School Library Journal» ISTE

News Bites: Apply for ALSC Día Mini-Grants by February 1

Phyllis Levy Mandell — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:13:58 +0000

Granted

Día grants: The February 1 deadline to apply for twelve $5,000 mini-grants to help libraries incorporate Día into their programs is fast approaching. The mini-grants, part of the Association for Library Service to Children’s (ALSC) Everyone Reads @ your library grant, are funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and are intended to help libraries start a Día Family Book Club Program. These awards will be given ‘to libraries that demonstrate a need to better address the diverse backgrounds within their communities.” In addition, ALSC will be able to use funds from these grants to create a Día Family Book Club Toolkit that libraries can easily access. Be sure to check out requirements and complete the application soon.

Día is “a nationally recognized initiative that emphasizes the importance of literacy for all children from all backgrounds. It is a daily commitment to linking children and their families to diverse books, languages and cultures.”

Author Lauren Oliver

You Have to Be in It…

YA writing contest: HarperCollins and Figment are sponsoring a young adult writing contest, and bestselling author Lauren Oliver (“Delirium” series) will be the judge. The contest’s theme is “Write a story in which love is dangerous,” and it’s open to 13 to 21 year olds. To enter, aspiring authors must visit www.figment.com (“a community where you can share your writing, connect with other people who love to read, and discover new stories and authors”) and register for free. They should post an original story of no more than 1,500 words by clicking “Publish Now.”

Entries will be judged based on quality, creativity, and relevance to the theme. All stories must be submitted by March 3, and one grand prize winner will be selected by May 1. The winner will receive airfare for two to New York and two nights in a hotel, a day at HarperCollins, have the piece published on Teen.com: a “teen and tween website and source for celebrity and entertainment news, freebies and giveaways, exclusive video interviews, red carpet style, TV recaps, movie reviews, new music, and funny viral videos,” and be offered a one-year unpaid columnist position with Teen.com.

Tech Award: If you are a media specialist in a primary or secondary school and have teamed up with a teacher to plan and execute a great collaborative project involving technology, you have until February 28 to apply for the SIGMS (Special Interest Group for Media Specialists) Tech Innovation Award. SIGMS is the special interest group for school library media specialists within ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). Make sure to check out the rules and the nomination form. Entrants must describe the collaborative technology innovation project, explain how the administration supported the project’s objectives, describe how the project could be expanded or improved in the future, and provide data collected on the impact of the project. Winners will receive complimentary registration and a traveling stipend to ISTE’s annual conference, $1,000 for the school media center, a $300 professional library, and more.

Nature writing contest: Big Universe is sponsoring a Nature Writing Contest for K–8 students in schools that subscribe to the company’s ebook reading, writing, and sharing platform. The focus of the contest is on the Common Core Literacy Writing and Literacy Language Standards. According to Big Universe, its “literacy website provides a ready-made library of cross-disciplinary informational and literary leveled texts from today’s best publishers with tools for self-publishing, sharing, assessment, and account management.” One of the aspects of the platform is an online writing and publishing tool—and that’s what students must use to enter the contest. Kids must create a book of no more than 200 words that includes some aspect of nature using the authoring tool on the company’s WRITE section. Entries are published to the teacher’s account for review and submission. All entries must be submitted by February 28 and will be accepted in three age groups: grades K–2, 3–5, and 6–8. A winner for each bracket will be announced on March 15, and their books will be published on the Big Universe website.

Sweepstakes tech package: The CDW-G and Discovery Education’s 2013 Win a Wireless Lab Sweepstakes is open to employees of accredited public, private, and parochial schools. Between now and May 3, participants can enter once every day to win some great technology for their schools: an Epson projector, a Xerox multifunction printer, or a Sony Notebook computer—or one of two grand prizes consisting of 20 notebooks or tablets, an interactive white board, three wireless access points, a notebook cart, a document camera, student response systems, and a printer from CDW-G as well as a $5,000 digital media grant from Discovery Education. The grand prize winners will be randomly drawn by May 9 from all eligible entries made during the entire term of the contest. Be sure to check out all the rules and go to the Win a Wireless Lab Sweepstakes page and click on the Enter to Win button. Educators can find out more about the sweepstakes by following Win a Wireless Lab on Pinterest, @WinWirelessLab on Twitter, or Facebook.

