Summer Reading

Saint Joe Beach, Florida

So last week the fam and I headed to the beach and I took along some books to read, 'cause you know I can't just sit on the beach and do nothing.  Here's what I read while we were there...

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I really enjoyed this book as it falls into the same genre as The Hunger Games. The setting of this book is in a society which is supposed to be very Utopian but everything is very controlled and planned...even relationships, thus the title Matched.  I don't want to give too much away if you haven't read it yet, but I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in the series...Crossed.

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This was the next book I read.  It was so good, but definitely a heavy book as it dealt with death in the family due to a school shooting.  The main character in the book is an eleven year old girl with aspergers syndrome.  In the book, she keeps thinking that everyone doesn't "Get It," and everyone else is thinking that she doesn't "get it."  As a teacher, I loved that the book was from her perspective.  It really made me think about how I interact with some of my students. I highly recommend this book for any teacher.  It would also make a book good for a book club for upper elementary and middle school students, especially if there are any students in a class who don't interact well with students who are "differently challenged."

Then I went on a girly-girl book binge and read

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Basically all three of these books were about preteen or barely teen girls who are just discovering boys and who are dealing with changing friendships and fitting in.  It was pretty amazing how similar the themes all were even though the plots were all different.  And interestingly, all these books are part of different trilogies or sets.  I think the fourth and fifth grade girls at my school will enjoy these books so I will keep an eye out for the rest of the books in these sets.

And just to be fair, I have also started reading some "guy" books.  Two days ago I finished reading 

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This book started off really good, very sci-fi, but it ended with a literal "save the dolphins" political message, which I wasn't really crazy about. It's not that I don't think we should save the dolphins, it's just I didn't care for how it kind of snuck into the story.  But this book, too, is part of a set, so maybe the next book will be better.  I am curious to find out how the hero ends up using his super power.

And I have these four books on my night stand ready to read

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and

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I also have plans to catch up with Cari's S'More Tech Summer Camp.  

I am a bit behind, but I am super excited to dig in and get caught up.  You can check it out yourself here.  And then in a few weeks, I plan to go back to school and work on that super long to do list to get the Media Center even more ready for the up coming school year.  It'll be here before you know it. 

What about you?  How are you keeping busy this summer?  Read any good books lately?  I'd love to hear about it!

*I'm an affiliate for things I've bought or used personally.  If you click through any referral links (if included), at no cost to you, I will earn a commission if you make a purchase.  Thank you for your support in this way.

A Rockin' Start to the Summer

So, I really haven't started my Summer Vacation yet. I've been at school every day since post-planning, well, Mondays-Thursdays anyway, working on my long summer to do list and I've gotten a few things crossed off the list.  Here's what I've done so far:

I've worked on organizing and correctly cataloging the book sets in the Media Storage room.  Here are pictures of my progres:

 50 boxes of Guided Reading Sets ready for classroom use

 A close up of the labels which I made individually for each box

Here's a sample of the types of books in the sets.

22 Guided Reading Chapter Book Sets

 A Close Up of the Chapeter Book Set Labels

12 sets of 30 different books, sorted by ascending reading level

 

A close up of the label on each set

 

Each set is labeled with bright neon labels desginating what set the books belong with to hopefully help keep books together and make them easy to spot if they get mixed in with classroom library books.

The books are labeled on the front and the back.

Here they all are, nice and organized.  Isn't it purdy?  ;)

That took most of two weeks so I rewarded myself by working on decorating the MC for next year in the "Read Like A Rock Star" theme.  Here are pictures of what I've done.

I made this using PowerPoint then printed off the slides, laminated and cut everything out.  Then I just had to hang it.  It's hard to see from this picture, but it reads "Read Like A Rock Star."

Then I started on the ciruculation desk.  I made a smaller version of the bunting/flags to go here.  This is the not quite finished photo.

And here's the completed picture.

Here is my Return Books desk.

And the corner of the circulation desk.  This sign says "Welcome Rock Star Readers!"

I made a new "how to check out" sign with rock star characters.

