Buffy Hamilton's Blog, page 6

When Less Is More: Discovering Student Points of Need with Small Group Conversation

As any classroom teacher knows, time is a valuable commodity. It’s always a struggle to squeeze every last drop of the instructional time we have with students and still provide meaningful learning experiences. One of our English teachers, Kim Cooney, recognized she needed a way to negotiate two major class activities with her 10th grade students:

She needed to have small seminar discussions with students. She needed for students to have some instruction on EasyBib and research databases fo...

10th Grade English Students Take on the CRAAP Test Rumble

Earlier this week, I did a new twist on the write-around written conversation strategies by using it as a learning structure for students to evaluate different sources of information. This entry, originally posted today on my media center blog, shares our learning experience with the CRAAP Test Rumble!

The Hooch Learning Studio

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Earlier this week, we had the great pleasure of working with Ms. Boudreaux and her two sections of Honors 10th Literature/Composition. We us...

Strike a Pose: Active Learning and Text Engagements with Tableaux!

This is another post from my library blog that I’m cross-posting here about strategies I learned at the Santa Fe inquiry workshop in January. I hope you’ll find it helpful or inspirational!

The Hooch Learning Studio

Are you looking for a way for students to engage with a work of fiction or to think more deeply about a piece of informational text? Do you want to interject some energy into your world of learning and that of your students? Would you like to incorporate kinesthetic learning into...

Helping Students Work with Informational Text from A-Z with Alphaboxes

I’m crossposting some short write-ups on my library blog of strategies we used at the Santa Fe inquiry workshop. Enjoy!

The Hooch Learning Studio

Recently I was lucky to have the opportunity to attend the multiday institute, “Teaching for Engagement, Inquiry, and Understanding: Beyond the Standards” in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This institute, led by some of the leading literacy practitioners in our field, gave us the hands-on opportunity to model and practice different strategies, learning stru...

Reflections on Santa Fe—Teaching for Engagement, Inquiry, and Understanding: Reaching Beyond the Standards

Earlier this month, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a multi-day institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico: Teaching for Engagement, Inquiry, and Understanding: Reaching Beyond the Standards . Led and facilitated by Harvey “Smokey” Daniels (whose work I’ve used and referenced frequently on this blog over the last two years), Nancy Steineke, Christopher Lehman, Kristin Ziemke, and Sara Ahmed, this workshop provided participants the opportunity to explore strategies for creating a culture of...

Midyear Media Center Report Fall 2015

For the last few weeks, I have contemplated doing a midyear/end of semester report. While I have done monthly and yearly reports in the past, I have never done one at this point in the academic year. However, I thought it would be a great reflective exercise for me as a school librarian in a new school and new district as well as a great way to share what has been happening with my administrative team. My friend and former NHS colleague Jennifer Lund inspired me to use Piktochart after showin...

Modifying Conversation Strategies: The Mini Write-Around

Today’s guest post is from my friend and former colleague at Norcross High, Dan Byrne. Both Dan and his wife, Dr. Melinda Byrne, are accomplished teachers; Dan was our Teacher of the Year at Norcross HS for 2014-15, and Melinda was one of the finalists for the same award this fall. Collaborative efforts with Dan were featured last year on the blog, and I am delighted he is continuing to integrate pieces of that work with his students. Earlier this semester, Dan listened to his students and t...

Southeastern Library Assessment Conference 2015 Session Roundup: Correlation Between Library Instruction and Student Retention

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Note: This is the second in a series of posts on sessions I attended at the Southeastern Library Assessment Conference on November 17. Please see the first post with more background information here.

Session Description

Grand Valley State University Libraries has found a statistically significant positive correlation between librarian-led instruction and student retention. The libraries’ Head of Instructional Services and the university’s Institutional Ana...

Southeastern Library Assessment Conference 2015: Introduction and Space Assessment Session 1

My friend and former Norcross High colleague Jennifer Lund and I attended the Southeastern Library Assessment Conference on November 16 that was held at the historic Georgian Terrace Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. Though we were probably the only school librarians there, we felt welcome and gleaned many pearls of wisdom from the sessions we attended. I was sadly only able to attend Day 1 (Monday, 11/16) due to district meetings I needed to attend on the second day (11/17), but I got MORE than my...

A Visit to Discovery High School: Rethinking Learning Spaces and Learner Experiences

We are preparing for a redesign of our media center learning space at Chattahoochee High School. Having gone through this process with my friend and colleague Jennifer Lund the last year and a half at Norcross High, I knew that a visit to her new school, Discovery High, in Gwinnett County, was a “must do” when looking for inspiration. This brand new school that spans 640,000 square feet and just opened in August features a focus on project-based learning with four different learning academies...