Editor: Leslie Schoenherr  Leslie is the School Librarian at Lexington Christian Academy in Lexington.
EXIT TICKETS
ALUMNI DISPLAY
GET 'EM BACK!

EXIT TICKETS
Contributed by Deborah C. Owen, School Librarian, Hudson High School

Tip for quick and easy gathering of evidence of learning: exit tickets. When you have a class that is working on a research project, at several points during their visits to the library, hand out a small sheet with only one or two questions about their research for that day; they can't leave the library until they hand it in! Get them THINKING about what they are learning and how they are learning it. Not only does this force them to evaluate how they are progressing in their research and provide them with metacognitive opportunities, but it also gives solid feedback to both you and the classroom teacher about how to "tweak" your instruction. It's a great formative assessment.  

Some examples of questions I have used:

ALUMNI DISPLAY
Contributed by Leslie Schoenherr, Librarian, Lexington Christian Academy

For our fall homecoming, our Development Office pulled together some alumni artifacts and photos for the  attending reunion classes. They had 3 letter jackets, sports banners and photos of classes and buildings from the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s. I enjoyed looking at them and thought our students would too. The wall right across from the circulation desk was perfect and the display has drawn much attention from students, faculty and prospective families touring the school. The display will be retired after our January Open House for prospective families. Then it will be time to highlight student artwork!

GET THOSE LIBRARY MATERIALS BACK!
Contributed by Leslie Schoenherr, Librarian, Lexington Christian Academy

It makes more sense for our library to have due dates for library material at the end of a term. That way students with projects don’t need to renew due material after two or three weeks. Material is due before the Thanksgiving break, before January mid-term exams, before March break, and before exams in June. The two times that give me some clout in getting material back are the exams. If students have not returned library material they don’t get to take exams until it is returned. Administration needs to back you up on this! Two weeks and one week before exams I send out reminders of material due, which helps remind students of what is owed. Many students return material when they are done reading—which is what we want! But for students who keep material and can’t remember what they have checked out, this system works for them and me.