tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13647685885988276652024-03-05T23:35:16.539-05:00Curiously CollaborativeOur Interactive Learning Wonderland!Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.comBlogger194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-28284549322490162162023-09-03T14:21:00.001-04:002023-09-03T14:21:40.236-04:00The Minefield of Teaching in Florida<p>We have all seen the headlines. Florida State House passes "Don't Say Gay" bill, "Florida Governor Signs School Book Bill Into Law" among other laws that are targeting schools and teachers. Florida has become a hostile environment for learning. Sounds dramatic, huh? Well, it's not. </p><p>As we start the 2023-24 school year, we are inundated with new rules about what kids can and cannot read and what teachers can and cannot say. We get "curriculum" suggestions from unaccredited "universities" in Michigan that peddle right-wing propaganda, completely rewriting history to appease the radicals. Indeed, Florida is becoming a laughingstock of the nation when it comes to its education system. Where once we could boast effective schools that could compete with the rest of the nation, now we are a national joke. In Florida, we don't have AP Psychology classes and we don't have AP African American Studies classes. Instead, Florida DOE seems to want to pick and choose each lesson that is in each of the courses, throwing out ones that they don't like. </p><p>All of this is mind-boggling. We are supposed to educate, not indoctrinate. The Florida politicians scream, "Indoctrination!" anytime something appears in school curricula that they don't like. They, in fact, are the ones who are trying to indoctrinate. When you pare down the ideas presented to children so that they only align with your way of thinking - THAT is indoctrination. When you present the complete set of ideas - THAT is education. I understand that many of our state politicians get uncomfortable when talking about some of our nation's blemishes throughout history, but they must be taught. In order to improve on things, we must be made aware of the mistakes that we made. </p><p>I fear that Florida education will become such a joke that the degrees granted by universities here will not be held to the same status as degrees from universities in other states. Will our high school grads get accepted into the best universities in the country with a diploma that leaves out so much of the education that colleges expect kids to have? Our politicians are putting our kids at a competitive disadvantage. Our kids still have to compete with kids from other states for places in the top universities. How will they do that with an education that has so many holes in it?</p><p>Even free-thinking New College of Florida has been decimated by politicians. Now, schools in Massachusetts are openly recruiting those students to move up there and get a real education. </p><p>One thing that our politicians here in Florida do not understand is that we are a diverse nation. While they try to turn back the clock and ignore that diversity, more and more of those diverse kids are becoming able to vote. Do these politicians really think that these new voters are going to vote for politicians that want to deny their existence? Good luck with that premise! </p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04926253847156663809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-69354599346335104422023-01-30T12:45:00.007-05:002023-01-30T12:47:03.635-05:00Been Caught Reading!<p>One of our main goals at Lely Elementary this year is to cultivate a love of reading among the kids. We want them to see reading as a reward, not to read for a reward. In order to do that, we first must hook them into reading and that sometimes does require rewards. Hopefully, in time, the kids will be so engaged by what they are reading that they will see the reading itself as rewarding time spent. </p><p>We have many different ways to encourage kids to read. One of the new things that we have started on campus is "Been Caught Reading". When we happen upon a student reading while waiting for the bus, on the courtyard in the morning, or in any other situation where reading is not required, we snap a quick photo without their knowledge. Then we surprise them by putting their picture on the news and calling them down to the media center for a prize. That prize is a coin to get a free book from the book vending machine. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-8OlRaHMIMiB12M4VQmzEt8ML-rm8ibWDYVPET5sL7VQ4cHOlG5cGU8_K8TEm2EyHmgi4AhhKUI6zt0Xldf_99oKgptc6EAE3i9oewnDOw53Y_KO6RpRuqLLUf2iw2sS2-11_mFwXKyZLQb7KjBHcHf3nYl9Aip77o-P_7wVhjOK66kYwfxtv8eU/s1280/Caught%20Reading%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-8OlRaHMIMiB12M4VQmzEt8ML-rm8ibWDYVPET5sL7VQ4cHOlG5cGU8_K8TEm2EyHmgi4AhhKUI6zt0Xldf_99oKgptc6EAE3i9oewnDOw53Y_KO6RpRuqLLUf2iw2sS2-11_mFwXKyZLQb7KjBHcHf3nYl9Aip77o-P_7wVhjOK66kYwfxtv8eU/w300-h400/Caught%20Reading%201.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5aTsPmoFb37HBSCWeJKvQjygYHIZzuQPe-klwJYmIajS6SCt0bMV3bQs8gfMy2zfhxP9p4aYfh8uFBZbAM4m3VpKHeBCZDf0pKaJp9_54lqG7TKHIyMCF2NaX-74_1TmNqvYnejXFuhv327Vup9gflvbCIi-oZejDmykexr5SNN5C-ayBrosFCPpn/s1280/Caught%20Reading%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5aTsPmoFb37HBSCWeJKvQjygYHIZzuQPe-klwJYmIajS6SCt0bMV3bQs8gfMy2zfhxP9p4aYfh8uFBZbAM4m3VpKHeBCZDf0pKaJp9_54lqG7TKHIyMCF2NaX-74_1TmNqvYnejXFuhv327Vup9gflvbCIi-oZejDmykexr5SNN5C-ayBrosFCPpn/w300-h400/Caught%20Reading%202.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRWXi_Nea48pINinpZhm7cIj3oKIp40nZeOs55BCfrHHSuE1pu1w-fABAhWMgR8pBB8MaH8K7hEXi8EI0tj8MWAuWiHpmlPhY4tt8cOcpHY_zSwUreLcwWH3lBDPfhLY6wmdicPb1qA20UUbzCYqNlRq44aMS6op2aX6xZvfecHybBRwqeE8Xm8Bh/s1024/Caught%20Reading%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRWXi_Nea48pINinpZhm7cIj3oKIp40nZeOs55BCfrHHSuE1pu1w-fABAhWMgR8pBB8MaH8K7hEXi8EI0tj8MWAuWiHpmlPhY4tt8cOcpHY_zSwUreLcwWH3lBDPfhLY6wmdicPb1qA20UUbzCYqNlRq44aMS6op2aX6xZvfecHybBRwqeE8Xm8Bh/w300-h400/Caught%20Reading%203.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We have had a really good reaction from the kids. The kids that we caught reading had no idea, so when they see themselves on the news, they are very proud of being caught. Their peers are both congratulatory and a bit jealous. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDrat_ZgJu673A72PLNIg2Erw3kAT5xQRrILetVC6QhXX6cGVP6ITIM6cwFL7Pd_PVyMRhAV18MT_hWb9caEimu2KMaJM6nn_8ctViGudLW0Gm3e4Ar2FSsAK6MTI-5kEd8xo57KWmMrvgPB1hqWqUTSOgFR-JzSs8FMng_WBG4RXcJw-M-zpRqyK/s941/BCR.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="709" data-original-width="941" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDrat_ZgJu673A72PLNIg2Erw3kAT5xQRrILetVC6QhXX6cGVP6ITIM6cwFL7Pd_PVyMRhAV18MT_hWb9caEimu2KMaJM6nn_8ctViGudLW0Gm3e4Ar2FSsAK6MTI-5kEd8xo57KWmMrvgPB1hqWqUTSOgFR-JzSs8FMng_WBG4RXcJw-M-zpRqyK/w400-h301/BCR.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We love finding different ways to encourage the love of reading among our kids. Making sure that they have the books they love and then encouraging a culture of reading is usually the best bet to turn kids into lifelong readers. So many have found the joy of reading and it's only a matter of time before every student in our school is an avid, independent, lifelong reader. </div>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-68435192473939124682022-12-01T08:52:00.000-05:002022-12-01T08:52:11.300-05:00The NEW School News Program<p>Since I started at Lely Elementary School, we have done the school news in a pretty traditional way: write the announcements and read the announcements. Unfortunately, we lacked anything resembling pizzazz. Our kids' personalities really did not shine through and it became almost robotic. We were in desperate need of a change. </p><p>Earlier this year, our news room equipment pooped out. Within a few weeks, our district replaced almost all of our newsroom equipment. We had brand new technology and it was also a good time to come up with a brand new news program. Thus, the NEW news.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6bBLXYZQNtl4JIe2-XKf48Z-C8lIFg72GYoV7Xe7KJlhXyKGslGnlZ81UkpWWSzwXZGDXHnOk3aOB1_gdQFPK-oQXJT3zH2jU0scqq3MyDyTxr36TRluKNNXMu5gpCgpOnLlyVCnbnouE9iu_fODoOsCzFvREN5ZNaJRhdr8UGzOI3RjTxKbhIR13/s2040/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2040" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6bBLXYZQNtl4JIe2-XKf48Z-C8lIFg72GYoV7Xe7KJlhXyKGslGnlZ81UkpWWSzwXZGDXHnOk3aOB1_gdQFPK-oQXJT3zH2jU0scqq3MyDyTxr36TRluKNNXMu5gpCgpOnLlyVCnbnouE9iu_fODoOsCzFvREN5ZNaJRhdr8UGzOI3RjTxKbhIR13/w400-h301/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>One of the things that we had to do was get more of the kids' personalities and interests into our news program. When kids asked to do the news in costume, we said, "Of course." When kids asked to work different "jobs" on the news, we trained them in those jobs. This news program is entirely student-run. They do the production, anchoring, sound board, slideshow, and script. We brainstormed different news segments based on the kids' interests, so like the real news, we cut away to kids who talked about things they were interested in. These "segments" have become something that the entire school population looks forward to seeing. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEpHn4k0rA6NE8r8FuovZbfJspl0y22HgsnEU-Ip_5VsfGEhIPaIrwLawloZguQuSM4YncddXzRtY3Jknxeki1VY9h1F8WMEYMn9LOQ9iIW_qo4nHCGMoxgkinTLYl9Tr-9IR0PqOSMH38Qz5mP_S5ocqAcMlYyMWfsk7FLh7rAV5qFTfQDs0sUEcy/s2040/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2040" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEpHn4k0rA6NE8r8FuovZbfJspl0y22HgsnEU-Ip_5VsfGEhIPaIrwLawloZguQuSM4YncddXzRtY3Jknxeki1VY9h1F8WMEYMn9LOQ9iIW_qo4nHCGMoxgkinTLYl9Tr-9IR0PqOSMH38Qz5mP_S5ocqAcMlYyMWfsk7FLh7rAV5qFTfQDs0sUEcy/w200-h151/5.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_x1s_sR8XzGtge93PgZK08yFBpu12sIpW3KIEJZcxOLFre-ATc2i5TePsbJQHLpOh-eFH6lVWui_lg_XV03G5gDpV8E-G9Fzsr0PUK7U3uHjNiH1KMD78A_sYOlqEsDETQZTnjsP0FGrjcN0RgqV01AOIzifkkHfVv1fLnhh7M4jGd7ZVluTTo3nX/s2040/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2040" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_x1s_sR8XzGtge93PgZK08yFBpu12sIpW3KIEJZcxOLFre-ATc2i5TePsbJQHLpOh-eFH6lVWui_lg_XV03G5gDpV8E-G9Fzsr0PUK7U3uHjNiH1KMD78A_sYOlqEsDETQZTnjsP0FGrjcN0RgqV01AOIzifkkHfVv1fLnhh7M4jGd7ZVluTTo3nX/w200-h151/6.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How do kids figure out what segment they want to do? It's pretty easy and informal. Basically a student comes to me and pitches an idea. We talk it through until we have a firm idea. We create a catchy name and produce a slide for the news program, and then from time to time, that student will appear on the news to do their segment. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ8TZKE6rnZcJu5j7V47vgg6rW87HXUyRC_mSZYC86tyXkgAFG-pId4W38atOShrkCZMBEYE5GzZVLyrFMnIl5v4WQwB6MZk0lVOf1c__qCSUPBQV5Z4cZHFeMjtWyx7qlhVizvrPkMjS8LLL7lGjenmk8Y8-vGTzpT0AlQmn5iBgAf6yRzDB4Xakj/s951/Colton.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="951" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ8TZKE6rnZcJu5j7V47vgg6rW87HXUyRC_mSZYC86tyXkgAFG-pId4W38atOShrkCZMBEYE5GzZVLyrFMnIl5v4WQwB6MZk0lVOf1c__qCSUPBQV5Z4cZHFeMjtWyx7qlhVizvrPkMjS8LLL7lGjenmk8Y8-vGTzpT0AlQmn5iBgAf6yRzDB4Xakj/w400-h301/Colton.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Where on Earth is Binky Hackensack is a ripoff of the Carmen San Diego show. One of our kiddos created the character of Binky Hackensack and has a trivia show each week, giving clues about the place he has "visited". The kids look forward to seeing his show every week and we always have participants in this trivia game. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmd2nRFqO6BFsxcpKN-62GcoGHzoI9Lo_sspS3A0r3Nwq4qljHukRWtlAXR17bDVvTehc_N7j5yGIHWGq2dtaytVlA8YpAB5Ox49Lj7Q1nLIYhppWAe3MiCmvDg8lgBslQbl_Fn9ehOWAcb05rXIK9Q6pr5ezcsLjKLgXHHC9Rzwwtd4MA0aBKT3f7/s952/Ruby.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="952" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmd2nRFqO6BFsxcpKN-62GcoGHzoI9Lo_sspS3A0r3Nwq4qljHukRWtlAXR17bDVvTehc_N7j5yGIHWGq2dtaytVlA8YpAB5Ox49Lj7Q1nLIYhppWAe3MiCmvDg8lgBslQbl_Fn9ehOWAcb05rXIK9Q6pr5ezcsLjKLgXHHC9Rzwwtd4MA0aBKT3f7/w400-h301/Ruby.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ruby pitched an idea about an animal show, but not just any ordinary animal show. She wanted to search out some of the more obscure, strange animals, and talk about them. Her show has been a hit and she is pursuing her interest. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJSzvPuLPgMXrnilomwH93nzxv0rJ-RhKgu46ytwETYVz56UdmVzS1hJ6roVSKePxXh_K01TjJom3VCmUgZBTCe276dpKRjboiubgD9pADSK5xoP41g43C58GREfvpE4XaEeVpXgFLWG5hPdD3RPgAWvtKza34lgLGsFj_QFOLath-95kYGlBkhGs/s951/Terrence.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="951" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJSzvPuLPgMXrnilomwH93nzxv0rJ-RhKgu46ytwETYVz56UdmVzS1hJ6roVSKePxXh_K01TjJom3VCmUgZBTCe276dpKRjboiubgD9pADSK5xoP41g43C58GREfvpE4XaEeVpXgFLWG5hPdD3RPgAWvtKza34lgLGsFj_QFOLath-95kYGlBkhGs/w400-h301/Terrence.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Terrence is a big football fan and so each Friday, he has a segment where he predicts a few of the NFL games each weekend, a la ESPN. He has a pretty good record and he really likes what he is doing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the things about our news crew is that they have all kinds of ideas. We have a workshop mentality on news crew, meaning that any idea is welcome and we will try to tweak it and refine it and get it on the news. Hopefully the kids feel the freedom to explore their interests and incorporate those interests on the news program. But these are baby steps. We still have a long way to go in order to make this news program even better. We have the equipment to go around campus and interview kids, profile some of our students who do amazing things outside of school, and create features that will be interesting to our entire school population. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We are at the beginning of this journey, but the future is in good hands. These kids are really coming into their own and are always thinking of ways to improve the show. They often ask, "Why can't we...?" and the answer is always, "Let's see if we can!" That is the attitude that we live by and it is really paying off!</div>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-20003412655135929722022-10-14T09:26:00.004-04:002022-10-14T09:28:29.050-04:00Lely Leads!<p>In our quest to improve our campus with beautiful art and pops of color, Kindergarten teacher Jordan Palmer came up with the idea of creating a huge "Lely Leads" mural and fill it with the hand prints of all of the Lely Elementary students. This was a big, big project that took up an entire wall of the Kindergarten building. The process took a couple of months. We enlisted the help of local artist Matthew Park to help with the mural. Together, Jordan and Matt measured out the letters on the wall, taped the boundaries for the letters, and used a paint sprayer to fill in the enormous letters. From start to finish, painting the letters on the wall took a good three to four hours. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmhoa2fo0H5qwSlfj7FL7wN_6C8ECwtew089gcK5ophP0kQuWo4oP5q_kO5_bhvZ9ng6X5x_NAMW64CZcvwB2spcWivT6f_M8SIxCVMrm5khkD7YzgByoU34exm0HHFb3A_GykoMKP0A1wab4PmjlAY61_VCYkxfo7xQ2EkIeYbgvnw0lyVU5drdU/s1600/Paint9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmhoa2fo0H5qwSlfj7FL7wN_6C8ECwtew089gcK5ophP0kQuWo4oP5q_kO5_bhvZ9ng6X5x_NAMW64CZcvwB2spcWivT6f_M8SIxCVMrm5khkD7YzgByoU34exm0HHFb3A_GykoMKP0A1wab4PmjlAY61_VCYkxfo7xQ2EkIeYbgvnw0lyVU5drdU/w400-h301/Paint9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikml0WYN-CKj7h9dvkREhvjiKEHrr-CbFuuQorZ8EWH259SOkMSNJPc8rr2CjoxVUwd2prYvVsHzcm_j3-i-I0LtfAqZRZK7_Q3pRaLNsoiUfcoZjT1bHUA9Ta6ihlnlhRhb4Zgoe9cdy5KY7sEK9GD0l4HR77Xl-aotJF7xlkjgwT0K_1ucy_rT0_/s1600/Paint10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikml0WYN-CKj7h9dvkREhvjiKEHrr-CbFuuQorZ8EWH259SOkMSNJPc8rr2CjoxVUwd2prYvVsHzcm_j3-i-I0LtfAqZRZK7_Q3pRaLNsoiUfcoZjT1bHUA9Ta6ihlnlhRhb4Zgoe9cdy5KY7sEK9GD0l4HR77Xl-aotJF7xlkjgwT0K_1ucy_rT0_/w400-h301/Paint10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPipEx4TKpz5tr5WR5XxMh9el1rogKvxtIFcKXXv-S2RkxM2RlPWTYoR6Ap9MVyPkHLCQLRTsgGeuRf-v7vXuKJjFCZ2xVM606nyTsmvOYHLtLXpZI76I9aA3lsV0jhrqpBqoGoR-Ai7Yv4AykhU-vUXAiFAPgfStt3RufXc-L0hTi4eIdE-b-Q3wA/s1600/Paint11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPipEx4TKpz5tr5WR5XxMh9el1rogKvxtIFcKXXv-S2RkxM2RlPWTYoR6Ap9MVyPkHLCQLRTsgGeuRf-v7vXuKJjFCZ2xVM606nyTsmvOYHLtLXpZI76I9aA3lsV0jhrqpBqoGoR-Ai7Yv4AykhU-vUXAiFAPgfStt3RufXc-L0hTi4eIdE-b-Q3wA/w400-h301/Paint11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6F6xv4VBAJ3Oyb4GuoCDZZ2mj8KTFNQWc8-iVmpP4PBO1ZO35kqzZGccJPzUeEoUysFkRXjK9qaC5dH5ndlBFKmul5pswtp4NN-aYQJQOG014W8gcK7k0Kh9toNVexahCf1CwovBOvToCxTu5qcKzspjTYrC9KohXI22WraRkxNjSQoFIjHaXJ7lt/s1600/Paint8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1205" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6F6xv4VBAJ3Oyb4GuoCDZZ2mj8KTFNQWc8-iVmpP4PBO1ZO35kqzZGccJPzUeEoUysFkRXjK9qaC5dH5ndlBFKmul5pswtp4NN-aYQJQOG014W8gcK7k0Kh9toNVexahCf1CwovBOvToCxTu5qcKzspjTYrC9KohXI22WraRkxNjSQoFIjHaXJ7lt/w301-h400/Paint8.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqt9Xa1zW47SVXnBJ9kmKjsWcD6Q8bZ5CTtAJApR6CrFEkD8IDzjHilfuVMv6G4q21ENApBrdA3QMd798ftbw6TKG3LqJPS1coCtPXr_svdHL6MIWw9TbuB6OoV8WnfKZJN8FlByKsF2L_0AJ7CcnZaqnkNKjcU2ZGCTJvRbUvl15GZNXib2bQ_wbH/s1600/Paint7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1205" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqt9Xa1zW47SVXnBJ9kmKjsWcD6Q8bZ5CTtAJApR6CrFEkD8IDzjHilfuVMv6G4q21ENApBrdA3QMd798ftbw6TKG3LqJPS1coCtPXr_svdHL6MIWw9TbuB6OoV8WnfKZJN8FlByKsF2L_0AJ7CcnZaqnkNKjcU2ZGCTJvRbUvl15GZNXib2bQ_wbH/w301-h400/Paint7.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After the letters were painted, the wall looked fresh and neat. This would be the basis for our next move, getting the kids to put their hand prints on the wall. We had several colors to choose from. Each kiddo gloved up, had their gloved hand painted, and high-fived the wall. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQAK4I7qLOJu6rLQJCsRPuUcwxQt6qUd-eTVRfNOy1iAGYXh7k0-mLle24K3HDM2pgAjUhVNRfP-DBjQG_DGEzwb2a30ao-jp2OncHl8u_Uwid3W6EdRLMnXmbdVDKtd2XvDxR7PIs-g0sTcUGSVyp6nAx_NTpmqlYysSdK6azx9DfjXzHHKRKnP3/s1600/Paint4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQAK4I7qLOJu6rLQJCsRPuUcwxQt6qUd-eTVRfNOy1iAGYXh7k0-mLle24K3HDM2pgAjUhVNRfP-DBjQG_DGEzwb2a30ao-jp2OncHl8u_Uwid3W6EdRLMnXmbdVDKtd2XvDxR7PIs-g0sTcUGSVyp6nAx_NTpmqlYysSdK6azx9DfjXzHHKRKnP3/w400-h301/Paint4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09wK52abL8ML2bJSEiioz0UYtCvXsBPbeFxZf4W8CrwRzps0AmPrsLLpo-gI_AyWvunoG5qxyC9r1HdFgqCVmk7T94eDmErebo35tZ23XGHAnusjDQu27Zf5YOfokl6zOmZZ-XoDL-Gx5umzGZRwUOp1J8lMG8WFJobWpNsiOPidi1Jny8iJXBHyG/s1600/Paint5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09wK52abL8ML2bJSEiioz0UYtCvXsBPbeFxZf4W8CrwRzps0AmPrsLLpo-gI_AyWvunoG5qxyC9r1HdFgqCVmk7T94eDmErebo35tZ23XGHAnusjDQu27Zf5YOfokl6zOmZZ-XoDL-Gx5umzGZRwUOp1J8lMG8WFJobWpNsiOPidi1Jny8iJXBHyG/w400-h301/Paint5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnco5ZMRQOTvzSsxQ1z0vNHLVjWoHrBX3qjvz5pvKwoQNvNDlGTDL6X05UcupZH5S-oTnIVBHBLEMMXFyhMxbvQxpw81rAXGXfwaT2ywhh2BMoi0YMIZPPBJKiKkvCrWC7P7jf6JJ6L1XXGkDDqGtF7ZXwLA29Ib9jHRLVrCUdf10FAR0S9y1voHX/s1600/Paint6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnco5ZMRQOTvzSsxQ1z0vNHLVjWoHrBX3qjvz5pvKwoQNvNDlGTDL6X05UcupZH5S-oTnIVBHBLEMMXFyhMxbvQxpw81rAXGXfwaT2ywhh2BMoi0YMIZPPBJKiKkvCrWC7P7jf6JJ6L1XXGkDDqGtF7ZXwLA29Ib9jHRLVrCUdf10FAR0S9y1voHX/w400-h301/Paint6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After getting all of the kids' hand prints on the wall, we sealed the wall with polyurethane. This wall is a colorful, beautiful mural that every kids had a "hand" in creating. On a daily basis, kids walk by the mural and look for their hand print. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdlyWs6zR3bWtaxydy6iqzYJLW_euniLvQB-4qTKnNp9sZaksvAyGf1aOj1nBM88o25nECKEamZ2nYerzskE20-SLmapLPwZpkMg_n-cn1OVT61j_f1DvTLBK5_8tL9YPJCImlnECxJDewrFlnvXPYhXZ4Qvprz0aCP3pka8rnZOfezcNOJ-u6s1h/s1600/Paint3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdlyWs6zR3bWtaxydy6iqzYJLW_euniLvQB-4qTKnNp9sZaksvAyGf1aOj1nBM88o25nECKEamZ2nYerzskE20-SLmapLPwZpkMg_n-cn1OVT61j_f1DvTLBK5_8tL9YPJCImlnECxJDewrFlnvXPYhXZ4Qvprz0aCP3pka8rnZOfezcNOJ-u6s1h/w400-h301/Paint3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35xJL8OBKnfseRJfApz4vC1fG5mwL70hrc_Z9_GlZCUiy_XmMxbztubt6z83pJewz9boNJZgiNdHAIrEJELFgO2Km4fIO-gOKP-1tSuxudiwxWxvxiTy7AuGNjRAXh_uG8_iVbt6Cz-E2RH_OAp35XW0hH6_1OaeWHmqxrWgnksgQ3zmi0UdPuA35/s1600/Paint2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35xJL8OBKnfseRJfApz4vC1fG5mwL70hrc_Z9_GlZCUiy_XmMxbztubt6z83pJewz9boNJZgiNdHAIrEJELFgO2Km4fIO-gOKP-1tSuxudiwxWxvxiTy7AuGNjRAXh_uG8_iVbt6Cz-E2RH_OAp35XW0hH6_1OaeWHmqxrWgnksgQ3zmi0UdPuA35/w400-h301/Paint2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsm3mV8Q1ogBg-9M79s8TdN55ozJMfd4yBoaBKSlABGbreGpuntqAY9F13PrI81hkyRxVQJhJ5MX5rWM_32wYWpsjqmxtoJhN8QYAIiSumHP65dsUQQkdCkXzfdghXYOg2WWinRzztbtLYV1ojg_haexdLlfr8t5WDpjwMnabItdPYnv-rBIW8o-FI/s1600/Paint.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsm3mV8Q1ogBg-9M79s8TdN55ozJMfd4yBoaBKSlABGbreGpuntqAY9F13PrI81hkyRxVQJhJ5MX5rWM_32wYWpsjqmxtoJhN8QYAIiSumHP65dsUQQkdCkXzfdghXYOg2WWinRzztbtLYV1ojg_haexdLlfr8t5WDpjwMnabItdPYnv-rBIW8o-FI/w400-h301/Paint.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is important that kids see themselves in their school and that they have stake in their physical environment. We try to get kids involved as much as possible in beautifying campus. They have many ideas and they have the initiative to make those ideas a reality. Now that this area of our school is looking good, we move on to the next area that we want to tackle. So far we have been able to add so many beautiful areas to our school, but we have a large campus, and there is much more to do. With all of the great ideas and efforts of our staff and students, we know in a few years, out entire campus will look amazing!</div>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-45995442158754541162022-09-06T13:25:00.005-04:002022-09-06T13:28:40.899-04:00Our Interactive Learning Wonderland<p>The beginning of school is always a whirlwind. We hit the ground running and it seems like a few weeks go by before we can stop to take a breath. So many of us strive to give our kids the absolute best school experience, and to do that, we plan our environments carefully, capitalizing on the energy, creativity, and imagination of our kids, and ourselves. It takes a lot of time and effort to plan for a lively, fun, interactive learning environment. So many of the teachers in our school excel at creating amazing learning spaces. They spend countless hours creating and installing cool learning areas in their classrooms. </p><p>In the media center, we also want to create an imaginative, interactive learning wonderland. We want kids to experience a sense of awe when they walk through our doors. Over the past few years, we have been adding new features to our media center to try to make this library a destination for all of the kids at Lely Elementary. This post is an update of our efforts, to show the progress we have made toward our goal. There are many more surprises coming later this year and we'll feature them on our social media outlets as soon as they are ready to be unveiled. To follow us, check out our social media tags: Twitter - @dayankee, Instagram - @doneckert_libraryguy, and Facebook - Lely Elementary School Media Center. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZD9wKruOGC532zBin5-0rMD9gJ7aAHSSBn_u70iXBa4mAAMO2pdNAB-cIQqE52mZ2jTAcS2EfpSUKSW1Kyj7pQT37_WpcwazrSOfUt3G5cTV6VO5F15lOfewY5wh5cUsZVG2MGxvX9SwovKvtxHMENmp6MIFLWdc_f4MYsjZ9JC01hWmBllYznlJF/s1600/PXL_20220830_131940687.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZD9wKruOGC532zBin5-0rMD9gJ7aAHSSBn_u70iXBa4mAAMO2pdNAB-cIQqE52mZ2jTAcS2EfpSUKSW1Kyj7pQT37_WpcwazrSOfUt3G5cTV6VO5F15lOfewY5wh5cUsZVG2MGxvX9SwovKvtxHMENmp6MIFLWdc_f4MYsjZ9JC01hWmBllYznlJF/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_131940687.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our STEAM area features a fish tank, an aquaponics system (we just started growing lettuce seeds), and two enclosed ecosystems featuring plants and beta fish.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhskdr4XTsJXdW4CVWrsq9_tjDCThQTIkXOv0X71Fm4ZNgrD4lfXSO9HJlvmyP3HfXYwDT8pJwvC63vLFoCoCwc2XRkzgn_OB_tv_FwfU3FAu3Bb8kzlQCpdfWnb6mSe2zQNLO3Sk9LItjcm9TVP1ACEgVnzB0PbuWjOpRY5_l5XI4QEv6x0NXg5Hgo/s1600/PXL_20220830_131948493.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhskdr4XTsJXdW4CVWrsq9_tjDCThQTIkXOv0X71Fm4ZNgrD4lfXSO9HJlvmyP3HfXYwDT8pJwvC63vLFoCoCwc2XRkzgn_OB_tv_FwfU3FAu3Bb8kzlQCpdfWnb6mSe2zQNLO3Sk9LItjcm9TVP1ACEgVnzB0PbuWjOpRY5_l5XI4QEv6x0NXg5Hgo/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_131948493.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also in our STEAM area, we have a 3D printer and a plasma ball. Kids love the plasma ball especially because they learn about electricity when they use it. The STEAM area is very interactive.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ZsMpXpfkS8AYnX1h5a_92yfTUmcT9GbD7l4PJ9GDIhBhMHX_7qUjIPOS1UcTOefb5KSwshnBZtKYf-0XtgonZgWDTPvh35HtN-XXY1-kXAqzjOT8K_mgMejv9VA87oXyhjXns15TNvyM68Rr20Bb6xyzJfpShJIYHRYRtJS9zdYq3mH5kX0YUbPI/s1600/PXL_20220830_131955121.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ZsMpXpfkS8AYnX1h5a_92yfTUmcT9GbD7l4PJ9GDIhBhMHX_7qUjIPOS1UcTOefb5KSwshnBZtKYf-0XtgonZgWDTPvh35HtN-XXY1-kXAqzjOT8K_mgMejv9VA87oXyhjXns15TNvyM68Rr20Bb6xyzJfpShJIYHRYRtJS9zdYq3mH5kX0YUbPI/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_131955121.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We just got these magnetic fabric blocks and they are a hit with the kids. They are constantly finding some time to build a variety of things. Lately, they have tried building furniture and forts with the blocks.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdFX66QJfL1RGTiBHLj38jCwV_o9sdtpQfPPwA0vDPr3qd3v2MWVRreQizns0Zq9PBZ2FhMY8Mr8SYacnUIpHpQJvdbPLQra5PSBVxQH3MOnTyTFbM0E6WWMe_fvEo_Obczo43QUdg27-8ANDvu241l65Co9b8DrFymDkZq_5WMwh8OtG_a8ZjoG3/s1600/PXL_20220830_131959445.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdFX66QJfL1RGTiBHLj38jCwV_o9sdtpQfPPwA0vDPr3qd3v2MWVRreQizns0Zq9PBZ2FhMY8Mr8SYacnUIpHpQJvdbPLQra5PSBVxQH3MOnTyTFbM0E6WWMe_fvEo_Obczo43QUdg27-8ANDvu241l65Co9b8DrFymDkZq_5WMwh8OtG_a8ZjoG3/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_131959445.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A few weeks ago, we got this giant Connect 4 game. Kids love strategy games and they are always trying to outthink each other. Kids use this game constantly to exercise their brains.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrEtbqcYHJQMr-abMfaadINnVGZalPC_mbS3KAfF1XxsP5QFcD7PJSiYvTZFc1UozIkoszGLYoHhWeRTJIRlTBzTRIrsi7zecn-c-lJoVbJ4ftMgVbKNsW13OrtofBAbdiEiX271IrKCTVew1z2sicoLRgddRfL9YPmzOobdE0Zt3BWbuHLmevqR6Y/s1600/PXL_20220830_132007520.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrEtbqcYHJQMr-abMfaadINnVGZalPC_mbS3KAfF1XxsP5QFcD7PJSiYvTZFc1UozIkoszGLYoHhWeRTJIRlTBzTRIrsi7zecn-c-lJoVbJ4ftMgVbKNsW13OrtofBAbdiEiX271IrKCTVew1z2sicoLRgddRfL9YPmzOobdE0Zt3BWbuHLmevqR6Y/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_132007520.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is the heart of the library. It is our read-aloud area, where the kids gather for story time. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXi_vIRXe1_8t9I45L0_1jH8CZfigcYdb_GL63JRxpjMOfTRvrz1fTr4XM2pE2CuUfIv6bLBeHRyqM1mxHb1vGZpoIBH7PzHGK1NT5GxtU8OYcHiGCDXvxfMl38OMafT_XkVcWMIGZzDTG7sO3l3HMK081XrWhFlnHdpWASW8H4B2ppL94G1bNtcCw/s1600/PXL_20220830_132014301.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXi_vIRXe1_8t9I45L0_1jH8CZfigcYdb_GL63JRxpjMOfTRvrz1fTr4XM2pE2CuUfIv6bLBeHRyqM1mxHb1vGZpoIBH7PzHGK1NT5GxtU8OYcHiGCDXvxfMl38OMafT_XkVcWMIGZzDTG7sO3l3HMK081XrWhFlnHdpWASW8H4B2ppL94G1bNtcCw/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_132014301.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The read-aloud area from another angle. Our reading tents are featured here.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZub8rR2bZEn2yltPOOBIJtejm-9s10yx5BzsdniD2BTlwv-d9XzySgmOdqMVDzvPrfNsGnTbW49MkVx8uYYJp46ssTADxVr0aB2lBjj22_GiojqjE70su62nd9LSK9UOkA8MRyLkMpn4jQ4RZrzIbm5OiNXH3_6WOOZYGT0TblSkSpWakmASdWCXw/s1600/PXL_20220830_132025927.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZub8rR2bZEn2yltPOOBIJtejm-9s10yx5BzsdniD2BTlwv-d9XzySgmOdqMVDzvPrfNsGnTbW49MkVx8uYYJp46ssTADxVr0aB2lBjj22_GiojqjE70su62nd9LSK9UOkA8MRyLkMpn4jQ4RZrzIbm5OiNXH3_6WOOZYGT0TblSkSpWakmASdWCXw/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_132025927.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Just a few weeks ago, we got these super cool rocking readers. Kids looooove them. The kids think they are gaming chairs, but we know that they are really reading chairs. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXjlPHmxFD2SK7lK_NTAB030UMoKrrq8cxPq1LsX5lIJ0-ag8uC2NaB3EuC9lsDZ6EUmwnNxBkNSqA5VbY_PRWMg-Z9zDiugiIntN_RpEaWudrkC6EQ0qaCSMbY0hrE-cNHQyUl4M5AjZTyKMOHbAiFONefdW5iSiXUc2me_HFkKQzkB_0s2cUpoV/s1600/PXL_20220830_132032471.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigXjlPHmxFD2SK7lK_NTAB030UMoKrrq8cxPq1LsX5lIJ0-ag8uC2NaB3EuC9lsDZ6EUmwnNxBkNSqA5VbY_PRWMg-Z9zDiugiIntN_RpEaWudrkC6EQ0qaCSMbY0hrE-cNHQyUl4M5AjZTyKMOHbAiFONefdW5iSiXUc2me_HFkKQzkB_0s2cUpoV/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_132032471.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Some of the items in our Maker Space. The magnetic tiles and coaster-making kits are especially popular. We have Maker Mornings where each morning before school, a different grade level is welcome to come in to use the library resources. The kids always gravitate to the Maker materials.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWKTTZVn4Lxlqx33RCv2UC1Of03rfwAqysFjmjMy65lHo0-1KhFdozKvVdx7QAxmbJdwWfOxOembKjrF_bV3g2RHvmNS-WM6HJj6WSibM60P4XURNYdFxLX9uEwn-PadQsaPtug-kpPvvyYfb3Vyga7Qq1BqCXTBJd-WMdYPRrAaoBjuXCevUikc_/s1600/PXL_20220830_132047021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWKTTZVn4Lxlqx33RCv2UC1Of03rfwAqysFjmjMy65lHo0-1KhFdozKvVdx7QAxmbJdwWfOxOembKjrF_bV3g2RHvmNS-WM6HJj6WSibM60P4XURNYdFxLX9uEwn-PadQsaPtug-kpPvvyYfb3Vyga7Qq1BqCXTBJd-WMdYPRrAaoBjuXCevUikc_/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_132047021.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We got our book vending machine last year. In order to get a book, kids have to score Bingo on a card that is given to them at the beginning of the year. Each square on the card is a different reading goal. Finish five of the goals in a line and you come down for a magic coin that works in the vending machine for a free book.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghgdsnLr9FqCjKiRRMAiezDVDd77Mf3yoORj715NjaLqPMe0V3Gq1ZNdg0ZNCbKtIGFh5u35Licxq4xgAmSEVqEsb3mi4kM0grKN7mhUrGs9nSajNitotwSAz2jNGYmUikLiXBp3wk1GgLTwhgWPPimkwBwWYJkMYk7eQmwHUnc8SWDcYloxbnqxj9/s1600/PXL_20220830_132101274.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghgdsnLr9FqCjKiRRMAiezDVDd77Mf3yoORj715NjaLqPMe0V3Gq1ZNdg0ZNCbKtIGFh5u35Licxq4xgAmSEVqEsb3mi4kM0grKN7mhUrGs9nSajNitotwSAz2jNGYmUikLiXBp3wk1GgLTwhgWPPimkwBwWYJkMYk7eQmwHUnc8SWDcYloxbnqxj9/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_132101274.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We have gel tiles at each of the doors. When kids (or adults) walk on them, the gel moves. The kids (and adults) love walking all over them as they enter the media center.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSHzVJtYchaOXW5TyTfor807lPRqsmmBfKd0PPzFogx0B_XlLv8iWZ3VHAHRIoi5pfUM8SohwrlEla74w5DZXfTbnGp-Io2kn7soVLRJWB9TxPZ-KjPDU0kunDMspOW1gIkLhGVKxCLtt2S95W__KChbMT8ShG5CXCzowOy48JQGneacSWikohpsn/s1600/PXL_20220830_132113541.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSHzVJtYchaOXW5TyTfor807lPRqsmmBfKd0PPzFogx0B_XlLv8iWZ3VHAHRIoi5pfUM8SohwrlEla74w5DZXfTbnGp-Io2kn7soVLRJWB9TxPZ-KjPDU0kunDMspOW1gIkLhGVKxCLtt2S95W__KChbMT8ShG5CXCzowOy48JQGneacSWikohpsn/w400-h301/PXL_20220830_132113541.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lately, we converted our graphic novel section to bins. It had been more difficult to see the books with only the spines visible. Now the kids see the covers of the series that they are interested in. Kids are wild about graphic novels and we try to make available the things that they want to read. We are hooking new readers everyday!