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It's boring!
I don't have time! I'm just not a good reader.... These are statements that we as educators have heard time and time again from our students. The problem is, more often than not, these opinion are more likely to come from our boy students than from our girls. It's not clear what drives this culture of boys showing less interest in reading than girl but it is obvious that it is an issue that needs to be tackled, not ignored. That is why I was so excited to see that Brandi McGruder, Dallas ISD; and Jamille Rogers, Conway Schools were presenting a session called "My Books Bring all the Boys to the Yard" as a way to share "creative ideas for engaging boys as readers at the library [and] to mentor and develop young men, building self-esteem, future leaders, and readers". Sounds magical, right? It was! Rogers opened up the session by describing her Distinguished Gentlemen's Club for boys grades 3rd-4th. The goal of the club is to promote literacy and leadership among the young men on her campus. Not only did the students who participated in the club show improved literacy scores and behavior by the end of the year but they showed signs of developing a genuine love of literature. Boys were coming into the library EXCITED to check out the next book in a series. They were sharing favorite books and able to articulate why they loved them like they were never able to do before. The secret to the success of Rogers' program? She made sure that students understood just how much she needed them to step up and become strong leaders and she gave them a safe space to develop their skills. McGruder is a middle school librarian in Dallas ISD who experienced the same challenge as Rogers in trying to get boys motivated to read on her campus. Her solution was to turn the library in to the most in-demand place in the school. She updated the library's graphic novel collection and ordered books that boys could relate to. Makerspaces went up and as students came to the library to used STEM activities she made sure that awesome titles like Black Butler by Yana Toboso and various sports biographies were on display to catch student's attention. Students were allowed to to come to the library during advisory and after lunch to play Xbox, but only after having checked out a book and students who participated in literary promotions and clubs were given unlimited access to the library's quickly filling lunch slots. In creating a social atmosphere where students wanted to hang out and spend free time, McGruder opened the door to build relationships with her students and introduce them to a love of literacy they did not have before.
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After months of waiting the Texas Library Association's Annual Conference is finally here! Why is this so exciting? Librarians, Authors, Vendors and book lovers from across the country are all pouring into Dallas to day to collaborate, plan, and learn about the thing we are most passionate about... LITERACY! This is Christmas, a Birthday, Thanksgiving and New Year's all rolled up into one for librarians so it goes without say we are very excited.
Today's offered lots of time to connect with other librarians in between sessions and make plans for the rest of the week about which topics we want to learn about and which authors we need to track down for signing. Vendors began setting up in the Exhibition hall and by 4pm the Dallas Convention Center was packed with people. Serving Students of Color We've all been there. After weeks of combing through new materials to add to your library you are finally ready to click the order button when you notice that the books about to be order are sadly lacking in...well...color. As many of our communities grow and change, as librarians we have to ensure that our collections are growing and changing as well. This may be adding a foreign language collection for ELL students or making sure minorities authors and characters are being represented. Today we heard from Desiree H. Alexander, Educator Alexander Consulting; Diedra Ballard-Moore, Irving ISD; Raquel Simon Cummings and Valerie Tagoe; Dallas ISD, as they presented strategies on how to make sure all students are represented in the materials and services offered by school libraries. Takeaways:
This amazing group of students decided to build a model of the town hall from the book City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau.
Having breakfast with these awesome readers. We’ve been reading bluebonnet books since September so we’re so excited to hear the winner. Huffman’s favorite? Little Cat’s Luck by Marion Bauer!
The week before break seems like one of the longest weeks of the school year. Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, Spring break....it doesn't matter the kind, the hours and days seem to stretch on FOREVER. To help the days pass more quickly I decided to plan something fun for the kids to do this week before the first long break of the school year. For Fourth grade I introduced an engineering challenge. I supplied groups of four with . a box of supplies- A handful of Popsicle sticks and 8 clothes clips. The challenge was that the students needed to design a Thanksgiving table stable enough to hold a turkey. Our turkey ended being a small bobble head figure I found from the dollar store. The students were a little frustrated at first but were 100% determined and equally engaged in the task. They played with a few designs before deciding as a group which would be the best for the task of holding the turkey. As they tinkered and worked I answered questions about the challenge parameters and encouraged students who showed signs of frustration. One by one each group excitedly waved me over to who me their completed create and request the turkey. As I slowly rest the turkey on top and the table successfully supports it the group members jump and cheer with excitement. This process is what makes Maker Challenges worthwhile. Students puzzle over a task wonder if its possible, they give it a try, rise to accomplish the challenge and feel overwhelming elated in their accomplishment. Its a beautiful thing to see and I can only hope that their success in this small challenge will empower them to tackle more.
Finally our first groups of Kinder-2nd students who achieved ten stars enjoyed their first MakerSpace day. Every time student in grades Kinder-2nd come to the library they have a chance to earn up to three stars based on their behavior. When they make it to ten stars, they earn a MakerSpace day where they can use their library time to explore and create in different stations. Our stations this week included:
I'm so happy to announce that our library was award $1,500 to improve our MarkerSpace program from the Plano ISD Education Foundation. A MakersSpace is a place that allows students to create anything they can imagine with the supplies on hand. MakerSpaces can be high or low tech, expensive or low budget but through the ACT of creating something new students are challenged to inquire, take risks, problem solve, reflect on their results and even encouraged to apply what they learn to real world problems. The funds from the Grant to Educators award will be used to begin a MakerMondays program where students can visit the library on Mondays during recess or when they finish their class work. Beginning January 2018 the library will be set up with opportunities to explore STEM-tasic challenges such as creating a maze and coding a Dash bot to run through it, engineering structures such as towers and bridges, using geometry to design blueprints, learning about circuitry through LittleBit and SnapCircuit kits and turning scraps into artistic masterpieces in our creative corner. The mission of MakerMondays is to empower our students to discover their creative genius and prepare them for the future by exploring the foundations of science, technology, engineering and math careers. Make sure to stay tuned to see how this program develops!
Click on the link below to view some of the hottest new books at this years book fair!
Now that the school year is in full swing, all of our 2017 Bluebonnet nominees are here. This year's selection has something for everyone, action, adventure, heart-warming true tales. Which one will be your favorite?
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