Tales from a Loud Librarian

That's me, Ms. Kahn, looking at a student's work on Easybib Collaborating with the teachers in my building is one of my priorities. It is a waste of time to teach skills in isolation because in most cases what you are trying to teach just won't stick. By planning lessons with my teachers to meet the specific needs of their teaching and classrooms means that the students will immediately use what I am sharing with them. It also means that the students will be assessed on what I am teaching because the teachers require an end product.  Another type of collaboration that I do is help teachers follow through with the activities which I introduced in the library and is what I call, the second person in the room. This means I serve as an extra pair of hands, eyes, and mouth. I have been the second person during skype visits when the teacher felt uncomfortable with the technology or they wanted help to make sure the conversation with the expert on skype went smoothly. ...

View image | gettyimages.com Tomorrow is my first collaborative lesson with one of our new English teachers. This semester he began teaching all of the English II students, as our school is on a block schedule and classes are held for 90 minutes a day for only one semester. I have worked with these students in science, but in English I hold them to a higher standard in following correct citation format for both works cited and in-text citations. Also, there are many of these students who are new to our school and haven't heard my spiel on research and MLA very often. I wanted to be well prepared, and I wanted to set them up not to fail. In order to do that, I created a tool that I could use to teach a lesson, but also, that they could refer to as they research, take notes, and write. Below is the presentation that I created with links to useful resources on creating a persuasive essay, links to resources to use for research, and detailed explanations of ways to use...

One of my students wrote a great review of Stine's book, Don't Stay Up Late , that is due out in April of 2015. She was so excited to find a favorite author from elementary school writing books for older kids, but she is a more discerning reader now and is quite insightful.  Here is her review: "R.L. Stine, always the wizard of suspense, is known for his tales that chill readers and non-readers alike. As an avid reader of the Goosebumps series when I was younger, I fell in love with his compelling, page-turning novels. Now, six years later, I eagerly scooped up Mr. Stine's newest novel,  Don't Stay Up Late , for I had outgrown Goosebumps, and this new novel seemed much more age appropriate. In the true essence of Stine, the novel is as gripping as ever. Stine knows precisely how to captivate his readers. Personally, I think it is near impossible to put down this novel midway. After finishing a chapter, I cannot seem to turn the page fast enough to continu...

On January 1st I was scrolling through Facebook and read a post from a middle school librarian, I know, who said that she had already finished two books in 2015. Geez, I would love to say that in 2015 I will read at least one book a week if not more, but it will be a rare day indeed when I read multiple books in one day. It is now the 11th, and I have finished two books in print. I started another one today, and I am in the middle of an audio book which I should finish this week. I feel like the kids with the iPhone, iPad and computer so tempting that I am not spending as much time reading. If I am going to promote reading to my students, then I need to walk the walk myself. Anyway, one of my favorite tasks as librarian is to discuss books with kids. I am not calling it a resolution, but I will try to keep up my reading in 2015. I do hate the commute to work that began in August of 2013, but I do like the opportunity to listen to books that I don't have time to read. The audio ...