Testing began in earnest, and, as usual, the library slowed in activity as teachers turned inward. March was a month of "dabbling." We seemed to get a toehold in many different areas which was a good thing in that there are so many new and exciting endeavors to undertake. At times, however, it can feel like we are spinning our wheels. We are in the midst of "refresh," which is a three year cycle of renewing technology in Greenville County Schools. Our teachers, administrators, and some staff, will be getting new laptops and/or desktops. In with the new, and out with the old! The amount of work behind the scenes to make this happen is incredible. Kudos to our academic support assistant, Suzette Cornish, who is logistitian extraordinnaire. She has been the brain behind all our assets, spreadsheets, transfers, and even keeping the Dell Corp. crew in coffee! Suzette has spent hours making outstanding progress on our school website accessibility rating. The industry benchmark score for education is 71.8 and ours is 94.5! An exciting new item in the RCMS Makerspace is the Merge Cube, which launches students into the world of augmented reality, adding the ability for them to become creators of content, not just consumers. I also had the wonderful experience of spending three days at the SCASL (South Carolina Association of School Librarians) conference in downtown Greenville. This is always a highlight, and it did not fail as Donalynn Miller (The Book Whisperer, Reading in the Wild) was there, and her work is a great inspiration to me.
library mission and goals
At Ralph Chandler Middle School Library, our goal is to ensure that learners leave here as competent, critical, and ethical users and producers of ideas and information. It is our mission to prepare lifelong learners; information literate young people able to determine their information needs, recognize and utilize relevant and credible resources, all while evolving into impassioned readers. We seek to underscore the profile of a South Carolina graduate by encouraging students to be creative, innovative, collaborative, self-directed critical thinkers, who become adept at problem solving and who attain a global perspective.
circulation statistics
individual and class visits
03/02 - 7th Graders - Bob Jones University Gallery - Museum on the Move (Victorian Period/Industrial Revolution)
collaboration
03/12 - Penninger/Stills - Japanese Feudalism/3D Printing/Kumihimo
events/activities/programs
03/01 - 6th Grade Lunchtime Book Club - The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker
03/02 - Museum on the Move - Exploration of Victorian Times/Industrial Revolution - Comparison of Upper and Lower Classes - Art Activity from BJU Gallery Personnel
03/06 - Bagels and Books - Salt to the Sea, The Rains, The War I Finally Won
professional development
03/08 - Mrs. Walton - L.E.A.D. Leadership Session in Columbia, SC, under the guidance of Regina Thurmond of the SC State Department of Education.
03/14/18, 03/15/18, 03/16/18 - Mrs. Walton - South Carolina Association of School Librarians Annual Conference - Greenville, SC (Highlights included Using AASL Best Websites in Your Professional Development and Instruction, Let's Talk about Books with Colby Sharp, ICE ICE Baby - Chillin' With the New Standards, Access to Books, Data-Driven Decision Making, Books for a Better World with Donalynn Miller, Librarian as Tech Leader, and more!)
03/26/18 - Mrs. Walton - Common Sense Education Digital Citizenship Webinar
03/26/18 - Mrs. Walton - Making Digital Citzenship Interactive with Nearpod Webinar
03/27/18 - Mrs. Walton - L.E.A.D. Observation at Rudolph Gordon Elementary School with Media Specialist Pam Maggio - Required by Regina Thurmond.
digital citizenship
makerspace
miscellaneous
Chromebook Repair/Maintenance/Tracking/Statistics/Reports
Fixed Assets
TAC (Technical Assistance Coordinator)
RCMS School Homepage
RCMS Facebook
RCMS Twitter
Digital Citizenship
Faculty Meeting 03/21 - State of the Math Department, State of the Social Studies Department
Faculty Meeting 03/28 - State of the ELA Department
summary page
Circulation Total 1094 (304 of which were equipment/Chromebook checkouts)
OverDrive Checkouts ?? (March) - always in the top ten of all middle schools in Greenville County
26/132 Class Periods Visited (testing influenced) = 19.7% of open class spaces (March)
Collaborated with 8 Classes and 2 Teachers = 5%
Highlights were:
We have added 45 more title to our Gale Virtual Reference Library collection. These books offer simultaneous access and are of later publication dates.
