Signal Mountain Middle High School Library Media Center
SMMHS LMC
Empowering students to be critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers,
skillful researchers, and ethical users of information. Volume 3, Issue 9
May 1, 2016
SMMHS Library/Media Center Mission: The SMMHS library/media center is committed to equipping the school community with 21st Century skills in order that they may have a positive impact on their community, country, and world.
A Sad Farewell to SMMHS This edition of the SMMHS LMC Newsletter is a sad one for me because it is my last. I have decided to take a position in Nashville at an IB school there, where I will be close to my grandson, and so, with a heavy heart I say goodbye to my SMMHS community. I have loved working here, and if I didn’t have the cutest grandson in the world calling my name, I don’t think I could leave. This community is so blessed to have this amazing school, but more impressively, you are blessed to have one another. I will miss all of my friends: colleagues and parents, and I will truly miss the students who are incredibly inspiring and fun to watch as they grow up. Thank you for sharing your world with me for a little while! Ginger Kirchmyer, MLIS National Board Certified Teacher SMMHS Librarian www.smmhsmediacenter.net
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A New Kind of Literacy is Coming:
The three “Rs” in education
“Coding is not an optional skill, it’s a basic skill.” President Obama
may be getting a fourth partner if President Obama’s plans for computer science in our K-12 schools move forward. According to Obama, “In the new economy, computer science isn’t an optional skill--it's a basic skill.” Through a three part initiative, announced by the White House at the end of January, the hope is to educate our young people in a new and necessary digital literacy. The first part of the president’s initiative involved asking Congress for over $4 billion in funding for our K-12 schools. The second part is to train more educators by working jointly with the National Science Foundation and the Corporation for National and Community Service. The final step is working with state and local leaders, business leaders, and tech experts to coalesce around a bipartisan movement. Already companies such as Amazon, Google, and Twitter have signed on and pledge a commitment to the president’s efforts. To read the president’s full statement on this Initiative, click here. 2
The library wouldn’t run if it weren’t for these great people! If you know them, give them a high five! Thanks team!
Rebekah Cessna - 2 years Jennifer Deaton - 2 years Leah Gallant - 1 year Monica Glover - 2 years Beth Graham - 5 years Heather Hensley - 2 years Betty Higdon - 7 years Leslie Kelley - 4 years Eden Lusk - 1 year Wendy Lapinski - 4 years Pamela Moore - 4 years Jennifer Morris - 2 years Laura Parker - 1 year Becky Pope - 7 years Debbie Poss - 3 yrs Annette Pote - 1 year Lisa Shander - 8 years Amy Sowell - 1 year Interested in becoming volunteer in library next year? Click here to learn more about current “staff” and their responsibilities.
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A HUGE SHOUT OUT and THANK YOU to our awesome students who have committed their time to working in the library! Jacob Bailey - 1 year Cole Buffington - ½ year Bella Cairns - ½ year Alex Corley - 1 year Hannah Daniel - 1 year Emily Gaylor - ½ year Laura Grimes - ½ year Erykah Hopkins - 1 year Hallie Hunt - ½ year Aubrie Johnson - ½ year Tilly Jones -1/2 year Caleb Kyker - 1 year Ashley Leonard - 3 years Kaitlin McKinley - 1 year Lee Nagle - ½ year John Pinson - 2 ½ years Kennedy Sanders - 3 years Brooke Whitmire - ½ year Garland Wood - ½ year I aim to create a friendly work environment where students learn skills which will help them now, and more importantly, when they graduate. New this year were quarterly evaluations; students learned how work expectations differ from school expectations. My goal is to make the students’ time here in the library an enhancement to the overall experience they receive at SMMHS. Click here to see their duties. 4
What’s happening in Seniors & 8th Graders: Remember, you don’t promote or graduate when you have library obligations! You can call the library at 423.886.0880, x 273 to find out if you have any obligations, or email kirchmyer_g@hcde.org. Remember, students who do not take care of obligations will lose access to Power School as well as many other privileges like lockers, extra-curricular activities, and more. Take care of business first! We’re here to help!
