About Me

My name is Jo Nase and I am a School Library Media Specialist at an elementary school in Moreland, Georgia.  I graduated from Union University with a degree in Learning Foundations.  I earned my Masters in Media from the University of West Georgia in 2008.  I also have a Gifted teaching endorsement.  This school year is my 11th year as an SLMS, and my 24th year as an educator.  In my past years of educating students, I have taught in a Kindergarten, first grade and fifth grade regular education classroom, in a computer lab setting, and now in a Media Center.  The best part of my job is getting to know and interact with every student at my school year after year.  It is truly a joy to watch them grow and change during their elementary years.


In addition to being a Book Bug, I am also a wife and a mother to two wonderful boys. They are my joy.

In my free time, which is usually in the wee hours of the morning because that's when everyone else is asleep, I enjoy reading, journaling, scrapbooking, sewing, and surfing the net for new ideas.  I have about 300 blogs in my blog reader that I scroll through each day and post things I find interesting to a fb page I started to go with a teacher resource webpage I created called A Teacher's Bag of Tricks.  I keep up with a lot of the neat stuff I find on Pinterest.  You can find me on Instagram, and Twitter, too.  I also blog here on The Book Bug as well as contribute to the Classroom Freebies Too blog and Library Freebies blog and started the Sharing the Shelves blog, a collaborative blog for librarians in public and school libraries, which is no longer active, but still up if you want to look at older blog posts.

If you ever need to reach me, you can email me at jnase1(at)gmail(dot)com. I try very hard to answer emails within 24-48  hours.  =)

Yes, my life is super busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.


24 comments:

  1. Thank you for all the great freebies and ideas! I, too, am a K-5 school librarian media specialist in MA and appreciate these timesavers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was going to follow you on Goodreads, but couldn't find you. Are you still on there?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I volunteer in our school media center and I was telling our MS about your blog today. I'm always helping get the media center organized and I'm loving all your ideas. Here's a link to our Georgia media center blog: http://barrowmediacenter.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So glad you are finding helpful ideas. I actually have been following your school's media center blog for awhile now. Lots of good stuff going on there and I love all the new shelving! Very modern and cool! =)

      Delete
  4. Thank you so much for all you share on this blog! You have helped me get through my first year in the library. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful ideas and resources! I noticed on your Scope and Sequence that 2-5 grades have "Check out only" every other week. Are they allowed to come get new books as needed or only on their library class day?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Laura,
      Thanks for reading my little blog. Glad you are finding some helpful things. 2-5 come every other week for a lesson and every other week for a class check out (check out only). They also can come as needed throughout the week when needed during scheduled open check out times Monday-Thursday. Friday is all day open check out so they can come at any time on Friday as needed. I don't have a TA or clerk to run the circulation desk when classes are scheduled Monday-Thursday so they can only come for open check out when classes aren't scheduled. I am not brave enough to let students do a self check out, although I know some media specialists who do. That is just what works for me and the staffing situation at my school.

      Delete
  6. Thank you so much for posting your scope and sequence. this is my first year and I have no clue what to teach. Everywhere I look I see nothing but steam stations and maker spaces but I haven't found anything on what I'm actually supposed to teach. I don't want kiddos just in there playing with Legos. I noticed you have some weeks that say check out only for 2-5 why is that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I only teach lessons to 2nd-5th every other week. The weeks I don't teach lessons, they just come for a quick 15 minute class check out or they come in during that week a few at a time with a library pass as they have free time to check out. That is what these grade levels prefer at my school. I have library centers set up during check out only weeks for students to complete as they finish checking out and wait for the rest of their class to check out. I am happy that these grade levels come for lessons as much as they do. I know some media specialists in my county that can't get some classes to visit at all. I am thrilled that the teachers at my school DON'T feel like when their students visit the media center it is wasting valuable instructional time. I try my best to help enhance what is being taught in the classroom and still have opportunities for "fun" time like STEM/STEAM MakerSpace centers. =)

      Delete
  7. Can you tell me where you got your check out rug with the worm and books?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I got it with Scholastic Dollars in the Scholastic Book Fair catalog. =)

      Delete
  8. Hi! I love following you on IG! I was wondering how long your classes are? This is my first year as a media specialist. I am on fixed schedule and see all grade levels each week for 45 minutes a class. I feel like I never have enough planned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Every year is different, but this year I see K -1 for 30 minutes and 2-5 for 45 minutes. I see K-1 every week and 2-5 once a month this year for lessons. However, 2-5 can sign up for 15 minute checkout times once a week on weeks they are not signed up for a lesson. Fridays are all day open checkout days- no lessons or class checkouts- just individuals as they need it and have time. I definitely haven’t been able to do as much with seeing 2-5 only once a month, but I do the best I can. =)

      Delete
  9. Thanks for all your great stuff! Is it okay to use the dewey powerpoint for 4th and 5th? I am in MN. I may modify it a little for my use with 4th grade.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy to share! Feel free to use the PPT and adapt it to fit your needs in your library. Thanks for reading. =)

      Delete
  10. THANK YOU! I'm a first year librarian and your scope and sequence is a life saver! Thank you for all this hard work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So glad you are finding some helpful things on my blog. Thanks for leaving a comment to let me know. =)

      Delete
  11. Good morning, Jo! I just came across your blog and I am so glad I did! I noticed that you are a certified Flipgrid educator. I am starting to dabble in the Flipgrid community and would love to pick your brain on how you implement this in your elementary school.
    Thank you,
    Carrie Foell (cfoell@waukeeschools.org)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for your freebies. I work at a Catholic school K-8 in the library. I'm a seamstress too.
    Keep reading and sewing!
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete