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how we got more teachers to come to our event with online invitations

9/28/2018

I tried the online invitations at Paperless Post for free in exchange for a review. Here it is...

online invitation from paperlesspost.com

An online invitation for our first luncheon of the year

There is just something about having a potluck luncheon at school. It brings people together. It creates community. It causes panic in those who forget about it.

Have you ever done this? You write down the date in your planner or put it on your digital calendar. And then you forget all about it until the day of the luncheon.
Or you plan the event. You put it on the school’s master calendar. You send out emails 2 weeks before, 1 week before, and 3 days before. You create a Google doc so that you don’t end up with 16 bottles of soda and nothing to eat. And then, no one responds. No one signs up. Or people don’t remember their dish, so they don’t show up because they don’t want to come empty-handed.

This is how our potluck luncheons have gone for the last few years. But this time, I had the opportunity to make it a little more memorable. This time, instead of plain old emails that get buried and unopened, I sent attractive and memorable invitations thanks to Paperless Post.

What is Paperless Post

Paperlesspost.com is a company that creates an array of appealing digital invitations and flyers. They offer a wide selection for various types of events and themes, from seasonal themes that to religious celebrations to professional get-togethers. Since our luncheon had a football theme, I easily found a great invitation to send. Adding text was easy. I changed the font, size, and color. I could add lines and move it around as needed. The whole process was very easy and user-friendly.

Digital Add-Ons

After I had the invitation the way I wanted, I chose a digital envelope and a liner. These are optional and there is a charge for each. Obviously not necessary, and a recipient probably would not know if you didn’t spring for the liner, but it’s a great detail that adds to the overall effect. I also chose a denim background on which to open the invitation. I never would have thought of this, but I loved the effect.

The most difficult part was uploading an email list, but I think it was user error and not the fault of Paperless Post. I had over 50 staff to email. How to format the .csv file from contacts is spelled out, and now my address book is ready for next time.

Screen shot from guest list on paperlesspost.com

The guest list allows guests to see who else is attending.

The Beautiful Dashboard

And then we get to the dashboard. The dashboard! The dashboard is so easy to use. I could tell at a glance who was coming, who was declining, and who hadn’t even opened the message yet! (walk down the hall and talk to these people. Seriously. They probably have 200 or more unread sitting in their inboxes anyway, so don’t take it personally.) And 2 days before the event, I sent a reminder invite with one click.

The dashboard on Paperless Post is extremely easy to use.

The Verdict

We had the biggest turnout at our Football luncheon since I joined the school! Instead of running out of food before the last grade level ate, I loaded up two carts of leftover food for people to pick up after school. I think the digital invitations were attractive. The reminders were timely. Being able to see who else was coming was motivating. And the whole event was a success. Thank you, Paperless Post. You are now bookmarked to use for future events, at school and outside of school.

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Secrets for the best book fair ever

8/1/2018

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The book fair is a popular fundraiser for the library media center. Here are some book fair ideas to make your next one a smooth one.

Are you a school library media specialist? Are you carrying a flyer on a clipboard, extra change in your pocket, and caffeine in your oversized mug? Are you wearing comfortable shoes, like seriously, the most comfortable ones you own?

Do you have a week’s worth of slow cooker meals in your freezer?

If you answered yes to all of the questions above, it must be book fair week!

A veteran school library media specialist shares her top book fair ideas to make your next school fundraiser as easy as possible.

You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Follow these time-saving and sanity-saving ideas.

The book fair is my favorite library fundraiser, right behind the readathon. The students get excited, the teachers get excited. And, of course, we get books! It is a great school fundraiser when done well. When done poorly, however, it can be a nightmare. I have chaired over 20 book fairs, so when I say I know how to run a book fair, I know how to run a book fair. Make no mistake, I’m tired by the end of the week, but I’m also happier and much less stressed now than I used to be because I have streamlined the process so much. I have always used Scholastic Book Fairs, but I think many of these tips will apply to any on-site book fair.

