Come to the AASL Conference in Hartford!

Only days are left to get the discounted registration rate for the AASL Conference in Hartford!

Advance registration rates end October 17th.



Here are some of the concurrent sessions on Friday, November 15:

• Challenge Your Four Walls with a Twitter PLN
• Game On: Scratch in the Library and Classroom
• Game On: Using the Latest and Greatest to Entice Patrons and Promote Literacy
• Give the Kids the Keys: Students Drive the Independent Project
• Lessons from the Winners Take All Community Read
• Leveraging the Library: Sci-Fi, Storytelling, and New Media Ignite Student Interest in Science
• Making the Case for Tablet Computers
• No-Fear Nonfiction: Meeting the Challenge
• Presenting Social Issues in Teen Literature
• Rising to the Challenge: Preparing Students for College-Level Research
• Rocks in the River: The Challenge of Piloting the Inquiry Process in Today's Learning Environment

And that is just Friday! Plenty of opportunities abound to rub shoulders with some of the best librarians in the business. This type of professional development always brings out the best ideas in technology, books, programming, and literacy promotion.

Conference friends are a built-in bonus and the friendships continue through Twitter and ALA Connect.

So, come and join the fun and remember the old adage that "you get out of it what you put into it!"

ASLA Call for Proposals

*Text taken from a message to members of the Alabama School Library Association from Carolyn Starkey, ASLA President Elect and conference coordinator. 

The Alabama School Library Association would like to take this opportunity to invite you to share your knowledge with us at our ASLA Summer Conference 2013 on Monday, June 10th, 2013, at Irondale Middle School. Last year our conference had 220 registered librarians, 25 school administrators, 11 vendors, and several authors in attendance, and we hope to top those numbers this year.

Our 2013 conference theme is “leadership@yourlibrary,” and we particularly want to focus on librarian leadership roles in our schools in support of the implementation of the Alabama College-and-Career-Ready Standards. Opportunities for sharing include 45-minute concurrent sessions (two computer labs available for hands-on workshop proposals), a 30-minute free-visit poster session period, or a 10-minute “Speed-Dating” type event where you will have 10 minutes to share a Common Core / ACCRS lesson plan three or four times with rotating small groups of participants for your grade level.

Our morning keynote speaker is the nationally-known school librarian Jennifer LaGarde, aka “Library Girl.” Jennifer, a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT), is a 2012 School Library Journal Mover and Shaker and was named a 2011 winner of “I Love My Librarian” award by the American Library Association, The Carnegie Corporation of New York and The New York Times Company. You can read Jennifer’s blog “The Adventures of Library Girl” at http://www.librarygirl.net/.

For our luncheon keynote speaker, we have the return of our extremely popular 2012 luncheon speaker, Dr. Thomas Bice, Alabama State Superintendent of Education. Before his January 1, 2012 appointment as State Superintendent, Dr. Bice served as Alabama’s Deputy State Superintendent of Education for Instructional Services, Superintendent of the Alexander City School System, high school principal, career tech director, alternative school teacher/director, special education/residential school director, early childhood teacher/parent trainer, and as a teacher at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. Dr. Bice also serves as an adjunct professor of Educational Leadership at Auburn University.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Carolyn Starkey (ASLA President Elect and conference planner). Deadline for proposals is April 1, 2013.

The conference proposal form and tentative schedule can be found on the ASLA website. 

Alabama Library Association Annual Conference

The Alabama Library Association (ALLA) will hold their annual convention April 24-27 at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover. This conference moves each year throughout the state, so we are so very fortunate to have it so close to our area this time around.

Most of the sessions for children and young adult programming will take place on Wednesday, April 25. I hope you'll consider attending!

Let the Games begin!

