Librarians' Changing Roles Can Inspire School Communities I'm in a new job this fall, moving from K-5 to the library at Western Albemarle High School in Crozet, Virginia. It's a great chance to look back at what I've learned and what I've tried during a time of transformation in school libraries. Libraries have always been focused on users and communities, but recent support for makerspaces and experimentation, coupled with the benefits of system-wide support from Albemarle County Public Schools, has allowed librarians to spearhead inspiring changes. As I change schools, I plan to build on some of the new approaches that I've tried. For a high school, the context is different -- and the curriculum is very different -- but the user-focused approach and the willingness to tinker and try is sure to carry over in the following four practices. 1. Librarians model much-needed differentiation in professional development with teachers, and in user-focused tech and literacy approaches with students. 2. 3. We have reluctant writers in every grade. 4.
The 8 Digital Literacy Practices Required for 21st Century Learners January 4, 2015 Theoretically speaking, digital literacy is a concept that is in constant flux. It is perpetually shifting and expanding to include new practices and skills afforded by new emerging technologies. In their excellent book "Understanding Digital Literacies: A Practical Introduction", authors Jones and Hafner provide a detailed analysis of what it means to be a digitally literate in the light of the social media revolution and the widespread of web 2.0 technologies. As I was perusing it today, I came across this section in chapter one where the authors talk about the different digital literacy practices that are required to thrive in this digitally-focused era. Here is a quick overview of these practices: The ability to quickly search though and evaluate great masses of information.
Don't call trans people 'brave' – we're just trying to live in a prejudiced society | Rebecca Kling I was walking in through the main doors to work when someone else, one of those people you know because you see them around the building where you work but have never actually met, came up from behind me to hold the door. “You’re so brave,” she said. “Excuse me?” “I noticed you look a little different lately, and I wanted to tell you how brave you are.” We were now walking side by side through the building’s main hallway, and I wanted nothing more than to reach a fork where we might part ways. “Thanks,” I said, unsure how else to respond. Every transgender person has heard some variant of “you’re so brave”. Lumping all trans people together under the label of “brave” is easier than speaking the truth: being trans is dangerous and difficult, and cis people often don’t support us through that danger and difficulty. Being called brave seems like a compliment. First and foremost, calling all trans people brave results in distancing the person saying it from the experience of being trans.
Five Challenges Every Librarian Must Face The dramatic changes in society, exponential advances in technology and globalization of ‘everything’ are easily recognizable one decade into the 21st Century. The United States is no longer world leader in a global society – not even in education (we are now ‘average’, and rank 25th of 34 in math). Smartphones with 4G wireless data transfer, touch screen and digital video recorder, have made the Jetson’s video phone a reality – and more dramatically – mobile. Nowhere is change more evident than in the librarian profession. There are at least five major challenges that every librarian will face, sooner or later. 1. 2. The role of librarian as expert researcher handing information to a waiting patron is the antithesis to the collaborative, participative mindset of the emerging Millennial customer. 3. In June, 2010 the New York Times published an article about IBM’s new super “answering” computer called Watson. Will the reference librarian become obsolete? 4. 5. Like this: Like Loading...
8 Design Steps for an Academic Makerspace -- THE Journal Hands-on Learning 8 Design Steps for an Academic Makerspace If you build it, will they come? The just-released 6th annual New Media Consortium Horizon Report K-12 Edition listed makerspaces as an emerging technology in the year-or-less adoption timeframe. That sounds great, but what is the definition of a makerspace, and how do you launch one? Before enthusiastic school technology leaders start drawing up blueprints for their makerspaces, there's lots of planning that needs to take place, said Russ Jarowski, director of technology at Miss Hall's School, a private school for girls in Pittsfield, MA, who has been involved in the development of several makerspaces over the last 10 years, including at University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Speaking at the annual ISTE Conference in Philadelphia June 29, Jarowski detailed eight steps to work through in the creation of a successful child-centered academic makerspace. 1. You must make decisions about its scope. 2. 3.
Every Monday Matters: "Are You Really Going to Read Them Again?" | Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza Facts: 61% of low-income families have no books in their homes. 43% of adults with the lowest level of literacy proficiency live in poverty. Only 4% of adults with strong literacy skills live in poverty. 55% of children have an increased interest in reading when given books at an early age. Children with a greater variety of reading material in the home are more creative, imaginative, and proficient in reading. There is only 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children in low-income neighborhoods compared to 13 books per child in middle-income neighborhoods. Take Action Today 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The majority of children in low-income neighborhoods often lack libraries and bookstores. You Matter Robbie Miller of Charlotte, North Carolina, read something that shocked him. "Not only was I surprised, but it made me sad," shared Robbie. This realization started Robbie on a mission. "I decided to start a book drive at my school," explained Robbie. Robbie created a campaign.
