ALA Annual 2013 Day 3

I think I ended this conference on a good note! I began the day in the uncommons waiting for the exhibits to open. I spoke with a really nice doctoral student from FSU for about 20 minutes about librarianship and climates (she was from Georgia so it was fun to tell stories about blizzards.) Then I went and stood in line to meet Katherine Applegate and get signed copies of The One and Only Ivan for my school and myself. I spoke with some very nice school librarians in line including Beth McGuire who even took my picture with Katherine. She was very nice at her signing and told me writing Ivan's story was painful at times (like going into labor) but someone had to do it. She was a hoot!

Next, I went to a session about Maintaining Teen E-Collections. The session was further broken up into table talk break out sessions about different topics regarding e-collections. I sat at a table for school librarians first. The speaker spoke about the Here Be Fiction summer reading program and although I thought it was a great program; I wish we had talked more about the general topic. Then I switched to What Teens Want to discover what kind of e-books I may want to order for the library. However, we only discussed where students get their book recommendations from (friends and family) and how to choose a platform for e-books. Needless to say, I walked out after that talk because I wasn't getting what I wanted from the session overall. However, opportunity struck as I returned to the exhibit hall. I witnessed an enormously long line and asked who was signing. It was none other than Elizabeth Wein, author of Code Name Verity, which is nominated for the Green Mountain Book Award! I anxiously stood in line and received a copy signed for my school and had her newest ARC signed for myself. It was a very exciting experience and I cannot wait to read the book!

I completed my final sweep of the exhibit hall which was set to close in a couple of hours so books were flying off the shelfs at discounted prices or free. I met a very nice vendor from Enslow Publishing who once lived in a town that neighbors mine and he gave me a great selection of nonfiction and historical fiction titles for my library. I also nabbed some books from other vendors looking to pack up less to bring home.

Unfortunately, my More with Less: Putting School Library/Public Library Collaboration session was not what I expected either. Instead, presenters were promoting another program they used. I must admit that I was extremely disappointed by this because I already have a supportive public librarian and I wanted to hear about successful collaborations and gather ideas. Luckily, I do have some ideas of my own.

By the time, I returned to the Conference Center for Battledecks, the Exhibit Hall had been torn apart and now consisted of crates and boxes. We were running late due to a shuttle delay but we made it for the end of the rookie battles and the entirety of the Tournament of Champions. For those of you who don't know about Battledecks, competitors are given a topic (related to library- ex. Librarians in the past and future) and a set of random slides to narrate. These slides often consist of lol cats and other memes which competitors must connect to the topic. The outcomes are hilarious. Competitors are judged and winners receive shiny fedoras while each of the remaining competitors goes home with a feathery boa. Battledecks is the best way to end the conference.

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Location:Chicago, IL

ALA Annual Day 2

Today was a very productive day for both learning and networking!


I began the day listening to Temple Grandin speak. I had to sit outside the main event because I was planning to attend another session and couldn't make the whole presentation. Temple Grandin was diagnosed with Autism at two years old. She worked hard to not be just another person on the spectrum and emphasized to the audience that it is a spectrum with a range of abilities and talents. She discussed how everyone thinks differently and she was a visual thinker. It's important to have visual thinkers in society because they are the world's problem solvers. Temple Grandin was very motivational and made me realize how much we label our students and makes me hope that one day it will end.

Afterwards, I attended a conversation starter about digital badges. The session focused on Mozilla's Open Badges with a spotlight on Passport by Purdue University, another badge program currently in beta. Badges are earned through meeting goals and a set criteria then displayed on a digital bulletin board for all to see. This effort would be a great way of microcredentialing an e-portfolio, collecting evidence, and easy to keep track of (data tracking). Digital badges promote competency based learning and connect well to standards. There are a lot of add-ins users can integrate with the digital badge system such as Learning management integration and social media sharing. According to presenters, the process of implementing the badge system was fairly easy. They also said the leader board was a great motivational tool for badge earners.
New York Public Library is using digital badges with its summer reading program. I think it would be a great way to track readers' progress but there need to be intrinsic incentives applied to the program as well so readers learn to read for the sake of reading and not just to earn badges. I could see using badges to ensure students met required tasks for a research project or achieved lesson objectives. I could also see badges applicable to short term projects. This is definitely something I want to experiment with in the future.

I attended the inaugural session of Apps, Apps, and More Apps: Best Apps for Teaching and Learning sponsored by AASL. The committee highlighted the fact that free apps aren't necessarily the best value; you get what you pay for; however, I still found their choices to be cost efficient. Unfortunately, I found the list to be a bit skewed with many resources for the early and elementary teachers but still discovered some great apps for middle school and high school students. The categories were: books, STEM, organization and management, social sciences, content creation, and media sharing.
In the Books category, I discovered two useful resources for middle school/high school students. Al Gore: Our Choice lays out a plan to solve the climate crisis while acting as a young readers' edition of An Inconvenient Truth. Shakespeare in Bits allows students to explore Shakespeare's plays in an interactive way using visual storytelling, full narration, and character webs to bring the classic literature to life.