*This post is by Carla Crews, one of the school librarians at Shades Valley High School/JCIB/Shades Valley Technical Academies.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, movie adaptations of books give us a great opportunity to promote recreational reading. Our library recently invited teachers and students to participate in our own version of The Hunger Games, based on the popular series by Suzanne Collins. The movie release is March 23, and we wanted to encourage students to read the book first! We set up activity stations around the library, which included archery, rope tying, costume design, arm wrestling, trivia questions, online games, and a viewing station for the movie trailer. Several of the station activities offered students a chance to put their name into the “reaping.” Here we deviated slightly from the book, as contestants actually wanted their name in this drawing. Students were quite competitive when they learned that a local theater donated movie passes for the prize drawing!

We began with some brainstorming sessions (and the Internet). The following two resources were particularly helpful during our planning phase:

http://www.bethanymediacenter.com/hungergames.html

http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/shelftalker/?p=365

We gathered our supplies, only spending money on a bow, arrows, and rope. We created themed signage for the event and typed questions for the trivia station. The braided nylon rope was cut into 18” pieces, and instructions were placed at the station for tying various types of knots. Paper rabbits were set up as targets at the archery station. Due to some concerns about teenagers shooting a bow in the library, we used a child-size bow and ‘play’ arrows that had suction cup tips... no damaged walls or speared children! For the opening ceremony costume designs, we already had all the necessary supplies – paper, pencils, crayons/markers, and lots of books on fashion, costumes, and clothing design. We also included a list of the districts’ trades and industries for inspiration. The Scholastic website offers some exciting online games related to The Hunger Games series. These online games, along with The Hunger Games Wiki, were set up as desktop icons at the computer station. Students could scan a QR code at the viewing station to watch the movie trailer. Tributes showed off their strength as they conquered opponents at the arm wrestling station, our school-friendly alternative to the brutal combat of the actual Games.

If you’re looking around on the web for ideas related to The Hunger Games, check out the hashtag #THGyalsa on Twitter. This was a YALSA-sponsored tweet session during Teen Tech Week to discuss the movie release and library programming ideas. One librarian tweeted that she is planning a Wii Archery tournament. And should you decide to turn your library into a Hunger Games arena…  may the odds be ever in your favor.

ASLA Honors and Awards

Look, you don't have to tell ME that you people rock. You are leading the information literacy and technology charge every stinking day in your schools. You don't do it for the money and you certainly don't do it for honor or prestige.

But hey, why not consider recommending one of your peers or administrators for one of the incredible awards presented at the Alabama School Library Association's annual summer conference?

Get all the deets here: ASLA Awards

Labels, Labels, Labels

Do you label your books with Accelerated Reader information? I do. This is common practice in many elementary libraries, and for several good reasons:

• when used with STAR reading ranges, sticker labels help guide students to the books that are "just right" for them
• they provide a clear visual to the amount of books your collection has on each grade level; a quick walk through your shelves will show if you need more books of a certain range
• they help students find books with which they will experience success, and quickly (classroom time is precious indeed, and the more efficient we can make book browsing for students, the better all around)

These are good reasons for labeling books. After all, our goal is to make library use as easy as possible for students. Right? 

Right.  

HOWEVER...

The American Association of School Librarians feels otherwise. Take a look at AASL's policy on labeling books: http://www.ala.org/aasl/aaslissues/positionstatements/labeling

Granted, some of AASL's concerns stem from the fact that lots of libraries are not only using labels but are organizing their shelving by labels (not adhering to standards of the profession), and that is most definitely a valid concern. We should be teaching students how libraries work, not just how OUR library works. If they understand that the Fiction books are in ABC order everywhere, then we have given them the key which unlocks every school, public, and eventually academic library they will ever use. This is a pretty big deal. 

Another of AASL's points about labels is that it violates the privacy of our students. Think about that. Do you have a 4th grader reading on a 1st grade level? I do. Whose business is it that he is not reading on grade level? His, his teachers', his parents', and mine. Certainly not other students, but they will be able to see that if he is carrying around books with 1st grade stickers on the spine. 

Ouch. 

Personally, I have never, not once, in 10 years of serving in this profession, ever heard of a student being bullied or made fun of because of his or her reading level. But I also know that there is a lot that goes on behind the social scenes of kids that not even the most perceptive, Eagle Eye teacher can catch. I don't want to contribute to making any child in my school a target. 

