Volume 8, Number 8
November 2009
Countdown to Charlotte!
Are You Track-side?
As an AASL member, you have exclusive access to b there – Your Virtual Track Pass. It's not too late to take your virtual conference experience to the next level by registering for an all access Track Pass.
By registering for b there – Your Virtual Track Pass, the AASL 14th National Conference & Exhibition offered in a virtual setting, your Pit Stop level benefits will continue, plus you will gain full access to an entire year of professional development resources at your fingertips to really "Rev up learning @ your library."
What's @ the Track
Registration at the Track Pass level features full-access to exclusive content captured prior, during and post-conference via the b there – Your Virtual Track Pass Web site, including:
• Eight live webinars (click here to view sessions and speakers)
• Speaker updates, materials and chats
• Keynote address and interview with danah boyd
• Discussion threads on closing speaker Marco Torres
• Interviews with authors, including James Patterson
• Real-time research symposium
• Session podcasts recorded by onsite volunteers
Engage Your Pit Crew
Take advantage of District level pricing and engage others in your school community using the AASL-developed "do-it-yourself" professional development activities. Using resources hosted on b there – Your Virtual Track Pass, AASL developed aspects of the virtual conference into professional development activities that you can engage in with other school library media specialists in your school or district, or with your teacher collaborators.
Take your virtual experience full throttle and register today!
In this issue:
Education News
- What's In a Name? AASL Job Title Survey
- AASL Sponsors Two Applicants for the ALA 2010 Emerging Leaders Program
- Opportunity from ALA President Camila Alire
- Universities Help K-12 Teachers Use Digital Tools with At-Risk Students
- Brain Research May Help Improve Reading Instruction
- NY Times Op-Ed Calls for 21st Century Learning Skills
Resources for School Library Media Specialists
- StoryCorp Shares Resources for National Day of Listening
- Teach Students About the U.S. Census
- Inquiry Chart Helps Promote Finding Multiple Resources When Researching
- Sandra Day O'Connor Launches Web site with Civic Resources
Grants & Awards
- More Than $50,000 Available Through AASL Awards
- Deadline Approaching! Your SLMP Could Win a High-Tech Makeover
- NEA Foundation Grant Helps Public School Purchase Books
- Nominations Sought for Bogle Pratt International Travel Fund
- 2010 National Leadership Grant Guidelines Now Available
Professional Development
- NBPTS Accepts Applications for Standards Committees
- Volunteer to serve on an ALA or Council committee for 2010 – 2011
- Study in London this summer
Education News
What's in a Name? AASL Job Title Survey
In school libraries across the country, there are a variety of titles used to describe the role of the school librarian/school library media specialist/teacher librarian. In order to develop a consistent term to use when advocating for school library media programs, the Board of Directors of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) is researching and discussing various titles and options. The Board hopes to adopt a term that will be used in all official AASL publications as well as when AASL works with various stakeholders (legislators, administrators, etc.). It is important as we go through this process that we collect input and opinions from AASL members. Please respond to the short survey with your thoughts and ideas.
AASL Sponsors Two Applicants for the ALA 2010 Emerging Leaders Program
AASL will sponsor two participants in the American Library Association (ALA) 2010 Emerging Leaders (EL) program. They will join 100 of their peers as the fourth year of the program kicks off at the ALA 2010 Midwinter Meeting in Boston. Melissa Ahart of Brooklyn, N.Y. and Kara Smith of Highland Park, Ill. will participate in project planning workgroups; network with peers; gain an inside look into ALA structure; and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in their careers. By sponsoring Ahart and Smith, AASL commits to defraying costs for their attendance at the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference.
Opportunity from ALA President Camila Alire
ALA President Camila Alire (calire@att.net) is searching for a school library media specialist currently doing frontline advocacy in his/her school setting. This person would serve on a panel on Saturday, Jan. 16, from 1:30-3:30, during the ALA 2010 Midwinter Meeting in Boston. Camila's advocacy initiative is focusing on the development of a program of promotion and marketing of the school library media program with paraprofessionals in the library, volunteers, teachers, and staff. They are trained in and will perhaps help to develop targeted messaging about the value of the school library program. Articulating this message will result in students and the entire school community understanding the role of the school library program.
Universities Help K-12 Teachers Use Digital Tools with At-Risk Students
A team of college professors are collaborating with K-12 teachers to help them use digital tools to get at-risk students excited about learning. Professors from universities like Indiana University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ohio State University, and the University of Chicago are creating local projects they hope will close the gap between students' frequent use of multimedia tools and the barriers that prevent teachers from employing these tools in the classroom.
Brain Research May Help Improve Reading Instruction
A research team at Stanford University is studying the correlation between reading skills, and brain structure and brain activities. New brain-imaging technologies and a spate of recent studies suggest that reading aptitude is better understood as a range of abilities related to biological architecture than as a universally acquirable skill. Specifically, the research team found that in poor readers, water tends to flow more easily across the axonal membranes in the back portion of the corpus callosum -- the thick band of neurons that connects the brain's hemispheres.
NY Times Op-Ed Calls for 21st Century Learning Skills
In Thomas Friedman's Op-Ed entitled, "The New Untouchables," he argues that in order for the U.S. to be more globally competitive, the educational system needs just as much reform as the credit system. Friedman argues that American students need to obtain high-end analytical and problem-solving skills to help them compete on the world market. He suggests that schools not only have the task of "improving reading, writing and arithmetic but entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity."
Resources for School Library Media Specialists
StoryCorp Shares Resources for National Day of Listening
National Day of Listening is celebrated each year on the day after Thanksgiving. It is a day when children and adults are encouraged to set aside one hour to record a conversation with someone important to you. School library media specialists can visit the National Day of Listening site to download a free Do-It-Yourself Instruction Guide with step-by-step interview instructions, equipment recommendations and great questions.
