Teacher+Librarian

=Teacher Librarian=

- I enjoyed this magazine because it had a huge section of the best books according to their genre. This could be very useful in deciding what books to order for the library. I liked the article, //From Library to Learning Commons: A Metamorphosis//. This article told how one library remodeled to make their library more interactive. Comfortable seating and group work areas were added to make it more appealing to students. I think this is a great idea and I think more libraries should jump on the train with this idea. When I read this article I pictured Ankeney Middle School because I felt that they had a good amount of group work areas and comfortable seating in another area. I really liked this magazine and would recommend it. BT

Again, I had an older issue (June 2008) but there were some interesting tidbits, nonetheless. I loved the "Bookmarkit" bits down the side of some of the pages where a person was highlighted with some of their pics in children's and YA literature. I noticed that the feature articles are longer and a bit more in depth than the ones in School Library Monthly. The feature articles included "Everyone Wins: Differentiation in the School Library" which argued that librarians already incorporate differential instruction and they need to documented and celebrate it to the community. Another article, "Diary of a Blog: Listening to Kids in an Elementary School Library" discussed a librarian's foray into blogging as a way to garner feedback from students and found that even the teachers got involved. There was also "Dealing with Death: Books to Help Young People Cope with Grief", a nice bibliography that included the criteria used to choose the books. I found this helpful, as sometimes you wonder how a book makes a list. I really love how the author included in her criteria for picture books, "deals honestly with death and grief; avoids euphanisms that may confuse or frighten children, such as "at rest" or "asleep" as I personally find euphanisms about difficult subjects to be avoiding the unpleasantness and interrupting the emotional processes attached to them. She also points out that, "books -- even well written, creative books -- that focus on unhealthy or unsafe adaptations of grief, such as self-medication, running away, suicidal behavior or talk, persistent denial, or over-identification with the deceased, should be shared judiciously." Judiciously is the key term here and a well-informed librarian is in the position to act just so. It was interesting to note, however, that the author is the juvenile lit librarian at BYU. "Tools for the 21st Century Information Leader" was an annotated bibliography by David Loertscher and Esther Rosenfield, chock full of works for us librarians to read. The annotations are complete and even include a "bottom line" rating. On the whole, I found the presentation in this journal to be rather dry and academic; one must push past the un-sexy layout to get to the juicy bits, which appeared helpful but lacked some of the WOW factor that print materials need this days to compete with online journals. --erin

The particular issue that I read was from October 2009 and in general I noticed that this edition placed an emphasis on inquiry based learning, using comics and graphic novels to help students strengthen their reading and writing skills, and where the school library should fit in relation to the school reading program. One of the first articles included a "10 things worse than a library without books" list which I thought made some really good points. What stood out for me in this article was number six on the list which stated: "A Teacher-librarian who is afraid of or ignores the impact of technology." I feel like all too often we forget that the reason some librarians aren't embracing technology is because they are intimidated by it. Next, the magazine focused on the role of the the school library in a school's reading program and made it clear that it is often not as strong as it needs to be. Included in this article was a checklist of sorts that was compiled in order for teacher librarians to make sure that their library is contibuting as much as possible to the school reading program. Some of the items on this checklist fell under the categories of "Access to Professionals and Support Personnel," Access to Books and Other Reading Materials," and "A Whole School Reading Community." The next big chunk of this particular issue focused on inquiry based learning and the importance of it not only in the library but in education in general. In the article entitled "Cultivating Curious Minds: Teaching for Innovation through Open-Inquiry Learning" Jean Sauele Knodt talks about how libraries are the best place to build open and inquisitive learning communities. The article also explains that the world is looking for innovative and creative people to lead us and teaching through inquiry based learning methods is the best way to prepare our students to succeed in today's world. The article also gave the example of one teacher librarian who collaborated with classroom teachers to host inquiry based workshops in the library. Other notable articles from this issue focused on how comics and "fan-fiction" like graphic novels can be used to help teach struggling readers basic reading and writing skills. There was also an article which game me some hope for the future that outlined some of the challenges Ohio's Librarians have faced over the years and explained that starting in 2010 Ted Strickland's Evidence Based Education Reform and Funding plan will phase in new funding for licensed Ohio librarians over the next 10 years. Overall, I enjoyed this journal but found some of the articles to be a little disjointed and I noticed that the writing was sometimes a little less than perfect. More than a few typos and incorrect punctuation jumped out at me and I couldn't help but shudder at the fact that a magazine meant for teachers would publish articles with spelling errors in them. The articles definitely gave me first hand insight into this field however, and I will look to it in the future for sure. -Christie

I read the February 2009 issue that was themed around Diversity. The trend through the entire issue was working with diverse students and how the library can support their needs. I appreciated the “BookMark It” columns. When I first saw these I thought they went along with the articles. As I looked through them I realized they were different book blurbs along with a particular theme. There were a few books that were labeled “All Together Now: The Human Rainbow” that included books of a diverse nature. It would have been nice to see more diverse titles in the diversity issue. The particular article that caught my interest was “After School Mobile Literacy: Serving Youth in Underserved Neighborhoods” by Rebecca Diaz. This article was about the use of vans to create mobile libraries to bring to neighborhoods where children could not access a library. I like the idea of if they cannot come to the library then bring it to them. The article stressed the idea that what works in a library does not always work in a mobile library. The children also did not voluntarily come to the mobile library and they had to seek out users. Outreach skills are very important in our profession. We need to be creative about the activities we have in the library to entice students to use the library. This was also true for the mobile library. They had to take into account student interests and think of ways to get them to come use the library. For them location was not enough. They had to take into account interests and find a way to get the message across to the users that their ideas and interests were important. The article also discussed that once the students using the mobile library saw its use they were more likely to go to the actual library itself. One of the things to consider when using a mobile library is the safety of the staff in the library as well as the patrons. The article discussed stopping services for a brief amount of time due to gang activity. Once the area was safe again the library returned. I do agree that it is difficult to create a mobile library but it can work. When my library has been closed in the past due to testing or computer repairs I have had to take the library with me. I placed items on a cart that were of interest to students and they were able to take items from the cart and I entered them into the checkout system at a later time. It is very time consuming but the benefits weigh out the minor inconveniences. I enjoyed the issue on Diversity and will consider referring to Teacher Librarian in the future for ideas and new trends in the library field! -Jessie

I read the April 2010 issue that focused on the best of 2009. There were many articles about the best books, software, audio and environments. I enjoyed the article titled "Media Center Survivor! Teacher Librarian to Teacher Librarian". The article listed different tips on how to make yourself a useful presence in a time when budgets and money can be tight. I found the article to be very helpful for our current situation in schools. The article listed great ways to show people how important the media specialist position is and why they need people like us to help the students be successful. I also enjoyed the article titled "Closing the 12-13 Gap Together: School and Collage Librarians Supporting 21st Century Learners. I found I had many of the gaps they looked at when I moved from high school to college. I can see how important it is to really prepare students to be successful 21st century learners so they can live in the real world some day. I laked many research skills when I entered college because I was never shown great ways to use the internet to located useful information. High school students need these skills in order to be successful in college and in their lives. Overall I found this journal to be useful and the articles to be informational and interesting. I liked the layout and placement of the articles and found it to be user friendly. ~Kaelin

I read the February 2010 issue of Teacher Librarian. I found this journal to be a little less interesting than the others I read. The information was all very useful, but I felt it was lacking a certain aesthetic in the layout. This issue was very dense and, although there were some pictures, some articles consisted entirely of text, which was not very visually appealing. I did like how there were book reviews sprinkled throughout the issue, rather than in one section at the end. I also liked how the journal focused on the teaching aspects of librarianship. It included a lot of useful ideas for teaching 21st century skills, technology, and creating a library that is a learning commons. The article I read, “Karaoke in the Library: Effects on Learning, Literacy, and Social Communication” discussed one librarian’s use of karaoke with special education and English language learners in the library. Her idea to use karaoke came from her realization that if karaoke helps adults gain confidence, then it could help kids too. She now invites classes to library to sing songs that relate to certain content areas, for example, Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldiers” about African Americans in the army. She also uses karaoke as a way to promote language acquisition in English language learners. She distributes the lyrics to songs before class so that students have an opportunity to review them. This article provides a great example of how media specialists can think outside the box and use the library as a way to reach even the most reluctant learners. Karaoke in the library seems like a great way to encourage student participation and engagement. -Michelle L. 

I read the December 2009 issue of Teacher Librarian. Out of all the journals I read, I found this one the hardest to read. Like Michelle said, it seems to be lacking aesthetically in the layout, so I think that might be why I had a hard time getting through it. I think the information it presents is useful, but I wish it were presented in a different way. Also, I'm not sure if I like the book reviews being throughout. I guess since this is the last journal I read, I had gotten used to the reviews being at the end, so this one was a little weird to me. Regardless, I think this journal is relevant when it comes to librarians serving as teachers. This issue deals with teaching and learning with technology, and it covers topics such as using Web 2.0, Google Apps, WLANS, and Zotero. I actually was able to learn a lot about the technology aspect of the field through this, so I am thankful for that (for example, I had never heard of Zotero and didn't know much about Google Apps beforehand). I think the strangest article I came across in this issue was "Using 'Second Life' in School Librarianship." I hadn't heard of Second Life until a couple of months ago, and I was under the impression that it is strictly a time-killing social site in which people can live out their fantasies on an island using an avatar. This article, however, talks about how Second Life can actually be used for a professional resource for librarians. There are islands on the site that belong to public and university libraries and library associations. The article discusses how it is important for librarians to become acquainted with this site and others that may develop that are like it because it won't only allow them to network professionally in a new way, but it also allows them to become aware of the virtual realms that students are using (not necessarily on Second Life, but also on World of Warcraft and the like). I appreciate that the article ends with instructions on how to join Second Life and how to find islands that belong to organizations such as ISTE. While my mind was a little blown by the idea of so many libraries and library associations being on a site such as this, I think it makes sense and is opening a new way in which networking will be done in the future. - Elyce