My plan is to compromise between AASL's standards and what my teachers want in keeping AR labels (and encouraging students to choose books within their range) but placing them in a more discreet location. This will take some time, but I plan to eventually remove all spine labels and begin to teach students to look inside the cover of their book for AR reading level information. This will take require more browsing time for the students, and it will take away my ability to sweep my eyes across the collection and notice deficiencies, but remember that 4th grade kid on a 1st grade level? 

He's worth it.  

Alabama School Library Association Summer Conference 2012

The Alabama School Library Association summer conference will take place June 12 at Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham. The theme is "Navigating the Standards".

Conference events include poster sessions, opportunities to meet authors and purchase their books, and browsing the vendors. Breakout sessions include technology-inspired lessons, creating book trailers, and teaching information-seeking skills.

Opportunities abound for presenting poster sessions and breakout sessions . If interested in either, please e-mail Elizabeth Hester at ehester@jefcoed.com.

This conference is a bargain for under $50 which includes lunch and time to meet with other school librarians in your district. More information can be found at the Alabama School Library Association website.

School Libraries Count!

Each year the American Association of School Librarians conducts a survey measuring, among many other things, the impact of school librarians. This data is used to defend our positions and proves our effectiveness.

You do not need to be a member of AASL to complete the survey (though you really should be a member of AASL!).

Go here to take the 2012 School Libraries Count Survey. 

The last day to take the survey is March 15, 2012.

Weeding

*Microsoft Clip Art Gallery

Weeding out books that no longer positively affect our collections is something that we librarians take very seriously. Especially in our current times of such economic stress, it seems that every book- even the most raggedy- are needed on our shelves.

This post on the YALSA blog (if you are middle school or high school, YALSA is the ALA division tailored specifically for your needs) presents some of the American Library Association's recommended guidelines for weeding.

Common Core Toolkit (Repost)

*Today's post is a repeat of the original shared by Meg Brooke, the school librarian at Shades Valley High School/JCIB. 

Testing usually makes me not look forward to going to work.  Those times of staring into space and thinking about all of the work that needs to be done is frustrating.  This testing week, however, is different.  I’m incarcerated in my office, unable to leave for 3 whole mornings while testing goes on in the library with other administrators and facilitators, allowing me to get uninterrupted work time!  Whoopie!  Life is good!

One thing I’ve done today is to catch up on some PD reading, and I’d love to share an interesting 1-page article from the November/December 2011 LMC written by Julie Walker, AASL’s executive director. It’s an article that can help us be leaders with our library programs as our schools implement standards.  Julie writes about the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, the P21, and how librarians can be leaders in this movement that is a requirement in the Race to the Top.  She explains that P21‘s CCSS (Common Core State Standards) leadership has created a downloadable toolkit to help guide educators through P21.   AASL has gone even farther by offering a “crosswalk” as well as a lesson plan database so that school librarians can become leaders in implementing these Common Core State Standards.  Using these tools from AASL can enable us to demonstrate how our particular school’s library program can be a method in accomplishing the implementation of these standards.

To see, download, and print the tools from the article, click on the following links:

P21 Toolkit:       www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1005&Itemid=236

AASL Crosswalk: 

www.ala.org/aasl/commoncorecrosswalk

AASL Lesson Plan Database: 

www.ala.org/aasl/lessonplandatabase

This database was an awesome resource!  Lessons with titles like Creating 21^st Century Superheroes; It’s Debatable; and Rock Star Road Trip will definitely create interest in our libraries while implementing the Common Core and AASL standards for the 21^st century learner.  I’d love for us to create some kind of similar database where we could share lesson plans, multimedia presentations, etc. with each other.  We have some great thinkers/doers/presenters in our group, and we could bank on others’ talents tweaking them to meet our particular needs instead of reinventing the wheel!

Walker, Julie. "Introducing the P21 Common Core Toolkit." LMC. 30.3 (2011): 21. Print.

