Plagiarism

    We had a very interesting week this week.  In an effort to entice the kids to read non-AR books, our MS  has developed a new promotion.  The kids will be allowed to read non-books and write a book review/summary.  They will then be awarded AR points for the book.  Well, within the first week, we had a student plagiarize an entire paper.  She copied the review from Amazon and turned it in. . . with all links blackened out with marker!  She even wrote on the paper, "please excuse my spelling errors," to try to cover herself.  Our MS was flabbergasted!  He is willing to read all of these summaries which adds so much more work to his already full plate and was rewarded with plagiarism within the first week! He shared his findings with the classroom teacher who is in the process of setting up a parent conference...more news to follow:)
  We also worked on my reference order.....which is turning in to so much more work than I had planned for!

Kennedy Elementary School
4 hours

 

Getting Ready

These last two weeks have been nuts.  We  have worked diligently to get ready for Dr. Downs' visit. We reworked the Media Literacy lesson several times.  I also spent several hours practicing my lesson on the Promethean board after school in the Media Center.  I do not have this technology in my classroom so I had to wait until after school to practice when the board was not in use.  We decided it would be better to use a board in a regular ed. classroom for her visit so that interruptions would be minimal.   We had a work day on Nov. 2nd and I spent hours working with Mr. Frame on my Digital Video any tweaking my lesson. All in all I am ready for this semester to be over.  Trying to keep up with my regular ed. teacher workload and my media obligations is a tad bit overwhelming.  I have fallen behind in both areas. 

Kennedy Elementary
October 25-Nov 5
11 hours

Yet Another Monday...

I spent my time today observing a Media Literacy lesson today! What fun.  We also checked books out for the visiting class.

Kennedy
1 hour

Meetings, Meetings. Meetings

During my planning time today, when I normally work in the Media Center, we had a PLC meeting...so I lost my hour of fun! I did spend my lunch and a few minutes after school today in the Media Center.  I watched lessons and checked out students! It was a typical day in the MC....lessons and check-out...check-out and lessons!

Kennedy Elementary
1 hour

Winder Barrow Middle School

Today I took a personal day from my elementary school to help out at Winder Barrow Middle School's Scholastic Book Fair.  What a great day we had today. The Language Arts teachers in each grade level signed up and brought their classes in for 20 minutes.  The day flew by and I had a blast! In between classes we discussed how to get more Scholastic points(webinar attendance, student drawing, etc...) All total the fair took in about 645 or so dollars! Not bad for middle school! I also checked out books to students who came in to the Media Center.

Winder Barrow Middle School
8 hours

New Week

While in the Media Center today I observed lessons and helped students. I also shared my video project grade with my Media Specialist since he had a hand in the pictures. Since I failed, it he was flabbergasted.  We discussed the rubric and compared my final project to the requirements.  We discussed my options since I feel that I may not be able to recover from this grade which will put off my graduation and starting UF Spring semester.  This was not a great day!

Kennedy Elementary
90 minutes

Friday

I worked in the Media Center today checking in and out and observing lessons.  My prediction yesterday that the Quality Assurance Teams would pop in for surprise visits today was absolutely correct!  My team arrived during our Math time.  After all of their formal observations, the teams met in the Media Center to write up their findings. 

Kennedy Elementary
1 hour

What a Week!

We have had quite  a week...assembly on Monday, PLC on Tuesday,  Data team meeting on Wednesday, Awards day today, and the Quality Assurance Team will probably show up tomorrow to do their observations. I did manage to work in a several hours with my MS. We worked on my reference evaluation project, did our GA DOE 2010 Program Evaluation, and discussed our CRCT Media Literacy weaknesses after spending time with our Principal who had the data on his beginning of school power-point:) I realized to day that my time is growing short! I have got to get this stuff done....now if I can just find the time to sit down and do the work!

Kennedy Elementary School
4 hours

Monday, Monday

We worked on importing film from a flip camera into imovie during my Media Center time today. What a task! We downloaded demorest conversion software and the final film was blurry....so we went back and figured out how to import it directly from the camera! We also taught "resource" lessons to two different classes today before the classes checked out books. 

