3rd Quarter Library Report

April 3, 2020

Greetings from Week #3 of Home Instruction!

I never knew how much I would miss my fabulous Library windows and all my displays, or organizing our many book-filled shelves, or most of all, seeing all my eager-faced students every day for classes and book exchange. That has by far been the hardest part of this emergency school closure. That, and the uncertainty of the situation. But we are a strong school, and a strong community, and we will pull together and get through this! We are ROYAL!

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Library Curriculum Delivered Remotely!

Well, if it's one thing you can say about librarians as a rule, it's that we are organized! And thank goodness for that, because it has made continuing my Library instruction that much easier! A big shout out to our grades 3-6 teachers who all made me co-teachers on their Google Classrooms, and thank you to K-2 for sharing their family email lists with me. Of course my 8th grade Research & Inquiry class has always been connected with Google Classroom, so I've been lucky in that I can still post materials to all my students.

Starting on March 16th, I have posted all student work in:

For K-2, I have had weekly contact with families to provide assignment updates through group email, as well as individual email. I have LOVED all the notes and photos my K-2 families have shared!!

Here is a link to all my K-8 remote assignments posted since 3/16.

The Learning Continues!

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2nd Grade Writes Friendly Letters

Here's a picture of Aldo Tedesco's friendly letter sent to me by his mom!

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Students Work Hard From Home

Chase Irwin loved learning about Martha Washington on PebbleGo as part of his Library assignment! This photo was sent to me by his mom!

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1st Grade Explores Women's History With PebbleGo!

Here's a picture of Jack Kelley's note-taking activity from a PebbleGo assignment shared by his mom!

What Does Remote Teaching Look Like for a Librarian?

LONG days, that's for sure! My typical work day now starts by 7:30 AM when I begin to respond to emails from colleagues, students, and their families. By 8:30, I'm typically posting new assignments or checking on whatever work was submitted from the day before. I still meet with all my 5th & 6th Grade Book Clubs through virtual meetings, so I have daily Book Club sessions at 11 & 1 Monday through Thursday. I have attended several of the regional BOCES Library meetings to share ideas and information, as well as two webinar PDs. I'm also busy creating new supporting materials to help students with my remote assignments, like the 5 narrated screencast videos I made for 5th, 6th, and 8th grade to help with their projects. I also have virtual meetings almost daily with individual students or small groups to provide more 1:1 help. It's handy when I can share my screen and provide remote demonstrations! It is a rare day when I wrap up before 5 PM - and that's usually when my Middle Schoolers just get started with their emails and questions - so I have been engaged in remote help sessions with my 8th graders well past 8 PM! And this is not even counting the hours I spend grading work and leaving comments on each and every item submitted to me, or the individual student and parent emails and calls I make to check in on students who seem to be "off the grid". I really miss being in school!

Here's a link to an abbreviated log I have been keeping since March 17th listing just some of what I do each day!

Here's What Was Happening Prior to March 16th

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More Book Speed Dating With 5th & 6th Grades!!

I continued to host monthly genre-themed book speed dating activities for all of 6th grade! In February we focused on Biographies, and in March we focused on Poetry.

Fifth grade joined the fun in February with their own speed dating session ~ there is nothing better than helping a student connect with great books!!

John Gray Kicked Off Our PARP 2020 Program

On March 5th, local news anchor and passionate animal advocate, our neighbor, John Gray stopped by to read his book, Keller's Heart, to our PreK-5 students.

North Greenbush Historian, Jim Greenfield, Met With 2nd Grade

In January, I collaborated on a Social Students unit with 2nd Grade that culminated in a visit from the North Greenbush Historian, Jim Greenfield!

Here is a link to my Collaboration Log!

8th Graders Compare & Contrast Their High School Choices

In our brand new Research & Inquiry class, students were asked to research each of the 5 area high schools they can choose from for next year. Now, from home, they are creating a series of graphs and charts for me that demonstrate what they learned. The project will culminate with a written piece that tells me the pros and cons of each school and explains to me why they chose the school they plan to attend. My goal is to share their work with Amy Murphy in hopes my classes and I can design an informative website for future GD 8th grade families and students!