Teen Tech Week

For those of you working with teenagers, YALSA recommends observing Teen Tech Week in the spring. (March 4-10, 2012).Here are a few resources that might assist you in planning Teen Tech Week at your school...the theme is pretty cool this year!

http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2011/12/08/ttw-ideas-no-budget-no-time-book-adaptations/

http://wikis.ala.org/yalsa/index.php/General_resources_for_Teen_Tech_Week

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/celebrate-teen-tech-week-20714.html

https://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teentechweek/ttw10/home.cfm

http://www.alastore.ala.org/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=272

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/ala/teens-choose-geek-out-your-library-2012-teen-tech-week-theme

Common Core Toolkit

*Today's post is by Meg Brooke, the school librarian at Shades Valley High School/JCIB. 

Testing usually makes me not look forward to going to work.  Those times of staring into space and thinking about all of the work that needs to be done is frustrating.  This testing week, however, is different.  I’m incarcerated in my office, unable to leave for 3 whole mornings while testing goes on in the library with other administrators and facilitators, allowing me to get uninterrupted work time!  Whoopie!  Life is good!

One thing I’ve done today is to catch up on some PD reading, and I’d love to share an interesting 1-page article from the November/December 2011 LMC written by Julie Walker, AASL’s executive director. It’s an article that can help us be leaders with our library programs as our schools implement standards.  Julie writes about the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, the P21, and how librarians can be leaders in this movement that is a requirement in the Race to the Top.  She explains that P21‘s CCSS (Common Core State Standards) leadership has created a downloadable toolkit to help guide educators through P21.   AASL has gone even farther by offering a “crosswalk” as well as a lesson plan database so that school librarians can become leaders in implementing these Common Core State Standards.  Using these tools from AASL can enable us to demonstrate how our particular school’s library program can be a method in accomplishing the implementation of these standards.

To see, download, and print the tools from the article, click on the following links:

P21 Toolkit:       www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1005&Itemid=236

AASL Crosswalk: 

www.ala.org/aasl/commoncorecrosswalk

AASL Lesson Plan Database: 

www.ala.org/aasl/lessonplandatabase

This database was an awesome resource!  Lessons with titles like Creating 21^st Century Superheroes; It’s Debatable; and Rock Star Road Trip will definitely create interest in our libraries while implementing the Common Core and AASL standards for the 21^st century learner.  I’d love for us to create some kind of similar database where we could share lesson plans, multimedia presentations, etc. with each other.  We have some great thinkers/doers/presenters in our group, and we could bank on others’ talents tweaking them to meet our particular needs instead of reinventing the wheel!

Walker, Julie. "Introducing the P21 Common Core Toolkit." LMC. 30.3 (2011): 21. Print.

Alabama School Library Week

Alabama School Library Week was created by the Alabama School Library Association in 2009 as a way to promote school libraries around the state. School libraries are important (Can I get an "Amen?")! By holding special activities such as inviting special guests in to visit our libraries and read with our children, we are advocating for our library programs!

This is how ASLW looked at my school this week:
Monday: Library OPAC Scavenger Hunt Day (All classes who visited the library participated in a scavenger hunt created just for them.)
Tuesday: Favorite Book Character Day (All students who visited the library got to vote for their favorite book character.)
Wednesday: Library Treasures on the Web! (Learning how to access NHES Library's "treasures" 24 hours a day.)
Thursday: Library Stamp Day (All students who visit the library get a special stamp.)
Friday: Book Character Dress-Up Day (District dress code must be followed).
*Every day, we welcomed guest readers into the school library to read with the children.
**Every day, we had special quotes about the library read on the announcements, as well as book trivia (question in the morning, answer in the afternoon).

Does any of this sound fancy to you? Nope, it really wasn't. The point wasn't to be fancy. The point was to promote the library, and that goal was accomplished. Every single day students were talking about the library, begging their teachers to bring them, and more importantly they were excited about the privilege of using the library.

Alabama School Library Week: Mission accomplished! 