Then, I moved on to the outside entrance.

Here's a close up of the "iReader."  The signs reads "iRead...Do U?"

And another version of the "Welcome Rock Star Readers!" sign.

I used our school's poster maker to make the signs larger. It was so much fun making all the signs and decorations.  I even made new Media Center passes, bookmarks and punch cards.  If you're interested, I've uploaded some of these items on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Click here to get the 8 pack of Media Center/Library Passes. Only $1.00!

Click here to get the Group/Table signs.  Only $1.50!

Click HERE to get the "Read Like A Rock Star" Bookmarks.  Only $2.00!

Click HERE to get the iReader Punch Card Sampler.

If you want it all, you can get the entire pack of all the signs, bookmarks, buntings, passes, punch cards...everything for $7.00.  Click here to get it now.

Although I've done quite a bit, I still have a few projects left to do like...

organize and barcode all of this stuff...

and this stuff...

and the magazines on these shelves.

But after all the hard work these last few weeks, I am ready for a break.  We leave for Port St. Joe tomorrow and I can't wait to feel the sand between my toes!

What are you busy doing this summer?

Summer Camp with a Techy Twist

Cari over at The Centered School Library blog is hosting a S'More Tech Summer Camp. So much fun!

S'More Tech Summer Camp

Each day of summer camp will have an assignment and by the end of camp, you will have a neat little PowerPoint scrapbook. Love it! Day One's assignment was super easy and so much fun. Here's what I made:

Looks interesting, right? So if I've gotten your curiosity piqued, why not hop on over to Cari's blog and join in the fun? Just click here to go to Day 1.

Winding Down

Can't believe the school year is over!  Can't believe I survived!  LOL  As the year was winding down, I began to reflect on what I've done this year and what I'd like to do next year.  I'm so excited about this post!  I've been working on it for about a month.  It was really good for me to see this year in writing...the good, the bad, and the ugly (that incidently I have plans to make pretty over the summer or at least sometime in the future).

Fran of Informania posted this idea about monthly library reports that really got me thinking about what I've done this year.  I think I may have to set making monthly library reports as a goal next year for myself.  I also came across a neat little Year in Review on The Mighty Little Librarian that I really liked and it wasn't quite as much work to go back and create, so I made one, too.

You can check it out here.

Here are the highlights of my year, what I'm proud of accomplishing:

• All library books have been clearly labeled with AR labels.
• I've weeded the collection to the best of my ability.  You can read about my weeding adventures in this post.
• I've added 848 books to the collection this year (and I am still adding books this summer that I didn't get to during the school year).  You can read about some of the books I've been able to add in this post.
• I recataloged and organized all of the guided reading sets (about 75 boxes in all, with sets containing 1-10 different books).
• Attended two Book Fair workshops to get ideas and inspiration
• I succesfully ran and survived my first and second Book Fairs raising $2,458.70 in profit. You can read about those Book Fairs here and here.
• I provided a way for all students to be able to get a book from the Book Fair through One for Books.
• I also ran and survived the magazine subscription fundraiser, raising $1,348.40.  You can read about it here.
• Many students received books from We Give Books for summer reading.  You can read more about those books here.
• I have taught at least one lesson to every class this year and have collaborated at least on a basic level with every grade level.
• I created and maintained a Media Center website.  You can view it here.
• I created and maintianed this blog. =)
• Attended two Media Specialist Constortiums to share ideas and gain knowledge from more experienced Media Specialists
• I have been able to keep my sanity without having a TA to help run the MC, but with the help of some very wonderful parent volunteers.

But what I am most proud of is

• Several parents and teachers have told me that I've reached some reluctant readers and made reading fun again.  I've even received some pretty good hugs, notes, and compliments from students about many of the Media Center activities this year.

