Where Do We Go From Here? May 29, 2009
Posted by abranyon in : Check this out! , 2commentsAs school librarians we are in the enviable position of seeing the whole school as an integral unit. Although each department has its own goals, SOLs, and curriculum, each department contributes to the entire school program to create a comprehensive education for its population. This year I had the task of coordinating a school-wide unit on the election. I was apprehensive at first but as the unit began to take shape in my mind and in reality, I became increasingly more excited. The English classes did debates and topical issues which involved using the library for research and learning about databases. We also watched presidential debates from United Streaming and modeled our debates after these videos including appropriate dress. The history classes researched the candidates and the historical aspects of the election process which again included research and databases. The math classes created graphs showing the democratic and republican states, the science classes looked at the weather and temperature from the first inauguration to today and made predictions, the physical ed classes studied basketball (Obama’s favorite sport), the art classes made campaign posters and bumper stickers, and the technology department made a voting booth and a time capsule for us to store all our projects at the school-wide assembly. The assembly was a wonderful culminating activity where each department presented an object which epitomized their department’s work and placed it in the time capsule to be opened in twenty years. Having realized what a wonderful and beneficial experience that was, it is now time to begin thinking about what to do next year. Perhaps a book and the author as a project that has elements of math and science in it. Another thought is to incorporate a GPS system into classroom lessons to help students find characters in books, themselves, our people, etc. in time and place. Any ideas for me? I know there is a wealth of knowledge and experience out there! Here are a few suggestions if you have never done a school wide project before.
1. Pick a project that will give valuable, real-life scenarios to many subject areas that will support state-wide SOLs and reinforce classroom instruction.
2. Get your principal on board. Ms. Perera, at Elko Middle School, was invaluable to us in the library as we began our planning and implementation. Her insights into the school as a whole and the strengths each department could lend to the project were essential in creating a project that was memorable. Her action pictures from the inauguration itself will be interesting to see again in 20 years.
3. Get your staff on board. Offer incentives, offer to spearhead the lessons in the library on research, include them in the planning and implementation of the project. Attend department meetings and brainstorm with them about who they can be a integral part of the whole project.
4. Be available and flexible. You have the whole plan in your head. Share, share, share with your staff and be prepared to change your schedules, change your plans, and incorporate new and improved visions which may emerge as you collaborate with your colleagues.
I hope to hear from you about ideas for next year and ways you will collaborate or have collaborated with your staff on a school-wide project.
Summertime: How Do You Learn and Play? May 26, 2009
Posted by bhamilton in : Check this out! , 3commentsFor most of us school librarians, the academic school year is akin to riding a roller coaster—some exhilarating highs, some heart-dropping lows—but always a grand adventure! As we prepare to get off this year’s ride and prepare for the next, summer provides the perfect opportunity to take time to reflect and revisit your program’s activities of the last year and look ahead to the dreams and goals of 2009-10. You finally have that much coveted time to nurture yourself, to meander down whatever learning paths you choose without worry of time or other commitments tugging at your mind. The window of opportunity and gift of time that we all crave during the 180 days of frenetic activity is now open and beckoning you!
In the spirit of Helene Blowers’ 23 Things model, I have devised my own list of 23 Things I want to do this summer through formal and more informal means:
- Delve into MySpace and create a presence there for my media center. While I am happy with our Unquiet Library Facebook page, I want to try and be in as many places where my students are dwelling. Perhaps you might pick a Web 2.0 technology to explore and/or build for your library—last year’s School Library Journal “All Together Now” Learning 2.0 is a great starting point for wading into the Library 2.0 waters. Don’t feel like you have to master the application—just relish the thrill and flow of discovery.
- Engage in some late spring/early summer cleaning of my Google Reader account—just as we weed our library collections, I know I need to re-evaluate my reading materials in my Google Reader account so that I can maximize the power of this personal learning network element without feeling overwhelmed. It is also a time to consider new additions to this “library” of information that feeds my passion and creativity.
