2007-2008 LMS Professional Development

This years’ RHSD LMS staff development will center on the development of collection maps that will support each school’s unique curriculum maps. The first session will be held on Thursday, November 29 from 2:00 – 4:00. Martha Alewine, State Media Consultant will be with us to begin this process.

Thanks to Sara Curry and Judy Garner for volunteering the media center at RHHS for the location of this meeting.

You will sign up for this via the PD Planner so that your recertification credit will be posted correctly. I will send out instructions to this later.

Update from the September 2007 SCASL Supervisors Meeting

ADEPT/GBE (Kathy Meeks, state ADEPT coordinator)

• LMS ADEPT standards are different from those of the classroom teacher and will remain in place until 2009 at the earliest. While the classroom teachers’ GBE requirements will change before then, those for LMS will not.
• Remember that your GBE should not take the place of systemic professional development.

News from the State Department (Martha Alewine, SDE Media Consultant)

• Dr. Rex is reorganizing much of the SDE.
• Martha Alewine is no longer located in the office of Technology, but in the Office of Standards and Learning.
• Lexiles will likely become more and more important in the future when PACT is replaced.
  

Instructional Role of the LMS (M. Alewine)

• Becoming more of a conversation at school’s look to everyone to improve instruction
• Must ask where the LMC program is fitting in the school’s direction
• Action Research should guide all LMC programs (one way is to use MAP testing results to open the dialogue)
• “Ten Principles that Guide a Quality Library Media Program” can be found on Martha’s website – should be read by all principals and discussed
• Create collection maps to justify budget proposals and support for the classroom teachers’ initiatives
• Work with Advisory Committee
  

New SC English/LA Standards document (Allison Norwood, SDE)

• Information parallels RHSD “unpacking” and “mapping” instruction
  - focus on the Bloom’s verbs for level of rigor and assessment
• LMS should play a key role in support of the instruction of these standards (as well as the SS literacy elements)

Lexile Framework (David Bell, Horry Co.)

• When PACT is replaced, it is likely the new assessment tool will score in Lexile ranges (as MAP testing does)
• Lexiles are for instructional reading and should NOT be used with recreational reading choices
• Titlewave can be a big help in selecting books with Lexile levels

Core Collection (M. Alewine)

• Should relate to content areas and technology
• Not by grade level or title-specific
• Periodicals available through DISCUS may count up to 50% minimum
• eBooks only count if there is not a bound copy in the collection
• Paperbacks can be counted if they are catalogued
  

LMS Survey (M. Alewine)

• Closes September 30
• $1 million in non-recurring funds will be distributed to participating libraries

Finally A Wiki that I like

I have been trying to find a wiki--any kind of wiki outside of Wikipedia--that serves its users well. I particularly would like to see a class wiki, but I haven't seen many that I liked or that the purpose was obvious. A lot of my friends use Moodle, which is not really a wiki or a blog, but rather a more combined approach. But most who use them have them password protected (for good reasons) since their kids openly post and comment, or edit the site in its wiki sense. (I feel like I'm speaking a foreign language.) Here is a wiki that truly makes me "get it." It gives me something to show at SLI to ensure the principals or other administrators who haven't quite grasped Web 2.0 what it is, what it's capable of, and what its potential is. Check out his wiki from Princeton Public Library.

Thanks

I have decided not to come to the end of the year/Fond Farewell get together at Julia's. I have a ridiculous amount of things to do, and quite honestly I don't feel like answering a lot of questions--there's nothing to report yet anyway. All that those who support me can say is "We don't understand." No worries though because I am happy and relieved. It's just another leap of faith, and I honestly believe I will land on my feet. No, I'm not interested in the NHS job---why try to go where you been declined twice before? I'm no longer interested in being in Rock Hill anymore. And actually, I don't even know what I want, because I withdrew my name from one I had already interviewed for Monday. I guess I'm just being selective now. My five years here have made me a significantly stronger person, and for sure a better teacher librarian. I can attribute some of that growth to working with this group. Thank you. I have a good solid offer, but right now there isn't a job my husband is interested in. And it will require us to move. So I do not know for sure what I will do. But I totally have my family's support. That's a good feeling too.
My principal summed it up nicely at our end of the year get together:

