Smart Librarians: 2015

Thursday, April 16, 2015

April 16, 2015

Every Other Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant newsletter. It will contain a quote or smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote your library or reading in general, a Common Core implementation idea and a shameless plug for the programs I offer. Enjoy!

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

You Can Quote Me on That!

Here’s an idea!

Common Core Infographic

Shameless Plug – End of the Year and Post Planning Training Opportunities!

“You Can Quote Me On That!”

“We don’t need a list of rights and wrongs, tables of dos and don’ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once upon a time lasts forever.”

Philip Pullman

“Knowing you have something good to read before bed is among the most pleasurable of sensations.”

Vladimir Nabokov

Encouraging reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

From the General Good Ideas section

31. Let the kids check in their books and place them on the appropriate shelving cart, in order. Doing so promotes/ties in with technology standards, teaches responsibility, and reinforces ABC order. I understand the hesitation many have about letting elementary age kids check OUT their books, but there are very few things that can go wrong with them checking them IN. After they check the books in, have them sort the books by type onto the shelving cart. This saves you time and teaches them library terms and skills. If you want, you can even insist that they shelve books on the cart in order to further teach library organization.

Common Core Infographic

I found this to be a really good infographic from www.AwesomeStories.com. Print it out and display it!
https://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Give-Your-Students-A-Cure-for-the-Common-Core-infographic-//1?vsmaid=1581&vcid=55053

Shameless Plug

Now is a great time to schedule your big reader reward celebration for the end of the year! Go to www.tommyjohnspresents.com to look at pricing, shows offered and an up-to-date schedule!

Here’s what one of your colleagues has to say about the programs I offer:

“Your show (I Love to Read!) is AMAZING. The teachers are already asking when we can have you back. You were so easy to work with. And the silent dismissal was the best trick in the whole show”

Sharon Britt, Media Specialist, Hopkins Elementary, Lilburn, GA

Big News! I have already been booked to conduct Media Specialist training sessions for a couple of school systems for post planning. Want to have a great, relevant and FUN workshop? Check out http://tommyjohnspresents.com/teachers.htm for topics and give me a call today!

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
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Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

March 26, 2015

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

You Can Quote Me on That!

Here’s an idea! Schedule Admin Time!

Shameless Plug – End of the Year and Post Planning Training Opportunities!

“You Can Quote Me On That!”

“I owe everything I am and everything I will ever be to books.”

Gary Paulsen

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

Confucius

Encouraging reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

From the Getting the Work Done section

30. With your principal’s permission/support, set aside a block of time for admin and PROTECT it. One reason you end up doing so much at home and on the weekends is that you don’t have time during the day to do office and administrative stuff. The reason you don’t have time during the day is that there is no time blocked out on the calendar for that important stuff. It’s part of your job. It’s what allows you to do the rest of your job well. You should be able to do some of it at work. Scheduling Admin Time also validates the time you spend doing admin work, because you prioritize it. And if you have it written on your schedule, when a teacher says “Can you come by my classroom and fix the internet?” you can say, I don’t have an open slot on my calendar this morning. I’ll come by at 1:00.”

Shameless Plug

Now is a great time to schedule your big reader reward celebration for the end of the year! Go to www.tommyjohnspresents.com to look at pricing, shows offered and an up-to-date schedule!

Here’s what one of your colleagues has to say about the programs I offer:

“WOW! Tommy Johns is fantastic! Through magic, puppets, games, music and lots of volunteers from the audience, his enthusiastic personality encourages students to be READERS.”

Janie B. Vaden, Media Specialist, Varnell ES, Dalton, GA

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

March 12, 2015

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

You Can Quote Me on That!

Here’s an idea! - Volunteers

Common Core Article

Shameless Plug - Post-Planning Training Idea!

“You Can Quote Me On That!”

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”

Jorge Luis Borges, writer

"What the world of tomorrow will be like is greatly dependent on the power of imagination in those who are learning to read today."

Astrid Lindgren, author

Encouraging reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

From the Getting the Work Done section

Getting the Work Done

I saw a bumper sticker last year on vacation that said “What I need is more time, more money, and less $%#@&* from you people!” There never seems to be enough time or money to get the work done and many media specialists have lost hours and personnel, and some have even been moved to the classroom for art of the day. Here’s one way to make the best of the situation.

