August 2011 Newsletter

Dear Media Specialists,

Nothing is over like summer! I hope yours was fun and your batteries are recharged for a new year of opportunities!

My newest reading program, “Wherever You Go, There’s a Story!,” debuted in over 70 libraries this summer, and it is so much fun! We learned about the continents, legends and folk tales, animals and culture and a whole lot more! I got great reviews all summer long, and I can’t wait to bring it to your school! (There’s more about that below.)

My goal with this newsletter is to share information that is
- helpful
- relevant
- concise (to that end, some of the articles conclude on my blog)
- linked to other e-sources for further study.

Of course, every issue will also include some shameless self-promotion, but since you have already seen or heard about my programs, you know that even those sections of the newsletter can be helpful!

This time we cover:

Rewarding summer readers
Our newest show, Wherever You Go, There’s a Story!
Liberty County Media Showcase
Arctic Express
Budget Crunch

It’s Time to Reward Those Summer Readers and Kick off a New Year!

Early each school year, the media specialist at Brandon ES in Atlanta celebrates her students’ participation in the public libraries’ Summer Reading Program. This is a great way to encourage reading ALL YEAR LONG! She has a fun celebration that rewards the kids with a snack and a fun magic and puppet show (performed by one of my favorite magicians!). She gives the kids a book, a bookmark and a certificate, and they have drawings for prizes as well.

I know it encourages kids to read, because she was celebrating summer readers as our media specialist when my boys were in elementary school 17 years ago. They LOVED being a part of this recognition and it really spurred them to read even more in the summer!

If you are interested in having one of our reading programs to encourage/reward your summer readers, let me know. I have special pricing for summer reading celebration shows.

For a new year Reading Kickoff, any of our fun and educationally significant reading programs can help you get your year started off right. Any programs booked to take place in August or September get 15% off the regular pricing! The most popular "kick off show" is I Love to Read, a program that shows students that good readers can learn to do all kinds of things, meet all kinds of people and have all kinds of adventures.

Call or e-mail me (770-640-6509, toll free at 1-866-490-READ, or tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com) for more information, or to book a program!

Wherever You Go, There’s a Story!

If you book our newest program for your school, you can travel to all seven continents, learn interesting facts about each place and hear stories that help students appreciate other cultures while being inspired to read! Like all of our programs, Wherever You Go uses puppets, magic, music and audience participation to encourage reading and teach library skills. And it looks like a social studies show! All summer long, parents and librarians talked about how much THEY learned and how fun the show is. Check the website, http://tommyjohnspresents.com for more details.

Liberty County Media Showcase

If you are near Liberty County, GA (south of Savannah) and want to attend a SUPER one day conference with great vendors, free prizes, useful breakout session and workshops and a fun atmosphere, you should attend the Liberty County Media Showcase on September 1 in Hinesville. I will be leading a session entitles “45 Ideas in 45 Minutes!” a session that will give you a basket load of ideas for promoting your media center and reading in general. The 45 ideas will be listed on a webpage after the meeting and the link will be included in the next newsletter. Find out more on their blog (and read a review of last year’s Showcase) at http://mediamatterslcss.blogspot.com.

Arctic Express

It’s still in the upper 80’s outside, but it’s time to be thinking about your holiday programming. Last year we sold out of available days for Arctic Express, a show that many say is the best of the ones we offer. Set as a story about a boy who LOVES trains, it’s a show that explores the late fall and early winter festivals of cultures and religions from around the world. The show covers Diwali, Hanukah, Ramadan, Solstice, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year and of course Christmas.

Don’t miss out on a reading show that your students and teachers will love, and that you may be able to get the counselors to pay for (since it is a show about diversity!).

Budget Crunch

Media Specialists are among the most committed teachers I know. You have the largest classroom in the school, you teach everybody, and you have to do it with less money every year. Funding keeps getting harder and harder to come by, especially for things like reading assembly programs. I can help. (Of course, this is a bit self serving, but I really believe that what I do can help reinforce what your teachers are teaching and can inspire kids to read!) I have done a lot of research and have written an article outlining 5 ways you can bring a program to your school without impacting the budget. Click on the link below and read more about it!

Funding a Reading Assembly

That’s it for this month! See you in September!

Encouraging Kids to READ, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist
http://TommyJohnsPresents.com
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ!
------------------------------------
Your colleagues appreciate recommendations from people like you. Do you know someone who needs educationally significant school assembly programs that encourage kids to read? Send them an e-mail about www.tommyjohnspresents and encourage them to find out more about what we offer!

It’s Time to Reward Those Summer Readers and Kick Off a New Year!

Early each school year, the media specialist at Manning Oaks ES in Alpharetta celebrates her students’ participation in the public libraries’ summer Vacation Reading Program. This is a great way to encourage reading ALL YEAR LONG! She has a fun celebration that rewards the kids with a snack and a fun magic and puppet show (performed by one of my favorite magicians!). She gives the kids a book, a bookmark and a certificate, and they have drawings for prizes as well.

I know it encourages kids to read, because she was celebrating summer readers as our media specialist when my boys were in elementary school 15 years ago. They LOVED being a part of this recognition and it really spurred them to read even more in the summer!

If you are interested in having one of our reading programs to encourage/reward your summer readers, let me know. I have special pricing for summer reading celebration shows.

For a new year Reading Kickoff, any of our fun and educationally significant reading programs can help you get your year started off right. Any programs booked to take place in August or September get 10% off the regular pricing! The most popular "kick off show" is I Love to Read, a program that shows students that good readers can learn to do all kinds of things, meet all kinds of people and have all kinds of adventures.

Call or e-mail me (770-640-6509, toll free at 1-866-490-READ, or tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com for more information, or to book a program!

GMLA Summer Institute Bibliography

This is a bibliography for the presentation I offered at the 2009 GMLA Summer Institute.

Add a Dash of Fun to Your Media Center Classroom
Bibliography

Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Rev. ed. New York: Collins Business Essentials, 2006.

Frank, Milo O. How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986.

Franklin, Julian. Kid Control: Behavior Management for Children’s Entertainers. Houston, TX: Julian Franklin Productions, 2005.

Goldstein, Noah J.; Martin, Steve J.; and Cialdini, Robert B. Yes!: Fifty Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. New York: Free, 2008.

Heath, Chip, and Heath Dan. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Other Die. New York: Random House, 2007.

Johnson, Spencer, and Johnson, Constance. The One Minute Teacher. New York: William Morrow, 1986.

Roam, Dan. The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas. New York: Penguin, 2008.

Tamblyn, Doni. Laugh and Learn: Ninety-Five Ways to Use Humor for More Effective Teaching and Training. New York: American Management Association, 2003.

Williams, Roy H. Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads. Austin, TX: Bard, 2001.

---. Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads. Austin, TX: Bard, 1999.

---. The Wizard of Ads: Turning Words into Magic and Dreamers into Millionaires. Austin, TX: Bard, 1998.

Give Me Five #9
By Tommy and Linda Johns

This is another article in a series that has a simple premise. The articles will take you about five minutes to read (that’s when you give US five!) and will deal with a problem or concept pertaining to our work encouraging kids to read. Each article will also include a list of five ideas, reasons, tools, steps or other helpful items (that’s when we give YOU five!) related to the topic of the article. While none of these articles will claim to be the last word on any topic, we promise to make each one fun, well researched and way beyond the obvious. Here is Give Me Five...

#9 – “I’d Like to, But I Can’t Afford it Right Now!”

I know. Another article about money and these precarious economic times. Is this one about how to save it, invest it, hold onto it, make more of it, or refinance debt? Actually, it’s about how to get what your media center and students need when you don’t have the money in the budget. It is likely that you have seen something in the past 30 days you would like to offer your students or teachers, but you just can’t seem to find the money to get it. It might be a piece of equipment, new World BooksTM, prizes for a reading emphasis, or a great presenter for a reading program that would inspire and encourage kids to read. But if you don’t have the money, you don’t have the money, right? Maybe. There are ways to fund these important parts of your program, even when your funds are not there.


1. School Funding – The most obvious choice is using budgeted school funds. Use library or reading budget funds. Book Fair money can often be used for unbudgeted items. Sit down with your principal and share your vision for what you want. Your passion is often contagious, and will help motivate the principal to find funding. Talk to the principal about the value of reading programs/equipment/supplies as they relate to increased test scores. (I have had more than one person tell me that when principals are asked to list their top five criteria for anything the school does, the top four are “It must raise test scores.”) Principals often have discretionary funds available to use for projects that they see as being of value. If you are new to your school or system, ask about other, less obvious money that may be available to you of which you were unaware. Ask the PTA/PTO for funds. Parent/teacher groups love to sponsor events that the entire school can enjoy and benefit from.

2. Community Funding - Your school’s Partners in Education will often get very excited about bringing in a speaker, buying a visible piece of equipment, or helping fund a reading emphasis like a family reading night. Civic organizations like the Rotary Club can be a source of partial or total funding if the program promotes reading and they get some deserved recognition. Tommy was part of a series at a library last summer where five speakers were brought in, each paid for by a different service organization (Rotary, Kiwanis, Optimist, etc.). Be sure and recognize their contribution as publicly and as often as you can, and invite members of the group to your school to see the program or for the unveiling of the equipment. Take pictures and issue press releases when an organization helps fund a project. This will help insure continued support and may motivate other groups to help as well. ALWAYS get approval from your principal and Partners in Education coordinator before approaching any business or organization in the community.

3. Cooperative or Collaborative Funding – If you have some money, but an item or event you need is out of your price range, there are ways to reduce the expense of getting what you need. If you are looking to bring in an author/presenter, get another school to join the “tour,” thereby splitting expenses. Find a presenter who performs reading shows that incorporate science, history, geography, writing, or character education and get funding through another budget item in the school. Likewise, if a series of books or a piece of equipment will be especially helpful to the fifth grade or the Math department, ask them to help pay for it. Collaboration is about more than just sharing ideas. And as the media specialist, you are in a position to know about resources of which most teachers are unaware. It’s a win/win situation.

Collaborate with other media specialists in your district to find out what they may have as a surplus that you could use. If you need televisions and find out that the high school your school feeds into has just equipped their classrooms with LCD projectors, you may be able to get several serviceable TV’s transferred to your school. Ask the district office what they have in storage that you might be able to get. Many times one department has needs and another, the means to meet that need, but nobody asks.

4. Grants and Public Funding – If your school is eligible and you are willing to fill out the paperwork and jump through a few hoops, you may be able to get funding for incentives, books/resources, equipment or programs involving promotion of reading, science, math or drug awareness from grants or other public funds like Title I, Red Ribbon, corporations, professional associations and foundations. A quick Google search for Reading Grants will reveal a number of companies that care about encouraging kids to read and offer funding for events and continued support if your school meets their criteria. Check into an Eisenhower Grant for science or math resources.

5. Free Stuff – There is a lot of free stuff out there. Box tops, prize drawings, and sales promotions (Buy this set of books, get a free DVD player!) are ways to get some of the things you need without any outlay of funds. There are ways to get a presenter to visit your school at no cost. (Before you bring in a free speaker, ALWAYS get references! A free program can be very costly to your credibility if it is done poorly.) Some authors come to schools at no cost, but you must do book sales using their system. Be on the lookout (and get your friends and colleagues to do the same) for giveaways that could be used as prizes for reading incentives, door prizes or gift baskets. There is free stuff to be had. You just have to make sure it meets your needs. Speaking of free stuff, the first elementary or middle school media specialist to e-mail Tommy will get a free half day of reading assembly programs (up to 2 assemblies) to be redeemed in the spring semester of this school year (not including Children’s Book Week).

Media specialists are among the most resourceful people we have met. We hope the ideas shared in this article have added to your resource file.

This blog is the beginning of a booklet we are working on to distribute to Media Specialists and Public Librarians about ways to fund programs and reading emphases when there is little or no funding available. If you have ideas on the topic of creative funding or if you are interested in receiving a .pdf copy of the booklet when it is finished, e-mail us at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com, and you will get your copy when we get it completed.

Tommy has been helping media specialists find ways to pay for his programs that encourage kids to read for almost three decades as a school show presenter and educational entertainment specialist. Find out more at http://www.tommyjohnspresents.com/.

Linda, a first year library media specialist in Cobb County, has already used some of these ideas to find ways to get funding for the stuff her media center needs.

We welcome your comments on this column and ideas for future “Give Me Five!” articles. You can contact us at lindajohns@magictj.com or tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com.

Give Me Five #8 - Self Promotion

Give Me Five #8
By Tommy and Linda Johns

This is another article in a series that has a simple premise. The articles will take you less than five minutes to read (that’s when you give US five!) and will deal with a problem or concept pertaining to our work encouraging kids to read. Each article will also include a list of five ideas, reasons, tools, steps or other helpful items (that’s when we give YOU five!) related to the topic of the article. While none of these articles will claim to be the last word on any topic, we promise to make each one fun, well researched and way beyond the obvious. (If you have missed the first articles, you can view them at http://glma-inc.org/newsletter.htm or e-mail us at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com and we’ll send you an MS WordTM file of the articles.) Here is Give Me Five

#8 – “Be a Self Promoter!”
When Tommy worked in a job that had a lot of very significant, but almost always behind the scenes, work, he often groused (mostly to himself) about the fact that nobody knew how valuable he was to the organization. On one of the rare times he got a chance to voice his frustration about being taken for granted to a colleague in another similar organization, the friend told him something he will always remember.

