Smart Librarians

Friday, January 30, 2015

January 29, 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 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

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.”

Sherry Plant, Lynn Fanning Elementary School, Meridianville, AL

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.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Oops! I forgot to post this one from October 23!

October 23, 2014

Greetings!

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:

Quotes about reading

Here’s a tip! – Lunchroom Library

Common Core – Collaboration – What it looks like!

Shameless Plug – Free Half Day of Assembly Programs to be given away!

Library Quote/Smile

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”

Victor Hugo

“There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book.”

Marcel Proust

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”

Stephen King

Encouraging leisure reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

#7. Set up a Lunchroom Library. I LOVE this idea. Get, make, or find a set of bookshelves that display the fronts of books (not just the spines) and put a hundred or so paperback books in the cafeteria for kids to look at before school, or after they finish lunch. You can provide bookmarks that students can put their names on so they can find their places the next day. Include quick reads, short chapter books and high interest titles on the shelves. And don’t get too attached. Some books may walk away, others may fall apart. It’s okay. That’s why you use inexpensive paperbacks and books you got at that yard sale, Goodwill, the Friends of the Library sale, and from donations.

Common Core Tip

While many are focused on the changes in the STANDARDS, the real keys to the success of Common Core (and hence the success of our students) lies in the PRINCIPLES that guide the standards. This is an excellent short article about the importance of collaboration and what good collaboration looks like – between adults AND in the classroom.

http://www.devstu.org/blogs/common-core-tip-35-creating-the-conditions-for-academic-discussion-and-collaboration-for-both-adults

Shameless Plug

Be sure and stop by the Bound to Stay Bound Books table at the GaET Conference November 5-7 and register to win a half day of AMAZING assembly programs that will inspire your students to READ! This is a terrific conference, and I hope to see you there!

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

“Tommy is a delight to work with, from start to finish. I appreciated the information he sent ahead of time -- everything from posters to tax forms included in one packet. I appreciated his flexibility -- he was able to change the time on one of our shows at the last minute, and he was also willing to work in another show the same day for a community group. Most of all, I appreciated the way he interacted with the kids before and after the program. He has a magic touch, in more ways than one.

“Oh, and the shows were terrific, too -- full of books, jokes, magic, science, puppets, and audience participation. The kids and the parents had a ball!”

Jan Daniel, Children's Librarian, Okefenokee Regional Library, Waycross, GA

“You were so easy to work with. You did exactly what you said you would do. You were prepared and on time! Awesome!”

Betsy Simmons, Media Specialist, Oglethorpe Point Elementary, St. Simon’s Island, GA

(I never realized what a big deal it is to be “prepared and on time” or “easy to work with” until so many clients started telling me their stories about other performers, and making similar comments on their feedback forms. I thought those things were the baseline. I had no idea that just doing these simple things would set me apart from the competition!)

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!

You are receiving “Every Other Thursday” because you have attended one of my workshops, invited me to your school, or registered for a free half day of assemblies at a conference. If you’d like to unsubscribe, simply click reply and let me know. Have a WONDER-Filled Day!

December 4, 2014

Greetings!

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:

Quotes about reading

Here’s a tip!

Common Core –

Shameless Plug –

Library Quote/Smile

“In my view, nineteen pounds of old books are at least nineteen times as delicious as one pound of fresh caviar.”

Anne Fadiman, American Author

“One of the great values of reading is that is gives the reader empathy for others. It allows the reader to connect with others outside his or her personal experience in a way that few other activities can. By reading you get to know what it feels like to be the new kid, to have to wear glasses, or to win a trophy. I think there is a reason that there are very few playground bullies who are also well read!”

Tommy Johns, Editor of Every Other Thursday

Encouraging reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

18. A recent survey indicates that the top five things that principals want are:

1. Increased test scores

2. Improved test scores

3. Better test scores than last year

4. Greater test scores

5. Increased test scores

Since EVERY study done in the past 50 years shows that reading helps advance scores in EVERY other area of study, encourage the principal (and the school board) to sign on to the idea that a well-stocked and well-staffed media center should be a priority. Promoting reading can give your principal what she wants!

Common Core Tip

Chances are that following the recent election and after having the first parent conferences of the year, your students’ parents may have a negative and inaccurate view of Common Core. Regardless of your personal feelings about it, it is what we have to work with right now. This is an EXCELLENT article you can distribute to your teachers to help them help parents understand some of the challenges of transitioning to this VERY different approach to education.