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May at the LMC? We are now closed for the summer; hard to believe we’ve reached that point already and how quickly another school year has flown by! For our summer readers out there, don’t despair. Your reading doesn’t need to come to an end. Click here to access our links to the Signal Mountain Library and the Chattanooga Public Library. Remember the Chattanooga Public Library card will work at any four of the library’s branches--this does not include the Signal Mountain Library. If you applied for a public library card in April, it will be delivered to you this month. Enjoy your summer and keep reading! 6
Our
final spotlight on technology for the school year may be just what you need to keep the days from mindlessly drifting away this summer. We encourage you to check out 30/30, a task manager app available at the APPStore. The premise of the app is fairly simple and is based on a 30 minute work and 30 minute break cycle. Ever noticed that while working on a problem, sometimes it hard to solve, but after walking away for a time, the answer/solution seems to come pretty easily? This is not a new theory, but one that is tried and true. Giving our minds a break and allowing them to wander will often solve the problem. Plus, knowing that we have a specific time to work and then will be rewarded with a break, makes our work time much more effective. Although the app is called 30/30, the numbers are completely flexible and determined by the app user. For more information on this fabulous tool, check out http://3030.binaryhammer.com. This could be a perfect jump into fall for those students who study best in smaller increments and respond well to rewards. Hope you like it! 7
30/30
We value your feedback! Visit the Library Media Center website to take a survey telling us how we did this year! We want to hear from you!
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Shelf Awareness: ————————————————————— Potter fans, the wait is nearly over: on July 31, set 19 years after the conclusion of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling will once again take us into her magical world. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts I & II, written by Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany and based on the play of the same name (nope it will never become movie) by Thorne is the eighth story in the wildly popular series that brought reading to a whole new level. That the Harry Potter series was a reading phenomenon is without question. Millions of school children (and adults) flocked to these books, making Rowling the highest paid living author of our time. The books are even credited with turning reluctant readers into readers who anxiously anticipated the release of each new book in the series. The last book in the series was released on July 21, 2007, selling over 15 million copies in the first 24 hours alone and was released in 93 countries. It will finally be revealed to devoted readers what happened to Harry and the gang after he and Ginny left their children at platform 9 & ¾. In the new book life doesn’t seem to get much easier for Harry. According to Amazon, it tells of the struggles Harry, and particularly his youngest son Albus: “While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.” You can pre-order your book now through Amazon and in just a few short months we’ll be able to see if this fusion of authors is able to recreate the magic that originally existed in the 9 series.
What’s your Shelf IQ? Know which books are sizzlin’ right now!
What better way to enjoy books than to have someone read to you? Enjoy this FREE app during the summer months for a wonderful selection of audio books to enjoy! 10
Shelf Do you have a son who dislikes reading? I’ve added something new to the LMC website to help your young man hopefully find some great things to keep him busy this summer. It’s called the GUYS READ website. This site is dedicated to promoting materials that boys like to read. It provides rationale and materials for how we can help boys read more and improve their literacy! It includes book suggestions based on theme, info on authors, reading lists, and ratings, plus more! If there's a teen boy in your world (or if you are a teen boy), you need to know about this site!
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Awareness: Coming this summer: Books to movies for youth and young adult!
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The library wants to recognize 6th graders, Levi Brown and Samantha Milligan, and middle school French teacher, Madame Whitson, for successfully completing their READING CHALLENGE! Thanks to all who participated! 13
Our last bulletin board of the year celebrates the IB trait of Open-Mindedness. Students will be receiving their cards this month from teachers who have nominated them for exemplifying some great IB Learner traits. Will YOU get one?
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These are the remaining images of the posters not featured previously in this year’s newsletters. They were designed by your LMC to help our students see specifically how to apply the IB learner traits in real life applications! All of these posters now grace the hallway outside the library, in beautiful frames!
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Library Hours
3702
7:15-2:30
Check us out
ONLINE!
daily The number of individual student sign-ins to the library since the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year. This does not count visiting classes.
We’re open 24/7/365!
While we’re closed, visit the public library this summer with your handy, new library card!
Follow us ONLINE! STAY CONNECTED: Each afternoon at 2:30 we post a book trailer on Twitter and Facebook, & we advertize library events and programs; on Pinterest you’ll find everything from book recommendations & study tools to organizing strategies and bulletin board ideas for teachers! Check us out!
@smmhsmediacenter
@ginjatheninja @GingerKirchmyer @smmhslibrary