He said, "Remember the old proverb, ‘He who doth not toot his own horn, the same shall not be tooted.’" We don’t know where this ancient proverb originated, or even if it is ancient, but there is undeniable truth in these words. This sage told Tommy that if he wanted people to know how important his contribution was, he had to be the one to tell them.

Media Center work is a lot like that. It is likely that many people in your school have little idea of the value you and your classroom bring to the school, both students and faculty. You need to let them know.

Of course you can't just go around telling everybody how great you are. Tommy’s grandmother married a guy like that after his grandfather passed away, and the family almost stopped inviting them to Thanksgiving dinner! At their house!

And as much as you deserve it, you can't buy t-shirts that say "Our Media Specialist Rocks!" for the morning news crew to wear.

No, your approach has to be much more subtle; but the challenge of being a ninja self promoter just makes it all the more fun! Here are some ways to make sure that while nobody talks IN the library, everybody is talking ABOUT it!

1. Announce New Developments Publicly - When a new shipment of books comes in, make sure that everybody knows. Send an e-mail to the teachers, make an announcement on the morning news program, ask a volunteer to create a bulletin board or display. When a reading campaign kicks off, go around the tables during lunch and encourage the kids to take part. Display prizes (if that's the direction you are going) near a high traffic area. If you are announcing the work of the media center, the fact that you are the key worker there will not get lost on those hearing the news.

2. Be Visible - Go to grade level collaboration meetings and share resources with the teachers. Stand out in the hall in a costume or holding a sign about some new or exciting thing in the media center. Ask for a Media Minute at PTA/PTO meetings and share some of the work and offerings of the media center. Since your classroom serves the entire school, you have the right (one might even say a responsibility) to share with parents, teachers, and of course, administration, the kinds of contributions that your area offers to the school.

3. Be Sensitive to the Culture of Your School – We were recently involved with an AR reward event that was held during lunch, so the kids would not spend time away from class. Every morning this school announces their school motto, which includes a phrase about spending "time on task." The media specialist held her event when the kids would not miss valuable class time, and she was careful to mention WHY she chose this format in an e-mail to the teachers.

4. Stay on Top of What's Being Taught at Your School – Be aware of the Georgia Performance Standards for each grade level and what is being taught when. For example, a teacher recently asked a media specialist about ordering biographies of specific people they were studying. When the MS was able to respond, “Are these the people listed in your grade level GPS?” and then followed up by saying, “I have already included several of those in a couple of different reading levels in my order,” it was obvious by the teacher’s expression that she was impressed and appreciative. Another way to be a ninja self promoter is to set up displays that highlight resources that would help teachers and students with their work. Send a monthly newsletter via e-mail that tells teachers what books, magazines, DVD's, and equipment you have available for them. Tell them what's new or what has been around but has not been utilized. Your new teachers don't know what you have or are willing to do for them, and the veterans have always done it the way they have always done it. Just sharing information can make a real difference.

5. When a Project Ends Well, Celebrate "OUR" Success - One of the best ways to brag on the services provided by the media center is to publicly congratulate all who made an event or emphasis a success. If your push for reading biographies resulted in a circulation increase in that area, make sure you thank "all those students and teachers who made our emphasis a success. You checked out 78% MORE biographies in September of this year than last September." If you have a great book fair, thank the team of volunteers and media center staff as well as the students and teachers who adjusted their schedules and came to the fair. Every time you thank them, the message is going out loud and clear that the media center is a significant part of the school and that its leadership contributes to its effectiveness.

Toot your own horn! You CAN be a self promoter and endear yourself to those around you. The media center can and should be a significant factor in the success of your school’s mission, but people have to know about it to take advantage of the services you offer. By following these suggestions, you can help your colleagues and your students while you increase your visibility in the school. Everybody wins!

Tommy has been self promoting his work encouraging kids to read for almost three decades as a school show presenter and educational entertainment specialist. Find out more at www.tommyjohnspresents.com.

Linda, a first year library media specialist in Cobb County, has already discovered great value in self promotion and has used the ideas above to boost her visibility and value to her school.

We welcome your comments on this column and ideas for future “Give Me Five!” articles. You can contact us at lindajohns@magictj.com or tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com.

Give Me Five #7 - Reader Recognition: Part Two

Give Me Five #7
By Tommy and Linda Johns

This is another article in a series of articles that has a simple premise. The articles will take you less than five minutes to read (that’s when you give ME five!) and each will contain an introduction to a problem or concept pertaining to our work encouraging kids to read. Each article will also include a list of five ideas, reasons, tools, steps or other helpful items (that’s when I give YOU five!) related to the topic of the article. While none of these articles will claim to be the last word on any topic, I promise to make each one fun, well researched and way beyond the obvious. (If you have missed the first articles, you can view them at http://glma-inc.org/newsletter.htm or e-mail me at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com and I’ll send you an MS Word file of the articles or an audio CD of the articles along with a bonus article we handed out at COMO.) Here is Give Me Five…

#7 – “Reader Recognition: Part Two”
Keep ‘Em Reading All Year Long

Off to a good start.
Off like a rocket.
Strong out of the gate.
All’s well that ends well.
A Grand Finale.
Curtain Call/encore!
Good beginnings. Happy endings.

We all know how to kick off a reading program. And most of us (especially those who read my last blog) know how to wrap up a reading emphasis at the end of the year. While these two EVENTS take a lot of planning and work, the real work comes week to week, day to day—what takes place between the kickoff and the wrap up.

In August, every child in your school has a chance to reach his or her reading goal. We go to great lengths to make sure that we evaluate every child’s reading skills, and with tools like publisher’s reviews, Lexiles, and AR levels we can be sure that we have readily available reading resources for every reader. Still, with all this student potential, careful placement and a ton of age appropriate reading material, we see the entire student body in the auditorium at the kick-off pep rally, but we only need one cake in the Media Center to reward the ones who reach their goals. How can we sustain the excitement from the first of the year to the end? How can we get more kids to get on track and stay on track to reaching the goal of 25 books or one million words? What if there were some things we could do that would double or triple the attendance at the reward event?

Here are five easy, tried and true ways to infect your students with the reading bug and spread an epidemic at your school.

