Archive for PLC

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Annual Report 2009-10

Annual Report for 2009-10

Our Annual Report highlights the various ways the LMC impacts students at Blue Valley West.  We noted many positives, expressed areas of concern, and discussed progress on our SMART Goals. 

We welcome any comments and suggestions to improve the report.

 

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

First Semester Report

Typically, we provide monthly reports to our administrators – we keep stats, count classes, and make copies.  These go in their mailboxes until the next month.  However, this year we changed to semester reports and added a new feature, assessed indicators.  We looked at our KS State Reading Assessment tested indicators and noted each time we hit an indicator with a class.  Our administrative team noticed this report – so we will carry on this new tradition. 

1st Semester Report

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

It’s a New Year!

With the new school year, we are again revisiting our norms, vision, and goals from last year to update for this school year.

Smart Goals for 2008-2009

1. By the end of 2008-2009 school year, the library media specialists will integrate 21st Century Skills into 50% of the lessons collaborated.

Initiatives: Training for teachers
New knowledge of 2.0 tools
Integration strategies

2. By the end of 2008-2009 school year, the library media specialists will develop and implement assessment for learning strategies for the library curriculum and reading assessment indicators for 50% of the school population in communication arts, social studies, and science courses.

Initiatives:
Create database of 9th & 10th grade students with indicators
Use the database as AFL tool

3. By the end of 2008-2009 school year, 80% of students will indicate that they have a greater appreciation of literature.

Initiatives:
Semester Surveys
Funds provided for literature
Web page promotion of books
Involve Johnson County Public Library
Podcast/Vodcast – BV West Reads
Novelist resource

4. By the end of 2008-2009 school year, 50% of students utilizing the library will have completed a rigorous research project and utilize specific reading strategies.

Rigorous – research not reports

Initiatives:
Utilize and further enhance Essential Question Guide
Collaborate with classroom teachers
Utilize various databases (ProQuest, Gale, Ebsco, etc.)
Integrate technology effectively to further enhance engaging projects

5. By the end of 2010-2011 school year, all parents/community members will have greater awareness of library resources provided to the BV West community.

Initiatives:Parent Night
Newsletters

Ideas for how to make these better are always appreciated. Thanks!

Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

Welcome back!

Another exciting year at BVW! (I thought about the beginning line for some time – how do I begin to look at the new school year? Exciting, full of change, anticipation….)

So, as we begin the new school year, there are many dreams/hopes for the library. 

We decided to come up with specific SMART Goals for our department.  This is a draft, but a good beginning.  We haven’t set quanitative goals ever – it seems by saying – such & such number will happen, we try so hard to meet a number & we lose out on the quality work we do with the teachers who do use the library. 

Smart Goals (Draft):

By the end of 2007-2008 school year, the library media specialists will collaborate with 50% of the faculty. 

Collaboration: (Define)

Initiatives:
Meet in Professional Learning Communities
Food Snacks
Continue collaboration with already developed relationships
Provide resources in print and nonprint related to curricular areas
Utilized resources

By the end of 2007-2008 school year, 80% of students will indicate that they have a greater appreciation of literature.

Initiatives:
Informal Survey
Funds provided for literature
Web page promotion of books
Involve Johnson County Public Library
Podcast/Vodcast – BV West Reads
SSR
Novelist resource
By the end of 2007-2008 school year, 50% of students utilizing the library will have completed a rigorous research project and utilize specific text type reading strategies.

Rigorous – research not reports

Utilize and further enhance Essential Question Guide
Collaborate with classroom teachers
Utilize various databases (ProQuest, Gale, Ebsco, etc.)
Integrate technology effectively to further enhance engaging projects
By the end of 2007-2008 school year, the library media specialists will facilitate effective integration of technology in 50% of collaborated projects.

Initiative:
23 things 2.0
Resources
By the end of 2010-2011 school year, all parents/community members will have greater awareness of library resources provided to the BV West community.

Initiatives:
Parent Night
Newsletters

We will post the final draft at a later time and of course, more thoughts to follow…

Tuesday, April 11th, 2006

College Knowledge Information

Many of you have expressed interest in obtaining the powerpoint slides from Dr. David T. Conley regarding College Knowledge:  What it REALLY Takes for Students to Succeed and What We Can Do to Get Them Ready

Info:
Center for Educational Policy Research
877-766-2279
contact@s4s.org

According to Conley, specific skills that are necessary for college no content area “owns” the instruction.  Such skills include:
*paraphrasing & summarizing
*graphical representations of data
*use of online databases & search engines

In addition, Conley states “no one in the high school ‘owns’ research skills, so it may not get taught systematically”.

How do we begin to teach these skils “systematically”? 

*Thanks to Linda Corey, District Coordinating Teacher – Blue Valley, for providing the contact information. 

Monday, April 10th, 2006

Handouts from TriConference

Handouts from TriConference Presentation

Saturday, April 8th, 2006

Back from Triconference

I am back from KASL Triconference.  I was able to attend many great sessions.  Of course, Alan November was great.  I was so inspired to begin podcasting – put weekly podcasts on the LMC website.  I will give a try next week – I will post some of them here & see how it works.  If anyone out there is also trying podcasts, let me know what you are putting on each podcasts. 

Also, with A. November’s information about search engines and such, it makes me wonder how we can continue to promote online databases.  Why can’t online databases function more like search engines in a way – a portal where you can search all databases at once and the online catalog for books too? 

-becca

Thursday, March 30th, 2006

Upcoming Presentation – KASL

Coming in April, I will be presenting at Tri-Conference!  PLC, NCLB, AYP, NCA:  What is our role as school library media specialists?

With the Rick DuFour model of Professional Learning Communities, we have an outstanding opportunity to be involved in the discussion with other educators about how we impact student learning.  However, there is also an opportunity for teacher-librarians to become lost in the mix.  According to DuFour, there is no vision for teacher-librarians within this model. 

Handout for Tri-Conference