Standing Bear Library Annual Report: 2014-2015

Focus on Fiction and Story Collection (short stories)

1. Promote good literature that has been hidden on the shelf to see if interest peeks.

Adding signage to our fiction shelves helped students that struggel with "I can't find any good books here" syndrome. The signs are easy to read and help them find books that look interesting. I believe this was extremely helpful to 1st, 2nd adn 3rd grade. We also had 2 shelves with "Something New" popping up each week. Sometimes it was new books, a series that had been overlooked or "Teacher Picks." It was a fun easy way to add a little more excitement to check out. I loved it and will add to this idea even more next year. I also create fun and interest provoking bulletin boards to offer students other ideas they could be investigating in the wonderful books in our library. I have a lot of fun with my display cases.

2. Barnes & Nobles Graphic Novels additions

This was my first year to

3. Look at reports to discover books that haven't been circulated for 5/3 or more years.

4. Purchase high interest titles with library funds.

5. Consider student interest when selecting new titles.

Circulation & Fines

According to our reports, check-outs were up by 4.82 % this year and 9.05% last year. I believe this is substantial increase. Our girls are still checking out more books than boys but the margin of difference has decreased a bit.  We will continue to find ways to increase check-outs with our boy..

Our first strategy was to check out books to all grade levels the FIRST week of school except Kindergarten. We began check out will Kindergarten on week two. We also checked out books until May 18. These two chanages would have effect our numbers. I was afraid out numbers might go down because we had a few days that LS2 wasn't responding. I think that was in January after the changes loaded to LS2 but I am not certain.  Other things we tried were:

1.     Kindergarten began checking out 3 books around November.

2.     First graders were checking out 4 books around November if they didn't have any late books on their account.

3.     2^nd - 4^th Grade students were allowed to take up to 5 books a week if they wanted.  We also encouraged reluctant readers to check out at least 3 books and when we had para support, we assisted those reluctant readers with finding interesting book to read.

4.     To keep circulation numbers up and new books in our students hands, we encouraged students to come check out books anytime their teacher would let them if they missed check out from absences, field trips or they had forgotten their books.

5.      In past years we have collected fines for lost books only in extreme cases or if parents willingly came in wanting to replace a lost or damaged book.  This year our policy has been to waive charges unless the incident was malicious or reoccurring.  In those extreme cases, we would reduce the fine as needed. We are open to letting students “read” fines away but haven’t needed to implement this strategy yet.  We are working on the logistics of when students could come in within the school day.

6.  We started a new shelf to showcase collections, new books, "Teacher Pics" and "Student Pics"  Books placed on these shelves were checked out like hot cakes. 

7. New signage was implemented through out the fiction section which helped 1st grade and 2nd grade find their favorite books easily. It also sparked interest for reluctant readers.

We used Pebblego with K-2^nd grades. With Kindergarten and 1^st grade, we primarily used this resource as whole group. We also gave them opportunities to independently explore Pebblego. The students love the interactive features, videos, and games. The ‘read to me’ feature helps the younger and struggling readers to develop independence. PebbleGo is also ideal for 2^nd graders as they can use the resource to help them with independent research projects. Second grade Classroom teachers used Pebblego for animal research. In the library, we used it to research for a book about Spring. This resource is wonderful and I definitely plan on using it again in the future. I feel that Pebblego is a great age appropriate research tool for younger, K-2^nd grade students.

 We used Culturegrams for our 3^rd grade state research project and our 4th grade President research. The states edition is a bit harder to read for struggling readers for 3^rd grade. However, I like the map and flag print outs and the fast facts. I do plan on continuing to use this resource. I also used World Book Kids, which has facts and information on all states, and the ‘read to me’ feature is useful for my struggling readers. The president section was informative and easy to navigate. We were able to teach the research process to 2nd, 3rd & 4th grades using these valued resources paid for by the district. I am thankful that we have them.

World Book is great for animal reports with 3rd & 4th grade. I really like the features that the World of Animals section has to offer. The animal exhibit is great for students to find facts and they enjoy comparing animals to each other. The articles are just the right length; not to long for the third graders, but includes enough information for their projects.

 We showed our 4^th grade students how to log in to their LS2 accounts. We went over the available features. For a project, we had the students write reviews for a book and post them. This resource will be more useful to them in middle and high school, but we wanted the students to know how to log in and how it can be used.

I also used Learn360 when I need pictures, movie clips and online stories to supplement my lessons. This is a valued resource in the library and well used within our school.

1. Schedule and teach Common Sense Media to all grade levels in order to comply with e-rate funding and to teach our 2nd -4th graders to sign in and use their new Outlook email accounts.

We delivered Common Sense Medial lessons to all grade levels and with 2nd grade we taught a few more lessons. We were scheduled to begin Digital Passport with 4th grade but we were not able to use the computer lab because of testing. With our third graders, we taught both lessons to comply with E-rate funding. We also delivered safety lessons and instructions to sign in, use outlook email. Students were able to practice writing and sending respectful emails.  email safety and the importance of logging off when finished to 2nd, 3rd & 4th graders.