1. Offer constant rewards. Someone said that all children have attention deficit disorder! You have to keep their goal in front of them constantly, and reward progress along the way, if you expect a year-long emphasis to be effective. Our sons’ elementary school had a program called Math Superstars, and every time a student reached a milestone, his or her name was written on a construction paper star (by a parent volunteer) and the STUDENT got to place it in the hallway on the big wall of fame. Or if you have no budget for construction paper, scroll the names of the star readers on the closed circuit TVs in the building. Rewards do not have to cost money. Recognition for a job well done is often all it takes to keep a reader fired up–and it will often encourage others to become “famous!” While we are on this idea, consider recognizing teachers who have students who achieve reading milestones. A little friendly competition and recognition goes a long way for adults, too!

2. Enlist support! Get the parents and the rest of faculty on your team! This really is a group effort, and you need the help and support of the reading coach, the teachers, and the principal at school and the parents at home to turn your end of the year celebration into a 3 cake event. The best way to get and retain team members is to COMMUNICATE! If people know what we need them to do, they are much more likely to buy in to the reading program. Encourage teachers of younger children to set up a reading area in the classroom and to refresh their supply of age appropriate material. Make sure parents are informed about the reading emphasis by e-mail or the school news. Ask parents to donate new or gently used books to the classroom libraries, and get a stamp or sticker that notes that the book was donated, and by whom. If the teachers and parents see value in what you are doing, they will influence your school’s readers to read! Another way to enlist the support of parents is to designate certain nights each month as Reading Nights. Why not combine your regular restaurant/pizza night fundraiser with a “No TV – Everybody Reads!” promotion to raise money AND test scores!

3. Conduct regular checkups. See where the weak spots are and find ways to help. If you discover that only two students from Ms. Johnson’s class have gotten any AR points, see if you can approach her with some suggestions or assistance. Encourage teachers to bring students to the library. Plug the reading emphasis every time you see every class. Do a mid-year pep rally. Get a parent volunteer to chart progress every week or two in a visible (bulletin board, CCTV, etc.) way that encourages readers, classes, or grade levels to work harder.

4. Keep the reading program VISIBLE. So much of what are suggesting can be distilled into this one idea. If the reading emphasis starts big and disappears, then the only readers who succeed are the self-motivated children who are probably going to read any way! Bulletin boards, TV announcements, book talks by students, teachers, parent volunteers, and celebrities are all ways to keep your reading goal out there where it can be seen! (And it also gives YOU and the MEDIA CENTER some much needed publicity as well.)

5. Keep hope alive! Consider smaller, more attainable goals that can be reached in a shorter amount of time. Instead of a year-long emphasis, recognize achievement of shorter term goals by recognizing/rewarding readers at the end of each grading period and start fresh the next day. Some of your students may decide to get serious about the reading goal late in the year, but see it as hopeless. Give them hope! Set up the program so they can get started any time, while encouraging and affirming those who got in early.

In order to keep your pep rally enthusiasm throughout the year, try these ideas. And you don’t have to do it alone. Trust us – there are lots of parents who value reading and would love to help the Media Center help kids to read more. And many of these parents are NOT going to volunteer to organize the wrapping paper fund raiser or choose to be on a committee. But they love reading and will help you if you ask. It’s important to start off strong. Use these ideas, and you’ll finish big as well!

Tommy Johns has been getting and keeping the attention of children and adults for almost three decades as a school show presenter and educational entertainment specialist. He and his wife Linda, a library media specialist in Cobb County, co-wrote this article on a long car trip through South Georgia and North Florida. Find out more at www.tommyjohnspresents.com. We welcome your comments on this column and ideas for future “Give Me Five!” articles. You can contact us at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com

Give Me Five #6 - Reader Recognition: Part One

Give Me Five #6 - Reader Recognition: Part One

This is another article in a series of articles that has a simple premise. The articles will take you less than five minutes to read (that’s when you give ME five!) and each will contain an introduction to a problem or concept pertaining to our work encouraging kids to read. Each article will also include a list of five ideas, reasons, tools, steps or other helpful items (that’s when I give YOU five!) related to the topic of the article. While none of these articles will claim to be the last word on any topic, I promise to make each one fun, well researched and way beyond the obvious. (If you have missed the first articles, you can view them at http://glma-inc.org/newsletter.htm or e-mail me at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com and I’ll send you a Word© file of the articles or an audio CD of the articles along with a bonus article we handed out at COMO.) Here is Give Me Five…

#6 – “Reader Recognition: Part One”

As the school year draws to a close, there are so many things to take care of – inventory, getting books turned in, thanking your volunteers, weeding and pre-ordering for next year, spending any of this year’s funds that cannot be carried over, and so much more. One of the things that is looming large this time of year is the REWARD for your school’s super readers. Whether you do AR, a million words, 25 books, a principal’s reading club, Book-It, or your own reading emphasis, this is the time of year to reward those kids who have spent much of their spare time in a book and in the library.

As an educational/motivational school show presenter, a PTA volunteer, and a former teacher, I have attended a number of these soirees, and have seen some rewards/ recognition events that simply fulfilled the promise that was made in August of “We’ll do something for those who reach their goals.” I have also seen some that worked well, and a few ideas that really made the readers feel like they accomplished something worthwhile. We all want to reward and motivate our readers in a way that makes them proud and glad for their efforts.

Here are 5 things to keep in mind as you reward your readers this year.

1. Experiences last longer than stuff. Food is messy and hard to prepare and challenging to get to school. Bookmarks get lost. Sharpen a pencil enough times and it’s gone. But if you give your students something to remember, the experience can last a LONG time! Instead of a traditional party, allow your top readers to bring their lunch onstage in the lunchroom and have lunch with you and/or the principal at nicely decorated tables. This will take a few days, but well worth it! Bring in a special program (like an educational/ motivational school show presenter!), to do a presentation just for them. For elementary school, have a fire fighter in full gear or a police officer with a dog come and read a story (Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann comes to mind!) to your reading club. Invite a local college athlete (from a local college or a local kid who plays at the big state school) to visit and talk about reading. (I am intentionally leaving out any jokes about athletes and reading here.) Find someone in the area who values reading and also skateboards, plays in a band or is a local media personality (TV or radio) to talk to the kids and demonstrate/discuss what he or she does. A karate teacher would LOVE to come and break stuff and talk to or read to the kids.

2. Reward them publicly. Widespread public recognition rewards readers and motivates other students. Instead of taking all of the recipients of the reading reward out of class to go to the party, reward them in a public way. Lunch as mentioned above can be HUGE for these readers. Have their names scroll across the library computers in screensaver mode, a different grade for each computer. Make a PowerPoint presentation with names and photos to cycle through on the closed circuit TVs in the hallways all day long for a week. Make a photo of the group holding favorite books and blow it up to poster size to display in the hall or the entrance to the Media Center (think ALA’s READ posters). Get a parent to design and display a big bulletin board with photos of your reading ninjas. Announce a grade a day on the morning announcements or TV show. Allow them the chance to get their yearbooks first. Give these achievers a chance to show off what they have achieved! And such public recognition encourages and motivates other students to work harder next year.