Common Core Will Stress Already Inadequate E-rate Funding

Lauren Barack — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:33:39 +0000

Even as schools increasingly depend on the E-rate program, the funds dedicated to connecting schools and libraries to the Internet can’t keep up with demand, and it’s unlikely to grow in the near term. Yet need for the funding is likely to be compounded by the arrival of the Common Core State Standards, as they require online assessments of students starting in the 2014 school year. This will have a huge impact on schools networking capabilities—if one grade level is online all at once, other classrooms are likely to be affected if schools lack adequate wiring. Today, 90 percent of schools already say they’re deeply dependent on the discounts afforded to them through the E-rate program and that the current level of funding is inadequate, according to a recent study from Funds for Learning, a firm that helps manage E-rate support for schools. “The program hadn’t had an increase in funding since 1995,” says Hilary Goldmann, director of government affairs for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), based in Washington, DC. “Meanwhile, bandwidth needs have increased at schools.” In addition, fewer than 15 percent of those who responded to the Funds for Learning survey also said “…their Internet access and communications infrastructure is adequate to meet educational needs in the near future,” according to the study authors. “We’d like to see [the E-rate] cap raised,” says ISTE’s Goldmann. Currently, the E-rate program is capped at $2.34 billion for the 2012 Funding Year, an inflation-adjusted amount allocated through two different stages: Priority 1, which handles telecommunications and Internet access, and Priority 2, which handles connections inside schools. Priority 1 is funded first, with leftover funds going to Priority 2. This past year the program had $5 billion in applications, says Goldmann, with almost nothing left for Priority 2. The American Library Association (ALA) has an E-rate Task Force, which is constantly pushing for increases to the program with the FCC, which manages E-rate. But Marijke Visser, assistant director for the ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy, says that it’s a “big ask, policy wise,” to push for more money, particularly in an election year. The FCC is looking at the Universal Service Fund in general, which includes E-rate, which is funded through a Universal Services fee charged to telecommunications companies, she says. “The FCC does not want to increase the Universal Service fee to providers,” says Visser. “They’re revamping a lot of different buckets, and looking at the whole piece. It’s a question of where the money is going to come from.” Visser adds that everyone involved knows changes have to come, given that demand already constantly pushes against the cap, and schools knowing they’ll be stressed further as Common Core assessments arrive. “We make the point that it isn’t enough, and they know that,” says Visser. “But we anticipate some hard choices in the next procurement cycle.”

ISTE 2012 | ALA Annual: Candid Thoughts on the FCC Plan and Advocacy

Kathy Ishizuka — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 01:41:53 +0000

In a challenging economy, ISTE and ALA grapple with advocating for their school librarian, media specialist membership and then there's the hot-button issue of digital literacy.

Scenes from ISTE 2012

Kathy Ishizuka — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:46:13 +0000

Steve Hargadon delivered keynote at SIGMS Forum

A demonstration of EPUB in the classroom

An impromptu tutorial for first timers

Local students presented their program, a cooperative venture with University of SD

Joquetta Johnson, Tiffany Whitehead, and Gwyneth Jones at the SIGMS Forum

Using Evernote for student information

The Blogger's Lounge

Local students demoed at a poster session

Hallway conversation and sharing

The Flat Classroom

A conversation prompter at the SIGMS Forum

Jason Epstein and Gwyneth Jones

Carolyn Foote

Conference tee

Don Knezek, outgoing ISTE CEO, after serving 10 years in the position

Iphone photography

Student-led poster session

Mind mapping social

Schedule at the Google booth

Paul Oh of the National Writing Project

Gwyneth Jones, ISTE board member, diva

Conferring at the SIGMS Forum.

Joyce Valenza’s Picks of the Top 25 Websites for Teaching and Learning

The Digital Shift — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 20:46:20 +0000

By Joyce Valenza

I am in San Diego for ISTE and I missed the live excitement, but for the fourth year, AASL just announced its Top 25 Websites for Teacher and Learning.

These sites were selected because they foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, Web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover.

Sites on the list are aligned to Standards for the 21st Century Learner and organized by category:

Media Sharing

Digital Storytelling

Manage & Organize

Social Networking & Communication

Content Resources

Curriculum Collaboration

Tips following each site description share how classroom teachers and teacher librarians may integrate the site into the instructional program.