Helpful book fair ideas

Take pictures of the cases to know what sells.

Before the fair:

Start preparing as early as you can. Scholastic has a timeline on their website for 4-6 weeks. You may not need 6 weeks, but doing a little bit at a time avoids the headaches of scrambling at the last minute.
When the book fair rep calls and wants to sit down for a few minutes to chat about your upcoming fair, meet with him or her! Between Bradley back in Texas and Lorie in North Carolina, I have gotten some great display ideas and time-saving tips.
Get more rolls of change than you think you will need! Until recently, I always ran short by Thursday and depended on that one child who has been saving change since his first birthday to bring in his life savings in exchange for some books. Elementary-aged students do this more often than older students.
Decorations? I don’t have the time to do what Scholastic shows in their book fair planner guide. If I had the money for all of those supplies, I wouldn’t be holding a book fair. That said, I do use some credit to buy themed decorations from Scholastic. Make it festive. Hang things from the ceiling. Hold a “guess how many” contest. Better yet, ask students to help.
Consider traffic flow. If you don’t have ropes, use cones, chairs, crepe paper, tape on the floor, whatever you have, but figure out a way so that the line does not snake through the actual fair and block the merchandise.
Take pictures of the displays and cases before the fair starts. Refer to these when you find a hole where you sold the last copy of something by accident.

True story.

Volunteers:

Get help! Not the medical kind, although if you don’t follow this #1 rule, you may need it by the time you’re done. I mean, get other people to help you! PTA/PTO, other staff in the building, responsible students, whoever you can. I have offered free books (purchased with Scholastic Dollars) for teachers who help. Teachers will do almost anything for free books.
When recruiting volunteers, use an electronic signup. I have used Sign-Up Genius in the past, but Scholastic now has one available. Include options for parents to do at home or on their own time, like count flyers out for classes or put up signs. Signs can be put up around the school over, say, a three-day window, so advertise for “a parent to put up signs between Monday and Wednesday of next week.”
Get help for the set-up and take down. Setting up the display takes the most time. I try to schedule it all during school hours because I have a family life and guard it carefully. This is for the school, so I do it during my work hours.
You know how littles will bring $5 but choose $50 worth of books and toys? Ask for parents to be personal shoppers during the PreK, K, and 1st grade classes. It is hard to help the littles make good choices when five bring money at the same time but there are only two adults in the library. Personal shoppers are gold!

Download the order tracker, receipts, shelf-talkers, and nametags.

During the fair:

Stay on top of your stock and reorder. I used to live about 3 miles from a warehouse, so UPS delivered reorders the next day. Now they take a couple of days. Therefore, I try to keep the last of an item in stock for show and ask students to order. Scholastic is good about providing financial forms and bookmarks and such, but I created my own order tracker. You can download a copy of it here, along with special order receipts, out-of-stock shelf talkers, and volunteer nametags. I made them in color because when 8 students stand in line and need to get back to class 5 minutes ago, something colorful is easier for me to find in a hurry. It is a PDF, though, so you can print in black and white.
I also made “out of stock” shelf-talkers, included with the order tracker. Very handy.
Keep these things at the registers: rubber bands (to roll up posters), extra pens, zip baggies for change. Even middle schoolers don’t always have a place for loose change.

After the fair:

Complete the financial forms as soon as possible, within 2-3 days. The sooner you pay the book fair company, the sooner you can spend your profit, and the sooner you complete the whole fair.

So you drank the caffeine, made all the change, and ate all of the freezer meals. Hopefully, you still have your sanity. Go home, grab an adult beverage, and put your feet up. You’ve earned it. Then plan the next one.

Ain't no tired like book fair tired.

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35 recommended Books about racism for middle school

7/12/2018

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(This post contains affiliate links)

I spent a lot of time this year looking critically at our collection. Analyzing. Scrutinizing. I have been in this library for 2 years now, and I have big plans.