Kennedy Elementary
2:00

Webinar

Well, I must say that the Webinar I attended was not so great! I got all set, logged on, and was taken to the  wrong elluminate session.....so I just stayed! I listened to Gifted Education speeches by different presenters who basically offered practices, through their own slide presentations, that good teachers already have in place.  Good morning start work, differentiated curriculum, written down lesson plans, etc... Most of the presenters sounded British so maybe this is something new wherever they were. The Webinar had been in progress for 2 hours and 30 minutes when I arrived so I was rather lost!  I did not learn anything so I politely crept out after about 30 minutes! :)   I guess Webinars are kind of hit and miss. Unless the presenter/moderator is very organized the entire production is scattered!

I logged into a recorded one that I missed the day before called Classrooms without Boundaries.
The presenters covered useful tools such as Diigo and RSS feeds.

I attended a wonderful webinar last school year about GoAnimate. I was honored to be in the virtual room with Joyce Valenza and other movers and shakers! The difference was that there was only one presenter and one other person she interacted with beside audience members. This production was very organized and professional and I loved it:)

Webinar:
1 hour

Media Meeting

The Media Committee met today to discuss our book challenge.  First, we re-read the challenged book, Mine's the Best by Crosby Bonsall,  and the challenge form.  We all wrote down our response to the challenge on notebook paper.  Next,  we discussed our thoughts as a group.  We unanimously agreed that the book should remain on the shelf for general circulation.  We felt that the book should be used to teach conflict resolution and that does not foster hate as was the parent's concern.  Mr. Frame will type up our findings and turn in the document to our Principal.  I am very thankful for the opportunity to see this process in action.  I am certainly less fearful of book challenges now.

Kennedy Elementary
1:30 Meeting

Report Card Dilemma

Our system has a new Superintendent and she is making many changes. She was understandably flabbergasted that the Barrow County Elementary Schools were still sending out card stock, handwritten report cards akin to what The Beav and Wally must have taken home for Mrs. Cleaver to sign. So, she gave our county Technology Integration Specialist two weeks to come up with an excel option...and she did, bless her heart! First, we had school wide PLC's with each grade level for training.  The remainder of the week was spent in upheaval as teachers started actually working with the program.   I shadowed my MS as he put out report card "fires" with each grade level's report cards!   I have never seen such a mess. The TI finally quit updating the report card templates after the 11th version! To top it all off we are on Fall Break next week and report cards are due when we come back, so all tweaks need to be made before we leave on Friday! This is what we did ALL WEEK LONG! 

Kennedy Elementary
September 27-30
6 hours

Book Challenge

Well,  Friday we had a parent come in and fill out a challenge form for the book Mine's the Best by Crosby Bonsall.   Since I am on the school wide Media Center Committee I will be taking part in the entire process! I am so excited! Does that make me a nerd?..... I wonder?  Anyway, the parent has concerns that the book promotes conflict.  I read it and I can somewhat see what she is saying....in a very vague sort of way.........still she wants it REMOVED from the shelves! REALLLYY?  Why not use the book as a springboard into a lesson on playing nice with your friends? I just don't get it!  I spent quite some time discussing this whole issue with Mr. Frame.......
  As a future librarian I am so glad to see the Media Committee in action. Also, I am thankful that Media Committees make decisions regarding these issues so that the MS is not left blowing in the breeze alone! I can imagine how hard it would be to face this issue without back-up! We will meet this week and make a recommendation.

Kennedy 2 hours

Cataloging

Wednesday
I cataloged books today...straight from the box almost to the shelf! Once I got the steps down, it was easy as pie!
Here are the steps we use at Kennedy:
 *Bar Code on
 *Look up call numbers on Follett
 *Double check AR test is on order
 *Use OPAC to copy catalog
      check ISBN number- add copy
      call number
      category code
      add copy
      save
  * put in Media Clerk's stack where she will:
       add shelf marker
       cover bar code, call number, and AR sticker
       stamp Kennedy Elementary in two places
Mr. Frame explained how much easier the entire process is when the order is placed through Follett because everything is just one click away! The day I worked at Winder Barrow High School the MS was working with VCR tapes that had to be looked up in SEARS...what a pain! Anyway, the process was painless at Kennedy and one I look forward to doing in my own center!