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There will be many more updates this year. There are two big changes coming in the next few months. We can't wait to see the kids' reactions when they see them. Part of the fun of running an elementary school library is creating an interactive learning wonderland. We are well on our way, but there is still a ways to go! </div><br /><p><br /></p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-20817887181601309522022-04-20T09:38:00.004-04:002022-04-20T09:41:34.129-04:00Applying Our Learning<p>The other day, we were talking about an article that we read. It dealt with using oysters to filter pollution from the water in Hudson Bay. We talked for a while about how that would work and how an ecosystem like that works in general. Later in the discussion, we related the oysters of Hudson Bay to our own enclosed aquaponics ecosystem in the media center. Right now, we have a fish tank hooked up to an aquaponics system and we are trying to grow strawberries and lettuce. It has been a disappointing venture. Something is not working correctly and we have yet to come up with a solution.</p><p>Some of the kiddos thought they could take a look at the system and determine the problem and come up with a solution. Being of the mind that kids should be doing most of the learning through hands-on experiences, I took them up on their offer. A couple of the kids came down to the media center and looked over the system. I explained what I thought was the problem. Right now, we have a dozen or so fish in the tank and a system that holds over 90 plants. That is far too many and most of the plants have died off. The boys were determined to save the still-living plants and maybe plant a few more seeds to see if the system would support them.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPNGgbgxGC5Ir4RsFLEDIeMFtndqDloLBzweFipemfT-_q0TikKAQfMv5JBg8hGE2BZtB0Yhm1U1JpGmNi55tlkKwPhOXMQjm1XOLR02-p2oJmA8Kl9JY_L967b7bg1yzxaBO_8ftY0ahBwJEKpsl6hojFhT2C1CEZtVgZ22wAMjhUZpA5yrBAa912" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPNGgbgxGC5Ir4RsFLEDIeMFtndqDloLBzweFipemfT-_q0TikKAQfMv5JBg8hGE2BZtB0Yhm1U1JpGmNi55tlkKwPhOXMQjm1XOLR02-p2oJmA8Kl9JY_L967b7bg1yzxaBO_8ftY0ahBwJEKpsl6hojFhT2C1CEZtVgZ22wAMjhUZpA5yrBAa912=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>First off, they determined that the top deck of the system was too close to the light and the top needed to be taken off. That is probably true but it isn't feasible to take the top deck off of the system at this time. Instead, they moved all of the living plants to the bottom deck so that the light would not be as intense. They also moved the plants to areas of the deck where the light would be enough to grow them but not too intense as to burn them up. They also pulled out the roots of all of the dead plants and allowed more water flow.<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiK0IiXyqoPimsK72WNa3n7__-oYhpoyAnZW8FJmOymY106nFCUjSoNyFlLPSgZG39TgrmP_5Y0mscK0PX6cHuhlzMVztWus-XhCBS7-vOY45G-UNZNY7DAsojsAxxmxqL8GLjphMLnt5uIRIuY6UeB87hAdgOmqyPLpq8VAwMd5sb9xQlhV0gx3_kq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiK0IiXyqoPimsK72WNa3n7__-oYhpoyAnZW8FJmOymY106nFCUjSoNyFlLPSgZG39TgrmP_5Y0mscK0PX6cHuhlzMVztWus-XhCBS7-vOY45G-UNZNY7DAsojsAxxmxqL8GLjphMLnt5uIRIuY6UeB87hAdgOmqyPLpq8VAwMd5sb9xQlhV0gx3_kq=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>This is the first tweak to the system. The kids are going to check in every few days to see if their changes are working and, if not, tweak some more. They are learning through hypothesizing and experimenting, experiential learning. What they learn from this project will stick with them, I'm sure. <p></p><p>This is another area of the media center that will be run by students. In our library, we try to get the kids to take over as many of the duties as possible, from checking in and checking out books, to helping set up new areas of the library, to brainstorming ideas to make the library even more of a draw for the kids in our school. We feel that we have 500 kids' brains brimming with ideas and we would be foolish not to tap into those ideas. Our media center is still evolving into the kid-friendly learning wonderland that we hope it will be. We feel that we are well on our way to that goal. </p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-32141215101403866902022-04-05T09:02:00.003-04:002022-04-05T09:05:21.018-04:00Reading Marketplace Prize-a-palooza<p>How do you hook kids into reading when reading may not be their favorite thing to do? Well, I always say that kids who don't love reading just haven't found "their books" yet. It is true. Once kids find the books and authors that they love, they become voracious readers. But what do we do to entice them to try books? How do we get them to read certain authors? Forcing them doesn't work. Demanding it doesn't work. Assigning it doesn't work. They may read and find it "boring" and become kids who hate reading. That is not what we want. We must hook them, and sometimes we have to entice them with...prizes!</p><p>At Lely Elementary, we started a Reading Marketplace Prize-a-palooza where kids can "spend" the points they earned in the Reading Counts Program. Kids read books, take a short quiz, pass the quiz, accumulate points, and on Marketplace Day, spend those points. This is the way we entice kids to give reading a shot and to try different authors. Sometimes, the power of the prize really works with elementary school kiddos. It certainly did for us. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOA1M9byBhvoOh96dS3pEvjFYug_od32xIfimuXipwgoQh9bfsKMiNh3Wik5sY18VtOnDzx8fC1n4JHf7fNidkccpi65oQM8RaP8OU_mPYktpFcUizH1jPpcgGEt8O6HJ7x_l0LXCtsuT4xp93JHborRSd8UliUXQ6Y0xxHN-WGmwqqs6D4g-Z_-ui/s2016/7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOA1M9byBhvoOh96dS3pEvjFYug_od32xIfimuXipwgoQh9bfsKMiNh3Wik5sY18VtOnDzx8fC1n4JHf7fNidkccpi65oQM8RaP8OU_mPYktpFcUizH1jPpcgGEt8O6HJ7x_l0LXCtsuT4xp93JHborRSd8UliUXQ6Y0xxHN-WGmwqqs6D4g-Z_-ui/w400-h300/7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kids were so excited to spend their points on prizes ranging from 1-150 points. We had put together a selection of prizes that ranged from mini-fridges and stuffed animals to passes for Maker Space time in the media center or extra recess. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9P9hNWe4loBocSKZcFow7Szl6YCNczc_iGsOdHMF0DLW207XnOcUlgZhcW7A4_0n65VA-vCQb-Rs-4kRHjKV94DjYpsGet84lgO2s9tJKkYuaJZltnuvS2m5oSHyE7BgevaMbCJ14E5H_6Y8Tm1yStMS1-x9AGzP-VAkJkrpRBmlu2WVeIZkNFcq/s2016/8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9P9hNWe4loBocSKZcFow7Szl6YCNczc_iGsOdHMF0DLW207XnOcUlgZhcW7A4_0n65VA-vCQb-Rs-4kRHjKV94DjYpsGet84lgO2s9tJKkYuaJZltnuvS2m5oSHyE7BgevaMbCJ14E5H_6Y8Tm1yStMS1-x9AGzP-VAkJkrpRBmlu2WVeIZkNFcq/w400-h300/8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Each class had a half hour to shop the marketplace. We had separated high-point prizes in one room and lower-point prizes in a connecting room. Kids walked through the high-point room and, if they had enough points, could purchase anything in the room. Then we moved to the lower-point room and everyone spent their points there. We did not allow kids to "save" points; they had to spend them all, and they did. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORWb_PfgXJGSxTQ0Dh2B7xbxWqbnZ38I0Ix6zHmQRBjEQ4u-rKg6J91LtRkJnHMgnHcQAVtBxG7wYx_ehX4oPGsQkaDfheXpIYdjN2GwadafHtkM6vTMq7UOS2Z_sIUhDJE2loM0h1aQwc1fZcRg_RateXdyMEqDrUj-Y-FiqQLUIU9MHHhp_wnZ7/s2016/12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORWb_PfgXJGSxTQ0Dh2B7xbxWqbnZ38I0Ix6zHmQRBjEQ4u-rKg6J91LtRkJnHMgnHcQAVtBxG7wYx_ehX4oPGsQkaDfheXpIYdjN2GwadafHtkM6vTMq7UOS2Z_sIUhDJE2loM0h1aQwc1fZcRg_RateXdyMEqDrUj-Y-FiqQLUIU9MHHhp_wnZ7/w400-h300/12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our kids were incredibly excited to visit the marketplace. Already they were making plans for the next quarter and the books they would read and the points they would accumulate. We have most of the kids hooked. Now, it's time to use that hook to steer them toward "their books". It would be a waste if we did not work with their natural motivation and help them become intrinsically-motivated, voracious readers. Now that they are open to reading more books, we can figure out which books they will love most. We can use their interests to turn them on to authors they will love and find books similar to the ones they already love. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnCRXc6BvnIGj7yAugvrRgKXdPGzZuL9sP5aZfRetTvVtWYLxP3LTP70e-oVV49_JlyB7gXnVlDqXFTEClQj2PIusBVhXOPwa-oGY77ew87QeisEiv3lyAMUKEh_v27OaXrtK0uX_0CvTWPZv4w73iXpF8Bbiyv7IjUwUDSRbu6PxOtblECBEQsh7/s2016/9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnCRXc6BvnIGj7yAugvrRgKXdPGzZuL9sP5aZfRetTvVtWYLxP3LTP70e-oVV49_JlyB7gXnVlDqXFTEClQj2PIusBVhXOPwa-oGY77ew87QeisEiv3lyAMUKEh_v27OaXrtK0uX_0CvTWPZv4w73iXpF8Bbiyv7IjUwUDSRbu6PxOtblECBEQsh7/w400-h300/9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDzkddve0ioFNEDopT-GXQME3EjLOMKWJ69PYPAznnx11Vjh5R0rZL9J5GeU-3M_gAhXbHPX8uGNPJjjfyhDMProqC6az-MVCv4gt0dAvgUGAmEX0jy16rWkdJ6J7eMhQgFBcEbHeXDbZj9rdd58KJBytutNp_XIa2IV3U79I1DSkeqro691XRoYd/s2016/10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRDzkddve0ioFNEDopT-GXQME3EjLOMKWJ69PYPAznnx11Vjh5R0rZL9J5GeU-3M_gAhXbHPX8uGNPJjjfyhDMProqC6az-MVCv4gt0dAvgUGAmEX0jy16rWkdJ6J7eMhQgFBcEbHeXDbZj9rdd58KJBytutNp_XIa2IV3U79I1DSkeqro691XRoYd/w400-h300/10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OnKGtQ1KUl2BdkJQ8pF6fZGXZc5Vq820YLXpKj5KLSHmbsIeYanxLr6TKyWiY6oo3XhSCTeT3FiyLlAvq2JV9qoTV7IMAPQsLF8vPBP-LpUUYzzY8a2fwpXukSfIIPI10qPg5VRnyKVXo8T0C_G8vo5hkKwJx44BMO5HY-ugJo9d8oFCJOMakXvA/s2016/11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OnKGtQ1KUl2BdkJQ8pF6fZGXZc5Vq820YLXpKj5KLSHmbsIeYanxLr6TKyWiY6oo3XhSCTeT3FiyLlAvq2JV9qoTV7IMAPQsLF8vPBP-LpUUYzzY8a2fwpXukSfIIPI10qPg5VRnyKVXo8T0C_G8vo5hkKwJx44BMO5HY-ugJo9d8oFCJOMakXvA/w400-h300/11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is not our end goal to give prizes for reading. The prizes are a means to an end. Our end goal is to help develop lifelong readers. In order to do that, we have to get kids to love reading. The Prize-a-palooza was one step in the process and now we must take that enthusiasm for reading and continue to show kids the wonders of reading. If we get them to love reading now, we have set them up for much success in their futures. </div>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-39843699567908011892022-03-23T09:23:00.005-04:002022-03-23T09:26:56.287-04:00Media Center Updates - The Progress Continues<p>Our mission in the Lely Elementary School Media Center is simple: create a kid-friendly, colorful, vibrant learning wonderland. To that end, we are creating spaces that will inspire wonderment in our kids and spur them to investigate and ask questions. Our media center is not a book warehouse; it is an interactive learning experience. At least, that is what we want it to be, and so we keep that end goal in mind with every feature that we add. What will inspire kids? What will bring out their curiosity? What will make them think and investigate? What will make them want to learn?</p><p>In the past couple of months, we have added a lot of features that the kids seem to love. We created an entire STEM area full of things for kids to observe and ways for kids to create. We have our enclosed ecosystems featuring our aquaponics and fish tank. This is a system where the water from the fish tank is pumped out and through the aquaponics garden, watering the plants. The plants filter and clean the water before it is returned to the fish tank. Kids can see this system at work every half hour. To be honest, the kids really come in to see the fish! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHp58dxrmK0ZKrzAozqXHtGCMldMNiOLLkJsw9qgT_0cXuEq1GUzuqsCufdt-4la_GmBME5wQxfsAEnED6M_g3eYKBfHtntqzzleo2daoQ8CY9FbRCmZsprIcCmctqhO54RAF95s5Hnb0HJfjN0LxyEsC1wNMGKiFubMwMYB3NGDq_YS16oBJ2NRb2/s2016/Blog4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHp58dxrmK0ZKrzAozqXHtGCMldMNiOLLkJsw9qgT_0cXuEq1GUzuqsCufdt-4la_GmBME5wQxfsAEnED6M_g3eYKBfHtntqzzleo2daoQ8CY9FbRCmZsprIcCmctqhO54RAF95s5Hnb0HJfjN0LxyEsC1wNMGKiFubMwMYB3NGDq_YS16oBJ2NRb2/w400-h300/Blog4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72xvYFwL4FzxE1UyGNeHVVAwQ4ZGoZoEbwFx43f7ur-FcT9egbNzjc5V1FcrwpLeGn3Mh-8isMgNEctFr7YRcKL9YeX7UEczOao2JteBEW6lEtGSJww-7GGu-QMAtmRgB9obB_y9UjbCezpY9GlLTPXyy6BmlRHnlwR0bIeT3tEDBeemzLGF9jDUm/s2016/Blog9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72xvYFwL4FzxE1UyGNeHVVAwQ4ZGoZoEbwFx43f7ur-FcT9egbNzjc5V1FcrwpLeGn3Mh-8isMgNEctFr7YRcKL9YeX7UEczOao2JteBEW6lEtGSJww-7GGu-QMAtmRgB9obB_y9UjbCezpY9GlLTPXyy6BmlRHnlwR0bIeT3tEDBeemzLGF9jDUm/w400-h300/Blog9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlGc6-1idKQZrQcnBJzNxtvqyhe6j5VYHCSvP-RdqKCKz0eAQWllE2GAWZC9DH_R4dPkMFh4NeOQAN0tnIurdfIRwMGrlUz-eIL6FL7dvtsAB6ISaGV_742BxdBvDMd7YYoTA-x8QNGFXnKaoIk1kvTvFdHa9hYf0LstJ7hlZvJNG7U6MOj3xnp3e/s2016/Aquaponics2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlGc6-1idKQZrQcnBJzNxtvqyhe6j5VYHCSvP-RdqKCKz0eAQWllE2GAWZC9DH_R4dPkMFh4NeOQAN0tnIurdfIRwMGrlUz-eIL6FL7dvtsAB6ISaGV_742BxdBvDMd7YYoTA-x8QNGFXnKaoIk1kvTvFdHa9hYf0LstJ7hlZvJNG7U6MOj3xnp3e/w400-h300/Aquaponics2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After seeing how much the kids loved the aquaponics set-up, we moved our 3D printer to that area as well. Kids can now see the printer at work, and some kids have started designing objects to print themselves. Whenever the 3D printer is at work, the kids stop for a few minutes to marvel at how it works. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BaBrR-Fg8S1-K9OHiBzsAqWBWrUGjSCVEPXbiVX4j3Z57_ezqk0WFmxcxhdQ4ERu3G_ONG6qiTvlWqisAqwDZb64Pu4INuGmnEYjsBtkocjzXZg3FtFDRzTWao_VVpMKfyf8gK90vx3skaV0g4dkBE6gofuvjJznPU1uswyz2m1isXhZXZy9xB6n/s2016/Blog5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BaBrR-Fg8S1-K9OHiBzsAqWBWrUGjSCVEPXbiVX4j3Z57_ezqk0WFmxcxhdQ4ERu3G_ONG6qiTvlWqisAqwDZb64Pu4INuGmnEYjsBtkocjzXZg3FtFDRzTWao_VVpMKfyf8gK90vx3skaV0g4dkBE6gofuvjJznPU1uswyz2m1isXhZXZy9xB6n/w300-h400/Blog5.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To complete our STEM station, we got a Plasma Ball. This really "wow'd" the kiddos. They saw the electricity running through it and immediately wanted to touch it. When they did, they discovered that the electricity in the ball was drawn to the electricity in their bodies. Now, kids cannot come to the media center without touching the plasma ball! They love it and ask many good questions about how it works. This is discovery learning at its finest. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3P721sapxBYDNVsL4Ex_Fg1AepSRumCEg6hakLAzjnzAVV_qaU1LV0MlBAV_SUXph5NfICKtt-n7cZzfaxskKx_csiXnrKQH5QIwO6nNByEB7rlTIUQrdGqPVxfDKCRXYSq4Zq8Yiz1dNNsuiDxYgTNrJV5v-J2xW45XlNe1TNeM_qgMGeIIkWavL/s2016/Blog3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3P721sapxBYDNVsL4Ex_Fg1AepSRumCEg6hakLAzjnzAVV_qaU1LV0MlBAV_SUXph5NfICKtt-n7cZzfaxskKx_csiXnrKQH5QIwO6nNByEB7rlTIUQrdGqPVxfDKCRXYSq4Zq8Yiz1dNNsuiDxYgTNrJV5v-J2xW45XlNe1TNeM_qgMGeIIkWavL/w300-h400/Blog3.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another cool feature that we added to the media center is a TV and outdoor speaker. We hung the TV facing outward in the media center window. On it, we play slideshows, videos, and other school-related information for the kids to watch as they walk by or stand in line outside the media center. The speaker will play the video sounds or music when the slideshow plays with no background music. Normally we play Mozart or Handel while the slideshows play. Right now we are playing a slideshow with pictures from our incredibly successful walk-a-thon. Kids love seeing the pictures that we rotate on the television. All of the programming is controlled by a laptop that we have inside the media center that is hooked to the television with an HDMI cord. It is a nifty set-up. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju65sOHZLOknpJRPfP1gFH9iEACGLsHbxSXVW-woPcmZzfn7mGTzr7OHe-WAmHgSRJ6ug_WUVK2gRjm6L3VGOo73XIbbvxBbjFSsjcp0paBKOigL8CM7ch0KqPZz23Hi73QpNCfmZJdANJSM_dWKD-ob_Hji-XpTZ5BuTV3_H1IhKFh9-oMe3REGDv/s2016/Blog8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju65sOHZLOknpJRPfP1gFH9iEACGLsHbxSXVW-woPcmZzfn7mGTzr7OHe-WAmHgSRJ6ug_WUVK2gRjm6L3VGOo73XIbbvxBbjFSsjcp0paBKOigL8CM7ch0KqPZz23Hi73QpNCfmZJdANJSM_dWKD-ob_Hji-XpTZ5BuTV3_H1IhKFh9-oMe3REGDv/w400-h300/Blog8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0FPHLvFL65KEeUUrhGzRUlUK_3d8fE4lGbI1scEVwIiis6iSNCBCu7-WK_AeXnjJvVgL2NE1Hs2mY0-lMeXcKeANXm7XVswKIVU8iP667D9rFuk0khC-ykLjsWj24wemG0KQBQnH0zQrVgozvJ4hGAcO4Vo6ryuBx38b3B78MQ5ZlAkL92YDn-Scj/s2016/Blog7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0FPHLvFL65KEeUUrhGzRUlUK_3d8fE4lGbI1scEVwIiis6iSNCBCu7-WK_AeXnjJvVgL2NE1Hs2mY0-lMeXcKeANXm7XVswKIVU8iP667D9rFuk0khC-ykLjsWj24wemG0KQBQnH0zQrVgozvJ4hGAcO4Vo6ryuBx38b3B78MQ5ZlAkL92YDn-Scj/w300-h400/Blog7.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">During book fair, we try to create a fun and vibrant event! This year, we did two things that the kids seemed to love. We had gotten some gel tiles to create a pathway into the book fair. When kids step on the tile, the colored gel moves. They loved these tiles. They would walk back and forth on them, play hopscotch on them, and jump up and down on them. These tiles were a hit! The kids also liked the blinking light strips that we put up around the media center doors. We had a lot of "Whoas!" when kids saw them. We like that!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjARMJ84a-4fl7C3uH2tfEGO7CeopcuRPtNZtZsf-nocs1KYzfWdGdaBt-1_BBu56B5VqUsDs9_3KIiXTNxbn8RBwPa764pUxWIUAcMZ9XvMmPjvQVa3WvJuBZ6Taw-qf-U5nHbYfQn0L0qWZ2gnLPYS4naZjCeIgOvFykiPWLXwHNGJnIDxRWC07WP/s2016/Blog6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjARMJ84a-4fl7C3uH2tfEGO7CeopcuRPtNZtZsf-nocs1KYzfWdGdaBt-1_BBu56B5VqUsDs9_3KIiXTNxbn8RBwPa764pUxWIUAcMZ9XvMmPjvQVa3WvJuBZ6Taw-qf-U5nHbYfQn0L0qWZ2gnLPYS4naZjCeIgOvFykiPWLXwHNGJnIDxRWC07WP/w300-h400/Blog6.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkffYdr3VkWphJ6z58CnhTziGlLoZ9jCu3qDBQmYj5US3rXoal_dyHwobfc8U9BmlSVdsAJ3BasZw4Zwb5ly8efX4U6aH8fFRRO2HmA562jx4CJ5gM6nOKJpt5GId8LNgJcU1a2riPxYcVvJ-Skb83A_1N93e-aKTPOXQjtCOerL3HKiU0TKX-R3SW/s2016/Blog10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkffYdr3VkWphJ6z58CnhTziGlLoZ9jCu3qDBQmYj5US3rXoal_dyHwobfc8U9BmlSVdsAJ3BasZw4Zwb5ly8efX4U6aH8fFRRO2HmA562jx4CJ5gM6nOKJpt5GId8LNgJcU1a2riPxYcVvJ-Skb83A_1N93e-aKTPOXQjtCOerL3HKiU0TKX-R3SW/w300-h400/Blog10.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div>All in all, this has been a productive stretch for our media center improvements. Our favorite comment from kids is, "Every time I come into the media center, there's something new!" We are happy that they notice the changes. We will continue to change and evolve until this media center is the kid-friendly, colorful, vibrant learning wonderland that we are striving to create. We are well on our way but stay tuned for some big changes that are coming in the next few months. We are having the time of our lives creating this space for our kids!Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-44884021017663228382022-02-04T08:38:00.008-05:002022-02-04T08:41:49.214-05:00Building Our STEM Station<p>In our quest to make our media center a student-friendly learning wonderland, we're installing some STEM projects in one area of the library. So far, we have installed an aquaponics system so that kids can see how various forms of life live in interdependency in an enclosed ecosystem. We know that there is a huge push for kids to invest more in the science, tech, engineering and math fields and we hope to get the ball rolling on that early in life. Elementary school seems the perfect time to introduce some of these things to the kiddos.</p><p>In the media center at Lely Elementary, we want to build things that make the kids think, wonder, ponder, and question. We want them to walk in, see something, and say, "Whoa!" We want them to be so interested in what they are seeing that they will ask question after question and maybe, down the road, explore more. After all, we are a library, where learning is paramount. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFf-rNxpRXnSzSQh0lNEDr4qmd00YLF6SdbD1ZLX6aw4SwjEy26VQ_Vq8PbfXAgpEvylSOmifWn44G-dM0-oan6F-iFDu2m4cLcBim9Tup-hTotyvYf-myHABAIqu1iRz5sIovvdiHQH5HVFML89q_fHIzs2xiU7NwJZRYVV6OZv6mI1N4WJuySDwG=s2016" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFf-rNxpRXnSzSQh0lNEDr4qmd00YLF6SdbD1ZLX6aw4SwjEy26VQ_Vq8PbfXAgpEvylSOmifWn44G-dM0-oan6F-iFDu2m4cLcBim9Tup-hTotyvYf-myHABAIqu1iRz5sIovvdiHQH5HVFML89q_fHIzs2xiU7NwJZRYVV6OZv6mI1N4WJuySDwG=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><p>We wrote a Donors Choose grant to get the materials: and aquaponics pipe system, a fish tank, and a grow light. After setting up the fish tank, we introduced fish to the ecosystem first. We needed them to cycle the water and dirty it up a bit. The pipes for planting sat empty until we brought in some lettuce starts. Those did not fare well. It seems as if the grow light was too strong on the top level and it burned up the plants. Now we are in the troubleshooting phase of the journey. We replaced the lettuce starts on the top rack with heartier strawberry plants and kept the lettuce starts on the bottom level. They seem to be doing fairly well. We also put some lettuce seeds in the bottom rack of cups to supplement. So far, so good.</p><p>The idea is that kids will see that ecosystems are interdependent places where animals and plants live in harmony, both benefitting from the other and needing the other to stay alive. We show how the system works, how it takes the water from the fish tank, runs it through the pipes that hold the plants (which filters the water), and returns that water to the tank. Kids see the fish water soak the plant roots and come back clean to the tank. They think it is cool and they are full of questions, which we answer to the best of our ability.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjub5bevjlrWPGoB5hoK8OdgtVrQHrPG1SlHf9f3iBng96ZFAbPuU1dcXvBbze2c-pSKyZNWmlhaMp6PVlRr9u05VTLSp1jLg4U-vJ0CoNCMqmzVRhCoWHykzzAL914y2mMr7iaWZKyBOPtt1c6tkDw4Bc3ynLQkbw-czEIh44f6ZPidEzFFB8722fl=s2016" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjub5bevjlrWPGoB5hoK8OdgtVrQHrPG1SlHf9f3iBng96ZFAbPuU1dcXvBbze2c-pSKyZNWmlhaMp6PVlRr9u05VTLSp1jLg4U-vJ0CoNCMqmzVRhCoWHykzzAL914y2mMr7iaWZKyBOPtt1c6tkDw4Bc3ynLQkbw-czEIh44f6ZPidEzFFB8722fl=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><p>Many kids come in just to see the fish. We love that. If we use the fish as a hook (no pun intended, lol) to get kids interested in the system, so much the better. That's a start. As they take in more of the system, or get to see the times when the water cycles, they will have more and more questions. </p><p>The aquaponics system has been a huge hit with the kids. It is the first of several STEM projects that we will have in our STEM Station. We hope that the others are as well-received as our aquaponics system!</p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-35876366456432284262021-12-01T09:20:00.004-05:002021-12-01T09:23:37.228-05:00The NEW Pride Plaza!<p> One of the things that I love about being a media specialist is that my reach can be felt throughout the entire school and not just in one classroom. I can team up with different groups of teachers and staff to create and execute projects, and I try to take advantage of that as much as possible. </p><p>A few months ago, we created the Garden of Readin', a beautification project just outside the media center. That went over really well! This Thanksgiving break, we took on another area of the school that needed some renovation, the outdoor courtyard just outside the cafeteria. Over the years, the mural had faded, the tables were neglected, and it became a home for trash cans and other assorted paraphernalia. It was an unattractive mess. This area became our new project. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdD4_X_91DWFWXuXi3oq3lxxyPghK30xXwXQSYBFd_XiY4ZzXfXnuPOcA6jLqnHxblrzyJx1oktdwh-SAAx4BdVe3X-CxOiAM7IXkQiO5Z-I0v7y0KlUKuGIIeFbjq-xNbTaDu7ae1dA/s1440/Pp2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdD4_X_91DWFWXuXi3oq3lxxyPghK30xXwXQSYBFd_XiY4ZzXfXnuPOcA6jLqnHxblrzyJx1oktdwh-SAAx4BdVe3X-CxOiAM7IXkQiO5Z-I0v7y0KlUKuGIIeFbjq-xNbTaDu7ae1dA/w400-h300/Pp2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Pride Plaza BEFORE the renovation</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Over the course of the first weekend of Thanksgiving break, a team of teachers painted, planted, and cleaned up the area to make it an inviting area for kids, staff, and parents. The idea was that parents could come in and have lunch with their kids in the plaza or we could hold some outdoor events in this area. It was an area of school that needed to be refurbished.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Things went well over the course of those two days. We painted, planted, hung canvas shade sails, and cleaned up the area. The area now looks crisp, clean, colorful, and inviting. We could not be happier with the results. Upon returning to school, the kids seemed to love the new plaza. They remarked about how cool it looked and immediately wanted to eat lunch on the plaza. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is another example of what we can do as a staff and student body when we take ownership of our surroundings and work to improve them. Now, we are looking at other areas of the campus that might need a little work. Here are some pics of the finished Pride Plaza. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ02G4opvl7WjSxS86N3dSeVgq67ddetx3Osvyia64GulmwtP6dMy7s05ZWA4M2GYIBxJDdXREuprtNxAPAV8uZz2bvA3F-ScIJN23xBBc4HMVwhMcNhUQokPWZgFpotz5jnSpFCisxp8/s2016/PP1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ02G4opvl7WjSxS86N3dSeVgq67ddetx3Osvyia64GulmwtP6dMy7s05ZWA4M2GYIBxJDdXREuprtNxAPAV8uZz2bvA3F-ScIJN23xBBc4HMVwhMcNhUQokPWZgFpotz5jnSpFCisxp8/w400-h300/PP1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmsvP_62NlK_EzCInlZrKscbYNp4sq3OECvNhk_NFhd2JwGBdZhu2liPDkE9do-hUgcXStOKcRG5THSk7lASX9qVd8iNZ7b4naIvUylHdpKJQ1-Ny6gJqveePzIA5Bo-9Sf5LERac3ls/s1600/PP3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmsvP_62NlK_EzCInlZrKscbYNp4sq3OECvNhk_NFhd2JwGBdZhu2liPDkE9do-hUgcXStOKcRG5THSk7lASX9qVd8iNZ7b4naIvUylHdpKJQ1-Ny6gJqveePzIA5Bo-9Sf5LERac3ls/w400-h300/PP3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfvaWLZS0jvI5Ofz7ZlqDPXU_j_U-62L0zuE0H7YGD696wQ37IVacVRIrGmNRa3ObglL_FbQ1s-htl9SM75Z914QrRVw9XzIDxzziwdkHG7NzWGdYJe5BVVWKv5uEcaeJEFC9APwghcg/s1600/PP4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfvaWLZS0jvI5Ofz7ZlqDPXU_j_U-62L0zuE0H7YGD696wQ37IVacVRIrGmNRa3ObglL_FbQ1s-htl9SM75Z914QrRVw9XzIDxzziwdkHG7NzWGdYJe5BVVWKv5uEcaeJEFC9APwghcg/w400-h300/PP4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuVH4EFwbhCVTYv6XwYsHN2A_lblohhILQWlJhKbk8Zvq7IDZmtOO_zQ4gnZ0owio8LBYDjYva0AlttfiSPp0SHVL3wZjex3PSJvJLY3rFFuoHgra51F0MLbysFvwU6dWpP7s7vChR8Nc/s1600/PP5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuVH4EFwbhCVTYv6XwYsHN2A_lblohhILQWlJhKbk8Zvq7IDZmtOO_zQ4gnZ0owio8LBYDjYva0AlttfiSPp0SHVL3wZjex3PSJvJLY3rFFuoHgra51F0MLbysFvwU6dWpP7s7vChR8Nc/w400-h300/PP5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxQbFeYeNpbWwdCvWtdAHfqLuNgDjDz0u3x0jeVrnmXywjALvUlCkivZyLb5swmgc47p5YjBOa1Z95fml-Bnt5Hk5ropL-htXGbBYCjUqpHC93wQ-oR48iKWvo8RAQSDtnTCkGeLtVwc/s1600/PP6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxQbFeYeNpbWwdCvWtdAHfqLuNgDjDz0u3x0jeVrnmXywjALvUlCkivZyLb5swmgc47p5YjBOa1Z95fml-Bnt5Hk5ropL-htXGbBYCjUqpHC93wQ-oR48iKWvo8RAQSDtnTCkGeLtVwc/w300-h400/PP6.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvGSTc0e1R8HE17qjKhridApfqVyKjbVcZ4kOSVBlgZKxulIjjeb1li7iek3dMS43DgvjRnX0Rcmqb9a0SrQ-XMh8GEbS9qpTsO44DENDRw-p8aImXEaJA9gqg3V6ClXDYFC38GE8xejs/s1600/PP7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvGSTc0e1R8HE17qjKhridApfqVyKjbVcZ4kOSVBlgZKxulIjjeb1li7iek3dMS43DgvjRnX0Rcmqb9a0SrQ-XMh8GEbS9qpTsO44DENDRw-p8aImXEaJA9gqg3V6ClXDYFC38GE8xejs/w300-h400/PP7.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglM1_1wBPnhyphenhypheneqsbCsQJc3OVOMR-M1WNeUJl1GOCJk1KBfB1Bn-5qpievXePMzVwfqzK_jtmBKfWnJbHnLtNZ6lY7VFpf-2ia6R4lHda2DEx_5IilADJBwhEPvkccsjwpV3SGXEuZr6pk/s1600/PP8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglM1_1wBPnhyphenhypheneqsbCsQJc3OVOMR-M1WNeUJl1GOCJk1KBfB1Bn-5qpievXePMzVwfqzK_jtmBKfWnJbHnLtNZ6lY7VFpf-2ia6R4lHda2DEx_5IilADJBwhEPvkccsjwpV3SGXEuZr6pk/w300-h400/PP8.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mU59dCGD1so0j12oUkFrdCmml6NifHV8ifctYDNAEbjUCImH48y1Bf2NMwEV9fHFom6M6aAkz-8soWJNu8wXEvDy7RT5BN-fXrxzH7_RDPCWAB_EFjCE7f9OV8el8eI6ohZyehFybFs/s1600/PP9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mU59dCGD1so0j12oUkFrdCmml6NifHV8ifctYDNAEbjUCImH48y1Bf2NMwEV9fHFom6M6aAkz-8soWJNu8wXEvDy7RT5BN-fXrxzH7_RDPCWAB_EFjCE7f9OV8el8eI6ohZyehFybFs/w300-h400/PP9.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-86263690702855131622021-11-16T12:33:00.005-05:002021-11-16T12:37:31.879-05:00How I Got Student Loan Forgiveness!<p>Ever since I posted on social media last week that I got student loan forgiveness, I have been inundated by people asking exactly how that happened. I thought it would be best to go through the process here instead of giving piecemeal information to each person who asked. For the record, my loans were forgiven under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. That program states that if you work in a public service job (teachers, librarian, police, firefighter, charitable organization, etc.), then your loan will be forgiven after 120 on-time payments (ten years). It sounds easy but before the new rule change, only a few dozen out of thousands had actually gotten forgiveness through this program. For more details about the new rules, click the <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/temporary-expanded-public-service-loan-forgiveness" target="_blank">link here</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfDTE71Jnge2xpIuuZmnR52ic7DRoDXXrTHExLCsJTWXk4koLbWHdPQIcFup-6pFKxrFQ66EfRmC8W9Bm4JJyixlRZL-gb89i07IKrl-yWhWygjV7N8ZSgMVt-QvCHHwP2wv-rY9E68w/s700/Tepsfl.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="700" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfDTE71Jnge2xpIuuZmnR52ic7DRoDXXrTHExLCsJTWXk4koLbWHdPQIcFup-6pFKxrFQ66EfRmC8W9Bm4JJyixlRZL-gb89i07IKrl-yWhWygjV7N8ZSgMVt-QvCHHwP2wv-rY9E68w/w400-h291/Tepsfl.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p>I had been paying student loans off and on since 1993. The balance never went down and when I went back to school, I put those loans into forbearance. All of my loans were different. It was difficult to keep track of. In 2007, legislation passed for the PSLF program and public servants who accumulated ten years of on-time payments while working full-time for a qualifying employer, could start having their loans dismissed beginning in 2017. It seemed like a good deal. Take a lower paying job and get this benefit down the road. Many tried to take advantage but were met with frustration at how the program was actually administered. </p><p>Upon moving to Florida in 2016, I consolidated all of my outstanding student loans into a qualifying PSLF loan and enrolled in an income-driven program so that no more than 10% of my disposable income would go toward payment of my student loan. Now that I was in the right program, all I had to do was make on-time payments until 2027 and my loans would be forgiven. The payments that I made before 2016 did not qualify because I did not have the right type of loans or was not in the right repayment program. So from 1993-2016, those payments did not get me any closer to student loan forgiveness. Bummer.</p><p>Last month, when changes to this plan went into effect, suddenly the payments that I made from 2007, when the program started, until 2016, when I consolidated into the correct loan payment program, were eligible. FedLoan Servicing, my student loan servicer, sent me an email saying that under the new rules, 82 previously non-qualifying payments (7 years' worth of payments) would now qualify if I could certify employment for those months. Needless to say, I downloaded the form, filled out my portion, and sent it off to the Human Resources Department of my previous school district. When it came back, I uploaded it and waited. Those 82 months, along with the 60 months that I had paid while in the correct repayment program, were many more than the 120 I needed for forgiveness. And so, I waited. Saturday morning, while having coffee on the patio, I opened the email from FedLoan Servicing telling me that my student loans had been forgiven. Wow! I was shocked! I quickly printed out the forms before they could change their minds! </p><p>I know that many believe that you can get your loans forgiven just because you're a teacher or work in public service, but it's not that easy. There are two things you MUST do. First, you must make 120 on-time payments. Second, you must consolidate your loans into a PSLF-eligible loan in order to take advantage of forgiveness. Often those eligible loans come with income-driven parameters to keep the payments manageable while making payments. Once you meet those criteria, your loans will be forgiven.