This seriously rich list presents a whole bunch of new discoveries for me and I look forward to exploring this summer and incorporating several sites into my high school program and the online grad course I am writing.

Here are just a couple of the Committee’s finds I am eager to explore in the Media Sharing area:

Vialogues

Do more than watch a video: discuss, question, and comment. Vialogues puts the “think and do” into video watching. Vialogues allows you to post a video and then invite participants to answer questions, discuss or just comment. This asynchronous tool can be used for private or public interactions. Tip: Use this tool with media literacy lessons.

Read the full post.

ALA/ISTE 2012: Conference Survival Guide | ALA Annual 2012

Kathy Ishizuka — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 22:05:05 +0000

Feeling a bit stressed? With two big events upon us—ALA and ISTE—we need all the help we can get. The following sources can help you pack, spec your tech, and survive airport hell.

Do you have good advice or a link you’d like to share with your fellow travelers? Please contribute in the comments.

ISTE 2012 or Bust

The Digital Shift — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 16:24:15 +0000

By Tiffany Whitehead

ISTE is the conference that I most look forward to attending each year. As my school’s media specialist and tech leader, it’s essential that my colleagues view me as a constant source of new ideas—and ISTE helps me to be that. It also helps me to stay current with the latest developments in the global ed-tech community. The conference is an incredible opportunity to learn from and network with other educators who are also working to harness the power of technology to enhance teaching and learning in their schools.

My first ISTE experience in Denver two years ago was life-changing, because I made face-to-face connections and learned from so many of my school library and ed-tech role models from Twitter and the blogging community. Meeting Joyce Valenza and Gwyneth Jones, teacher-librarians whom I’ve long admired, inspired me to do better work. Over the years at ISTE, I’ve learned about the most popular Web 2.0 tools such as Glogster, Animoto, Go Animate, Dropbox, Google Apps for Education, and Schoology. Last year, QR codes and iPads were hot topics. There’s always something great that I can work into my library program, and lots of other great tools that I can take back to share with my teachers.

I attended ISTE last year and brought one of my teaching colleagues. Sharing the experience with her made it easier to take what we learned and put it into practice. I also volunteered last year at a SIGMS (Special Interest Group for Media Specialists), which helped me make new connections with other teacher-librarians and ISTE members, leading to my current position as SIGMS vice chair. ISTE is so much more than an annual conference. It offers opportunities for learning and connecting throughout the entire year.

Attending ISTE 2012 in San Diego is a no-brainer. I plan to present on the Hollywood Squares panel, which will address recent education and technology research, with some of the same school library and ed-tech rock stars that I was so ecstatic to meet back in 2010. I also look forward to bringing along another classroom teacher to experience ISTE and get inspired by the new ideas it offers. Although I hate missing ALA’s annual conference, attending ISTE and soaking up its unique culture is the most important thing I can do for myself each year as a library media specialist.

Here are my top five picks for ISTE 2012:

Digital Age Media Center Playground

Monday, June 25, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.

Meet other librarians and classroom teachers as they share their favorite technologies and resources. This is also a great volunteer opportunity for those looking to get involved.

Beyond Googling: Using Technology to Build a Culture of Inquiry

Monday, June 25, 4:15–5:15 p.m.

Chris Lehmann, principal of Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy, discusses how problem-based and inquiry-driven learning can help students develop critical-thinking skills, be engaged, and experience deep learning.

SIGMS Forum

Tuesday, June 26, 2–3:15 p.m.

Steven Hargadon, creator of Classroom 2.0, a social network for educators who use Web 2.0, talks about how social media is used in the library to boost learning and get kids excited about research.

SIGMS Breakfast

Wednesday, June 27, 7:30–9:30 a.m.

Reserve your seat for this one early! Hear educator Alan November speak at this breakfast buffet, where SIGMS hands out its Technology Innovation Awards.

Hollywood Squares: A Brain-Bending Game Show

Wednesday, June 27, 1:15–2:15 p.m.

Join me and my “celebrity” friends for a Hollywood Squares–style panel discussion on the latest ed-tech research.

About the author:

Tiffany Whitehead is a library media specialist at Central Middle School in Baton Rouge, LA.

