MONTHLY REPORT TO THE PRINCIPAL
2009-2010
October SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT We, as the staff and community, are committed to standards for excellence. We will provide a safe, positive, and nurturing atmosphere that will allow students to discover their fullest potential and develop a passion for learning. LMC MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the D.L. “Dusty� Dickens Elementary School Library Media Center (Dickens LMC) is first and foremost to provide adequate access to information; second, to provide a warm, kind, inviting, and comfortable environment for all students and teachers to learn, grow, and ultimately love reading; third, to actively teach students by partnering with classroom teachers for regular and consistent collaboration; fourth, to foster the integration and use of 21st century literacies within the classroom and media center; and fifth, to build the foundation for increased student achievement within the school.
Monthly Report to the Principal
Monthly Report to the Principal STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS
Average number of students visiting the Dickens LMC to check in and out per day (on nonscheduled library days): 12.5 (up from 10 last month) Books lost: 0 (down from 2 last month) Books recovered that were marked lost in 08-09 inventory: 9 Books damaged beyond repair: 1 Monies recovered from books lost or damaged in previous years: $46.47 Monies refunded to students from books previously marked lost, but then found: $57.44 New Birthday Book Club Members: 0 (down from 34) Birthday Book Club Profit: $0 (down from $515) Number of circulations: 7,701 (701 of those being faculty) **1st grade = 834 (up from 656 last month) **2nd grade = 757 (down from 831 last month) **3rd grade = 1,251 (up from 1,210 last month) **4th grade = 1,883 (up from 1,862 last month) **5th grade = 1,579 (down from 1,751 last month) Number of holds placed: 321 (up from 82 last month) Top 5 search terms: **halloween books **captain underpants **spongebob **twilight **diary of a wimpy kid **scary stories Number of students consistently involved in the Friends of the Library apprenticeship club: 14
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Monthly Report to the Principal
Number of brand-new instructional materials and books added to the catalog: 26 Classes awarded the Shelf Elf Award for proper use of shelf markers and meeting or exceeding LMC expectations: **Gabarre **Wallace-Roth **Goldberg **Hedvall Number of students with a zero balance after taking advantage of the Read Away Your Fines at the Dickens LMC program: 2. Eight other students are taking advantage of this offer and come in before and/or after school at a rate of $2.00 forgiven per half hour. Number of teachers participating in the LMC Book Basket program: 9 (up from 8 last month) Number of teachers participating in 100 Books in 100 Days: 16 Number of teachers participating in Faculty Photo Fun (Mystery Readers): 19 Number of teachers involved in the Teacher Book Review program, which provides free hardcover books (2010 publication dates) to the library in exchange for reviews: 13 GENERAL PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Successful author visit with Mike Knudson was conducted on October 29. Eleven teachers and their classes were in attendance: Kip, Hinz, Hartman, Fawcett, Byers, Backner, Castaneda, Hedvall, Wilson, Williams, and Carpenter-Turner. Please see the official Dickens LMC blog post for additional details: http://mrsbentheim.edublogs.org/2009/10/29/author-visit-with-mike-knudson-a-success/ . {SIP Goals 1, 3} Virtual author visit with Nancy Krulik was conducted on October 8. Two teachers (Hartman and Johnson) participated in addition to the scheduled library class. The author spoke to school children across the county and took live phone calls. PBS sponsored the visit and is providing our school with a large ALA READ poster featuring students from Dickens! {CAP} {SIP Goals 1, 3} American Library Association READ poster photo shoot was conducted on October 21. Parent and PTA member Ms. Lakeotes offered to use her professional photography skills to take the photo. Four teachers and their classes participated: Hartman, Carpenter-Turner, Wilson, and Johnson. Teachers were selected by participation in virtual author visit with Nancy Krulik, as well as first respondents to the email distributed via school Interact forum. {CAP}
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Monthly Report to the Principal
Started emailing overdue materials notices to classroom teachers. The plan is to save paper, get teachers more involved in what their students are reading, and ultimately to recover all overdue materials in a timely manner. {CAP} Migrated to a new blog for better parent, student, and teacher access. The blog can be viewed at http://mrsbentheim.edublogs.org. {CAP} Re-designed the Dickens LMC website for compatible viewing on filtered CCSD computers. The new design can be viewed at http://www.MrsBentheim.com. {CAP} Continued seeking funding for the Dickens LMC technology grant. To date, 50 percent is funded thus far with a little over $12,000 to go. Technologies requested include 40 netbooks, a wired netbook cart, 6 iPod touches, 6 digital cameras, 1 document camera. The proposal can be viewed by visiting the Donors Choose website at http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=318874 . {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3} {CAP}
