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Final Thoughts - Anita Cellucci

5/10/2017

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As the MSLA president for the past 2 years, I have learned a lot about other librarians, the challenges that we face as a profession and ways to impact those issues in a positive light.  I have enjoyed meeting many of you and working together on larger issue that affect education.  

For my final post, I'd like to share more about one way that we can focus on student voice to impact the growth of our students and bring to light the issues that they care about in a way that offers them support. 

As librarians we talk a lot about “safe space” - equity  for all students and their individual needs.  Providing opportunities for student voice has always been an important mission in my library.  This year it manifested in a group slam poem - I coach the slam team an English teacher. The team competes in the Louder than a Bomb Youth Poetry Festival sponsored by MassLEAP.  MassLEAP has the following description on their website: 


The Massachusetts Literary Education and Performance Collective (MassLEAP) is dedicated to building and supporting spaces for youth to experience the transformative power of their own voices in community with one another. We exist as a platform for young people, artist-educators and organizers to foster positive youth development through spoken word poetry forums. We facilitate arts learning spaces and build relationships among communities throughout Massachusetts. We are a Boston Based collection of writer-educators who are united in our passion for social justice and youth voice.
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 I’d like to share the poem, Puppet Show,  with you.  

 
These students met weekly in the library conference room with us,  their poetry coaches.  We “held space for them”.  What does it mean to hold space? In the therapeutic sense - “It means that we are willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey they’re on without judging them, making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome. When we hold space for other people, we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgement and control.” To me this perfectly describes the social emotional aspects of our profession.

Our theme this year was “Beyond the Binding” and I believe that what we saw presented throughout the conference show many of the ways that so many of our colleagues are redefining what it means to be a school librarian.

In closing, I'd like to say that I know that I am leaving you in good hands with Carrie Tucker as your incoming MSLA President. Carrie has a lot of knowledge about MSLA and brings great ideas with her. Please welcome Carrie as your new president. 

Thank you for your support over the last 2 years, I will be on the board as past president for the upcoming school year. 




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Brainswarming with DESE - Anita Cellucci

11/14/2016

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MSLA is working hard to keep librarians in the conversation about ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act).  The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is holding public forums for interested stakeholders.  There have been 2 of these forums held to date, one in Shrewsbury and one in Brockton.  There are two more upcoming forums. I encourage you to register to attend.  

The Brainswarming sessions, as called by DESE, are a combination of individual and group brainstorming about  how Massachusetts will implement the new federal mandate.  The questions were very targeted regarding the indicators to differentiate schools - such as chronic absenteeism, access to the arts, well rounded curriculum and many more.  As I and MSLA secretary, Robyn York, attended the very first forum in Shrewsbury, libraries were not yet on the radar.  This week the Brockton forum had six local school librarians in attendance.  It would be helpful for the last two sessions to have several more school librarians in attendance.  

There are talking points that are helpful to read through, highlight essential points and bring with you to a forum.  It's also essential that all school librarians are aware of how our positions can be impactful to implementing the legislation. Please read the talking points and if you are unable to attend a forum session, begin the conversation with your administrators, other librarians, and teachers.  Advocacy is our most important tool. 

Talking Points 

Thursday, December 1, Holyoke High School, 500 Beech St., Holyoke
Tuesday, December 6, Collins Middle School, 29 Highland Ave., Salem

REGISTER HERE 



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Summer Reflections - Anita Cellucci

7/26/2016

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Angela Maiers is one of my favorite educators to follow. If you haven't read her book, Classroom Habitudes: Teaching Habits and Attitudes for 21st Century Learning, I highly recommend that you do.  In the summer, I spend a lot of time in active reflection.  I journal about what went well, what needs improvement and where I want to place my focus for the next school year.  
The You Matter Manifesto was front and center in my email this morning and I knew I needed to share this with all of you.  It makes us think deeply about our intentions in the library, in our teaching and as a school community member with a different set of attributes to offer. Angela states, "knowing that we matter is essential to our existence..." 
This is important work that we do - on so many levels.  I encourage you to print out the manifesto as a gentle reminder that we all matter. 


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Silence - Anita Cellucci

4/3/2016

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Silence is something I seek daily. This topic has been on my mind a lot as my library gets busier and louder. Instead of a full maker space lab, I am researching ways to bring silence to my library and lab space without interfering with the positive impact of a collaborative learning commons. Silent reading and reflection still hold an important role in my teaching philosophy and in my Bibliotherapy work as a librarian.

In this article, Science Says Silence is Much More Important to our Brains than We Think, scientists who conducted a 2013 study realized that perhaps silence can "grow your brain".  Reading this made me reflect even more on the way that my library has changed over the last several years.  Sometimes it is so loud I wonder if students are able to concentrate.
I have long been a learner of Eastern philosophies and how mindfulness, reflection and contemplative education can help to center us and result in a more relaxed state of being.  Mindfulness is a way to become more aware of our surroundings and is known to be helpful to students with anxiety, ADHD or other emotional and focus issues. 

To me, it makes a lot of sense to think about our communities and their very unique needs in order to decide which of the newest educational philosophies, strategies and gadgets we will bring into our libraries.  Over this past school year I have focused on Mental Health issues with students and teachers and how the library program can support and lead within these issues. Reflection and silence are something that we can all infuse in some small way that will help support our students with social and emotional learning. 




