Saturday, December 31, 2016
Thursday, December 22, 2016
No Bridge/Hangout too Far
In the aftermath of this year's United States presidential election, my students have come across a great learning opportunity. When I opened my email the morning after the election, I was pleasantly surprised to see a message from Lorena's class in Mexico inquiring as to when we could visit about the United States election results on Hangout.
That same morning, I also had a message from my colleague Pernilla and her students in Sweden. They recorded a video message filled with questions about how my students in Arkansas thought the election would change things in America. It contained questions such as "will the wall really be built between Mexico and the United States?" , "what will happen to relations between the US and Russia?"
In the past, our ability to connect with classes around the world has been limited to those classrooms that are about 6 time zones ahead or behind where we are located in Arkansas (our school is located in the GMT-6 zone). We are limited to the hours where our school day(s) intersect, unless a class is from a boarding school, or willing to come back after their school day is over.
The election results have opened up a new frontier in our Hangouts. I am excited to partner with Jamie Stallings our Human Geography teacher on this. We have worked together in the past to connect with our peers in South America, Europe and the Caribbean through Hangouts. to show students how to respond to their peers' in Sweden's video message using the Let's Recap app, and YouTube connect. We look forward to hearing/visiting with Pernilla's class again soon!
By moving into this new frontier for connecting with our international peers, we have expanded our students options to truly connect on a global scale. No longer are we limited to a few time zones ahead or behind of where our school is physically located. No longer are we limited by different school/bell schedules. Through exploring these video options, our students can take advantage of the time differences to connect with their peers literally around the world!
In effect, no class is too far.... no Hangout is too far away. I am excited to see where this new option takes our students!
Are you interested in connecting with our classes at Lakeside Junior High School through these apps, or Google Hangouts/Skype? Contact me at bjohnson3@sdale.org
On Twittter: @goldeneagleLMC
@brian_librarian
On Instagram: GoldenEagleLMC
That same morning, I also had a message from my colleague Pernilla and her students in Sweden. They recorded a video message filled with questions about how my students in Arkansas thought the election would change things in America. It contained questions such as "will the wall really be built between Mexico and the United States?" , "what will happen to relations between the US and Russia?"
In the past, our ability to connect with classes around the world has been limited to those classrooms that are about 6 time zones ahead or behind where we are located in Arkansas (our school is located in the GMT-6 zone). We are limited to the hours where our school day(s) intersect, unless a class is from a boarding school, or willing to come back after their school day is over.
The election results have opened up a new frontier in our Hangouts. I am excited to partner with Jamie Stallings our Human Geography teacher on this. We have worked together in the past to connect with our peers in South America, Europe and the Caribbean through Hangouts. to show students how to respond to their peers' in Sweden's video message using the Let's Recap app, and YouTube connect. We look forward to hearing/visiting with Pernilla's class again soon!
In effect, no class is too far.... no Hangout is too far away. I am excited to see where this new option takes our students!
Are you interested in connecting with our classes at Lakeside Junior High School through these apps, or Google Hangouts/Skype? Contact me at bjohnson3@sdale.org
On Twittter: @goldeneagleLMC
@brian_librarian
On Instagram: GoldenEagleLMC
Friday, October 28, 2016
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Raising the Next Generation of Librarians
This past spring, I had a unique opportunity. One of my middle school colleagues contacted me about having one of her 7th grade students come over and shadow me. He has an interest in being a librarian for his career. I jumped at this chance to have a student shadow me.
This opportunity got me thinking about what we are doing to help raise up the next generation of librarians. In this day and age when education programs are seeing fewer students enroll and by extension the number of candidates for teaching positions is shrinking (especially in areas of science math and technology) it is even more paramount. What will that mean for a specialized field such as school librarianship? Will there be enough qualified candidates to continue the important work of 21st century librarianship we have begun?
The 7th grader was on my campus for about 2 hours in the middle of the morning. I made it my goal to show him as many different aspects of the job of a school librarian as I could in that short time in order to paint as clear of a picture as I could of what it means to be a 21st Century school librarian. He got to see how to collaborate, connect, administrate, publicize, and learn in the context of the LJHS library program.
The morning opened with a Skype with a class of high school students from Transylvania, Romania. The topics discussed ranged from how students in Eastern Europe view the influx of Syrian refugees into Europe, to current presidential candidates in the United States and our cultural similarities.
I also worked with this student to teach him some basics of coding in Snap and he practiced writing a program to make the one of the Finch robots we have on loan this year move across the carpet in several directions.
We also visited with teachers in the hall and in their classrooms about upcoming collaborations. We talked with the home economics teacher about judging the Cupcake Wars contest she invited me to participate in and discussed an upcoming lesson with one of the 8th grade science teachers where they will be writing code in the library to move a Finch robot through student created mazes.
So how exactly to we raise up the next generation of school librarians? I think it means employing some of the methods we already use to publicize our programs with our constituents.
Here are a few practical steps:
Present.
Present our profession to future administrators and instructional facilitators in the college classes/workshops so many of us teach at night.
Model.
Promote/publicize our careers as librarians to our students-what do they see us modeling? Is it just flashy programming? Do they see us thinking outside of the box? Do they see us succeeding and failing at times with new ideas and technologies?
Stay in Touch.
I gave this student my email address and encouraged him to send me questions he has about entering the field, and to set up another time to shadow me in the library.
Cultivate Potential.