5 Tips for Explaining Common Core to Parents, by Kristen Swanson

Shameless Plug

Read Across America Week is coming up soon and I still have a few slots open for school visits March 2-6. I would love to come to your school to help you celebrate reading and encourage your readers to explore the library for all kinds of books! One of my newest shows is Dig a Little Deeper, a 45 minute program for all elementary students that teaches students about GENRES and all the treasure buried in the library! Visit the website or call me and find out more! As a reader of Every Other Thursday, you can get a 10% discount! Just email me or call and say, “I want my discount!”

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

"We just had Tommy Johns perform for the entire school and he was great. 'Awesome' was the comment of one of our 1st grade teachers! Tommy is very professional and entertaining. Another teacher commented that she really appreciated the fact that the assembly was so academically oriented."

Karen Liebert, International Studies Elementary Charter School, Albany, GA

“Book him. You won't be sorry.”

Louise Brown, Lena Cagle Library, Bridgeport, AL

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
------------------------------------
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!

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com

Thursday, October 9, 2014

October 9, 2014

Greetings!

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:

Winners from the Alabama Expo! And Welcome 150 new subscribers to EOT! -

Something to Smile About – Quotes about reading

Here’s a tip! – Turn a cart into a display

Common Core – Genius Hour!

Shameless Plug – Making Genres FUN!

Winners and WELCOME!

I had the chance last week to participate in the Alabama Library Expo, a fun 4 day touring vendor expo and training event. While I did not travel to the bottom left hand corner of the state, I was able to meet some great folks in Montgomery, Bessemer and Decatur AL from all over the state. Over 150 media specialists signed up for this newsletter and the chance to WIN! Bound to Stay Bound and I gave a door prize of a free half day of assembly programs to a winner at each stop. Congratulations to Erin Elkins at Owens Elementary in Limestone County, Jennifer Rich of Riverchase Elementary in Hoover and Kimberly Nunes-Bufford in Opelika.

Stop by the BTSB booth at GaETC in November and register to win a half day for your school!

Library Quote/Smile

“We read to know that we are not alone.” — C.S. Lewis

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” — Oscar Wilde

Making the job a little easier – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

#41 – Can’t seem to get the returned books reshelved fast enough? Turn the returns cart into a “Books that have been recently circulated” display by adding a sign that says “See What Your Friends Have Been Reading!” Instead of it being another thing that has to be done, you are providing a service to your students, allowing them to see the current books on display!

Common Core Tip

Have you heard about Genius Hour? It’s a trend in education that is really gaining a lot of traction.

“Genius Hour is a movement that allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom. It provides students a choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school.” (From http://www.geniushour.com/what-is-genius-hour/)

Of course detractors are going to say that you can’t allow kids to choose their own topics. But think about how many things you wrote about in school that seemed SO irrelevant to ANYTHING you cared about! And GH is not about allowing kids to choose EVERYTHING they want to research. It’s about allowing them a structured time to learn HOW to research by showing them how they can find out what they WANT to know.

The media specialist can be instrumental in implementing GH in the school. You have resources and training that make you a great fit for making GH a part of your school’s offerings for students. Research has shown that GH helps students of all reading levels and abilities. And GH is right in line with common core standards about genuine research.

Find out more at www.geniushour.com, or explore Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers for a different perspective of this great tool for teaching and learning!

Shameless Plug

One of the most popular NEW programs I offer is “Dig a Little Deeper!” a reading assembly program that explores the different genres offered in the library! Most kids will go to the same part of the library every time, unless someone shows them the treasures they can find on a different shelf!

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

“On a scale of 1 to 5, you are a 10+! You do a great job and the children LOVE you!”

Nancy Bohannon, Children’s Librarian

Northlake Library, Tucker, GA

“Very motivating for the kids and the staff! The thing I liked most about “Go Wild!” was the way you related fun, science, reading and geography into a show that was both very educational AND entertaining!

JoLayne Rentzel, Educational Programs Director

National Science Center, Augusta, 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, September 25, 2014

September 25, 2014

Greetings!

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:

Something to Smile About – from two VERY different authors

Promote Reading – Promote the work of the media center!

Common Core – Change is tough!

BONUS - Retailers with Teacher discounts

Shameless Plug

Library Quote/Smile

“Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable.”

Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women

“Read! When your baby is finally down for the night, pick up a juicy book like Eat, Pray, Love or Pride and Prejudice or my personal favorite, Understanding Sleep Disorders: Narcolepsy and Apnea; A Clinical Study. Taking some time to read each night really taught me how to feign narcolepsy when my husband asked me what my “plan” was for taking down the Christmas tree.”

Tina Fey, author of BossyPants

Promote Reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

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

SO FAR THIS YEAR, WE HAVE CHECKED OUT

765 items to staff

2,376 items to students

3,141 Total checkouts

This is a 17% increase over last year!

Way to go, Bobcats!

Remember, she who tooteth not her own horn, the same shall not be tooted! We MUST self-promote. The work of the media center is too important to be passive!

Common Core Tip

I found this excellent article to be a good reminder during the first week of fall: http://www.devstu.org/blogs/common-core-tip-53-change-is-hard

Below is my “Readers’ Digest Condensed Version” of the article. Take a few minutes and read the entire article for yourself, soon!

Remember, change is hard. Even after a lot of information, training and exploration, many of your teachers are still struggling with new ways of doing what they have always done. And Common Core is more than just a different set of standards or curriculum. In many ways it is about changing the mindsets of the teachers AND the learners. Don’t be discourage if you (and your colleagues) don’t have CCS firmly in your grasp. And finding a kind, non-threatening way to remind your administrators and school board about this would probably benefit ALL involved – students, staff and leadership. It’s a process and even for those who are excited about the new way of doing things, it will take time.

BONUS - Retailers with Teacher discounts

Susan Grigsby found this article from @TeachThought and shared it so you could share it with your teachers!

http://www.teachthought.com/industry/90-retailers-offer-teacher-discounts/

Shameless Plug

What is your theme for the school year? Chances are I can customize a show to fit your theme. Give me a call or send an e-mail and ask about how I can increase awareness of your theme and encourage your students to read!

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

“You were so easy to work with. You did exactly what you said you would do. You were prepared and on time! Awesome!”

Betsy Simmons, Media Specialist

Oglethorpe Point Elementary

St. Simon’s Island, 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, August 28, 2014

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:

Good advice for the new year

Promote Reading – Rewarding summer readers

Common Core – collaborate and be a superhero!

Shameless Plug

Library Quote/Smile

Here’s some good advice for the new year!

Promote Reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

16. Develop a tradition of rewarding your summer readers! – We all know that kids who read over the summer start school better prepared than non-readers. One way to encourage summer reading is to develop a tradition of rewarding summer readers. Once your students understand that they will be recognized and rewarded for reading over the summer, more of them will get involved as students report back to their non-reading friends how much fun they had! As your reputation for awesomeness grows, more students will read and the entire school benefits!

Ideas that I have seen that worked:

Have a party in the media center including snacks and decorations
Reward the readers with some “Cool School Tools” that you and your friends have purchased over the year at Dollar Tree and office supply stores that have the penny promotions. Most office stores will allow teachers to purchase larger quantities of these low priced items than the ad states. Just ask!
Ask your PE teacher to help you with a kickball game or fun outdoor activity just for summer readers.
Give them a book from your collection of giveaway books. (Don’t have a collection of giveaway books? Stay tuned! Soon EOT will give you several tips for building this REAL treasure box!)
Allow summer readers to be the first to check out books, so they get the best selection!
Call me and schedule a reading show that features magic and puppets and a strong message about reading!
DON’T just give them a certificate and hope that it will make the non-readers green with envy.

Common Core Tip

If you are not already attending collaboration meetings with your teachers, you are missing an opportunity to become even MORE valuable to your colleagues and the success of your school. So much of Common Core is literature based and chances are many of the teachers in your building are unaware of the vast, rich resources that exist in your/their media center.

Ask your principal and academic coach about being in those meetings, and ASK the teachers what resources they need. Better yet, TELL your principal and academic coach about how important the media center can be to the other teachers in the building and INSIST that they give you a chance to help! You’ll see positive results in the first meeting and then word will spread! Pretty soon everyone will know what a rock star they have in the media center!

Shameless Plug

There are a lot of open dates in September to reward your summer readers or to kick of your 2014-15 reading emphasis! Chance are, I have a show that fits your theme! And if I don’t, I have SO much material that promotes reading, I can probably customize a show just for you! Give me a call and let’s see what we can do to get your students excited about reading!

Here’s what your colleagues have 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, Ed.S, Media Specialist, Varnell Elementary, 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!

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com 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.