Best in The West: ALA Program Guide

SLJ — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:42:17 +0000

In this Article

‘ISTE or Bust’

Planning to catch this year’s American Library Association (ALA) annual conference in Anaheim, CA? If you’re anything like us, you’ll want to make every second count. That’s why we’ve asked seven savvy librarians to give us the skinny on the top five sessions they plan to attend during the June 21–26 event. As you’ll see, they came up with an eclectic mix that’s bound to make nearby Disneyland’s power couple, Mickey and Minnie, a mere distraction.

But ALA isn’t the only meeting that has a lot to offer. Librarians can also take advantage of the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) conference, which takes place June 24–27 in San Diego, just a hop, skip, and a tank of gas away. According to ISTE’s organizers, the forward-thinking gathering will feature “nearly 20,000 enthusiastic ed-tech professionals and corporate representatives from around the globe.” Sound tempting? Then you’ll want to read why librarian Tiffany Whitehead (“ISTE or Bust”) is skipping ALA in favor of ISTE.

SLJ’s editors will be at both shows. At ALA, look for us at booth #2234, where we’ll offer special discounts to Book Verdict, our new online collection development tool that provides access to more than 300,000 reviews of books and media from SLJ, Library Journal, and The Horn Book. You can also find out more about our August 9 virtual event, “SummerTeen: A Celebration of Young Adult Books,” and our October 17 ebook summit, now called “The Digital Shift: Libraries, Ebooks, and Beyond.” And don’t miss our popular Spa Day raffle, where three lucky winners each receive a $150 certificate to help ease their weary conference-going bones.

Wherever you land, we hope the following recommendations deliver some exciting new ideas that you can put into action.—SLJ staff

Carl A. Harvey II

School librarian,
North Elementary School,
Noblesville, IN

AASL President’s Program

Saturday, June 23, 10:30 a.m.–noon, Anaheim Convention Center (ACC) 213AB

As the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) current president, I’m probably a little biased, but this session tops my list. Lori Takeuchi, director of research at Sesame Workshop’s Joan Ganz Cooney Center, will share the results of a nationwide survey of more than 800 parents of kids ages three through 10, which reveal how parents feel about raising children in a digital age. Takeuchi will answer audience questions and share in-depth case studies on how parents’ attitudes toward technology, as well as their family values and routines, help shape the experiences of today’s kids. This is powerful information to take back and use in your schools.

Best Websites for Teaching and Learning

Saturday, June 23, 8–10 a.m., ACC 213D

Here’s a great opportunity to find out about some excellent online tools to use with students as AASL unveils its 2011 Top 25 Websites for Teaching and Learning.

AASL 101

Saturday, June 23, 4–5:30 p.m., ACC 203B

This program is highly recommended especially for those new to ALA’s conference scene. I remember going to my first ALA annual and leaving unsure about the experience. Luckily, I tried it again and was hooked. A chance to attend an AASL 101 back then would have taught me a lot about ALA and AASL—and I would’ve caught the fever even sooner!

Closing General Session and Inaugural Event, Featuring J. R. Martinez

Tuesday, June 26, 9:30–11 a.m., ACC Ballroom DE

While serving in Iraq, Martinez, the author of the upcoming biography Full of Heart: My Story of Survival, Strength, and Spirit, suffered severe burns when his vehicle struck a landmine. During the next three years, he underwent 33 operations and worked tirelessly to recover. Come listen to his inspiring message of perseverance and resilience. We librarians need to embrace Martinez’s attitude—in order to achieve anything we set our minds to.

AASL Awards Luncheon

Monday, June 25, 12–2 p.m., Hilton Anaheim Huntington

Come grab a bite, listen to keynote speaker Carmen Agra Deedy, and celebrate the amazing accomplishments of school librarians as they’re lavished with the recognition they so richly deserve. In these tough economic times, we need to relish the positive rather than focus on the negative.

Melissa Jacobs Israel

Coordinator of library
services, New York City
Department of Education

Libraries in the Cloud

Friday, June 22, 8:30 a.m.–noon, ACC 201B

As more and more libraries move beyond brick-and-mortar spaces and drift into the cloud, librarians need to understand their new roles. This session will give us a greater perspective on the best emerging practices and the pros and cons of cloud computing, and help us learn about productivity tools that we can implement in our schools.

