Comments on: Staying positive–offer a suggestion

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:50:24 +0000

Lorena you make me laugh!! I should say, don’t you mean Dorman University (as my husband mockingly says all the time?) Yeah, I like the advice I’ve gotten from some of the other folks who have commented too. I think next year with a little more consistency and all on the same page rule wise for the library, we’ll have more success and I’ll be happier. Of course a friend is trying to lure me to Charleston. I told her I’m oh so trying to end this hobby called job hunting.

By: Lorena Swetnam

Lorena Swetnam — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:36:43 +0000

I like your rules. I graduated from DHS before it was demolished and turned into a Home Depot and Walmart. I did some student teaching at the new campus during my undergraduate studies and I totally understand why you need to have these rules. I believe I will be adapting them for my middle school next year

By: Fran Bullington

Fran Bullington — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:45:16 +0000

Late to the conversation here, but wanted to let you know that I like several things about your rules:
1. There are only four (even with details below, there are only four!)
2. You begin with a positive statement – user friendly and welcoming
3. You seem to cover all the bases!

I like Jacquie’s shortening of #4 also.

I believe I will liberally borrow from your rules to recreate our rules. Thanks for sharing!

By: Laura Judson

Laura Judson — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:01:20 +0000

I did not know your school was so large. We are in a similar situation – 3200 students. We like to be open and friendly and are maybe even a little bit more lenient than you are – we don’t require lunch passes and we allow 4 students from a teacher at one time. But otherwise very similar situation. Your “rules” are awesome and I will copy them and use them.
I came from elementary school to high school about 4 years ago, so I could not handle “rules” very well at all. After about 6 months of tense situations (including one clerk deciding to leave) we hit the ground running and the library now feels very open and friendly and I like being there. I am lucky to work with two like-minded library media specialists (Hello, Emilie and Donna!) who want manageable structure but not rigid rules.
They are high school students, after all….and we do love them to love our library.

By: Mary W.

Mary W. — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:19:51 +0000

When I was a middle school librarian, I had only one rule that covered just about any behavior the kids could come up with:

Consider others.

By: links for 2010-06-05 | Creating a Path for Learning in the 21st Century

links for 2010-06-05 | Creating a Path for Learning in the 21st Century — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 00:11:55 +0000

[...] Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts » Blog Archive » Staying positive–offer a suggestion "Okay, so after a year of working in my current position–and high school being a new animal for me, I decided to go with the flow –the status quo for library rules and expectations. I observed many things I did not necessarily like, but my principal wanted me and my colibrarian, both new to high school, to be more of an observer before we made any significant changes. " (tags: nelson’s blogs) [...]

By: What teachers want … « Reading Power

What teachers want … « Reading Power — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:30:43 +0000

[...] the world have a lot in common, a lot we can learn from each other, or a lot we can just share http://blog.cathyjonelson.com/?p=1310 5. Machines interactive game http://bit.ly/1MPlI3 6. Idioms Illustrated on Vimeo [...]

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:21:30 +0000

Perhaps I should say “Help our stats by dropping “in-library” used books in the drop box!” You are right that the wording could be viewed as an insult.

By: Heather Loy

Heather Loy — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:46:09 +0000

Love how you start with a positive and then the “restrictions.” I agree with Jacquie Henry’s revised #4 – less is more! I think I may be “borrowing” your sign for next year.

One thing with #3 I wonder if there is a way to further encourage students not to re-shelve books themselves by saying something like – help us know which books are most useful by placing books you used but didn’t check out in our circulation drop box. I usually just ask kids to leave them on the tables and I go around and pick them up after the class leaves. When I’ve told kids not to re-shelve books, some get huffy with me thinking I’m saying they don’t know how to put them back correctly. I tell them this helps me know which books get the most use & lets me know which ones I need to order more of and then they aren’t angry at me anymore.

By: Jacquie Henry

Jacquie Henry — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:49:05 +0000

I’ve tried combining and rewording #4 to make the list shorter and a little more “palatable” to the teenage psyche. Hope this helps!

Morning and lunch passes are available from an administrator on the diamond in front of the cafeteria.

Passes are needed at all times except after school. The pass should indicate your need: reading or computer use.

Please sign in AND out at the circulation desk. This is for your own safety in an emergency.

Two students per class may visit the library for 20 minutes during class(unless otherwise arranged with the librarians by the classroom teacher.)