When we see potential in our students and teachers as future media specialists, we need to tell them! Think back to why you became a librarian. Did it have something to do with a particularly inspiring experience in the library, or the relationship you had with a librarian growing up, or in the building(s) you taught in before becoming a librarian? Let us all be that same inspiration to our students going forward!
When we take these conscious steps, we will already be moving in the right direction to raise up the next generation of librarians!
Contact me:
Follow me on Twitter:@brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library
On Twitter: @GoldenEagleLMC
On Instagram: @Goldeneaglelmc
Contact me by email: bjohnson3@sdale.org
This opportunity got me thinking about what we are doing to help raise up the next generation of librarians. In this day and age when education programs are seeing fewer students enroll and by extension the number of candidates for teaching positions is shrinking (especially in areas of science math and technology) it is even more paramount. What will that mean for a specialized field such as school librarianship? Will there be enough qualified candidates to continue the important work of 21st century librarianship we have begun?
The 7th grader was on my campus for about 2 hours in the middle of the morning. I made it my goal to show him as many different aspects of the job of a school librarian as I could in that short time in order to paint as clear of a picture as I could of what it means to be a 21st Century school librarian. He got to see how to collaborate, connect, administrate, publicize, and learn in the context of the LJHS library program.
The morning opened with a Skype with a class of high school students from Transylvania, Romania. The topics discussed ranged from how students in Eastern Europe view the influx of Syrian refugees into Europe, to current presidential candidates in the United States and our cultural similarities.
I also worked with this student to teach him some basics of coding in Snap and he practiced writing a program to make the one of the Finch robots we have on loan this year move across the carpet in several directions.We also visited with teachers in the hall and in their classrooms about upcoming collaborations. We talked with the home economics teacher about judging the Cupcake Wars contest she invited me to participate in and discussed an upcoming lesson with one of the 8th grade science teachers where they will be writing code in the library to move a Finch robot through student created mazes.
So how exactly to we raise up the next generation of school librarians? I think it means employing some of the methods we already use to publicize our programs with our constituents.
Here are a few practical steps:
Present.
Present our profession to future administrators and instructional facilitators in the college classes/workshops so many of us teach at night.
Model.
Promote/publicize our careers as librarians to our students-what do they see us modeling? Is it just flashy programming? Do they see us thinking outside of the box? Do they see us succeeding and failing at times with new ideas and technologies?
Stay in Touch.
I gave this student my email address and encouraged him to send me questions he has about entering the field, and to set up another time to shadow me in the library.
Cultivate Potential.
When we see potential in our students and teachers as future media specialists, we need to tell them! Think back to why you became a librarian. Did it have something to do with a particularly inspiring experience in the library, or the relationship you had with a librarian growing up, or in the building(s) you taught in before becoming a librarian? Let us all be that same inspiration to our students going forward!
When we take these conscious steps, we will already be moving in the right direction to raise up the next generation of librarians!
Contact me:
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, August 4, 2016
Exploring the Possibilities of Open Education Resources
One of the other fascinating sessions I attended at the Emints National Conference was about curation and Open Source Resources. Prior to the session, I was aware of several Open Source resources such as Wikimedia Commons and Archive.org. But the session's presenter shared several options that were new to me including the list below:
Merlot- from California State University
-will allow you to search for content which is device specific (iPad, iPhone, Andriod tablet, etc.)
Orange Grove-Florida's Open Education Resources Repository
-sortable by K-12, Collegiate resources and institutional collections.
CK-12-features premade online Flex-Textbooks
This session also discussed options for curating including LiveBinders and a curation option that was new to me called Lesson Paths. Since the session, I have done some work with Lesson Paths and was glad to learn that it meshes well with Google Classroom which most of the teachers I work with use as a course management system.
This session got me thinking about my role in curation as a media specialist. In the past, I have developed pathfinders of print and online resources to support the instructional units my teachers presenting, but this session opened up several new possibilities for curation:
I created a Symbaloo featuring these resources. Click here to access it.
Just think of the possibilities!
Contact me:
Follow me on Twitter:@brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library
On Twitter: @GoldenEagleLMC
On Instagram: @Goldeneaglelmc
Contact me by email: bjohnson3@sdale.org
Merlot- from California State University
-will allow you to search for content which is device specific (iPad, iPhone, Andriod tablet, etc.)
Orange Grove-Florida's Open Education Resources Repository
-sortable by K-12, Collegiate resources and institutional collections.
CK-12-features premade online Flex-Textbooks
This session also discussed options for curating including LiveBinders and a curation option that was new to me called Lesson Paths. Since the session, I have done some work with Lesson Paths and was glad to learn that it meshes well with Google Classroom which most of the teachers I work with use as a course management system.
This session got me thinking about my role in curation as a media specialist. In the past, I have developed pathfinders of print and online resources to support the instructional units my teachers presenting, but this session opened up several new possibilities for curation:
- Open Education Resources could be used to develop online, customizable textbook
- Open Education Resource offerings mentioned in this session could improve pathfinders by incorporating more resources including videos, lesson plans, and other materials.
- Open Source Resources could also provided needed support for blended learning initiatives
I created a Symbaloo featuring these resources. Click here to access it.
Just think of the possibilities!
Contact me:
Follow me on Twitter:@brian_librarian
Follow the Golden Eagle Library
On Twitter: @GoldenEagleLMC
On Instagram: @Goldeneaglelmc
Contact me by email: bjohnson3@sdale.org
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
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