Day 4-Library Practicum

• How do you determine which books to use for Battle of the Books?

I usually choose at least one book from each genre and choose books they will probably like.  I also read a lot throughout the year and make up questions for the books as I read.

• Do you have book fairs for middle school students?

We have two Scholastic book fairs a year, one in fall and one in spring.  In fall we never sell enough to get a cash profit, only free books from the fair.  In spring there is no profit for the library.

• How do you decide which books to weed out of the collection?

I look at how many times they are checked out and if they are in bad shape.  There is also a book requirement of 10 books per student.  The weeded books are given to teachers if they want them and then the remaining are given to students.

Today was a bit slower since there were no longer any AR tests being taken, although that did not stop students from trying to take more AR tests after the final deadline.  All fines were supposed to be paid last Friday as well, but there were still several students who did not pay and were paying today.  Some students were upset about the fines they owed and the cost of lost books, but hopefully next year they will learn to be more responsible with the books and the time frame for returning and renewing the books.  I taught my second lesson today and it went well overall.  I brought in boxes of crayons and markers, pages from books, magazines, and newspapers for Blackout Poetry.  I also had printed pictures of book spines and cut them into strips for students to create spine poetry.  The lesson was both the best part of the day and the most difficult.  The best part was witnessing the students who thoroughly enjoyed the lesson and spent a lot of time being creative and silly with their poems.  The most difficult part was seeing the students who were circling the words they recognized and then attempting to give up on the assignments altogether.  It was at this point I realized they were struggling more than the others when it came to reading and that because they could not read or read well they just wanted the assignment to be done with and they didn't care how they did.  They gave up before they even started really.  I spent a lot of time helping these students and pointing out words to them to try and assist them, but it was still sad to me that they had given up so easily.