Kennedy Elementary
2 hours

Topics

  Tuesday we discussed topics for my digital video project. We talked about focusing on scary books mainly those by Mary Downing  Hahn since my fourth graders are all so enamored with our current read aloud Wait til Helen Comes. I began to wonder about our school-wide vocabulary parade and if that would work instead. I asked Dr. Downs and she informed me that I must have objectives......I may stick with my scary book theme......it seems more fun anyway!


Kennedy Elementary School
1:30

Inventory

Our Media Specialist only inventories the collection at the end of the school year. He printed me a list of the F aa’s to F zz’s and suggested that I inventory the items using the list. I found that of the 29 books, four were lost, and 10 were 1979 or older.  Many of the books were in terrible shape! I inventoried the same book section that I weeded. I think that this combination of weeding while taking inventory would work well at the end of the year when the entire collection is inventoried! I wonder if all MS do both at one time?

Kennedy Elementary
2:00

Conference Attendance

Conference Attendance
University of Georgia Children's Literature Conference  Spring 2010
 I attended the Children's Literature Conference the University of Georgia March 19th and 20th. There were many seminars to choose from. I attended Andy Phellems seminar and a Storytelling in the Classroom one as well. Each morning and early afternoon notable children's authors spoke to the large crowd. Margie Palatini, Kadir Nelson, Robert Burleigh, and Andrea Davis Pinkney were amazing speakers and entranced all audience members!

Memberships

I am a member of the following professional organizations:

American Library Association

Georgia Library and Media Association

International Society for Technology in Education

PAGE

Display

I worked with Mrs. Hall to create our Book Fair  display. We planned out and focused it on the book fair's Superhero theme. This display took hours to complete. We also took pictures of the kids and placed them on the Superheros we made to fulfill the required virtual component. We had planned to make a slideshow...but alas our time simply ran out!

Grade Level Meeting

I attended the third grade level team meeting with Mr. Frame. The teachers would like for him to help them create a wiki page for their upcoming rocks and minerals unit.  He discussed the standards and what types of information they wanted to include...reference or interactive pages. We decided that the wiki should be more of a fun cumulative activity for the students.  He will set up a page for them and do a mini-lesson on how to add links at a later date. 

Kennedy Elementary
1:00

Lessons

During my MC time today,  I observed as Mr. Frame taught a positional words lesson on the Promtheian board to Kindergarten students.  They loved it.  After the lesson, we lined the kids up and did a real life demonstration with them.  I covet the board in the MC because my grade level does not have any yet, even though we are required to incorporate technology into our lessons at least once a week.  I purchased my own projector this year and I haul my laptop back and forth to school each and every day.  What a pain!  We joke about how the fourth grade technology section of the lesson plans should say "use overhead projector."  I feel that I will certainly be a more understanding MS, especially since I am living in a technological wasteland!  I will certainly be more understanding!  We do have ELMOs to check out, but folks tend to hog them.  Mr. Frame has them on a limited three day check out.  However, when teachers check them out, they never return them on time.  Therefore, it is not a wise move to make lesson plans that revolve around ELMOs because you probably won't get one without a fight! 


Kennedy Elementary
45 minutes

New Book Preview!

Today when I went to work in the Media Center there were several big boxes of preview books.  So I got to look through the books....ahhh what fun! There was a whole series on the supernatural and unexplained.....ESP, aliens, Bigfoot and everybody's favorite.....ghost!  My MS had already ordered a similar series so we will send these on back.  I also worked with Audacity and learned how to put work with music tracks.
Kennedy Elementary
1:30

 

Planning and Packing

Today we packed up the the book fair....yuck! What a load of work! We also planned dictionay units for K-3 and 4-5. These will be 15 minute lessons and will be presented for the next three weeks as classes rotate through the MC. Class Media Center times are 30 minutes with the first 15 minutes centered around Media Literacy Lessons and the last 15 minutes as checkout times. We stayed very late, but got a lot done! Thank Goodness my MS is NOT one to run out the door at 3:00!

