StarBooks Café: Now Open!

Back in time to November...


Tired of eating your lunch in the large and loud cafeteria? Many students at Bethel are! So, they saved up their Bethel star bucks they earned from participation in Bethel’s ReadOut program. Students used their bucks to eat in the StarBooks Café, which is located off the Bethel Learning Commons. The Café opened Friday, November 11 and is open every Friday for fourth and fifth graders during lunch. Since space is limited, students must make reservations on Mrs. Roveri’s Moodle page. While enjoying the music and social aspect of the café, students can also buy hot chocolate, cookies, popcorn or punch. So far the café has had 26 customers. The students have really enjoyed the café and the parent volunteers have really helped in getting it started. The best line we’ve heard so far has been from Bryson, "This is sooo worth a star buck!"



Students earn star bucks by reading, taking Accelerated Reader tests, completing geography trivia questions and other library programs. To date, 209 students in grades 2-5 (and one kindergartner!) have earned at least seven ReadOut points, which enters them into the first level of the ReadOut program. Students who have earned star bucks can also purchase extra computer time, Wii time, ipad/ipod time, paperback books or other goodies sold in the StarBooks Shop. The students are excited about the program and visit the Learning Commons throughout the day!

Got Attitude?

So as I am TRYING to be patient with my first graders today, one of them exclaims, "someone's got attitude today." I had to turn to face the board so he wouldn't see me laughing!

Read for the Record Day

Another blast from the past...October, 2011

Jumpstart's Read for the Record, presented in partnership with the Pearson Foundation, allows Americans to demand that all children receive the quality early education they deserve. On October 6, 2011, Jumpstart supporters called for an end to America's early education achievement gap by reading Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney - setting a world record in the process! For more information or to make a donation, visit the website at www.readfortherecord.org.

On Tuesday, we kicked off the event by bringing in a llama to school to learn real facts about llamas.

On Thursday, the students wore red and came to the BLC to listen to the story. We talked about llama facts and the difference between fantasy and reality. The students learned so much, enjoyed the story and had a great time in the process!

Inchworm, Inchworm...

 During my first grade recess duty today, the children were absolutely enthralled by the inchworms all over the playground. They could not leave them alone.
So, I scrapped my review lesson and story on fantasy for my first grade class this afternoon and went full force into authentic learning of nature. The kids were so excited when I told them of my plan!
We started with a review of the encyclopedia. The class told me to look in the "I" volume to find inchworms. It became even better when it told me to "see measuring worms."
I then put the "M" volume under the document camera. We read aloud facts about inchworms. They (and I!) were so surprised and thrilled to discover that inchworms are moth caterpillars. Take one guess as to what they are currently studying in science...
Anyway, they thought it was so cool how they used only their front legs to move. So, we all got down and moved like inchworms!
It was a perfect ending to a VERY hectic and exhausting week!
Don't we just have the BEST job!

What's in a Name?

Being new to the blogging community, I will periodically put some "old" news in here to keep you posted. Today I am including the article that was in the school newsletter in September.

What's in a Name?

Many of you have walked by the library and have seen the sign welcoming you to the Bethel Learning Commons. So, why the change in the name?

There are several reasons for the new name. First, there is a new face in the BLC. Mrs. Robin Jackson has retired after many wonderful years at Bethel. Mrs. Monica Roveri has taken her place. Stop in to say "hello" to Mrs. Roveri anytime! Second, the workroom has moved out of the BLC. This room is now the home of the BLC StarBooks Café. The café will be used for book clubs, books-to-movies meetings, student incentive lunch gatherings, and more! The café will be open beginning in November. Third, the floor plan of the BLC has been changed. All nonfiction books are on one side of the room. All fiction books are on the other. This will allow for easier access to our collection. Finally, the format of the BLC has changed. When students visit, they will be working on both traditional and modern technology projects; using maps, globes and atlases to answer geography trivia questions; working in a science station; using clues to figure out the mystery celebrity; checking out books; participating in Accelerated Reader and other reading projects; and lots more! But, yes, of course the students will still be checking out and reading books.

So with these changes, come lots of learning, lots of fun and thus, a new name. Please come by the Bethel Learning Commons anytime!

What People Think I Do...

I spent three days in Greenville this week for the 2012 SCASL Conference. Since returning home, my head has been spinning! I took in an incredible amount of information, met wonderful people and was amazed and impressed with all the fabulous happenings throughout the libraries in South Carolina. In fact, had I not completed my lesson plans for this week before leaving for the conference, I would have an extremely difficult time figuring out how to narrow it down!