The STEM category had a lot to offer. Science 360 created by the National Science Foundation contains visual scientific explorations, a built-in news feed, and social media capabilities including tagging to inspire students to discover science. The NASA app allows students to track the space station, follow related TV news and NASA' Twitter feed, and jam out to Third Rock Radio. Operation Math is geared mostly to upper elementary and middle school students to practice their basic operations skills, participate in training room exercises, and complete timed missions to unlock rewards. Simple physics offers physics challenges for secondary students which range in difficulty. Lastly, Tinkerbox offers engineering puzzle games, game design, sharing functions for students in upper elementary and middle school.

I was a bit disappointed with the apps on the Organization and Management portion of the list. The citation maker EasyBib, cloud storage Dropbox, and note-taking app EverNote all made the list; While these are amazing apps, I feel like they are apps which have been popular the past couple years, people are already utilizing, and therefore the list needed to showcase different tools. I did however find Schoology, an online Learning Management System where students and teachers can be connected 24/7, to be a useful tool.

A great deal of the social sciences apps were geared toward the elementary age level; however, a couple may be used at the fifth and sixth grade levels for special projects. Dependent on cost and content, I could see the value in purchasing Britannica Kids: Ancient Egypt recommended for grades K-6. The app contains reference information and engaging learning activities. MyCongress gives secondary students an inside look at Congress.

Lastly, apps for content creation and media sharing. EduCreations recommended for grades K-12 is an interactive whiteboard app. You can use it to create short multimedia presentations with sound, images,and text. Kid blog (and arguably related platforms) is a great place to blog safely and learn the basics of blogging. GarageBand allows user to create music or podcasts and is widely popular. Lastly, Videolicious (similar to Animoto) is a video editing app which can be used K-12 in three easy steps: choose content, narrate, and add copyright free music to create your own video.
Overall, I found there were some useful apps on the list and I will be happy to try some of these apps out in the library! Check out the full list here: http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/best-apps/2013

I spent some time in the exhibit hall and got to meet one of my favorite authors. Although I still love his books, I was admittedly disappointed by Gordon Korman's author signing. I recovered from my fan girl moment I had with Steve Sheinkin and spoke very light heartedly to Mr. Korman saying that I discovered his books a few years ago and loved reading his work; to which he coldly responded thank you, signed, and I just walked away.

The second day was overall successful.


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Location:Chicago, IL

ALA Annual Day 1

Welcome to the Windy City and the ALA 2013 National Conference!

On Friday, our train got in relatively late (2PM) after the madness from the Blackhawks Victory parade was dying down. We decided to register and check out the exhibits. I got some really nice Wimpy Kid swag for my best friend. We ate at Lizzie McNeill's and walked the River Walk.

Saturday was a bit overwhelming for me. I raced to the conference center to catch AASL's Best Websites for Teaching and Learning. This year's list was a great compilation of resources; some which I heard of and some which were new to me. Wonderopolis made the list, which made me happy because we discussed Wonder Blogging at Dynamic Landscapes proving how progressive Vermont really is! I admittedly chuckled when Pinterest made the list because it hasn't been a tool I have personally found much value in as of yet. The Easel.ly Infographic creator website also made the list. I was also pleased to see the Code Academy make the list because I think coding is a 21st century skill that students and educators need; making the list proved the professional school library community agrees!
I was excited to learn about some new-to-me resources too. Smore looks like a great way to create newsletters (I have been looking for something like this!) Students can sign up for Lit Pick and receive free books and learn how to become a book critic, writing reviews of their selections. Four classrooms unite together to participate in Quadblogging.

There were so many excellent websites featured! Check out the full list here: http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/best-websites/2013

I ended up exploring the exhibit hall for the rest of the morning. My small victories were collecting more Wimpy Kid swag for my best friend, a newly minted elementary teacher and getting the book Bomb signed by Steven Sheiken. (Though admittedly, I had an awful fan girl moment!)

In the afternoon, I attended Arts 2.0: Libraries, Arts, and Technology. The speaker was very enthusiastic and had great ideas for art integration in the library. I am so happy that my school promotes student art work in the library. I would love to continue the art shows and add more programs. I thought about music and theater events too. We wrote 6 word poems and participated in some improvisionational storytelling. Five people line up; the first person starts the story, when the moderator says change, the second person picks up the story. The fifth person is responsible for concluding the story. We heard of some great websites to use for arts integration as well!

