Our next 3-day blog guest is Dennis LeLoup, one of our many outstanding teacher librarians in Indiana. When I first became acquainted with Dennis, he was the school library media contact in the Indiana Department of Education. In recent years, he has worked as an elementary librarian in the Avon Community School Corporation.Dennis has a wealth of experience within the state and at national levels with his leadership roles in ALA, AASL, ALSC, and AIME / ILF. He is a strong advocate for school libraries and libraries of all types.
Find out more about him by visiting the information webpage at
http://eduscapes.com/sms/overview/leloup.html
Find out more about him by visiting the information webpage at
http://eduscapes.com/sms/overview/leloup.html
Have a great three days sharing information and ideas with Dennis LeLoup.
Good Morning,
ReplyDeleteI work in an elementary school, and have watched how busy our SMS is during the day. How do you find time to teach the specials classes, and support students and teachers in the classroom? (especially being at 2 buildings this year)
Also I looked at your website, and was impressed by all of your resources, but wondered how much control of the web development you have, or is it a task of the IT dept. and you just give t hem updates? Thanks, Berry
I see from your profile that you are at two buildings this year. How does your schedule work for that? Are you able to collaborate with teachers or do you teach "specials" (I think that is what they are called in elementaries). I am in a building that shares a media specialist, so I am curious how others make it work.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Abby
Hi again, With so many different age, levels,and interests how do you undertake cllection development? Thanks, Berry
ReplyDeleteHello everyone! I meant to post a comment earlier from school. However the corporation web interface prohibits blogs, so I couldn't leave any introductory comments, since I couldn't access the blog site. I apologize for being late.
ReplyDeleteI've traveled between two buildings before, but the last time was 22 years ago in Vigo County Schools. Things have changed much since then. With my current schedule, I don't have time for the routine functions which must be done, yet I must make time for them. I'm thinking of clerical type duties like replacing a spine label on a book, or a barcode. Things like this a paraprofessional would do, but I must do now so service is not interrupted. That book needed to be readied for student checkout, so service must continue. For many things like this, I stay after school, or go in on Saturday, in order to accomplish the tasks. I went back to school on Saturday a couple weeks ago to open a couple boxes of books and check the packing slip against the purchase order. It needed to be done. Things like this a person must find time for, so other things go by the wayside. For instance, after checking magazines in, I used to catalog them, or my assistant would, and barcode them for check-out. This is no longer done, so students don't check magazines out. I've always maintained about three years of back issues in professional magazines, so teachers would have access to them. They were used very heavily. This will not be done anymore. I don't have much time during the school day by the time I teach classes and check-out books to students.
My home base school is Sycamore Elementary in Avon. I also travel to Hickory, as does another media specialist in the district. We have divided some of the duties for that school; for instance I maintain the web page and will take care of book and magazine orders. She will take care of the supply orders and work on compiling materials for our lesson plans. We work together to accomplish as many tasks as possible.
Unfortunately, teacher collaboration goes by the wayside for the most part. We talk informally in passing or communicate by email. I gather materials for teacher lessons and/or bibliographies, but request plenty of lead time for this.
Dennis-
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Brownsburg, which is close to Avon. Avon has grown a lot since I was left. When you started in Avon, was the inventory up to date with the new growth or did you need to revamp the collection. If so, how did you decide on what to weed from the collection and decide what to add? Thanks! Becky
Last year I had two assistants and served about 530 students. This year I have no assistant with me (please notice the last two words), but as far as the corporation is concerned, they have provided an assistant for myself and the other media specialist with which I work at Hickory, my second building. Maryann, the other media specialist, is at Hickory two days per week, as I am. Our assistant is working is whatever building we are not in. For instance, when Maryann is at Hickory, our assistant is at her building. When I'm at Hickory, our assistant is at Sycamore, my original building. The assistant is at Hickory on Friday, and Maryann and myself meet her there during the last 60 - 75 minutes of the day for planning.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe I answered Berry's original question about web development. Avon has a technology team which takes care of problems, equipment set-up, etc. I provide updates.