I had the opportunity to listen to various topics throughout the conference; topics focusing on the importance of reading...advocating... researching...collaborating...collection development...using technology...and even laughing! The conference has caused me to do a great amount of thinking the past few days. Questions have come up, such as: Where should the focus be in my learning commons? How can I do more collaborative projects? If I can't collaborate, will the teachers at least let me borrow the kids so I can do these wonderful things? However, the #1 question I have been pondering this weekend is: What exactly is my job?

I know the school librarian wears many hats; I completed that project during my studies. I mean, come on, our roles are so vast, our name keeps changing! This summer I worked on writing a curriculum for our distict. I even found a book on my shelves called The Media Specialist. Yet, I still can't figure out exactly what I am supposed to be doing. (I did get a good laugh when it said that "sometimes she even reads to her students.") All I keep picturing are the different "What People Think I Do" pictures circulating the web. I found one for teachers and another for librarians, but neither really portrays the school teacher-librarian. What would this look like? How would it encompass the reading, advocating, researching, collaborating, etc... we do every day?

Not sure what the answers are and don't expect to be able to really answer it anytime soon. So from here, I will continue to do as I have: taking a little bit of this and a little bit of that to meet the needs of the clients who visit the learning commons. I will continue to offer professional development opportunities for teachers, continue to reach out to collaborate with them, continue to provide materials that match the curriculum, and continue to make the BLC a place they want to go (yes, chocolate helps, too!). I will continue to offer and expand the offerings of thought-provoking and challenging projects for my students, continue to introduce authors and books to instill the love of reading, continue to purchase new books based on what they love to read, and continue to make the BLC a place they want to go. In addition, I will continue to offer additional programs, such as the news show, reading incentive programs, web 2.0 tools and more.

So yes, I will continue doing all the things I enjoy doing, the things that make my job the best of any, the things that make the students and teachers want to visit and spend free time in the Bethel Learning Commons. I will continue to do all of those things while attempting to answer the question regarding the role of the school librarian. Or wait, perhaps, maybe, I already have...

Why Blog?

Before I answer that question, I want to talk a little bit about my background and personality. I started my career in education in January, 1995, filling in for teachers on short and long term leaves. In the fall of '95, I began my first full time position as a teacher of 3rd graders. Like most new teachers, I started out young, fresh and ready to change the world! Apparently I did something right, as I was awarded "Beginning Teacher of the Year" for the Rock Hill School District. I had the philosophy that all children could learn; some just maybe needed to be "tricked" into it. I made learning as fun as possible and I still have students coming back to me telling me how they remember eating watermelon and measuring the distances during the spitting seeds contest, making ice cream in a plastic bag to learn about chemical and physical changes; creating worm recipes after reading Thomas Rockwell's book and more. I still laugh at the stories the kids told, the things they did and the memories that were made.

In 2001, my teaching career was put on hold as my twins were born in April. I decided not to return to teaching the next year in order to stay with my babies. The timing was good as changes in education were coming on strong and some of the changes were not necessarily for the best for the students or teachers. After working in various part time positions in educational settings, I came to the conclusion that when returning to full-time teaching, the classroom was no longer the place for me. I had always loved the library and was estatic when I found an online program which was charging in-state tuition; a place where I could "attend" classes in my pjs while taking care of my kids! I was able to complete my library hours at Clover High School and Bethel Elementary, where my children attended.

In 2009, the Clover School District was opening a new school, which left an opening in a library serving grades 3-5. I spent two years there until my mentor at Bethel decided to retire. I thought about the position, met with the principal and after many hours of weighing the pros and cons, I accepted the position. Many hours were spent weeding, moving books, cleaning and rearranging to personalize space. (In fact, I decided I better pay my children for all the help or risk being reported for child labor violations...LOL!) I felt like I truly went "home" where I belonged. And when the students returned in August, they came back to a new librarian, complete with a new learning commons.

So, to get to the question of "why blog?" I still believe my original philosophy of sometimes having to "trick" kids into learning. The great part of this is that today there are so many more "cards up my sleeve"; so many more methods to reach those students who do not wake up in the morning excited to go to school. There are also also many teachers, librarians, administrators and other educators doing many great things and sharing those great ideas. I wanted to be a part of that so I began reading blogs, searching webpages, attending webinars, and reaching out to see what was out there. So many people helped me realize that the library, the media center, the learning commons....whatever you call it...is a place in the building, but the facilitator leading that place is the one who must reach out to all the users: teachers, students, administrators and other librarians. I, as the facilitator, must pull out those cards, use them, and share them with all. So that is why I now blog!