My first full day ended quietly. My roommates and I traveled to a Tapas restaurant and stumbled upon the Chicago Public Library! I hope to visit before we depart Tuesday evening! Chicago is a big city and it makes it difficult to attend social events when we're so spread out! All in all though, my first day was a successful balance of learning and networking!

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Location:Chicago, IL

Dynamic Landscapes Friday Closing Keynote reflection

The closing keynote was very inspirational as Meg Allison and her students discussed transformative technology. Moretown Elementary is a 1:1 school where every student is provided with a Dell netbook courtesy of a grant from e-Vermont Digital Wish. Prior to and throughout the presentation, students were tweeting from through their Moretown Elementary School twitter account; already proving how well Moretown secures their students' privacy. Students use Google Apps for education for many of their basic technology needs. They also use classroom Twitter, Padlet, etc. accounts because of the age group (K-6). Students synthesize newspaper articles, current events, and what they learn through tweets. They create powerpoints because they're still cool and students can learn elements of a good presentation. The students agree it's a great way to go paperless and love that they can email teachers and other students for homework help thanks to Google Apps.
Students wanted the audience to know they do have unplugged time. One student mentioned every Tuesday they go outside on walks with their teacher and explore nature.
Both Meg and the students also highlighted some of the drawbacks of having a 1:1 program. For instance, it's difficult to accomplish tasks when the computer or Internet is running slow. Also, if students don't remember to charge their computer at night, they may not have a computer to work from the next day. (Though I don't remember the solution to this problem....)
It was very engaging to see what these elementary students are doing with technology. This entire conference made me realize just how progressive Vermont is in the fields of technology and education and makes me really excited for next school year!

Dynamic Landscapes The Reader Games reflection

Every year, the librarian and sixth grade English teacher collaborate on a year long reading/ information literacy/ technology program. The program runs from September-May. Every year the theme changes; this year the program was based off of the popular Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. The teacher and librarian used pbwiki for educators to organize the program and created game brackets for each round of the games. I have enclosed the program layout and details below. Overall, I thought it was a great way to engage students in reading and technology.

Program layout

• Pre-game warm up: Whodunit 

• Has own wiki

• Two random partners (chosen from 3 different classes) read same book. Partners are mysterious- students receive an envelope with book inside, secretly check it out at the library.

• Students are instructed not to discuss book with anyone.

• Book can only be read at home

• Partners discuss book on Whodunit wiki using fictitious pen names created by teacher (based off book characters). Teachers grade these discussions as assignments. Teachers don't get involved in conversation unless student is not participating.

• End- masquerade- create a mask of book character, elements from story. Find secret partner.

• Hook: Book Trailer
• Students create book trailer based on a certain selection of books.

• Students vote on best book trailer.

• First Round: Author Study- multiple authors
• 2-3 weeks reading

• Usually alternates every other day between reading and writing workshop

• 1 week to create a book trailer based on book

• Students vote on best book trailer.

• 2nd round: Genre study- fantasy

• Fantasy book speed dating

• Read part of covered fantasy book, rotate tables, choose favorite

• Radio show- create podcast using audacity to simulate vintage radio show

• Include certain elements, commercial, sound effects, discuses one part of book (plot point)

• Third Round: DCF March Madness
• Read a DCF nominated book

• Create life size characters (cardboard cut outs?)

• Perform skits

• Final Round: Class Novels
• Each class reads an assigned nove3l.
• Final project choices: create board game, design new book cover, compose a new ending, compose author biography, fold a story, Prezi

Aha Moments for the Teacher and Librarian

• iPad management- saving work, etc.

• Uploading videos to YouTube

• Start next year with a class novel

Dynamic Landscapes Student Blogging reflection

Student blogging was presented by Matt Allen and his students. Blogging is a yearlong project for this class. The teacher moderates all student blogs and ok's posts and comments before they are published. There are many different blogging platforms available for educators and students; this presentation focused on using kidblogs. It helps if the teacher has a healthy, active PLN.  #comments4kids is a great hashtag to seek support and feedback for your student blogs from other educators, students, etc.William Chamberlain was noted for being a huge advocate of #comments4kids.
When blogging, students go through the writing process (pre-writing/ rough draft, self edit/ revise, peer conference, edit/ revise, teacher conference, edit/ revise, and publish). All comments get published to student blogs as long as they are not spam. Students without internet access at home write their rough drafts with paper and pen; I was happy to hear they also promote using the public library for internet access.Students blog about the same topic all year long and topics range from Justin Bieber to Ancient Egypt to Video Games. Mr. Allen is considering having students change topics every trimester next year.The main point of blogging is not to monitor students' spelling and grammar. It's about learning how to write and how to express oneself. Rubrics are not used to grade student blogs. Students must write a certain amount of posts but they don't need to be any specific length; just well composed.
I think this is a great approach to blogging and I hope I can bring these ideas back to my school.