There are several other ways schools can get involved:
- Distribute StoryCorps' Do-It-Yourself Instruction Guide to teachers and students, and encourage them to conduct their own Do-It-Yourself recordings with a loved one on the day after Thanksgiving.
- Provide recording equipment and a quiet recording space for people to record National Day of Listening interviews in your library.
- Download StoryCorps' Community Service Toolkit and host a National Day of Listening event using the event guide.
- Utilize StoryCorps' online support materials, such as web banners, logos, customizable web text and Facebook fan button.
- Incorporate StoryCorps Education Toolkit into your library's existing education programs.
- Recommend Listening Is an Act of Love as a book club selection for the month of November.
Teach Students About the U.S. Census
Census Day, April 1, 2010, is less than six months away. To help educators teach their students about the census, the U.S. Census Bureau has created lesson plans, facts and figure sheets, and teaching ideas. Students, grades K-12, can also search the site for games, quizzes, and activities related to the upcoming 2010 Census.
Inquiry Chart Helps Promote Finding Multiple Resources When Researching
Reading Rocket's Inquiry Chart (I-chart) is a strategy that enables students to gather information about a topic from several sources. Teachers design the I-chart around several questions about a topic. Students read or listen to several sources on the topic and record answers to the posed questions within the I-chart. Students generate a summary in the final row. Different answers from various perspectives can be explored as a class.
Sandra Day O'Connor Launches Web site with Civic Resources
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently launched Our Courts, an interactive civics Web site for middle schoolers. The site features animated role-playing games, videos, resources for teachers, and a chance to chat with the first woman justice.
Grants & Awards
More Than $50,000 Available Through AASL Awards
In 2010 AASL will offer more than $50,000 in awards to AASL members. AASL's ten awards recognize excellence and showcase best practices in the school library media field in categories that include research, collaboration, leadership, and innovation. The awards include the AASL Collaborative School Library Media Award, the AASL Research Grant, the ABC-CLIO Leadership Grant, the Distinguished Service Award, the Distinguished School Administrator Award, the Frances Henne Award, the Information Technology Pathfinder Award, the Innovative Reading Grant, the Intellectual Freedom Award, and the National School Library Media Program of the Year (NSLMPY) Award.
Deadline Approaching! Your SLMP Could Win a High-Tech Makeover
Gather your students and create a music video showing the benefits of a technology-driven classroom. Create a parody of an existing song or challenge your student's creativity with a song all your own. Submit a video for a chance to win an interactive classroom makeover worth over $30,000. A panel of judges will select a winner in each of the following categories: K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Entries are due by November 10, 2009.
NEA Foundation Grant Helps Public School Purchase Books
Through Books Across America, the NEA Foundation awards $1,000 to public schools serving economically disadvantaged students to purchase books for school libraries. The NEA Foundation makes these awards in collaboration with the National Education Association. The 2009 NEA's Books Across America Library Books Awards are made possible with support from individuals who donated to NEA's Books Across America fund to bring the gift of reading to students. The deadline to apply is November 20, 2009. Applications and eligibility requirements can be found on the NEA Foundation's site.
Nominations sought for Bogle Pratt International Travel Fund
The American Library Association (ALA) is accepting nominations for the 2010 Bogle Pratt International Travel Fund, sponsored by the Bogle Memorial Fund and the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science. An award of $1,000 is given to an ALA member to attend his/her first international conference. The nominee must have been an ALA member for one full year. The deadline for nominations is January 1, 2010.
2010 National Leadership Grant Guidelines Now Available
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is accepting grant applications for the agency's 2010 National Leadership Grant (NLG) program. For the past 12 years, the National Leadership Grants program has been the capstone program for IMLS, providing the agency’s highest level of support for innovative projects that provide important research, tools, and models for library and museum programs across the country. Applications, guidelines, and examples of successful proposals can be found on the agency's Web site. The deadline for submitting applications is February 1, 2010.
Professional Development
NBPTS Accepts Applications for Standards Committees
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is accepting applications for the committees responsible for reviewing and revising standards in the areas of Early Childhood Generalist and Middle Childhood Generalist. Early Childhood Generalist Standards are for teachers of students ages 3-8. Middle Childhood Generalist Standards are for teachers of students ages 7-12. To access the online application go to NBPTS Standards Committee Application. The application will be available through November 29, 2009. Please visit the NBPTS Web site for information about the duties and responsibilities of standards committee members.
Volunteer to serve on an ALA or Council committee for 2010 – 2011
Roberta Stevens, ALA president-elect, is encouraging members to volunteer for ALA and Council committees during the 2010-2011 appointment process. Stevens is chairing both the Committee on Appointments and Committee on Committees. The deadline for completing the ALA committee volunteer form is Friday, December 4, 2009. For more information on the committee appointments process, contact Lois Ann Gregory-Wood, COC and COAppt. Staff Liaison (lgregory@ala.org).
Study in London This Summer
Florida State University School of Library and Information Studies is offering the opportunity to earn six graduate LIS credits while living in central London. Two multimedia production courses, taught from July 15 to August 5, 2010 at the FSU London Centre, will use London and the surrounding areas as a backdrop for creating projects such as podcasts, social networking sites, blogs, short films, and digital photography. No prior experience with these media is required. All 4-day per week classes will be field trip based. There are online requirements before and after the time in London. The cost is $5,745 for both in-state and out-of-state participants. The deadline to register is December 7, 2009 with a $100 deposit to reserve your spot. For more information and to apply online, visit the FSU site.
