It's always mind boggling to me how quickly we go from 68 teams to 16. I think it's because we start out with a million games each day and then have a five day break where there's no games. It throws me for a loop every time.
Here's the March Reading Madness update for the Sweet Sixteen! Which books do you want to advance to the Elite Eight?
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As a UNC Chapel Hill alumna, I always root for UNC to win and the rest of the tournament to be chaos. Well, I take that back. I root for UNC and Georgia Tech (because I married an alumnus). Otherwise, I love the upsets and the Cinderella stories.
This year has been one with lots of chaos and I love it! While there weren't any 1 seeds knocked out in the first round, there were plenty of other upsets. Here are the matchups for the second round, which begins today! March Madness has been a big deal for me since college. Granted, this is probably because I went to UNC Chapel Hill, aka basketball royalty. Sure, librarians and teachers do some variety of "March Reading Madness" in their schools, but few do it like me. On Selection Sunday, the top 68 teams are ranked and matched up to create the NCAA tournament bracket. I look at the circulation statistics for the year and match each basketball team with a book (ex: the four books with the most circulations are paired with the four 1 seed teams). As the basketball teams move on to the next round of the tournament, so do the accompanying books. This method brings a variety of "readers and leaders" into the fun of March Reading Madness. Kids who like books (but aren't necessarily interested in sports) make predictions on which books they've read and enjoyed. Kids who like sports (but aren't necessarily interested in books) make predictions based on the teams. Either way, the kids are talking about books, and that's a win in my book! I can't take the creative credit for my version of "March Reading Madness" - that credit goes to the amazing Kendra Allen (@kallen). I student taught under Kendra during the spring of 2013 at Holly Grove Middle School. While I was there, I learned about how she used the actual data of the NCAA tournament to dictate her "tournament." She's now the Director of Library Media Services for WCPSS, so she doesn't get to do March Reading Madness with her HGMS students. I like to think that her legacy of basketball and books lives on wherever I'm the librarian. Click "Read More" to see which books are matched with the basketball teams!
Book Fair is drawing to a close, which means I can stop chugging coffee and Diet Coke like it's undergrad. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Book Fair. It's just utterly exhausting. The mention of the Book Fair bring a wistful look into the eyes of my young adult friends, but I know the darker side of it. The counting of change, ignoring all the money AND kid germs, and hoping everything adds up in the end.
The Book Fair is such a big deal because it's that idea of CHOICE that (some) teachers are terrified of. I'm an advocate of choice - if students don't get to choose what they WANT to read when they're young, will they WANT to read when they grow up? I totally see and value the importance of leveled guided reading groups in the classroom, but I don't think that should be the only thing they're allowed to read. I know if I only read what was "on my level" when I was in grade school I probably wouldn't be a librarian. I also know if I only read what was "on my level" now I'd probably hate reading. I remember the wonder of the Book Fair from when I was young and how excited it made me to get new books that I could "keep forever." If I can get just one student to change their opinion on reading by choosing any book they want from the fair, then the headache is totally worth it. Hopefully I'll be able to reflect more properly over the weekend. For now, it's survival until the end of the fair. I have a lot of crazy ideas. Some flop. Some surprise me. Being in K-2 you have to be willing to try, fail and try again.
My latest crazy idea is to address some of the struggling readers at my school. I feel like struggling readers often get shafted when it comes to reading for pleasure. This is AT NO FAULT OF THEIR TEACHERS. I know how important the fundamentals of reading are - and how can students succeed if they can't read? I get it, I promise. Because teachers work so hard on getting students to be able to read, they don't see reading as entertainment. I want to try to show students that reading can be fun and doesn't always have to be "read and test." Here's the plan: I'm going to start a weekly book club for struggling readers during lunch. I'll have five groups of five or six second graders, one on each day of the week. Together we'll pick a chapter book (from a list I've pre-selected), and read for fun. Not reading to take a test, not reading to retell the story, just reading for fun. We'll read a chapter or two a week, meet in the library during their lunch block and talk about it. My AP seems into it - once I work out some logistics I'll pitch it to the second grade teachers at their PLC meeting. Now comes the fun part...looking at book options! If anyone has suggestions, holla at ya girl. Last week, I was at our county-wide Media Coordinator meeting. We spent a great deal of time discussing the upcoming school year, including our district's focus for Media Coordinators. Our goals for the 2017-2018 school year are...
Basically it's a ton of support. Which I'm super excited about! I love working with classroom teachers and helping them be the best they can be for our students. During our meeting, I realized that some Media Coordinators in the room were not as excited about this. They are firm believers that they should be in the library, doing library things, all the time. While I think that being in the library is an important piece of my job, I do not think that's all a Media Coordinator should be doing any more. Librarians have always been a link to information - whether it's through a book or a digital resource. As our world changes, I think it's more important than ever for Media Centers to reflect this. We need to be out in the school, being ambassadors of proper learning and research. I'm grateful to be in a school where I am supported and valued. I love being challenged and work hard to be an integral part of our school. Because the Media Center should be the heart of the school, and I'm proud to be in charge of that. It's the first week of school! Where did the summer go? I had a blast with summer reading (which will be featured in an upcoming post), but I'm so glad to be back with my students.
This year we have a little over 200 new kindergarteners at Odell Primary! For most people, that seems insane, but I absolutely love it. They are so wide-eyed and excited about school...it makes me excited too. Of course, none of them know where they're going or how school works, but we'll get there. I absolutely LOVE teaching them in the Media Center, but I'm not sure I could do it all day every day (shout out to my kinder classroom teachers - you da bomb!). Right now, we're doing staggered entry so I'm not teaching true media classes...we're reading Amanda Panda Quits Kindergarten by Candice Ransom, coloring, and doing puzzles. We've started back to school lessons in the Media Center with first and second grade. We're re-learning how we use our three PBIS rules in the Media Center to be safe, be responsible and be respectful. First grade is reading Back to School with Bigfoot by Samantha Berger and they are having a blast. Second grade is reading Second Grade Holdout by Audrey Vernick. Second graders are also discussing how important it is to be good leaders since they are the oldest students at our school. This year I'm doing the craziest thing I've ever tried at the beginning of the school year...we're checking out books. From day one. Insert terrified emoji. It has actually gone REALLY well! The kids are super excited that they get to check out books so it's pretty gratifying. Most of our students are returning from the previous year and I'm only allowing first and second grade to check out one book for the first class. It's chaotic but it's the chaos I thrive in, so it's just a dream come true. Big things are on the horizon this year. It's the first year I've returned to a school after a full school year, so I'm excited to see how things change and how I can improve my practice. |
@LibrarianMarliThis is a reflective blog based on my professional journey - both inside the Media Center and during my Professional Development endeavors. Archives
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