I want a library collection reflecting the diversity of students in my school. Like most school librarians, I want students to read about kids like themselves, and about kids like their classmates, and to get so lost in a compelling story that they can’t stop reading. So we need books with diverse characters with diverse experiences, written by diverse authors, and we need a lot of them.

But the truth is, I don’t have that library yet.

The truth is, too many of my students don’t see themselves or their experiences reflected in the collection, so they don’t want to read it.

The truth is, too many of our books are only about white kids. Or if they have African American or Asian American or Hispanic characters, they are historical fiction. Or supporting characters. They don’t address modern-day problems or struggles or bias. Few of them address social justice.

The truth is, students deserve better.

Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.
― Rudine Sims Bishop

Finding books with diverse characters is easier now than it has ever been. My tiny book budget really does not allow for mistakes, so every purchase has to count. I select books as carefully as I can. Not only do I want books with diverse characters, I want books that explain what racism looks like in the everyday life of my students of color so white students can understand. Historical context will always be important, but unless the injustices of today are explicitly pointed out to the white majority, many students will grow up thinking the Civil Rights Movement fixed everything. And the truth is, it didn’t.

The books on this list are the results of hours of searching on the computer, crowdsourcing from my Instagram community, combing Amazon.com, and reading, reading, reading. They are generally agreed to be appropriate for middle school, defined as grades 6-8. As any middle school educator will tell you, however, brand new 6th graders and graduating 8th graders are miles apart in maturity. Therefore, the list consists of two parts, titles for ages 11-14, and titles for ages 14 and up, but you know your students better than I do. Some books are historical, and some are set in modern times.

Books about racism for children ages 11-14

Books I have read and recommend:

1. Wishtree by Katherine Applegate--The Wishtree red oak has 216 rings and lives near the sidewalk between the houses of Samar and Stephen. Someone defiles the sanctity of the neighborhood icon when he carves the word “LEAVE” into the trunk, a message for Samar’s Muslim family. The Wishtree’s community feels the weight of this attack throughout and must work through what it means. (Longer review on Instagram)

2. Breakout by Kate Messner--Elidee and her mom move to a small town in New York to be near her brother Troy, an inmate in the prison there. She is one of only two African American students at the middle school, where she is on the track team with Nora and Lizzie. Two prisoners break out, and the whole town goes on lockdown. Through the ordeal, Nora and Lizzie notice how members of the community treat Elidee differently from them. They also wonder why most of the inmates are black. Once they start to question things, they understand that Elidee faces things they have never had to. (Longer review on Instagram)

3. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacquelin Woodson--Woodson writes her memoir in verse.. After Woodson’s mother left her father, the children went to live with on their grandparents’ farm in South Carolina. Woodson describes living in South Carolina, navigating the landscape of the Civil Rights movement in the land of Jim Crow, from a child’s perspective.

4. The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis--Ten year old Kenny and his family are headed on a trip! They drive from their home in Flint, Michigan, to Birmingham, Alabama to visit Grandma. And they are in Birmingham on Sunday, September 15, when white supremacists bomb Grandma’s church and 4 little girls are killed.

5. Martin Rising: Requiem For a King by Andrea Davis Pinkney--Martin Rising is a collection of what the author calls “docu-poems,” which document the events of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life. While it encompasses the timeline of his entire life, most of the poems are about the events immediately preceding King’s death in the spring of 1968. The added information at the end aid the reader’s understanding of events described in the book. (Longer review on Instagram)

6. Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds--Miles goes to a prestigious boarding school across Brooklyn from his home. He knows Brooklyn Visions Academny is his ticket to a better life, but his history teacher seems bent on keeping Miles and the other African-American students “in their place.” A radioactive spider bit Miles, and now he is Spider-Man. And this is a Marvel book after all, so secrecy, web-slinging, and an evil conspiracy are at the root of the action.

7-10. The Track Series (Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu) by Jason Reynolds--Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu are all members of an after-school track team, and each gets his or her own book. The students are African American and they have their own sets of challenges at home, at school, and on the track.

Additional titles :
11. Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan--Amina is a Pakistani-American girl who wants to fit in at her school. Someone burns down her mosque and tensions run high.

12. Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson--Jade wants to take advantage of every opportunity she can, but she tires of people seeing her as “at-risk” and in need of being fixed.

13. Stella By Starlight by Sharon M. Draper--Stella lives in segregated North Carolina during the Depression. One night she and her little brother are out much too late and they see the Klan preparing for something; she’s not sure what, but she knows it can’t be good.

14. Lunch-Box Dream by Tony Abbott--A white family and a black family end up on the same bus. A series of assumptions proven wrong and moments of empathy make the white boy start to question what he has learned about race thus far.

15. The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee T. Frazier--biracial twins Minni and Kiera experience bias within their own family when they visit their grandmother, who encourages them to compete for Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America

16. The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake--Students bully Maleeka at school because of her dark skin until she meets Miss Saunders, who has a rare condition that makes her skin blotchy, and she learns to stand up for herself.

17. The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson--Candice finds an old letter in an attic addressed to her grandmother. The letter talks about an injustice from decades ago in Lambert, South Carolina. Candice and her neighbor Brandon try to solve the clues, which leads them to learn more about their families histories.

18. Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case
by Patricia Hruby Powell--This book in verse gives an account of how Richard and Mildred Loving fell in love, broke the law, and fought to legalize marriage between races and change history.

19. One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes--Nikki Grimes combines original poetry with works from writers from the Harlem Renaissance.

20. Lion Island: Cuba’s Warrior of Words by Margarita Engle--In verse, Engle tells the story of Antonio Chuffat, an African, Chinese, and Cuban descendent, who fights for civil rights during a time when Africans and Chinese are either enslaved or indentured servants to the Spanish.

21.The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore--Lolly's brother has been killed in a gang shooting, and Lolly feels the pressure to join up. His mother's girlfriend saves him when she brings him a sack of Legos. Building becomes his refuge from grief and a path away from a violent future.

22. Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac--Navajo Code Talkers spoke in their native language to send coded messages to US Forces during World War II. The government kept their contributions classified for 20 years, but now students can learn about their contributions and what they endured during their time in the war.

23. You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen by Carole Boston Weatherford--This is the story of the African-American pilots of World War II from Alabama, from recruiting to flying, told in verse.

24.It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas--Zomorod, or Cindy, her Americanized name, lives in California in the late 1970's. Her family comes from Iran. Cindy navigates the anti-Iran sentiment while trying to fit in.

Books About Racism for Teens Ages 14 and up

Books I have read and recommend:

25. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas--Starr is an African American girl who studies hard, has friends, and likes to go out on the weekends. She goes to a private school across town because the neighborhood school is unsafe and offers a subpar education. She and her friend Khalil drive home from a party one night when a police officer pulls them over and shoots Khalil. He does not have a gun at the time. Khalil’s death makes national news. The press drags his reputation through the mud, and Starr realizes only she knows the truth about what happened that night, she and the police officer. Starr has to decide what to say and when to say it, and her decision can affect her safety and her life. (Longer review on Instagram or Goodreads here)

26. Dear Martin by Nic Stone--Justyce McAllister attends an elite prep school. He takes great pains to be good: he’s a good student with good friends. His pants don’t sag. Police arrest him at a party one night, and through the injustice of it all, he decides to write letters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Then, he and his friend Manny drive around town one day in Manny’s car with the music turned up loud. A white off-duty cop doesn’t like this, so he tells them to turn down. Manny turns it up. The cop claims he saw a gun, but the only one at the scene belongs to the cop, and it kills Manny. The rest of the book describes how Justyce copes with the media backlash and how the media villify the black kids instead of the cop who killed one of them. (Longer review on Instagram or Goodreads here)

27. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds--This YA novel in verse tells the story of 15-year-old Will after someone kills his brother Shawn. Will knows the rules and vows to follow them: no crying, no snitching, and revenge. No one will ever talk to the cops who ask questions, and they don’t try real hard to make much headway in solving the crime. In accordance to the rules, Will takes Shawn’s gun, puts it in his waistband, and gets on the elevator in his apartment building with every intention of killing his brother’s killer. The elevator, however, stops on every floor, and at every landing someone from Shawn’s or Will’s past, someone whose life gun violence cut short, gets on. They talk to Will between floors. Will learns that the story of his brother’s death involves much more than he knew. (Longer review on Instagram or Goodreads here)

Additional Titles:
28.All American Boys by Jason Reynolds--(From Amazon) Two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.