- Catch up on some of the nonfiction and fiction reading I have wanted to do the last year. While I tend to stay somewhat busy during the summer, the hours don’t seem to suck me in like a whirlpool as they do during the normal school year, so I can adopt a reading schedule that fits my natural Circadian rhythms.
- Use this time to delve deeply into a learning theory or information literacy model. As part of my Media 21 Capstone project, I will be looking through the lens of connectivism to frame information literacy and new media literacy learning experiences. Summer is the perfect time to fine tune my collaborative planning with my teacher in this project and for us to think deeply without being pulled in one hundred different directions.
- Use the gift of time to plan ahead for all those special activities/weeks during the school year like National Poetry Month, Banned Books Week, and Teen Read Week.
- Catch up on any loose cataloging ends—this is a task I never seem to enjoy for some reason, but quiet time in the library truly helps my concentration for this job and helps me to even enjoy it ever so slightly!
- Re-evaluate how I am integrating the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner into my collaborative lessons. This is also a time to brainstorm ways to make these standards more familiar to my teachers and to better show how these standards relate to the state curriculum performance standards.
- Re-read and savor favorite blog posts and journal articles from the past year.
- Develop some concrete strategies for better assessing the effectiveness of my library program and the tools I use as part of my library program. I have become painfully aware in the last year that assessment is an area of weakness for me, and I want to improve in this critical area.
- Attend a conference in person or virtually this summer! While I sadly will be unable to attend ALA or NECC this summer, I know I can still participate virtually through other mediums, such as Ning, and of course, through my Twitter network.
- Plan your 2009-10 conference schedule now! With economic constraints, we are all being forced to make difficult choices, but now is the time to think about which conferences you want to attend and what you hope to get out of those conferences. Better yet, consider applying to present at a conference, especially one that might be outside your comfort zone. As we try to advocate for what we do as school library media specialists, we need to take our message to educators and librarians outside our circle. Some of the most amazing partnerships I am now enjoying have come out of two conferences that were not geared toward school librarians—I am glad that I can learn from and with other peers in addition to my wonderful family of school librarians!
- Continue working on next year’s “wish” lists—while funding is extremely tight, we never know what windfalls or grants we may receive, so we want to continue our best practice of having those consideration files ready in whatever format works best for you. Summer gives me the opportunity to really read those book and digital resource reviews without feeling as though I am just grazing.
- Ask a vendor for a free trial to a database and spend some time exploring its features. Most vendors are more than willing to offer you an extended free trial to “test drive” that a resource that you may be considering for the future. Better yet, consider hosting a summer soiree for teachers to come into the library and test drive that free trial—the offer of air conditioning and a treat, such as ice cream, might draw more people than you think! Include your students, too, if possible—they are the ones who are the ultimate judge of whether a resource rocks their world!
- Work on some of those video tutorials you’ve been meaning to do all year but just never had the time! I tend to be slow when I am producing screencasts, so summer is perfect for me to create the video tutorials without the shadow of time creeping over my shoulder.
- Take a professional learning development course face to face or via the web. Many districts and groups offer free classes or weekly discussions/interviews with innovators and leaders in learning, such as The Future of Education. Don’t forget the AASL Learning4Life webinars! I am also taking a course on how to use my new set of Qwizdoms and to design lessons to use these tools to facilitate information literacy.
- Use the free time of summer to create “welcome back” goody bags for your faculty. Include candy, magnets, pencils, or little notepads from your favorite vendors to promote your databases or online materials. I have found that most vendors are more than willing to send free promotional items or literature to tuck into your goody bags!
- Explore emerging sources of authoritative information. In the last year, I have started integrating more YouTube videos, videos from major news outlets, podcasts from a variety of sources, and Google Books into my research pathfinders. I want to continue my exploration of emerging sources of social scholarship this summer to provide a full spectrum of information sources to our students.
