What Happened to The Joy of Summer Reading?

Recently, I was approached by one of our  Journalism students because she was doing an article about the Summer Reading program at East Lyme High School.  The program has a reading requirement for students and when they come back to school in September, they are expected to be able to discuss the two books they have read and write a brief summary. They are given a Pass/Fail grade for this assignment.  The students are provided a list of suggested books, prepared by the me. Last year they were asked to read one book from the list and one book of their own choice.  My purpose for the summer reading program is to provide students with a variety of books for all interests and levels, with hope that the students will find a book that they really enjoy reading when they have time to read for pleasure.

The conversation I had with my young journalist revealed that she was so bogged down with other homework over the summer and required reading for other classes that she didn't even have time to read the summer reading books.  In fact,  she has not had an opportunity to read a book without any sort of assignment attached to it since fourth grade.  Now this is a girl I think would read for pleasure it she had the time too.

Her article was published and it was titled The Problem with Summer Reading. Her article prompted me to start a conversation with students, teachers and parents.  From the students responses, it became clear to me that students who are avid readers are going to read no matter what.  The students that correlate reading with the pain of a writing assignment were going to either watch the movie or just read a review of a summary online, which would give them enough information to squeeze by with the passing grade.  From the parents, I gathered there was a struggle to get their child to complete the summer reading assignment, especially if the child was a reluctant reader.   There was  a varied response from teachers, but most agreed that the graded assignment was not working.

When I was in high school,  I always looked forward to summer because I would have lots of free time to read books and reading was really a pleasure.  I am concerned that students are not experiencing this and I question what we as teachers are doing to kill this pleasure. I am beginning to worry that our attempts as teachers to assess, develop and broaden reading skills is having a negative effect and in essence creating reluctant readers.  In fact, studies have shown that the more a person reads, the stronger their reading and writing skills and vocabulary bank will be.  We need to bring back reading for pleasure as an activity in school.   We may win the battle with reading assessments for standards purposes, but we are losing the war against just reading for pleasure, especially with competition from electronic devices and video games.

In a recent article in NEA Today entitled, Good News! They are Reading!, the author, Cindy Long, points out that "given a chance, students will read for fun.  They just need a little help making the right selections (Long, 2016. p.38). We as librarians, whether public or school based, are tasked with maintaining collections that will entice our young readers and providing them a comfortable space to read.  Some reading incentives wouldn't hurt either.    It is important to get to know the child in order to help find the perfect book that will unleash reading for pleasure.   That is one of my favorite challenges.

With all this in mind.  I have decided to totally revamp my Summer Reading program and allow the students to read whatever they want with no grade or assignment attached.  I readily acknowledge that reading over the summer is very important and I am sure most students will have required reading assignments from other classes.  What I would like to do is come up with an incentive program that rewards students for whatever reading they do over the summer, no strings attached.   The only requirement would be a reading log to determine the number of items read.

I would like to start a conversation here on what reading incentive plans have worked for other public and school libraries, especially at the young adult level where students have very little free time. Another program I would like to implement at the high school is a set time for independent reading where students can choose their own book.

Please feel free to comment with suggestions and ideas about what works or hasn't worked for you.

Long, C. (2016). Good news! They are reading! NEA Today, Winter, 38-43. 

Flipping Yet Another Library

So it's been a few years since I last posted.   I have since taken over as a Library Media Specialist at East Lyme High School.  The school is much larger and the library is unique in the sense that not only is it a school library, it also is part of the LION Consortium which is comprised mostly of Public Libraries.  So my duties go beyond the realm of the high school and  include interlibrary loans and cataloging.  I am loving the diversity of this new position and feel lucky to have adequate staff to support me and a Technology Director and Principal that entertain my ideas.

This year we made great strides.  We emptied the card catalog and donated the cabinet to our wood technology department, who was very happy to have lots of little drawers to store their tools and screws.