• In August, it will be stated with shocking accuracy that Miss Nelson is Missing
• NS will miss their grant writer, collaborator, and technology with my absence
• In short--everyone will miss her, because of ENN--Everybody needs Nelson (ENN is our in house news show, the Explorers Network News)
  

For Lucy and Susan, we will all miss your enthusiasm and grace. You know we all bring our gifts, and each you have yours. Lucy, I can remember several times my first year calling you to inquire how to do things in Follett--you were the first outside of Liz to offer me assistance. Thanks eternally for helping me adjust. I did have a difficult time making the transition. Susan thank you for being a role model for grace. You have been the most graceful person I have known. You are a great role model, and I only hope to learn to be graceful like you. It is easy to see why your teachers will greatly miss you. I will too.

I will miss the informal get together's too. You are all fun to be around. I got to know some of you better this year than any other year. Karen, check with me at conference time next spring, and maybe you can room with me again.

Please understand and support my decision, folks. And pray that wherever I am and whatever I am doing, that I am successful and happy. I have decided no matter what, its not about the money or respect, and I am not working to be paid well (though that doesn't hurt) or regarded highly for any accomplishments. I just want to feel that I make an impact and kids are better for it.

Thanks to Ebinport and Sullivan

Last week I was in a dilemma over a missing box of books intended for our annual field day book give away. I emailed the group trying to find a book fair so I could purchase enough books to get us through our day. On this day every kid gets to pick put a free book, and I wanted to be sure we had enough since we were missing one whole box (roughly 100 books.) Lisa R. of Ebinport and Betty J. of Sullivan managed to sell me some books at great discounts. From Ebinport I picked out a ton of discount books ($2.00 or less) and from Sullivan we selected a good number that were buy one get one free. Thanks ladies for bailing us out for our ever important annual book give-away on field day!

Update on the missing box: They were delivered Monday, April 16, and signed for--six boxes. We later determined that box number 1 never got in the building. But because we (our office staff) signed for them, it is our loss. The box still has not shown up. My thoughts are the delivery folks would have gotten in trouble if they got back to the warehouse with an undelivered box of books, and so the box was either dumped or busted open and put in an outgoing or incoming book fair. But that's just a guess. We will probably never know, even though we paid for them....Tsk, Tsk.

Librivox

LibriVox: free audiobooks

LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net (via podcast and catalog). Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.

Got this off the sunlink blog today. I plan to take it back to my teachers who are using recorded books and mp3 players. Many of these classics available on this site are very high AR point getters. Nobody said our kids couldn't "listen" to the story. And who knows? Having someone to read it to them mu=ight motivate them to read ahead or wowo, even finish these long works on their own!

Please write your legislators

Okay, here is some flavor to add to your letter writing to legislators regarding the Strive for 25 campaign. Recently it was shared that there is $1,00,000 in the budget for school libraries. How does that translate into how much we get for our school. This was researched by Frankie Adkins:

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, in the fall
of 2003, South Carolina had 699,198 in public schools. That would come to about
$1.40 per child, or about 2 books per class if my math is right.

This food for thought as you compose your letters. You could add your own statistics, like your collection age, the average cost of library books (+$20 a book) and what your current budget allows you to purchase. Include science test scores and correlate it to your schools' science collection age. These are all RAW facts that will bolster the case for additional funding.

We really should come together as a group for the sole purpose of addressing this campaign.

South Carolina History Resources

I would love input from elementary and secondary on this topic!

Lucy and I are trying to find the readibility level for the new South Carolina Encyclopedia (Walter Edgar - published last summer). All of Edgar's resources I've used have been hard for 8th graders to understand, but this may be geared towards a younger or more general audience.

Question 1: Does anyone know if this is appropriate for 3rd grade SC History?

Question 2: What other resources have you found that might help 3rd, 8th and high school teachers with South Carolina History?