Collecting the Dust Collectors: Reimagining and putting to use materials your school is not using.

 

Cullinane, A. (2018, January 11). School library incorporates reading with exercise. 10 WJAR. 

https://turnto10.com/news/local/school-library-incorporates-reading-with-exercise

           

Summary: This article was interesting in this work because it talked about the often forgotten task of simply rummaging through your school storage areas and putting to use what is not being used. Then, simply putting clip boards over the handlebars, the students are now able to use equipment the school paid for and read at the same time, effectively building a life skill of associating reading with physical and mental health. The librarian in this story also works at the high school in the district, so this is a habit she could potentially build on going forward for students. This was free!

 

Evaluation: You never know what you can find in the depths of your school’s, and even district’s, storage areas. I once found old LeapPads-with the cartridges-in the library of a highly disadvantaged, 100% free reduced lunch school and they weren’t being used. They should have been in classrooms and in the library but they were in storage. I was so mad. The school was build in 1921 so my classroom legit had five outlets with two plugs and a few plugs didn’t work. Another outlet was our SmartBoard and another the class phone. So, with what was left, I plugged in four LeapPads for the kids. They loved them. They were bulky enough to survive being on the floor incase of accidental kicking. What I enjoyed with this article was the implementation of the bikes and ellipticals in the library. This allows rambunctious students to burn some energy in a calm atmosphere. To begin connecting exercise and reading with physical and mental health. I would love to see public libraries do this for all ages but specifically school libraries as obesity rates rise and literacy rates lower. Let’s fight both battles at once!