Meet and Greet With the Librarian

I changed up my meet and greet this year with a new batch of students.  With returning 7th and 8th graders I need to continually change up my "Meet and Greet" presentation and I was pleasantly surprised at the response I received this year with all 3 graders.  Virtual reality has been introduced into the lives of our students and the Thinglink VR presentation was by all means a hit.  Pictures from our Instagram also helped visually showcase the library.  Using these 2 simple tools and presenting them in a tackk was the perfect presentation to introduce the library program.  

View Pike Middle School Library full version on Tackk
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Meet and Greet With the Librarian

I changed up my meet and greet this year with a new batch of students.  With returning 7th and 8th graders I need to continually change up my "Meet and Greet" presentation and I was pleasantly surprised at the response I received this year with all 3 graders.  Virtual reality has been introduced into the lives of our students and the Thinglink VR presentation was by all means a hit.

View Pike Middle School Library full version on Tackk
Create your own customized Tackk page

Top 10 Books for 2015-2016

This is the time of year for reflection on my part.  I look at data, programming, calendars, our Instagram account, and anything that provides information over the school year.  My biggest surprise so far has been the continued usage of our eContent.  I knew our students and teachers were accessing our items on Follett Shelf but I didn't take the time to look closely at the titles.



Here's what I found about our top eBook titles:

• Our #1 eBook was The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.  This wasn't a surprise because the 6th graders read this as a class in ELA.  So many students made the leap from a paperback book in class to reading our library eBooks.  The statistics show that ALL of Mr. Riordan's eBooks were very popular.  In conclusion - purchase even more of Rick Riordan's eBooks.
• The Dairy of the Wimpy Kids by Jeff Kinney eBooks were the 2nd most popular series.  These most likely were checked out by 6th and 7th graders. In conclusion - look into purchasing more eContent similar to this series.
• The Testing, The Hunger Games, The 5th Wave, and The Maze Runner series were all very popular.  In conclusion - keep purchasing the high interest books to movies novels. 
• Our eBook usage was very connected to our hardback usage with many of the top titles being accessed in both contents.  

Pike’s Top 10 Hardback Books:

1. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
2. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
3. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
4. The Kill Order by James Dashner
5. Legend by Marie Lu
6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the Long Haul by Jeff Kinney
7. The Death Cure by James Dashner
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney
9. The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen
10. The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

In reflection  of our year, I can clearly state that our students are versatile with our content.  Many like checking out and reading hardback books while others prefer reading our eBooks.  I foresee our eBook statistics for next year to continue to climb as our secondary students will be issued  Chromebooks.  It's all about providing choice for our students. 

ThingLink VR Challenge

I have enjoyed this summer's ThingLink VR (Virtual Reality) Challenge.  Here's  a VR look at my library.

Map Your Summer Reading

Each year I brainstorm for creative ideas to market and promote reading throughout the summer.  This year I've teamed up with geography for a fun visual summer reading promotion.  Where in the World are the Pike Panthers Reading is a simple idea for our students and teachers to share geography, reading, and fun pictures to share with our Pike family. As the summer progresses I hope many partake in this fun summer reading visual. Make sure to click on the actual tackk graphic to view the interactive reading map.

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ThingLink Teacher Challenge

Click on the graphic for more information on the ThingLink Teacher Challenge

It's almost time for summer and I am looking forward to some much needed rest and relation.  That being said, it's also time to take advantage of the many professional development opportunities offered during this time.  I participated in the ThingLink Teacher Challenge a few summers ago and I'm ready to partake in the ThingLink VR (Virtual Reality) Challenge this summer.  Join the amazing Susan Oxnevad for this challenge.  I promise that it will be well worth your time.

Librarians As Lead Learners

Join Becky Calzada (@becalzada), Neil Krasnoff (@TXlibraryguy), and Sue Fitzgerald (@sue_fitz) on Tuesday, May 17th at 8:00 p.m. CST for an evening of summer professional development opportunities from an amazing PLN.