I honestly wish I had time for more teacher collaboration, but it just doesn't happen. I try to email teachers and find out what they are doing in the classroom, so I can tie some instructional activity to that lesson. By the same token, when teachers request materials from me, I make notes and try to connect my lessons in the immediate future with these activities. I also use the Young Hoosier books extensively and develop lessons around the Young Hoosier books. If I know of an ongoing activity in a classroom that is connected with a YH book, or my media lesson, I make reference to it. During the summer months I plan my YH lessons. I look at all the nominated books and "lump" them into monthly themes, both Picture and Intermediate books. I have done this for a few years now. Sometimes I must abandon, or change my plans, but it helps my media program and provides me a way to provide necessary skill activities to students.
Time doesn't permit me to follow collection development strategies as I was taught in library school. I have a folder of teacher requests, or notes of gaps in the collection that I've seen based on student and teacher needs or requests. I know my community and try to base my orders on previous requests and/or current needs. I analyze (or observe) the collection when I'm gathering materials for teachers. Where I notice gaps, I make note of it. I ask parents what materials they think their child needs based on homework needs. If parents ask me if we have certain books, etc., and we don't, then I make note of the request.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started in Avon 16 years ago, I started in a new building which had a basic core collection. Two media specialists already in the district had been given the task of ordering materials for the library and knew the dollar amount they had to spend. Their requests were honored and I was blessed with a good core collection. Media involvement was requested from the beginning. Unfortunately this is not always done in all schools or all districts. I built upon their orders, based on teacher needs, requests, and my own personal knowledge. Student requests have always been a number one priority with me. I've always been big on trying to provide materials that students want and/or need! I think this is very important. For instance, I'm preparing to place a book order, which will include the new Wimpy Kid book. There is no instructional need for this book, outside of the child's need for recreational reading. I want to have materials children like and request, so they will read more!
ReplyDeleteDoes your school do any reading incentive programs (like AR or RC)? If so, what is your role in that program? How do you, the individual teachers, or the school as a whole handle the "rewards" for points, etc.?
ReplyDeleteOk, so there is no time. (Like I thought.) I can feel your frustration with the corp. Mine tried to eliminate all SLMS, but teachers won out in the end. And having someone fill your place is not an assistant being with you. Ug! I think that it is great that you take an initiative in aligning your lessons to what teachers have requested or providing ideas. I know I love when my MS gives me a little note with my resources about ideas on integrating skills/technology into my themes.
ReplyDeleteI think that being responsive to your school's needs is an excellent way of developing a collection. A very real, practical way.
Our website is the same way and I wish I had more control.
Being so involved in professional associations and organizations, which would you say is the best to join?
Thanks, Berry
Abby, we used to do AR and did that for several years. However, the school district is no longer funneling money in this direction. Instead they are using Lexiles; each student has a lexile range and sometimes a teacher may request that a student find a book within his/her lexile range. When I place book orders, I always request they indicate the book's lexile, if available, on the MARC record. I believe some of our older MARC records have been updated with lexile rankings. Personally, I liked the AR levels on the MARC record better than I do the Lexile ranking. The AR reading level told the students something, much like the reading or interest levels the book companies provide. They don't know what the Lexile ranking means.
ReplyDeleteBerry, thank you for your comments. I appreciate them. It's always good to know what is happening in other school districts. This is one reason I have been so involved professionally. I've met some really wonderful people that have expanded my horizon and given me some ideas to use professionally. Being involved within a person's state is one thing; being involved nationally is quite another. There can be wide variances between media programs within a state, but there are even greater differences between media programs from state to state. Working at the Dept. of Education for a few years opened my eyes also. Indiana once had a very strong department for library media professionals. Now, I believe it is only one person instead of several individuals, each with a different task.
