Thinking Ahead to 2019-2020

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It's finally summer, yet I keep finding myself thinking of things for next year. I guess it's normal when you're an educator to always having "school stuff" running in the back of your mind. So, here's what I've been thinking about attempting in the next school year: 

Learning Commons Certification

https://www.cobblibrarymedia.com/certification.html

Using the theme: "Level Up in the LLC" (I'm "officially switching the name from media center to library learning commons next year - that much I do know!).  I was inspired by a cool poster I got last year from GaETC. You can see it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp9-VAfHAVD/  I'm thinking maybe the students (and maybe the teachers) can earn badges for makerspace activities. I still need to do some research on the whole badging thing. I'm a little nervous about it. Oh, and there's a Digital Citizenship certification program offered from my district through their Instructional Technology department that I'll probably add in as part of theme.

Expand on the Growth Mindset project that I started two years ago. I started it as the theme for the 2017-2018 school year and during the 2018-2019 school year I collaborated with the two guidance counselors to make it into a school wide program. In 2019-2020 we're going to expand it further to include teachers. We're working on a special faculty presentation for pre-planning. 

Since I'm switching from "media center" to "library learning commons" I'll need to convert & update my school website. Currently it's www.cobblearning.net/gmmc but I've reserved the domain www.cobblearning.net/gmlibrary so I'm good to go - - I just need to get started. 

Nearpod is a tool my district provides for us and I have a little experience with it. I want more and so I'm going to look at earning certification. 

https://nearpod.com/certified-educator

Discover Education Streaming is another valuable tool my district provides for us. There's now a certification option, so I'm going to look into that.

https://den.discoveryeducation.com/participate/densi-streaming-certification

Newsela is one more resource from the district (I know I'm very fortunate!)  and I just attending a session on it during the 2nd Annual CobbInTech conference. And guess what? There's a certification for it!

https://blog.newsela.com/newsela-certified-educator

My "official" school goal will be to research/take classes/learn more about Library Learning Commons with the hope of earning Learning Commons Certification. The stuff I've planned to go with the "Level Up in the LLC" theme will go along as part of my goal. 

So, what's next for you? Let me know!

I presented at the 2nd Annual CobbInTech Conference!

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I presented last year at the 1st Annual CobbInTech Conference and I presented again this year! Here's a snippet of my session list and a photo taken by a friend during my presentation. 

I was also able to attend sessions taught by other teachers and media specialists where I learned more about Bloxels, online story publication tools, making podcasts and Newsela. Best of all, it was a free conference, I got a t-shirt in my presenter goodie bag and I met some new people in the district.

Reflections on 2018-2019

I don't think I ever typed a blog post about my goals for the 2018-2019 school year, but they included:

1. Genrefication of my fiction section
2. Earning Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) certification (We're a Micrsosoft district not Google so no point in pursuing that certification)
3. Earning Learning Commons certification
4. Attending GaETC since I'd missed the past two years

So how'd I do? Not too bad considering I added some stuff along the way. For those of you who know me well, I know you're so not surprised by this! ;)

Here's what I ended up doing: 

1. Fiction Genrefication 
2. Creating seasonal buckets for the Everybody section
3. Earned MIE certification
4. Earned Brain Pop Educator certification
5. Began a newsletter with stats that I shared with faculty and parents
6. Leveraged the power of the PTA by having them share info for me on their Facebook page and e-blasts
7. Attended GaETC 
8. Took over the Georgia Department of  Education's ELA Twitter account  (@GaDOEELA) for a week. See my tweets #litchamsga
9. Selected as a presenter at the 2nd CobbInTech conference on June 5 for "Show and Share with Puppet Pals"
10. Selected as a presenter at the GLMA Summer Institute on June 10 for "Maker Mornings"

So, I didn't earn the Learning Commons Certification, but I have a great start for next year. I'm going to make that part of my 2019-2020 school year professional development goal. 

Were you able to accomplish all your goals for the 2018-2019 school year?  

#CaughtReading

May is Caught Reading Month (and a whole lot of other things) but with school coming to an end on the 22nd, I wanted to keep students focused on reading. It was also another way to keep the topic of reading fresh in everyone's mind with my summer reading promotions starting.

