Here they are. Thanks for all the wonderful and inspiring responses.
The best thing I did this year was this. I showed the worst behaved third grader in
each class how to check out library books. I still hover nearby, but my direct
attention doesn't have to be on the checking out process. It makes the student feel
important (one of the reasons they act out) and I know what he is doing while the
class is in the shelves. It really changed my whole afternoon.
I think that the best thing that I did this year was to recruit student volunteers
from the after school program. When parents come in to pick them up I say that I am
training future librarians - who knows?
We have always participated in most of the categories of our state
(California) Young Reader Medal program, but hadn't done the "Picture Books for
Older Readers" category. This year, I read the three picture books aloud on
successive weeks to my three fourth grade classes. Two of the classes took me up on
a challenge - to "campaign" for their favorite one before the voting. I allotted
two weeks for them to work together creating a campaign poster and speech, which
they did by forming groups of up to five (two to three works best) and then
gathering together at recess and after lunch to work together. All this was
voluntary, and their teachers gave them one sheet of white poster paper but no time
in class. They could also come to the library at recess to look over (but not check
out) their "candidate."
After two weeks, I visited their classrooms (or you could do it in the library) and
each group got up, introduced themselves, and read or said their speech while
others held the poster up. I took their group photos.
After the campaign, they came to our library to vote by ballot. When the
campaigning was over, I matted the posters with bright construction paper, added on
the speeches, laminated each, and laminated their photos onto additional
construction paper, and (after having parents sign a release form for their
photos*) their posters were put on display at our local branch library! Our local
public children's librarian did a lovely job of displaying them along with the
books in the children's area, and she received many positive comments from
visitors, in addition to many visits from our students and their parents. Not only
did our students get a taste of the campaign process as we go into this fall's
elections (and practice writing a speech and giving it before a group), but many of
them visited the local public library as well, some perhaps for the first time.
This was a lot of fun and we plan to repeat it again next year.
*Their photos were displayed but not their names for security reasons. Before we
began, I gave the groups some tips, but next year I will remind them to draw their
figures large enough to see from a distance and add lots of color. They tended to
make the figures rather small and detailed.
http://www.click2houston.com/education/16367877/detail.html
Here is a link to the best thing I've done. Our students read 30000 books and the
principal agreed to sleep on the roof. It turned into much more than I ever
expected, but boy was it worth it!
Best thing I did was remain subscribed to LM_NET even though I am supposed to be
'retired'>
But ... this thread has some interesting implications and fits right in with the
theme of the closing keynote speech I am giving at a Queensland conference in
September. It is entitled Promises Made, Promises Kept, Promises Forgotten and
focuses on whether we ever visit our Mission Statement to see if what we offer and
do is actually working towards achieving that, and whether, having set particular
goals at the beginning of the year in the anticipation and excitement of the new
school year, we actually go back and assess how well we achieved these,
particularly as tiredness and a certain antipathy has set in.So my question is -
are these 'best things' like alphabetising the state books actually planned or are
they spur-of-the-moment decisions, done in response to an immediate need?If you do
consciously revisit your goals, what tools do you use to show measurement,
achievement and evidence? I have a few ideas (and it is the topic of my column in
the June edition of TeacherLibrarian) but I'd like to offer a wide range of tools
to conference participants. If there were Web 2.0 tools (apart from a blog) that
would be terrific.
New building last fall: best thing I did was alphabetize all the state books and
put them in one set of shelves and group the presidential biographies at the end of
the biography section. That wasn't too hard at first, the collection only had 6
presidents represented. The next best thing was ordering a set of presidential
biographies to round out that group. The worst thing I did was try to give out date
due slips with check-outs. The dates the teachers wanted never corresponded to the
computer date.AND, I had to pull them out of the books when they were returned.
Gluing them in was never an option, or a thought.
We have a large sports section - about 375 books and they are shelved on 10
shelves. These books frequently got placed on the wrong shelf due to not
understanding the decimal placement system or just plain carelessness. Now they
are color coded in 10 different colors - the colored strips are at the bottom of
each spine and directly under the call number. Books on the wrong shelf now stand
out due to the color system. And each sport has it's own shelf and color. Maybe
not the best thing I did all year but it certainly helped students searching for
books in the sports section and then those student workers filing books back into
the sports section It's great!
I started at a K-8 school this year. I must list two things as the greatest
accomplishments of this year. First, I was able to open the library to the middle
school students during lunch. I have 25-45 kids in the Library during lunch each
day and they bring their HEALTHY food in to eat and visit. They play games and use
the computer and my circ stats for MS are up. The second (but equally great) thing
was to include the three self contained Special Ed. Classes in the schedule. They
come to library and participate with another class of their age level. They do
EVERYTHING I have their typical peers do and without problem. I was horrified to
find out they did not come to Library regularly before and had NEVER checked out
books.
The best thing?I did this year was probably my Black History Month project. I
assigned grade levels 2-6 a figure in black history. They researched some basic
questions and events in their lives using biographies and online resources. They
gave me the completed data they collected and I turned the material into a short
script about the life of each black history figure. We then got together costumes
and props, assigned roles?and shot the scripts against a green screen background.
