Facebook and Twitter

Social Media has become the way we communicate in our daily lives. It lets us share ideas and give and receive information with people that have the same interests. More than ever school libraries are using Facebook to have a presence online and build a bridge between the library and patrons. Browsing through Facebook for school library pages I came across the Facebook Page of Castilleja School Library. This school library uses social media to share literary events in their school library and the public libraries. They also give patrons a say in the book collection, information on authors, and new book releases. Some of their postings are for showcasing student's work and other are for updating patrons about their new catalog and database. This library is staying up-to-date with reaching as many patrons as possible with social media. The best advantage of using Facebook for a school library is free marketing, is easy and free to get the word out about your school library program and connect with a wider audience. In the other hand, in order for the entire school community to have access to the Facebook page one must set the page to public, making it possible for others to link, post, or make inappropriate comments for a school environment. Privacy issues also play an important role when using social media, a librarian needs to be careful that we are respecting the students' privacy when posting photos, names, and or work.

I use Twitter in my classroom to share with parents and the community what we are learning in my classroom, announce school events, projects, and reminders. Following leaders in librarianship, have given me opportunities to be connected to people that are experts in the field that I'm pursuing. The posts include ways to incorporate technology in the school library, new apps, educational websites, and the best practices to engage students in learning. For example this post from Kathy Schrock @kathyschrock gave information on free images from pikwizard.com, great to use for students' projects while respecting copyright laws.

Nice collection of searchable, free images to use both commercially and non-commercially! https://t.co/w1TIq3wM3S Thanks, @pikwizard pic.twitter.com/EXW8go4TA0

— Kathy Schrock (@kathyschrock) December 20, 2017

 I also follow Gwyneth Jones @GwynethJones, who is a Google certified librarian and gives conferences on how to be an innovator in the library. Here she tweets tips and tricks on how to be a better you (librarian). She writes to answer the question, "To what do you attribute your success?"

How to be a Teacher Librarian Rock Star
Branding Tips & Tricks + More!
NEW Blog Post https://t.co/yx2V0NOEgA#TLChat #EdChat #FutureReadyLibs #ISTELibs
I kinda pour my heart out in this one. pic.twitter.com/JviSnN1dEi

— Gwyneth Jones (@GwynethJones) January 21, 2018

Professional library organization such as American Library Association @ALALibary and American Association of School Libraries @aasl give information that affects our library programs such as new laws and budgets, they also give information that can benefit our program such available grants, free webinars, professional developments, and much more.

ICYMI: Check out this update on the 2018 budget and the current state of federal library funding. Plus, look forward to the upcoming 2019 budget cycle and get ready to ask Congress to #FundLibraries. https://t.co/qTYemLvFBr

— American Library Association (@ALALibrary) January 27, 2018

Overall social media is a way to engage in discussions, share experiences, seek information, learn about innovating tools, and find and give support to others that are passionate about education and improving the library program. 

Blogs and Blog Readers

Just recently I joined feedly.com to help me keep up with my favorite blogs, alerts, and favorite sources. I can easy add content to my Feedly by typing a title, URL, or key word. I chose feedly over other feed readers because I found it to be simple to use and the layout is attractive to the eye, simple, and clean.

The following are blogs I decided to put in my feedly.

1.  School Library Journal Blog, it contains reviews of books and multimedia. It also provides 20 articles per week which will inform me on how to better serve the student population.

2.    The Daring Librarian, I stared following Gwyneth Anne because she includes links and resources about her technology and library conferences. She is a Google certified teacher, which means I can learn a lot from her on how to incorporate technology into my library program.

3. Heart of the School, this blog has many good practices to implement in a school library. What I most like about this blog is the section titled "A Day in the Life," it narrates a daily day of different librarians. This lets me see different perspectives and points of views of people that have the same goal as me.

4.  AASL, as a future school librarian is crucial for me to stay inform about changes in policies that can affect our school library program and students.

5. I joined Tumblr and followed books-n-quotes, I love the idea to responding to someone with a quote from a book.

Introduction

The Sun is Also a Star

Yoon, Nicola. (2016). The Sun is Also a Star. New York, NY: De la Corte Press.

Awards: New York Times Best Seller, Michael L. Printz Honor Book

Grade level: 8+

Lexile level: HL650L

Pages: 384

Summary: Natasha's dad got in trouble with the police, so now the entire family is hours of being deported to their homeland, Jamaica. She is having a difficult time saying goodbye to New York City, specially the Bronx, the place she's called home since she was eight. She goes to the INS building in downtown Manhattan to find a way to stay in the States, she is counting on fate, even though she doesn't believe in it. 

Daniel comes from South Korean immigrant parents. Pressure by his family to be like his older brother Charles, he is also in downtown interviewing for an application to Yale to become a doctor, even though his heart is in poetry. In the middle of all their chaos, by the laws that make our universe work, their paths cross and they are destined for their futures. 

Reader's response: Some of the chapters of the book are written in first person from Natasha and Charles point of view, others are written in third person telling the perspective, history, and future of characters they encounter through out the course of a 12 hour day. All the characters lives are connected in some way, from Irene, the guard at the INS building, to the word "irene" used by Jeremy, the immigration attorney, to describe Jamaica. This novel can be a biographical reading to students that come from immigrant parents, have two cultures, and are trying to find their place in world. Many students that were brought to America as children and don't remember their native land or their faraway relatives can relate to Natasha. It can be read by vicarious experiences, for others to see the struggles of immigrant students. It is great that Nicola Yoon drew from her own life experiences to describe the characters and details in the story, she comes form Jamaican immigrant parents and her husband is Korean-American.  

Also by Nicola Yoon: 

The Secret of the Fortune Wookie: an Origami Yoda Book

Angleberger, Tom. (2012). The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee: an Origami Yoda Book. New York, NY: Abrams Books.

Lexile level: 680L
Grade level: 4-8
Pages: 188
Subjects: Finger puppets, Origami, Eccentric and Eccentricities,
Interpersonal relations, and Middle School

Summary: McQuarrie Middle School has become boring now that Dwight is suspended and has to attend Tippett Academy, if he's absent so is his finger puppet, origami Yoda. Dwight gives a gift to his friend, Sara, a fortune Wookiee in the form of Chewbacca. The Wookiee, with Han Foldo translations, comes to life and is able to give advice to students and solve many of their problems, for example what to do when someone you like likes someone else. Some predictions come true, but some students think is a hoax. Meanwhile at his new school, Dwight shows everyone how to make an origami Yoda, but the students' origami finger puppets don't come to life like his. Dwight stops bringing Yoda to school, because he feels like an outcast. Students at McQuarrie M.S. are concern that Dwight would try to fit in at his new school and forget about origami Yoda forever.

Reader's response: Origami Yoda Series by Tom Angleberger are definitely for all the Star Wars Fanatics. Even though this book targets middle school readers, no one is too old for Star Wars or too old to create origamis. Definitely a book to use with our reluctant readers, the plot is easy to follow and students can make many connections to their middle school life. Each chapter is an entry for a case file on the characters. Each character does the writing and illustrations for that chapter. The illustrations add humor to the book and the vocabulary is appropriate for middle grade audience. What I like most about this book is that the characters are all different, they teach us that is ok to be unique. If students like reading The Diary of the Wimpy Kid, they will like reading the Origami Yoda Series.


OrigamiYoda.com

Activity Kit from Abrams Books

Origami Yoda Series: