Journey to a Flexible Schedule: Part 1 (Kelly Hincks) Also see Parts 2 & 3 A year ago I shared a post called Momentum in a Fixed World. In this post, I shared the goal to move to a flexible schedule. Just as planned we transitioned to this type of schedule with the first- and second-grade students this year. The library works with 261 students that are enrolled in preschool to second grade. Setting the Stage: Presenting to My Colleagyes: My school director has been very supportive of this transition from the start. Starting the Year: Team Meetings: In August, before school began, I got myself invited to the team meetings. Digital Planning Form: I shared a collaborative planning form that was created in Google Forms with all teachers from preschool to second grade. One Month In: During the month of September, I was able to work with first- and second-grade students on thirty-six collaborative lessons. What We Are Still Working On: Keeping My Mojo: For me, the most challenging thing so far is trusting myself and my direction. Author: Kelly Hincks
Position Statement on Quantitative Standards Quantitative standards offer baseline numbers for everything from budgets to numbers of periodical subscriptions to square feet of shelving space. They provide a measure that allows comparisons for individual school libraries as well as a means to advocate for new resources. Minimal standards, however, are problematic because they can also be considered sufficient, or even “ideal,” with the unintended consequence of providing a ceiling rather than a floor for evaluating a school library program and justifying new resources. In the history of school libraries, national quantitative standards provided guidance for the minimal size of collections, space needed for facilities, and adequate staffing. School librarians should engage in a continuous evaluation of the effectiveness of the school library program to meet the needs of patrons for access to ideas and information through the resources of the library. AASL offers several tools for program evaluation:
the prep-time hat (Barbara Braxton) Collaborative planning and teaching is the ideal in the teacher librarian’s world – that wonderful state when you can plan the aspects of an investigation that will be your responsibility and then team teach them in the library with the classroom teacher assisting (and learning.) This approach is so successful because all the investigations into how the brain functions and how people learn suggest that learning in context is most likely to be retained and this is considerably heightened when there is curiosity about, a need and desire for learning, a connection to it and the expectation of success. Adapted from “The Whole Story: natural learning and the acquisition of literacy in the classroom” Cambourne, B. (1988) When the brain is confronted with new information, the data goes through a series of ‘filters’ to determine where it fits in with what it already known. So if this is your situation, how can you make the most of it so the students can maximise what is on offer? Walking the walk
Scheduling – priorities and dissonance – Informative Flights New year, new chances, old problems. The perennial one of scheduling library time. I kind of started commenting on people’s posts and questions on FaceBook and then decided it merited a blog post on its own. There is also a whole discussion on libraries and librarians going at the IBO level where priorities, recognition, roles, responsibilities etc. are also being hashed out. But coming from a corporate background and not an educational one, I sometimes can’t help seeing things a bit differently. One of the most useful courses I followed during my librarian studies was “Designing spaces for learning”. So I’ll begin this post by giving a shout-out to my principal who gives me the autonomy necessary to both think all this out and then to discuss it with her and implement it. Priorities The first part of the process is to decide what your priorities are. My personal priority statement is “I am about literacy“. Then comes the fixed part, which fulfils my literacy priority. Like this:
Nikki Robertson's schedule Volunteers needed. Please use THIS LINK to sign up as a Winkley Elementary School Library VOLUNTEER. 1. Click on the day(s) that you would like to volunteer. 2. Replace the text in the "WHAT" block with your FIRST & LAST NAME. 3. Please email Mrs. Please contact Ms. School Library Flexible Scheduling and Assessment Resources for School Librarians - Index Flexible Scheduling - Web Sites Position Statement on Flexible Scheduling - by the American Association of School Librarians, June 2014. Flexible Scheduling - This article gives the pros and cons of fixed and flexible schedules. From the Idaho Commission of Libraries. Flexible Scheduling - Information and many links to other sites. Research and Instructional Models The Big Six Homepage - A commercial site which does have some free materials. Assessment Assessing Information Problem-Solving Skills - Rubric developed by Jamieson McKensie and the school library media specialists of the Oak Harbor(WA) schools. Up to Top This site is maintained by Linda Bertland, retired school librarian, Philadelphia, PA.