ReplyDeleteDennis,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your posts and visiting your schools' websites, I wanted to ask how extensive your volunteer program is. Does it consist of parents, students, and or community members? Shelly M.
Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteI have been blessed with wonderful parent volunteers. In fact, I've had better and more reliable parent volunteers in Avon than I've ever had elsewhere. Avon is the third school district I've worked in during my career. Within those three school districts, I've worked in 6 schools. The parent volunteers in Avon are wonderful and provide great support. This really helps. I encourage people to try and build good relationships with parents, because I think this can help build a good volunteer base.
Dennis,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. Parents are life-savers to me. This year they cut my assistant down to part time and I could not possibly accomplish my teaching tasks and keep up with basic cataloging, checking out students, and managing fund raising events without them.
What are your thoughts about the use of wiki spaces in classroom projects. I am trying to find more ways to incorporate wikis and moodle into my lesson plans, but at times feel overwhelmed to get them in. Shelly M.
As a follow up to my questions on reading incentive programs, do you have a school wide testing tool that you use to tell the kids what their personal lexile scores are or do you just go by "all fourth graders can read 200-400 books" (purely an example).
ReplyDeleteMy school uses AR as a babysitter when the media specialist isn't here. She teaches 6 classes a day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesdays and Thursdays, an instructional assistant baby-sits the class while they "read silently" for the entire 47 minutes. They have to take a certain number of tests per 9 weeks. I'm not a fan of this idea, but don't really have any suggestions for how to make it better without having to pay a "real" teacher...
Dennis,
ReplyDeleteDo you feel that the corporation is aware of the amount of parent volunteers you've had and how involved they've become and use that knowledge to eliminate jobs? I see a lot of parents come in our library and as an assistant get the feeling that I could easily be replaced.
So, maybe a state and national organization then. If it's not too personal, what changed your career path to or back to SMS?
ReplyDeleteDennis,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading your posts and really appreciate your contribution to our class. As I read your post about your assitant it occurred to me that she is in my materials for youth class this semester! I knew I had heard that story before!
My question for you is if you plan lessons for each grade level based on the standards for that grade so they are kind of ready to go each year or do you start from scratch with new ideas each year. Also, what do you consider to be your best source of ideas for lessons for students?
Thank you,
Roberta
My question follows along the same line as Abby's. We never bought into the AR program because we thought it would make reading a chore instead of enjoyable, but I worry about accountability. When I was in the classroom teaching reading, I required students to keep reading logs - 120 minutes a week. The logs included the title of the book, # of pages read, and number of minutes read and had to be initialed by both parent and student each time the student read. I made it a big part of their grade. They could read anything - newspaper, magazine, manga, even read aloud to a sibling,whatever. Sometimes I wondered if that was just as bad as having them complete an AR quiz, but what else can you do to make sure that they are actually reading??
ReplyDeleteGood evening Shelly M. I'm very open to the idea of using wiki spaces in school classroom projects. I used a wiki several times, but not enough on a regular basis to feel like a "pro." At one point, I had thought about incorporating a wiki for a project, but time didn't permit me to follow through with the idea. I do like wikis and would welcome any suggestions for incorporating them, possibly with classroom projects or reading projects with the students. To be honest, and I don't mean this to sound like an excuse, I've been so busy with the two schools since August I hadn't thought about wikis, but you are giving me food for thought. Perhaps that can be a future project. As far as moodle is concerned, I know enough to be dangerous. I think I'm better off thinking up a project for a wiki at this point in time. Two schools limit my time. Thanks for thought and sorry if I've disappointed you with my answer, since I haven't used wikis much and moodle not at all.