Kennedy Elementary
3 hours

Winder Barrow Middle wins Winstream and Target Grants

Today I worked at Winder Barrow Middle School processing books from their Target grant! I stamped, stamped, and stamped some more! Every school it seems has a different method of processing books. For example, at the Winder Barrow High school the bar codes are on the front cover so that none of the back cover summary are covered, and at the Middle school the bar codes are on the back cover in the middle of the summary. All Librarians have a "secret" page to stamp and write the bar code on! Last week the school found out that they won a $5,000.00 Windstream :) They will use the money for computers in the MC.  I had a blast!

Winder Barrow MIddle School
3 hours

Epiphany

Today I worked in the Media Center at Winder Barrow High School.....it was amazing!  The MC had a makeover when the school was remodeled and it is just beautiful. The ceiling has high sky-lights and natural light brightens the entire room. There are 20 student computers, 3 labs, and 3 MC offices. I learned so much today! The day began with book covering and ended with looking at the Follett list for Science resource books!  The world of High School is just so different.....signing agendas to make sure kids were not skipping was an eye-opener! Also,  I learned that the kids sometimes try to sneak games downloaded on jump drives into the MC to upload on school computers!  The fist time I even looked at the clock was 1:20! I LOVED IT!  We converted the morning announcements to a power-point and uploaded it to a netbook. Next, we took the netbook on  a rolling cart to the lunchroom and plugged it up to the projector and dropped the big screen from the ceiling. Finally, the kids were able to watch the scrolling announcements as they ate.  Also, during lunch, we were summoned to the cafeteria to help the football coach set up the microphone.....we took of the end of the microphone and hit the sinc button on the receiver and mic and he was ready to Pep up the kids for the Winder Barrow Bulldoggs home game!  The rest of the afternoon flew by as classes continued to come in for 45 minute segments on the computers.  I am now more certain than ever that I made the right choice in my career path........this was an awesome day!

Winder Barrow High School
9 hours

Fast Week

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
This week was a busy one. Grandparent's Breakfast was Wednesday for Pre-k through 2nd grade and Thursday for 3-5.  The Media Center was open early both days and it was certainly a crazy week in the Library. No classes came in for lessons, only check-out and book returns were allowed. Many parent volunteers were organized by the Media Clerk and they were definitely needed and appreciated! Although I love book fair, I am ready to get back on the normal MC track next week!
Kennedy
6 hours

Monthly Report

Kennedy Elementary School Media Center Monthly Report

August 2010
William Frame Media Specialist

 Kellie Ouzts Practicum Student Georgia Southern University

Program Instructional Highlights:

•    Pre-K Family Fun Night meeting hosted in Media Center
•    One hundred thirty-four Media Literacy Mini-Lessons taught-15 minute segments for each of 34 classes once a week
•    Forty new AR book titles and AR test added to collection
•    Media committee meeting
•    Two ESOL parent meetings- one in English, one in Spanish
•    Media Club: recommendations sent to teachers, members chosen based on teacher references, and one meeting held.
•    Book Fair arrived on Aug. 30th.
•    Piedmont College classes hosted twice a week for four weeks.

•    Active Inspire lessons taught to third grade teachers.

Kennedy Elementary meeting to discuss monthly report

2 hours

Book Fair Preview

Yesterday Mr. Frame sent an email to all classroom teachers asking them to come to the MC to sign up for a 15 minute Book Fair Preview time. Shortly the list was full and we were set for preview time with all students today!  When the classes entered the MC today they were given a 5 minute "rules of the book fair speech" before being allowed to preview the items.  Children and teachers were provided with Wish List to fill out while previewing. My tasks today was to help keep the smaller kids rounded up, answer questions, and help fill out wish lists! After school we straightened up and got ready for Tuesday when the sales start!

