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LOTHROP ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015: 2014-2015

Collection Development

 In the school year 2014-2015 my fiction and story collection grew tremendously.  Many of my students asked for different series of books such as, Bone, Ruby and the Booker Boys, I Survived, and any book by Raina Telgemeier. There were so many great options for fiction books this year. One area I noticed that needs help next year is my 398.2 section. So many classics come from there and they get checked out so often, it is hard to keep them from falling apart. With my 2015-2016 budget I plan on restocking certain fairy tale favorites that are the most popular such as, The Gingerbread Man, Three Little Pigs, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. 

Circulation/Fines Strategies

In the school year 2014-2015 I stuck to a strict two book check out limit. This helped the students not lose a lot of library books. There were still a lot of overdue books, and still are a lot of overdue books, but I do not collect or ask for any money. If a student has more than 3 overdue books, they are to go to a designated shelf to select their books. This designated shelf is full of non-library books that have either been donated or discarded from the library catalog. There has never been a student that has left library check out without books. 

Resources

The first district resource that was provided to my school that I used the most was Jennifer Jacobson’s book No More! “I’m Done”. This book provided Lothrop’s teachers and myself with many great lessons and booklists to choose from. At the beginning of the school year I ordered almost every book that is used for Jacobson’s lessons and put them in a special collection for teachers to check out. I did not let students check out these books because I wanted this collection strictly for lesson plan use.

Another district issued resource that was helpful was the IPad mini with portable scanner. This resource made check outs much easier and faster. 

Library Goals

  1. My first goal for my library this year was to consistently practice and reinforce routines and procedures. I would set aside a short amount of time each class to review one procedure. This worked very well because we didn’t spend a lot of time on it and students knew what to do and how to behave in library.
  2. My second goal for my library this year was to encourage more teachers to use the online databases I purchased with my library budget. In order to make this happened at the beginning of the year I went around and showed each teacher how to use the database and what the username and passwords were. If ever a teacher came to ask for books about a topic, I would direct them to either pebblego or brainpop in addition to books.
  3. My third goal of the year was to encourage check outs from preschool kids and families. I went and talked to the preschool teachers to tell parents to come in and check out books before or after school.
  4. My fourth goal of the year was to do more book talks during check out times. Students loved every book I spoke about, but it did cause some fighting over books. I would pick the very best students to get books first, so it became a reward to get a book talk book.
  5. My fifth goal of the year was to purchase more books with multiracial characters and diverse families. This was not hard to do, because there are so many options out there to choose from. Students loved all the books I got and they are some of the most circulated books in the library. 

Instructional Best Practices

 

1. One of the teaching strategies I used a lot this year was the 2×10 positive connections. I would either focus on students that did not listen in library or any students I knew were having a hard time in school. I would always make time in the mornings and afternoon to seek out that student and talk about non-school related things. Over time the student and I would build a relationship and things would get better in library.

2. Another teaching strategy I used this year was greeting students at the door before every class. I found that this would set the tone for the entire class and students would always smile when they saw me.

3. Another teaching strategy I used this year was quick writes. At first students would moan and groan about having to write but I would always make the topics fun or silly. Sometimes I wouldn’t even give them a topic, they would just have to write. 

Omaha Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, age, genetic information, citizenship status, or economic status in its programs, activities and employment and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following individual has been designated to address inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Superintendent of Schools, 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE 68131 (531-299-9822).

Las Escuelas Públicas de Omaha no discriminan basados en la raza, color, origen nacional, religión, sexo, estado civil, orientación sexual, discapacidad , edad, información genética, estado de ciudadanía, o estado económico, en sus programas, actividades y empleo, y provee acceso equitativo a los “Boy Scouts” y a otros grupos juveniles designados. La siguiente persona ha sido designada para atender estas inquietudes referentes a las pólizas de no discriminación: El Superintendente de las Escuelas, 3215 Cuming Street, Omaha, NE 68131 (531-299-9822).