ReplyDeleteAbby, I haven't been extensively involved with the Lexile project. When lexiles were first introduced, the library media specialists were given an overview of how they would be used in the classroom and told we would probably be asked to supply books for classroom or student reading projects. I request lexiles be placed on all MARC records, if available. That has basically been the extent of my involvement; I'm not certain if the librarians at the intermediate or middle school levels have been used more or not. I do know the students took a "test" to determine their lexile level and there are periodic tests to determine improvement or lack thereof. I'm not involved in this, so I don't have any additional information. I can tell you that our MAP teacher told me on Friday a couple weeks ago prior to her class visit on Monday that her students would need a book on their lexile level. I said that was no problem. When they came however, they not only need a book on their lexile level, it also had to be in a specific genre which was assigned to them. This made the project much tougher, and in some cases we didn't do a good job of finding the needed book. I think she realized later that the genre idea should not have been added to the project.
ReplyDeleteI think it's horrible that AR is used as a babysitter when the media specialist is not available. I've criticized the AR program before, but on the whole I like it. It does provide students with a reading level they can recognize; most students don't know their reading level based on their lexile score. I've seen books that I didn't believe had an accurate reading level. One of our Avi books, and I don't remember the title, had an AR level of 2.9 I believe, but the Follett level was a low 6. I question the accuracy of AR on that book. I'm a fan of reading programs, but not those that only use AR books. Some books will never have an AR level assigned and there is a lot of good literature that should not be ignored because it is not an AR book. I also like to see student SSR time, but it sounds like 47 minutes on a regular basis could be driving students away from reading. Since your media specialist sees 6 classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, she doesn't have time develop a reading program unfortunately. Is she gone from the building on Tuesday and Thursday?
Shawn, that is an interesting thought. My corporation is very aware of the good parent volunteers I've had and I hope they wouldn't use this as a foundation for eliminating assistants. I really don't think they would. They have been very supportive of me and my programs in the past. Also, not all schools have been as blessed with volunteers like I've had. I really think it is because of the cutbacks in the state. I also believe my lack of an assistant who is working with me is more of a principal decision. With the exception of Maryann, all of our media specialists have assistants with them. I believe it was left up to the principals to determine where they wanted to place assistants, and mine at Sycamore showed a graph indicating how assistants were used the last two years and where they would be used this year. It was plain to see where the emphasis was being placed.
ReplyDeleteBerry, I had worked as a school library media specialist for 11 years, 10 in Vigo County Schools, when our new director of Media Services pulled me aside one day and asked me if I had given any thought as to what I wanted to do in the future. Actually I had. At that time, I couldn't see myself working in a school setting at the age I am now, which is 57. She told me how much she valued me and that she would like to see me in her job some day. However, there were others with more seniority that might want her job and she felt I had talents which I should explore. She was extremely kind and a wonderful lady. Anyway, I put out resumes and was one of 3 applicants receiving final interviews at a college in Virginia. I didn't receive that position, but I was offered positions in Oklahoma and West Virginia, which I declined for different reasons. In West Virginia I would have taken a $10,000 pay cut. Anyway, I interviewed for a position at the Dept. of Education in the Office of Learning Resources. I didn't receive that position because they felt I was a better applicant for another position which would be forthcoming in a few months; the job description, etc. was being planned. They offered me this position if I was willing to wait a few months. I said yes. This was in July of 1989 and they called me in early November and negotiated a release date from Vigo County, so I could start at the DOE. I did until it appeared the funds for my position wouldn't always be there. About the same time, I received a call from a friend in Avon and she encourage me to apply for the Sycamore position. I did and was hired. My position in the Office of Learning Resources lasted another 2 years and then the funds dried up. I've had a good career in Avon and I love working with children. That was the one thing I missed at DOE, although I loved my position there.
ReplyDeleteDennis,
ReplyDeleteOh, I am certainly not disappointed with your answer regarding wikis and moodle. I can not imagine being responsible for two locations. I feel like I am struggling to keep up at one school. I have used wikis a couple of times in the past year; once for a school history project developed by 7th graders and me for our school's 35th anniversary and secondly as an author recommendation site developed by
8th graders for 1st and 2nd graders. This one included videos and short reviews. The 8th graders loved this one. I struggle, however, with a lot of technology integration since I only teach each grade once per week. It is hard to finish anything. I am really up for ideas on time management. Shelly M.
