I thought I knew Dewey

Firstly, I want to share the Dewey Rap that a classmate shared with us.  I think it is fun, although I do think my students would think it's a little "lame," for lack of a better word.  I was surprised at how quickly I was humming along with the beat, very catchy.

 

There have been some great suggestions from classmates for ways to teach Dewey to our students.  I think the scavenger hunt is one of the best.  It is interactive and can be fun.  I also like the idea of having students create posters or art work on canvas to represent the classifications.  This could be a great way to "decorate" the library with student learning.

My idea for teaching Dewey is to have students create Dewey Rants - similar to Rick Mercer or the Molson Canadian "I am Canadian" rant.  I think they could do it as a "complaint" about Dewey, or as praise.  Either way the students would need to learn about the Dewey Decimal System to create their rant.  I would love to be able to post the rants on the Library Web Site so that other students could learn from them.  Students could film or create an audio file of their rants to share.

One of the things I am considering for the organization of my library is creating some non-Dewey sections.  I have already done this with the Biography (921) section.  By creating the call number BIO then the subject's last name, students are actually taking these books out to read.  I also moved the graphic fiction from 741.5 to GRA FIC - again, increased circulation.  I don't know that I will do this with any other sections but I think better signage and shelf labels will really help with reintroducing the non-fiction collection to my students.