- Continue cultivating my personal learning network: Facebook, Twitter, delicious, Ning, diigo, Flickr—these are all essential elements of my PLN. When I first started using Google Reader, I focused on RSS feeds from favorite blogs, but now I include RSS feeds for favorite Twitter friends and shared items via Google Reader from friends.
- Find more effective ways to help my teachers explore and feel more comfortable with Web 2.0 apps, new media, and social networks for use in the classroom and for personal/professional use.
- Take time to take stock of my accomplishments with the library program while looking at ideas that may not have worked. I think it is important to celebrate successes, and it is equally important to figure out why an idea may not have worked so that you can approach a problem or challenge more effectively.
- Do a better job of actively participating as a commenter/commentator on blogs—I am often guilty of being a lurker and pondering on a blog post for days but not sharing those thoughts on the blog. The comments and dialogue are frequently as rich as the actual post, and I want to be a more active and better participant.
- Mine the data I have collected this past year about my library program, both quantitative and qualitative. Sometimes distance allows me to better analyze data and consider the meanings behind that data. We do this all the time as graduate students but tend to neglect that skill once we leave graduate school—data analysis is another area for improvement for me!
- Brainstorm ways to continue to create an engaging library environment that meets the needs of all students whether they are there to read, use technology, or simply find a calm environment. We were described as a “home away from home” in this year’s yearbook—but I want to continue to reach out to students who may not yet know what we have to offer and find ways to bring in students of all backgrounds and interests.
What would you put on your Summer 23 Things list? Share your ideas!
Buffy Hamilton, Teacher-Librarian
Creekview High School
The Wider World & the Library Ecosystem May 22, 2009
Posted by Wendy Stephens in : Check this out! , 4commentsIt is the time of the school year when high school librarians, like teachers, are simultaneously the most proud and the most anxious. As the band strikes up Elgar, we can’t help but wonder. Have we inculcated our college-bound seniors against the temptations of cut-and-paste and other digitally mediated forms of intellectual dishonesty? Have we managed to pass along the requisite media and online information literacy skills ALL of our students will need to function in a flat and networked society?
The end-of-the-year crisis of conscience evokes what current ALA president James Rettig’s discussion of what he calls the library ecosystem , mentioned on the blog earlier this month – the whole idea that all libraries are interrelated and their future viablity is interdependent to a degree we may not even perceive. After all, it is to our university counterparts to whom we send our best and brightest. How can we pull together to make sure students have the skills they need to be successful?
At the school where I teach, around half this spring’s graduating seniors will enroll in college this fall, but only a fraction of those will return for a second semester or another year of higher education. Could retention be improved by better awareness and utilization of university support services, including the campus library and online resources? It doesn’t seem like library research or even orientation is de rigeur for today’s incoming college students. This week, I asked two former students, both high school library regulars in their day, about their experiences with the libraries at local community and four-year colleges. One student said his teacher took him to the college library once, to visit the computer lab to type a paper. Another said he hadn’t used the library, but he had used library services in the form of EBSCOhost databases. The bibliographic instruction was provided by his course instructor and database resources were posted to their courseware, so he hadn’t realilzed he was actually “using the library.”
ALA, through ACRL, has a collaborative cross-division platform for discussing these issues. The INFOLIT discussion list and that group’s open lunches at the annual conferences provide a space to brainstorm about how our collaborative relationships can best serve our students.
Those university librarians are excited about working with high school media specialists to ease that transition. Perhaps it is our local college and university librarians who should visit our seniors these last few weeks of their high school careers, introducing themselves and their services and roles in the college. As resource-sharing becomes more imperative as budgets are slashed, it is important to remember that our information professionals are, like our collections, an investment in their academic success about which students need to be made fully aware.