Yes, she is in an elementary building on Tuesdays and Thursdays and in my building (a middle school) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The poor woman has to maintain two libraries and plan lessons for grades K-8. At the elementary, she is used as a "specials" teacher to provide a prep for classroom teachers as well. So, collaboration is completely out the window, especially since we have at least 2 teachers for each subject area at each grade level at the middle school. You can't guarantee that both teachers are doing the same thing in order to coordinate lessons. Plus, she only has about 1/3 of my kids at a time. This is only the second year that they have done things this way. I hope they start to realize what a waste the Tuesday/Thursday program is. I think the media specialist is having the assistant read a book with the kids the first half of the period and then independent reading the second half of the period. However, it still must not work out because we are 6 weeks into the school year and we are on our 3rd assistant in that position. I think we went through 6 in the whole year last year.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insight on AR, etc. I agree that some of the levels on some of the books seem a bit off. I do wish the lexiles were easier to explain to parents. We use lexiles in the Read 180 program that I teach and the books truly do seem to be leveled accurately for the most part. However, there is a lot of confusion with parents when I send home a lexile score of 600. They want me to put a grade level on that. All I can say is "below grade level" because it falls in the range for several grade levels (but below sixth grade). Parents don't like it at all! :)
Roberta, the Young Hoosier program has been my salvation for skills lessons with students. This has also provided me with a vehicle for promoting reading at the fourth grade level. I was disheartened by the number of students that were able to vote for their favorite YH book, simply because they hadn't read 5 books. With my program, I would read portions of books, or do activities with students, and it got them more involved in the reading program. Now I have high numbers of fourth grade students reading and able to vote for their favorite YH book. I can only hope this reading carries on with them. When teachers have had lesson ideas or activities, I've usually been able to incorporate these with the YH program, so that their skill lesson was incorporated into the YH program. If their skill activity couldn't be incorporated easily, then I would abandon my YH activity for that week or push it to another week. I basically start from scratch each school year, but the YH program has given me a good foundation. Programs like Teachingbooks.net (I hope I'm able to say that here) have been good for me and made my life easier. I've also found lessons and ideas online by doing general searches.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, originally I wasn't a fan at all of the AR program for the reaons I mentioned earlier. I still don't buy into it completely, but do like the fact that it does provide a reading level for books, that is usually accurate I believe. This, compared with Follett, BTSB, and other posted reading levels, gives students a good guideline. I have mixed emotions on testing the students over their reading; I think some of their written tests are better than others, and the quality or type of test does make a difference. Truly I don't like the word "test" though.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if there is anything a person can do to accurately know if a person is reading. However, I do think you can get a good feel for this though with a good reading program. Up until last year, we had a reading program which was originally based upon the Books and Beyond program which I believe was started by a California company. We made many changes along the way and truly excited the kids with reading. I also participated in our monthly convos and did "crazy" things to encourage children to read. I've done many things over the years, and have donned many disguises to encourage children to reading, including a variety of animal costumes, Elvis, Santa, and Sonny, among many others. Time constraints stopped this program a year ago and I heard from many people, including teachers, parents, and students, how much they missed our program or me dressing in character. I was going to start the program up this year, and had even promised a couple of parents, but traveling between two schools have put a hiatus on this. I was told by a couple of teachers the other day that the number one thing students have said they missed the most was me dressing in character! If that doesn't bring a tear to the eye, nothing will!
Dennis,
ReplyDeleteIf not for the limited time and supervising two schools problem, would you rather like to be a developer of your Media Center web page yourself? Or are you content with outsourcing it to the school's technology team? Do you believe you have sufficient space to post all the needed information/resources or would you rather have a whole website dedicated to Media Center as opposed to a single webpage?