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Library Legislative Day at the Massachusetts State House - Anita Cellucci

4/3/2016

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Library Legislation Day was especially exciting this year with a new format for showcasing school libraries.  The Showcase allowed different types of libraries to tell about their programs through a display at a table in the Great Hall. 

​With  my colleagues from Westborough Public Library, Westborough Youth and Family Services and  Westborough High School and along with 2 of our students we highlighted the MBLC LSTA Grant that was awarded to the Westborough High School library for this school year.
 

As we all know, advocacy is something that we all must do for our libraries, and what a great opportunity Library Legislative day is to speak directly with legislators regarding the direct  impact our libraries are making.

In a recent article in  American Libraries entitled, School Libraries Transform -Joyce Valenza speaks to the idea of how having a transformative school library is an issue of equity. I quote directly from the article:

     “Research confirms: When credentialed school librarians lead teaching and learning in our schools’ largest     classrooms, student achievement and reading scores increase...Perhaps what the research does not show is what it looks like and what it feels like. School libraries are not merely places to get stuff. School libraries are more kitchen than grocery store. They are more transformational than transactional. Critical weeding and new design models make space for user-centered, “genrefied” collections and for messy, informal, self-directed learning. On any given day in a school library, you can hear the productive noise of collaborative invention—brainstorming, design, debate, production, storytelling, and presentation.”

I know that those who were able to attend believe that the Library Showcase was a fantastic way to highlight all that is taking place in libraries and that is also provides a new definition of school libraries as places of exploration, experimentation and creation.  

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Digital Learning Day at WGBH - Anita Cellucci

1/19/2016

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Digital Learning Day at WGBH was a fantastic day!  The sessions were so relevant to our work as school librarians, and the time embedded to chat with colleagues during lunch or the tour made the day complete. I shared a few words before reading important info for the day and introducing the key note speaker. Many people commented on my opening, so much so that I decided to share them with you here.    

                                                         A poem by Mary Oliver


                                                         With Thanks to the Field Sparrow,
                                                         Whose Voice is so Delicate and Humble
                                                         I do not live happily or comfortably
                                                         with the cleverness of our times.
                                                         The talk is about computers,
                                                         the news is about bombs and blood.
                                                         This morning, in the fresh field,
                                                         I came upon a hidden nest.
                                                         It held four warm, speckled eggs.
                                                         I touched them.
                                                         Then went away softly,
                                                         having felt something more wonderful
                                                         ​than all of the electricity of New York City.

When I was thinking about what I would say today, I was reflecting on the complexities of our profession, of the simple truths and the day to day miracles that happen in our libraries -  and how often we, as educators, are pulled in so many directions - often with very little help and sometimes with little comprehension by colleagues and administrators of what it is that we actually do.

Whenever I feel stretched thin and overwhelmed or if I am questioning my choice of my profession - and we all do it at least once each school year -  I stop and  think about why I decided to teach and why it HAD to be in the library. The answer is always the same - it’s the kids. It doesn’t matter if that kid is 5 or 17 - they not only deserve to have a library and a professional educator staffing it - they need it.

According to a recent article in the NY Times, Is the Drive for Success Making our Children Sick?
Nearly one in three teenagers told the American Psychological Association that stress drove them to sadness or depression — and their single biggest source of stress was school.

As Mary Oliver’s poem illustrates - we have gifts all around us if we look for them. The library can be that gift for our students. As educators we can advocate for them and empower them to find the gifts for themselves.

At the beginning of this school year, my assistant principal approached me about a student. The student needed an internship. The student was described as - “not an academic”, “lost”, “needs a place to be”, “no direction” - would I be willing to be his internship teacher?  Naturally, I said yes. I found out later that it was a student who had received a disciplinary action in the library when he was a freshman - he is now a senior.  To me that didn’t matter. I was willing to give the internship a try and get to know him today and not hold onto what happened 3 years ago.
As I do with all of my interns, I asked this student to tell me about himself - what is he good at, what does he like to do outside of school - I then offered some tasks for him to do in the library - he likes to build things, he likes mechanical things. Through the internship he is able to create tutorials for students and teachers for equipment in the library.

It’s customary in my school for some intern teachers to give small tokens of appreciation to our students before the December break.  This student was so appreciative of the gift that he was smiling more than I had ever seen him smile at school. He thanked me 3 times before the end of the period and over the vacation break - I received an email from him with his appreciation of the gift.  

The gift was a  $5.00 Dunkin Donuts gift card. I am reminded of how small acts of kindness matter.  

In the words of Maya Angelou - “This is a wonderful day, I haven’t seen this one before”.
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AASL National Conference - Columbus, Ohio - Anita Cellucci

11/16/2015

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"Words matter - there's a new librarian in town" Heidi Hayes Jacobs — at Greater Columbus Convention Center.

A national conference not only presents opportunity for professional learning but it truly offers the best way to open your mind to new ideas, new people and new places.  Each time I attend a conference, I try to soak it all in and come back rejuvenated, refreshed and ready to look at my library with fresh perspective. AASL Columbus was no exception. 

 In a time when advocacy has become so important, Jacobs' presentation was inspirational as well as packed with quips of how to refer to our profession, our spaces, our students and our mission. Each of these visuals offer a discussion opportunity with teachers, administrators, and library colleagues. Librarians have always been strategically placed to begin these conversations. Why not use one of these conversation starters? Choose your audience, get your elevator speech ready and create some ripples. Heidi will be proud of you. 


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    ​Carrie Tucker

    E.Bridgewater Jr/Sr High 
    MSLA president

    Carrie Tucker

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