Alabama School Libraries Week

The Alabama School Library Association works tirelessly on behalf of school librarians in our state. One of the newest efforts established by ASLA is Alabama School Libraries Week. This year ASLW is November 14-18th, and marks the third annual celebration of school libraries in our state. Alabama School Libraries Week helps us direct some much-needed focus on the wonderful programs we have established in our libraries. It is also an incredible opportunity for advocacy. 

How can you use ASLW to advocate for your library? 

1. Use the resources already created for you by the ASLA to promote the week. Bookmarks, posters, postcards, etc. are all ready for you to print! 

2. Plan special activities to highlight the library. Invite a guest reader from your district's central office. Give out temporary tattoos for QR codes that link to your OPAC, website, wiki, or blog. Hold participation contests where you draw for door prizes of everyone who checks out a book on a certain day. Write newspaper articles about your school library and send it to the local media. There is a more comprehensive list available on the ASLA site. 

3. Use the postcards (printables on the ASLA site) to let students write notes to your legislators or central office staff giving your school library a shout-out. Let their powerful little voices be heard! 

4. Make a "Why I Love My Library" bulletin board for students to add their comments.

 Don't put it off...start planning your ASLW activities TODAY! 

Skyping and Webcasts: Some of the Benefits of Professional Magazines and Memberships in Professional Organizations

A fellow librarian, with just enough wiggle room within her budget for one professional publication, asked about the cost versus the benefit of professional magazine subscriptions. First, whether it's School Library Journal, Library Media Connection, or Booklist, they are all beneficial (please add more in the comment section). Occasionally, there are webcasts offered that involve no subscription at all. One thing's for sure: the publications all fit the budget just right with their free Skype offerings and Webcasts!

• As a subscriber to School Library Journal there's still an opportunity to join a free live webcast event on October 13 from 1:15 to 2:00. Students can submit questions to James Patterson, author of Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, about writing, middle school, or anything they can think of.



• Sometimes a publisher will offer a Skype event with an author. Sourcebooks recently did with author Jennifer Nielsen's Elliott and the Pixie Plot. Go ahead and download Skype to your computer to be prepared when an opportunity comes along. Sometimes free books are even thrown in.



• Scholastic and Dear America are teaming up for a webcast with Lois Lowry, Andrea Davis Pinkney, and Kirby Larsen on October 26 at 12 p.m. central time. Create a login at Scholastic and join the event (Scholastic is free, of course, but there are many professional resources here).

The big difference between Skyping and Webcasts is that Skyping can work with smaller audiences because more dialogue can take place (individuals can step up to the camera and speak; webcasts aren't usually set up that way). Also, a live stream of video is seen. Webcasts can accomodate a larger audience and multiple viewing areas. Skype allows up to three additional parties in different viewing areas that can be invited to join in on the video chat.

Almost all publications have a smaller free online version available for subscribing to, so look them up, log in and be ready scoop up information. It's there for the taking!

Professional Organizations

Holding membership in professional organizations is an indicator of an active lifelong learner. The beginning of the school year is always very hectic, but it is important that we set aside time to investigate and join professional organizations that we find helpful! This is by no means an exhaustive list of professional organizations available to us, and keep in mind the resources are list in no particular order, but I hope you find it a good place to start! If there are other professional organizations I can add to this list, please feel free to comment or email me, and I will add it as quickly as possible.

• Jefferson County Librarians Association (leave comment or post to our group forum if you need assistance with this)
• Alabama School Library Association 
• Alabama Conference of Educators
• Alabama Education Association
• American Federation of Teachers/Alabama Division
• International Society for Technology in Education
• American Library Association
• American Association of School Librarians
• Alabama Library Association
• Alabama NBCT Network (for those who have achieved National Board Certification)

The best darn websites for teaching information literacy. Period.

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) publishes a list of the top 25 websites for teaching and learning. All are web 2.0 tools, and AASL sorts them according to information literacy standards. This is such an incredible resource for every school library professional!

Sometimes our purpose as school librarians can feel very overwhelming, and it is difficult to know where to start. This AASL tool can help serve as a guide for integrating technology and teaching information literacy. In other words, if you haven't the foggiest clue where to start, start here!

AASL Top 25 Websites for Teaching and Learning