Staff Newsletter One

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Welcome!Welcome!Welcome!Welcome!

With our world steadily and quickly moving towards complete

digitization, students must be technology-proficient in their learning,

research, and time out of school. Otherwise, they will be unable to keep up

with the rigors of technology during college and within the working

professional world. The school librarian has the opportunity to guide he

child so that he or she is aware of the available tools and knows how to

properly use them in his or her studies. It is this careful teaching of

students about the effective use of technology that aids students in

improved academic performance.

When library programs are supported by a well-designed

curriculum, librarians are able to carefully plan how essential skills are

taught to students for maximization of learning opportunities. The

classroom teacher and librarian are both responsible for working together

to ensure that the importance of the school library is communicated both

in and out of the stacks so students are learning practical knowledge while

practicing learning skills for life.

Just launched!! The new Dickens Elementary School Library Media Center

web site. Check it out at www.MrsBentheim.com.

The Shelf

Back-to-School Issue 2009

Vol. 1 Issue 1

Bits and Bytes from the Dickens Library Media Center

D.L. “Dusty” Dickens Elementary School

Library Media Center

5550 Milan Peak St.

North Las Vegas, NV 89081

702.799.3878 – phone

702.799.3871 – fax

www.MrsBentheim.com

What a school thinks about its

library is a measure

of what it feels about

education.

~ Harold Howe

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Collaboration “Effective collaboration with teachers helps to create a vibrant and engaged

community of learners, strengthens the whole school program as well as the

library media program, and develops support for the school library media

program throughout the whole school” (Information Power, 1998, AASL, p. 51).

When you have an activity or upcoming lesson or unit that you would like our

involvement with, please contact us a week in advance so we can work with

you to put together the best resources for students.

Hours of Operation We are open extended hours from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. The library program

is an extension of the classroom so information skills are taught and learned

within the context of the classroom curriculum. Classes are systematically

scheduled in the library media center to provide teacher release or preparation

time. Students and teachers are able, however, to come to the center

throughout the day to use information sources, to read for pleasure, and to

meet and work with other students and teachers with previous

arrangements. Cooperative planning by the teacher and library media specialist

integrates information skills and materials into the classroom curriculum and

results in the development of assignments that encourage open inquiry.

Circulation Policy The Dickens LMC has developed a circulation policy in order to ensure fair access

to information for all parents, students, and faculty patrons.

Kindergarten* 1 book

First Grade 1 -2 books

Second Grade 2-3 books

Third Grade 3-4 books

Fourth Grade 4-5 books

Fifth Grade 5 books

*With written parental permission • All materials must be returned prior to future check-outs.

• Materials must be present for renewal.

• A parent may check out materials under his or her child’s name.

Library Passes Unless a student is using the LMC with his or her teacher, the student must have

a library pass (student ID card). Students will sign in and out for all media center

visits unless they are part of a scheduled class. Students must be in the media

center (in groups of 2-3 students per teacher) with an instructional purpose

(including recreational reading). The media center is not a place for misbehaving

students.

Rotating Book Baskets The SLMS will provide classroom teachers with rotating selections of quality AR

materials for student use in the classroom. Materials are returned during

regularly scheduled library time. If classroom teachers need specially themed

materials, these can be provided with some advance notice by using the

appropriate form on the library media center web site. As long as there is teacher

support for keeping track of the books each day (count them before kids dismiss--

tie it to math), and teachers are reminding students how to care for the books as

taught, this will work!

At the Dickens LMC, we strive to fulfill our mission.

Specifically, we:

• Manage the LMC website, blog, and collaborative wiki, which

are accessible from http://www.mrsbentheim.com.

• Operate extended hours.

• Encourage student presence by sponsoring clubs and other

student activities, which enables access to LMC holdings.

• Further develop and maintain an extensive and current

collection totaling approximately 12,000 volumes of the most

relevant electronic and traditional fiction, non-fiction,

professional, and reference materials that effectively

represent a variety of reading interests and abilities.

• Reward students and classroom teachers for timely book

returns.

• Collaborate with classroom teachers so that information

literacy and content area skills are not taught out of context.

• Run an aggressive multimedia public service campaign to

encourage effective use of the school library media center.

• Support each and every reader by promoting a comfortable

space with approachable staff.

• Position ourselves as the core of our school—our goal is for

every teacher to need us and every student to want us.

I have always imagined that

Paradise will be a kind of

library.

~ Jorge Luis Borges

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How to Get the Most Out of Your School Library Media Specialist

To help get things off on a positive spin, here are a few things I’d like you to know

about the library, our program and me that can help us both form a great

partnership.

1. The librarian doesn’t own the library. You and your students do. You can

recommend materials and have a voice in library policy making. Volunteer to become

a member of our school’s library advisory committee.

2. The library should be considered an “intellectual gymnasium.” It’s not a student

lounge, study hall or baby-sitting service. The students in the library, including the

ones you send, should have a reason for being there. Whether for academic purposes

or personal use, students should be in the library because they need the library’s

resources, not just because they need to be somewhere.

3. The best resource in the library is the librarian. I can help you plan a project, solve a

technology problem, find professional research, give insight into an ethical problem,

or answer a reference question. And if I can’t do it, I will help you find someone who

can. I can help find interlibrary loan materials you need that are not in the school

library itself. Helping others gives me a huge sense of satisfaction so please never

hesitate to ask me.

4. Planning is a good thing. Advanced planning with me will greatly increase your and

your students’ chances for success with projects that require information resources. A

well-planned research unit or technology project will greatly decrease frustrations for

everyone involved. With my experience, I can let you know what strategies work and

don’t work.