29. Recruit and TRAIN volunteers to help with checkout, shelving, website, checking in orders. Whether you call them Media Moms or just helpers, they need to feel confident that they know what they are doing and that it is important work. You MUST train regular volunteers, if you hope to retain them. You also must appreciate them and let them know that you do. A well trained, appreciated volunteer who feels that she is making a difference is an UNBELIEVEABLE asset and can be an amazing advocate for you. Principals listen to parents, and media moms can be passionate friends of your library.

You also need to have high expectations for your volunteers. Don’t be overbearing, but make volunteering a privilege that has to be earned. I know this is counterintuitive, but it is important to retaining quality volunteers.

An excellent book to help you understand volunteers (and to teach you how to get the most from them) is The Care and Feeding of Volunteers: Recruiting, Retaining and Rewarding Volunteers, by Bill Wittich.

Look outside the school for volunteers. Carefully screened community volunteers, Partners in Education, and church groups are often willing to help. And don’t forget the grandparents of students!

Common Core Tip

This is not so much a tip as it is a relevant article that sums up the frustrations many of you and your co-workers are experiencing this time of year. It’s “hot off the presses” from New Yorker Magazine. Read it, share it, and comment on it.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/when-a-teachers-job-depends-on-a-childs-test

Shameless Plug

Here’s what your colleagues have to say about the programs I offer:

The kids, teachers, and assistant principal have been told me how great you were and how much they enjoyed the show. I couldn't agree more! Some are already asking if you can visit again next year!! :) Hope you have a safe journey home!

Thanks again,

Erin Elkins

Library Media Specialist

Owen Elementary School

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am

Tommy Johns Educational Entertainment Specialist
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
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Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

February 12, 2015

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

“You can quote me on that!”

Here’s an idea!

Common Core Tip

Shameless Plug

“You Can Quote Me On That!”

“My alma mater was books, a good library…. I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.”

Malcolm X

“Access to knowledge is the superb, the supreme act of truly great civilizations. Of all the institutions that purport to do this, free libraries stand virtually alone in accomplishing this mission.”

Toni Morrison

Encouraging reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

From the Getting the Work Done section

28. Get approval from your principal to require substitute teachers to come and help in the Media Center during planning period. If you have two subs per day who will help for 30 minutes per day, you will get 5 hours of help each week. If you have set tasks for them to do so that you don’t have to stop and tell them/show them what you want, it becomes a time saver, not a burden.

Once subs get the hang of it, you have help every day! Since some of your subs are also parents at your school, you can begin training media center volunteers!

Common Core Tip

The Caldecott and Newberry Award winners were recently announced. Like many of you, I was excited to see which books were selected (and some years puzzled by the same!) for these awards.

One common misconception about these award winners (and new books in general) are their relevance to the Common Core Curriculum. Many see “the book list” used in CCC and assume that new books are not welcome. Here is an excellent article from 2013 that addresses this question/concern. Not surprisingly, it comes down on the side of “YES! Great new books have a place in the current classroom!” Enjoy and share it with your colleagues!

Read the article here - http://utahreading.org/index.php?page=childrens-literature-awards-why-they-matter-in-an-era-of-common-core-state-standards
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
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Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
------------------------------------
Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.

Shameless Plug

LAST CALL! If you are in the Atlanta or northeast GA area, I still have Tuesday, March 3 (Read Across America Week!) available during the day. I will be in Royston that evening. Don’t forget that EOT readers get a 10% discount.

Here’s what your colleagues have to say about the programs I offer:

“Mr. Johns came to Lane Elementary and did his evening presentation for students and parents for Literacy Night. It was awesome. He was so entertaining and the message was great.”

Jane Hardy, Lane ES, Macon, GA

You might not know that also do presentations for evening events that speak to and inspire the whole family! My programs are not just for kids!

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

Friday, January 30, 2015

January 29, 2015

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

“You can quote me on that!”

Here’s an idea!

Common Core Tip

Shameless Plug

Words of Wisdom

“When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.”

Maya Angelou

“I cannot live without books.”