Dynamic Landscapes Global Friends- Learn and Share

This had to be my favorite conference session. Joyce Babbitt works with students and teachers in her school to facilitate friendships where students learn about different cultures through global pen pals. She started her profile on epals.com and facilitated connections between her classes and Italy as well as other countries. (I can't recall the specific countries and unfortunately the online presentation is not available.) The interactions began as email and snail mail exchanges and then began to evolve. Students recorded video introductions for their pen pals and suddenly started creating claymation videos and music videos of them singing their favorite songs for their friends.They sent each other Christmas gifts and learned how to speak their pen pals' native languages to say (ex) Happy Holidays. Students created "this or that" sheets to decipher common interests and continue to learn about each other.
It was a very engaging experience to hear students talk about their global pen pals, see the videos, and pictures that were exchanged. Many students still interact with their pen pals even after the completion of their school projects. As someone who grew up writing to her own pen pal (though mine only lived in New Hampshire while we were growing up), I really appreciated the impact of this program on these students and I would love to have e-pals in the future. I have included Ms. Babbitt's tips at the conclusion of this post for things to keep in mind when facilitating global connections.

Tips for global friends1. timing and putting in time
2. Get parental support

• Approval first

• Keep parents updated- emails, videos, etc.

3. Plan and allow for spontaneous moments. (ex. Music video creation)
4. Learn and send video.
5. Keep trying; don't give up.
6. Share the Process.

• Share successes with community, school board

7. Check out free resources.
8. Connect and reconnect.

Dynamic Landscapes Friday Opening Keynote reflection

I really got a lot from Steve Hargadon's Education, Technology, Social Media, and You! presentation. The world is really one giant learning network. We can facilitate our global learning by participating in the Global Education Conference presented online between November 12-17.

Mr. Hargadon's main point was that technology, culture, and education were intertwined; therefore: Technology shifts ➡ Culture shifts ➡ Education shifts. Technology shifts include the rise of social networking, global productivity, and personal mobility. Cultural shifts lead to an increase in participation, creation, sharing, and engagement in a interconnected society. Some examples of cultural shifts are featured below:

• • Participation- yelp, amazon customer reviews, peer professional development, etc.
  • Creation- Instagram, blogs, online portfolio
  • Sharing- Wikipedia, creative commons
  • Engagement- gaming

The technology component of this is rather obviouSs in this growing and changing technology driven world. With the advent of social networking and Web 2.0, culture and therefore education must change to fit a new paradigm and appeal to our students. The students of today do not learn the same ways that you or I learned when we were attending primary and secondary school and therefore, they cannot be taught the same way we were taught. We need to step up and become educational leaders and make the change we wish to see in the world of education. Mr. Hargadon outlined a list of actions for us to become lead networkers and lead learners which I have outlined below. 

Lead Networkers and Lead Learners Action List
1. (Re-)Discover Your Interests 
2. Build Your Personal Learning Network (PLN) 
3. Start Building a Personal Web Presence (PWP) 
4. Become a Part of the Conversation 

I really enjoyed his presentation because I think we do have to vastly change our way of thinking concerning education and make some serious changes to meet the needs of our students.

Dynamic Landscapes reflections~ Closing Keynote

The closing session Thursday was a set of lightning talks presented by many different educators on a variety of topics. I will link readers to the full presentation here: Thursday Closing Keynote. I have only technically crowdsourced a few of the topics below.
Crowd-sourcing

• Life in a Day Project
• Kick starter-funds creative projects
• Google Tools
• Interesting Ways series
• People around the world contribute ideas
• 100 Schools Map
• Drop a pin near your school location.
• Used with 100 Days of School celebrations
• Inaturalist.org- science projects
• VT Atlas of Life 
• Allows for student submissions, graded like research
• Piggybankr- fundraising site like Kickstarter
• • Powerful learning environments created because of digital tools
    • Learningwithlucie.com
    • Twitter: @techsavvygirl
  • Young Writers Project, Music Composition, Kids Blog, Blogger
  • 802 YouTube video 

  Google Hangout by Jess Wilson (Twitter: @wilsonjess) Tech Integrationist
  • Connecting, sharing, learning
  • Meet with colleagues
  • Take snapshots of the hangout
  • Google Drive integration-share and view files
  • Text chat function to have group or private conversations
  • Screen share option
  • Add video from YouTube

  Wonder blogging  Twitter: @aimeevt
  • Wonderopolis+ blogging platform of choice
    • New wonder everyday, can search for specific topics, connect to curriculum
    • On MONDAY, teachers pick a wonder. Students blog about it for 15-20 mins each day. Students brainstorm ideas
    • TUESDAY- students read and comment on friends' blogs, ask questions, add more information
    • WEDNESDAY- reveal answer, students add what they learned in a different color