YALSA Teen Advisory Boards—Keeping Teens Interested

Monday, June 25, 10:30 a.m.–noon, ACC 209B

School and public libraries are longtime partners when it comes to reaching teens—and we should continue to keep this diverse audience engaged. I’m curious to find out if there are any lessons that school librarians can learn from our public libraries and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), especially when it comes to keeping teens interested in what we have to offer. Perhaps it will lead to a conversation between New York City’s public library system and our school libraries.

AASL When Worlds Collide: An AASL and Common Core Mash Up

Saturday, June 23, 8–10 a.m., Hilton Anaheim Laguna A

School librarians nationwide need to start building lessons based on the Common Core Learning Standards. In New York City, we’ve aligned our school library Information Fluency Standards with the Common Core Learning Standards and now offer four-day professional development workshops on unpacking Common Core standards, developing lesson plans, and understanding text complexity. It’s imperative to understand the work that’s being done by AASL and school librarians across the country. The Common Core Learning Standards offer opportunities for all school librarians to step up and lead students through critical thinking, informational text, and text complexity.

Critical Thinking in a Digital Age: The Positive Influence of Web 2.0 Tools

Saturday, June 23, 1:30–3:30 p.m., ACC 205B

Social learning and Web 2.0 are powerful tools for student learning. As educators and librarians, we need to embrace them to help students navigate in a digital age.

ALSC Nonfiction Book Blast: Booktalks and Activities for Your Library

Saturday, June 23, 10:30 a.m.–noon, ACC 304AB

The Common Core Learning Standards’s and NYC’s Citywide Instructional Expectations are built on understanding, analysis, and responses to informational texts, which are nonfiction books and factual articles from vetted sources. Use this opportunity to engage students and teachers with booktalks and activities in your library while using the Common Core Learning Standard’s focus on text complexity and informational text. By drawing more users into the library, you’ll instill lifelong learning and reading skills.

Chantell L. McDowell

Teen services librarian,
Charlotte Mecklenburg
(NC) Library

Books We’ll Still Talk About 45 Years from Now

Friday, June 22, 12:30–4:30 p.m., ACC 204A

As a YALSA member and YA librarian, I’ve always wanted to be a part of its book-selection committee. The aspiring writer in me would also like to know what it takes to create quality young adult literature, especially classics that’ll endure for years to come.

Leaders Wanted/LIS Doctoral Program Options Fair: Cultivating Diversity in LIS Education

Saturday, June 23, 10:30 a.m.–noon, Anaheim Marriot Marquis South

Once I’ve completed my doctoral program in leadership studies at New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce University, I’m seriously considering pursuing a second doctorate in library science. Sounds like this is a good place to learn more.

Leading Professional Development That Matters… and Works

Friday, June 22, 12:30–4 p.m., ACC 201B

This preconference seminar takes advantage of the growing library field—and will hopefully offer different professional development models that can enhance my career.

Auditorium Speaker: Teens Making a Difference Featuring William Kamkwamba, Talia Leman, and Gaby Rodriguez

Saturday, June 23, 1:30–2:30 p.m., ACC Ballroom DE

As a teen advocate, I enjoy interacting with kids who want to make a difference or who’ve already made one. I’m looking forward to hearing about the wonderful journeys and choices that have inspired these three young people to stand up and take charge.

Auditorium Speaker: Sapphire

Sunday, June 24, 10:30–11:30 a.m. ACC Ballroom DE

Sapphire is the author of the best-selling novel Push, which was made into the Oscar-winning 2009 movie Precious about an illiterate teen who’s raped by her father and rescued by a determined teacher. It would really be a pleasure to hear Sapphire speak. She’s an inspiration, and I’ve always admired her work.

John Peters

Children’s literature
consultant,
New York City

Science in the Stacks

Saturday, June 23, 10:30 a.m.–noon, ACC 209A

According to ALA’s program guide, this session is “centered around 36 Discovery Exhibits, which provide experiential science learning that’s integrated with traditional library resources.” Intriguing!

Publish or Bust!: An ePublishing Odyssey

Saturday, June 23, 4–5:30 p.m., ACC 207B

In an apparent case of one library providing a new service by catching a cultural wave while it’s on the rise, this session will report on a library-based experiment in the growing area of self-publishing. Though the resulting book was apparently not for children, I imagine the process would be similar no matter the intended audience.

