Reflecting on My Learning

After reflecting on the past several weeks of this course, I have set several goals for myself. My goals are to:

-     Try new things to foster a reading culture

-     Host more lunch-and-learn or after school sessions to support the teachers at my school in integrating technology in the curriculum

-     Create a Library Learning Commons website for my school and include a list of resources for teachers

-     Use Twitter to share information with a larger community

If I had to choose one topic that resonated with me most from this phase of the course, I would choose fostering a reading culture. While I really enjoyed reading about world libraries, developing a PLN and ways to support teachers with professional development, my focus this year is on reviving our library and transforming it into a Library Learning Commons.

In order to foster a reading culture, I plan to do the following:

-     Advocate for more time in the Library Learning Commons and ask to be involved in book exchanges in the future

-     Continue to build a sense of community around reading

-     Use technology to promote reading

Advocating for More Time in the Library Learning Commons

Bringing students into the Library Learning Commons (LLC) is an important part of fostering a reading culture. Students come into the LLC once a week for book exchange. Only a few students from each class come in with a specific book in mind while most students are browsing. For this reason, I would like to promote books through book talks and I want to highlight and display books to catch their attention. Although we do display new books and books on themes, right now I am in the library so little, I find it hard to do more than that. In fact, I’ve noticed that even some of our brand new books, books that students requested, are not being checked out. We catalog them and put them with the book cover facing out on a shelf near the front of the library, but I’ve noticed that students come in during book exchange and go straight to the sections they’re familiar with.

To start with, I would like to give each student a Reading Interest Survey similar to this one, so I can find out what they’re interested in reading. According to the National Library of New Zealand, “A written or oral survey can produce some very useful information about your students' reading preferences” (n.d., p.1).

As mentioned in my post on “Fostering a Reading Culture,” I would like to find new ways to promote books. I am considering the following:

-     Book Recommendation Speech Bubbles where each book on display has a speech bubble saying something like “Pick me!” or “If you like dogs, you are going to love this book!”

-     Blind Date with a Book where we wrap a variety of books up in paper and provide hints as to what the books are about

-     Display read-alikes, so students know that if they like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, they may like the Dear Dumb Diary series

-     A Staff Picks section where each staff member chooses their favourite book to display

Blind Date with a Book – Windsor Public Library

I have even considered arranging our fiction books by genre so students can search by their preferences, but I’m not sure about moving away from the Dewey Decimal Classification System. In addition, I think many students are simply browsing because they don’t know how to find books on topics they are interested in, so I would like to address that first. According to Scholastic Australia & New Zealand (2015), approximately 74% of children between the ages of six to seventeen would read more if they could find more books they like (p. 57). Thus, I would like to engage students in a Library Scavenger Hunt and purchase one iPad that can be mounted somewhere in the library and available to search the catalogue. I would also like to improve our signage and include labels with images because 26% of our school population is ELL.

What Kids Want in Books – Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report Australia, p. 79

Finally, I would like to keep the library open before school and at lunch so I can have more opportunities to interact with students in the library and support them in finding books they are interested in.

Building a Sense of Community Around Reading

To get families involved, I would like to welcome students to come into the LLC and read with their families once a month after school in order to highlight the benefits of recreational reading. I would also like to host more school wide events like the Drop Everything and Read Challenge where families are invited to come in and read with their kids.

In addition, I would like to bring in other members of the community. For example, we are planning to host an author visit during Term 3 and we have some grade 12 students from a nearby high school coming in to read with our students at the end of April. Finally, I am also interested in starting a book club with some of my grade 4/5 students and even hosting a Book Tasting event.

Custom Genres Menu – Book Tasting, Campbell and Narayan

Using Technology to Promote Reading

I also want to get students involved in promoting books and the love of reading. I would like to start with the Tech Crew by getting them to create a book trailers in iMovie. In addition, I would like to have some students write book reviews that we can display in the LLC. Finally, I would like to start a LLC blog where I can post student book trailers and book reviews and also post information about what’s happening in the LLC.

Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo & Alison McGhee Book Trailer, Candlewich Press

References

Campbell, M. & Narayan, S. (2018, May 23). Partnering in the Library Learning Commons: Hosting a Modern Book Tasting in the Elementary Classroom [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/partnering-in-the-library-learning-commons-hosting-a-modern-book-tasting-in-the-elementary-classroom/

Candlewick Press. (2010, July 19). Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo & Alison McGhee Book Trailer [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Sd3cXLHzcHA

Miss Kate (2018, February 8). Blind Date with a Book [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.windsorpubliclibrary.com/?p=62245

National Library of New Zealand (n.d.). Student Reading Interests – Ways to Discover Student Interests. Retrieved from https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/reading-engagement/strategies-to-engage-students-as-readers/student-reading-interests

Scholastic Australia & New Zealand (2015). Kids & Family Reading Report. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com.au/schools/ReadingLeaders/KFRR/assets/pdf/KFRR_AUS.pdf

Zimmerman, Alycia (2018, August 24). Getting to Know My Students as Readers. Retrieved from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/alycia-zimmerman/getting-know-my-students-readers/