  Technology Integration/ Common Core
  • Common Core iPad app
  • P21 toolkit (PDF)
  • Wes Fryer- great at this, @wfryer and wesfryer.com
  • Chrome Webstore Add-ons
  • Teaching channels
  • Digital annotations using Diigo
  • Interactive Language Arts blog
  • Live Binder- Integration into Common Core
  • Pinterest
  • Vermont Department of Education- Common Core in VT

  Connect Globally Donna Macdonald

  • Twitter/ Skype/ Edmodo
  • Sept.- International Dot Day (K-1)
  • Oct. Global Read Aloud
  • Nov. I Spy in the Community
    • Research places in the community, create voice threads, comment, with students on Staten Island
  • Dec. Mystery Skype- Skype in Classroom
  • Jan. Authors on Twitter and Skype, DCF authors
  • Feb. Edmodo pen pals- South Africa and Texas
  • Mar. World Read Aloud Day, Read Across America Day
  • Apr. Poem in your Pocket Day
  • May Skype in Classroom- Yellowstone Rangers, weather data across the world, Children's Book Week

  Dave Davidson- Robotics

  • Lego kits $130
  • Weedo Software $300

  John Minelli iPad

  • Take pictures, capture things
  • Drawing apps-drawing pad
  • Storyboard apps- Popplet, Mindmeister
  • Various apps- Corkulous, Scrap it, Feltboard
  • Tag cloud (like Wordle and Tagxedo)
  • Video and Animation apps- Puppet Pals HD, iMotion HD, iMovie
  • Whiteboard apps
  • Garage Band
  • QR codes

  Breaking Open School- Mixed Devices

  • Wireless access, BYOD
  • Tech led workshops, etc.
  • Google Sketchup
  • Tweeting across grade levels

Dynamic Landscapes reflections~Glorious Nonfiction

Presented by Leda Schubert, this session did a great job outlining how to use nonfiction texts to meet the Common Core standards. Unfortunately for me, the presentation focused on great books to use with second graders but I kept in mind that picture books can also be great tools for secondary school students and some of the basic principles we discussed applied to my age level.

• The Common Core emphasizes discussion, analysis, and evaluation. 
• Standards are best met by expository, persuasive, procedural, and narrative texts.
• Nonfiction aims to answer: who, what, where, when, why, and how

Different kinds of nonfiction:

• Narrative- tells a story
• Survey- overview of a topic
• Concept- abstract ideas/ classifications
• Specialized- a closer look at a specific topic
• Biography/ Autobiography/ Memoir
• How-to/ Process/ Procedural
• Data- fast facts
• Expository- facts plus additional information
• Disciplinary Thinking
• Inquiry
• Interpretation
• Action

Dynamic Landscapes reflections~ DCF and GMBA

Vermont has a plethora of student choice book awards. They are: the Red Clover Book Award (grades K-4), DCF Children's Book Award (grades 4-8), and the Green Mountain Book Award (grades 9-12). As an incoming middle school/ high school librarian, I attended sessions discussing the DCF and GMBA books.
There were a lot of great books on both lists. I was interested in the overall presentations. We found some interesting themes in the GMBA book lists: fun, fantasy, and horror (and also oddly enough, cancer and dead parents seemed to be popular themes as well.) The overall presentations consisted of book talks and discussions about the process of the nominations, etc. It was recently announced that The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen won this year's DCF award. I look forward to reading many of the books on both of these lists over the summer! I also applied to become a member of the GMBA committee. *fingers crossed*
The book websites are listed below:
DCF Book award
Green Mountain Book Award

Dyanmic Landscapes Conference: Opening Keynote reflection

In a long overdue set of posts, I would like to reflect on my experiences attending the VITA-LEARN Dynamic Landscapes conference in Burlington, VT last month. I was excited to learn about many new ideas to bring back to my library and meet many new colleagues from the Green Mountain State including some teachers from my school. I can't thank my new principal enough for this amazing opportunity.
I began the conference signing up for the Vermont School Librarians Association and was excited to learn my first year membership is free! I had great interactions with Grace, in charge of recruitment, and met many other VSLA members throughout the conference.

Open Keynote: Moving Toward Iridescence: Space, Technology, Pedagogy, Culture~ presented by Ira David Socol and Pam Moran
This innovative pair discussed the Seven Paths to Recreate Education.

1. Interactive Technologies
2. Maker-infused curriculum
3. Choice and Comfort
4. Connectivity
5. Universal Desgin/ Differentiation
6. Project Based/ Passion Based Learning
7. Instructional Tolerance

Some interesting points they made throughout their presentation:

• The use of wiggle chairs which allow students to move while sitting in class
• Students need for natural light, fresh air, and large muscle movement.
• The worst place for teachers to encourage writing is on a piece of paper. Chalkboards are designed for creativity.
• Most students cap at a sixth grade reading level.
• School libraries are contagious creativities.

