Promoting a Culture of Reading - #HSTreads

Happy week after Thanksgiving!  We do indeed have much to be thankful for this year!  Here at Highland School of Technology, we are continuing to develop a culture of reading with our students, and just in time to offer some inspiration for independent reading are Miranda and Cody!  Both students have created book talks for novels they just finished reading.  As always, I am proud to share their work and proud to be a Highland Ram!

~Mrs. Long

Promoting a Culture of Reading @HighlandGaston! #HSTreads

November Blogging!

 

Gaston County Schools’ Libraries:  “Our Future’s So Bright, We Gotta Wear Shades!”

    Pardon the reference to a 1980’s song by Timbuk3, but I just couldn’t resist.  This year’s NCLSMA annual conference has come and gone too quickly and, while reflecting on the sessions and what to write for this newsletter, I kept thinking about how each of us has the opportunity and responsibility to move our libraries forward to impact student learning and to build the foundation for lifelong readers and learners.  

    Here are a couple of hot library topics to help us fully realize what our library programming is and can be for our patrons.  

#1 - Are our libraries FUTURE READY?  Take a moment to review the Future Ready wheel and REFLECT on your school library and library programming.  Use the link below to review the Future Ready website resources that are so helpful.  How are you moving toward realizing the reality of a future ready library?  

http://futureready.org/program-overview/librarians/

#2 -SET GOLAS for your library programming that reflect the future of your library.  Shannon Miller, Future Ready Librarian spokesperson, took time out of her schedule to join a session at NCSLMA that I helped facilitate.  I had the pleasure of sharing with ten “Emerging Leaders” from across the state about the future of our libraries.  Shannon shared a goal setting form that I think is awesome!  Use this link to take a look!  You should be prompted to make a copy so you can create your own goals for your library.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q43lJtSfAcd_BO5f3pbgZSFMagosYT0myW3o-61lGIw/copy

#3 - GET CONNECTED I cannot stress enough how important it is to get involved, get plugged-in and participate in our district PLC, NCSLMA and online for your own professional learning networks.  Of course going away to NCSLMA is a retreat and often one of the “mountain top” experiences, but it is so important to build those professional relationships and friendships!  Our PLC meetings are wonderful opportunities for sharing, support and professional development.  May I encourage each of us to be active participants and contribute as much as possible.  We certainly can learn from each other!  As your NCSLMA regional director, I also want to encourage you to get involved in our state organization!  Y’all, there are amazing, dynamic school librarians in our district and across the state who are impacting student learning and making a difference every day!  If you are not a member, may I encourage you to see Robin Jordan (North Gaston High School) or catch up with me about how you can join and get involved in NCSLMA!  You won’t regret it! Oh, and mark your calendars for Friday, March 9, 2018.  It is an optional teacher workday and we will host a NCLSMA regional professional development day here in Gaston County!  I will certainly have more information in the weeks to come about this wonderful way YOU can get connected!

   So, as we move into the season of Thanksgiving, I am thoroughly aware of how fortunate we are as a district to have strong PLC groups and each other to learn from and grow with!  Take a moment or two to reflect on your library programming, work toward Future Ready goal-setting, and get connected!  Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!  I am on Twitter @laurablong or reach me via email at lalong@gaston.k12.nc.us.  I always love to collaborate and share!

AASL Knowledge Quest Blog Post! Chicago-bound tomorrow!

Good morning! I am excited to be headed to Chicago tomorrow for the national ALA Annual Conference. I can't wait to share our HST library story with others in Chicago! Here is the post I recently wrote for the Knowledge Quest blog!

AASL Inspire Grants

 Inspiring a Culture of Reading at Highland School of Technology

http://knowledgequest.aasl.org/aasl-inspire-grants-inspiring-culture-reading-highland-school-technology/

Inspiring students to be lifelong readers and learners is my passion, and as a recipient of both the AASL’s Inspire Collection Development Grant and the Inspire Special Event Grant, the students and teachers at Highland School of Technology in Gastonia, North Carolina, will have new resources to enjoy for the upcoming school year, bringing quality YA fiction, curriculum-supporting materials and digital resources to our library.  I am excited to work with my friends at Follett to purchase these new books for the students and I am so grateful to Marina “Marney” Welmers for her generosity, which is making all of this possible!