</p><p>The new Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness allows for previous payments that had not been counted under the old rules to count toward forgiveness. That is the big difference and it really is big. For me, it was 82 payments, or about $40,000 in payments that had not previously counted but did now. </p><p>I hope that everyone who works in a public service field and has student loans will take the time to learn about the new rules. These new rules are only good for one calendar year as a way to grant forgiveness to those who should have had it by now but didn't because of the confusion and mismanagement of the program. The rule change has made a huge difference in so many public servants' lives, including my own. </p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-21383577563993945952021-10-25T08:42:00.001-04:002021-10-25T08:42:36.301-04:00Podcast - Learning at Lely - School Culture<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The latest episode of our podcast, Learning at Lely, is up! Tune in for a great conversation about School Culture. You can also subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and other major podcast hosting services. <a href="https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-qhn7n-1113000" target="_blank">Learning at Lely - School Culture</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgojjm8HO84C0i1m1FBzMwEDd84fAqmEqtlVE034D72FcKFfEp0S13J1woQ7Z1x-HnFvkQI3DXQsTbd8DYgHHj6PhangIOsD7EBWJ9bOvZBkBTNsdp6XptymyYN-Sh5tSHfHTILjQN5Nkc/s2000/LelyPodcastArt2+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgojjm8HO84C0i1m1FBzMwEDd84fAqmEqtlVE034D72FcKFfEp0S13J1woQ7Z1x-HnFvkQI3DXQsTbd8DYgHHj6PhangIOsD7EBWJ9bOvZBkBTNsdp6XptymyYN-Sh5tSHfHTILjQN5Nkc/w400-h400/LelyPodcastArt2+%25283%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-75118436281516268362021-10-11T09:34:00.008-04:002021-10-11T09:39:13.461-04:00Our New Book Vending Machine: How Did That Happen?<p>I first saw the idea of a book vending machine a few years ago. I thought it was an amazing way to get kids fired up about reading but the possibilities of getting one were daunting. Those things are expensive. Worth it, but expensive. I put the thought out of my mind for a time, until Paul Holimon, a colleague from my middle school days, sent me an article about a school in Oklahoma that was able to get a book vending machine. Sooooo, I started thinking that maybe this was possible after all.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK3VSL7ojbRL4E9g-oGsMGgNFSvBejhxxhU7HV7eXCMolcxX5C0-szSaAUT9IuF6WNlJbysBHsbtRB8sKlO099IPRzg2Txg9KT6aIQ6k_ZcF4AMMhVvDXJiwNxoypKUoeXGDatC581pes/s1800/Vending11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK3VSL7ojbRL4E9g-oGsMGgNFSvBejhxxhU7HV7eXCMolcxX5C0-szSaAUT9IuF6WNlJbysBHsbtRB8sKlO099IPRzg2Txg9KT6aIQ6k_ZcF4AMMhVvDXJiwNxoypKUoeXGDatC581pes/w320-h400/Vending11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> I took the article and some preliminary research about specs and pricing to the principal (at the time, Tammy Brown). She loved the idea but, like me, didn't know how we could pulls off something like this. After all, it is a huge deal. We stewed on the idea throughout our virtual year. I mentioned it to every staff person I saw, hoping to brainstorm some ideas about how to pay for something like this. We had tentative approval to get a book vending machine...if we could pay for it. I thought of a Donors Choose grant but that is one heck of a steep grant that would probably not get funded. There really was no money to do this.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGJ92-dm_L7yj3LNxhIWSXq9fhbMinPJLCjy4Ld02WtE7k8V0fweocz-Us_Ai0DDU3lOUhyphenhyphenwUFPAPvMRwXYkEiQEqOTq55RezJcD-JvKKAuQoPi86YJGle1J7o6RtTeduOjVeo984kWw/s2016/VendingTruck.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGJ92-dm_L7yj3LNxhIWSXq9fhbMinPJLCjy4Ld02WtE7k8V0fweocz-Us_Ai0DDU3lOUhyphenhyphenwUFPAPvMRwXYkEiQEqOTq55RezJcD-JvKKAuQoPi86YJGle1J7o6RtTeduOjVeo984kWw/w400-h300/VendingTruck.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Then one day, I was talking to two of our superstar teachers, Jamie Sebold and Megan Noe, who floated the idea of using walk-a-thon money to pay for it. Over the past two years, we raised a lot of money through our walk-a-thons and we had never decided where we wanted to use that money. They suggested to Tammy Brown that we should use some of it to buy a book vending machine. Suddenly, we had secured funding!</p><p>After contacting Global Vending Group, I picked our model and we paid a bit extra for a custom wrap that would make our Lely machine stand out. After some snags arranging payment for this (there is a lot of red tape and processes to pay for something like this), we were ready to formally place our order. Global Vending Group had our order. Now, it was time to wait. And wait we did.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-MLz_EOlVHRi5pYzKi5RG3FsTjbLGQIQDwCoWIG3tpfXqf8QDig5KgLLNNL1L5yY_BuEp4eyojfjtuQYrOp_gfnGcRW28h2OI-9ikhnVl4gyQ1YtE170jnB5pHasNSRvHeEjpQGlM-28/s1440/Vending10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-MLz_EOlVHRi5pYzKi5RG3FsTjbLGQIQDwCoWIG3tpfXqf8QDig5KgLLNNL1L5yY_BuEp4eyojfjtuQYrOp_gfnGcRW28h2OI-9ikhnVl4gyQ1YtE170jnB5pHasNSRvHeEjpQGlM-28/w400-h400/Vending10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>In the brochure, they say the wait is between three and four months. It was a bit longer for us because of supply chain and labor issues at the company. However, last Monday, we got the email that our machine had shipped! It would be in Naples in three days' time. Now, our only worry was if it would fit through our media center door. On the literature from the company, it said that the shortest side was 35" and our door was 34.5". I had emailed with the company this past summer to make sure it would fit and was assured that indeed it was only 32-34" on its shortest side. We held our breath, hoping that that information was accurate. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiim9N8-CsWW2vikmZ_PrTx1iCBztfwQjFQ2ihyrTNGGwtI2xfvujVby_BebnqA2gqWJAs27nVnTz4CMcXuDjH9nmo6YDoog_zcNEOwcy-6c-zBUBxWT2OIWPHPviVcafCpUfj0kf3d5zE/s1800/Vending13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiim9N8-CsWW2vikmZ_PrTx1iCBztfwQjFQ2ihyrTNGGwtI2xfvujVby_BebnqA2gqWJAs27nVnTz4CMcXuDjH9nmo6YDoog_zcNEOwcy-6c-zBUBxWT2OIWPHPviVcafCpUfj0kf3d5zE/w320-h400/Vending13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>The truck pulled into the parking lot and it was time to jump into action. The driver would deliver to the curb and we had to take it from there. Yanka Ruiz, our amazing facilities director, was ready. She had our pallet lift and moved that machine to the media center door. But, it would not fit through the door opening on the pallet. We had to take it off the pallet. After getting a few staff members involved to help, we lowered the machine on its side and tried to get it through the door. No luck. The door push bar was in the way. Yanka had a solution. She took the door off the hinges and we set it aside. The machine coasted through the opening smooth as butter. At that moment, we all let out a collective sigh of relief. Our machine fit through the door to the media center. We were home free.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYysuw839ilIJShyq2LalG68WVhXIDwfw3fiG8_1rMzx0f83rXCrHWwO2A-6tshky4ZDBo8lxqazXuv-9oK9nyKTTBIRSrD112taQCh8TKj6ZA7-kKCZdM6ToDiI4McQpnexem58G6ft8/s1800/Vending12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYysuw839ilIJShyq2LalG68WVhXIDwfw3fiG8_1rMzx0f83rXCrHWwO2A-6tshky4ZDBo8lxqazXuv-9oK9nyKTTBIRSrD112taQCh8TKj6ZA7-kKCZdM6ToDiI4McQpnexem58G6ft8/w320-h400/Vending12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>We got the machine upright and unwrapped all of the plastic and cardboard to reveal a beautiful, fun, kid-friendly book vending machine. It is striking! After we got it into place, we were finished for the day. Kids came by to see what all of the hubbub was about. After all, we had blocked the hallway while getting the machine through the door and they had to take a detour, so they knew something big was happening. As kids walked by, we heard lots of gasps and comments about how cool the machine was. It was having the desired effect. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNNcA2dSPQYNlZATMHZoZRnsuxef12Nbt_pVyBFR0WCH01VQjye7-cMuQtvO3TRMILqPfslUU9JyBTgjQj8oM4ZD8zZQ0vtAUxVDSVyV3mHxSaoWSKwZkHvmRYaTskGFIc99dgIbPRSU/s2048/Vending14.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1638" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNNcA2dSPQYNlZATMHZoZRnsuxef12Nbt_pVyBFR0WCH01VQjye7-cMuQtvO3TRMILqPfslUU9JyBTgjQj8oM4ZD8zZQ0vtAUxVDSVyV3mHxSaoWSKwZkHvmRYaTskGFIc99dgIbPRSU/w320-h400/Vending14.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p>Now, we have the machine turned on and everything tested out perfectly. We still have to load books into the machine to get it ready for our new reading incentive program. More on that later. We have a special day of events planned for October 20 to celebrate our new book vending machine. We think this will inspire many kids to read, find "their books", and have a fun and festive environment around the idea of reading. Needless to say, we are so stoked to have this book vending machine in our school and plan to use it to increase the reading among our kids. Stay tuned for updates! </p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-43751995155253281982021-10-06T11:35:00.004-04:002021-10-06T11:43:12.407-04:00I Recommend...<p>We talk all of the time about student voice and choice. We aim to hand over the decision-making responsibility to our students as they go through our school system. We coach them in what makes a good decision, ramifications of those decisions, and then we let them begin making more and more decisions. One of the things I love to see is when kids start making decisions about their learning. There are so many ways we can incorporate student decision-making into the everyday lives of kids at school. I see teachers everyday giving kids opportunities to choose learning experiences, collaborative teams, and ways to meet their curricular standards. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Uj2fJRyJ8xvtK4vgA2_HSTl5hScbDJZISGmawLTNwXvTOYVjG3ytOSOHqRw6G4KdE0QEo3LCAnb5wx9QkCLfd24e-bN7iQiVaj26DrKgQ1_Cz_oLQ6f1nva6uUfyKEJZgJbmwVxgJfM/s2016/Rec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Uj2fJRyJ8xvtK4vgA2_HSTl5hScbDJZISGmawLTNwXvTOYVjG3ytOSOHqRw6G4KdE0QEo3LCAnb5wx9QkCLfd24e-bN7iQiVaj26DrKgQ1_Cz_oLQ6f1nva6uUfyKEJZgJbmwVxgJfM/w400-h300/Rec.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>In the media center, we also want to give kids a voice in their learning. One of the ways we have decided to give students voice is to have our kiddos make book recommendations. As adults, we make book recommendations to kids all of the time. However, a lot of times the books we recommend do not resonate with our kids because we read them from our perspective as adults, not as kids would read them. We mean well, but we often miss the mark. There are also times that kids will reject recommendations from adults because they consider them "teacher books" and not books that they would want to read.<p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzMOkOjfBz8ClWB1fdtak99jwfjrjX2SbpdsYUNFUwsVUmyFmmfXfx0xjarNdOCEmzy8d86UwNi8BZrQLoiWA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p></p><p>We started incorporating student recommendations this year by creating a gallery in the media center windows. When students pass by, they see pictures of our kids with a book that they recommend in their hands. Kids can identify their schoolmates and see what books they love. They may be more inclined to pick up those books if they know that their friends have read them. One of the most powerful ways to get kids reading is to have peers recommend books. It helps build a culture of reading when we all talk about our reading, and over time, kids learn to be proud of all of the books they have read and their future reading goals. Our student book recommendations are a hit. We knew they would be. Our kids are using their voices to celebrate their reading. We could not be happier about it.</p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-43671534703403979002021-09-18T10:34:00.001-04:002021-09-18T10:35:14.172-04:00Podcast: Learning at Lely - Leader in Me Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><div><br></div><div>Our latest podcast is up! You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcasting service. Click the link below to listen.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/2xJG7gKSkO8ot8kTfP5Hwx?si=vYheLifFSlqWjUaI-X-6DQ&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1">Learning at Lely - Leader in Me Update</a><br></div>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-66996671181482704102021-09-11T07:56:00.001-04:002021-09-11T07:56:53.311-04:00The Garden of Readin'<p>Lely Elementary School is a special place brimming with rock star teachers and talented students. Everyday, we see the kiddos at Lely do the right things: help other students, show kindness, display grace under pressure, and work hard toward their goals. Our amazing teachers plan some of the coolest learning activities for them that I have ever seen. There is always something awe-inspiring going on. </p><p>One of my goals is to make the media center a hub of the school and nurture kids' love of reading. I want them to spend time there reading, looking for books, making, collaborating, listening, and learning. I know that an increase in student traffic is a good measure of how they perceive the media center. Do they like it? Do they want to spend time there? Do they come back? Do they avoid the place? I'm trying to remake the media center into one of the most kid-friendly elementary school libraries in the state of Florida. </p><p>One of the things that we have been working on is transforming the space into a vibrant, colorful, interactive media center where kids always find something new. To that end, last weekend, we installed the Garden of Readin' right outside of our media center. This was an idea a few months in the making. We took an area outside that is adjacent to the media center and remade it into a colorful, interactive, peaceful place for kids to read, chill, learn, imagine, and wonder. This is the Garden of Readin' (scroll down for many more pics). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAWWI30aHy0mvM6RlEcSuUiD0sO0TPnWOiP81zeklj9sp8X8NtNGnNA3RUR2H5SZuSGGLDVN9y5wWCtLdsF3woy-g6E6OFfLrZefWhUfuAPX_EhpWD9li8pIWkBM_cOAqw4lgYZfcvvU/s2048/PXL_20210905_174931942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAWWI30aHy0mvM6RlEcSuUiD0sO0TPnWOiP81zeklj9sp8X8NtNGnNA3RUR2H5SZuSGGLDVN9y5wWCtLdsF3woy-g6E6OFfLrZefWhUfuAPX_EhpWD9li8pIWkBM_cOAqw4lgYZfcvvU/w400-h300/PXL_20210905_174931942.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In early August, I wrote two garden-themed grants on Donors Choose, one for the basic gardening items and the second for the decor items that would make this area magical. I enlisted the help of local artist Matt Park, who has been a great friend of Lely Elementary, to help make this vision a reality. He had many ideas that I had not even considered and that synergy was essential to this project. With all of the materials delivered, we took a couple of days over the long weekend and got to work. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We cleared out the old plants that had been there for a long time, tilled the soil, added bags of topsoil and Black Kow, and got the area ready for planting. Having planned this garden out on paper, we then planted according to the drawings. After a few hours, we saw that this space was becoming what we had imagined.