Graduation Thank Yous and reflection

It's been a long journey but this morning, I graduated a Master of Library Science from Syracuse University. I want to thank all of the people who helped me get to where I am today.
Thank you to my parents and friends who supported me throughout the years. You listened to me drawl on about what librarianship truly means and grapple with coursework. Mom was right from the start when she said I was going to be a librarian when I grew up.
Thank you to my professors for training me and encouraging my growth and development as an information professional. To Dave Lankes, for inspiring me to attend the iSchool with his worldview of new librarianship. To Marilyn Arnone, for sparking my creativity and supporting me throughout my time at Syracuse. To Ruth Small and Renee Franklin Hill for expanding my horizons to new ideas in the field. To Barb Stripling, for inspiring me to be the best school librarian I can be. To Blythe Bennett, my advisor, who always answered my numerous questions, supported, and inspired me throughout the past two years. You have all had a profound effect on my graduate career and I would not be where I am today without you.
Thank you to my internship supervisors who allowed me to learn new skills outside of my school media placements which could be applied to my librarian skill set: Theresa Slosek of the Public Computing Center, Terie Daino of the Oswego Bookmobile, and Barbara Shaffer, Chris Hebblethwaite, and Deborah Curry of Penfield Library, SUNY Oswego. I learned valuable lessons working in different library environments which I will carry with me to my professional career.
Thank you to the librarians and teachers of the Fulton City School District-especially Sarah Fay, Barbara Senecal, Wendy Scalfaro, and Terry Bettis. I learned so much from each of you during my fieldwork and practica placements as you took me under your wing and shared your best tips for teaching and managing a library media center. I especially thank Terry Bettis, my mentor, for her constant encouragement and guidance as I begin my professional career.
Thank you to my cohort; the students I began this wild ride with in the summer and fall of 2011. We have been there for each other since day one, forged strong bonds across vast distances, supported each other through coursework, job searching, personal successes and troubling times, and everything in between. I do hope we keep in touch and continue to grow together as colleagues.
What an amazing journey this has been! I have learned so much along the way and there's still so much to learn as I begin my first professional position. As Dave Lankes said, don't wait. The time is now to change the world!
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Upcoming conference-VITA Learn

Courtesy of my new principal, I am attending the VITA-Learn Conference in Burlington in a couple weeks. (Thank you sir!) It's a great conference focusing on technology education. The Vermont School Library Association plays a role in the conference as well so I will be meeting some of my new colleagues. I will be attending with the school's media specialist and we hope to start planning for next year. I think we will be a great team because we both have a lot of great ideas to transform the library. It was interesting to hear her perspective on librarianship and the school library too. I look forward to learning about the state book awards and new ideas I can bring to the library!
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Fabulous news

It's been a crazy month but I have great news to share! I have accepted a position! It was crazy; I had the Skype interview with the two principals in VT, next thing I know two days later, I get a call asking when I can take a trip to the area. So the following week, my dad and I travelled to the Green Mountain State; a lovely place with beautiful scenery, mountains, and moose crossing signs!
I had an all day interview planned. The school was very close to the inn we stayed at and the town is small and quaint which was a relief.
I was able to meet with students, teachers, guidance counselors, and principals and it was an amazing experience. The school shares my philosophy of making the school library a central hub of the building: creating a safe, welcoming space where students can relax, explore technology, teachers collaborate with the librarian, facilitate workshops, and the like.It broke my heart that their middle level community doesn't feel they have a place to belong in their library which is a shared space with the high school. The teachers felt left out too. A lot of teachers mentioned wanting help working with new technology which I love doing so I am excited. One of the teachers already uses a lot of Web 2.0 tools in his classroom which was encouraging. I enjoyed talking to the high school students during teacher's advisory as they asked me silly questions like have I ever dyed my hair and what's the craziest thing I had done in my lifetime. I sat in the hot seat in a middle level leadership class and they told me what they envisioned for their library and new librarian. I loved listening to their ideas and many of them were quite reasonable! I loved how student centered the school was; especially to involve students in the hiring process!
Ever since I left Vermont, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I was dreaming about it! The sense of community and love for learning at the school was heart warming. Everything they wanted in a library/ librarian I wanted too. I was so happy to hear my name get passed to the superintendent, and after a short discussion with her, to the school board.
I think this new position has the opportunity for growth both as a librarian and a school. I have so many ideas for these students and teachers and school community and I can't wait to hear how we can transform their library into the central hub of the school community. I have never been so happy. My principal is already sending me to a conference next month too; for which I am very thankful for. I will have the opportunity to network with area librarians and start planning for next year! It's finally happening!


