Parkway School District Library Services
Volume 4 | Issue 10
Know & Go Updates @your Library Program Evaluation Update On Wednesday, Bill spoke to the Board in regards to our program evaluation. This was a preliminary conversation that is meant to get feedback around any additional topics that they would like us to study. As Bill has said, our program evaluation is a little different in that we did some learning before we putting out our survey. This was also an opportunity to celebrate the work that we've done over the years and showcase our role in buildings. The presentation can be viewed here.
2016-2017 Budget This is a friendly reminder to begin the spending down of your LIbrary Services budget. Those budgets do not carry over from year-to-year and ordering from this budget generally ends in March/April.
#FutureReady - Join the Conversation A new resource to connect with other teacher librarians and educators is on the Future Ready Librarians Group in FB. Everyday this Facebook Group grows even more by adding engaging conversation, opportunities to make connections and special news being shared. It’s a place to get involved and learn from librarians everywhere. Be a part of the Future Ready Librarians Facebook Group too and please share this with other teacher librarians, administrators and educators so they can become part of our growing movement too. Click here to join our special community today!
SLCL Summer Reading Program Yep, it’s not too early to start planning and St. Louis County Library’s Summer Reading Club (SRC) will begin May 22, The goal is to reach as many students as possible in order to encourage reading over the summer. Students can choose to participate in SRC with a print log or online account. In addition to reading, participants earn points by attending library events, playing online educational games, and visiting local cultural institutions and parks. They are encouraging librarians to: ● Schedule a visit from a library staff member to promote SRC. ● Offer incentives to your students who complete the SRC. Examples: free Homecoming dance ticket, pizza party, coupon for an ice cream cone. With the Summer Reading Club’s online module, they will now be able to run reports by school and provide schools with participation numbers if requested. If you have any questions, contact Rebecca Maue - Youth Services at rmaue@slcl.org What does it mean to be a librarian in the digital age?
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Librarians List 2016-17 Who To Call Ordering procedures Follett ordering w/screenshots Follett Acct #'s Follett req Instructions Building budget Sub librarian list Sub Training Videos Ordering/renewing databases HS only Destiny FAQ Free Lib Book District Surplus Property Procedures
#ParkwayMakes Hour of Code 24,691 Bitsbox apps created 2,536 new user accounts all created in 1 week!
Makey Makey Labz Available now is a beta site that lets us see what other makers are doing with their invention kits. Look through the featured challenges, connect with other inventors, and get guides to learn more about Makey Makey. Labz.makeymakey.com
15 Ideas To Go Beyond Makerspace… Building a Maker’s Culture Makerspaces evolve over time to meet the needs of your students so the idea of making and creating is dynamic. In this blog post ideas are shared on making and creating to become part of the school culture. Use the ideas as a vetting procedure, a filter, or an action plan. Ideas include suggestions of creating an in-service program, promote the 4C’s, reinforce authenticity and much more.
Makerspace Links ● ● ● ● ●
Library Services Makerspace Order Form Vendors List: Mobile Makerspace Kit Request Mobile Makerspace Site Mobile Makerspace Stories & Quotes
#FutureReady Builds Instructional Partnerships 3 Reasons to Co-Teach It’s that time of year where schools are thinking about scheduling for next year. So, now is the time to think about the librarian schedule and how we can reach students through working with teachers. Co-teaching provides the opportunity to share the same population of students in a shared space, make important cross-curricular connections, dive deeper into meaningful project-based learning, and provide more individualized support and feedback. In order to prepare for conversations with administrators on schedules and co-teaching think about the reasons in relation to your community needs. In this post from Catlin Tucker, she reflects on the reasons that make co-teaching so powerful. ❏ Learning from another perspective challenges us to think bigger and make connections ❏ Sharing the load provides time to give meaningful feedback and assessment ❏ Making key connections between subjects to make learning more relevant ~Shaking up education isn't going to be easy. It requires that we take risks and experiment.
Want More Makerspace Ideas? School Arts magazine! I have been a fan of School Arts magazine for years. It’s been a great springboard of ideas from makerspace to content related projects. For example, the 100 Days, 100 Women project where students create comic caricatures for women that were not in history books but probably should have been. Each comic is accompanied by a brief explanation of what historical contribution that woman made along with a link or QR to other resources (books, eBooks, videos, documentaries, etc.). It's a bite-size history lesson with a hands-on creation. There is a cost for a paper subscription but you can see each month’s publication digitally for free. They also have k-12 lesson plans that can be easily adapted to your needs. They are on FB too at facebook.com/SchoolArtsMagazine What does it mean to be a librarian in the digital age?
11 Common Gmail Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
#FutureReady - Curates Resources & Tools
Even if you use Gmail every day, you might not be using it as efficiently as you could be. Here are 11 common mistakes that people make, as well as how to avoid them so that you can be more productive in Gmail.