We are now working on the assignment were we have to evaluate and choose three best Media Center websites, so I could not help but looking critically at your web-pages. Do you think having a link to the Media Center on the home page of Avon Community Schools would increase the use and accessibility of your virtual library? I was impressed with the 'Translate to Other Languages' button on every page of your school's website(my native language is Russian, so I translated it for fun and it was not bad at all :). I admire your tech people for doing that, though I am wondering how diverse is your school's environment to need such tool.
P.S. I like that you use students' needs and desires as a main guide of your collection development policy. I believe personal growth starts with reading enjoyment. (My 7-year old son reads those 6 books of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid that you just ordered over and over again. I bought all 6 of them. These were the breaking point for him. He preferred reading over watching TV so much he enjoyed the topic).
Hi Ellie. I love web page development. Yes, if I had more time, and the flexibility, I would love to develop the web page more and expand it. The interface designer of our web page (I believe I have that term correct) is based in Colorado. I feel like we have quite a bit of flexibility for development, but I would like to have more. There are areas within that interface that I think are more adaptable for classrooms than for school libraries or the related arts. Since I travel between two schools, I don't want anything on the web pages that have to be updated frequently. The web pages of both schools are my responsibility and I love it. I would also love to have more time to develop the web pages. I am entranced with this area of technology. I don't feel like we outsource much of it to the technology team, since I save to PDF files any documents I want to post. I also designed everything else which you've viewed on the webpage, from the content to the page design. If I was more fluent in webpage design, it would be nice not to have any parameters.
ReplyDeleteIf there was a direct link to the media center from Avon's home page, it would have to be to all the media centers, with links there to Sycamore and Hickory. That would be nice, because we could have a professional beliefs statement which covers all school libraries, along with a link to copyright, selection policy, etc. At this point, I'm grateful for the privilege of posting anything I choose without prior approval; I've also never had anything questioned. I do feel privileged. I have good support in Avon.
I'm a firm believer in students having freedom of choice when it comes to reading preferences. Naturally, there has to be some guidance, but I believe students should have freedom of choice. I'm not one of those people which believe students should be steered away from so-called "poor series" books like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, etc. I say that because when I was in college, a professor said she believed the poor series books didn't do anything to enhance student reading and students should be steered to better materials than what I previously mentioned. If Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, or other similar books turn students on to reading, then I believe they should read them. Their reading interests and desires will branch out from there. I understand why your son likes Diary of a Wimpy Kid; I cannot keep those books on the shelf. Kids devour them just like they will the new title when it debuts in November. Happy reading!
Hi Ellie. I love web page development. Yes, if I had more time, and the flexibility, I would love to develop the web page more and expand it. The interface designer of our web page (I believe I have that term correct) is based in Colorado. I feel like we have quite a bit of flexibility for development, but I would like to have more. There are areas within that interface that I think are more adaptable for classrooms than for school libraries or the related arts. Since I travel between two schools, I don't want anything on the web pages that have to be updated frequently. The web pages of both schools are my responsibility and I love it. I would also love to have more time to develop the web pages. I am entranced with this area of technology. I don't feel like we outsource much of it to the technology team, since I save to PDF files any documents I want to post. I also designed everything else which you've viewed on the webpage, from the content to the page design. If I was more fluent in webpage design, it would be nice not to have any parameters.
ReplyDeleteIf there was a direct link to the media center from Avon's home page, it would have to be to all the media centers, with links there to Sycamore and Hickory. That would be nice, because we could have a professional beliefs statement which covers all school libraries, along with a link to copyright, selection policy, etc. At this point, I'm grateful for the privilege of posting anything I choose without prior approval; I've also never had anything questioned. I do feel privileged. I have good support in Avon.
I'm a firm believer in students having freedom of choice when it comes to reading preferences. Naturally, there has to be some guidance, but I believe students should have freedom of choice. I'm not one of those people which believe students should be steered away from so-called "poor series" books like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, etc. I say that because when I was in college, a professor said she believed the poor series books didn't do anything to enhance student reading and students should be steered to better materials than what I previously mentioned. If Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, or other similar books turn students on to reading, then I believe they should read them. Their reading interests and desires will branch out from there. I understand why your son likes Diary of a Wimpy Kid; I cannot keep those books on the shelf. Kids devour them just like they will the new title when it debuts in November. Happy reading!
