Day 20 - Goodbyes

Pictures from M. Dillard, C. Nelson, and my own photos.

Thursday was the final day of my Dorman internship and I left with mixed emotions.  Though I am thrilled to have completed one of the final components of my MLIS program and will graduate from USC's SLIS program December 6, I know that I will miss the fantastic DHS media center team - Melanie, Cathy, and Erika.  They welcomed me in, challenged me to try new things, and were always willing to answer my questions and listen to my ideas.  

Photos by E. Graham

Thank you to Dorman High School's students and teachers for all the great times!  I have truly been able to experience all aspects of a high school library program and would love to work at one in the future.  Love the spirit, the energy, the YA novels, the learning, the ideas, and the fun that comes with teenagers.

Day 14 - Happy Halloween

Today Erica put out new books for students and they browsed and selected as though they were at a retail book store.  Love those new books! 


I worked on plans for a professional development session with student teachers.  School libraries and librarians can be great allies and guides for new teachers and I want to share all of the benefits of teacher/librarian collaboration.  Here's a view of my Smore invitation:

Exciting technology news for Dorman: 15 iPads were donated to the school and the library will oversee the management of them.  Classes can check them out for instructional use and projects.  Melanie showed me how to control and manage apps and restrict unauthorized downloads. 1:1 programs are popping up all over our state and my home district will roll out iPads for 3rd-5th grade this month.  I welcome every opportunity I have to learn more about device management and how to best utilize iPads as part of student instruction and to allow students to create digital products.

Day 12 - Busy Day at The DHS Media Center

As expected, Thursday was jam packed with activity.  Melanie went over budgeting, requisitions, and purchase orders with me, but, as she advised me, each school will have its own unique requirements and steps for budgeting and spending.  Once I have my own library, I will need to make good friends with the school bookkeeper so they won't mind all the questions I will ask them!

Mrs. Shepard's class completed their Destiny Quest book reviews. I briefly went over copyright and citations and then the class  moved on to the next phase of the project: visual book reports.  Visual book reports are a mashup of text and images that represent the major themes, symbols, and or characters of the novel.  I think the students will enjoy the creative freedom of this project and I am excited to see their final products.  Cathy will work with us on the final day and provide needed guidance on the graphic design aspects of the visual book report.

Teen Read Week (TRW) festivities continued with library trivia and  special guests, Travis and Heather, from Spartanburg County Public Library's teen library staff.  Many students stopped by during lunch and won t-shirts and other cool swag for showing their SCPL cards.  See more TRW pictures and details on the Cavaliers Read! blog.

Events like Teen Read Week are a great way to create a "buzz" around your library program and to get students excited and inclined to think the school library is a hub of fun and activity.

Day 11 - Book Reviews and Teen Read Week

What an exciting day at DHS!  I put together a Halloween display with zombie, vampire and other spooky stories.

Then, I met Ms. Shepard's class in the writing lab to work on on adding book reviews to Destiny Quest.

One student helped us identify the word limit of a Destiny Quest review (1000 characters), but overall things went smoothly.  My  hope is that the students continue to use the social media components of Destiny Quest.  Add friends, add books to virtual book shelves, and share reviews. Reading 21st century style.

Teen Read Week festivities continued with students answering library trivia questions to win scratch off tickets.  Prizes included gift cards, bookmarks, and free books. The contests made for a lively lunch hour. The Dorman Cavalier stopped by for a visit too!