I saw this video posted by Julie Greller on A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet a few weeks back (see her post here) and just had to share. It's a little over the top, but I have to admit that there are days when I feel at least a little bit like this, although I would NEVER say what I am thinking out loud like she does.
Can you imagine what would happen if an elementary school library media specialist went on a rant like this? Oh my! Yeah, you'd get to go on a break alright...a permanent break. This blog post did get me thinking, however. If this is really bothering me so much, what can I do to fix the problem? Then I came across a post from Kelly Butcher on The Lemme Library (now called The Book Butcher) blog about red light and green light shelves. You can read the post here.
It is such a simple idea, but it's brilliant! So this week I am totally going to try it out and see if it works. I made a PowerPoint to review check out procedures and book care and included red light and green light shelves in it. I can't wait to try it out. Then maybe I can watch the video below that I found on the Effective Teaching Articles blog and feel "The Joy of Books" again. =)
I LOVE this "rant" video! I think I have had this rant, minus the word damn. : ) I am going to share it on my blog! I am glad the green light-red light is working for you! The newness wears off after a while and I've had to revisit it, but now I see kids straightening shelves for me.
ReplyDeleteI had a sub for my secretary Friday (I hate subs, I'd rather fly solo)... anyway, I showed him how to shelve the biographies. I talked to him like I would talk to a 4 year old. When I was done, he said, "I don't think I can do this." So I handed him a feather duster. Wowza.
I know what you mean about getting subs. It's kind of like winning the lottery if you get one with experience in the MC. I have the same situation with some parent volunteers. And at least your sub told you that he didn't think he could do it rather than just going ahead and making a big mess. I had to find another place for one of my parent volunteer to help out this year because she just couldn't handle shelving. Bless her heart! I would find books in the most random of places. It was driving my OCD up the wall. Maybe I will have to teach red light/ green light shelves to my volunteers, too. LOL
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