Reflections on 2020-2021

We are now getting into the rhythm of the 2021-2022 school year.  Although it is tempting just to forge ahead, I believe it is important to take time to reflect upon some key takeaways from 2020-2021.  That year was a year unlike any other in teaching.  It’s easy to pinpoint the many negatives, but there were also bright spots as well as the opportunity to establish new connections with students.  As I continue to plan for this school year, I’ll be leaning on experiences from our unusual past year to improve library offerings (both in-person and virtual).

Here are some of the top happenings of 2020-2021:

#11: New Circulation Strategies
The COVID safety measures in place at the beginning of September 2020 necessitated a different approach to library circulation.  At this time, students were not traveling to different classrooms (the library included) and it was determined that browsing the library shelves would not be safe.  Several ideas took hold to continue to get reading materials into the hands of our Iroquois readers.

Morning Delivery Service: Taking the library mobile via a traveling book cart was a first for me!  As students entered the building in the morning, I visited various wings with new and interesting books.  This gave students the opportunity to select library books.  It was also a perfect time to chat with educators about library offerings and services.  The time in the morning to discuss books led to some collaborative lesson opportunities.

Sora: Our Sora usage really took off as a direct result of the pandemic.  Since our school offers 1:1 devices, Sora was a perfect fit for providing students with ebooks and audiobooks.  At the beginning of the year, I made sure to visit (either virtually or in-person) each ELA class to avail students of the Sora service.  Access to the digital collection through the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library greatly expanded students’ ability to find excellent reading materials.

BookHub: Although the morning book delivery and Sora helped fill the reading needs of students, more access to books was still needed.  The BookHub service provided students with different avenues to request titles directly from the physical library.  This offered students the option to place holds in the library catalog or request a surprise delivery of books.  Students in Ms. Beauchamp’s seventh grade ELA class even designed a logo for the BookHub service!

#10: Virtual Battle of the Books
The regional Battle of the Books competition is always a source of anticipation for area middle schools.  A fantastic group of middle school librarians affiliated with the School Librarians’ Association of Western New York (SLAWNY) selects five books and then creates trivia questions for the books.  Participating middle schools can host an in-school competition to crown the winning team in their district.  At Iroquois Middle, four teams participated.  Our winning team consisted solely of sixth grade students!  The regional finals, which would normally take place at an area middle school, were held virtually using Socrative.  The SLAWNY librarians did an excellent job making the virtual experience special for all participating teams.  The Iroquois Middle team fell short of first place, tying for second with Orchard Park.  The team is looking forward to trying for first place again this upcoming year!

#9: District DIY Contest
Over the fall and winter of 2020, the increase in COVID cases required taking a pause from in-person learning.  As our families were spending more time at home, the Iroquois Library Department found this to be the perfect opportunity to host a DIY contest for families.  This contest highlighted the large collection of DIY/Maker resources available digitally through Sora.  Winning projects were awarded prizes.  It was wonderful to see the creativity of our Iroquois families on display!

#8: Nonfiction Revamp
Folks unfamiliar with library work might be surprised to know just how much effort and attention is required behind the scenes.  I had long hoped to update the organization of the library’s nonfiction section, but this required recataloging, relabeling, and reshelving thousands of books.  The 2020-2021 year allowed me the opportunity to forge ahead with this laborious project, given the fact that the library space itself was without foot traffic.  The work that went into this overhaul has certainly paid dividends, as students can browse nonfiction with increased ease!  A grant from SLAWNY helped pay for the cataloging supplies needed for the project.  This blog post outlines the specifics of the revamp.

#7: Increased Emphasis on Digital Citizenship
Digital citizenship has long been a topic championed by school librarians.  However, time shortage in an already-packed curriculum is a barrier for classroom teachers to bring students into the library for digital citizenship instruction.  The increased emphasis on digital skills brought on by the pandemic created an opportunity to prioritize digital citizenship.  Teachers for seventh grade ELA and sixth through eighth grade STREAM booked multiple digital citizenship classes throughout the year.  These classes provided students with instruction on topics such as finding media balance, staying safe online, and confronting cyberbullying.  The excellent resources provided through Common Sense Media and the Empire State Information Fluency Continuum were readily used in lesson design.

#6: Updates to Library Website
Although an accessible and functional library website has always been important, the rise in online learning made the library website a crucial tool for learning.  Throughout the year, improvements were made to the website’s appearance and function.  A Bitmoji library adorned the welcome page.  A virtual makerspace, complete with clickable activities, were added.  Book promotion pages featuring book trailers and student recommendations provided new reading inspiration.  Since students needed assistance with their devices while at home, a link was provided for the district’s technology help pages.  As COVID restrictions changed, the COVID-19 procedures portion of the website was continuously updated.