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJmAWaurQaFADu8FJBiqANgzWdw67pudosLpEFtq9S-NGx1ngyWfWDNnh03xDo7a3KUHrevYaMypyXLf7jMlFQ0TMfISSMegIYZSHkCNEjlYDf0Zjer-3bDNFofapSNns_eJi3S2t6KY/s2048/PXL_20210905_174938326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJmAWaurQaFADu8FJBiqANgzWdw67pudosLpEFtq9S-NGx1ngyWfWDNnh03xDo7a3KUHrevYaMypyXLf7jMlFQ0TMfISSMegIYZSHkCNEjlYDf0Zjer-3bDNFofapSNns_eJi3S2t6KY/w400-h300/PXL_20210905_174938326.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A few hours into the second day of work, it was time to wrap things up. We placed the painted stones, attached Matt's signs, hung the wind chimes and spinners, and gave it one final look. Our garden idea had come to life. It was colorful, interactive, fun, and magical. We were incredibly pleased with how things turned out. We thought that the kids (and adults) were going to love it. No one really knew that we were going to do this project over the weekend. It was intended as a surprise. Was it ever!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eC-suH7IaxCDrFnwgpdP6d8Q1D3D1tM5dJa6A4_PYW_qxBv8lQGPwzjDgZ8iOqvRC59-y4BRQthhlIe-l7DoxSlkCylIXQ39B66x5Sy4TaHfHQaXLqfUUoRUCE7skyBiOyq57ZY3RNM/s2048/PXL_20210905_174943062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eC-suH7IaxCDrFnwgpdP6d8Q1D3D1tM5dJa6A4_PYW_qxBv8lQGPwzjDgZ8iOqvRC59-y4BRQthhlIe-l7DoxSlkCylIXQ39B66x5Sy4TaHfHQaXLqfUUoRUCE7skyBiOyq57ZY3RNM/w400-h300/PXL_20210905_174943062.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>One of the things that we planned for the garden was for each student at the school to choose their favorite color stone and use some paint markers to personalize the stone and place it back in the garden. We want all of our kids to be represented in our garden as they are in our school community. When classes came down for their read-alouds, they also painted stones. It was such a fun time and the kids seemed really excited. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ei9CvQqbb5PqLatPWadDV5GoJCN3GV7WXnAZNwvmGwFm4a2KOTppr_34RPKI8tOz5MAvJ8SxEpvOYZw71VdyZGwjfYdt0dGse971YW8a2BeFvTu0ufJ1odfjLvS2JJKh5-zFx41qb1o/s2048/PXL_20210908_160104058.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ei9CvQqbb5PqLatPWadDV5GoJCN3GV7WXnAZNwvmGwFm4a2KOTppr_34RPKI8tOz5MAvJ8SxEpvOYZw71VdyZGwjfYdt0dGse971YW8a2BeFvTu0ufJ1odfjLvS2JJKh5-zFx41qb1o/w400-h300/PXL_20210908_160104058.MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHtYX70VW-5PQTd1fDq8GudHtDfb0qablEDsIXBr9kgUlPKF3WIESO1ntUQ-w3EGO5YB_ql8qn-LG4prM_ZhYnm0iVsfHUMgh9jRLb_iSbXiDHAGOMfkE2_lP0pQETTfoIvKvzA4PjKLg/s2048/PXL_20210908_160603722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHtYX70VW-5PQTd1fDq8GudHtDfb0qablEDsIXBr9kgUlPKF3WIESO1ntUQ-w3EGO5YB_ql8qn-LG4prM_ZhYnm0iVsfHUMgh9jRLb_iSbXiDHAGOMfkE2_lP0pQETTfoIvKvzA4PjKLg/w400-h300/PXL_20210908_160603722.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The kiddos had a blast making the stones their own. We have many more classes that still have to come down to make their stones, but we got about six classes finished in the last couple of days. Now when kids walk by the garden, they can point to their stone and know that they are an integral part of our garden, and our school. Since Lely Elementary is a Leader in Me School, the class adjacent to the garden has agreed to maintain and take care of the garden. That will probably happen one afternoon a week where the kiddos sweep, replace any stones that get moved, check for weather damage, and re-mulch when necessary. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have already heard about kiddos trying to match the fictional (or real) places on the sign with the books that go with them. Some are now trying to read them all. It is really fun to see how the kids interact with the garden and I'm looking forward to hearing more over the next few weeks. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, it's time to find another area of campus that needs some sprucing up and get to work there. I have a couple in mind already so keep an eye on this space to see what happens on campus in the next few months. For now, enjoy the pictures as you scroll down.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVqQCPVf7ve7-FLG5bN50s-MFC7v4SJVschLp-XniWaFh0Cn5c4AIIwbnRaV1kZGNUGMSIDJBaDEpKjc8y6haIOsALjQyg3hcNHAKg2O8uSs6BCe7oZ4penPykfUZNubGFq3CW6tUQpRc/s2048/PXL_20210905_174954132.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVqQCPVf7ve7-FLG5bN50s-MFC7v4SJVschLp-XniWaFh0Cn5c4AIIwbnRaV1kZGNUGMSIDJBaDEpKjc8y6haIOsALjQyg3hcNHAKg2O8uSs6BCe7oZ4penPykfUZNubGFq3CW6tUQpRc/w300-h400/PXL_20210905_174954132.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOZeZ3Hn8yb_8cGZUzDwaYgYQn7-WDGssKFIQafYGfuybTVDmBwlLinNvRAoNovO42zsqTNsKclddW0s4a3E-9UgNkcEQJFWrGjoysTtjPzhBdXvizTB1TEi7IlXcFV0D21E8-3eu3gyo/s2048/PXL_20210905_175003891.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigsm0xChWmcBasC9dTkumhGKUzJAbubVfZ6ld5tdo0Kb3mm4EcWdeQ-VpJdxxb3aPyG8EEYTakjiAus09BdH04k_SJLvGVW_IguCbXLSVF4gDmOJoFvxampehMSDd6p9PjmH5o3UrDwMM/s2048/PXL_20210908_170320230.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigsm0xChWmcBasC9dTkumhGKUzJAbubVfZ6ld5tdo0Kb3mm4EcWdeQ-VpJdxxb3aPyG8EEYTakjiAus09BdH04k_SJLvGVW_IguCbXLSVF4gDmOJoFvxampehMSDd6p9PjmH5o3UrDwMM/w400-h300/PXL_20210908_170320230.MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><br />Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-72427675181872671962021-08-31T12:42:00.005-04:002021-08-31T12:48:51.679-04:00The Only Constant is Change<p><br />Anyone who works in a school knows that every day will be a new and different day. We hear our friends in other professions talking about the hum-drum, boring work tasks they perform everyday. Not so in education. Our days start off with a solid plan but with the ebbs and flows of each school day, we adjust and tweak our plans to make sure the kids get what they need while juggling several unexpected occurrences. Truly, teachers and staff at your local public school are intellectually agile people who can troubleshoot in seconds and make even the most challenging situations into learning experiences that look like they were planned out for weeks. </p><p>One reason that teachers are so nimble is that we live with the constant of change. In education, nothing stays the same. We receive new students to the school every day, we navigate changing classes, student absences, schedule changes, fire drills, code red drills, and a host of other changes in the normal schedule. Through all of this change, teachers excel. They take it all in stride and wind up turning even the most difficult situations into learning opportunities for students. I've seen countless occurrences of "teachable moments" when a teacher turns a potential problem into a seamless learning experience. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FzjBBglHGvqyAw1g8vvNjo91AQNy3kFsQmgVz3vTeJr2nb3dfA8rvhTGbaiSNuM6UyJ0_605J7NTgFaHTIr3mQy8ijtmds9IoeqT44dlFYwCHLPzi78lQgvdFwI9kKAYuODFQTaPnfs/s2048/Lely+Elementary+Front+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FzjBBglHGvqyAw1g8vvNjo91AQNy3kFsQmgVz3vTeJr2nb3dfA8rvhTGbaiSNuM6UyJ0_605J7NTgFaHTIr3mQy8ijtmds9IoeqT44dlFYwCHLPzi78lQgvdFwI9kKAYuODFQTaPnfs/w400-h300/Lely+Elementary+Front+View.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>At Lely Elementary, we have experienced a lot of change as of late. At the end of last year, our principal made some changes to the teaching staff that included moving teachers to different grade levels and giving many teachers some new responsibilities. As anyone knows, when you move people into other jobs that they may not be comfortable with, they may not like it. However, our teachers accepted the challenge of their new roles. We are four weeks into the school year, and our teachers are performing beautifully. </p><p>Some of the benefits of teachers moving grade levels is that they are intimately aware of the expectations and curricula of the grades they came from and can look at issues with a different perspective. They can even help align curricula and activities based on what they did at their old grade level. </p><p>Another benefit of moving teachers is that a different kind of synergy emerges. Teachers who may not have worked together before can now bounce ideas off of each other, draw on past experiences and successes, troubleshoot problems, and dream a little. I know that I am at my most creative when I can talk to another teacher. We bounce ideas off of each other and within ten minutes, we have a viable plan to solve a problem or start a program. When we put teachers in the same room, that kind of energy multiplies. I have often said that giving teachers time together with no agenda is the best way to get some new and bold ideas. </p><p>We have also had a leadership change at Lely Elementary. Our new principal comes to us excited to make a difference in the lives of the teachers and students. We know we are at the beginning of a renaissance at Lely Elementary and the previous principal put us on solid footing to make great gains. Our new principal will have the opportunity to guide our school to new heights. We are on board and we are eager to continue our journey together, helping our kids develop their fullest potential. </p><p>Look out Collier County! Lely Elementary is ready to make some big strides!</p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-22871426590410998312021-08-15T07:42:00.005-04:002021-08-15T07:49:46.196-04:00The Positive is Palpable<p>There is always so much promise at the beginning of a new school year. Everyone is fresh and rested when they show up for the first day and really happy to begin a new school year. While this was a very short summer break, teachers and students still returned to school with positive attitudes about the year ahead. This year, there are a lot of things to be happy about at Lely Elementary School. It's going to be a good year.</p><p>One of the new things that we'll be doing this year is using a new literacy program. All instructional staff had a two-day training to get up to speed on the program's emphasis and resources. Based on what I saw during those two days, I think this program is going to lead to a huge improvement in student learning. For one thing, phonics takes a front seat in literacy learning. I'm not sure what has happened to phonics over the years. It seems that when I started (in the late 1980's), phonics was in vogue, and over the course of my 30+ years in education, it has gone in and out of fashion in schools. I never understood why. Phonics is a great way for many kids to learn to read and it should have been in our toolbox all along. Now, it is back and I think we are the better for it. Kids in all elementary grades, K-5, will have phonics incorporated into the literacy lessons. Yes, even fifth graders need phonics. Well, many adults do too :) </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPGaDbHu0GSUeQQMf5GL3lTjXkuwu8F0ANdhRnrkoZnhgfydqSvSdZhsaU3ODpbojuXX7rMBXdeBQzmKaxN7WUDlIVyZ6tyGoAQd_M4NWqCsMFo2IexJqATsH0P4NoQVQT0kZK3uZuCU/s2048/PXL_20210810_122914662.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPGaDbHu0GSUeQQMf5GL3lTjXkuwu8F0ANdhRnrkoZnhgfydqSvSdZhsaU3ODpbojuXX7rMBXdeBQzmKaxN7WUDlIVyZ6tyGoAQd_M4NWqCsMFo2IexJqATsH0P4NoQVQT0kZK3uZuCU/w400-h300/PXL_20210810_122914662.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Our amazing fifth grade news crew was ready to do the </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>news live </i><i>on the very first day of school!</i></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Another improvement is the district emphasis on reading in class. It is long overdue. I remember a few years ago when I was observed by a principal and my kiddos were reading. We read every day for thirty minutes of our ninety minute block. It took a while to get the kids to buy in but after a while, we created a cool reading community where kids would find "their" books, read them, and share them with others. I made book recommendations, of course, but the kids did most of the recommending. It was a beautiful thing to see. However, my principal at the time was not a fan. The message to me was that I was wasting our time by having kids read in class. That was an activity that was not on his principal checklist. There was no box to check for what I was doing in class and therefore it was not a valid activity. Of course, I explained the research behind having kids read in class and the great learning strides that kids made, but my advocacy fell on deaf ears. There was no box for it on the checklist. Now, reading in class is a point of emphasis and the kids will all be better for it!</span></p><p>Another thing that will make a huge difference in our school year is our Leader in Me program at Lely. This will be our first real, uninterrupted year of implementing this program. We are all familiar enough with the program now that we can administer the program and grow it over the course of the year. Teachers' mindsets have evolved to include the kids in planning activities even more than we did before. While in the past couple of years, we have been able to get one or two things off the ground, this year, I expect we will get dozens of new aspects of this program integrated into our school year. Nearly all of the teachers are on board and we have excellent leadership, so the pieces are in place for a great school.</p><p>We also have some "Wow" factor things planned. Kids and adults like to come into the building and see something new, something awe-inspiring, and they are going to have those experiences several times this year. We have many things in the works that, over the course of the school year, will provide that jolt of excitement for students and teachers when they walk through the doors of Lely Elementary. Now, I won't spill the beans here, but if you subscribe to our Facebook page (facebook.com/lelymediacenter) or follow us on Instagram (@doneckert_libraryguy) or Twitter (@dayankee). you will see all of the amazing things we are bringing to the school this year. And watch this space too. I'll be updating all of the cool and wonderful things that are happening at school all year long. </p><p>While the first week of school is over, the positive vibes of administrators, teachers, and students is palpable, and it's just the beginning. This is going to be a great year at Lely, and we can't wait for these kids to experience their best school year ever!</p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-19514311089124796682021-06-21T15:41:00.005-04:002021-06-21T15:46:28.970-04:00The Reading Championship!<p>We all know that reading is THE most essential skill for students to master and at Lely Elementary, we focus like a laser on reading. Over the course of the year, we have developed an extensive reading incentive program to hook kids into reading. I've never been one to champion incentives for reading because I think once kids find "their books" they will read ravenously for the rest of their lives. It's all about the search for the books that match the student. Part of the art of teaching is making that match between students and books. </p><p>When kids do not even attempt to read books, an incentive program is appropriate. After all, we are trying to hook them on reading and if an incentive furthers that cause, I'm all for it. Once they find the books they love, they will be off and reading on their own without any need for incentives. </p><p>Our program has evolved over the course of the year into what it is today, and it may still grow. We set aside one day per quarter to celebrate the kids' accomplishments in reading. On that special day, all kids who reach their reading goals get a certificate and a Lely Elementary Reading Goals Brag Tag. They also get a cookie-decorating kit from the cafeteria. We mail a post card home so parents can see that their kiddo has been recognized for their reading; a parent connection is important. Kids who attain 100+ Reading Counts Points (Reading Counts is our reading program at Lely Elementary) are recognized as Century Club Members and get special perks (additional certificate, pizza, etc). To top it all off, we crown a Reading Champion Class each quarter. The class that has the greatest percentage of kids reaching their reading goals is crowned the Reading Champion for the quarter.