.  I also learned that Google has a great deal of accessibility features.  This was great to find out because my district uses Google as our platform.  As I get more settled into my new position and moving things around my library, I am keeping universal design in mind to ensure that my library is welcoming and accessible to any student or guest that visits it.   

I thoroughly enjoyed each of the topics we learned about this semester and feel that I could go on for days with take aways!  Thanks for following along and learning with me!

Bringing Learning to Life With VR

Virtual reality (VR) is something that I have been wanting to explore more.  I've heard of it, but have never really taken the time to look into what it's all about.  In fact, when I began cleaning the school library that I am currently working in, I came across several VR headsets.  I remember saying to myself "what in the world did they ever purchase this for".  Let me explain myself in this thought process real quick.  First, the set requires a device that we do not have access to at our elementary school.  Second, I really didn't have any experience with VR and didn't know how beneficial to the learning experience it can be.  So, as I read and researched this week I have found that with the right type of device, VR can be very beneficial.  

I am here to share the Oculus Quest 2 VR headset.  The Oculus has numerous apps for both educational and recreational purposes. They start at $299 for one with 128GB of storage.  The Oculus also does not require a PC for operation.  

So, how can you use the Oculus in the classroom?  Using the ChalkTalk app with Oculus, students are able to experience the learning process in an entirely new way.  Have you ever wished that you could bring to life a drawing that you put on a whiteboard?  This app will allow you to do that.  Check out this article to learn more about ChalkTalk.  This video is a great introduction in to how ChalkTalk allows you to bring drawn images to life.  

While virtual reality is still a developing topic in the education world, there are many perks of using it.  Some of them include: 

-Making learning an active experience

-Limiting distractions

-Taking student engagement to a whole new level

-Learn complex subjects

For more information on the perks of using VR, check out this article on how to use VR in the classroom. 

Making Time for Makerspaces

 This week's readings and lectures were particularly interesting to me.  I am a first year school librarian who walked into a bit of a mess of things to clean up.  For the majority of the summer, I spent time cleaning things out and had little time to prep for how I wanted things to run in my library.  As the weeks have progressed and some structure has been obtained, I have really been wanting to develop makerspaces for my students.  In fact, I found some tanagram shapes and puzzles that were not being used in our school's science lab and took those to use as a "center".  I also am using magnets and white boards for a spelling game.  These, of course, are just starting points for where I'd like to be.  One of my biggest concerns in starting up my makerspaces is figuring out how to run things time wise.  

I have my students for 45 minutes.  By the time they get in there and we get started, it's really more like 40 minutes.  I came upon this blog post that felt like it was something that I could really relate to.  In the post, "Mrs. J" gives a breakdown of how she checks books out and run makerspaces in 40 minute periods.  She also includes links for suggestions of some great makerspace center tools.  The thing that stuck out to me most was how she talks about her centers being "research centers".  Lauren Britton (2012) states, "Maker spaces promote learning through play; have the potential to demystify science, math, technology, and engineering".  In essence, students are researching and the learning is put in their own hands.  Using research centers as a part of makerspaces, students are able to develop the skills necessary to be  successful in their education and future careers.  While 40 minutes is not a long amount of time, there is plenty that can be accomplished by structuring a schedule and getting students in the swing of the schedule. 

Cyberbullying

"You're judging your insides by other people's outsides"(Envy-Seven Digital Deadly Sins).  Wow! As I sit and scroll through Facebook or listen to other peoples conversations about what they saw on so and so's Facebook, this quote is beaming in my head.  Social media sites are a great way to connect and network with others, but they also hold the key to so many other things.  It's so easy to look at what someone else has or what they look like in a post they make, and compare what we have or look like.  It's also easy to become frustrated, defeated, and depressed because we feel like we can't compare to what that post shows.  I think this statement is a reminder that things are not always what they seem to be, and growing envious of what "appears to be" is mentally destructive.  

Cyberbullying is something that I have recently become very interested in.  Social media outlets such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook typically seem to be the center of cyberbullying.  As an elementary teacher, it wouldn't appear that this would really be that much of an issue.  Sadly, it is.  While most of these social media outlets tend to have age restrictions, most younger children simply put an age that is "just old enough" in order to create their account.  Often times, parents of the children don't even realize their child has an account.  As a parent and teacher, the shear amount of social media sites that provide opportunities for cyberbullying are both alarming and frightening.  Cyberbullying.org includes a list of more than 50 of the most popular social media apps.  

