Teaching the Big6

I've been teaching the Big6 research process to sixth graders this week. We've made our way through Task Definition and Information Seeking Strategies. While there have been a few "ah ha" moments with some kids, so many of our students seem to be stuck in Googleland.

How do we truly move kids through a research process, be it Big6 or Super3 or some other process, without them reverting to the lone term put into the search box of Yahoo or Ask.com or Dogpile. (Yes, some kid mentioned Dogpile today; I didn't know kids still used that!)

I used one of my favorite video clips, a commercial actually, to illustrate the fact that if they get stuck they need to think through the process, figure out what the next step is. (Yes, they all liked the commercial, and most of them "got it".)

But only time will really tell. We used their most recent studies of ancient Greece and Rome to talk through and walk through the first steps and there was hand-holding. When we cut them lose in the spring for the big sixth grade research project (a person that changed the world for better or worse), will they take the time to define their task and plan their search strategies in order to locate appropriate resources?

Or will they just type their person's name into Google on day one?

A bright spot in my day

As you probably know, SSR has been a focus of ours over the past couple of years. The SSR program got off to a great start this year! We did staff development before school started so everyone was ready to go on Day 1. The allotted SSR time is longer this year--closer to 20 minutes everyday--and some teachers are beginning to work in some extension activities: discussion, booktalks, etc.

But so far the most gratifying comment has come from a science teacher, and it was about HIS reading during SSR time. He told me that over the summer he managed to read only one book, but within the first few weeks of school he'd already finished a book. The difference, he said, was SSR. "I read my book during SSR, then I'm so interested in it that I take it home and read more in the evenings," he told me.

It made my day to hear this, and I hope SSR is having the same effect on students--increasing both the amount of time they spend reading and their reading enjoyment.

Are you looking at data?

Take a look at the Library Media Program Data Wall we created last week! We started collecting data at the very beginning of this school year by using Zoomerang as a survey tool for all 7th and 8th grade students. Questions pertained to students' past use of the library media center, as well as likes/dislikes/changes they'd like to see in the library media program this school year. Some of this data now appears on the data wall.

By using student survey data, we completed a collection mapping project on our sports collection (fiction, biographies, and nonfiction titles were included). These materials are HIGHLY sought-after, yet our collection is out-dated and poorly reflects student interests. We have already designated a portion of this year's budget to updating this popular segment of the collection.

We are also tracking library media research class usage. Because we're always striving to increase our true collaborative partnerships with teachers, we're focusing on who is signing up for research and what projects they're working on. We're confident we will meet our goal of increasing true collaborative experiences.

So . . . . what type of data are you looking at?

-Kristen

Ommmmmmmmm....

Ah! I feel refreshed and energized to start the new year! Why? Because our learning team met yesterday. It's amazing what a group of people can do for you. The collegial relationships and friendships that we have built, that have grown, in our learning team can really sustain you.

Yesterday was an incredible morning of reviewing where we've been, where we are, and where we are going. It's hard to believe that the group began six years ago as 'Creating a Climate and Culture for Reading', a group of middle school media coordinators looking at reading in our library media programs and schools.

We've evolved into a group of nine middle school media coordinators who look to one another for professional advice, for support and inspiration, and for challenging and though-provoking conversations about everything that is school and library media. It's this small group that helps us see the big picture!

As we prepare for another school year, we begin to focus ourselves and our work in our learning team. We will continue to look at the beliefs from the standards through the eyes of various individuals as we set goals for ourselves, our programs and our learning team.

I say, "Bring on the year!"

Going Paperless

It's strange to say that a librarian is going paperless, but I'm trying to get rid of some of the endless sheets that have filled my calendar or my schedule books in the past.

I've got my entire life, both personal and professional, input into a Google calendar now. I'm using the daily tasks lists as my to-do list. So far, I'm still organized and managing my affairs quite nicely.

I'm exploring ideas about how to schedule the media center in a paperless world, and there are a number of online options. Right now, I'm sticking with using a table schedule in Blackboard. It gives teachers the opportunity to see the schedule, but still gives me the control of "writing" in the schedule without their signing up without my knowledge.

A colleague suggested GenBook, the free online scheduling website. She gives teachers the options of choosing their dates and times and making their "appointments" in the media center. I'm not sure of the control of this particular site.

I've also been told that our district has a calendar / schedule program that we could possibly use. I'm waiting to hear back on this application before throwing my hands up and sticking with Blackboard.

Hopefully my efforts to go paperless will be smooth, seamless, organized. I just don't want to find us going paperless -- reading all books electronically -- any time soon.

Mixing It Up! Reorganizing the Fiction Section

Okay, y'all can call me crazy if you want to. I have a student intern this summer, and we just had a discussion about marketing the fiction section, what works, what doesn't. Do we want to highlight certain books, topics, genres? You know, the usual displays of series books, mystery titles, whatever. Or do we really want to mix it up?

Well, we're going for it. At least for a couple of months. We're going to rearrange the fiction section by genre. Not a lot of genres, mind you. Just the biggies: scifi/fantasy, mystery, and realistic. At least that's the start.

What will happen? Will circulation increase? Will it be a nightmare to reshelve those books? We haven't decided on genre stickers yet. Will the children find it appealing?

Will we need to open up a coffee bar in the fiction section? Okay, so it's a little Barnes & Noble. But they sell tons of books. (Sure, Amazon is doing pretty good, too, and you don't even see their displays!)

What do you think will happen? What will be the impact? Would you think about taking the plunge into reorganizing your fiction section?

Feeling Lopsided

While I know that we all got glowing reviews from our administrators, I wanted to share my personal revelation during my year end eval that I just had from my AP. I think I might have upset him actually, but I said to him, "This would be a great evaluation for an instructional technology facilitator. Too bad it only covers about one third of what I do."

I can't decide if I'm more upset that technology is the main thing that people recognize me for doing, or if I'm more upset that I'm not more demonstrative with the reading, books, research instruction.

I'm feeling sorta lopsided.

Do you feel torn between reading instruction, research instruction and techonology usage with students and staff?