The concept was simple - share a photo of a student or teacher who was  "caught reading." Photos could be submitted by anyone - teachers, students, parents - and then I'd display them in the hall.

In all, there were 19 photos submitted, which isn't too bad considering the time of year. I initially asked for photos to be submitted to me already printed  - meaning don't email them to me and have me use  all my color ink to print them. However, only one photo was actually printed and the others came via email.  I gave in and took what was offered. Sometimes we have to do that. :)

I printed the photos and mounted them on a piece of black construction paper so they'd stand out a little better against the putty colored school walls.

Have you ever ran a "caught reading" promotion? Please share and inspire someone today!

Everyone Belongs @ Your School Library

For this year's School Library Month focus I was inspired by the graphic novel feeling of the AASL graphics:

I made a poster myself:

I didn't get a ton of participation, but the students that did participate loved it! Here's a small sampling of the student submissions:

What kinds of activities did you do during School Library Month?

Read Across America 2018

Read Across America 2018 was celebrated February 25 - March 1 this year. Here's the list of activities my school's Reading Committee and I came up with:

Monday, February 25 - Football players from Kennesaw State University came and read to our students

Tuesday, February 26 - Students estimated the number of goldfish in the bowl. Closest estimate won all the goldfish. We had a TON of students participate in this!

Wednesday, February 27- Students were encouraged to give the gift of reading by donating a new or gently used book to a local charity. We collected almost 500 books!

Charity Note: I chose the Lunch program with the YMCA who provides meals free of charge to local children and youth during school breaks and over the summer break. I'll be working with them during lunch distribution times over the summer to make sure children feed their bodies and their brains with a new book. I'll probably be doing some reading along the way.

Thursday, February 28 - Draw a crazy picture of a new kind of pet and the drawings would be displayed in the hallway

Friday, March 1 - Book character dress-up day and our local school board member, Mr. David Banks came and read to a group of kindergartners.

I'm not sure what we'll come up with for the 2019 RAA week, but I do know that we're going to focus more on multicultural books instead of Dr. Seuss. What great activities do you plan? Do you celebrate for a whole week or just the one day? Please share!

#LoveMyLibrary

February is full of amazing things to celebrate like Black History Month, Groundhog Day for the littles and it's also the month of love. It's a time to reflect and celebrate people or places that you love. It's been about five years since I've done any sort of "love my library" kind of promotion so I thought it was time.

Participation in these kinds of promotions is always iffy, so I tore off a smallish piece of bulletin board paper - about four feet wide - to hang in the hallway outside the media center. I have a round table that sits smack dab in the middle of the path when you enter the library (it's really about 12 feet in, I don't want anyone to hurt themselves!) and that's where I set up pencils and a stack of white and pink paper heart die cuts. In case you're wondering, the blue box is my suggestion box.

At first, there were only a few. Then I hung them in the hall. People started reading them. They stopped me in the hall to ask if they could write one. I shrugged, "Sure," then paused and gave then squinted my eyes, "But ONLY if you really love the library." Most everyone laughed and then went on to fill out a heart. I was surprised and touched when I caught some teachers filling out hearts too. They did notice my hard work! :)

Some of my favorite responses are listed below. Responses are typed with the spelling used.

• I love the libiry because your the best
• Because of all the different books to choose from!
• I love my library because you get to learn new things each day
• I love that our library does fun things like this!
• It's because you can read
• Because we have great librarians!
• I love the library because there are many amazing books and Mrs. Kenworthy does a news crue.
• Mrs. Kenworthy does so many creative lessons with the iPads. #RealNews
• Mrs. Kenworthy is the best reader
• I love my library because Mrs. Kenworthy and Mrs. McReynolds are so nice
• I love my library because you do so many good stuff
• Your  librery is so good your books they look so new
• I love my library becaus there is good teachers
• Reading is my favorite subject and this is the best library ever!

Have you ever done any sort of  "love my library" promotion? If so, tell me about it! If not, plan for something like this next February - it really does leave you feeling loved and appreciated.