3. Start a tradition. I have been in a number of schools where the super readers get to hang a plaque at the entrance to the school, display their framed and matted photo/poster on the walls of the Media Center or in the halls outside of the MC, or participate in some other annual, permanent recognition of their efforts. Some schools allow the readers to vote on and place a book in the Media Center with their seal of approval on the outside. You are going to buy books anyway – why not buy one for each grade as a reward and an encouragement to others? Be sure to announce and display your own Award Winners Poster that you update every year along with Caldecott and Newbery!

4. Don’t do it all alone. So many of us fall into the trap of trying to do the reward alone, or by adding it to the work of the para pros in Media Center. There are parents, music teachers, art teachers, PE teachers and other talented people who would really enjoy the visibility and the opportunity to be a part of your special event. Ask the PE teacher to help with some fun games, get the Music teacher to sing, play an instrument or teach a song or involve the special ed class to do something for the readers – or let the readers visit the special ed classes as guest readers!

5. Record the reward for posterity. Take photos or video of the event to show at next year’s Kickoff event. Next month, I will be writing about how to market your reading emphasis all year long, and this is a great way to start. Get someone to record the event with photos or videos, so you can put together a photo or video montage to use at next year’s kickoff event. Using this year’s reward to motivate next year’s readers helps them to SEE, HEAR, and EXPERIENCE at the beginning of the year the fun that good readers will enjoy at the end.

Take these ideas, add to them, adapt them to fit your situation and discuss your successes on the GLMA listserve! We want to hear what YOU do to encourage and reward those kids whose love for reading inspires others, including their Media Specialist!

Tommy Johns has been recognizing readers for almost three decades as a school show presenter and educational entertainment specialist. Find out more at http://www.tommyjohnspresents.com/. He welcomes your comments on this column and ideas for future “Give Me Five!” articles. You can contact him at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com.

Give Me Five #5 - Collaboration

Give Me Five #5 - Collaboration

This is another article in a series of articles that has a simple premise. The articles will take you less than five minutes to read (that’s when you give ME five!) and each will contain an introduction to a problem or concept pertaining to our work encouraging kids to read. Each article will also include a list of five ideas, reasons, tools, steps or other helpful items (that’s when I give YOU five!) related to the topic of the article. While none of these articles will claim to be the last word on any topic, I promise to make each one fun, well researched and way beyond the obvious. (If you have missed the first four articles, you can view them at http://glma-inc.org/newsletter.htm or e-mail me at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com and I’ll send you a .pdf file of the articles or an audio CD of the articles along with a bonus article we handed out at COMO.) Here is Give me Five…

#5 – “Plays Well With Others”

One of the big buzz words for media specialists in Georgia in recent years has been COLLABORATION. There is no doubt that collaborating with your teachers (the ones who will take advantage of it!) offers many benefits to the school, the teachers and the students. It also opens the eyes of teachers and administrators to the value of a trained and certified Media Specialist. It’s always good for them to know that you do more than shelve and check out books all day long!

Collaboration with teachers of all grades and subjects can be quite taxing, physically and mentally, but we all see benefits in it. While no one person will know the full extent of your value to the school, collaboration is one way you can show them why they need you. And since librarians are by nature collectors and disseminators of information, sharing with teachers helps fill one of your needs as well.

Collaboration can benefit you in other ways. In addition to being a teacher-librarian collaborating with your colleagues at your school, you can also benefit from collaborating with your peers. As a matter of fact, you may find this type of peer to peer collaboration is one that charges your battery, instead of draining it!

I am a school show presenter and every January I have the opportunity to go to Houston, Texas and spend time with about 25 of my colleagues from across the country. This year we added a school show performer from Scotland and another from Australia, so now we are an international group! We stay in touch by e-mail, phone, and even snail mail, offering ideas, encouragement, bragging and complaining, sharing experiences and asking for help. Without a doubt this type of collaboration has been an extremely important part of my success and has helped me take my performances and my business to a whole new level.

There are many ways you can be involved in a group of your peers locally, regionally, across your state and across the globe. You can be a part of a group like GLMA and read the newsletter, blog, and listserve postings. You can organize or be a part of your RESA consortium. You can start or participate in a listserve for your school district to discuss challenges, ideas, and opportunities with fellow media specialists. You can set up a blog for a few invited colleagues from around the country to pool your knowledge and experience.

There are also lots of benefits to being a part of such a group. Here are five.

1. You can get answers to problems that others have already solved. Other media specialists are eager to help a sister or brother librarian if you just ask. We all like to share our knowledge, and having other experts give you advice can be a lifesaver! Whether you are looking for ways to decorate a bulletin board or design a website or need to show your principal why you shouldn’t have to do bus duty before and after school and lunch duty three days a week (since you don’t have a class to take care of), chances are that you aren’t the first one to deal with it. Your peers can help you see things from a different perspective, come up with that perfect idea, or solve that problem. And they are usually glad to do so! Don’t rob them of that joy!

2. You can accomplish more as a team by pooling resources. When the group I work with develops a new show or works on a new marketing technique, we pool our resources and are able to buy puppets at a discount, or pay the same graphic designer to develop the same poster with slight changes. Sometimes one of us might have a prop that he or she is no longer using, and will sell, trade or give it to another group member who needs it. Similarly, your costume for last years’ Read Across America event could be enjoyed by the MS from a nearby school, or you could borrow a flag display from another school for the upcoming International Festival. Library funds are tight and when you recycle that display or pool your resources to accomplish your goals, you make your budget go farther.

3. When you “hang out” with your peers, even if it only electronically, you don’t feel all alone. Everybody needs to know that they are not the only one who is struggling with a challenge or that they can share their successes with someone who would really understand. Really, how likely is it that the science teacher will be able to fully understand what a victory it is to get your reference material weeded in one day – using volunteers! Another media specialist will high five you, pour the symbolic GatoradeTM over your head and yell, “You go girl!” You’ll never get that type of response from the school counselor! Likewise, few of your school collaborators will understand why it frustrates you to have to rely on two book fairs every year, just to get your job done.

4. Friendships will develop that can change your life. Some of my best friends are people I see twice or three times a year. But because we share common goals and interests, have similar passions, have a background in performing and are part of the same cellular network, we can talk several times a week and develop a real friendship that can affect many other areas of our lives.

5. You can make a difference for someone else. Not only can you receive benefits from the expertise, experience and empathy of others, you can help your peers to solve their problems, improve their situations, and grow professionally. There is a great benefit that comes from helping someone else. As much as I love to get help from my “band of brothers” I LOVE to give it! There is such a feeling of real collaboration that comes from the exchange being a two way street. For most people (and for almost every media specialist I know) helping someone else is something that gives us great pleasure. For many of us, that’s why we chose the profession we did. And to help others who are like us is even more fun!

