I'll be real honest...I know we only lost one hour last week, but I felt like it was much more as I trudged through the week. I literally cannot remember what happened in the library on Monday or Tuesday, but I know i finally finished getting all the barcodes correct on the new books early on Wednesday, so I must have been doing that 😂 I also started placing the new books on top of their genres instead of in a separate section of new arrivals.

On Wednesday, Hesman's class visited to read, choose new books, and have some time to play games and unwind. I finished getting all the new books out and continued getting new books with their genre. I also started working through my teetering stacks of books that needed my attention due to a wrong barcode, sticker, tear, or other issue. I can see the top of my desk there now!

On Thursday I read How to Trap A Leprechaun to Petersen's class with some of the most fun sound effects we've heard yet in Novel Effect and we built traps out of Legos. Ms. Akins joined us, and I think we all had a good time, though I'm not sure any of us should quite our day jobs to trap leprechauns any time soon.

Friday I thought that it was finally time to start getting the nonfiction section in order. Due to how we moved some things around for the new book display, I thought it would be a swell idea to start at the end with the 900s. It's our largest nonfiction section so we'd get it out of the way! It was not swell and I regretted it just late enough to not be able to turn back. We will rebuild after this natural disaster 😂😂😂😂

• The library will continue to remain closed for games/hanging out until after announcements until after spring break. We are doing a few large projects that are taking up a lot of space and constantly shift the space, but we should be finishing up by the break.
• Students who would like to return or check out a book ONLY may come before announcements. Please send no more than TWO students from your classroom at a time.
• Please make sure your passes to the library state WHY that student is visiting. Students lie to me daily about why they are here and if your pass says "Zearn" or "work on project" I know that playing checkers for the next 30 minutes isn't what you need them to do.
• If you have the students on a time limit, like "play games for 10 minutes" please state that on the pass. I don't know what I don't know.

Ramadan begins on March 22 and ends on April 20. If there are any Muslim students who will be fasting during the school day and would like to spend time in the library during lunch in order to make their lives a little easier, please have them come see me for a Ramadan pass! Below you will see an example I used for a student last school year.

I will be the first to admit that when I was a classroom teacher, and when I teach lessons in the library, ending the lesson is not my forte. It's mostly because I'm TERRIBLE at planning a lesson that fits in the time I'm given. I always overplan after my first year teaching and having 7th graders with nothing to do...I never wanted to repeat that mistake!

But I do know how important wrapping up a lesson is, and when I've created that magically timed lesson that worked out perfectly, it really made a difference to the students and to me. This Edutopia article has some great ideas for some ideas for wrapping up that can be done quickly and most without any planning (which is always a win for me!)

Two-Dollar Summary: Ask students to write a two-dollar (or more) summary of the lesson they’ve just learned. Each word they use is worth 10 cents. For extra scaffolding, ask students to include specific words in their statement. For a twist on this, ask students to explain something as if they were teaching it to a first grade student. This will also push them to simplify complex ideas for themselves and therefore understand them better.

Clear or Cloudy: This is a neat example of an exit ticket, asking students to identify what is clear about what they’ve learned (what they understand) and what is cloudy (what they’re having trouble understanding). Try creating a simple “Clear or Cloudy” handout—like this one—that students can use to record something clear and something cloudy before turning it in on their way out.

Optimistic Closures: These are simple ways to get students reflecting on the day’s learning, identifying next steps, and strengthening their classroom community at the same time. Try the One Word Share, which asks students to stand in a circle and respond to a prompt like, “What’s one word to describe how you’re feeling about the day?” or “What’s one word that stands out to you from our lesson?” Capture responses in a word cloud and do a quick debrief to see where the class landed.

Create News “Headlines” or “Six-word Summaries”: Pair students off and tell them to imagine they’re writing news headlines that summarize what they’ve learned. Challenge each pair to write at least two headlines, then come back together to review the headlines. Alternatively, you can do this as an entire class activity, writing the headlines suggested by students on your whiteboard. For a different spin on this, try educator Sarah Frisby Cook’s “six-word summary” of the most important idea or concept.

Traffic Light: On Twitter, an educator shared that they've affixed a picture of a traffic light on the door as a quick check for understanding at the end of a lesson. Before students leave the room, they take sticky notes and write one thing they learned in the lesson and place it on the green light, one thing they’re still mulling over and place it on yellow light, and one thing they’re struggling to understand and place it on the red light. The activity takes a minute to do, and after students leave, teachers can easily discover important insights about their students’ grasp of the material at hand.

For the full article and all ten ideas, click below!

I'm passionate about creating readers. Not test takers, readers. As an ELA teacher I always saw some of the highest growth and test scores in any building in which I taught and I had students free reading daily. Never underestimate the power of creating a reader in your classroom. It will change lives.

For technology help (addressed, not necessarily fixed, within one workday):

• For students, please fill out a ticket for their issue HERE then send the device up to the library. Make sure to include the device's Asset Number (on the silver GCS tag) on the ticket and the serial number (S/N on the right) in the ticket.

• After you've placed the ticket, send the device down to Mrs. Huff

• For all other issues, email Mrs. Huff

The Postermaker is now Do-It-Yourself!

• Save what you want to put on a poster as a PNG or JPG on a flash drive

• Come visit the Library Workroom to print! Instructions are posted and Mrs. Huff is here to help!

To laminate: You can use the laminator any time you wish! If you want to ensure it's on and ready for you at a specific time please let me know to turn it on in the morning. You can also email or call about 20 minutes before you need it, but I may not always able to accommodate.

The job of your school librarian is...

-to create a space where all students feel they belong

-to curate a collection that helps students to see and be seen

-to empower students to create and explore

-to collaborate with teachers to help build engaging learning experiences for students

-to support teachers and students as they navigate information literacy and technology

Email: hufff@gcsnc.com
Website: https://sites.google.com/mygcsnc.com/ngmslibrary/home
Phone: 828-461-2654
Twitter: @teachinatardis