Thank Goodness for English

I've spent most of the last two days at the district hearings regarding the layoff notices to certificated teachers. This morning, the union attorney told us that 20 teachers would be recalled before the testimony continued. She rattled off many different subject areas. Library was not one of them. I settled in for what I was sure would be a long day. The very last name that was called was me. I gasped. I cried. People applauded.

What happened? I don't know exactly, but it seems there were errors made in the seniority list and tie breakers due to other certification. I believe my English teaching credential saved me. Now I am free to breathe and go about my work.

Relieved? Extremely. Relaxed? Not yet. Classifed battles have yet to begun. Now, I get to stay to help fight them.

For all of you who wrote to support me. I thank you. For those who prayed and spoke and wrote to others, let's remember we're not out of the woods yet. Let's keep all libraries open. Libraries matter because children matter.

More than a Storage Room

I am a published author. An international speaker. A school librarian. Twelve months of the year I am employed by San Diego Unified Schools as the district’s only resource librarian. We have over 228 schools in a district with nearly 132,000 students. For the first time since I took this job 9 and a half years ago, we have every school library open except one.

Our School Board is currently in the process of making budget reductions for the 2011-2012 school year. Of over 200 schools, we only have about 30 Teacher Librarians. School budgets have excessed about half a dozen of them. Another 13 Teacher Librarians have received a layoff notice. Though I don’t work at a school site, I got caught in the big net of media credentials, so I am one of the thirteen. It appears that certificated library staffing could take a 50% cut.

Classified staffing seems just as grim. We are projecting that 37 school libraries will close due to no staffing. Eleven additional secondary schools will have less than one person working full time. Most of these have more than 1000 students who will need to check out textbooks.

Our library staff is a mixture of mostly classified and just over 30 certified people. In the last two years, we have trained almost 100 new staff members. Many of these library workers began as volunteers. Their children attended their school. Then they saw the value in what they did. They do their job, not for the summers off or for the salary. They do it because it’s important. They do it because it matters.

There is a common misconception about what a “librarian” does. The average person thinks a librarian reads stories to children and checks out books. Today’s “librarian” is much more than that. Libraries with adequate staffing level the educational playing field. Not every child has internet access at home. Not every child has a 4G phone. Not every child has books to call his own.

But in the library, students may have access to current technology. They have access to books. Most importantly they have access to trained staff who can guide them from 92 million Google hits on poetry to 184 educationally appropriate sites. Someone who can teach him about how to find the most current data. Someone who can find that just-right book.

Yes, I am an international speaker and a published author. But I am also a school librarian. I chose to work in this district because it matters. These are my schools. My teachers. My students. They need me. They need all of us. Libraries matter because kids matter. Libraries are more than storage rooms for books. They are the doors to literacy. Let’s keep them open. Shall we?

Bringing Poetry to Life with Digital Resources

Baseball, spring flowers, and poetry. It must be April. Since 1996, April has been National Poetry Month. This weekend I will be teaching a Saturday Matinee at the IMC on using digital resources to teach poetry. Whether you teach language arts or not, there’s a poem and a strategy that will enhance your curriculum and jazz up your lessons.


We will start, of course, with Destiny, our one-stop-shopping hub of all things digital. Within your online catalog, you may also find titles and digital resources. If you Google “poetry” you get over 92 million hits. Within Destiny, 184 educationally appropriate sites. Why start driving the Titanic when what you really need is a speedboat?

We will look at some of the best sites for K-12 instruction. We will also look at our databases. In TeachingBooks.net, for example, there are 546 results. From lesson plans to videos and strategies, everything you need to teach your curriculum is there for the searching.

As time allows, we will also look at poetry dramatization. We will sing some poetry. We’ll look at some of the best new titles. Today’s poetry is fun. It’s informational. Picture book poetry is beautiful.

Maybe you belong to me (fellow SDUSD teachers/staff). So join me. It’s not too late to get in on a jam packed, rip roarin’, poetry packed hour. Bring your cup. I’ll make you some coffee or tea. The bonus: It’s my Saturday to work, so I can help you find the best resources from the IMC collection while you’re here.

For more information:

April is National Poetry Month. Join Deborah B. Ford, District Resource Librarian, for a one hour workshop of online resources to jazz up your current poetry curriculum teaching with the latest in Web 2.0 tools. Learn how to find new digital resources. Discover lesson plans, books and teaching strategies for your library or classroom that will entice even your most reluctant readers. Find them today. Use them tomorrow.

Register for this fun one hour workshop at:

IMC Saturday Matinee Series: Bringing Poetry to Life with Digital Resources (5458SATMAT0008)
SRN: 545804162011

Class will be held from 10 AM to 11 AM at the Instructional Media Center, Room 3. Bring your coffee/tea cup!!

Contact Deborah B. Ford for questions. dford@sandi.net

Aunt Betty Skypes

Today Aunt Betty had a new experience. She Skyped with a school- in Michigan. Pansophia Academy is a school in Coldwater, Michigan. I met the librarian at a recent workshop. Her school planned a read-a-thon, so she asked Aunt Betty to share a story with her school.

Enter Skype (or Google Voice and Video Chat). Skype offers free audio and video chats, all for the downloading of the software. You can talk (and see) someone from anywhere in the world without leaving your house. How about Skyping with an author? Try a Virtual Visit. Check out teachingdegree.org for more ideas about how to use video chats in your classroom.

To do this with a guest speaker you will want to do a few things ahead of time.

1. Download Skype,
2. Invite your speaker to be a contact within Skype.
3. Check your Privacy settings in Skype.
4. Get an LCD projector to connect to your computer.
5. Get speakers- you may need to place a microphone near your speakers, depending on the size of your audience.
6. Do a practice test with your guest before there is an audience.
7. You may want to use a USB web cam so that if you want to show other things in the room, you won’t have to move the whole computer.