Here's what I   wish I had accomplished:

• Better collaboration and planing with teachers
• Better use of AR by introducing/explaining it better to students at the beginning of the year
• Better communication with parents about AR and other needs
• Better recruitment of parent volunteers
• Better screening of possible parent volunteers
• Better training of parent volunteers
• Better organization of the repair shelf
• Attend several Media Conferences

Here's what I'd like to accomplish this summer:

• I'd like to get the Media Storage and AV rooms organized.  This not only means organizing what's in these rooms, but also barcoding and entering items in those rooms into Destiny. 
• We have about 20 book sets that are in terrible disarray.  I'd like to get those organized and put into Desitny correctly.  I've already started the process and it is going to be a looooooong one.
• The conference room off the Media Center is in need of some love.  I'd like to get in there and do something with it.
• I'd like to get my file cabinet organized.  I did an initial cleaning when I moved in, but it needs weeding a lot more.
• I'd like to get the repair shelf organized.
• Decorate the Media Center for next school year.

Here are some ideas I'd like to try next year:

• After talking with my Media Committee, I think I've decided to go with a "Rock Star" theme for next year.. something like "Read Like a Rock Star" would make a good slogan.  I've already started browsing the 'net for ideas for decor and prizes.  I was surprised by how much I've found.  The fourth and fifth graders may just want to do the punch card next year.  You can check out my Pinterest board I've started for collecting ideas for this theme.

From Ginger on Ginger Snaps

via Classroom Freebies

• Speaking of punch cards, I am thinking of doing a backstage pass for the punch card or maybe an iPod playlist type thingie.  One of my collegues came up with these ideas and I LIKE it!  I even found something on Pinterest that I might could adapt.
• I am going to "rock out" the prize buggy for next year.  Trying to come up with a cute name for it..the "cool cart" just doesn't sound rocker to me.  Any ideas?

Idea posted on Mrs. White's 5th Grade Class blog

• I want to do a "Tweet" door where students can "tweet" about their favorite books.  I saw this idea here and really like it.

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• In addition to or instead of a Genre of the Month or spotlighting teachers reading, I'd like to do a Spotlight on an Author...goes good with the rock star theme, I think.
• I'd like to do a guess the book Wordle each month to go along with the author of the month.  I was inspired by this blog.
• I'd like to try to do weekly centers with 3 centers that stay somewhat consistent...a bookmark center, a word search center, and a whisper read to self center.  Some other centers I'd like to have are a reference center, a puzzle center, and maybe a QR code center.  I have to thank Cari of The Centered School Library blog for the inspiration.  I know if I run out of ideas, I can look to her blog for more.
• More AR training for the Reading teachers at my school.  I really want us to get our money's worth from the program.

• I'd like to try to Skype with an author or another class next year.  I found a website, Skype an Author Network,  that claims to connect classrooms to authors, but I need to investigate it a bit more. 
• I want to train students and teachers to use the iPads.

A QR code lesson with second graders from The Daring Librarian

• I'd like to do some QR code lessons. Gwyneth, the Daring Librarian, is my hero!  I hope to one day use my tech savvy to the fullest as she does with her classes.
• I'd like to do an end of the year book swap.
• I'd also like to do a BOGO Book Fair at the end of the year.

Here are some long term goals I have that I might be able to work towards next year:

• I'd like to have a live morning newscast.  Right now we don't have the equipment to be able to do that, but maybe one day.
• I'd like to start a book club once a week for 3rd-5th graders.
• I'd also like to start a newspaper or literary magazine to highlight the great writers we have.  This might even could be an online thing.   We are going to start a technology club next year, so this might be a good starting project for that club.
• I'd love to get more magazines for the library.
• I'd like to paint the bathroom off the Media Center a more mellow color.  It's a little thing, but I think it would make a difference.  It might be nice to add decor to it as well.
• While I'm at it, I'd like to paint my office, maybe a nice light gray. 
• I'd lke to add a large flat screeen up above the circulation desk to have annoucements running all day, but it could also be used for an extra television.
• I like to add about 10 more iPads to the Media Center so that students could pair up to use them.

 May as well dream big, right?

So what about you?  What did you accomplish this year?  Anything you wish you were able to do?  What are your plans for next year?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

In the meantime, happy summer!