Developing a culture of reading at Highland is a shared goal between me and our English teachers at Highland.  The Inspire Collection Development Grant will make it possible to infuse our collection with popular, quality fiction titles, which will provide books that appeal to our diverse students.  Additionally, resources with strong curricular ties will be added to the collection as well.  New books are like a giant magnet to the library!  The appeal of reading a new book just seems to attract students to the library and further encourages lifelong reading.  Maybe it is the smell of a new book, or maybe it is finding that book from a favorite author on display, but there is no denying the power of new books to bring students into the library.  Our commitment to nurturing readers flows from the library and into the classrooms, supporting independent reading across disciplines.  The generous grant funding will allow me to purchase books that will be on display as soon as students return in the fall, kicking off the school year with an inviting display of new reading opportunities for our students.  I am thrilled to be a recipient of the Collection Development Grant, and I cannot wait to put these new materials into circulation for the students.

Transforming lives through reading is a pleasure to witness.  Books motivate, encourage, inspire, comfort, support, challenge and entertain us.  The Inspire Special Event Grant will provide funding to impact our high school book club, making multiple copies of each month’s reading selections available to our book club members and eventually all of our patrons as part of our library collection.  The grant money will provide funding for a book club Kick-off party in the fall and the books for the book club meetings throughout the school year as well as summer reading selections, too.  The ripple effect of the Inspire Special Event Grant is exciting to think about.  Book club members will read and discuss the books through our monthly face-to-face conversations and our Google Classroom chats, discussing the books, digging deeper and analyzing the texts.  In turn, these books will be promoted through video book commercials created by the readers, which will be shared via our school news program and our social media platforms.  We share about reading at Highland using the hashtag #HSTreads, and we would love for you to join the conversation with us as we seek to broaden the reach of our social media book chats.  Through Facebook and Twitter, our book club members will promote reading to the entire school through their creative video book commercials and social media posts.  The hope is that student readers across the school will be encouraged to stop by the library and check-out great books to read.  The impact of the Inspire Special Event Grant funding is far-reaching and I am looking forward to experiencing the power of sharing about books during the 2017-18 school year.

Supporting strong school libraries and library programming is so essential to student success.  I believe that when students have a vibrant, engaging library space available to them, with resources that entertain them and support their learning, they will be empowered and the  result is a powerful, positive impact on their learning.  Many thanks to Marney Welmer and to AASL for awarding Highland two Inspire Grants!  Our library collection is truly going to be blessed and enhanced by the generous funding we have received and I certainly look forward to sharing our journey on my blog at http://hstreaders.blogspot.com/ and on Twitter using the handle @laurablong.

 

Laura A. Long, MLS, NBCT

Media Specialist, Highland School of Technology, Gastonia North Carolina

@laurablong

bit.ly/HSTreads

Thursday - Sharing Day!

I just love a busy week in the library, watching students create projects that impress me so much. Today's teens have so much to say, share and showcase!  There really isn't a day that goes by here at Highland that I don't see students creating purposeful projects and work that demonstrates their understanding and personal opinions on a wide variety of topics and concepts.  The library is the perfect place for students to collaborate, create and share their work.  From art displays to videos, I call it a privilege to share their work with a bigger audience.

Today, I had a teacher ask me about sharing her students' Geometric Gardens assignments from her Multimedia and Webpage Design class.  Of course, my answer is, "YES!"  I love blogging about student work!  So, without further ado, here are Mrs. D. Long's Geometric Garden creations!  I hope you enjoy seeing what students can digitally create!  Happy almost Friday!

~Laura

Giving Students an Authentic Audience!

I am so happy to share a few more student book talks from 11th graders here at Highland.  I love giving students an authentic audience so that they can share their work! Come by the HST library to check out one of these great books soon!  Happy Reading!

#HSTreads

Hooray, Hooray! Book Talks Make My Day!

Spring is in the air and great books are available in the library for you to read!  Hop on in to the HST library and check out a book today!

For some reading inspiration, here are some book talks from Ms. Webb's juniors to help you find a great read!

Happy New Year - Resolutions and Breakout EDU in the Library!

Welcome 2017!  Highland's students are making their New Year's resolutions and sharing their reading recommendations on our library display board this month!  The QR code links the students to the library blog and I just love being able to share student work from the library!  As we welcome in the new year, here are some student-made video book talks that promote our HST library and reading in general.  Thank you to Ms. Webb's 11th grade English students for their continued support of the library and for their time spent making these videos!

As the new year unfolds, I can't wait to see what our Highland students can accomplish!

Here are some highlights from Mrs. Collins' first period students participating in their back-to-school Breakout EDU activities yesterday in the library.  They certainly were developing their problem solving/critical thinking skills while having fun together!  This year, I challenge all of my teacher friends to try something new, like a Breakout Digital or Breakout EDU activity for your students.  Let your school librarian help...that is what we love to do!  

 

  

Happy New Year!

~Laura