Sunday 12 September 2010

Things are getting better all the time

After our y10 induction lesson being praised, I have now been asked to do a brief intro to USIC to all the y12 tutor groups. I am pleased and will be able to use some of the things I did for y10, which makes planning easier.

Came across this website IPL2 for teens some of the info on projects is really useful and will definitely add it to our USIC homepage. I find that our students often are given or choose a topic that is just too big eg Victorian literature and they do not seem to know how to go about narrowing down the topic. IPL2 includes a link to a page on the University of Victoria's website which explains nice and clearly how to do just that

So busy term on the lesson front at the moment. 17 lessons this coming week (out of 21) but will share them with my assistant.

Wednesday 8 September 2010

First Y10 induction lesson

Did the first of 12 Y10 induction lessons, 12 groups is one of the joys of a large school, at least I have 12 chances to get it right. This is my least favourite lesson. We feel that we have to do something to introduce the students to the upper school library but only have one lesson so there is not time to give them lots of activities to do.
Anyway the teacher who brought the group said that she thought it was the best lesson I have ever done with Y10 so was dead chuffed. But still felt it was too much of me talking and not enough of them doing stuff.
I asked the students if they could remember the author and title of the last fiction book they had read. In the first group only one student could but in the second about five could. I dont think they believed me when I told them that reading impacted on their test results.

So 2 down 8 to go.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Study habits

Forget the advice you normally give students as it appears that the tidy space and focus on one topic at a time is not effective!
Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits
Apparently  varying the topics and where you study helps. Also the article suggests that testing should be called something else because it "...cognitive scientists see testing itself — or practice tests and quizzes — as a powerful tool of learning, rather than merely assessment. The process of retrieving an idea is not like pulling a book from a shelf; it seems to fundamentally alter the way the information is subsequently stored, making it far more accessible in the future. "
“Maybe we need to call it something else, but this is one of the most powerful learning tools we have.”
Think I will have to share this with staff?

To every page, turn, turn, turn

This was the clever title for an article in THES which I was alerted to by the wonderful CILIP weekly news bulletin, which I find ever so useful
But back to the article, which is about the value of reading and his love for it
""Hold on to your books," I say. "They will help you through. Let them be your best friend, and they will remain a solace in your life as they continue to be in mine."

He has his 4am books which he turns to in times of stress!

How do we turn students to this from their worlds of online surfing and channel hopping?
We have a number of students who come into the library each lunchtime and sit in front of pcs and really do nothing but flit from screen to screen. Not quite sure how you would turn them on to reading.
Reading the article gives me a great feeling because I can relate to his passion for reading but not sure if the article would turn his or my students on to reading.

Saturday 4 September 2010

Publicity in Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1308885/School-libraries-fall-victim-cash-cuts.html
Why when so much is appearing in the press do the cuts continue.
Reading is what makes us uniquely human, without it would would not have the knowledge of our past.
Reading unlike film and TV gives us time to think and reflect

One of our targets for the year at our school library is to try to ingnite more of a passion for reading.
We are have lots of stuff planned and hope it will work
We seem to have a little window of opportunity at the moment with all this press coverage to show the world what we can do to change children's lives and to show everyone how shortsighted it would be to stop employing librarians

Friday 3 September 2010

Nurturing good readers

I was asked my the SLA to write an article on what school librarians do and what we were looking for as judges of the school librarian of the year award. The article was published in Book Brunch today!
Ingrid Hopson, SLA School Librarian of the Year 2007 and a member of the judging panel for this year's award, explains why schools need librarians and what the judges were looking for when they selected this year’s Honour List (BookBrunch story)

You ask: what do school librarians do?

I answer: we help our pupils become better learners.

Libraries exist not as collections of resources but as places that foster creativity and independent thought. We cannot know what the world will be like for our pupils when they reach adulthood, but we can prepare them for their future.
Read more...
 I do not really like doing this sort of stuff as I am always worried what people will think of it!

Not sure if anyone I know will even see it as you have to register to read the articles