Research Tools that Support Inquiry Learning by @ktenkely These tools have been shared and one time or another in the newsletter but it’s nice to be reminded of some research resources we may have forgotten about.Taken from ilearntechnology.com ❏
❏
❏
❏
❏
❏
❏
Kiddle – This is a kid-friendly, Google Safe powered search engine. What I appreciate about Kiddle is the ease of use for younger learners. Kiddle searches safe sites that were written FOR kids. Boolify – The best thing about this Google Safe powered search engine is the way it teaches learners how to correctly use a search engine and how to refine their searches. Boolify teaches this skill by asking them to use keywords and Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) in a search to refine results using a drag/drop interface. Wolfram Alpha – This is not really a search engine, but more of a computational knowledge engine. It is a fantastic tool for comparing information (think people in history, weather in different parts of world, etc), exploring mathematics, units and measures, data/statistical information, science, geography, and technology. Creative Commons – This is a great place to search for images, videos, sounds that are listed under the Creative Commons license that lets learners find content they can share, reuse, and mix into something new. The Thinker Builder Graphic Organizer Help learners work toward independence in their research. Click HERE. Visible Thinking by Tracy Ann Clark created a fun-to-use resource for helping learners explore thinking routine. Find it HERE. Better Searches, Better Results with Google Google Modifiers cheat sheet- this is a good one to explore with students and then hang on the wall as a reminder! Download the PDF HERE. What does it mean to be a librarian in the digital age?
More on the Parkway Gmail & Calendar migration: sites.google.com/pkwy.k12.mo.us
3 Ways to Make Your Google Docs Look More Professional We’ve all seen the differences between Google Docs that were clearly slapped together and those that look polished and professional. Here are three tips make sure your Docs fall into the second category: templates, fonts, and flowcharts
Work Faster in Google Docs with These 10 Useful Keyboard Shortcuts One of the best ways to speed up your productivity is to use keyboard shortcuts. Here are ten useful shortcuts for common tasks in Google Docs. All tips fromwww.bettercloud.com
#FutureReady Build Instructional Partnerships Something to Share with Teachers Student Engagement Something I heard recently really resonated: Instead of students (elementary) arriving to school to begin work on a packet, we do a makerspace activity in the library. Now students are excited and running down the hall to get to the library.
Events @your Library ● ●
● ● ●
●
January - ALA Youth Media Awards Celebrate February - Black History Month - National Library Lovers Month - Take your child to the library (Feb 4th) - Send a Card to a Friend day (Feb 7th) - Safer Internet Day (Feb 7th) - President’s Day (Feb 20th) March 5 - 11 - Teen Tech Week March - Freedom of Information Day April - Celebrate National Library Week with the Libraries Transform campaign May is National Pet Month so celebrate being a participatory library by hosting a pet’s reading photo contest.
How do I get more student engagement, whether it is an online or regular class? In 2016 many articles were written with strategies and suggestions. Three Activities to Engage Students in the First Five Minutes: ●
●
●
Looping Slideshow - Prepare a deck of 5–10 slides featuring multiple-choice questions, quotes, fill-in-the blank sentences, and cartoons, reminders/announcements, or conversation starters to spark collaboration among students when they arrive to class. Ordering Exercise - If you have a list of processes or procedures that must be completed in a certain order, you might want to try this focusing activity. Post and out of order list of steps or procedures on the screen. As students come in, ask them to start putting the list in the correct sequence based on established criteria. You can use this strategy for almost any kind of list or categories in your class. Drawing - Prompt your students to draw a process, create a diagram, or illustrate a main point from the course material. A drawing might include creating a mind map of the main points of the course material so you can see how students organize information, a graph of a set of data points collected from a survey, or their interpretation of what’s happening in the story or what a character might be feeling. Alternatively, you can show an existing illustration or drawing and ask students to relate it to the course material, diagram it, or analyze parts of it.
Taken from facultyfocus.com Want more? Check out Six Things Faculty Can Do to Promote Student Engagement. What does it mean to be a librarian in the digital age?
#FutureReady - Professional Learning Librarian Predictions for Education Trends in 2017 As 2016 has ended and we are in the middle of program evaluation, we have been looking locally, regionally, and nationally at trends that will impact our schools. These predictions (made from librarians) from Scholastic look at paperless classrooms districtwide, trying silent conversations in the classroom, and implementing virtual reality, to learning programming languages and focusing on students’ social and emotional learning. Check out the librarians’ full responses at scholasticblog.com: ❏ Kristina Holzweiss (@lieberrian) – Providing Opportunities for Empowerment - It is not so much what toys and tools that are in our makerspaces, the books that are on the shelves, or the databases that they can access from home or at school; it is how our students can use these resources to learn about their neighbors around the world. ❏ Julie Greller (@cybrarian77) – The Paperless Library - We are now in a place to support students so they can develop communication, collaboration, cooperation, and creative problem solving skills in order to participate in a culture of understanding and respect. ❏ Todd Burleson (@todd_burleson) – Makerspace Technology - Providing the opportunity to work with virtual reality, 3D printing, and prototyping. ❏ Anita Cellucci (@anitacellucci) – Focus on Emotional and Mental Health - Librarians provide a safe space for various topics of conversation, and we are looking for creative ways to weave current topics and opportunities into curriculum and the learning space. ❏ Michelle Colte (@Michelle_Colte) – Stop teacher-directed lessons and create opportunities for students to direct their own learning-on-demand. ❏ Sally Smollar (@smollas) – Coding Education Continues Websites such as Code.org, Code Combat, and Google CS First are making coding not only easy to learn but tremendously entertaining. ❏ This is a chance to lead your school and to expand opportunity for your students—and Code.org is here to support you. Consider their programs if you want the skills to teach computer science. They offer high-quality professional learning — at no cost. ❏ Deimosa Webber-Bey (@dataquilter) – The Rise of Digital Humanities - The use of technology to evaluate and visualize big sets of data. Using data to tell your story. ❏ Laura Gardner (@LibrarianMsG) – Shining a Spotlight on School Libraries - Now is the time to proudly and loudly share the great work we and our students do in our school libraries. What does it mean to be a librarian in the digital age?