Get involved with other media specialists. It could be one of the best things you’ll ever do for yourself!

Tommy Johns has been getting and keeping the attention of children and adults for almost three decades as a school show presenter and educational entertainment specialist. Find out more at http://www.tommyjohnspresents.com/. He welcomes your comments on this column and ideas for future “Give Me Five!” articles. You can contact him at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com.

Give Me Five #4 - How to Get the Most from Your Next Conference

Give Me Five! #4
by Tommy Johns

This is another in a series of articles that has a simple premise. The articles will take you less than five minutes to read (that’s when you give ME five!) and each will contain an introduction to a problem or concept pertaining to our work encouraging kids to read. Each article will also include a list of five ideas, reasons, tools, steps or other helpful items (that’s when I give YOU five!) related to the topic of the article. While none of these articles will claim to be the last word on any topic, I promise to make each one fun, well researched and way beyond the obvious. This one deals with:

There’s So Much Good Stuff at COMO!

If you haven’t already registered for COMO, stop reading this and figure out a way to make it happen. This annual event provides you with educational opportunities, chances for networking and relationship building, and exposes you to the newest books, technology, and products and services to help you become a more effective media specialist. Every year, people who attend find big and little, major and minor, expensive and cheap ways to improve what they offer their schools, students and faculty. It’s much too valuable to miss. Go ahead and check out www.gacomo.org, and register. This article will be right here when you get back.

When you go to COMO, you will probably do what many of us do every year when we go to a training event, in-service training, or our RESA consortiums. You will get a lot of great ideas, and then come home and do very little about what you learned. Here are five simple ideas that will make the training more enjoyable, worthwhile, and meaningful. Some of these come from experience, some from observing others, but all will make you realize the benefits of your training opportunity.

1. Before you go, do a self analysis. What areas do you need help in? Where are you starting to feel burnout? What part of the job is just a chore? In what way do you need to be encouraged, inspired, or motivated to get out there and, as Garrison Keillor says, “do what needs to be done”? Do you need new ideas about displays? Is collaboration a challenge for you? Do you have trouble finding the on switch on the video projector? Do you own systems that you don’t fully understand? Are you looking for ways to liven up your presentations? Do you have more money than you know how to spend and need to find some really cool expensive equipment? (I threw that in because everyone needs a good laugh now and then!) Once you have determined your greatest needs, make a list of the top 5-7 needs on the left hand side of a piece of paper, skipping about four lines between each item. Under each item, write a few thoughts about that goal. This is your shopping list.

2. Now that you know what you need, it’s time to go shopping! Look over the COMO program online at http://tinyurl.com/2kj3sp (This link is virus free – it just shortens a very long web address. Find out more at www.tinyurl.com). Print it out and highlight all of the sessions that would help you meet your most critical needs. Don’t get distracted by the “Meet the Author” reception or the Low Country Boil right now. Find the sessions that will turn you into a force to be reckoned with! You can add the other stuff later. Right now you are a media specialist on a mission!

3. Now take a look at the exhibitors list (http://tinyurl.com/2jq4a4) and see which ones offer solutions to any needs that are on the list. Maybe you need a way to reward your top readers. You might find a new database for your collection. There may be some equipment that you own that you need a company representative to explain. The exhibit hall can be as educational and helpful as the sessions, if you find what you need there!

4. Plan your time at COMO based on the lists you made from #’s 2 and 3 above. I know that this step is the most predictable, but it bears saying. Make sure that attending the sessions that will benefit you and your school are your priority, and schedule visits to the exhibit hall as well. No point in making a plan if you aren’t going to follow through! Take notes. Make lists of action items. Carry several pens and at least two highlighters to make sure you can quickly find the action items later. At the end of each session, take the time to write the action items or pertinent information on a single sheet of paper, so you can use it as a ready reference.

5. Don’t forget that some of the BEST sources of help will be the other attendees! Chances are that you are not the only one to experience the needs you listed in step one, and spending time networking with others, friends and strangers alike, can reap great benefits. Often (almost always) you will get ideas that you would never get anywhere else! Talk to others at lunch, at breaks, in the elevator – and be generous with your ideas as well. You never know just how much you can help a colleague by sharing something that might seem so easy or obvious to you.

Every time I go to a conference, a lecture or a workshop, I set goals and “shop” for solutions. Since I started doing this three years ago, I have found that I get a lot more bang for my training buck. If you’d like to have a copy of the Word® documents I use to prepare for training, e-mail me at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com, and I’ll send them to you. Or come by my booth at COMO to pick up a copy. I’d love to meet you and hear what you think about this column, and how I can make it better. I’ll be in booth #142, under the big “Children’s Programs” banner. While you are there you can find out about the reading programs we offer for elementary schools and public libraries and register for some great prizes! I’ll see you at COMO!

Tommy Johns has been a school show presenter and educational entertainment specialist for over two decades. Find out more at www.tommyjohnspresents.com. He welcomes your comments and ideas for future “Give Me Five!” articles. You can contact him at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com.

Give Me 5! #3 - Getting What You Want

Give Me Five! #3
Getting What You Want
A Series by Tommy Johns
Collect the Whole Set!

Give Me Five is a series of articles with a simple premise. You give me 5 minutes and read the article, and I will give you 5 ideas, solutions, answers, principles or techniques that relate to your work as a media specialist.

An ancient philosopher once said “You can’t always get what you want….”
How true.

There have been so many times that you have asked for approval or funding for a program or item you know is worthwhile that has not been approved, while the lunchroom got approval to spend $500 on designer smocks, or the PTA gave a teacher $750 for a field trip to the ice cream parlor. It just ain’t fair! You really CAN’T always get what you want.

Well, there are a number of reasons we could sing along with the aforementioned ancient philosopher, Mick Jagger. Some of these reasons are out of our control, but there are two things we can do that will greatly increase our chances of success. Ask for what you want, and ask for it the right way.

Just ask. Sometimes we don’t get what we want because we simply don’t ask. There are many reasons we don’t ask for what we want. Some are valid; some are not.

* We think we already know that the answer will be “No!”
*We know that current policy or spending freezes would necessitate a negative response.
*We hate to ask again, since we asked for something last year or last week.
*It may be that the item we want is not enough of a priority to us that we will even take the time to fill out the work order or purchase order.

If you don’t ask for what you want, chances are pretty good that you won’t get it. So ask.

But ask for it the right way. Other times, we ask, but we don’t get what we ask for. Maybe we get a valid refusal, but it is often true that we did not have our request honored because we asked “amiss.” Perhaps there was something missing from our proposal that was key information that mattered to the decision maker. It could be that the request was not clearly spelled out, and rather than ask for clarity, the expedient “no” was offered instead of a request for clarification.