Thomas Jefferson

Encouraging reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

From the Promote Your Media Center section

1. Post your Media Center stats and update them every week or so. From an office supply store, get a sign board with changeable letters and share at least the following information:

SO FAR THIS YEAR, WE HAVE CHECKED OUT

765 items to staff and faculty

2,376 items to students

For a total of 3,141 items!

This is a 17% increase over last year!

Way to go, Bobcats!

If you can’t spend the money on a permanent sign, print it out on a brightly colored piece of paper and post it near the door! People need to see what the media center is doing and how valuable it is!

Last week I discussed getting grants and have heard from a few of you that you have applied. Way to go! Here is a BONUS MONEY IDEA – If your Partners in Education are under-utilized, get permission to ask them for a contribution for books or equipment. Businesses become business partners so they can help. Not using them is a wasted opportunity. Think what you could do with four $250 donations!

Common Core Tip

The Developmental Studies Center (www.devstu.org) has a wealth of Common Core resources, including a Tip Of The Week (TOTW) section. Explore the site and find resources, ideas and answers for your teachers (and your media center program!).

Here a quick tip from a previous TOTW:

Getting Started with Opinion Writing

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.1 - This standard reads: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is…).

The following activity is based on one of the new supplemental activities available to our program users on our website. While the activity was written for Kindergarten, I think it could easily be adapted across the grades, using the continuum of learning outlined in the standards for each grade level. It’s also one that can be repeated several times throughout the year.

Draw and Write About Books

Show the covers of a few books you’ve been reading and read each title aloud. Briefly discuss what the students liked about each book, and then display it where everyone can see. Tell the students that one way they can let others know about a book they especially like is to write about the book. (For the rest of the article, click here.)

Shameless Plug

If you are in the Atlanta or northeast GA area, I still have Tuesday, March 3 (Read Across America Week!) available during the day. I will be in Royston that evening. Don’t forget that EOT readers get a 10% discount

Here’s what your colleagues have to say about the programs I offer:

“You have found your calling! In eight years as a media specialist I have seen a lot of good assembly programs. Yours was the best!”

Sarah Chancellor, Heritage Elementary School, Macon, GA

“I have already heard from several teachers that we have GOT to get you back for another assembly visit!”

Charlene McAleer, Burdell-Hunt Magnet School, Macon, GA

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am

Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
------------------------------------
Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ

Thursday, January 15, 2015

January 15, 2015

Happy New Year!

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

Words of Wisdom from Dr. King

Need More Money?

Common Core Vocabulary Tips

Shameless Plug

Words of Wisdom

We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character–that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Read the full speech here

Encouraging reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

Money – there’s never enough. Here’s help!

24. Collect Box Tops for Education and Labels for Education and use funds for media center needs. Have a couple of label drives each year and reward classes that collect the most. My wife’s school collected over $1150 in BTFE and got equipment for the school using LFE. Get a volunteer to collect, sort, tally and turn in the labels. You do NOT have to do this yourself.

25. Grants. Two grants for libraries that are worth looking into are the Target grants for reading (look here for more info) and the Dollar General Grants (click here).

Common Core Tip

When I was a student, I ALWAYS passed vocabulary tests with great grades, but almost never added words I learned to my “working vocabulary.” It was not until about the 6^th grade that I had a teacher who encouraged actually USING the words we learned in conversation that I began to integrate new vocabulary words into life. One goal of Common Core is to lead students to make new vocabulary “second nature.” This article gives 11 tips for doing just that.

Shameless Plug

You can reward your readers with stuff or with experiences. One way to give students an unforgettable experience that encourages them to read is to schedule an assembly visit from Tommy Johns Presents! Take a look at www.tommyjohnspresents.com and discover which of the eight programs offered will fit your needs best.

Here’s what your colleagues have to say about the programs I offer:

“Thanks for a great show. Our mission is to educate, enrich and entertain – you certainly covered all three areas! What a great way to get children to Dream BIG! Thank you again and have a great summer.”

Mandi Cantrell, BB Comer Library, Sylacauga, AL

“Our teachers loved the show as much as the children. They asked me to get you back to our school next year! (You were) so easy to work with and book. Everything exceeded expectations.”