The main page of the library website.

The virtual makerspace, with clickable activities.

#5: Virtual Wednesday Events
Throughout the 2020-2021 school year, the learning model changed.  One aspect that remained consistent for the first half of the year was some unstructured time on Wednesday afternoons.  This provided the perfect opportunity for virtual programming through the library.  On Wednesdays, students were encouraged to visit the library’s Microsoft Teams page for a variety of events.  These events included pre-recorded author visits, book chats, trivia contests using Gimkit, and even an advanced writing workshop with author Judy Bradbury.  These events helped build the library’s community atmosphere, just in the virtual space!  It was wonderful to be able to check in with students for fun activities and discussions.

#4: Virtual Author Visit with Gordon Korman
A yearly author visit is always an event to look forward to.  The benefits to students are numerous: the ability to hear about the writing/publishing processes, to learn about new and interesting titles, and to have a VIP-type connection with a stellar writer.  After an author visit, the author’s books remain popular checkouts for years to come.  Even though COVID threw many curveballs, the Iroquois Library Department knew that missing out on the yearly author visit was not an option.

An author with wide appeal across all buildings is Gordon Korman, writer of nearly 100 books for children.  Gordon got his start as a published author when a manuscript he wrote as a seventh grader was published three years later.  Mr. Korman was eager to hold virtual visits.  Students in grades 4-12 were inspired to hear of Gordon’s early start as an author and loved the ability to ask him questions.  Ever since the author visit, Korman books have been flying off the shelves at all Iroquois schools!  This proved to be a valuable opportunity for our community of readers.

#3: Girls’ STEM Leadership Group Meetings
In 2019, our school was fortunate to receive a generous $50,000 grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation to fund STEM learning for girls.  A variety of delays meant that we still had funds to spend during the 2020-2021 year.  COVID restrictions did not allow for in-person meetings across grade levels, so meetings were relegated to the online environment.  This proved to be beneficial as it allowed for more students to participate without the barriers of needing rides home.  Our group met on select Wednesdays after the school day.  Activities hosted during the meetings included a movie night, trivia competition, and building Tinkercrate engineering projects.  We were also fortunate to host two author visits with women who wrote STEM-focused books: Lynne Kelly, author of Song for a Whale, and Melissa Sarno, author of Just Under the Clouds.

#2: Virtual STEM Night
A major focus of the STEM leadership funding was the planning and implementation of a district-wide STEM event for Iroquois families.  Possibly the biggest challenge of the year was how to pull off an event without the ability to host in person!  Members of the Girls’ STEM Leadership Group tackled this challenge head-on and delivered an amazing virtual STEM experience.  The finished product, an at-home event accessible anytime, is a website filled with STEM goodness.  A variety of hands-on experiments were planned.  Girls created written directions, materials lists, and videos for each experiment.  Other group members interviewed women in STEM fields.  To make the virtual event even more exciting, supply bags for 200 families were prepared and distributed.  This demonstrated students’ ability to carry out a largescale project, even under difficult circumstances.

The contents of the STEM Night supply bags.

#1: Friendships Formed
Undoubtedly the biggest takeaway from this past school year was that students were still able to form new, lasting friendships.  Although we hadn’t been used to communicating mostly through technology, the hardships of last year meant that students who normally wouldn’t meet during a school day now had the ability to connect.  Library events and STEM events brought together students from different teams and grade levels.  A group of three students who met at a virtual library event later went on to write a book together!  It’s important to acknowledge the positive role that technology can play in relationship building.

I’m glad to see 2020-2021 in the rearview.  The challenges were many, but the positives will help bolster future library offerings.  

How Things Are Right Now

What a wild ride.  I normally try to post a "back to school" update on this blog each year.  It's now October 22nd and I'm just now getting to the update.  That should give you an indication of how things have been going...BUSY!  I have not been a huge fan of the phrase "the new normal" so instead I will use "How Things Are Right Now" as the title for this update.

Our school buildings officially closed on March 13, 2020.  A return to in-person learning wasn't in the cards, but our classes and activities moved into the virtual environment for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.  This posed many logistical challenges, but also enabled teachers to use technology in different ways for creating learning experiences and fostering connections.  I worked hard to support teachers and students with resources, create lesson content and video tutorials, and extend special library programming.  Through the Microsoft Teams platform, we were able to host Gimkit trivia competitions, book groups, and even virtual author visits.