I was very fortunate to receive a Makerbot Replicator 2 3D Printer through a funded project from Donorchoose.org.   This has inspired us to remodel a current reference area into a Makerspace.   Plans are still being laid out and our hope is to have it up and running by September, 2014.  The Makerspace with be a fluid classroom where furniture can be easily rearranged for different projects.  We will have a Mac Bar where students can use our Mini Macs and room dividers for privacy when classes are using the the space.  We have  iPad and laptop carts available and we plan on stocking our shelves with various technology devices like Arduinos and Raspberry Pis.  When the space is up and running, we hope to have community nights where citizens of East Lyme will be invited to come and use the 3D Printer for a low fee.   We also hope to bring in other schools from the district to visit.  I have subscribed to a wonderful magazine called MAKE and set up an Instructables.com account which between the two, provides a wealth of project ideas.   I hope to attend a Maker Faire in NYC in September as well, to really stimulate our plans and ideas.

I recently established a Student Advisory Board for the library.   It will be broken down into three different committees to manage the following tasks:  book selection, planning library events and a Maker Club where students will plan Maker projects once a month to offer to students after school or during study halls.  Projects will span from building robots, programming with Scratch or Minecraft to making steampunk jewelry.  We will also be sponsoring an Hour of Code next year.

I have also set up a Twitter account for the library: @elhslib, where I will be tweeting about school events,  progress on what's new in the library and following YA authors.

My greatest challenge is raising funds to purchase the furniture for our Makerspace.  I am currently looking at grants and possibly local businesses that would support STEM programs.

I will post more about the Makerspace and progress with any funding at we move forward. Overall it's been a great year!

Taking Over a Media Center

I am already into week 3 of my new job as a Library Media Specialist.  So far, things are going very well.  I love the variation of activities, from meeting with book reps to assisting teachers in technology adaptation and assignment to the computer lab.   I also love the fact that I have time to go over material that is relevant to my position.  The students have been great but I am hearing from teachers and obsreving myself that students are not motivated to put the effort in to complete projects properly.  One teacher made his class do their papers over again because their work was so shoddy.  I see students coming in for class time in the computer lab and not working on the project at hand.  Of course, part of this is the responsibility of the teacher.  I also am finding that many high school age students do not enjoy reading and only read when they have to - looks like I have my work cut out for me.  What I am trying to do first is get a feel for what I will tolerate during study hall.  The previous Media Specialist was very strict and expected silent work.  I, on the other hand, can tolerate a minimal amount of talking as long as I see the students are working on something at the same time.
There are many students that come to the media center with two teachers signatures that indicate they have work to do and they are doing nothing.  This is what I am addressing first.  In the meantime, I am trying to reach out to teachers to get a feel for what kind of books they would like and suggesting some technology they can add to a lesson.  I feel like my coworkers are being very receptive. 

Switching Teams

This week I am in between jobs and I am taking a break in Key West Florida. It is a great chance to refocus and read. I left my job in one school district after eight years because my position as a Computer Teacher and Resource for other teachers was cut to half time this year. I have accepted a Library Media Specialist position at a local high school. Though I am sad about leaving my friends and colleagues at my prior position, I feel there is no challenge left for me there. This new position allows me the opportunity to rebuild the program and introduce new technology to students and teachers! I am very excited.

While at Providence Airport, I purchased a magazine I had never heard of before, Fast Company. It was very interesting. Its focus is on businesses using new technologies to better service consumers. There were also articles related to education and innovative thinking about how we need to rethink our teaching strategies in order to prepare students for their future. I liked it so much I have become a subscriber!

Vacation ends Saturday and my new career begins on Monday. I am looking forward to a new challenge.

Discovering the iPad

I have been experimenting all week with the iPad.  I had saved a number of lists of recommended Apps from other iPad/iPod users and have spent most of my free time going through to see which works best for me.  So far, I have selected any that were free and convenient and mostly related to social networking.   I have downloaded Facebook, Twitter, NPR, Pandora, iBooks, Weightwatchers Mobile, Dropbox, Google, Dragon Diction, Puppet Pals, Netflix and Evernote.