Second Life: Advocacy with Administrators May 19, 2009
Posted by jfreeman in : Advocacy, Professional Development, Technology , add a commentDear AASL Members:
Please plan to attend our last learning community meeting of the school year in Second Life on Tues, May 19th at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT. Let’s come together to discuss powerful ways to influence administrators to support our library programs! We will be on the ALA Main Stage at http://slurl.com/secondlife/ALA%20Island/127/102/29. If you are new to Second Life, see http://blogs.cuip.net/dlis/attend-our-librarian-meetings for instructions on how to join. This time, we will focus on the important issue of successful advocacy for our library media programs with our administrators. Our guest facilitators will be Marla W. McGhee and Barbara A. Jansen, authors of the book “The Principal’s Guide to a Powerful Library Media Program.” We will be giving away a copy of the book to one lucky winner!
Forging Powerful Partnerships for Student Success
“Principals, assistant principals and central office staff seldom learn about library media centers or the role of teacher-librarians in their preparation programs. However, decisions administrators make can either enhance or inhibit the work of librarians and the effectiveness of the school library. This session will focus on how to approach educational leaders to communicate the importance a quality library media program can make in the learning life of a school.”
See you in-world!
Lisa E. Perez
Enhancing Learning with ARRA Funding Webinar May 17, 2009
Posted by jfreeman in : AASL News, Advocacy, Hot Topics, Opportunities , add a commentWEBCAST NAME: Stimulate this Library! Accessing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funding
SPONSORED BY: School Library Journal,, Capstone Publishers, Follett Library Resources and ALA Washington Office
EVENT DATE: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 – 3:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time; 60 Minutes
Click to register today for “Stimulate Your Library!”
You’ve no doubt heard about the economic stimulus package. And now you’re probably wondering how you can get your hands on some of the funds. With passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a considerable amount of money has started to flow from Congress to the states. And the good news is that there are many opportunities for school libraries to benefit.
Although there are funds that media specialists can take advantage of, for the most part, local and state superintendents will decide how to allocate that money. It’s extremely important that school librarians and their supporters lobby hard for their piece of the funding.
Want to increase your chances of receiving some of this unprecedented level of funding? Join our panel of education, social policy, and library advocacy experts for this 60-minute Webcast to learn how to identify eligible projects—which include new tech initiatives, renovations or newly constructed buildings, and partnerships with Title I programs.
Panelists:
Emily Sheketoff, Associate Executive Director, ALA Washington Office
Vic Klatt, Vice President, Van Scoyoc Associates
Ann Martin, President, American Association of School Librarians; Educational Specialist for Library Information Services for the Henrico County Public Schools, Richmond, Virginia
Moderator:
Dodie Ownes, Editor, SLJTeen
Click to register today for “Stimulate Your Library!”
Elevator speech May 16, 2009
Posted by jfreeman in : Advocacy , add a commentThe idea that you might step into an elevator and see your superintendent or a school board member standing there alone, a captive audience for 30 seconds, may not be a situation we are prepared to address. In some communities you may bump into them at the store, at a soccer game, or at a school event such as a book fair. In this age of sound bites, having an “elevator speech” readily available, fluent, and practiced is critical for those potential opportunities.
One minute of practiced information can come in handy, particularly if it is delivered in a conversational manner. One tip is to use this information when someone asks you what you do. Instead of saying, “I’m a librarian” and allowing the other person to apply their stereotype to you, give them a short synopsis of what you do every day, how you affect children and their education, how you are an integral part of your school community. Tell them how you make a difference in a few sentences and help them change their stereotype or drop it completely.
Points to consider including in your speech (choose three or four that apply to your current situation):
- Research/21 Century information skills
- A personal anecdote about students
- Budget realities with numbers: # of students, $ per student, cost of books, etc.
- How you support curriculum and teaching throughout the school
- Selection of materials for different populations: ELL, AP, Low Readers, Foreign Language, etc.
- End with an action request for libraries, librarians, and library programs
For a good example of how to keep it short and sweet, see this post from Doug Johnson on his Blue Skunk Blog about his educational technology elevator speech.