Hi Ellie. I love web page development. Yes, if I had more time, and the flexibility, I would love to develop the web page more and expand it. The interface designer of our web page (I believe I have that term correct) is based in Colorado. I feel like we have quite a bit of flexibility for development, but I would like to have more. There are areas within that interface that I think are more adaptable for classrooms than for school libraries or the related arts. Since I travel between two schools, I don't want anything on the web pages that have to be updated frequently. The web pages of both schools are my responsibility and I love it. I would also love to have more time to develop the web pages. I am entranced with this area of technology. I don't feel like we outsource much of it to the technology team, since I save to PDF files any documents I want to post. I also designed everything else which you've viewed on the webpage, from the content to the page design. If I was more fluent in webpage design, it would be nice not to have any parameters.
ReplyDeleteIf there was a direct link to the media center from Avon's home page, it would have to be to all the media centers, with links there to Sycamore and Hickory. That would be nice, because we could have a professional beliefs statement which covers all school libraries, along with a link to copyright, selection policy, etc. At this point, I'm grateful for the privilege of posting anything I choose without prior approval; I've also never had anything questioned. I do feel privileged. I have good support in Avon.
I'm a firm believer in students having freedom of choice when it comes to reading preferences. Naturally, there has to be some guidance, but I believe students should have freedom of choice. I'm not one of those people which believe students should be steered away from so-called "poor series" books like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, etc. I say that because when I was in college, a professor said she believed the poor series books didn't do anything to enhance student reading and students should be steered to better materials than what I previously mentioned. If Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, or other similar books turn students on to reading, then I believe they should read them. Their reading interests and desires will branch out from there. I understand why your son likes Diary of a Wimpy Kid; I cannot keep those books on the shelf. Kids devour them just like they will the new title when it debuts in November. Happy reading!
Hi Ellie. I love web page development. Yes, if I had more time, and the flexibility, I would love to develop the web page more and expand it. The interface designer of our web page (I believe I have that term correct) is based in Colorado. I feel like we have quite a bit of flexibility for development, but I would like to have more. There are areas within that interface that I think are more adaptable for classrooms than for school libraries or the related arts. Since I travel between two schools, I don't want anything on the web pages that have to be updated frequently. The web pages of both schools are my responsibility and I love it. I would also love to have more time to develop the web pages. I am entranced with this area of technology. I don't feel like we outsource much of it to the technology team, since I save to PDF files any documents I want to post. I also designed everything else which you've viewed on the webpage, from the content to the page design. If I was more fluent in webpage design, it would be nice not to have any parameters.
ReplyDeleteIf there was a direct link to the media center from Avon's home page, it would have to be to all the media centers, with links there to Sycamore and Hickory. That would be nice, because we could have a professional beliefs statement which covers all school libraries, along with a link to copyright, selection policy, etc. At this point, I'm grateful for the privilege of posting anything I choose without prior approval; I've also never had anything questioned. I do feel privileged. I have good support in Avon.
I'm a firm believer in students having freedom of choice when it comes to reading preferences. Naturally, there has to be some guidance, but I believe students should have freedom of choice. I'm not one of those people which believe students should be steered away from so-called "poor series" books like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, etc. I say that because when I was in college, a professor said she believed the poor series books didn't do anything to enhance student reading and students should be steered to better materials than what I previously mentioned. If Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, or other similar books turn students on to reading, then I believe they should read them. Their reading interests and desires will branch out from there. I understand why your son likes Diary of a Wimpy Kid; I cannot keep those books on the shelf. Kids devour them just like they will the new title when it debuts in November. Happy reading!
