• 2021/2022 Impact Report

Librarian

  • Librarian hosted and facilitated two Scholastic Book Fairs, one in the fall and one in the spring, which promote the love of reading, build a sense of community and give families the opportunity to build their home library.
  • Library Anime Club meets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and is made up of sixth through eighth graders; this time allows students the opportunity to engage with their peers who share similar interests.
  • Ed White Middle School Library has Lunch Groups at each of the four lunches where students who may benefit from a quieter space, can play games, craft, relax, catch up on schoolwork and eat lunch with their peers.
  • Library Card & Board Game Club meets every Wednesday before school to learn new games, play old favorites and spend time with friends before school; this time allows students to build school community, foster relationships and even practice critical thinking and logic.
  • Ed White Library Reader of the Month awards (plus a prize) were given to the top readers of every grade level for digital and physical books, in order to encourage and increase student engagement in reading.
Students reaching for book on shelf
 
 
9,616
print books in collection
 
20,924
ebooks books in collection
 
13,425
print books checked out
 
4,915
ebooks books checked out
 
Students seated in groups at tables listening to presentation being given by adult

Teacher

  • Librarian and 6th grade DATA Science teacher taught a research lesson using NEISD digital databases such as Gale in Context, and non-fiction resources to gather information about different aspects of colonizing another planet; students would use this information later to create a presentation and 3-D model.
  • Librarian and 6th grade DATA ELAR teacher co-taught an introduction on Dystopian novels and how they compare to current events; students in groups rotated stations on different aspects of Dystopian genre and novels.
  • Librarian facilitated a lesson for Reading Acceleration students to reinforce fundamental and foundational reading skills; using Scholastic Action magazine to locate informational text, interpret the data and use it to answer open ended questions.
  • Librarian taught an engaging lesson, digital scavenger hunt in partner groups, to every ELAR class on how to use SORA and its features to effectively find “good” books.
  • Librarian assisted 6th grade ELAR teacher on a Biography, Memoir and Autobiography analysis lesson; Students worked in groups in rotating stations with a different focus for each station.
 

Students seated in groups at tables listening to presentation being given by adult

Lesson Spotlight

Often, stories of a dystopian future are actually commenting or warning about an issue in the present. My co-teacher and I wanted to create a lesson and activity where students would learn about the genre of dystopian novels and how authors and readers can connect dystopian novels with real world issues. Using TEKS 6.7.D and 6.8.A as our foundation, we created student centered stations where students were tasked with specific explorations dealing with dystopian novels. Students inferenced using copies of library novels, made connections between news headlines and book plots, learned about what qualifies a novel as Dystopian, the history of some famous Dystopian novels and analyzed what were the various author’s purposes. Each student used Chromebooks to complete a EdPuzzle segment, watched Book trailers, used Sora and various District digital resources for research.

 

Collaborator

  • Librarian collaborated with Michelle Lewis, Krueger Librarian, on relevant and engaging cultural lessons; one of which was our Dia De Los Muertos interactive slideshow and research project, used to create their own ofrenda.
  • Librarian collaborated with Barbara Zuniga, Science IC to create curriculum based Plate Tectonics Escape Rooms for 6th grade science review; students worked in partners and rotated stations to solve puzzles and riddles about tested information.
  • Librarian collaborated with the 6th grade ELAR team to create a digital Escape Room for the short story “Eleven” to help students practice recognizing text features.
  • Librarian collaborated with the 8th grade DATA ELAR teacher on best practices for choice selections using Figure 19A as the basis for the lesson; students worked on choosing books that were challenging and would help their fluency and comprehension.
  • Librarian regularly met with Amir Burton, ITS, to collaborate on ways to bring depth and rigor to student library technology use; one of which is a future Technology Club program using drones, coding, and stop animation to move students from consumers to producers in technology education.

Collaboration Spotlight

I am fortunate enough to work closely with our Science Instructional Coach and the teachers on her team. Sixth graders were finishing up a unit on structural layers of the earth, (TEKS 6.10 A and B) and the teachers wanted a fun and creative way to review the information and assess what needed to be retaught before the unit test. The Science IC and I created an Escape Room using Breakout EDU kit materials in the library. We double-checked each station's materials, made sure the questions were logical and just the right level of challenging. We created stations with information that would be tested and paired them with puzzles that students needed to figure out. We worked on logistics together to make sure the lesson would take the whole class period and keep students engaged. After students visited each station, solved the puzzle, and they filled out their sheet, they input their answers into a Google form.

 

students in library in standing in pairs at bookshelves

Campus Leader

  • Librarian (with committee) presented campus Foundations/SEL training during Teacher Inservice Days to promote a culture of consistency, build up our school structure, and revisit vital SEL practices.
  • Librarian was part of the award-winning group for school “garden to table” NEEF grant, which will give our students in the Garden and Cooking club, the hands-on learning opportunity to grow their own food, and the science behind it.
  • Ed White Library has a robust and engaging Twitter handle( @White MS Library) which highlights and promotes reading, library programming and school culture and events through weekly tweets and monthly themes.
  • Librarian is an active member of Foundations, Testing and Campus Improvement committees, Campus Leadership team, National Junior Honor Society and “Garden and Cooking” club sponsor.
  • Librarian attended Secondary SEL, District Librarian, STAAR, TELPAS, and Cybersecurity training.
 
Group of adults and students holding oversized check and smiling
group of students and adults on stage