5. Recognize that the library provides access to both print and electronic information.

I can determine which one best suits your and your students’ needs. Students do not

always realize that print resources are the best for many purposes. It breaks my heart

to watch a student spend a frustrating hour trying to find the answer to a question on

the Internet that could have been answered with a print resource in minutes.

6. The librarian can be helpful in evaluating the information found on the Internet.

One of the greatest challenges of using the Internet is determining whether the facts

and opinions found there are credible. I have the training and tools to do just that.

And it is my mission to teach students effective evaluation skills as well.

7. The librarian can help create assessments for your students’ projects. The findings

of research projects presented in electronic form, conclusions drawn from primary

resources, and research that calls for higher-level thinking to be demonstrated all call

for good authentic assessment tools rather than a simple gut-reaction comments or

an objective test. I can help you find examples of these sorts of tools as well as help

you create and administer them yourself. Let’s work together to make your students’

learning experiences as meaningful as possible.

8. The librarian can be your technology support center. I’m no technical guru, but I

can help you and your students with technology applications. Need to use a scanner

or digital camera? I can show you how. Need to create a multimedia presentation?

Let me give you a quick lesson. Looking for effective ways to search the web? Ask me.

I’m not a technician, but I can sometimes help locate that kind of help for you as well.

9. The library can help your students’ performance on standardized reading tests.

Research has proven that children become more adept at reading by extensively

practicing reading at or just below grade level. The library contains a wide range of

material in print format that students can use to improve reading skills. And I can help

match just the right book or magazine with just the right reader. If you need a book

talk for your class or help with a student struggling to find something of interest, just

say so.

10. The librarian will be your partner when trying new things. It’s been said that some

teachers during their career teach one year, thirty times. Can you imagine how long

those thirty years must have seemed? If you need somebody to share the glory or the

shame of a new unit, activity, or methodology, I’m the one. I hope your next thirty

years will be exciting and gratifying. You’ll be influencing the lives of hundreds, if not

thousands of kids in incredibly positive ways. I am here to help you and your students

do things you can’t do alone.

Meet the Library Media Specialist!

My name is Christina Bentheim and I’m looking forward to a

wonderful year with you. This is my 13th year working with students in

the classroom, fifth year in CCSD, and my first year at this school. I suspect

it’s going to be the best yet!

My husband (who is also a teacher at a local school) and I have

lived in Las Vegas for almost five years and are enjoying the opportunities

afforded to us here. Before we came to the desert, we lived in southern

California—Orange County to be exact—just two miles from Disneyland.

We don’t have any children yet, but we do have two little dogs, Mickey

and Daisy. When I am not preparing for our class, I enjoy reading, writing,

photography, gardening, playing with technology, traveling, and drinking

caramel frappuccinos from Starbucks.

I have a lot of wonderful things planned for this year—and

can’t wait to get started.

Happy reading!

Christina A. Bentheim, M.Ed.

School Library Media Specialist

Dickens Elementary School

You don’t have to burn books

to destroy a culture. Just get

people to stop reading them.

~ Ray Bradbury

Where can I learn more about the Dickens LMC?

Here are the steps we recommend you take to keep current with our events, activities, learning experiences

1. Visit our website at www.MrsBentheim.com and explore each section. (The Links and Teachers sections specifically have some great

stuff for you!)

2. Become a fan of the Dickens Elementary School Library Media Center on Facebook by searching for our name (Dickens Elementary

School Library Media Center) at www.facebook.co

3. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com. Our Twitter handle is DickensLMC.

4. Subscribe to our blog by visiting http://dickenslmc.blogspot.com

home page at www.MrsBentheim.com. Read previ

5. Join our Delicious network for social bookmarks by clicking on the link a

home page at www.MrsBentheim.com or by searching for the DickensLMC at

6. Take about 15 minutes to go through the Dicken

www.MrsBentheim.com and clicking on the Teach

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114

Where can I learn more about the Dickens LMC?

Here are the steps we recommend you take to keep current with our events, activities, learning experiences

and explore each section. (The Links and Teachers sections specifically have some great

School Library Media Center on Facebook by searching for our name (Dickens Elementary

om.

. Our Twitter handle is DickensLMC.

http://dickenslmc.blogspot.com or simply enter your email address into the appropriate box on our

ious postings and review the documents provided within

5. Join our Delicious network for social bookmarks by clicking on the link at the right-hand side of our

or by searching for the DickensLMC at www.delicious.com.

ns LMC Teacher Orientation by visiting

hers section.

Insert Headline Here

Find us on any of these social media

websites. Add us to your contacts list so

that you can stay updated daily on the

goings-on within the Dickens LMC!

Twitter: DickensLMC

Flickr: DickensLMC

YouTube: Dickens LMC

Delicious: Dickens LMC

Blogger: DickensLMC

Facebook: Dickens Elementary

School Library Media

Center

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Where can I learn more about the Dickens LMC?

Here are the steps we recommend you take to keep current with our events, activities, learning experiences, and other goings-on:

and explore each section. (The Links and Teachers sections specifically have some great

School Library Media Center on Facebook by searching for our name (Dickens Elementary

or simply enter your email address into the appropriate box on our

n the posts.

Vol. 1 Issue 1

Find us on any of these social media

websites. Add us to your contacts list so

that you can stay updated daily on the

on within the Dickens LMC!

DickensLMC

DickensLMC

Dickens LMC

Dickens LMC

DickensLMC

Dickens Elementary

School Library Media

Center

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