Since we KNOW that the media library and its services benefit the entire school, students, teachers and parents alike, and there is no doubt that we are a vital part of the school’s life changing work, we should not only ask, we should get what we want. Whether you are asking a principal for a pep rally for Book Week, a vendor for a specific product at a competitor’s price, or the PTA for additional financial support, here are five principles you should include in every request you make.

1. Include ALL pertinent details in your initial request – who, what, when, where, why, how many and how much. This is one of the biggest areas where we fail to get a “YES!” The people you are asking want to know that you have thought out your request, and done your research. Check the calendar to be sure that the auditorium is available the day of your event. Have a short list of vendors who can provide your need and determine the cost. Anticipate the answers to the questions that might be asked by the people with the power to give you what you need.

2. Discuss the benefits of honoring your request in terms of what is important to the person(s) or committee granting approval. Principals care about test scores. If the school reading assembly you want to bring in has several benefits for YOU (increased circulation, improved library skills, and motivated readers) and it also has the potential for improving test scores in geography, start out with test scores when asking the principal for approval. If you then have to go to the PTA for funding, mention the ways in which the program can meet their needs, whatever you have discovered that those needs are.

3. Timing is everything. Generally, the worst time to ask for something is Monday. Wednesday and Thursday are the best. Avoid high stress times (start of school, the day before Spring Break) and capitalize on good times like the morning after a successful awards presentation.

4. Ask in person, but put the request in writing. Face to face is always better for you than a request by memo or e-mail, because it is easier for the grantor to ask for clarification and you can ALWAYS communicate your enthusiasm about new furniture better in person. On the negative side, it is easier to say no to a memo than to your smiling face. And don’t forget to say “Please” and “Thank you.”
On the subject of saying thank you, ALWAYS express in writing your appreciation to the people who made it possible for you to get what you asked for. Thank you notes are so rare that when you send one, it makes an impression. It also makes it more likely that it will be easier for your principal to say yes next time.

5. Make sure you follow procedure. If you have to fill out a form before you can spend money, fill it out. If the policy requires three bids, get them. If it is easier to buy from approved vendors, find an approved vendor who can meet your needs or ask the vendor you found to get on the list. If there are hoops through which you must jump, tighten the laces on your track shoes and get a running start.

If what you want is important to your library, your students, or your staff (or just to you) it’s worth doing what needs to be done to get it. Because, to finish the quote from the Rolling Stones, “if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.”

By the way, one of the best resources I have found for learning to use the right kind of language, body language, phrasing and more when asking for something is Milo O. Frank’s classic book, How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less. It is well worth the time it would take you to read it.

Tommy Johns has been getting and keeping the attention of children and adults for almost three decades as a teacher, school show presenter and educational entertainment specialist. Find out more at www.tommyjohnspresents.com. He welcomes your comments and ideas for future “Give Me Five!” articles. You can contact him at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com

Give Me Five #2 - Using Puppets in your Presentations

Give Me Five!
#2 in a Series – Collect the Whole Set!
by Tommy Johns

This is a second in a series of articles that has a simple premise. The articles will take you less than five minutes to read (that’s when you give ME five!) and each will contain an introduction to a problem or concept pertaining to our work encouraging kids to read. Each article will also include a list of five ideas, reasons, tools, steps or other helpful items (that’s when I give YOU five!) related to the topic of the article. While none of these articles will claim to be the last word on any topic, I promise to make each one fun, well researched and way beyond the obvious.

Give that Puppet a Hand!

Before I started using puppets in my school assemblies, I would hear puppeteers (professional and part-timers) say something like, “Oh, I never know what that puppet is going to do. Patsy has a mind of her own. The things she comes up with – I don’t know where she gets it!” Riiiiiiight! I would always begin to look around and move any sharp objects away from the puppeteer, to prevent one of those situations that become a “Ripped from the Headlines” Law and Order episode. Now that I have been working with puppets for a couple of years, I am beginning to understand what those people mean. I’m not any less nervous around them, but I do understand them a bit better.

I have discovered that a puppet can do some things more effectively than I can, especially when it comes to telling a story. There is something about a story told as a dialogue or drama that makes the story a lot more interesting than if it is simply read. The puppet can serve as a helper, an actor, an interruption, a clarifier, or can even be the star of the story, with the puppeteer playing a bit part in the drama.

Just like quality storytelling, video or drama, puppets can communicate effectively to every age group, even adults, when done well. Jeff Dunham is a ventriloquist who sells out comedy clubs all over the US, and David Letterman has “Ventriloquist Week” every year. Beyond the obvious tips for getting started, like checking out books about puppetry (they have books about EVERYTHING in the library!), looking at your budget and age group, and checking with the experts in person and on video (check out www.youtube.com for some great video clips of puppet skits), here are five things to consider when adding puppets to your media center presentations:

1. Puppets have character. Choose a puppet that fits with the character you want to develop. A dog puppet with a leather jacket might have an attitude, while a talking daisy might be very sweet. Or not. (See #4 below.) You can use a lot of different puppets over the course of the year, or have one puppet that the kids get to know really well. Developing the character, reactions and attitude for one puppet can really set you free when you ad-lib or respond to something unscripted during your presentation. Whichever route you choose, develop the puppet’s personality. (This is when you will start getting weird like my vent friends mentioned above!)

2. Choose the style of puppet that you are most comfortable using. I prefer a hand puppet with a working mouth, but you can use stick puppets, glove puppets, or even sock puppets. Other options include puppets on a puppet stage that do not interact with you at all, or even marionettes. The main thing is to use a puppet that you can manipulate well, and that fits with your age group. Puppets can range in price from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars for the high end latex puppets. Sunny Puppets (www.sunnypuppets.com), Folkmanis (www.folkmanis.com), and The Puppet Store (www.thepuppetstore.com) all have beautiful puppets that are very good quality. Sunny and Folkmanis puppets are available at toy stores and online. TPS is only available online. My personal favorite puppet maker is Steve Axtell (www.axtell.com) out of California. Visit his site and you’ll see why so many pros use his creations.

3. Don’t wing it. They say that dogs can smell fear, and students can smell a lack of preparation! Always know what you and the puppet are going to do and say and PRACTICE it! As silly as it will feel to rehearse, it pays off in big ways.