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Interview update

So I didn't get the long term sub interview but it was a great experience. The district went with a candidate who was completing another long term sub position. I had a panel of four people: a principal, librarian, library aide, and unknown. The questions were very brief; 8 total and addressed things such as classroom management, new programs, end of the year procedures, etc.
My VT interview was an interesting experience. I had the interview over Skype with the two school principals; middle school and high school since its for a 6-12 grade library position. They broke the ice with me by instructing where to look so that it looked like I was looking at them. The questions were very engaging and they loved hearing about my ideas for working with technology. The middle school is developing a 1-1 laptop program and the high school has multiple laptop and iPad carts as well as a central computer lab. The middle school principal had a lot to ask! They asked about my experience working with students of this age level and teachers. Teachers are really trying to use more technology and they need a librarian that's willing to facilitate training. I felt pretty good after the interview and I had the right feeling! I got a call today requesting to visit the school in VT! I am going up the week of April 8th. If anyone has any advice for second interviews, please share! I am really excited because I like everything I have heard about this school.


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First set of interviews

I have exciting news to share followers! I have procured my first couple job interviews within this past week and I am very ecstatic to begin interviewing for my dream career.
I received an email on Wednesday requesting to set an interview with a grades 6-12 school in Vermont. This will take place in 10 days over Skype.
I also procured an interview for a long term sub position in my area. I still have to call the school back to set up the interview; sometimes juggling schedules is difficult.
I am very excited for these opportunities. I am pooling my resources and preparing for both interviews. If you have any friendly interviewing advice, please share! I appreciate any and all guidance. For now, I am researching both schools; formulating questions, and fine tuning my smile.


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World Book Night update

I recently received notice that I will be giving away copies of the book, Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. I will admit it wasn't my first choice and I am not sure why I chose it even as my third since I have yet to read it... However, this gives me the opportunity to step outside of my box and read something a little out of my realm. Then I could really encourage non-readers to read it. Has anyone else read this work? I am beginning my job search. I have been working hard on my portfolio. You should check it out here: shdesant.wordpress.com . I have applied to some out of state jobs, a couple very close to home, and in April, I will be attending a Teacher Recruitment Day fair to seek more opportunities. I have never been more excited to embark on a career!

World Book Night

I have exciting news! I was chosen to be a book giver for World Book Night in April! The purpose behind World Book Night is spreading the love of reading to non-readers, people who don't generally read for enjoyment. I filled out the application in January and had the opportunity to discuss this exciting adventure with the local bookstore owner. When filling out the application, you had to choose three books to potentially give away (I am hoping to give away John Green's Looking for Alaska) and will be notified which book was selected for us soon. We will be prompted to pick up 20 free copies of our chosen book and give them out on April 23rd for World Book Night. I am hoping to be substitute teaching that day at the secondary level but if I am not, I will gladly find a place to hand out the chosen book. If you have any back-up ideas, please comment! The trick is not to go where readers go because the target audience is NON-readers so perhaps a supermarket or a local fast food joint will do... There's nothing more that I enjoy then spreading my love of reading. I don't think anyone in particular is a non-reader. I just don't think they've found the right book yet! Here's to hoping I am the one to introduce them to a new favorite!

For more information, visit www.worldbooknight.org

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Librarian Infographic

Courtesy of: Master Degree Online">Librarian Infographic
Courtesy of Master Degree Online

In my attempt to catch up on reading all of the professional blgs I follow, I stumbled upon this infographic and thought it was pretty sweet.