</p><p>The reading championship is hotly contested and the kids really get into it. Often we will see kids encouraging each other to check out another book or read over the weekend so that they can more easily reach their reading goal. They are generating a positive peer pressure that recognizes the class as a community of readers. Kids recommend books to each other, talk about books, and come to the library multiple times per week. We, as the media team, keep tabs on their reading as well. The amount of traffic in the library has increased exponentially over the past year and we love the busy hive of learning that we are creating. </p><p>On our reading celebration day, our principal, reading specialist, and media specialist walk around to all of the classrooms to deliver the good news to the kids and teachers. We pass out the certificates, recognize the Century Club winners, and celebrate all of their accomplishments. Most of the time, the kids are waiting to see if they will be crowned Reading Champions. We make sure to take the trophy with us to all of the classrooms. When the kids see that trophy come through their door, there is an audible gasp from the kids. It is awesome!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QYpviosWH2PQIzhrL3YtutS1g_21Ck43ArwQW1I3Br4mSDgLq2xT-UGBtLLC9AnE7gA5GUaOxMcx30ayCfutxPZhyphenhyphenoy3ZtDUh-sfbkmGLQNc0Vvk4AWMpX6Cx-jrpErTP3WCf8traKQ/s2016/Palmer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QYpviosWH2PQIzhrL3YtutS1g_21Ck43ArwQW1I3Br4mSDgLq2xT-UGBtLLC9AnE7gA5GUaOxMcx30ayCfutxPZhyphenhyphenoy3ZtDUh-sfbkmGLQNc0Vvk4AWMpX6Cx-jrpErTP3WCf8traKQ/w400-h300/Palmer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Mrs. Palmer's Q4 Reading Champions</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This quarter, for the first time, we had a tie for the Lely Elementary Reading Championship. Mrs. Palmer's third grade class was one of the winners. This is a class that had a few kids reach their reading goals during the first quarter of the year. As the year went on, Mrs. Palmer coached and cheered on these kids so that more reached their goals during second and third quarter. During fourth quarter, this group was determined! They worked so hard and pushed each other to win the Lely Elementary Reading Championship. Neighboring classes knew something was going on in this room when they were presented with the trophy. Things got loud!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTZVEKKB6t8-_OMcR2d00X_VI2d9xWX0fzde6FFCzeXDHSGr3-YF7JwftNo36UZpsY3xEiN2qj-UewHPA7vtUfqAI2ypGKgiuJrDn6J0RRnwdiRGOgAn1pF58AQ3aG1iLQXKAlyV6BIc/s2016/Carbonell.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTZVEKKB6t8-_OMcR2d00X_VI2d9xWX0fzde6FFCzeXDHSGr3-YF7JwftNo36UZpsY3xEiN2qj-UewHPA7vtUfqAI2ypGKgiuJrDn6J0RRnwdiRGOgAn1pF58AQ3aG1iLQXKAlyV6BIc/w400-h300/Carbonell.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Mrs. Carbonell's Q4 Reading Champions</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mrs. Carbonell's class was the defending champion! In fact, this class was the Q2 AND Q3 champion. Only once before had we had a back-to-back winner. Mrs. Carbonell's class is now the only three-time champion in Lely Elementary history. To win three times is an awesome achievement but to win for three consecutive quarters is simply amazing! These kids were excited readers all year long and were frequent visitors to our media center.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The reading celebration day each quarter is always such a fun day. It is a day that kids really look forward to and the excitement is apparent on their faces as we walk the campus with certificates and trophy in hand. We are doing everything that we can to hook our kids on reading and this incentive plan has proven to be a hit!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We are working on some big surprises in the media center for next year. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks. We're incredibly excited!</div>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-13212943836000703382021-06-01T11:44:00.004-04:002021-06-01T11:54:54.822-04:00Making the News<p>We all know that kids can do amazing things when given the opportunity. Often, kids crave more responsibility and part of learning in schools is giving kids more responsibility. We want kids to become more independent and grow into curious, self-reliant learners. There are many roles in a school that kids can do instead of adults. Our Leader in Me program helps us identify various roles that kids can take on and many tasks that kids can do instead of adults. After all, we are a community of learners and we all teach each other and learn from each other.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnnkYyoy8AFgD8N2wZ0j79SV8kj9hkH4F_G0bWsWjMYONEcpuazqpC__HHr9S9GIz0mgfpB7tgeX7NYLSbGjebNSlb6YzXnwEZ2wDQnUWDmhjgY5F2dzKrtCUXLnG0AuzqPl-Fzu3tkU/s816/NewsCresBlog.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="816" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnnkYyoy8AFgD8N2wZ0j79SV8kj9hkH4F_G0bWsWjMYONEcpuazqpC__HHr9S9GIz0mgfpB7tgeX7NYLSbGjebNSlb6YzXnwEZ2wDQnUWDmhjgY5F2dzKrtCUXLnG0AuzqPl-Fzu3tkU/w400-h299/NewsCresBlog.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">One of the areas in which students have excelled at is the morning news program. Under the direction of the school media specialist, kids present the morning news program to the rest of the school on the closed circuit television station. There is a combination of factors that make a news program good, or bad. </span></div></blockquote><p>Our fifth graders this year made our news program excellent. They were professional in their jobs, they were lively on-air, and they were fun and engaging. The rest of the school got to see these kids' personalities while they delivered the news. Students and teachers consistently reported that the news was engaging and they got to know the anchors a bit over time.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrz5TaMaWUqG8QUcjYGZia6JgfbgoCA3VN6T10nWiewzFJFc44LL5AZ7jNfhwS1ouw_RYr0gXkxqcn0rLZ62iAxyCChGiWDju90ypzXbfWJb1Ql1dC7tHu_BE-uqYhOMPbwSEOTiI85QU/s2016/Connor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrz5TaMaWUqG8QUcjYGZia6JgfbgoCA3VN6T10nWiewzFJFc44LL5AZ7jNfhwS1ouw_RYr0gXkxqcn0rLZ62iAxyCChGiWDju90ypzXbfWJb1Ql1dC7tHu_BE-uqYhOMPbwSEOTiI85QU/w400-h300/Connor.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Connor - Anchor, Sound Master, Slides, Script</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ReEruMmJu2x9WsNozXKyUy8qPF_GFzqhdj8c3j0S0anm-Mgg6QWVF9MlsmEnvWOGgT6Wwqb_eyy3Z9wzV592KCuu_BsFKSFikeaqO_DJWH5QhogJeDZWxgoWZwlTI_VQ4xvgoBOdK4s/s2016/Jayla.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ReEruMmJu2x9WsNozXKyUy8qPF_GFzqhdj8c3j0S0anm-Mgg6QWVF9MlsmEnvWOGgT6Wwqb_eyy3Z9wzV592KCuu_BsFKSFikeaqO_DJWH5QhogJeDZWxgoWZwlTI_VQ4xvgoBOdK4s/w400-h300/Jayla.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jayla - Team Leader, Anchor, Slides, Script</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIwuTP-lFrYlXxbU82zPoqBEPHUNHUPoca-4T9hF_0URvO-gfcbVvnJ1HblDpsM53FZxomMRSC55YS3FFWNC9v_GSTVJrobORlt-8l54JHzo7Gn1n3G3UsT3mKu71edgfNyVuOug6E6Y/s2016/Josh.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIwuTP-lFrYlXxbU82zPoqBEPHUNHUPoca-4T9hF_0URvO-gfcbVvnJ1HblDpsM53FZxomMRSC55YS3FFWNC9v_GSTVJrobORlt-8l54JHzo7Gn1n3G3UsT3mKu71edgfNyVuOug6E6Y/w400-h300/Josh.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Josh - Anchor, Sound Master, Slides, Script</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHTnCF-GexRe6-CdortOYAr9BE7GtglJfCwT9EpBrtmXhuUTGveV0_n6mQ75hwCXze8GJ8bfLl-XXwxS4BI2Z7g3aI_Y00FJdrjO2E2-Qq_BUzsdaYEUgCaAGUBbIAqRN_pYdrP2ohRk/s2016/Kevin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHTnCF-GexRe6-CdortOYAr9BE7GtglJfCwT9EpBrtmXhuUTGveV0_n6mQ75hwCXze8GJ8bfLl-XXwxS4BI2Z7g3aI_Y00FJdrjO2E2-Qq_BUzsdaYEUgCaAGUBbIAqRN_pYdrP2ohRk/w400-h300/Kevin.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kevin - Anchor, Slides, Script</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3B30yJ6zDGl5I9_JWVFMajUyPmIjk6KoYntZM7RtApDpTBDSHaSEhBcH_ytQtArZtwhEUC2gPp07ShZCBl9ybbMKyBe72u8dr_Z9aT4pxLVhNJOg2T2iNPVUOnms6PQoJQwo1ETqwzI/s2016/Lauren.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3B30yJ6zDGl5I9_JWVFMajUyPmIjk6KoYntZM7RtApDpTBDSHaSEhBcH_ytQtArZtwhEUC2gPp07ShZCBl9ybbMKyBe72u8dr_Z9aT4pxLVhNJOg2T2iNPVUOnms6PQoJQwo1ETqwzI/w400-h300/Lauren.jpg" width="400" /></a>\</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lauren - Anchor, Slides, Script</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDTCiXBu_nfur0IMJjHp7qJzDWj8IViDRzQb0aFF0vubFSDUuQVPnKkoZEnXLN-X4LArqsjFPivgwU_15_GVsIvmAgrH0pzcxj3rmCpJHM_7PLdzORY0Tnr_98yQlpkOeWnqPpy4jvWo/s2016/Rodney.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDTCiXBu_nfur0IMJjHp7qJzDWj8IViDRzQb0aFF0vubFSDUuQVPnKkoZEnXLN-X4LArqsjFPivgwU_15_GVsIvmAgrH0pzcxj3rmCpJHM_7PLdzORY0Tnr_98yQlpkOeWnqPpy4jvWo/w400-h300/Rodney.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Rodney - Team Captain, Anchor, Sound Master, Script, Slides</div><br />In the newsroom, there are four "jobs" that kids can do. We train each kiddo on every job. This cross-training comes in handy when someone is absent or is not able to do the news one day. It is easy to switch around personnel to make sure that the news goes off without a hitch. <p>We have our "Slider" - the person who controls the PowerPoint slides to correspond with the script that the anchor is reading. </p><p>We have our "Scripter" - the person who controls the script, keeping it just ahead of the anchor so that there is never a long pause while delivering the news. </p><p>We have the "Sound Master" - the person who controls which video feeds are seen on television and controls the microphones and other sounds. Everything revolves around the Sound Master.</p><p>And we have the Anchor - the star of the show. It is imperative that the anchor delivers the news smoothly and with feeling, inflection, and life.</p><p>I cannot convey how proud I am of this year's fifth grade news crew. Last week was their last week on the news crew so that we can move fourth graders into those positions for the last two weeks of school. We do so in order for these fourth graders to be ready on Day 1 of next year when the news begins. Our fifth grade team was professional, crazy, fun, and excellent at their jobs. They have set the bar extremely high and the fourth grade team knows it. I have no doubt that next year's news crew will perform as well as this year's team. After all, they had some amazing role models.</p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-3803530863271278912021-05-17T14:02:00.009-04:002021-05-17T14:04:01.682-04:00The Legacy Project: Well-Deserved RecognitionTeachers and schools never get enough positive news coverage. There are miraculous things going on in schools and classrooms everyday and yet, because there are so many, there is no way to cover them all. We always hear about negative things regarding public education but when you walk into a school, you tend to see the great things happening in the school. Here at Lely Elementary, we try to get our story out about all of the great things happening at school. <div><br /></div><div>One program that we have adopted since last year is the Leader in Me program where we work toward training kids to be leaders and then putting them in situations where they can excel as leaders. As part of that program, we are transforming what we are doing at school. We want both teachers and students to make their mark on our school and, in some cases, leave their mark. One way we are accomplishing this is through our Legacy Project. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Legacy Project is a concept that came to us during a Leader in Me Environmental Team meeting. We thought it would be great if the class leaving our school each year, the fifth grade class, would create some kind of physical entity for our school as a memory of them. The effect would be that as the years go by, the outgoing fifth grade classes would lend a hand in beautifying our campus. </div><div><br /></div><div>Kirstin Stockwell, our art teacher, bought into the project right away. Since she sees all of the kids in the building and since her class is best geared toward something like this, she led the fifth graders in designing the 2020-21 Legacy Project. After successfully writing a Donors Choose grant for supplies, she had the students create "stained glass" panels using paper and color. The panels range in theme from food to abstract design, but each student's personality shines through their panel. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4pvtSxdhuCGAX85VIkTkEpFHqb3ez4keKVwMosqVWc1tRbV6VjqhBnGSgb-TRHDc6rRvOeqztISrYBZpNv2_KA54MgCxiTqSlsGOfj-rNJSaScUvCwAbw5THplzU4vQtxtbbCsFs9CY/s2016/LegacyProject1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4pvtSxdhuCGAX85VIkTkEpFHqb3ez4keKVwMosqVWc1tRbV6VjqhBnGSgb-TRHDc6rRvOeqztISrYBZpNv2_KA54MgCxiTqSlsGOfj-rNJSaScUvCwAbw5THplzU4vQtxtbbCsFs9CY/w400-h300/LegacyProject1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>One morning, Mrs. Stockwell was hard at work hanging the panes in the wall of windows in the media center. We have since deemed that wall of windows our campus art gallery :) After arranging all of the panels in the windows, we took a look. It was breathtaking. Each panel was an individual work of art, but together, they combined to form an amazing work. This is a point of pride for our fifth grade class, and our entire school. In fact, an anchor at ABC7 News saw the project on Twitter and decided to make it a news story on the six o'clock news. Here is a link to the story: <a href="https://vimeo.com/549522270" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">https://vimeo.com/549522270</a>. What a cool thing for kids to see their creations on television.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowTGJSpiB-ykaqX9zM3hXbdV7tmmqnzCP9PtFcPooAniVHV_0YiXx-LTJ0UPnStN9b2TDKGE4urKryBu2uz_LH5OMWfYY2RYwGIJXVxPquo93vYFgjdTGkBgvCsPu9IlmG-Q7OndKXAg/s2016/LegacyProject2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowTGJSpiB-ykaqX9zM3hXbdV7tmmqnzCP9PtFcPooAniVHV_0YiXx-LTJ0UPnStN9b2TDKGE4urKryBu2uz_LH5OMWfYY2RYwGIJXVxPquo93vYFgjdTGkBgvCsPu9IlmG-Q7OndKXAg/w480-h640/LegacyProject2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Our Legacy Project will become a staple of life at Lely Elementary School. In ten years, we will be able to look back on all of the cool new features to our school and note that kids did all of the creating. I'm sure that our campus will look much different in a decade than it does now, and it will all have started with our 2020-21 fifth grade class and Mrs. Stockwell. We could not be more proud of all of them.</div>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-90927711276628219872021-04-28T13:49:00.002-04:002021-04-28T13:51:29.960-04:00Pardon Our Dust<p>In our media center, we have championed change. We want to evolve to make this a great, interesting, wonderous learning space and the hub of our school building. We have been taking baby steps for the past year but all of these baby steps add up. We have been able to add color, texture, MakerSpace items, lights, tents, teepees, and a host of other kid-friendly entities to our space. One things that had not changed was our old, dilapidated circulation desk. It was an eyesore even after dressing it up as best we could. With permission from our principal, Tammy Brown, our Facilities Manager Yanka Ruiz was able to schedule the construction of a new circulation desk. When we heard the news, we were ecstatic! This was the one thing that we could not do ourselves and we had no idea how long the wait would be in order to make this change. Would it be months? Years? Well, it came sooner than we thought.</p><p>We got a visit from the district construction team and they outlined for us what the process would be. We told them that we would make any changes necessary to give them the space to work. We chose our color palette and the design of the desk, and we waited a few days. Word came that the process would start so we moved to a couple of temporary tables for a couple of weeks. In that time, we saw the demolition of the old desk and construction of our beautiful new desk. We stayed open during this time, providing all of the services that we normally would, with as little impact to the kids and the learning as possible. This time period was not as difficult as we feared it would be.