America Enters The Industrial Revolution
EBK: DESIGN BLD EXPRMNT: FRNSCSCI EXPRMNTS IN OWN CRIME LAB
EBK: END OF LIFE AS WE KNOW IT: DRYING UP: RUNNING OUT WATER
EBK: END OF LIFE AS WE KNOW IT: OUT OF GAS: USING FSSL FUELS
EBK: FIELD & STREAMS GDE TO OUTDOORS: DISASTER SURVIVL GUIDE
EBK: FLOWCHART SMART: THE SCIENCE OF LIGHT
EBK: HIST OF SCI: FORENSIC SCIENCE: IN PURSUIT OF JUSTICE
EBK: JR GEOLOGIST: DISCOVERINGROCKS MINERALS & GEMS 6V
EBK: LETS EXPLORE SCIENCE: ROCK CYCLE
EBK: LETS FIND OUT ANIMALS 6V
EBK: LETS FIND OUT ANIMALS: HOW DO ANIMALS HUNT AND FEED
EBK: NATURES FURY: TSUNAMI
EBK: REV DISC SCI PNRS: THE LAWS OF GENETICS & GREGOR MENDEL
EBK: SCIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY: SCI & SUSTNBL AGRICULTURE
EBK: SCIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY: SCI & SUSTNBL WLDLIFE HBTTS
EBK: SCIENCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY: SCI OF BIOMASS ENERGY
EBK: SCIENCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY: SCI OF HYDRO & WAVE ENERGY
EBK: SCIENCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY: SCI OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
EBK: SCIENCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY: SCI OF SOLAR ENERGY
EBK: SCIENCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY: SCI OF WIND ENERGY
EBK: SPECTACULAR SPACE SCI: EXPLORING THE SUN
EBK: STATE GUIDES: STATE GUIDES TO BIRDS
EBK: STATE GUIDES: STATE GUIDES TO FLOWERS
EBK: STATE GUIDES: STATE GUIDES TO TREES
EBK: STORY OF EXPLORATION: EXPLORING DESERTS
EBK: THE GALAXY GUIDES: COULDWE SURVIVE ON OTHER PLANETS
EBK: THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY: TECH OF INDSTRIAL REVOLUTION
EBK: THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY: TECH OF MDVL ERLY MOD WORLDS
EBK: THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY: TECH OF MODERN WORLD
EBK: THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC
EBK: THE STUDY OF SCIENCE: GEOGRAPHY
EBK: THE STUDY OF SCIENCE: GEOLOGY
EBK: UXL CIVICS 3v & TEACHERS GUIDE
Gray Wolves
Introduction to Earth Science: Investigating Minerals, Rocks, and Fossils
Light
Rocks and Minerals (EB 2013)
Secrets of Habitats
The Dog Encyclopedia
The Solar System Bundle
The Solar System: The Nature of Planets, Dwarf Planets, and Space Objects
The Solar System: The Outer Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
Understanding the Paranormal: Investigating Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and Other Cryptids
What Are Rivers, Lakes, and Oceans?
What Is the Future of Fossil Fuels?
What Is the Water Cycle?
We have recently added 11 Follett Lightbox titles that are simultaneous and interactive eBooks for class instruction with embedded Google maps, videos, websites, documents, and more.
YASUDA AMERICAN RE(LGHTBX BNDL(USH) LIGHTBOX
PERRITANO COLONIZATIO(LGHTBX BNDL(USH) LIGHTBOX
EARLY MODERN WOR(LGHTBX BNDL) LIGHTBOX
INDUSTRIALIZATIO(LGHTBX BNDL) LIGHTBOX
HAMILTON LIGHT (LGHTBX BNDL) LIGHTBOX
MIDDLE AGES 600 (LGHTBX BNDL) LIGHTBOX
WHELAN ROMEO AND JULIET(LGHTBX BNDL) LIGHTBOX
PARKER SOUTH CAROLINA T(LGHTBX BNDL) LIGHTBOX
GAGNE VIETNAM WAR(LGHTBX BNDL(USH) LIGHTBOX
GITLIN WORLD WAR I(LGHTBX BNDL(USH) LIGHTBOX
GITLIN WORLD WAR II(LGHTBX BNDL(USH) LIGHTBOX
6th Grade Book Club - Emphasizes SCCCRS standard - Read independently and comprehend a variety of texts for the purposes of reading for enjoyment, acquiring new learning, and building stamina; reflect on and respond to increasingly complex text over time. Emphasizes AASL standard: Read, view, and listen for pleasure and personal growth; Read widely and fluently to make connections with self, the world, and previous reading; Respond to literature and creative expressions of ideas in various formats and genres; Show an appreciation for literature by electing to read for pleasure and expressing an interest in various literary genres.
Approximately 15 hours of PD with Common Sense Media and also the SCASL Conference. Also, another 10 hours with L.E.A.D. sessions in Columbia, SC, with Regina Thurmond of the SC State Department of Education, as well as observation of Pam Maggio at Rudolph Gordon Elementary School.
Coming Up: Refresh; Fixed Assets; Library Inventory; Quest Research Project for 7th Grade Studies; GMO Opposing Viewpoints Research for 7th Grade Science; PD for Digital Citizenship Educator Certification, Integration of classroom content using Makerspace materials (much easier now that we FINALLY have a generic email account for the library); National Poetry Month with Blackout Poetry; Weeding; Arranging library space to accommodate Makerspace items; Multitude of new LibGuide PD: Build a LibGuide/Adding CSS/Customize LibGuide Templates/LibChat/LibGuide Look and Feel/Accessibility with LibGuides/Storage and Reusable Content with LibGuides/Widgets with LibGuides; Individual meetings with boys at risk - for readers' advisory; Destiny Discover extension for Chrome (directs students to print and electronic RCMS library resources when conducting a Google search).
Credits:
Candace Walton and Suzette Cornish