4. Use humor generously. People expect puppets to be funny. Have the puppet misbehave, flirt with a kid on the front row, ask Knock-Knock jokes or riddles, or overreact to things that happen in the story. Like in the example above, you could have a very articulate biker character, or a gravely voiced daisy with an attitude. In my science show, for example, Beauregard, a red neck buzzard puppet, is starring in Aesop’s “The Crow and the Pitcher.” When we start to put rocks into a pitcher of water to make the water rise so he can take a drink, he asks me if the rocks can swim. I tell him no and start dropping rocks into the water. After 12-15 rocks are in the pitcher, the kids and I notice that the water level is rising. I ask Beauregard if he can see what’s happening. He nods his head, and I tell him to tell the kids what is happening. He looks at the kids and yells, “THE ROCKS ARE DROWNING!”

5. Don’t overdo it. While there is nothing wrong with a visit from a favorite puppet during every session (and a good argument can be made for doing so) don’t do too much of a good thing. Use a variety of approaches to telling the story or communicating your content. Keep some puppet visits brief and others long. Variety really is the spice of teaching!

Puppets can add so much to your presentations. They add humor, character, depth, and drama. And you never know what they might say!

Bonus Five!
Steve Axtell of Axtell Expressions (in my opinion, the makers of the BEST puppets ever!) offers this bonus list of “Five Ways to Use Puppets without Ventriloquism.” Click on http://www.axtell.com/puppets_for_magicians.html#novent to see how non-ventriloquists can use puppets successfully. There is even a link to a video of Bill DeMar’s hilarious Feldon the Frog routine, using a non speaking puppet to entertain kids. While you are on Steve’s site, look at some of his creations, especially his Magic Drawing Board. It is extremely versatile and can make you a reputation!

Try one or more of these ideas next time you present a library orientation, a story, or a lesson and see if it makes a difference. If you have additional ideas or want more tools for keeping the attention of your students, a great place to share and ask questions of the state’s BEST experts is on the GLMA discussion board. To become a part of this group, you can subscribe at http://www.georgiamedia.net/mailman/listinfo/georgiamedia.

Tommy Johns has been getting and keeping the attention of children and adults for almost three decades as a teacher, school show presenter and educational entertainment specialist. Find out more at www.tommyjohnspresents.com. He welcomes your comments and ideas for future “Give Me Five!” articles. You can contact him at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com.

Give Me Five #1 - You've Got to Listen to Me!

Give Me Five!
by Tommy Johns

This is a first in a series of articles that has a simple premise. The articles will take you less than five minutes to read (that’s when you give ME five!) and each will contain an introduction to a problem or concept pertaining to our work encouraging kids to read. Each article will also include a list of five ideas, reasons, tools, steps or other helpful items (that’s when I give YOU five!) related to the topic of the article. While none of these articles will claim to be the last word on any topic, I promise to make each one fun, well researched and way beyond the obvious. Our first topic will be:

You’ve Got to Listen to Me!

It was our son’s first day at school. We were both in the car as we waited to pick him up, certain that he would be overflowing with wonderful stories of learning and new friendships and excitement over new opportunities. When he got in the car, my wife asked, “Well, how was the first day?” His reply was, “Ms. Marquart is different from Ms. T.” (Ms. Tangeman, his kindergarten teacher, allowed the kids to call her by a shorter and more easily pronounced moniker. Ms. Marquart offered them no such option.) “How so?” I asked. He explained, “When Ms. T wanted us to be quiet, she said, ‘Class, we are making too much noise.’ When we get too loud in Ms. Marquart’s class, she pounds the desk and yells, ‘YOU’VE GOT TO LISTEN TO MEEEEEE!’”

We have all felt the frustration of speaking when it seems no one is listening. But we all see the long term ineffectiveness of shouting to be heard. What you have to offer as media center specialists is central to the academic success of these students. They need to know how to find the right types of resources, locate books for leisure reading and school work, separate the good online sources from the bad and mediocre, and so much more. You can help them, but how do you get and keep their attention?

Following are five proven ways to increase the listening quotient of your students. The first two require advance preparation. The last three are tools to use when you sense that someone’s attention has begun to wander.

1. Make it relevant. We know that what we are teaching is important. But do your students? Be sure they know that what you are presenting is worth their time and attention. I had a graduate school professor who always told us that every good presentation has to include the answer to two questions: “What?” and, “So What?” If you don’t give your audience the answer to the second question, they are less likely to care about the answer to the first. Always include the benefits of your presentation in your introduction. “This information will make writing your research paper easier.” “Following these steps will reduce the amount of time you have to spend looking for sources.” Marketing people will tell you that you should always stress benefits over features when you want to sell something. The above opening statements are much more appealing to students than saying, “Every book in the media center has a combination of numbers and letters on the spine that tell us on which shelves to find them.” And while this is very important, it doesn’t have the same relevance as, “If you follow these three steps, you will make better grades.”

2. Reduce distractions. This involves everything from the room setup to the temperature to what you wear. If there is an aspect of your environment that causes students to lose focus, and you can change or eliminate it, then do it! One media center specialist in the Atlanta area had a problem with kids turning around every time the noisy door opened. After several attempts to repair the door, she decided to simply leave it open, eliminating the distraction. You may decide to orient your room so that the chairs face away from the window, hallway, or other attention deficit causes. If you eliminate the competition, you stand a better chance of winning and keeping the focus on the material.

3. Change the pace or the volume. If you usually speak slowly, speed it up. If you are a fast talker, slow down. Drop the volume as you begin to change subjects, or when you start a list. When the pace or volume changes, the kids know something is about to happen, so they are more likely to listen. The brain is on alert for change and when you alter your rhythm, pace or volume, the learners’ brains takes note. That brings the wandering listener back to you so you can share another bit of information.

4. Move into the listener’s space. This is what behavior specialist Julian Franklin calls proximity control. There is something about having an authority figure come near that gets the attention of the listener. And it’s more than fear! The learner feels a sense of accountability when the teacher approaches. That’s why the kids most likely to goof off will often sit at the back of the room, and why you and I always sat close to the front!

5. Engage the learner in the process. Ask questions. Get the students out of their seats. Offer a prize or incentive to the person or group that completes the exercise first. Have a note taking sheet prepared with a fill in the blank outline. Use a PowerPoint© slide presentation to add a visual element. Encourage comments. When the lesson becomes a discussion or a dialogue, or involves more than one of the senses, the learner retains more information and retains it for a longer period of time.

Try one or more of these ideas next time you present a library orientation, a story, or a lesson and see if it makes a difference. If you have additional ideas or want more tools for keeping the attention of your students, a great place to share and ask questions of the state’s BEST experts is on the GLMA discussion board. To become a part of this group, you can subscribe at http://www.georgiamedia.net/mailman/listinfo/georgiamedia.

Tommy Johns has been getting and keeping the attention of children and adults for almost three decades as a school show presenter and educational entertainment specialist. Find out more at www.tommyjohnspresents.com. He welcomes your comments and ideas for future “Give Me Five!” articles. You can contact him at tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com.