From Call Me Maybe to Read Me Maybe

I came across this amazing library bulletin board on Google Images and decided to create it in my school . Using our new arrival books, I created some QR codes and attached them to the bulletin board and to the book themselves. Students can now scan the QR codes using their Smartphone to view the book trailer's on Youtube. 

The best thing about this bulletin board is hearing all the kids sing Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen as they walk by.

A big thank to Holly Frilot for the idea! 

Book Trailer to Promote Reading

As a teacher librarian, I wanted  to learn how to create a book trailer. Using the program iMovie, here is my first attempt:

My purpose for creating this book trailer is to inspire students to read the book. Are you inspired? 

Research with Sqworl

"Sqworl makes it easy to organize and share multiple links with just one url. Easy and clean visual bookmarking".

How have I been using it in the library? I have created Sqworls for the grade 6 Dead but Not Forgotten music research project. I made a Sqworl for various dead musicians that the students are interested in researching.The students now have a collections of websites organized in a way to see little snapshots of the site before they click into it. This is a great research guide for students and great way to support students in locating student friendly, reliable and relevant information on a topic or subject area.

 So what are you waiting for? All it takes is three easy steps: 

1. create a free account

2. name your “group” 

3. cut and paste the urls you want to share

You can see my Dead Musicians sqworl page here.  

Go nuts! 

Edmodo in the School Library

During a recent Professional Development day, our staff was introduced to Edmodo. Edmodo is a safe and easy social learning network for teachers, students, and parents. With Edmodo you can connect and collaborate while sharing ideas and content. You can also access homework, grades and important school notices. 

At this point, myself and my teacher-librarian partner have decided to start using Edmodo in the school library. We have set-up a student group, a parent group, and a teacher group. Our student group will be updated on a regular basis with library happenings. There is also an area where students can complete a book wish list. Our parent group will be where parents can go to find out more information on  becoming a parent volunteer. Finally, our teacher group is all about collaboration. 

Since the students enjoy being members of different groups we hope that once we have more student members we can create a book review group. What groups have your created so far for your students to join? 

Halloween Book Display

Today I created a spooky display around Halloween. I have displayed a selection of scary fiction and non-fiction books. I used creepy blood fonts and props to make the display stand out. The cobwebs, skull heads, and do not enter banner can all be found at Dollarama. 

Fall Bulletin Board Display

One of the most creative things I get to go as a teacher-librarian is create bulletin boards each month based on different themes or seasons. I absolutely love preparing something new to put up! Since Fall is finally here, I wanted to create a bulletin board with warm autumn colours and falling leaves. I found this brilliant bright idea from Bess Gonglewski, and adopted it to the bulletin board outside the library. I hope that the colours and design draw more readers into the library. 

What does your bulletin board look like? 

Online Library/Teacher Collaboration Form with Google Docs

The role of teacher-librarians are to collaborate with teachers to assist with accessing resources, teach research skills and to promote a love of reading. Teacher-librarians are also to work with teachers to plan, teach and assess learning. As teacher-librarians and teachers work together, they can develop a new understanding of how effective collaboration is in the school. As 21st century schools are focusing on learning collaboratively in order to build learning partnerships, I decided to create an library/teacher collaboration form to encourage teachers to work with the teacher-librarian to plan, teach, and assess learning. 

Technology in learning is also another focus for 21st century schools. To embrace in new technologies I thought it would be great to integrate the collaboration and technology components and create an online collaboration form using Google Docs.

Google Docs is a free online word processer that allows you to create documents, presentations, spreadsheets, forms and more. Whatever you create can then be shared online to collaborate with others. To make my online collaboration form I first created a spreadsheet document with all of the components that I wanted my teachers to fill in. Once the spreadsheet was complete I was able to save and share the document online. When you share your document you are able to fill in the form, edit your questions, change the template, and email it directly to whoever you'd like to fill it in. Once someone fills in your form all of the data collected will be available to view as a spreadsheet within your Google Docs account. You can also enable email notifications to receive instant emails as soon as someone fills in your online form. Your forms can also be added to your blog to collect information from your visitors. Below you will see my embedded library/teacher collaboration form. 

Conte, J. (n.d.). Collaborative Teaching Inquiry and the School Learning Commons. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/treasuremountaincanada2/conte

Ontario School Library Association with the support of the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat of the Government of Ontario’s Ministry of Education. (2010). Together for Learning: school libraries and the emergence of the learning commons a    vision for the 21st century.  Ontario, Canada: O.S.L.A.