Dropbox is a free online storage feature which I have used in the past to save items between school and home.  Once you have set up a Dropbox account, you can download the software to any computer that you work on and save items into the storage area.  Whenever you log into a different computer the files will sync to that location as long as the Dropbox has been installed.  It is useful to have this option on my iPad as well so when I travel all these files will be available to me.  

Google has a voice search feature so that you can speak your search requests rather than typing.

Evernote allows you to save personal notes and items from the the internet.  This account can also be shared from other computers.  There is a webclip features that allows you to save information from a website into Evernote rather than cutting and pasting into Word.

Dragon Diction allows you to create a voice message and then deliver it as a text message or email.  This could also be useful as a speech tool in a school setting.

My next project will be to finds apps useful for English Learning activities and those that are worth spending money on.

Bring on the iPad!

I am waiting for Christmas Day to open my new iPAD (that I have already purchased for myself on behalf of my husband).  Most people I mention this too ask me what do you do with an iPad?   For me, it is not only a technology toy but an educational tool. I sat with my sister in law last week who is a speech pathologist in a different school system.  Her administration gave her an iPad to use with her students who have difficultly communicating.  Most of the Apps she showed me were free or relatively inexpensive.  One particular App was called Puppet Pal where students create a story by choosing a background and pulling puppets in and out of the scene.  They are able to record their voice as they tell their story.  One student she works with speaks with a stutter and amazingly, when he was telling his story, he was so engaged in the application that there was no evidence of stuttering at all!   So my intent is to use the iPad to engage students.  My first trial will be to find Apps to help two ELL eighth grade students that I tutor.  That's what I'll be doing on my December vacation and hopefully will go back to school well equipped with some new ways to learn English!

Digital Nation

I am sitting home recovering from back surgery this week and have been working through a stack of books and DVDs.  One DVD was particularly interesting.  It was recently released by PBS and is Frontline's Digital Nation.  The 90 minute broadcast discusses the effect of technology on our daily lives and the youth of today.  There were some points that were very disconcerting.  For instance in South Korea, many young adults and children have become addicted to video games.  They even have gaming arcades open 24 hour where people can play with no boundaries. To the point that there has been an official diagnosis created to describe their condition. They have developed classes and camps to help the addicted live without the internet or moderate their activities.  Many school programs are being restructured so children are taught at an early age to use technology properly socially and to moderate their use. South Korea is a few years ahead of us but the US is fast approaching the same dilemmas.

Video gaming addiction has definitely become a concern of many US parents due to the fact that many children are left home unsupervised as parents try to survive on two incomes these days.  Many children choose to stay inside and play on the computer or on their Xbox, PS2 or whatever the new gaming trend is currently.  It is a concern that they are not being physically active enough.

There is also a social concern. The youth of today are digitally connected to friends and family by laptop, cell phone and other media devices.  They consider themselves experts in multitasking but the reality is that they are not really paying close enough attention to many focal points of live.  Such as instruction at school or whether the light at the upcoming intersection is about to turn red. The college classroom now consists of students browsing on their laptops, checking their cellphones and vaguely listening  to their professor.  How does an college professor compete with all these distractions?  I believe the best way to compete is to use these devices to highlight your coursework.  

That being said, I believe the US Army has gone too far in opening up in Florida a gaming arcade called the Army Experience that draws in preteen boys with video games that supposedly recreate the real Army Experience.  Recruiters walk amongst them making acquaintances, hoping to make a lasting impression so when they are old enough to sign up they will be hooked.  Somehow to me this seems a bit tainted and unethical.

What concerns me most is the fact that you never have the undivided attention of the digital native.  This is where things go too far.  Is it really necessary to have yourself available 24/7 for conversation on your cell phone?  And when is the last time you actually talked to someone on a phone or in person?  Social skills are suffering.  I see it with my own daughters who are reluctant to talk to people they barely know or use the phone to make inquiries.  They would rather text or email.

I think it is important to educate children at a young age about the issues of using too much technology and missing out on much of what is going on around them.  Sitting out in my backyard today, I had no cell phone or laptop.  I merely listened to the birds and enjoyed the serene feeling of being surrounded by nature and doused in the warmth of the sun.  There is nothing better!