Showing posts with label Library Promotion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Library Promotion. Show all posts
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Friday, July 22, 2016
Year Long Decorations Follow Up- Sustaining the Theme
About a year ago, I wrote a post about decorating the library with a year long theme. This is a follow up post on that topic:
For the longest time, I have considered elementary teachers to be among the best practitioners in the field of education. They are masters of integrating across curricular areas, including hands on learning opportunities, and generally making learning fun! My wife is one of these elementary educators, and although I taught middle school and high school and now work in an 8-9th grade library, I still borrow many of my best ideas from her and other elementary educators! 
Among the ideas I have "borrowed" from my elementary colleagues is the idea of a year long theme in the library. Two years ago, we had a superhero theme. I was able to get a variety of Batman masks and posters from Marvel comics in honor of his 75th anniversary that were used throughout the year in support of the theme.The challenge of a year long theme is how to keep it fresh and new. It is a best practice to change up displays about once a month-so how can this be done with a year long theme? I found it easier to do this with the superhero theme. I used the Batman masks from Marvel to disguise the classic novels and created a Robin mask for the YA companion novels. A Creative Commons image of Batman and Robin was used to draw attention to this "Dynamic Duos" display.
Student aides also created superhero window displays where they could pick a traditional superhero such as Green Lantern and then find books about them to place in the window. (In the case of Green Lantern, books with green themes or the word green in the title were selected) Students could also create their own. One student choose her favorite teacher who is affectionately known as "the Hobbit" and created a superhero poster featuring Super Hobbit. She then filled the display with the Lord of the Rings novels and books about characters from Middle Earth.
This past year, I went with a Monopoly board game theme. Instead of "passing go and collecting $200", the sign in computer featured a poster that said "sign in and go enjoy your library." Different book sections were featured signs like Fiction Avenue and Biography Boulevard. In terms of keeping a yearly theme "new", there were more challenges than with the superhero theme. 
Comparing the two yearly themes, I would say the superhero theme was more successful. It was easier to maintain momentum by changing up the displays throughout the year while maintaining the overall theme. Involving student aides in the decorating process also proved effective. Their creative idea to have superhero windows was one of the best displays of the year.Key questions to ask in considering year long themes include:
- Is there a historical anniversary or notable pop culture theme/event that could be used as a year long theme?
- Are there free/inexpensive decorations available that could support the selected theme?
- How can this theme be sustainable throughout the year?
- How can a yearly library theme mesh with a focus of our school during the current calendar year?
- Are there displays or contests that could be run that would support the yearly theme AND help to maintain enthusiasm for it?
- How can the faculty and students be involved in a yearly library theme?
As the new school year approaches, I am still considering some different year long theme ideas. What year long themes have you tried in your library/classroom and what did you do to sustain them/keep them fresh?
Follow me on Twitter:@brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library
On Twitter: @GoldenEagleLMC
On Instagram: @Goldeneaglelmc
Contact me by email: bjohnson3@sdale.org
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Genius Hour for Library Aides
Ever since hearing about Genius Hour at the Schools Without Walls Conference this past year, I have been intrigued about how best to implement it in the library.
For those who might be unfamiliar with it, Genius Hour, also known as Passion Project(s) or 20% time was born in Google where engineers were given that percentage of their work week to develop ideas and innovations they were interested in. This policy not only increased employee motivation and productivity, but it also led to innovations such as Google Mail and Google News.
There are a few basic principles of implementing Genius Hour in a school setting:
-projects are student directed/selected based on their research into areas of interest
-students have a means to demonstrate progress
-projects must be documented/presented in some way
This year, I posed this idea to my student aides: what would you do if you had 20% of class time each week to work on a project of your choosing? Students had to earn this privilege by displaying outstanding time management skills. Those aides who met the standard were rewarded with Genius Hour as their second semester final project, while those whose time management skills were still emerging were assigned a more structured final project.
Students were informed that they had qualified for Genius Hour and they were given about two weeks to research and select their ideas. We had to have some discussions about what would qualify as a Genius Hour project and emphasize the need for there to be some sort of product and documentation of their efforts. This lead to some funny conversations about what would be an appropriate Genius Hour project and what would not be. (For example, texting your girlfriend or playing a video game for 20% of class time would not meet the Genius Hour criterion :) )
Student aides came up with an impressive array of projects:
One student had a passion for teaching. She had worked with the pre Kindergarten program in our junior high throughout the year on various projects. For her project, she researched and taught pre-K students to make play dough.
One student had a passion for computers. He developed his coding skills through working in the library this year and was eager to expand his knowledge of how computers work. His project was to take apart a computer, and then rebuild it in a cardboard box. Since he used an enormous, old desktop, he named his project "Megalodon."
One student had a passion for video production. She had already worked on several video projects using i-Movie, including a book trailer and an informational video. As a result, she was ready to move in a different direction. For her project, she created a stop action video story on a whiteboard.
One student had a passion for singing and video production. He chose to create a video advertisement for our school's Karaoke club.