What is your elevator speech? What points do you consider essential to include? Have you shared with someone and did it have an effect? Please share in the comments.
A Message from ALA President Jim Rettig May 15, 2009
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : Advocacy, Hot Topics, survey , add a commentSurvey request from ALA President Jim Rettig.
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Dear Colleagues,
Some of you may have heard me discuss the Library Ecosystem: the idea that all types of libraries are interrelated. For example, the closing of a school library in a community will have impact on the public library in that community, which now has to deal with overflow from the school; as well as the college library, which now has to teach remedial information literacy skills to incoming freshmen. In order not just to survive but to thrive in today’s economy, libraries of all types must come together and advocate with a unified voice.
To that end, I have created a special task force that is working with the Office for Library Advocacy to produce a web resource on this topic. The Building Coalitions web resource will be part of Advocacy University, and will launch at our annual conference in July. We have engaged Library Strategies, a consulting group of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, to help us build this website.
Your input is needed! Library Strategies has compiled a brief survey to help identify libraries and library organizations which are involved, or have been involved, in advocacy coalitions. I ask that you take just two-three minutes to fill out this survey at http://tinyurl.com/advocacyuniversity. Your input is important in helping us continue to serve libraries and library organizations in their advocacy efforts.
In addition, if you are attending the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, please attend my panel discussion, Coalition Building for All Libraries in a Tough Economy, Saturday, July 11, 4;00 to 5:30, McCormick Place West, Room 196B. More information can be found here: http://www.ala.org/libraryecosystem.
Thank you,
Jim Rettig
2008-2009 President
American Library Association
Gaming? Make sure you are counted… May 11, 2009
Posted by Christopher Harris in : Check this out! , add a commentScott Nicholson, professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information and head of their Library Game Lab sends word that it is time once again for the 2008 census of library gaming programs. He is especially interested in gaming programs run in school libraries given the strong school library response to the ALA Gaming and Literacy Grant. This will be the third year of the census, and the continued collection of data has been very helpful in securing funding for studies and grants addressing gaming in libraries. Read more about the past two surveys at the Syracuse Game Lab site.
Please note that this is talking about any type of gaming program including Chess, Scrabble, Computer games, Console games, Board games, Role Playing games or ANY other type of gaming as a library program.
You can complete the 2008 Library Gaming Census online through May 31st.
Laura Bush Foundation: Gulf Coast School Library Recovery Initiative Grants May 7, 2009
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : Awards, Check this out!, Opportunities , add a commentThe Laura Bush Foundation announces that it will award Gulf Coast School Library Recovery Initiative Grants in October 2009. The deadline for school libraries to apply is September 8, 2009; the application is available on the LBF website at www.laurabushfoundation.org.
Gulf Coast schools that were damaged in the 2005 storms and schools that are being built in the Gulf Coast region to fill educational gaps created by the storms are encouraged to apply. The Foundation urges any schools that want to be considered for remaining GCSLRI funds to apply by the September 2009 deadline.
The LBF has awarded 100 grants totaling more than $4.5 million since the initiative was announced in 2006.
AASL Survey on Economic Situation in SLMPs May 1, 2009
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : Advocacy, Hot Topics , comments closedDuring these tough economic times it is more important than ever for AASL to advocate on behalf of the community we serve. Throughout the year, AASL responds to the school library media community through our Advocacy toolkits and, for those programs in jeopardy, formal letters. Additionally, AASL often responds to requests for comments from the media. The recent economic state has created an influx of media inquiries surrounding the impact of recession on children in particular, and AASL would like to be prepared to offer both overall data on U.S. school library media programs, but also some local community examples.
We are asking all SLMS to please take a few minutes to complete a survey regarding your district’s school library media programs. The survey should take no more than 5 minutes of your time and can greatly impact the future of school library media programs across the country.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ESNa8L5rv_2bkK1c0EiKR_2fUA_3d_3d
Thank you for your time and for helping AASL to continue our commitment to the school library media community.
