Library Media Tech Talk

The first of the school year is always a wild experience full of change and excitement! August went by extremely fast, and now I'm trying to figure out where the first half of September has gone. I thought I would take this opportunity to reflect on a few of the library events over the past few weeks. Each of these are programs we have hosted in previous years, but it is the first time we have attempted them in our new library spaces. I will also provide links to detailed blog articles we have written about the events in the past. The Dust Bowl ( Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse) This is a collaboration we have done with 8th grade English classes since 2012. The program is designed to introduce students to the 1930s (and Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse) by immersing them in a variety of media from the era. This year we featured four learning centers: 1. FDR Dust Bowl Speech (Audio File) 2. Woody Guthrie Dust Bowl Blues (Music Video) 3. Book Check Out/ Artifac...

We have been privileged to host a Dust Bowl collaboration with 8th grade English classes for the past 4 years. If you want to read about how this started, go here . The program is designed to help students understand Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. Our 8th grade science teachers asked if they could join in the collaboration by adding science experiments to the program last year. In addition, the Chartwells food service catering manager also wanted to include a food station last year so learners could get a taste of the Dust Bowl era. Luckily it went so well that these additions were kept for the 2015-2016 school year! As an added bonus we used a 1934 painting in our two day program to illustrate how art can be a primary source. We want to share about the setup and reception of this library collaboration. The program took place over two days. Day 1 consisted of four learning stations with a general focus on the era. Day 2 consisted of three learning stations with a focus on the ...

"Alone we are strong... together we are stronger." As an educator, I have learned that it is impossible to be an expert in all areas. We must have resources to help us in our weak areas. It is not a sign of weakness to ask others for help or to reach out to those resources. In addition, we should share what works for us with others. I encourage everyone to share your best programming locally at your own school and also at professional conferences! We all have programs that connect well with our learning communities, and we should share these to inspire others! What if we all connected with great teachers on social media and shared our best ideas? Here is an example of how these concepts can benefit everyone: During the summer of 2014 my LHS teacher librarian partner (Mrs. Misti Bell) and I had the privilege of presenting at the High Schools That Work c onference in Nashville, Tennessee. We presented our most successful common core library collaborations with a...

One of our big collaborative project events during the first semester is centered around the Dust Bowl Era. 8th Grade English classes read Out of the Dust  by Karen Hesse. To help make this period come to life for students, we started this as a one day project in 2012 and continued it in 2013 (as a two day event). We had a table with dishes set up in the library with dirt all over the top. We also had signs and posters from the period (Coca-Cola, Grapette, other various advertisements). Pictured from left to right: Stony Evans (LMS), Ray Borel (Library Assistant), Mari Simmons (8th English), Shea Gregory (8th English). As a change for 2013, we decided to create an introductory skit using iMovie. We dressed and acted as characters (farmers) from the book. Here is the video: If you can't see the video link above try this:  http://goo.gl/L1E3hg We also dressed as these characters for the first day of the event. We had 5 different learning "stations" set ...