End of Year Report for 2019-2020

The summer before the 2020-2021 school year wasn't particularly restful, as plenty of uncertainty loomed regarding what school would look like in the continuing era of COVID-19.  Iroquois administrators chose to employ a hybrid model with a 100% remote option also available.  Cohort A students attend in-person Monday and Tuesday, while students in Cohort B attend on Thursday and Friday.  Wednesday in-person attendance alternates weekly between the two Cohorts.  Students learning remotely participate in each period via use of Microsoft Teams.

As the school year began, students stayed in their home base classroom for the entire day and teachers rotated into these classrooms to teach.  As of October 19th, students are now moving into different rooms for their classes.  The library remains closed to students, so this has posed some logistical issues for library services.

Book Access
The first hurdle of the year was rising to the challenge of getting books in the hands of students within the context of the new learning environment.  It was interesting to have to think about how to get books out without having the use of the physical library as a place to browse and checkout materials.  Many different strategies have been employed so far:

Sora Introduction: Each student in grades 6-8 has been introduced to Sora, our district's service for ebook and audiobook access.  I was able to introduce Sora in a couple of different ways.  Our library website includes a Sora information page which features tutorials on how to use the service.  Some teachers chose to show these videos to their students.  Other teachers booked time with me to visit their classes.  I either visited the classroom in person or virtually.  While virtual, I shared my screen via Microsoft Teams so all students could walk through Sora access step by step.  In our region we are also lucky to belong to the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library system.  With a public library card, students can expand their digital book access through Sora by linking to the public library's collection.  Each student was also encouraged to utilize the public library collection and sign up for a card in case they didn't already have one.

Morning Book Browsing: Students are allowed to enter the building at 7:15 am, but home base does not begin until 7:40 am.  This creates quite a bit of downtime, but it's also the perfect opportunity for book checkout.  Each morning I wheel a cart around to the classrooms and students may check out books then and there.

BookHub: The last phase of this approach involved setting up a system for students to request books from the library.  While I was in Ms. Beauchamp's classroom reviewing Sora, her students commented that "BookHub" would be a perfect name for the book delivery service.  They even designed a gorgeous logo to go with the service!  Through BookHub, students can email requests, place holds on specific books, or request a surprise delivery.

Special thanks to Ms. Beauchamp's class for this great logo!

Book Promotion

Another concern was how to promote books in a climate where we are mostly virtual.  During last year's building closure, book clubs and book chats were held online.  Students and staff members had wonderful book recommendations, which were compiled and posted on the library website.  

In addition to sharing out these recommendations, reading teachers in sixth grade have also began promoting the 40 book challenge with their students.  As part of this challenge, students are asked to read widely across genres.  A genre organizer was shared with the teachers and I was "virtually" invited in to chat about genres and offer suggestions.  I'm blown away by the knowledge of the sixth graders!  This is a group that has read a TON of books.  They had amazing reading suggestions which they graciously shared with their classmates.

Book promotion also took place with Mrs. Maulucci's eighth grade ELA classes.  Mrs. Maulucci wanted to make sure each student chose something of interest for use during their independent reading times.  To aid in their selection, I used Wakelet to compile a collection of book trailers.  These book trailers corresponded to titles that were available in the physical library.  The Wakelet also included instructions for BookHub, so students were able to put in their book requests immediately.

I've been slow to post on social media these days, but the library Instagram page is still up and running!  I'll be using @iroquoismiddlelibrary to post library updates as well as book recommendations.  Goodreads allows me to keep track of books in the library that I've read; the app's widget pairs with both this blog and the library website to promote recently read titles.

Digital Citizenship

The increased emphasis on virtual learning has made it increasingly important to discuss both the benefits and pitfalls of being online.  Common Sense Media provides an amazing digital citizenship curriculum which I've been able to utilize and adapt to meet the needs of learners here at Iroquois.

So far, I've delivered digital citizenship lessons to seventh grade ELA classes and both sixth and eighth grade STREAM classes.  Topics covered included how to problem solve "red flag" feelings that arise while online, making a plan for digital balance, and analyzing the characteristics inherent in excellent digital citizens.  Each of these lessons contained a reflection component where students shared what they enjoy about social media and what they would like to learn next.

Student Voice and Making Connections

As would happen in a typical year, I look for ways to ensure that student voice and choice remain central to all of the offerings in the library.  While pushing into classes for the Sora introduction, I invited each student to fill out a brief library survey.  This survey asked students to share their insights as to books that should be ordered and programming that should be offered.  I look through all of these responses and add the requests to the library book order.  The feedback will also help me to determine which programming would be most well received by students.  As time allows, I individually respond via email to each student survey.  Sending this email opens up another line of communication with the students; it's my hope that making myself available to them will urge them to reach out should they desire anything from the library.