Once I had this footage I could cut the background out of the video and insert
anything. I? then placed the actors into historic places and events associated with
their characters. Each video ended up about 7-10 minutes and?finished with a quote
from?the historic figure.?During each day of the last week of black history month
we would show one of the videos?at morning assembly.?The kids got a kick out of
seeing themselves act and enjoyed the entire process.
The best thing I did was buy a sound enhancement system for the library of this K-2
school. Because this investment saved my voice and energy I was able to give much
more of myself to storying the kindergarteners and leading the first and second
graders in "instruction-intense" projects. As a result, we all enjoyed library
time to a greater degree than previously.
Best thing I did this year was totally un-premeditated. After Thanksgiving, when
the kids all wanted Christmas books, I did a spur-of-the-moment OPAC lesson.
Pointing out that we had some 200 books with the subject "Christmas," I said...this
is where the Dewey lessons come in handy. Reminding them where the call number was
on the OPAC screen, I showed them how quickly they could find the type of book they
wanted (Christmas fiction, Christmas crafts, Christmas religious, etc.)
WELL...SUDDENLY Dewey made sense to them! They were thrilled! Everyone was at the
Dewey poster...it was actually kind of funny.
lead a campaign to raise money for a color laser printer. It has improved student
project displays throughout the building. Everyone loves it and (so far) have been
pretty good about being careful about ink use. I finally got an area rug. I had one
in my previous library (across the hall) and after going to carpet in 1992, did not
get another one (really had no money, but that's another story.) When I called
Brodart and asked if there were any discounts for my state, the sales rep gave me a
15% discount "just because." And better yet, my principal paid for part of the rug
and my supervisor allowed me to combine some funds to pay for the other half.
One of the best things we did this year was purchase some of the high-interest low
vocabulary computer book sets (paperback, audio CD, and CD-ROM) from Don Johnston.
With the CD-ROM I have been able to transcribe the books into uncontracted braille,
contracted braille and large print (yes, I have permission from the publisher to
make one large print copy). I've even been able to paste the pictures (in color!)
in the large print copy. Since most large reproductions are only done in black and
white, the students (and low vision staff) have been thrilled to see these new
books. The uncontracted braille, 2nd to 3rd grade readability books have really
gotten some of our reluctant and/or struggling readers actually eager to read for
the first time! I'm having trouble keeping up with them!
The best thing I (we) did this year in our humble, little media center was hold the
school's first ever book fair. The book fair was held May 5th - 9th and it was a
whopping success! The excitement amongst the kids was palpable; they could not
contain themselves. Even the parents were excited about this! It was a long time
coming and well worth the exhaustion incurred. I should also add that I owe the
book fair's success to the school I interned at last semester here in Gainesville.
While interning at Norton Elementary School with Nancy Sanders and her awesome
staff, the Norton media center held the school's fall book fair. I was able to take
part in their book fair and that experience translated directly to my current
position and our book fair's success. Thanks to Nancy Sanders and crew at Norton
Elementary School's media center here in Gainesville, FL, for their part in QPA's
first ever spring book fair!
Without a doubt, the best thing I did this year was to collaborate with the English
dept. and teach systematic research skills to every student. I helped with
consistency by starting each group with 6 days of lessons and research time. We
feel we made progress, but students have a long way to go. This was tedious and
sometimes, frustrating but we had really not sufficiently addressed this issue with
our kids. We also had some web 2.0 products. The second best thing I did...got a
grant approved to fund a One Book program for next year which will be next year's
best thing!
When I left my last LMS position after six years, I created a MS Word doc that was
an A-Z glossary of tips and lessons from experience I wanted my successor to have.
Whenever I thought a random thought, I'd give it a category (Book Fair, Inventory,
Volunteers, etc.) and type it into the doc in its alphabetical place - over my last
few months, I often had slips of paper that I brought back to my computer to enter
after having a brainstorm in my car, at the grocery, lying in bed, etc.) Two folks
have held the position since me, and I understand the doc is still used and
updated...
What a great question! The best thing I did this year was to hire a professional to
update my library website and to retain a local hosting service. Along with that,
funding a private label wiki service and changing from assignment web pages to
assignment wikis allowed for much more collaboration with the teachers.
I did a major weeding of filmstrips and other ancient library items. I also got
around to cleaning out the filing cabinets and cabinets in my office. This is my
third year in this library and I finally feel like it is my own now since I have
cleaned out and organized everything.
I'm with you sister! I weeded and expanded like nobody's business this year.
Other than surviving the switch to a new campus with a new building, a coming
switch to a new consortiuum library system, getting new online databases from state
setup and publicized, and various technology changes (read crisis of the week)?
<grin> Technology and the library are one of my real interests, so I would say
teaching teachers and students how to effectively use technology (such as the new
databases) is one of my best things. Collaborating with a particular teacher on a
project we called Mother Goose in the 21st Century was another. We used books and
technology to teach curriculum.
Lisa M. Gonzalez, MLIS
Media Specialist
Notre Dame High School
455 Palma Drive
Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 751-1850 x252
lgonzalez@notredamesalinas.org
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