Order Up: A Monthly Menu for Collaboration Two years ago, the library switched from a completely fixed schedule to a hybrid model. Students in preschool and kindergarten currently come at a scheduled time each week. First and second grade come for a fifteen-minute weekly check out. All other instruction is incorporated into the first- and second-grade curriculum often in a co-teaching capacity. As you can imagine this was a new way of looking at instruction for most people involved (including me). The question I had to ask myself was, “What can I do to help make this successful?” The menu contains three to five lessons or projects that mix the library and classroom curriculum. I introduced the menu at the beginning of the school year during a team meeting. What each menu includes: Curriculum Connections – This is where I list my standards as well as their curriculum objectives. Lesson Idea – I give a basic write up of the idea. Time – I try my best to list how long I think it will take. Here are a few examples: Like this:
A New Twist On Our Fixed and Flexible Library Schedule! We are very excited about a lot of things as we start a brand new adventure in the Van Meter Library this year. One of the things we are most excited about is a new twist on our elementary library schedule. First, let me give you a little background about our district and the history of our library schedule. Van Meter is a K-12 district with everyone in one building. We have one library that serves all of our students and teachers. In the past, I had a fixed schedule with each elementary classroom. I really enjoyed our schedule because I was able to see the students at least 5, 65 minute blocks each month. With our schedule, the related arts had lots of opportunities to collaborate on projects during this time too, which we loved. The rest of my time was flexible as I inspired and supported our readers; planned, collaborated and co-taught with the teachers; helped students in the library; supported and assisted with the integration of technology; and lots more of course.
The Incredibly True Adventures of a School Librarian: New School Year! New Ideas! New Centers! New to Texas and new (again) as an Elementary School Librarian last year I wrote a detailing my library procedures and centers. After a year working through mistakes I have entered this new school year with lots of new ideas. *Disclaimer 1: This post is in no way meant to undermine the way any other librarian runs their library. I do, however, point out examples of various ways other libraries are run that just aren't my thing and, yes, occasionally rub me the wrong way. *Disclaimer 2: My school is a K-5 school with student numbers hovering near 700 with 10% of our population receiving free/reduced meals. *Disclaimer 3: My school district has lumped libraries in with the Specials rotation (Art, Music, PE) in a fixed schedule. Before going to centers or checking out books, I like starting off each library class together as a team. Last year we shared using "Hey! It was a great way to come together as a class and learn about and better understand each other. Center Changes Google Games Coding
My Tips & Helpful Google Docs For Awesome Collaboration Between Teacher Librarians and Teachers! Here is a little update I wanted to include with this post and these ideas around collaboration between teacher librarians and teachers. After an awesome year of collaboration at my school, I have already shared the 2019-20 with our teachers so we can get a head start on what is happening in the classrooms and related arts. With this share, I added something new to the top of our collaboration calendar....Special Events! These special events play such an important role in our planning and collaboration so I wanted to make sure we can see these and get to the resources for each as we plan too. Now, please read the original post below. :) Building instructional partnerships with the teachers and others in our building and school community is a big part of.... what we do as Future Ready Librarians to support Curriculum, Instructional and Assessment. As stated in the Future Ready Librarian framework, we.... Collaborator, Analyst and... Designer ISTE Standards for Educators. 1. 2. 3.
Scheduling Library Spaces In my high school library we have always debated the best tool for scheduling our multiple checked out spaces in the library. We have yet to open, and I am still waiting to see if this school year will be back to business or closed again. In preparation for possible opening in a few weeks I’ve started researching what tools work best for scheduling library spaces. Here are the top three that I found so far. Google Sheets: Below is a screenshot of the template that we have played around with in the past. PE Designs Scheduler: Prior to the pandemic this was the company that my district used for scheduling. Managing and scheduling library space can be a big job in any size library. Offering diverse spaces for teachers and students to work in is a great way to get patrons in our doors. Author: Elizabeth Pelayo Elizabeth Pelayo is the library media specialist at St. Like this: Like Loading... Categories: Blog Topics, Technology
Student Appointments and the Library Earlier this summer, I asked our Twitter community for ideas about how to reserve spaces in the library during all school intervention and “open” time. Four days a week, my high school has “academic support time” where students can visit teachers for assistance, study in classrooms, and work on group projects. Students can visit the library to study, check out books, use the makerspace equipment, access recording supplies including green screens, and find a quiet nook to decompress. Once I posted on Twitter, several people responded with great ideas. When looking at these tools, I was looking for the following features: Easily accessible online for studentsAbility to limit the number of studentsCustomizable featuresAbility to schedule multiple days and timesCost efficient Scheduling Tools Google Forms with Choice Eliminator: Using Google Forms and the add-on Choice Eliminator, students would sign up for a spot in the library. Author: Becca Munson Like this: Like Loading...