At the end of the week, kids often check out a book from the media center or our classroom library. I expect kids to read two books a month. They have reading homework five days a week for a half an hour a day. How I monitor that reading is the stuff of another post. Today I'm thinking of how books walk out of the room. When kids borrow books from our classroom, the process currently goes like this:
"Hey, Spillane..." Kyle holds up a book.
I nod or maybe do a quick chin lift sort of thing.
Kyle adds, "I finished this one, so can I take this one home over the weekend?" He holds up The Alchemist and The Last Lecture.
"Yep. Got it." Thinking, hmmm... those two titles are quite different. That's quite the range. I keep my thoughts to myself as I'm mid-stride doing something else in another part of the room as is. Then I take a quick picture.
I need a better process. What we have is working. Books are walking out of the room at a regular clip, but they are not always finding their ways back.
I have had students sign out books on a clip board. Having the sign out sheet handy, in a spot where students are responsible for checking books in and out works well once you build it into a classroom routine or reading community.
I have used the Classroom Organizer app. I love that app from Book Source! I love using the barcode scanner feature to add books to the library and track inventory. I am not as good at taking books out of the inventory once they are missing though. Making time to track down titles or check up on readers who have not returned titles is something I struggle with. I still have 47 books checkout to last year's students! These are all books I purchased and paid for with my own money, so at least these are not school materials I'm allowing students to take.
Record keeping is all about routine. I know I need to re-establish some routines when it comes to returning and checking books out of our classroom library. Once things get rolling it's tough to keep up. I lose books, every year. Sometimes that frustrates me (especially when I know a just right next title for a new reader), but more often than not, I'm glad that books find travelers to take them away. After all, books take us places.
Your post addresses the bane of every book loving teacher. I used a checkout system similar to your paper book checkout system. And like you, I lost books every year. I love these words from your post, "...but more often than not, I'm glad that books find travelers to take them away. After all, books take us places." And the Emily Dickinson poem graphic was perfect. I always told my students that I welcomed books home any time, no questions asked. I still remember the year I returned from summer vacation to find a grocery bag full of books outside my classroom door, with a Starbucks gift card on top!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome surprise to find those books returned (or donated) with the Starbucks card! That must have made your week! Books do find their way back : )
DeleteMy favorite way to keep track was just a simple composition book. Then I had a running record over time to see what they were purchasing. Still books walk and perhaps they go to the places that need them most.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do love the recording history you get when you have kids signing books out. I have completed pages of that book check out sheet from several years ago saved still : ) - it's a rich look into that class' choices.
DeleteI never checked out books except when we had just received the "newest" that everyone wanted to read. I agree, if a book walks out, there was be a better home for it. Organizing all that you mentioned is a tough challenge. There were times that I actually had a student do some management, but that depended on the class and if there was a student who wanted to do it and was capable.
ReplyDeleteYep, that seems to be where I am at the moment in my checking out routine, Linda. Organization and routines are tough challenges--especially when it comes to "managing the inventory" once kids have taken off as readers. I sometimes have students who volunteer as class librarians too, but like you that just depends on the kids in the class.
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