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update and random thoughts

It's been a very busy semester thus far! I can't believe we are already ending week four of the Syracuse University semester and week five of my WISE course. Things have been going fairly well. I finished my practicum hours at the end of the January. I was struggling a little at the end with a knee injury, a persistent cold, and schoolwork piling up faster than I could keep up but taking some time off of subbing this week proved useful for catching up and things seem to  be on the up-and-up again.
My practicum ended on a great note. I taught a lot of lessons my last couple of weeks. I discovered that KWL charts may not be the best tool for engaging K-2 but alas it was a learning experience. The upper grade levels enjoyed exploring the TrueFlix database and it was interesting to read what topics they found interesting. The middle grades (grades 3 & 4) responded well to the non-fiction book-talks I presented and the influx of circulation in such materials proved it! My last day I was able to help give exemplary students library and technology awards. It was nice to see how choked up my sponsor librarian was because it really shows how much she values her career and her students.
I was reflecting on a book I was reading for my WISE course with my librarian one day. It's about the digital native and how our lives are consumed with technology. I didn't see why reading a book while listening to music or watching TV while doing homework was such a big deal but apparently that's not normal. Multitasking is a common trait to this generation and I suppose I have mastered it. It's interesting how much one takes for granted.
In school library management this week, we are discussing collection development. I have always enjoyed this aspect of the librarian position. (Who doesn't like buying things?!) I am really excited to get started on writing a joint collection development policy with one of my classmates. Barb Stripling had a really great idea to involve staff in the process of weeding by holding a weeding party where staff can help weed the collection related to their area. I believe this is easier for secondary schools but I am sure it can be applied to elementary libraries too. It must be fun to find the oldest book in the collection, wipe the dust off, and see what misinformation you can find as you remove it from the shelf! I have no problem weeding as you may be able to tell. I only want what's best for my future students.
I also raised an interesting point on one of the classroom discussion boards. I am always trying to figure out the librarian's role on cultivating literacy. I know that librarians promote literacy but I wasn't sure about how much we taught literacy. According to Barb Stripling, we do teach literacy, just not decoding; which makes sense. We should be teaching comprehension to be sure students can understand what they are reading. It kind of goes back to the "every teacher is a reading teacher" approach. I still wonder if the program one of my sponsor librarians is helping run is under this umbrella. She is working with a special education teacher with small groups of students choosing articles and creating comprehension questions and activities for students to respond to in order to increase reading fluency and reading level.
On a similar note, I loved how Barb Stripling spoke out about leveling books. I hate leveling books. I don't want to promote such practices in my library. If a student likes a book but it's a bit "above their reading level", why should we tell them they can't read it? I feel that doing this truly limits students and makes them feel bad about themselves. I hate when a student comes in and says "I need a book at *this* level." Please take out a book because you like it. I also get frustrated when I find a book for a student and an adult tells me it's above their reading level. Let the student try. Sometimes, the student may have a parent or older siblings at home willing to help them. Sometimes, they read above grade level and can handle the material. You won't know until you try and letting a student take the book home isn't going to hurt. End story. End rant.

BYOD SWOT analysis

The following blog post was written in response to a discussion prompt for my Technology in the Lives of Children and Youth course I am taking as part of the WISE consortium through the University of Pittsburgh this semester. We read the Horizon Report and were asked to perform a SWOT analysis of one of the new forthcoming trends in libraries. 

 I am enthused about the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative foretold by the Horizon Report as a new innovative movement in education with special implications for school library use. Imagine if students could use their mobile devices to scan a QR code which brings them to the library catalog or if students record podcasts as a product of a research project.

Strengths:

• Mobile devices have many apps that can be used for educational purposes including annotation tools, applications for creation and composition, and social networking tools. (Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Cummins, M.,2012)

• Most schools block unwanted sites such as social networking sites on their networks so students will not get distracted from their schoolwork. (Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Cummins, M.,2012)

• Research shows an increase in student test scores. (C. Atkeison, 2011)

Weaknesses:

• Students who do not own their own devices can only have access to school loaned devices during the school day. (C. Atkeison, 2011)

• Students who do not own devices may be bullied for not owning/ being able to afford personal mobile devices.

Opportunities:

• Apps used in conjunction with the curriculum can help students better understand complex material.  (Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Cummins, M.,2012)

• Students can share information across mobile networks.

Students can use educational technology such as Google Apps and other collaborative platforms to collaborate on projects in the classroom.

Threats:

• Students may find a way to bypass school firewalls.

• Students can still become distracted from educational activities while using their mobile device by getting online and using apps which may not be related to the educational task at hand.

• Parents are concerned that students' devices may be stolen at school. (C. Atkeison, 2011)

Atkeison, C. (2011-8 -11).CNN iReport: More American students use personal tech devices in the classroom. Retrieved from http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-650238

Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Cummins, M. (2012).

NMC Horizon Report: 2012 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

Elementary Practica

Last Wednesday I started my practica at Fairgrieve Elementary and I love it! I am truly inspired working with this age group. I am already developing lesson plans and book talks to give during my time at the school. Everyone keeps asking if my sponsor librarian and I are related because we're perpetuating a blonde hair, blue eyed, glasses-wearing kind of stereotype.
Some of the things I accomplished this week:

• helped librarian update Accelerated Reader bulletin boards
• designed poetry checklist for upper elementary poetry assignment
• worked with inclusion students finishing up creating and composing imagination cookie recipes for author Nancy Carlson's visit this coming Wednesday
• hung academic vocabulary in the library and computer lab

I also learned about a bunch of awesome resources including: Instant Poetry and Ribbon Hero (an add on game for Microsoft Word which awards students points for tasks including changing font color/ size, formatting paragraphs, etc.).

I am planning a few different lessons for this practica. I decided to focus on presenting nonfiction book talks to third and fourth grade students. Reading nonfiction texts is emphasized in the Common Core. I have found series books about history and science topics to present to third and fourth grade students. I also plan on reviewing with students how to search for books using the school's OPAC and review computer terminology such as hardware, software, input, and output. 

I am looking forward to what this week will bring!