#ParkwayReads After the Book Talk This excerpt was taken from Scholastic's 2017 trends list and would be a great follow up to the book talk, especially as students start reading the books. "Silent conversations: I borrowed this idea from my librarian friend, Debby Vandersande. She puts copies of the state award contenders on tables with chart paper and pens. Each paper asks a question, shares a quote, or invites students to respond to a prompt related to the book. Students respond to the books/prompts that they’ve read or that interest them. Debby then leaves the charts out for other classes/students to discover." This would work great on a dry erase wall.
#FutureReady - Personalized Professional Learning It's that time of year (Feb 11th) to think about a nd register for EdCamp St. Louis. It is the region's largest and best unconference. In an unconference, participants decide the topics of conversation and the direction of the learning. It is truly a conference by you and for you. It includes free breakfast and lunch as well as a ton of great prizes to finish the day.
Parkway Credit One option for earning Parkway credits is to participate in webinars and events, such as Edcamps, SLAA events, makerspace open houses etc. In order to earn participation credits watch the webinar or go to an event, then record your participation at tinyurl.com/webinars-events. Remember that district credit is based on the number of clock hours that you participate. Credit is issued as follows: six clock hours will get you .5 credit and 12 clock hours will get you 1 credit.
If you are interested, a PEERS course will be available for credit. You'll just have to send Bill something showing that you were actually there on that day. A picture would work wonderfully. I'll let you know when the course is up but I would encourage you to go ahead and register. Link to site and registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/edcampstl-tickets-27507537786
EdWeb Webinars Edweb.net offer many free, relevant webinars. Check out their monthly calendar and register through edweb.net They also have access to archived webinars that are also applicable. Some archived webinars include: ● Designing Your Classroom to Prepare Students for 2020 and Beyond ● Meet the Makers: Makerspace Tips and Trends ● Student-Led Game Making and Learning Upcoming webinars: ● Personalizing Instruction Through the Library ● STEM PLAY: Integrating Inquiry into Learning Centers
PBS DIGITAL INNOVATORS 2017 Program The PBS Digital Innovator program brings together a community of K-12 educators, who are thought-leaders and classroom changemakers, for ongoing professional development and opportunities to share strategies, empower peers and inspire students.
www.pbs.org/education/digitalinnovators/program
Certificate in STEM Education June 5-29th Maryville University (9 credit hours) A tremendous need exists in national and global classrooms for educators who integrate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). STEM educators help bolster the pipeline of talented individuals ready for 21st century careers. For more information contact Stacey Ruffin-Buchanan: sruffin@maryville.edu; 314.529.9542. Download brochure of the program.
What does it mean to be a librarian in the digital age?
Snapshots ● ● ● ●
Claymont Makerspace - building a cantilever bridge with Keva blocks South High - learning about loading the filament in the 3D printer Stacia - story time Program Evaluation - Library Forum
Well said: Schedule! Focus on the big picture and don't try to conquer everything all at once! Jerry Blumengarten @cybraryman1
Contact Information Bill Bass Innovation Coordinator: Instructional Technology & Library Media Twitter: billbass Kim Lindskog Library Support Specialist Twitter: klindskog
Vendor Contacts: Undelivered Post Dispatch: Russell Ham rham@post-dispatch.com
Access the Library Services Webpage using the QR code or www.tinyurl.com/libserv
Undelivered USA Today & New York Times: Wesley Trammell wtrammell@ebsco.com
Amy Johnson Digital Learning Specialist Twitter: ajohnson106 Nancy Ikemeyer Administrative Assistant Skype: nancy,ikemeyer.pearl Twitter: NancyIkemeyer
What does it mean to be a librarian in the digital age?
Back Issues of Know & Go: Volume 4 https://goo.gl/Idfr5O Volume 3 http://goo.gl/0Evfcw Volume 2 http://goo.gl/zCsIig Volume 1 http://goo.gl/MtxaUk