One student had a passion for gaming. He chose to build a Pokemon rom hack where he redesigned a section of the Pokemon world.
Looking back, I am proud of the array of projects students created. I observed the same spike in motivation and productivity from my student aides as they worked on their projects that Google executives observed. (There was even one student aide who attempted to sneak out of other classes to come back to the library to work on his Genius Hour idea!)
In the future, I look forward to providing more opportunities for Genius Hour through the library. Students each presented their projects informally to library staff. Next year, I hope to support students in more extensive documenting of their work perhaps through video or presentations to the school and the community.
This experience also got me thinking about how Genius Hour could be applied to the classroom. I look forward to exploring this during the upcoming school term with my teachers!
Follow me on Twitter:@brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library
On Twitter: @GoldenEagleLMC
On Instagram: @Goldeneaglelmc
Contact me by email: bjohnson3@sdale.org
For those who might be unfamiliar with it, Genius Hour, also known as Passion Project(s) or 20% time was born in Google where engineers were given that percentage of their work week to develop ideas and innovations they were interested in. This policy not only increased employee motivation and productivity, but it also led to innovations such as Google Mail and Google News.
There are a few basic principles of implementing Genius Hour in a school setting:
-projects are student directed/selected based on their research into areas of interest
-students have a means to demonstrate progress
-projects must be documented/presented in some way
This year, I posed this idea to my student aides: what would you do if you had 20% of class time each week to work on a project of your choosing? Students had to earn this privilege by displaying outstanding time management skills. Those aides who met the standard were rewarded with Genius Hour as their second semester final project, while those whose time management skills were still emerging were assigned a more structured final project.
Students were informed that they had qualified for Genius Hour and they were given about two weeks to research and select their ideas. We had to have some discussions about what would qualify as a Genius Hour project and emphasize the need for there to be some sort of product and documentation of their efforts. This lead to some funny conversations about what would be an appropriate Genius Hour project and what would not be. (For example, texting your girlfriend or playing a video game for 20% of class time would not meet the Genius Hour criterion :) )
Student aides came up with an impressive array of projects:
One student had a passion for teaching. She had worked with the pre Kindergarten program in our junior high throughout the year on various projects. For her project, she researched and taught pre-K students to make play dough.
One student had a passion for computers. He developed his coding skills through working in the library this year and was eager to expand his knowledge of how computers work. His project was to take apart a computer, and then rebuild it in a cardboard box. Since he used an enormous, old desktop, he named his project "Megalodon."
One student had a passion for video production. She had already worked on several video projects using i-Movie, including a book trailer and an informational video. As a result, she was ready to move in a different direction. For her project, she created a stop action video story on a whiteboard.
One student had a passion for singing and video production. He chose to create a video advertisement for our school's Karaoke club.
One student had a passion for gaming. He chose to build a Pokemon rom hack where he redesigned a section of the Pokemon world.
Looking back, I am proud of the array of projects students created. I observed the same spike in motivation and productivity from my student aides as they worked on their projects that Google executives observed. (There was even one student aide who attempted to sneak out of other classes to come back to the library to work on his Genius Hour idea!)
In the future, I look forward to providing more opportunities for Genius Hour through the library. Students each presented their projects informally to library staff. Next year, I hope to support students in more extensive documenting of their work perhaps through video or presentations to the school and the community.
This experience also got me thinking about how Genius Hour could be applied to the classroom. I look forward to exploring this during the upcoming school term with my teachers!
Follow me on Twitter:@brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library
On Twitter: @GoldenEagleLMC
On Instagram: @Goldeneaglelmc
Contact me by email: bjohnson3@sdale.org
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Monopolizing the Library
As a junior high media specialist, I have tremendous respect for my elementary colleagues and the great work they do. I have found that many "elementary" ideas also are effective with my junior high school students. One of these is creating a yearly theme in the Media Center. This year, I selected Monopoly as the theme. In support of the theme, I utilized several components of the game for displays and library procedures. I use a Google form to document student free flow visits. To encourage students to follow this procedure, I made a sign that borrowed the themed of the "do not pass go, do not collect $200." Instead it reads Sign in on the Computer, Now Go Enjoy your Library."
I also created large Monopoly styled signs above different sections such as Fiction Place, Non Fiction Avenue and Biography Boulevard. Having these large signs above the sections has helped my students to more easily find the materials they are looking for.
Another way I have utilized the Monopoly theme is to develop a display based on Chance Cards. Similar to the way those cards play in the game, students are taking a small risk by checking out a book that is wrapped up and has a brief phrase hinting about the theme of the book. Students have the opportunity to check out one of these books and write a short review. If they do so, they can earn a small chocolate treat as a reward and their reviews are posted on the display.
I selected titles from the library that have yet to be checked out. This display has been a great way to encourage students to read from different genres they might not otherwise select. Another benefit has been that it has increased our circulation and interest in these titles.Follow me on Twitter: @brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library!
On Twitter: @Goldeneaglelmc
On Instagram: @Goldeneaglelmc
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