School Libraries: The Core of Student Success

I have always enjoyed professional development.  Reading blogs, pouring over journals, taking classes, or talking to my colleagues have always recharged my love for the job.  It energizes me and encourages me to do better.  I love that ISLMA's conference is in the first semester of the school year, because it give me the opportunity to try something different second semester.  I feel that if I learn just one new thing or get a spark of an idea for something different, then the conference was a complete success.  

The theme of the 2013 ISLMA conference is School Libraries: The Core of Student Success.  How wonderfully true is that statement!  The conference runs from October 31 to November 2 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield.  Between the 80 sessions on Friday and Saturday, seminars on Thursday, an Author Showcase Saturday, and all the friendly people to network with, this conference should not be missed.  Registration has started on ISLMA's website; hope to see you there!

New School Year is Upon us!

Whether you have already started or the day is still coming up, the new school year is here in many minds.  Once orientation is finished with, check-out has started, and the chaos has settled, make sure to visit the Google calendar attached to this blog on a frequent basis.  The event calendar is filled with many professional development opportunities and quite a few are webinars, which means you can look at them when it is convenient for you!  Have a great start to your school year and we will see you at the ISLMA conference in October!

Free Online Event: The Digital Shift

School Library Journal and Library Journal are offering a free day of professional development with the online event The Digital Shift: Reinventing Libraries. The event will be held on October 16, 2013. Registration and more information about the event is available here.

From the event website,

Reinventing Libraries will offer thought-provoking discussions and actionable solutions to some of the biggest challenges libraries are facing, including rethinking collections, engaging the community and helping students and patrons learn. The program will feature insights on managing new technologies and services; the latest developments in ebooks and streaming media; optimizing discovery; and much more!
Our speakers and panelists, including Dan Cohen, Susan Hildreth, Mimi Ito, Deborah Jacobs, Barbara Stripling and John Wilkin, will present innovative ideas and actionable solutions for and from libraries of all types – school, academic, and public.  

Sessions include:
Learning 2.0 Meets MOOC: Professional Development Evolves
Flipped School Libraries
The Community Joins In: Library Maker Spaces
eCollections: Beyond Novelty – Focusing in on Collection Development, Self-Publishing, and eMagazines

Questions about the Common Core?

In my district. we've been talking often about the Common Core. This past week I met with a group of teachers for an afternoon as we tried to develop a rubric to use to help us examine text complexity. The Common Core talks about three areas in evaluating texts: quantitative, qualitative, and reader and task considerations. Looking at existing models, we developed a draft of a rubric for our use. This weekend everyone in the group read a novel that has been used at the sixth grade level and completed the rubric. Tomorrow morning, we'll meet to compare notes, debrief on the process, and determine if the tool we have will work for the job at hand. I am excited we've moved the conversation beyond talking about Lexiles alone and are looking at works more holistically. 

Later this week, the seventh grade literature teachers, special ed department chair, and I (the school librarian) are going to work through a common novel taught at the grade level and delve into examining how the novel is taught and the kind of tasks being asked of student with an eye on the Common Core standards. 

The Common Core State Standards are a hot topic, and it behooves us to be up on what is happening and know the role the library can play in supporting teachers and learners. TLChat is exploring the topic Supporting Teachers with Common Core at 7pm Central on Monday, 12/10. Follow the hashtag #TLChat to participate in the conversation. 

Another really helpful resource that explores the school librarian and the Common Core is a livebinder put together by Carolyn Starkey. Wow! It is a rich collection of resources and articles. Ms. Starkey has done a tremendous job curating a huge collection of materials. There's no need to duplicate the work of the initial research, use the resource and start/continue learning!

Publisher Previews

There is nothing worse than walking through the bookstore and seeing the next book in the series of a super popular title sitting on the shelf.  You had no idea it was out.  How can you keep up with all the new choices coming out through the year?  Publisher previews are a great way to get ahead of the game.  This Thursday, December 6th, Lerner Publishing Group will have their spring preview; you can register here:   http://tinyurl.com/bntkedf


Scholastic already has their spring preview up and access is granted here:  http://tinyurl.com/d4r4ep6


Enjoy your chance to preview book titles that are scheduled to come out in the next season and choose the best books for your students!

Meeting of the Minds at Dominican: Future Teachers and Librarians Collaborate

Collaboration with content area teachers is critical in our work as school librarians. Building those collaborative relationships takes time and effort. This event at Dominican University, while trying to draw pre-service teachers and librarians, is open to practitioners too. Please join the conversation about collaboration between classroom teachers and teacher librarians. Hope to see you there.

Meeting of the Minds: Future Teachers and Librarians Collaborate

Thursday, November 29th
6:30-8pm
Butler Children’s Literature Center, Crown Library 2nd Floor
Refreshments will be served

Join educators for a discussion about the power of collaboration between teachers and librarians moderated by School of Education professor Dr. Marilyn Ludolph and School Library Media Program director Dr. Don Hamerly. Practicing school librarian Dr. Erin Wyatt and teachers from Highland Middle School will share their experiences and artifacts from collaborative projects they’ve done with students.

The organizers hope that education and library students and practicing educators will attend the discussion and ask questions, share ideas, and join in the conversation. We’re looking forward to putting our heads together and developing our collaborative relationships!

*When educators collaborate, students benefit*

http://duslmp.info/meeting-of-the-minds-future-teachers-and-librarians-collaborate/

Hearing Authors Speak

Sometimes, one of the best ways to get students interested in a book is to hear the author speak about their work.  This is not always feasible, but Booklist is offering an amazing opportunity to hear author Patrick Ness speak from London about his books.  On Tuesday, November 13th at 1pm (Central Standard time) you have a great opportunity to hook your kids into something special!  Register here for this great event!