Attention educators! Applications for a free 2018 Hess STEM kit are now being accepted! 1,000 kits will be awarded to classrooms this year. Each kit includes (12) 2018 Hess Toy Trucks you can use with this year’s free downloadable curriculum. Applications are open now through February 15th, so don’t miss out!
Apply today at www.HessToyTruck.com/STEM
If you have never attended the AASL conference, you may be eligible to win a travel grant. AASL is offering 30 travel grants to first time attendees for its 2019 National Conference and Exhibition, taking place November 14-16 in Louisville, Kentucky.
To find out more about the conference, see: https://national.aasl.org/
Travel grant applications are due February 1st. (https://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/5Ru6p7Jmtb0qI)
The $750 grants are sponsored by Bound to Stay Bound Books.
The Youth Media Awards will be announced at ALA Midwinter on January 28th at 8:00 am Pacific Time (11:00 am Eastern). These include The Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, and Coretta Scott King Book Awards.
These awards are selected by committees composed of librarians and other literature and media experts, and are recognized worldwide for the quality of writing and artwork they represent.
Fans can follow the 2019 results in real-time via a live webcast, sponsored by Baker and Taylor, or follow #alayma on social media.
Donalyn Miller is presenting TWO free sessions on May 28th at the Monroe County Central Library (Downtown). This is sponsored by Scholastic and done in collaboration with Monroe County Library System and Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES School Library System
Children with meaningful access to books achieve at higher levels and experience greater engagement with reading. In this session, examine the current research on book access in schools, libraries, and homes; discuss intellectual and cultural access concerns including diversity and leveling; and explore resources and strategies for developing and sustaining high-quality classroom library collections that support students’ reading lives. Information based on Game Changer! Book Access for All Kids, published November 2018.
Target Audience: classroom teachers, librarians, K-12 reading specialists, administrators, literacy coaches
To Register: https://www.mylearningplan.com/WebReg/ActivityProfile.asp?I=3020602&D=18636
The institutional emphasis on standardized testing places students’ reading test scores in front of children’s reading lives. Extensive research proves that children with positive reading identities and the opportunity to read independently at school and home achieve at higher levels on reading tests. In this presentation, Donalyn Miller, describes the factors that engage children with reading both at school and home—ensuring both their academic success and their lifelong reading habits.
Target Audience: classroom teachers, librarians, K-12 reading specialists, administrators, literacy coaches
To Register: https://www.mylearningplan.com/WebReg/ActivityProfile.asp?I=3020612&D=18636
To learn more about Donalyn Miller: https://bookwhisperer.com/
Save the date for the 2019 NYLA/SSL School Librarian Conference, which will be May 30-June 1, 2019 in Syracuse, NY. Keynotes this year will include, Julie Smith (Media Goddess), Allison Zmuda (Librarians as Learning Specialist), Donalyn Miller (The Book Whisperer), Liv Van Ledtje (LivBits), and Newbery Award Winning Author Matt de la Peña.
For more information and to register, see the conference site: https://sites.google.com/view/nyla-ssl2019/home
Have your students been coding, creating podcasts or videos, or drawing digitally? Maybe they would want to submit their work to this years Digies Festival.
The DIGIES is entering its 13th year. The DIGIES is an annual digital media conference and festival run by the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership. It recognizes student potential in an annual festival format. The festival celebrates student work in four categories: Audio, Graphic Arts, Interactive Media, and Video.
Submissions are open to school age children and young adults, from Pre-Kindergarten until 12th grade and are accepted through schools, arts councils or public libraries. All submissions are submitted digitally online by a teacher, librarian, arts council member or school staff member. Submissions are separated into four grade level areas: PK-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12.
All entries need to be submitted online through the Media Festival website:
• Requests for a login to submit work can be initiated by emailing Brian Mayer at bmayer@gvboces.org.
• Submission are accepted from educators, librarians or program supervisors.
For more information on the Digies, see their website at: www.digies.org
If you’re looking at starting a Makerspace or introducing some makerspace experiences, check out this great article from the Mackin Community blog.
5 Factors to Keep in Mind When Offering Makerspace Experiences in the Library
This year brought tons of books, films and other works of art into the Public Domain. This means that anyone can use these works in other projects without asking for permission.
See the following articles for more information:
A Landslide of Classic Art is About to Enter the Public Domain (from the Atlantic)
New Life for Old Classics, as Their Copyrights Run Out (from the New York Times)
12 Great Movies Just Added to the Public Domain (from Vulture.com)
For the First Time in More Than 20 Years, Copyrighted Works Will Enter the Public Domain (from Smithsonian Magazine)
For a longer list of works, see this article from Lifehacker: These 1923 Copyrighted Works Enter the Public Domain in 2019
And for a pretty comprehensive list, check out the Wikipedia article for 2019 in public domain
Need something to listen to on your way to and from work? Try a library podcast!
Inspired by The Room of Requirement episode of This American Life, which aired December 28, 2018: Three stories of libraries around the U.S., we decided to post about library podcasts. Here’s a quick breakdown of some that may be of interest to school librarians:
This podcast is hosted by Sara (an avid reader) and Kristen (a librarian), who spent the time to read lots of YA books and then review them for us. Each episode lasts about 50-60 minutes and comes out sporadically. We like that its focus is on YA literature.
This is actually a radio show that airs every other Wednesday at 1pm and features one work of contemporary fiction. Episodes can be found online and in iTunes. Each episode contains a 25-minute interview with the author, and a 25-minute discussion of the book between the host (Cyd Oppenheimer) and two guest readers. They round out the show with a local librarian who recommends a middle-grade fiction book.
Booktalks in 45 seconds! Although this podcast hasn’t aired since 2017, who doesn’t love a quick 45-second booktalk? Nancy J. Keane offers a daily booktalk on books for grades K-12. Listen to booktalks about some of the newest books published as well as some oldies but goodies. Instead of just reading Nancy Keane’s booktalks, tune in to hear the booktalks by booktalking expert, Nancy Keane, herself.
In this podcast, Joe Janes, Associate Professor at the University of Washington Information school, takes a look at documents that have made a difference in the world. In less than 15 minutes, thought slightly awkward, Joe takes us through the history and background of different world documents, and weaves a tale that leaves you thinking. You can listen online at https://ischool.uw.edu/podcasts/dtctw, however, you’ll find more episodes in iTunes.
Each episode of this podcast is about 50 minutes long, and is hosted by staff librarians who work for OverDrive. Hear their book recommendations, learn about new books coming out, and listen to author interviews. While this isn’t a podcast specific to schools or even the K-12 age group, these are all books that are available in OverDrive (for public libraries at least).
If you listen to a library podcast that you think other school librarians would like, let us know!
We’ve developed the schedule for the Library Maker-Mondays series for this semester.
January 14th: Intermediate Block Coding
February 4th: Paper Moon
February 25th: Makey Makey Inventions
March 25th: Pop-up Haiku
April 22nd: GamiBot
We have also started adding Tuesdays to the mix, re-running some of the Monday workshops for those who cannot make it. Anna Bayerl has graciously offered to host the first one on January 22nd at Dake School Library in West Irondequoit. The workshop will be Block Coding for Librarians (Beginner).
All of these are visible in the Monroe One BOCES My Learning Plan. (Under the Search Term(s) box, click the “Select one or more options…” drop down menu, and choose “Library Services – CTLE Approved Sponsor”).
If you have any ideas for future workshops, or have requests for something specific, please let us know!