Hi Ellie. I love web page development. Yes, if I had more time, and the flexibility, I would love to develop the web page more and expand it. The interface designer of our web page (I believe I have that term correct) is based in Colorado. I feel like we have quite a bit of flexibility for development, but I would like to have more. There are areas within that interface that I think are more adaptable for classrooms than for school libraries or the related arts. Since I travel between two schools, I don't want anything on the web pages that have to be updated frequently. The web pages of both schools are my responsibility and I love it. I would also love to have more time to develop the web pages. I am entranced with this area of technology. I don't feel like we outsource much of it to the technology team, since I save to PDF files any documents I want to post. I also designed everything else which you've viewed on the webpage, from the content to the page design. If I was more fluent in webpage design, it would be nice not to have any parameters.
ReplyDeleteIf there was a direct link to the media center from Avon's home page, it would have to be to all the media centers, with links there to Sycamore and Hickory. That would be nice, because we could have a professional beliefs statement which covers all school libraries, along with a link to copyright, selection policy, etc. At this point, I'm grateful for the privilege of posting anything I choose without prior approval; I've also never had anything questioned. I do feel privileged. I have good support in Avon.
I'm a firm believer in students having freedom of choice when it comes to reading preferences. Naturally, there has to be some guidance, but I believe students should have freedom of choice. I'm not one of those people which believe students should be steered away from so-called "poor series" books like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, etc. I say that because when I was in college, a professor said she believed the poor series books didn't do anything to enhance student reading and students should be steered to better materials than what I previously mentioned. If Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children, or other similar books turn students on to reading, then I believe they should read them. Their reading interests and desires will branch out from there. I understand why your son likes Diary of a Wimpy Kid; I cannot keep those books on the shelf. Kids devour them just like they will the new title when it debuts in November. Happy reading!
Thanks to everyone that has posted a comment or raised a question. I have enjoyed this tremendously and the interaction with each of you. Please feel free to email me if you want. You can email me from my school webpage or at dleloup@sbcglobal.net . This has been tremendous and I'm appreciative to Larry for the invitation. Thank you again for your comments. I will check back later in case there are anymore. Have a great semester and year!
ReplyDeleteDennis,
ReplyDeleteAs a new media specialist, I constantly feel as though I am leaving something undone whether it be cataloging, developing interactive projects, or planning collaboratively with teachers. How do you possibly do it at two schools? I feel like I might never do it really well. Shelly
Enjoyed reading you response, Dennis! It is awesome you are not restricted in what and where you can post.
ReplyDeleteWe have been recently squeezed into a strict rules of the content management system (CMS) that aimed at improving consistency of our community college campuses' websites throughout the state. And even though I understand and agree with the importance of consistency, the change from "wild" webdesign to very controlled content management was quite painful (I am a webdesigner myself and "entranced with technology" using your expression :). So I am glad to hear some people out there can still enjoy their posting freedom :)
The reason I mentioned link to the Media Center webpages on your site was that it took me a few clicks to figure where they are hiding. We had similar issue when our marketing team, all oriented on prospective college student, suddenly buried our libraries' webpage 4 to 5 clicks down. We disagreed, because academic library is a face of the college and our current student should be able to find it instantly as they open college's home page. We convinced marketing people by a simple experiment of asking a random student to find a link to the library, which "successfully" failed. So the justice prevailed and our link was reinstalled on the main page.
Thank you again for the very interesting responses and insights. I hope this school's year won't be too hard on you!
Ellie
Shelley, working at two schools is tough and I don't have a ready answer except to say that you adapt. You learn to make shortcuts that won't hurt the program but still provide needed services. A person also learns to prioritize. It does help having a wonderful colleague who is not afraid to face situations; we work well together. We also have a wonderful assistant that learns quickly and interacts well with people. We know things will be accomplished as they are written in the plans. For the most part our administration is supportive; they just may not understand the complexity or demands of the situation. I feel privileged to be in Avon. Even though there are situations that could be improved, there are situations in all schools that could be improved.
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