Because we used a USB web cam, Aunt Betty was able to show her office and a Google map of the distance between San Diego and Coldwater, Michigan. We sang a song together and Aunt Betty told the true story of the Itsy Bitsy Spider.

As my mama always says, “a good time was had by all.” Try it. You’ll like it.

All the Way to America

“Work hard, but remember to enjoy life, and never forget your family.” Dan Yaccarino's newest picture book tells the story of four generations of his own family's history. Using a family shovel as the connecting link, an Italian family begins a new life in New York City. Michael (formerly Michele Iaccarino of Sorrento, Italy) uses his father's shovel as he works in a bakery. The shovel passes to his son who becomes the owner of a market and uses the shovel to measure out beans, macaroni and olives.

The influence of family, hard work and enjoying life are sprinkled throughout the narrative. Each generation becomes more “American,” but never loses their heritage. From family recipes to work ethics, the Yaccarino family’s strength and character moves from generation to generation.

This wonderfully told story with classic Yaccarino illustrations, causes readers to wonder. Where did my family come from? What family treasure have we passed from father to son or generation to generation? What family recipes and traditions do we have that came from past generations? Like the author, when students tell their own stories, they will have to edit. Read an interview from Publisher’s Weekly for the inside scoop.

In just a few minutes, librarians and teachers can use this book as a starting point for immigration units or for teaching narrative writing. Go to Randomhouse.com for teachers to find ready to use teaching guides. This new-for-2011 may be just the book you need- even if you don’t have a family shovel.

At Least They Aren't Really Pink

Last week, while I was on tour, more than 1300 people in my district received layoff notices. Having already seen the budget cuts for each school, I knew that many of those notices- and those yet to come- would be library staff. It was starting to look like 32 elementary libraries will be closing and more than that will have reduction in hours. Thirteen teacher librarians would get those “pink slips.” While I traveled, I rehearsed this post in my head.

What can you say to someone who knows her job is important, yet because of money, she will not return? What can you say to someone who works hard to meet the needs of an entire school, yet because of money, she will have to figure out how to do the same thing with less time? What can you say to the people who have established collaborative relationships with teachers, yet they will be “bumped” because someone with more seniority was eliminated or reduced?

I made a list of all the things I would say to those people. Then on Friday night, as I was making my way home, my boss called me. It seems there was a surprise layoff notice waiting for me at home.

So there I was- now in the net of people who work hard at their job, yet no matter how much work needs to be done, no matter how hard we work, we could lose our jobs. What do I say now?

I say the same thing I would say before. We should prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Get your check ups. Pay off your credit cards. Meet with your union. File for a hearing. Put a little money aside. Start putting out feelers for Plan B. Plan for the end of your job as you know it.

But…do your job every day. Help the people who need you. It’s not the fault of the children that there are budget reductions. It’s not the fault of the teachers- or the parents.

So, we get up in the morning and we remember why we took this job in the first place. The library is the one place at school where every person can feel welcome. Every child can feel safe. We remember that the children are the reason we have a job. We put ourselves aside and do the best we can for as long as they will let us.

In the end, things will work out. It may not be what we planned. It may not be what we expected. It may turn out to be a big fuss about nothing. It may turn out that we get to go to a different job that we love even more. We plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Oh! And one more thing. Pink is my favorite color. At least pink slips aren’t really pink.

Red Light, Green Light: What's Your Signal?

Music Wand from Tree Blocks

Every classroom teacher has a signal for getting a class’s attention. The library is the largest classroom in the school, so it only makes sense to have a signal there as well. Training your students in the procedure for getting their attention takes some initial explanation, rehearsing and reinforcement, but the payoff can be huge. In literally seconds you can quiet a room with the wave of your hand- or maybe a wand.

Harry Wong teaches us that a procedure is how you want things done. So, you must first decide what your signal will be. Let’s say you choose to ring a bell. You will begin to teach the procedure by telling your students that whenever they hear the bell, they should stop, look and listen. You have something important to say.

Tell students that next they will rehearse the procedure. Ring the bell. Students should stop, look and listen. You will tell them how well (or not) they did. Usually they do well the first time. They need practice. So, send some students to the circulation desk and some to the tables. Give everyone a few seconds to talk to each other and ring your bell again. This time, count the seconds. If they do well, go about your regular schedule. Half way through the period, try it again.

Remember that this is a procedure. Not following procedure brings more rehearsal, not punishment. For example, if they don’t respond fast enough to the bell, they should try again five minutes later. They should not have to write “I will stop, look and listen at the bell.” That teaches them to hate writing (and maybe the library). I remember years ago, I had a really big bell. My kids learned to stop talking when I was walking to the drawer where I kept it. I never even had to ring it. They saw me walk to the drawer and the library became silent.

The third step is reinforcement. Once students have learned a procedure, from time to time, acknowledge those who do a good job. If you notice that one table was especially quick to stop at the signal, point that out. I did that last week at a staff training. When I gave prizes to that table, it was amazing how fast the others remembered the procedure. Point out the good and the rest will quickly follow.

What are some signals you can use?
• Give me five- raising your hand, children raise theirs too; sometimes kids count backward- 5,4,3,,, (eyes on speaker, quiet, be still, hands free, listen)
• Raising your hand
• Ringing a bell
• Flicking the lights
• Music
• MusicWand from Tree Blocks
• A wooden frog
• Clap your hands in a pattern- students clap it back
• Say, “if you can hear my voice, raise your hand” (use a very small voice)

If your school already has a signal, adopt it. All you will have to do is tell the students. Rehearse. Reinforce. You’ll be amazed at how much time you save after they learn the procedure. It’s never too late to start a new procedure. You’ll be really glad you did.

What signal do you use?