New this year are library bookmarks and postcards.  Minute Print in Cheektowaga, NY designed gorgeous items to distribute to students.  The bookmarks contain a QR code to the library website and also remind students how to care for books in the age of COVID-19.  The postcards will be sent home to remote students, or to the hybrid students just to say hello.  There's nothing quite like getting an ACTUAL piece of mail in this digital age!

Minute Print created these postcards to send to students.

Custom bookmarks contain a WR code for the library website.

Assisting Staff Members

Finding ways to help staff members has also looked a little different because of the health concerns we are now facing.  In previous years I would be planning our Book Bistro staff party and potluck in the library.  COVID concerns prevent that, so I've been sending out all staff emails with library updates as well as targeted emails with resources/ideas that would be of interest to individual educators.

Library Twitter is always a great place to go for fresh ideas.  I'm ashamed to say that I can't find the person that originally shared the template below.  However, I was able to adapt this library menu in order to share library offerings with the educators at Iroquois Middle.

Library Services Menu via Canva

How Things Are Right Now

To conclude, library services are still chugging along but just in a different form than in the past.  Being an educator right now is a tough mental lift.  I'm used to being able to perform at higher levels.  Tasks that were once easy now require tons of creativity and effort.  I can't think of another time during my career as a school librarian where I've worked so hard only to feel like efforts are falling short of the mark.  It is some comfort knowing that all educators are finding new ways to make it all work.  I'll continue to lean on colleagues for support and inspiration!

Spanish Pen Pals with Flipgrid

It's always wonderful to bring new teachers and subject areas into the library!  Ms. Marcinkowski, Iroquois Middle School's new seventh grade Spanish teacher, was eager to bring her students into the library for a special project.

The purpose of this project was to allow students to use their Spanish speaking and listening skills in an authentic context while appropriately using technology.  The objective of this project was met by crafting a pen pal project through the use of Flipgrid.  Flipgrid is a safe, educational platform which hosts audio and video.  Educators are able to post a prompt and then students are able to record video and audio responses. 

For this project, Spanish 7 students at Pioneer Middle School in Yorkshire, NY would be viewing the Iroquois students' videos.  Iroquois students would also have the opportunity to view videos created by the Pioneer students.  The Flipgrid resource provided a great way to facilitate a digital pen pal project!

The Flipgrid prompt was created by Ms. Marcinkowski.  The requirements of the prompt allowed students to showcase their knowledge of vocabulary from previous units.  Students used their vocabulary packets in order to prepare a written script as a response to the prompt.

Students prepared a script to use for the Flipgrid prompt.

Once students had their scripts approved by Ms. Marcinkowski, it was nearly time to begin the recording on Flipgrid.  However, before students began recording, this was a perfect time to review some internet safety and overall privacy tips.  Although Flipgrid is a safe platform due to its use of passwords and unique URL links, there are many instances where students may be in an unsafe environment online.  Through utilizing digital safety flyers I had created, we held class discussions on internet safety concerns.  It is important that students understand how to protect their personal information while online.

One of the tech tip flyers used to facilitate a digital safety conversation.

It was now time to begin recording.  At this point in the project, there was some level of differentiation.  A handful of students did not receive permission to use Flipgrid, so they instead created postcards using their script.  Other students were allowed to record audio, but not a video of their face.  These students either covered their laptop's camera or pointed it to another object.  It took students a few tries to get the hang of using Flipgrid.  Seeing and hearing yourself on video can be a little unnerving, but they powered through the awkwardness and recorded some outstanding videos.

Students found a quiet space in the library to record their Flipgrid videos.

Listening to yourself on video led to some giggles!

Ms. Marcinkowski helps a student troubleshoot some recording issues.

After students were satisfied with their recordings and saved them to Flipgrid, they moved on to Part 2 of the project.  For Part 2, students visited the Pioneer Middle School Flipgrid page to view the recordings from the Pioneer students.  As a test of their listening skills, the Iroquois students wrote down (in English) what they believed the Pioneer students said in their videos.

Students recorded their interpretation of what the Pioneer students expressed in their videos.

There were many positive outcomes from this project.  Students gained a familiarity with the Flipgrid platform, which will allow them a safe space on the internet to record their thoughts.  They also had a chance to practice their vocabulary in a way that was interactive and fun.  The Iroquois students loved viewing the videos posted by the Pioneer students.

Ms. Marcinkowski and I would like to thank Ms. McKenzie and Mrs. Racitano, the Spanish teacher and librarian at Pioneer Middle School, for their willingness to partner with us for this project.  We're looking forward to creating more opportunities for the Iroquois and Pioneer students to communicate as pen pals!