 2. Disseminate information about technology and resources to the teachers at Standing Bear in ways to encourage them to implement available resources and tools into their instruction. (office365)

In the beginning of the school year, I became an MIE for my school. All year long I have shared what I was fortunate to learn first hand at my meetings at TAC. I helped my administration, teachers and students through the transition of first class and the introduction of Outlook 365. Later I held training sessions at school with One Drive, One Note and Notebook. I gave teachers ideas and examples showing how they can use Office 365 to make their lives easier and more organized. We also discussed and modeled ways to use this new Office package in the classroom.  During our second conferences I offered one on one sessions for parents with concerns and questions about Office 365. I supported them with answers on how to log on to student email, internet safety advice and privacy issues.  Along the year we taught students and staff to use and locate library databases offered by OPS. I have an open door and am always happy to assist teachers any time they have a tech question.

 3.  Improve student achievement through implementing writing activities across all grade levels.

 This year we began using writing journals in the library. We started the journals the first week of school and we used them all year long. We loved our journals. They show how hard we worked in the library all year long. We used them to learn note taking skills, research, reading responses, brain storming, writing summaries, and so much more! The students were proud of the book they had authored and illustrated themselves.

 4. Increase student achievement by implementing creative engagement strategies across all grade levels.

I used the Academic Action plan note ook for ideas to increase student achievement. There were several key note presentation during the staff development meetings with engagement strategies to implement as well. I also attended NETA and found some great ideas and motivation from the talented speakers that were brought in for that conference. Some of my favorite strategies are think-ink-pair-share, attention getting strategies, student choice, whiteboard responses, round robin and movement.

 5. Use online resources in authentic ways to impact student understanding and learning.

 Many online resources were used with my students this year to support understanding and learning. Pebblego, World Book Kids, Culturegrams and other online resources were used in various lessons and projects across all grade levels. The lessons were standards- based and the resources used were grade appropriate. In several projects, we worked with the classroom teacher, in which we completed the research in the library or computer lab and the final projects were finished in the classroom. The teachers are pleased with the cooperative projects and are starting to come to us when they want to do a project.  I plan on continuing and expanding my use with these tools across all grade levels.

mayn onine resources were used with my studenst this year to support understanding and learning. Pebblego, World Book Kids, Culturegrams and other onilne resourcew were used in various lessons and projects acrosos all grade levels.  The lessons were stardard based and the resources used were grade appropriate.  In sevearal projects, we worked wwith the classroom teacher, in which we completed the research in the library or computer lab and the final projects were finished in the classroom.  The teachers are pleased with the cooperative projects and are starting to come to us when they want to do a project.  i plan on continuing and expanding my use with these tools across all grade levels.

Add your 5 personal goals for you/your library this year.

The 3 strategies I selected from the Academic Achievement Plan spiral bound book are cooperative leaving, round writing.

1. One strategy I chose to focus on this year is "Giving Directions Explicitly and Visually." This is done between and during modeled, shared guided and independent practice each time a new activity or request is given. To do this correctly you must use an opening statement to signal the process has begun. I use "Give Me Five" because it is the building wide attention signal. After I have their attention, I begin with oral instructions (students are quiet). Instructions must be oral and visual. The visual instructions are always displayed using my LCD projector and the ELMO. After directions, THEN students can and are encouraged to ask questions. After questions have been addressed, I re-read instructions (sometime we do choral reading) and then we begin our task. This strategy assures that we all stay focused and that all parts of the project have been addressed. I always include "what to do if I am finished" in my instructions as well. Now we are ready and able to work and I am free to help struggling students INSTEAD of repeating directions throughout the class period.

2. I also chose to use a more cooperative learning strategies. My favorite was "Rally Robin" and "Talking Chips" These strategies are intended to ensure all students participate and are held accountable for their contributions and learning. The benefits are students with increased reasoning strategies, positive self esteem, on task and motivated to learn and participate. I used the Rally Robin to get students thinking about what they already know or what they have learned today. Sometimes we pass our journals to our table mates and write 1 thing we learned well. Sometimes we use one piece of paper per table and then the group each adds to the prompt or brainstorm topic. Talking chips encourage students to participate on group projects and getting students to ask questions and solve problems. Both strategies are perfect tools to encourage conversations about the learning that is coming or the learning that has just happened! Love love love it!!

3.  Finally, my last strategy of choice this year is "Informal Checks for Understanding" I was surprised how informative these small checks for understanding can be as you are pacing instruction. I use a very simple version of this strategy. During instruction, I stop and ask for a show of hands to see how they feel about their learning level of the new learning that has been introduced.

1. One finger up means "I understand the subject."

2. Two fingers up means "I understand but I still have 1 or 2 questions."

3. Three fingers up means "I am confused or lost."

In less than 5 seconds, I am able to check for understanding. This allows me to adjust my teaching pace. I can choose to re-teach, re-group or move forward at a quicker pace. Sometimes I can get most of the class started on the next step and pull my "3 Finger Group" to the side and give them additional support to get them caught up.  Informal checks for understanding provides valuable information for me as a teacher. Great strategy and very worth the time!