The October Tech 2sday workshop focusing on how to update teacher pages on the Dickens website was provided after-school for all teachers and staff on October 13. Many teachers expressed interest, but no one attended. {CAP} The October Web 2 Wednesday workshop focusing on how to use Web 2.0 in the classroom was provided after-school for all teachers and staff on October 14. Many teachers expressed interest, but no one attended. {CAP} Initiated grade-level collaboration with grade-level chairs by providing a collaboration matrix. It was requested that the grade levels submit general level plans monthly so that library curriculum can more closely support classroom teaching. {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3} The after-school program started to utilize the services of the Dickens LMC daily after school. Each after-school teacher brings their students into the library for approximately 30 minutes one day of the week. During this time students are able to check in/out books, use computers to access school-wide initiatives such as Ticket to Read and Accelerated Reader or conduct research, read to/with the animals and pillows, as well as start on homework. {SIP Goal 1} Created public lists in Destiny for teachers to access books for school-wide writing prompts. The writing prompts and book titles were provided to staff by Julie, the literacy specialist. {SIP Goals 1, 3}
Prepared and distributed Dickens LMC library cards to each teacher for his or her students. The goal is for teachers to send their students with their library cards during each visit for added student responsibility and empowerment, as well as for more effective use of library check out time. {SIP Goal 1}
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Monthly Report to the Principal
Provided three articles to teachers featuring topics such as: research linking amount read to academic achievement, how to increase your classroom library, developing your classroom library collection, and using the Flip video in your classroom. {CAP} {SIP Goals 1, 3} Led a staff-development day training on the district-wide Depth of Knowledge initiative. Created a Dickens-only website where teachers can go to retrieve resources for future planning. The site can be accessed by visiting http://dickenselementary.pbworks.com. {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3} Led a staff-development day training on how to effectively use the services of the Dickens LMC. Supporting materials for this training can be found at http://mrsbentheim.pbworks.com/Teaching-Resources. {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3}
Launched the Scholastic Book Fair web site. The site can be viewed directly by visiting this link or by visiting the Dickens LMC blog at and clicking on the Book Fair tab at the top. {CAP}
http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/publish/dickenslmc http://mrsbentheim.edublogs.org
Released the cover for the 09-10 Dickens ES Yearbook. The cover features a little alien in a spaceship orbiting the earth. The them is “The Little Discoverers that Could.� {CAP} Started marketing the first yearbook sales period by hanging up posters and posting related information on the Dickens website, as well as the library website and blog. Letters home will follow in November. {CAP} Arranged an assembly for November featuring two Mountain Men. They will talk to 3-5th grade classes in shifts and share knowledge about Native Americans and their customs, as well as personal experience as Mountain Men. {CAP} Worked with Alan, the ECS, to create a Dickens LMC-only icon within the Interact forum for teachers to use as a resource. The icon includes archived emails from the library media specialist, links to library-related resources and presentations, as well as the new computer lab calendar. {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3} Fulfilled a variety of teacher requests, some of which are the following: **Native American materials and books **Nevada Day resources **lesson ideas **interlibrary loan requests (some items were not in our collection) {CAP} Kicked off the district-wide Reading for Laptops contest. Students in grades 3-5 select books from certain lists and report on them. The student reports are entered into a drawing where one student from each participating school will earn a laptop. {SIP Goal 1} {CAP} Worked with fellow specialists to provide appropriate materials for their subject matter during Native American Heritage Month. Books, films, and websites were shared. {CAP}
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Monthly Report to the Principal
Worked with second grade teacher Benizio to finish drafting the school-wide Accelerated Reader plan. The completed proposal was submitted to administration for review. {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3} Scheduled two formal before-school collaborative planning sessions. The two classroom teachers, Fawcett and Applegate, approached me after learning that the library media specialist is available to co-plan. {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3} A big book stand was added to the professional development/resources area of the Dickens LMC. It houses the 20+ big books that were requested to be part of our collection by classroom teachers. {CAP} Several @your library campaign posters for students and teachers were prepared and displayed around the school. The @your library campaign is a national initiative by the ALA that has been adopted for the Dickens LMC’s community of teachers, students, and parents. {CAP} A variety of emails were distributed to classroom teachers via the school forum. Some topics were: thematic dates and resources for the months of October and November, access to nonfiction materials, library homework assignments, pod computer lab scheduling, upcoming LMC activities, etc. {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3} FUTURE PLANS
Cultivation of a reading garden in the school quad area. {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3} {CAP} Collaborative planning and teaching between grade levels and the library media specialist using the Dickens LMC Teacher Collaboration Ning. {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3} {CAP} Staff development presentation about the various databases that are available for students and teachers. {SIP Goals 1, 2, 3} {CAP}
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