Learning to Code!

The past couple of weeks, I have been working on coding with all of my classes!  That's right even my kindergarten friends have been learning to code!  The students have been dabbling in the computer science world and learning what computer programming is all about!  I have added some links to the Library Media resources page, so students always have access to what they have been working on during their information literacy and technology time.  The kindergarten and first grade students worked with Kodable to program their "fuzz" to make through mazes and collect coins, while my 2nd and 3rd grade friends worked on lightbot.  They had to code lightbot to find blue tiles and light them up.  My 4th and 5th grade friends worked with different choices on code.org to learn coding using blockly and some of my 5th grade friends worked on Scratch to create a holiday card.  The students were engaged, problem-solving, and using higher order thinking to get their codes correct!

Creation Corner Christmas Tree!

This week in the creation corner, 1st grade students were given 2 materials, cups and pom poms, and they needed to work together to create a Christmas Tree.  We read the story Dewey's Christmas at the Library where Dewey the library cat helped to decorate the library Christmas tree.  The students then worked together to build their Christmas tree.  There was a lot of teamwork going on, as well as strategizing on the best ways to make their Christmas tree stay standing!  

Library Genrefication

At the end of last year we worked to genre-fy our fiction collection.  This process took several weeks, but it was well worth it.  The act of genrefication is a way in which books are organized in the library. After fielding several questions from students and staff on where to find books in a specific genre and researching the benefits, I decided to switch the fiction section to be organized by genre. The books were all labeled into a specific genre and then relocated on the shelves.  Although some books may cross genre’s it is labeled according to the dominating genre throughout the book.  The kids who visited in summer loved the new look.This way of organization is becoming more popular in school libraries and we are excited to be the first one to do it in Neenah! The following are the steps that I took to make this process work.

1. IDENTIFY GENRES AND COLORS 

Make a list of the genres you want represented and the colors you want to use for each genre. Think about what books your students ask for, and how they ask for them (the terminology they use). Consider also what your teachers might need for their classes. 

The genres (colors) we used include: 

Realistic Fiction (light blue) Fantasy/Science Fiction (yellow) Historical Fiction (light green) Action/Adventure (dark green) Mystery/Suspense/Horror (red) Graphic Novels (purple) 2. ORDER YOUR SUPPLIES  We ordered our supplies from Demco. You will need several rolls of the color coded labels.  We used the transparent color coded labels from Demco, so that we could place them over the existing label and still see the first three letters of the authors last name. Be sure also to order at least 1-2 extra rolls of color labels because you will also have to genre-fy new books as you receive them.   3. DECIDE HOW YOU WANT TO DESIGNATE EACH GENRE IN YOUR CATALOG. Our school district circulation system is Destiny. We decided to put the section name behind the existing call number for that book. For example, Brandon Mull's Fablehaven previously had a call number of MUL. We changed the call number to MUL FF. (Fantasy Fiction) Another possibility would be to put the genre name in the Sublocation or Copy Categories fields in Destiny, which would enable librarians and students to print book lists by genre. It does not really matter what your circulation system is or how you decide to do it. The most important thing is that you are consistent and your patrons can still find the books they want easily.  4. PICK UP A BOOK AND START GENRE-FYING. This part is very slow and detailed, The general order was: --Look at the cover and read the blurb. --Decide on a genre. For some books this will be obvious just by looking at the cover art. Other books will require some investigation. If in doubt, consult circulation catalog, Goodreads, Amazon, BN, students, other librarians before picking a genre. --Put the color label on the spine. --Change the call number and/or sublocation and/or copy category in the catalog. You'll still need to be able to look up the book in the catalog and find the it in the library! --Shelve with the genre section once they are created.

Creation Corner

Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year! We are very excited to be back in action with the students. This year will bring some more changes to the library, as well as the implementation of a makerspace, which we are calling our “creation corner.”  This name may change as the year progresses and we develop the space more.

MAKE IT@THE LIBRARY 

WHAT IS A MAKERSPACE?
Background
The maker movement is becoming highly recognized in libraries throughout the United States. Although the idea of making is not new, the 21st century has put a new spin on things with the influx of technology. This approach to teaching and learning builds upon the constructionism theory and allows students to be hands-on in their learning. The students will be able to benefit from project-based learning opportunities that relate to classroom curriculum, as well as their own ideas and/or interests. They will be highly engaged in creation, communication, and collaboration with other students and staff. The students will also benefit by engaging in problem solving skills, as well as the project-based learning will promote higher order thinking. The learning process is initiated by students and we will be the facilitator guiding and supporting what they may need. This new movement supports the future careers of these students.
Goals for Creation Corner

• Use a wide range of idea creation techniques – such as brainstorming
  
• Create new and worthwhile ideas – both incremental and radical concepts
  
• Elaborate, refine, analyze and evaluate their own ideas in order to improve and maximize creative efforts
  
• Develop, implement, and communicate new ideas to others effectively
  
• Be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives; incorporate group input and feedback into the work
  
• Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work and understand the real-world limits to adopting new ideas
  
• View failure as an opportunity to learn; understand that creativity and innovation are a long-term, cyclical process of
  small successes and frequent mistakes
  
• Implement innovations
  
• Act on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution to the field in which the innovation will occur