Library Media Tech Talk

Since starting a new job as the teacher librarian at Bethel Middle School in Bryant, Arkansas as of August 2019 , I have a lot to celebrate. When starting a new job, one never knows what to expect. There are new people to meet and learn about. There are new administrators, different students, new processes, and so much more to consider in a transition. This semester I focused on continuing what the previous librarian had started. She had done an excellent job of creating a welcoming environment, establishing a makerspace, and developing the library collection.  I also had a goal of meeting the learning community and getting to know as many of them as possible. Whenever I have switched schools or jobs during my career, I never try to change much the first year. I use the initial transition period to learn about the community I'm serving. After I've learned how things work, I gradually introduce a few new programs. This year I had the goal of introducing book clubs, library c...

It is nearly August, and I'm wondering where the summer has gone! You may have noticed that I've been struggling to get out blog articles and newsletters in 2019. I decided to re-enlist into the Arkansas Army National Guard back in February. From 2002 to 2014 I served as a saxophonist in the 106th Army Band. My 12-month high school library job had become so time-consuming by 2014, I decided to not stay in the military unit when my enlistment ended that year. After investing that much time in the Army, I wanted to return to the unit to complete my career. In addition, one of my parents has become very ill this past school year. In the spring, I had an opportunity to take a new library job at Bethel Middle School in Bryant, Arkansas. This new position gives me my summers off so I can focus on my Army career and assist my parents as needed during the summer months. I am excited to have a new challenge at this job. With this change brings opportunities to serve new students and t...

For the past several years, we have used Microsoft Sway for our platform to share library annual reports. Previous to this, I essentially shared a one-sheet text document that contained our statistics. It was a rather boring way to share the report, but it worked for many years. I like how Sway allows us to share important photos, videos, and text with library stakeholders! View our 2018-2019 annual report here. While there are many things that library programs do throughout the year, somehow we have to give our stakeholders a snapshot of the year in our reports. We want them to end the year thinking about how the library program made a difference in the learning community. Most importantly, we want to give them a return on their investment in the facilities, resources, and our own salaries!  What I Share Some years I've shared more information while for some I've cut back on how much I include in the report. At a minimum, I try to share our library stati...

Sometimes cool things can happen when you simply ask. This year, one of our science teachers wanted me to help her arrange Skype sessions with a geneticist. When I met her for our preliminary meeting, I had no idea she would ask for so many connections in one day. I had offered to record a Skype session with one scientist so she could show her other classes, but the teacher requested that we find four scientists to connect with live for all of her classes if possible. In the past, after I discovered the Skype a Scientist program, I had only requested to connect with one scientist at a time. You can read about our first ever connection with a scientist through the program here. After considering her request, I told the teacher we would fill out four forms and see what would happen. I knew this could be a great opportunity for her students to learn from experts in the field of genetics. I didn't know if the Skype a Scientist program would be able to fill our request. Days went b...

This semester I will be completing my practicum requirement at Ouachita Baptist University's Riley-Hickingbotham Library. I am completing an ALA-accredited information science degree so I can work in an academic library much later in my professional life. Having been a graduate student several times over the past two decades, I've used academic libraries frequently. I want to share a few of my experiences about this on the blog. I especially want to share tools and methods I learned about that could be used in school libraries. After spending the last four months at Ouachita Baptist University, I've learned so much about the organization and layout of an academic library. Each person in the library has a specific area for which they are responsible. In addition, they collaborate and assist each other when needed. WorldCat and Interlibrary Loan Some of the most interesting items I've learned about so far have been Interlibrary Loan procedures and the basics of ho...

One of my favorite things to do as a school librarian is to use our spaces and resources to bring literature to life. Recently, we have started a collaboration based on S.E. Hinton's, The Outsiders.  After meeting with our 8th grade ELA teachers, we decided to have several learning stations set up in the library to help students understand the period and culture. The event took place over two days and consisted of these learning stations: Station 1: Windrixville Church Students were asked to name items that Johnny & Pony had at the church in Windrixville. There were also other discussion prompts for students to create responses. Station 2: Drive-in Movie We set up an area that resembled a drive-in movie and showed movie clips from the 1950s and 1960s. Students had to discuss how movies were different from the present time. Station 3: Drag Racing We used informative websites about the Chevrolet Corvair and the Ford Mustang. Students ...