Image from cyberbullying.org

With so many opportunities to engage in cyberbullying, how do we work to combat it? According to the National Crime Prevention Council approximately 160,000 children miss school on a daily basis because they are concerned about being bullying (Redmond).  Educating students about cyberbullying is the biggest step in combating the issue.  Students need to understand what cyberbullying is.  An important part of teaching elementary aged children about digital citizenship is teaching them proper online behaviors.  Giving scenarios for them to talk about in small groups is a great way to engage students in understanding behaviors that are and are not appropriate.  It is also important to teach young students what to do if they experience cyberbullying, whether as a bystander or a victim.  They need to know that it is important to immediately tell an adult that they trust.  This also means giving examples of people outside of their home that they could trust to tell such as their teacher or guidance counselor.  Educating students at an early age about cyberbullying is a giant step in preventing them from becoming a cyberbully in the future.    

For more information, check out cyberbullying.org.

Resources: 

Richard Byrne's Seven Digital Deadly Sins

Orech, J. (2012). How it's done: Incorporating digital citizenship into your everyday curriculum. Tech & Learning, 33(1), 16-18.

Redmond, J. Cyberbullying in Elementary School. Love to Know. https://kids.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Cyberbullying_Elementary_School

McBee Elementary Reads: An Instagram Page

McBee Elementary is a small school located in South Carolina that is home to around 350 students in grades 4K-5.  Students are engaged in reading across all content areas.  As I was determining what social media platform would be best to use to promote literacy from the perspective of the school library, one platform felt most appropriate.  "This is the best way to capture the variety of literacies occurring in the library"(2017), states Jan Wilson in regards to taking and posting pictures.   With this in mind, Instagram felt like the right fit.  It's so easy to snap a few photos of books or students reading to keep parents and students updated on what the library has to offer and what students are doing in library.  With that being said, I created the McBee Elementary Library Instagram page: mcbeeelmreads. 

This page was very easy to create.  I was able to use my personal information that I use for my personal account to create this account.  I chose to do this since I will be the person running the page.  The profile image includes the school logo"Learners today. Leaders tomorrow."  I chose this image because it is the same image as the school Facebook page.  With permission from administration, I plan to link this Instagram page to the school Facebook page.  This will allow parents who are on Facebook but not Instagram to view the posts as well.  

Each month, I plan to post weekly reads that coordinate with the displays in the library.  This month, I have Halloween reads displayed.  We are also discussing genre, and the "genre of the month" is science fiction.  A post will come soon with science fiction picks for this month.  I also will post images of students reading and participating in activities within the library.  This page is also going to be a great way to promote events such as the book fair.  Posts will include a short blurb to explain the image.  This will be a great way to get information to parents from the perspective of the library.  

Like Twitter and Facebook, Instagram users are able to use "hashtags" to search for other posts using the same hashtag.  This year, our school literacy coach and myself have been brainstorming ways to promote literacy even more with our students in and out of school.  We began discussing using a hashtag for parents to post images of their children reading on social media platforms that would correlate with the school.  Choosing #mesreads, as included in the page biography, will connect this promotion of literacy. "Hashtags, especially those that are widely used in your community, are another great way to gain exposure and followers"(Wella, 2016).

Finally, privacy settings.  Being this is an account that includes images of elementary age children, it is a private account that requires the approval of the site administrator to view and follow the page.  As the librarian, I interact with all of the students in the school.  I know each of them and many of the upper grade children have instagram pages.  My plan would be to have any students who have instagram to share their usernames with me.  This would allow me to approve their follow request and know it is them.  This page will have information not only for parents, but for students as well so it is important that those with Instagram accounts have access to the page. 

References: 

Wetta, M. (2016). Instagram now: Engage young users with the image based social media tool. School Library Journal, 62(2), p. 30-32.

Wilson, J. (2017). Make your library more visible. School Library Journal, 62(12), p. 16. 

Bookshare

Inclusion is a crucial aspect of making sure that all students needs are met.  This means that students with special needs are given the same opportunities that their peers receive.  While this may take some extra work, it's crucial that this is done.  Bookshare is an online library that allows for students with disabilities such as dyslexia, blindness, and other reading barriers to customize a "library" that will be tailored to their particular needs. 

Bookshare  can be accessed by clicking the attached link.  The best part? Bookshare is free for US students and schools with the qualifying disabilities.  School librarians, special education teachers, and reading interventionists qualify to sign their students up.  By completing the application, you can begin to develop a library made by you for your students with disabilities.  Students with learning disabilities such as ADHD or intellectual disabilities do not automatically qualify.  Bookshare is intended for students who can not physically manipulate a book because of a visual impairment or other physical impairment.  For more information on qualification, visit the "Who Qualifies" page.  Check out this video to find out more about Bookshare and if it is right for you. 

Bookshare is available for use on devices such as Chromebooks, tablets, smartphones and other assistive technology devices.  There's no need to worry if you will be able to find enough titles for your students as Bookshare has 1,045,516 titles.