The New Nonfiction: What Is It, and Does It Matter?

Sunday, June 24, 1:30–3:30 p.m., ACC 202B

I review a ton of nonfiction every year, and so I’m always on the lookout for new trends and perspectives on the stuff.

When Miss Rumphius Meets Hugo Cabret: Scaffolding Using Picture Books

Sunday, June 24, 1:30–3:30 p.m., ACC 210C

Unfortunately, this program on making reading more active through evaluating picture-book themes and concepts takes place at the same time as the program listed immediately above it, but if I lace on my sneakers, maybe I can slip back and forth between the two presentations. That sort of thing has never happened to me, but hey, there’s always a first time.

I Want a Truck Book! Reorganizing Your Picture Book Collection to Meet the Needs of Young Patrons and Their Caregivers

Sunday, June 24, 4–5:30 p.m., ACC 210D

Becuase I’ve spent most of my library career working with mammoth picture-book collections and struggling to find ways to make them accessible—to librarians as well as patrons—this program addresses an enduring interest.

ALSC and YALSA Joint Presidents’ Program: The Digital Lives of Tweens and Young Teens

Monday, June 25, 8–10 a.m., ACC 304AB

As a member of the Great Web Sites for Kids committee and a freelance reviewer of apps and ebooks, I expect this program to be chock-full of relevant and valuable new insights into the digital experiences of young users.

John Schumacher

Teacher-librarian,
Brook Forest Elementary
School, Oak Brook, IL

When Worlds Collide: An AASL and Common Core Mashup

Saturday, June 23, 8–10 a.m., Hilton Anaheim Laguna A

Schools around the country are working on implementing the Common Core standards. This session will inspire school librarians to take a leadership role that will help teachers implement the new guidelines.

Think, Create, Share, Grow: Setting the Stage for Collaborative Inquiry

Saturday, June 23, 1:30–3:30 p.m., Anaheim Marriott Orange County Salon 1–2

Michael Stephens was one of my library school professors, and he stressed the importance of “library as place.” Thanks to Michael and my partnership with Iowa’s Van Meter School, I’m drawn to sessions and discussions about library spaces, collaboration, and inquiry-based learning.

When Miss Rumphius Meets Hugo Cabret: Scaffolding Using Picture Books

Sunday, June 24, 1:30–3:30 p.m., ACC 210C

I’m pumped about any session that mentions two of my favorite books. I hope it’ll remind attendees of the importance of using picture books with kids of all ages.

Share the Wealth: Contribute to the AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner Lesson Plan Database

Sunday, June 24, 8–10 a.m., ACC 205B

I’ve used the AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner Lesson Plan Database, and now it’s time to contribute to this valuable resource. I am excited to learn more about the process of submitting a lesson.

The New Nonfiction: What Is It, and Does It Matter?

Sunday, June 24, 1:30–3:30 p.m., ACC 202B

I’m looking forward to this session almost as much as the Newbery/Caldecott banquet. A new framework for evaluating nonfiction intrigues me.

Allison Tran

Teen services librarian,
Mission Viejo (CA)
Library

Not Another Boring Vampire Romance: Going Beyond the Norm in Young Adult Paranormal Literature

Saturday, June 23, 8–10 a.m., ACC 209AB

I’m ready to hear something new about the ever-popular genres of paranormal and fantasy YA literature, and this librarian-moderated panel featuring authors Kendare Blake, Ken Oppel, Jackson Pearce, and Cindy Pon sounds fascinating. According to the panel’s official description, it will “give particular insight in how approaching this best-selling genre from a unique perspective as both a reader and a writer makes it even more relevant and interesting to a more diverse audience of teen readers.”

Being a Social Teen Advocate

Saturday, June 23, 4–5:30 p.m., ACC 204C

As an active social media user, I’m always eager to learn new ways to use these technologies to reach my library community. This session, presented by technology expert Linda W. Braun, will discuss how to use Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+ to attract library teens. I’m looking forward to the brainstorming part of the session when we all exchange ideas.

Best Fiction for Young Adults

Sunday, June 24, 1:30–3:30 p.m., Hilton Anaheim California D

This is always one of the most talked about ALA sessions, and I always use YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults (BFYA) list as a selection tool for my library’s collection. I look forward to hearing local teens talk candidly about their experiences with the books nominated for the 2013 BFYA list.