29-31. The March Trilogy by John Lewis--This trilogy of graphic novels by Congressman John Lewis describes his experiences during the Civil Rights Era during such events as the March on Washington and Selma.

32.Monster by Walter Dean Myers--One decision changed the life of Steve, who now lives in juvie and on trial. The action unfolds as a screenplay in Steve's mind.

33. How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon--Jack Franklin, a white man, kills Tariq Johnson, a black teen. No two accounts of the killing are the same, and Tariq's death shakes the community.

34. American Street by Ibi Zoboi--Fabiola is a Haitian immigrant who learns the price of freedom when immigration detains her mother and she has to navigate this new country on her own.

35. Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham--In this mystery, Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family's property, which leads back to the Tulsa race riot of 1921, which raises questions about race relations both back then and today.

The truth is, it may take years to create a good collection, one that reflects our diversity and addresses racism and social justice. I will probably host many book fairs and readathons to raise the money to do it, but I am committed to the work of creating a place where all of my students feel welcome and understood.

Share this post with parents, educators, and anyone else who needs these titles. If you have more books to add to this list for middle schoolers, please leave a comment. Happy reading!

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How to host a super simple readathon

6/28/2018

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(Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash)

Hosting a readathon doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are 9 easy readathon ideas to get your fundraiser off the ground.

“You raised enough money to buy us 100 new books!” The students in the media center broke out in spontaneous applause and cheered before they adjusted their blankets and turned back to their books. They were participating in our school’s first ever readathon.

Show me the books!
100 books is a small order for some schools, but for us this was huge! Our book budget is tiny. Most of our budget replaces worn-out copies of titles we already own. Our books do not have a little tape on them--sometimes the yellowed tape is the only thing holding them together. The frayed edges are downright embarrassing, and the soiled pages are just gross.

We needed a way to raise more money for new books, like another set of Harry Potter because no one can ever get the one they need. Or books on soccer teams. Or books published in the last three years.

And then my colleague suggested a readathon. Of all of the library fundraisers I have held over the years, the readathon was the most successful and most popular among the students. I pitched the idea to my principal, and in about 3 weeks I put it together. We made more profit than we earned from the book fair, and with much less effort, I might add. With these suggestions, maybe a readathon will be your next school fundraiser.

What is a readathon, you ask?
A readathon is a fundraiser during which students read in exchange for pledges or donations to their school. Typically, they ask friends and family to donate money, either based on a flat donation or the number of minutes or pages read. The students then read their books in a central location on a specified day. Sometimes adults take turns reading books to a group of students. For older students, as in our case, students can bring blankets and pillows and read silently. A readathon is easily customized to a school’s schedule and situation.

Score big with the right readathon prizes for your age group.

Easy Readathon Ideas
1. Get staff buy-in! Tell them what titles you intend to purchase with readathon funds that will relate to their curriculum. Let staff know the date as soon as the administration approves it. Then send the teachers all of the info a day or two before sending it home with the students. You can do this through a written flyer, a staff email, or be more creative and eye-catching with a smore or tackk digital newsletter.

2. Schedule the readathon when most students can participate. Is holding the readathon during the school day an option? Students at my school came to the media center during their English Language Arts classes. Other ideas might be an early release day, different days for different grade levels, or an evening event.

3. Decide how to ask for money. Are you asking for a flat donation or are people pledging based on the number of minutes or pages read? Will students collect money before the readathon, or after? For us, a flat donation up front worked the best.