4 Future Trends You Are Bound to See in K-12 School Libraries Modern K-12 public libraries will offer intensely engaging learning environments to all students. How they will go about doing this is less certain, but the principal trends are readily identified in various research efforts. This post will paint a picture of what the libraries of the future will look like and how they will support students, teachers, administrators, and even parents. Here are four trends you will soon see in K-12 school libraries. More resources. Modern library resources include a whole range of elements, from ebooks, to academic databases, to innovative programs that allow students to explore their creative inclinations, learn new skills, and apply their learning in innovative ways. Better classroom support. Anyone particularly following library trends and looking to remain up to date must also allow that there will be some further changes and shifts to come.
Perceptions 2016: An International Survey of Library Automation This tenth edition of the International Survey of Library Automation aims to provide a candid glimpse into the effectiveness of strategic library technology systems from the perspective of the libraries which use them for their daily operations and to fulfill the expectations of their patrons. It focuses primarily on integrated library systems and library services platforms as the applications libraries use to acquire, describe, manage, and provide access to their collections. 4042 libraries completed this year’s survey, providing sufficient data to focus the analysis more on each category of library type and size rather than aggregating across all responses. The functional requirements of public, academic, school, and other types of libraries overlap to a certain extent, but in other areas have distinctive if not contradictory functionality. Some of the products represented in the survey have been designed for specific sectors. Table of Contents Introduction top Caveats Survey Results Alma
Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek | Season 2 | In the WILD! | America ReFramed | World Channel Descendants of emancipated slaves who settled on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the residents of Turkey Creek have been stewards of the creek's rich wetland habitat for generations. Today, the town is surrounded by an airport, big-box stores, highways and an industrial canal which threatens both the community and its wetlands. When the graves of Derrick Evans's ancestors are bulldozed for the sprawling city of Gulfport, the Boston teacher returns home to stand up to powerful corporate interests and politicians alongside his neighbors over the course of a decade. Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek follows Derrick's painful but inspiring journey. In 2001, Derrick travels to Mississippi with filmmaker Leah Mahan to record oral history but a visit to the community cemetery changes the course of his life. Derrick takes the fight to Congress and across the country, advocating for a sustainable future for the Gulf Coast.
The Human Network | The Digital Shift Excerpted from BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google by John Palfrey. Available from Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2015. This excerpt from the “Networks” chapter focuses on the crucial role of the librarian in keeping libraries strong in the digital age and what support they need to do this critical work. Palfrey will deliver the opening keynote at LJ’s The Digital Shift free virtual event on October 14. Photo ©2015 Shawn G. The librarians who are thriving most consistently in the digital era are those who have found a way to operate as a node in a network of libraries and librarians. Don’t go it alone The view of oneself as operating in a network, not in an independent silo, is essential to success for librarians. Houghton’s library has recast itself for the digital era. The aptly named Melissa Techman, a teacher and librarian in Albemarle County, VA, is another dynamic woman who is blazing the trail for librarianship.
Best Databases: Watch science spring into action with these must-have resources With more and more librarians scaling back on encyclopedias and thinking twice before investing in expensive multivolume sets, selecting the right database has become more vital than ever. Though there’s a plethora of options that have become available over the past year, the best selections go beyond providing students with raw information, featuring interactive elements and activities. The importance of STEM is reflected here, but, even more significantly, these innovative offerings give students a chance to see science come to life. Britannica ImageQuest K Up–If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then this database is a veritable treasure trove of information. ProQuest Research Companion Gr 9 Up–Perhaps the most important lesson that librarians can impart to students isn’t knowledge of any one particular subject area but rather how to collect, evaluate, and read sources: in other words, a basic guide to research. Rosen “Core Concepts”: Biology; Chemistry Scholastic ScienceFlix Sparticl
Educational Leadership:Promoting Respectful Schools:Creating a Climate of Respect In contrast, this is what the absence of respect can sound like: They don't care what I think. All they care about are the tests. There aren't even stalls in the bathroom. They dis' us. —A 16-year-old student Ten percent of kids in my class…are so bad that I've just given up on them. —A teacher Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot (2000) has suggested that respect "is not something that one can imitate, but something one must embody…. A Look at School Climate Reform Respectful schools are, by definition, democratically informed learning environments where people feel safe, supported, engaged, and helpfully challenged. A sustainable, positive school climate fosters youth development and the learning necessary for a productive and satisfying life in a democratic society. People are engaged and respected. We at the National School Climate Center have worked with thousands of schools and districts across the United States to create safe, supportive, and engaging schools. Four Crucial Goals References Endnote
‘With all this technology, what do we need librarians for?’; Advocates say in the information age, school libraries are more important than ever Marni Hanna has a disclaimer for visitors to the Pacific Crest Middle School library: It’s not done. “A lot of people walk in and say there’s not that many books,” said Hanna, the school’s media manager. The shelves are about half full — the school opened this year, and Hanna is still trying to gauge what sort of books teachers and students are most interested in. But there are other things missing: computers, since all the students have iPads; reference books, since they become out-of-date within a few years; the card catalog, which disappeared long ago. As with most things, technology has changed the school library. “What I get asked is, ‘With all this technology, what do we need librarians for?’” That doesn’t mean it is all coming from reliable sources. Earlier this year, Oregon’s State Board of Education adopted school library standards in areas such as reading engagement and technology integration. But mastery costs money.