Passive Programming That’s Anything But: Reaching Young Adults Subversively

Sunday, June 24, 4–5:30 p.m., ACC 207A

As a budget-conscious librarian who plans a lot of passive programming for teens, I’m always scouting for new ideas. According to this session’s description, “Participants in this program will learn why passive programming is an important aspect of YA service and how to inexpensively implement and maintain these programs.” It’s exactly what I need to spice up my passive programs.

Odyssey Award Presentation and Program

Monday, June 25, 4–5:30 p.m., ACC 213D

Each year the Odyssey Award goes to the producer of the best English-language
audiobook for children and young adults in the United States. I’m absolutely addicted to audiobooks—I love the way a talented narrator can make a good story even more vibrant. I’m looking forward to celebrating the 2012 Odyssey winners, chosen by a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and YALSA members.

Paula Willey

Librarian,
Baltimore (MD) County
Public Library

ALSC and YALSA Joint Presidents’ Program: The Digital Lives of Tweens and Young Teens

Monday, June 25, 8-10 a.m., ACC 304AB

When I talk to kids about their online lives, they ask me, “How come our parents think everyone online is a rapist?” And when I talk to parents, they tell me, “Kids don’t realize how dangerous it is to be online!” I need authoritative information about the way kids use the Internet in order to make good recommendations to them and their caregivers.

The New Nonfiction: What Is It, and Does It Matter?

Sunday, June 24, 1:30–3:30 p.m., ACC 202B

I’ve been reviewing nonfiction for SLJ for four years, and sometimes the life of a reviewer can feel like a lonely one—this upcoming panel sounds like my kind of people! If nonfiction and the criteria for evaluating it are changing, I better brush up on it.

Leaders Wanted/LIS Doctoral Program Options Fair: Cultivating Diversity in LIS Education

Saturday, June 23, 10:30 a.m.–noon, Anaheim Marriott Marquis South

Why not consider getting a Ph.D.? I’ve been a librarian for more than a decade, helping people research what they find interesting… maybe it’s time to turn those skills back on the profession that means so much to me.

Teen Advisory Boards—Keeping Teens Interested

Monday, June 25, 10:30 a.m.–noon, ACC 209B

After reading in a recent issue of SLJ about zombie survival training as a teen program, I realized there are some seriously clever and creative YA services librarians out there. I intend to steal all of their ideas!

Get Them Talking About Books!: Using Protocols to Assist Students with Making Book Choices and Developing a Reading Plan

Monday, June 25, 1:30–3:30 p.m., Hilton Anaheim Palos Verdes B

Kids turn to one another for reliable book recommendations, but booktalking is a learned skill. For example, kids can often be too vague (“Um, I just really liked the book”) or way too specific, reciting whole runs of dialogue without any context. I want to walk away mastering how to teach that to kids.

ISTE or Bust: Top Five Program Picks

SLJ — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 06:48:32 +0000

Illustration by Michael Witte.

Here are my top five picks for ISTE 2012:

Digital Age Media Center Playground

Monday, June 25, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.

Meet other librarians and classroom teachers as they share their favorite technologies and resources. This is also a great volunteer opportunity for those looking to get involved.

Beyond Googling: Using Technology to Build a Culture of Inquiry

Monday, June 25, 4:15–5:15 p.m.

SIGMS Forum

Tuesday, June 26, 2–3:15 p.m.

Steven Hargadon, creator of Classroom 2.0, a social network for educators who use Web 2.0, talks about how social media is used in the library to boost learning and get kids excited about research.

SIGMS Breakfast

Wednesday, June 27, 7:30–9:30 a.m.

Reserve your seat for this one early! Hear educator Alan November speak at this breakfast buffet, where SIGMS hands out its Technology Innovation Awards.

Hollywood Squares: A Brain-Bending Game Show

Wednesday, June 27, 1:15–2:15 p.m.

Join me and my “celebrity” friends for a Hollywood Squares–style panel discussion on the latest ed-tech research.

Author Information

Tiffany Whitehead (librariantiff@gmail.com) is a library media specialist at Central Middle School in Baton Rouge, LA.

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See also:

Best in The West: ALA Program Guide

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