Kennedy
2:30

BOOK FAIR ROCKS!

Thursday I helped unpack books, books, and more books.  I stacked then restacked, created displays and just had fun arranging book fair. I do not remember books fair having so many "toy-ish" items when I was younger! The Media Center looks like party central. We kept the doors closed all day and the MC was closed for classes, open for check-outs and returns! Suprising how many kids had "emergency book return and check-out" situations once the word was out that book fair was being unpacked!

Kennedy 
2:30

Weeding Day 2

Yesterday I printed off the F aa to F zz's that have not circulated in one year. I went through the entire section. I found that of the twenty-nine books, 11 were just older and not appealing to the kids.   I am certainly not saying that all OLD books should be removed.......just that some of these books had black tape on the bindings with the title written in what seemed to be correction fluid. Several of the books had check out cards stamped 1967 and 1968!  The covers were solid with "typewriter" set font titles.  Of the 29, I recommended weeding out 11.  We continued getting ready for book fair this morning.  This afternoon it arrived! Boxes and rolling shelves now sit waiting to be unpacked in the morning! I wish I could be in the Media Center all day! I know my help will be appreciated tomorrow!


KennedyElementary
2:45 hours

Weeding!

We discussed and began weeding today! The process seems easier than I thought it would be. I simply pulled the Ficton AA to AZ and focused on the books that have not circulated in the last calendar year! I will look through the books and see if we simply need to remove them from the shelves or purchase AR tests! It is a sad fact that if books in our center don't have an AR test, they remain on the shelves! We have several Avi books that have not moved in a year! I speculate it's because there is no test available! I will continue with this process tomorrow!  Let the weeding begin!
Kennedy
2:45

Long Day

Today I spent all my break times and after school working to get the Media Center ready for Book fair. I am decorating and helping out in anyway I can.  I took many pictures for my storyboard and interacted with the students as well!
Kennedy
2:45

New Books

Wednesday and Thursday,
   I spent my time discussing the steps necessary for cataloging the new books. Stamps, AR dots, tape,  call numbers, more tape, computer entry.....lots of steps for each book! Also, I helped get ready for the book fair.....who knew this joyful event could take so much time!


Kennedy
4 hours

New Books

Today we received new books! Mr. Frame and I spent about 45 minutes just looking through the books and enjoying the crisp new pages and unbent spines!
Kennedy Elementary
45 minutes

Plans

     Today, during my Media Center time, I planned with the Media Clerk for my school-wide display for the Media Center in conjunction with the Scholastic book fair.  Since this year's theme is "Super Heros," we are going with a Gotham city looking theme.  We will make large Super Hero cut-outs so that students can have their pictures made as "Super Heros." I will make these pictures into a presentation for the Media Center Promethean Board or for morning announcements (if approved by our Principal).  I would love to make an animoto presentation for the kids and run it on our closed circuit tv!
    I also helped students locate books on our OPAC and also find them on the shelves. I took every opportunity to explain where the books were located and how to find them. What a fun day!
     Kennedy Elementary
      1:45

Busy, Busy, Busy

The rest of my week working in the Media Center was spent rushing in and out, working on book orders, spending those wonderful Scholastic dollars from last year's book fair, and discussing AR test purchasing. Thursday afternoon after school I asked Bill how he decided which test to buy. He stated that he takes a good look at what new books are not circulating. He orders test for these books first, in the hopes that when the kids find out that the tests are available, they will then start checking out the book.

Kennedy Elementary
6 hours

 
  

Welcome to my world!

Today, when I walked into the Media Center, my world shifted a bit.  I was no longer just Mrs. Ouzts coming in to find more Native American books for her fourth grade class. I was transformed into Kellie the intern rushing in to make the most of her 45 minute specials break.  I met with our MS Bill Frame and we discussed my entire syllabus and how I could best carry out all my assignments. Time flew by.  All too soon, I was forced to leave the quiet realm of the library and morph back into Mrs. Ouzts before picking my kids up from P.E.

Time: Kennedy Elementary
           Tuesday: August 17, 2010
               45 minutes