4. Send home information in plenty of time. 3 weeks is perfect, long enough to let friends and family know, short enough to handle the money for only a week or so. (And also to figure in the teachers who hold the flyers on their desks for a week. You know it will happen.) Remember tip #1: give the staff at your school all of the information before you send it home so that they know what is happening. Teachers like to be in the loop.

5. Offer prizes. Although you certainly want to make reading a reward in itself, there is no denying that kids will work for that one thing. All of your prizes can be free or inexpensive. It just takes a little creativity. Adjust prize levels and incentives to work for the ages of your students and the income level of your families. A stair-step approach to prizes keeps it simple.

delicious cupcakes with sprinkles would make a great readathon prize

Students will work for that one thing. (Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash.com)

Suggested low or no-cost readathon prizes:

Raise $5 and come to the library during your ELA class to read. Bring a blanket and pillow to get comfy! This is the ticket to get in the readathon.
Raise $10 and ALSO visit the hot chocolate bar (or coffee bar, or cupcake bar, or juice bar). Our hot chocolate bar included marshmallows, crushed peppermints, and chocolate chips for the cups.
Raise $15 and ALSO get your name as donor on a bookplate in the front of one of the brand new books. The top 15 (or 10, or 5) students who raise at least $15 will get a pizza party! You can easily raise or lower this threshold, depending on your school.
Other possible readathon incentives are cool bookmarks for everyone who participates, access to a favorite-but-restricted reading area like a loft or tent, extra recess, early access to the new books, Pajama Day, “librarian (or principal, if your administrator is on board) for the day” to the top fund raiser.

6. Offer incentives to the teachers for their help, as well. This not only increases your participation, but it buys a little goodwill in the process. For example, if a teacher’s class raises $200, give a book to her classroom library. Do a week of bus duty for the teacher whose class raises the most money. Bring the teachers a treat if they turn in all of the money they collect by your deadline.

7. Get help for the day of the readathon. Yes, you can manage a room full of kiddos who are reading, but you will need a restroom break at some point! I needed help to heat water for cocoa and to pick up the pizzas. Ask your regular library volunteers, PTA/PTO, or parents who have never volunteered but you would like to have in your corner.

8. Add up and deposit money quickly. Most schools have a policy that requires you to deposit money as soon as it is collected anyway. The sooner you do this, the sooner you can spend it and the sooner the students can read the new books they bought. I also had a consideration list of about 200 books already on my book vendor’s website, so ordering was just a matter of clicking a button.

9. Make a big deal about the arrival of the new books! Have a “reveal.” Mark them with washi tape so the students know which books were purchased with readathon money. Keep the books on a special cart or shelf until their newness wears off. (I love washi tape in the library. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen how I use it to mark temporary collections.)

At end of the day
”Can we do this every month?” a student asked. He bit into his fourth piece of pizza and washed it down with soda, thoroughly enjoying himself.

“Maybe not every month, but every year for sure.”

I grinned and enjoyed my own slice. After a long but rewarding day, I was ready to sit down and send in my order for 100 new books.

thoughts.

how we got more teachers to come to our event with online invitations

What is Paperless Post

Digital Add-Ons

The Beautiful Dashboard

The Verdict

Secrets for the best book fair ever

Helpful book fair ideas

35 recommended Books about racism for middle school

Books about racism for children ages 11-14

Books About Racism for Teens Ages 14 and up

How to host a super simple readathon

Old posts will be republished soon

Author

Archives

Categories

Home

About

Blog

Connect

thoughts.

how we got more teachers to come to our event with online invitations

What is Paperless Post

Digital Add-Ons

​The Beautiful Dashboard

​The Verdict

Secrets for the best book fair ever

Helpful book fair ideas

35 recommended Books about racism for middle school

Books about racism for children ages 11-14

​Books About Racism for Teens Ages 14 and up

How to host a super simple readathon

Old posts will be republished soon

Author

Archives

Categories

Home

About

Blog

Connect

The Beautiful Dashboard

The Verdict

Books About Racism for Teens Ages 14 and up