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcICnOTiUiXTdKolDVCcG_ZYRgVH1DhKmef3h0SKOvmQWw1yxyqN21kxnq2nfbwiAhEdW2VMEIyh_dBqkPBQsGtMPp5ZoU6EffC24vAlRyOQzb9NnO3Ti7dgeX4RchXNUVrrniYsZn_tg/s2016/Old1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcICnOTiUiXTdKolDVCcG_ZYRgVH1DhKmef3h0SKOvmQWw1yxyqN21kxnq2nfbwiAhEdW2VMEIyh_dBqkPBQsGtMPp5ZoU6EffC24vAlRyOQzb9NnO3Ti7dgeX4RchXNUVrrniYsZn_tg/w400-h300/Old1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyU5EuQon1uKp-sPpLh-_MsAKVU_FVL0ISrUfwwWLlbcj9PxNRSqCesOwkLywvWXLhShk0-qCx_1Xr-uCCPWeKccKFinTj5NxYSP9j1f9BrdVPIwgRo58UR8rTNfRTxJMuRAsXUrRAo34/s2016/Old2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyU5EuQon1uKp-sPpLh-_MsAKVU_FVL0ISrUfwwWLlbcj9PxNRSqCesOwkLywvWXLhShk0-qCx_1Xr-uCCPWeKccKFinTj5NxYSP9j1f9BrdVPIwgRo58UR8rTNfRTxJMuRAsXUrRAo34/w400-h300/Old2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Ivwla9fb8gTz3mzP4-V-XkUoItpuRHGYcJN6J_SfwdYt9C8zhsY0qMe87zN5d7dQ5s4f2_PI6EuanL6svMqLBdB359M5gl75aY2QDRf5w9g7zvpymOGyg2YraSVLGrVP8hnbo_aLxww/s2016/Demolition.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Ivwla9fb8gTz3mzP4-V-XkUoItpuRHGYcJN6J_SfwdYt9C8zhsY0qMe87zN5d7dQ5s4f2_PI6EuanL6svMqLBdB359M5gl75aY2QDRf5w9g7zvpymOGyg2YraSVLGrVP8hnbo_aLxww/w400-h300/Demolition.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As you can see, this was a big undertaking. The construction team was remarkable. They were considerate of our needs and tried to work around us. We also tried to work around them and since we all had the same goal in mind, things went seamlessly. As you can also see from the pics, the old counter was very high. While sitting behind the desk, we could not see many of our younger students. This desk was not conducive to an elementary school library. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhmVHvUGX24jefd1vJm6vwicx62dXuakzKw8ig24vDpdsFi8qLJB50hrXTnKoIVwy-ttsWqKceigkIv3a5-hW5n77FsythzcP2tLtVIqIO-R6hsSOYWnBJ-WdTbcY-vSmXGaiB0zR00I/s2016/NewConstruction2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMhmVHvUGX24jefd1vJm6vwicx62dXuakzKw8ig24vDpdsFi8qLJB50hrXTnKoIVwy-ttsWqKceigkIv3a5-hW5n77FsythzcP2tLtVIqIO-R6hsSOYWnBJ-WdTbcY-vSmXGaiB0zR00I/w400-h300/NewConstruction2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After a week or so, things really started coming together. We could see the footprint of the new circulation desk. It was much roomier than the previous incarnation. It was built with a busy media center in mind. There would be lots of closed cabinet space, a low counter for the younger kids, and lots of outlets for electricity and Internet connections. This would be a modern circulation desk. As more of the construction happened, we got more and more excited. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGoVXXm4S2IpcdQuUzcEZBk_BCKOpDMTUUQR8tytFAhSLGAZNp_wkobXK3CN80j0IEpWIJG81xROlUNLRAz8uXuFG3WTP5Y6n7VkwNKaKH54A8C6MKYEjMWvBSzR8LbfzrvUUbzJ6Km8/s2016/New2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGoVXXm4S2IpcdQuUzcEZBk_BCKOpDMTUUQR8tytFAhSLGAZNp_wkobXK3CN80j0IEpWIJG81xROlUNLRAz8uXuFG3WTP5Y6n7VkwNKaKH54A8C6MKYEjMWvBSzR8LbfzrvUUbzJ6Km8/w400-h300/New2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5o_ZXBrSVzzw8RZkIUR9GwBIcy1Jczn_NUpU4JPYewF_Cg8bPd9OJF-i8449q634OF77da8l03LRQuNYKC__QzOvQOWj5KxQwEpk3mLwn1q11WhSXdTJCbXHl4pK23eRDX3IMthq0-aQ/s2016/New3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5o_ZXBrSVzzw8RZkIUR9GwBIcy1Jczn_NUpU4JPYewF_Cg8bPd9OJF-i8449q634OF77da8l03LRQuNYKC__QzOvQOWj5KxQwEpk3mLwn1q11WhSXdTJCbXHl4pK23eRDX3IMthq0-aQ/w400-h300/New3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7wqJD5HfmQ838NpA2McTX91eNnEY5NeYVZj4moztk0CHzLRQ1VjBy4bZo9nCT5zfdZ7SDNXb0JO2x_DWym-t94Huk-_fl18ex054QqdhuiIhIxbuN8bS6kGOctQIrP3bqf1sjyUTtN4/s2016/New1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7wqJD5HfmQ838NpA2McTX91eNnEY5NeYVZj4moztk0CHzLRQ1VjBy4bZo9nCT5zfdZ7SDNXb0JO2x_DWym-t94Huk-_fl18ex054QqdhuiIhIxbuN8bS6kGOctQIrP3bqf1sjyUTtN4/w400-h300/New1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4dzx024cwtekKcLeXGhbdjM1JCbmFVC0oN-AIW2_1KdkqYCeScJo1qk4J4jnXaN4hgYNLZ1Aoivwj9wt8pEfP5rp62GaP8BbS0y8_y8X040YN9EcHmXpT6kNSp1qCia84QTVIp39EsDs/s2016/New4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4dzx024cwtekKcLeXGhbdjM1JCbmFVC0oN-AIW2_1KdkqYCeScJo1qk4J4jnXaN4hgYNLZ1Aoivwj9wt8pEfP5rp62GaP8BbS0y8_y8X040YN9EcHmXpT6kNSp1qCia84QTVIp39EsDs/w400-h300/New4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After the construction team was finished, we unveiled our beautiful new circulation counter. Our color scheme matched our media center perfectly and it looked beautiful. The "ooooohs" and "ahhhhhs" from both students and teachers were audible as they entered the library. After we moved back over from our temporary space, we immediately noticed how much better this counter was. We could see the kids! We could store things and close the cabinets! We could have two functioning computers to serve the kids and adults better! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This change was not a small change like the ones that came before. This change was ginormous! This change sets the tone for more changes to come but nothing we will do in the future will have as great of an effect as the new circulation desk. We are grateful to the district for completing this project during the school year and we are grateful for our team at Lely, from our principal to our facilities manager, who made this change possible. We are now ready for the next fifteen years of service to the kids and staff at Lely Elementary School.</div>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-42298150458480711892021-04-13T13:49:00.003-04:002021-04-13T13:53:47.180-04:00Student-Driven Book Purchasing<p> Last year I had a boy, Elano, come into the library and ask for a book called Hilo. I had never heard of this book before. He explained that it was a graphic novel series and that he was very excited to read it. Well, we didn't have it. I explained to him that our graphic novel selection was not very good. He just looked at me for a minute and finally asked, "Well, can you order it?" What a simple question. On our next book purchase, I ordered the Hilo series and one or two other graphic novels. I held the books for Elano since he asked for them. He was so excited when he came in and saw them. He got them all and gobbled them up in a few days. He came back elated and asked what else we had. Well, our selection was still very limited but Elano had shown me that if we have the books, kids will check them out. It's kind of the "Field of Dreams" premise. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFDrDdyQYT0I33YgF_-DjYSynIhkU0-jPxgIuNanswNEZOd9jQHfyXQn4q1BBL7TonIOj7suK6_0l84n9Yjt-hxCwlm85DoKapuBZM6eM1XMp-CDH0os4pvXn_-Z3aawNLdffrL9RtXUU/s2016/GNs.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFDrDdyQYT0I33YgF_-DjYSynIhkU0-jPxgIuNanswNEZOd9jQHfyXQn4q1BBL7TonIOj7suK6_0l84n9Yjt-hxCwlm85DoKapuBZM6eM1XMp-CDH0os4pvXn_-Z3aawNLdffrL9RtXUU/w400-h300/GNs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>While Elano was repeatedly asking me to order more graphic novels, his friends were busy reading the Hilo series. I determined at that point that in order to properly serve these students, I had to pack the media center with things they really wanted to read. So, last year before Covid, we got in a few more graphic novels. We still hid them in a shelf along the far wall of the media center, off the beaten path. Kids still found them, lots of kids. </p><p>This year, we took a different approach to graphic novels. While our budget is small, our grant opportunities are endless. We decided to write a Donors Choose grant for graphic novels. I looked at lots of sources to find the best graphic novels for elementary students. Our first grant was for 902.00 and was funded in two days. It was funded so quickly that I immediately put up a second graphic novel grant for 865.00. That grant was funded even quicker. Now, we had 1700.00+ of graphic novels coming to school. We cleared off the tables in the media center to display them so the kids could see all of the new books that we received. Well, let's just say that the kids were super stoked.</p><p>Many times we heard screams of elation when kids came across books that they had only heard about before. They ran from table to table, looking at all of the new, colorful graphic novels. You would think it was Christmas morning! We loved seeing the kids so excited about books! </p><p>All year long, the kids have been flocking to the graphic novel tables. We have trouble keeping them in the media center. I have learned a lot from this experience. I learned from Elano that kids love graphic novels more than I thought they did. This experience also confirmed my conviction that kids will read more than they ever have if they have the right books. I know some teachers and parents don't like graphic novels because they are books with pictures but when you look at the amount of information on the page and all of the brainpower it takes to interpret the words and graphics on the page, graphic novels are an excellent exercise for the brain. And if kids willingly, doggedly read these books, then we have tapped into a slice of motivation that may not have been there for strictly text-based books. </p><p>Often graphic novels act as a vehicle to get kids reading in the first place. From there they choose a variety of books. I would much rather have kids excitedly reading graphic novels than learn to hate reading by being forced to read books that they don't like. We try to nurture a child's natural love of stories by introducing them to the books that they will love and grow their reading abilities from there. Graphic novels often act as the hook that brings kids into the world of reading. </p>Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-33489611900137526952021-04-08T20:53:00.005-04:002021-04-08T21:08:18.634-04:00Leader In Me Habit Boards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is our second year as a Leader in Me school. While Covid played havoc with our school year, we were still able to make some gains in building a foundation of Leader in Me in our school. One of the things that we tried to do right off the bat was change the environment of various spots around campus. We wanted students and teachers to come to school on the first day and be "wow'd" by what they saw. One project that helped us accomplish this feeling was our Leader in Me Habit Boards that are mounted right outside the media center. We spent over two weeks creating these boards and mounting them to the wall for all to see. They are strategically placed because you can see them from the front entrance. On their way into the office, parents and visitors will see the boards and be reminded that we are indeed a Leader in Me school and there is much to appreciate about our school. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now that the year has been going full-steam, we will document some of the other areas that we have made progress. We will recognize the outstanding work of our teachers, staff, and students, and make sure that everyone knows what an amazing place Lely Elementary School is. This is just the beginning of our story. It is a good one to tell and throughout the next several posts, you'll get a sense of what our school year has been like with all of the challenges we have faced. Click this link (<a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/oQNVGToqZCvmezMd9">LIM Habit Boards</a>) to see the video of our LIM Habit Boards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgKNyIvwZ-GJCbLYnSPcHyP4xyrOIhzcsRzoel_GdkEYxORAj139_UU_VjQb_QPpRPJ5iXpmd4UL6ku5u4K3iUvSXCvZdtp9_R0kZwF4cjoNKxRm4yfNGPmeDi6DX4HCIlP12C6nz-lta/s4032/IMG_20200816_133117.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgKNyIvwZ-GJCbLYnSPcHyP4xyrOIhzcsRzoel_GdkEYxORAj139_UU_VjQb_QPpRPJ5iXpmd4UL6ku5u4K3iUvSXCvZdtp9_R0kZwF4cjoNKxRm4yfNGPmeDi6DX4HCIlP12C6nz-lta/w400-h300/IMG_20200816_133117.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br />Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998638489415181711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364768588598827665.post-2210157458009872852020-04-20T10:28:00.003-04:002020-04-20T10:30:06.756-04:00A Beautiful MessageSince school campuses have closed here in Florida, teachers have had a tough time connecting with kids and trying to make them feel like there is some sense of normalcy. Our learning curve has been steep but, after a few weeks of e-learning, we've worked out many of the bugs. One thing that both teachers and students are sad about is not being able to be in the same place for school. So much of education is personal interaction and soft skills that make our days a joy. We can capture some of that in video chats with the kids but so much is lost due to the separation. That is why you hear teachers say that Shelter at Home is tough on them. We want to see our kids but we know that we cannot. For the safety of everyone, we must shelter in place.<br />
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Our Lely Elementary Reading Coach, Karen Pelletier, came up with a way for us to communicate our love for our kids directly to them. She wrote a poem, had each teacher take a picture with one word from the poem, and she put all of the photos together to give a strong message to our kids. They loved it! This is one of the many ways we are showing our kids how much we love and miss them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMj8s0S3LaFdc3adpkCLjIncmyy-P5A-OdjDUdccgxJN_Ktclh5mvb0ei_C1udaAJN0YUxVsOJsJEUiB7jN2FDwFthIYENULDgNU6anabUuX3jo-_LKzL4YoFwB3cXoAk1QZ4LfkYokJU8/s1600/To+Our+Lely+Lions1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1150" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMj8s0S3LaFdc3adpkCLjIncmyy-P5A-OdjDUdccgxJN_Ktclh5mvb0ei_C1udaAJN0YUxVsOJsJEUiB7jN2FDwFthIYENULDgNU6anabUuX3jo-_LKzL4YoFwB3cXoAk1QZ4LfkYokJU8/s320/To+Our+Lely+Lions1.jpg" width="230" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKzig9p1XRNnQff3Lge1d2-hKueZHOWbFUJ-O54Z4ZMBLg6a77kYuNFjFpS0Bg8zmaSnbxVdCwS3_KOX0h134oV39igdl6laQGL9A8lWRfhM7qpV5qkbd7uSExkCnHTkSJ5FGyNV_2ABn3/s1600/To+Our+Lely+Lions2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKzig9p1XRNnQff3Lge1d2-hKueZHOWbFUJ-O54Z4ZMBLg6a77kYuNFjFpS0Bg8zmaSnbxVdCwS3_KOX0h134oV39igdl6laQGL9A8lWRfhM7qpV5qkbd7uSExkCnHTkSJ5FGyNV_2ABn3/s320/To+Our+Lely+Lions2.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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We miss our Lely Lions,<o:p></o:p></div>
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that we used to see each day.</div>
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So we thought we'd get together,</div>
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so you could see us say:</div>
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We still love you and we miss you,</div>
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and together we'll get through.</div>
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But we have to say</div>
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school's not the same</div>
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without our Lely crew.</div>
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We remember all the kindness,</div>
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that you showed in many ways.</div>
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The smiles and love you gave us,</div>
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still warm our hearts each day.</div>
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Even though we're in different places,</div>
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and each inside our home,</div>
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we'll get through this together,</div>
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you will never be alone.</div>
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Love,</div>
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Your Lely family</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Don Eckerthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04926253847156663809noreply@blogger.com1