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AASL Offers New Learning with Four Online Courses
 Registration is now open for four AASL eAcademy online courses. These four-week, self-paced courses cover the topics of project-based learning, research and the Common Core State Standards, implementing an e-book collection and personalized professional development. Courses begin Feb. 16, 2015, and AASL members save $50 on registration. Registration and additional course information are available at www.ala.org/aasl/eacademy.
AASL Launches Knowledge Quest
 Last month AASL announced the launch of a companion website for its professional journal, Knowledge Quest. A new vehicle to empower school librarians as they transform learning for their students, the new site offers breaking news and inspired blogs and encourages conversations to inspire insightful professionals and stronger communities. Knowledge Quest can be viewed at knowledgequest.aasl.org.
AASL Launches Where Learning Never Ends Digital Storytelling Contest
 AASL invites students to participate in a digital storytelling contest held as part of the 2015 celebration of School Library Month. The contest asks students to reflect on the 2015 theme, “Your School Library: Where Learning Never Ends” and create a story using a website recognized as an AASL Best Website for Teaching & Learning. Submissions for the storytelling contest will be accepted until midnight on March 6 and winners will be announced throughout School Library Month. Each entry will first be reviewed by a panel of AASL judges, and the top three point earners from each grade level will be sent to guest judges for final determination.
Susan Verde, Amy Ignatow, Trevor Pryce and Lauren Myracle to Judge AASL Digital Storytelling Contest
Celebrated authors Susan Verde, Amy Ignatow, Trevor Pryce and Lauren Myracle will serve as the guest judges in AASL's School Library Month digital storytelling contest. The authors will make the final determination of winners per grade level and winners will receive a set of books signed and personalized by the judging author.
Registration for National Library Legislative Day Open
 Registration for the 41st annual National Library Legislative Day is now open! This two-day advocacy event brings hundreds of librarians, trustees, library supporters, and patrons to Washington, D.C., to meet with their members of Congress and rally support for library issues and policies. Registration information and hotel booking information are available on the ALA Washington Office website. This year, National Library Legislative Day will be held May 4-5. Participants will receive advocacy tips and training, along with important issues briefings prior to their meetings. First-time participants are eligible for a unique scholarship opportunity.
ALA Task Force Seeks Input on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
The ALA Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion is currently in the information-gathering phase. To aid with information gathering, it has launched a series of short surveys to be conducted at times to coincide with the ALA Midwinter Meetings and Annual Conferences through 2016. These surveys are designed to help understand the culture of the association, the profession, and our communities with respect to equity, diversity, and inclusion. The first survey presents the definitions created by the task force — equity, diversity, and inclusion — and asks individuals to consider ALA’s current alignment with those definitions. The survey can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/tfedi1web. Responses will be collected through Feb. 16, 2015.
Editor's Note: An incorrect photo was attributed to Pauline Anderson in the death notice in the January 2015 issue of AASL Hotlinks. We apologize for the error.
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Chrissie Devinney Wins a Year of Free AASL Membership
 By sharing the wealth of AASL membership with a colleague, Chrissie Devinney, in turn, won a free year of AASL membership for herself. Devinney’s name was drawn as the December winner of AASL’s Share the Wealth Campaign. Devinney referred Diana Lynn Morris-Young to AASL. “I recommended membership to Dee during a conversation about the wonderful support and opportunities offered through AASL,” said Devinney. “I felt a need to give back to our profession as a whole. Being a member is one small way I can offer support to the profession.” Using the “Share the Wealth” membership acceptance form located on the AASL website, all current, personal AASL members are encouraged to reach out to their colleagues and invite them to join the only national professional organization focused on school librarians and the school library community.
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NFIL Issues Policy Statement on the Importance of Certified School Librarians
 The National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL) issued a policy statement on the importance of certified school librarians. The statement notes “School librarians are those best qualified to partner with classroom teachers in cultivating these abilities [information literacy] in students; classroom teachers do not learn how to teach these competencies during teacher preparation programs.” It concludes: “the National Forum on Information Literacy states that all students should have progressive and subject-integrated information literacy competency training that can best be provided through the leadership of school librarians and the current, well-organized resources of a school library. All teachers should work with a full-time certified or licensed school librarian located in their schools to partner on teaching students to learn by effectively using information—the key to lifelong learning.”
Study Examines Children's Reading Habits
 Reading aloud to children and restricting online screen time may boost the number of young children who read on their own, according to a recent study. Research shows older students are more likely to read on their own when they have free time during the school day. It also finds that fewer children are reading books frequently for fun. Of the children surveyed, the survey finds that for younger children (ages 6 to 11) being read aloud to regularly and having restricted online time were correlated with frequent reading; for older children (ages 12 to 17) one of the largest predictors was whether they had time to read on their own during the school day.
Obama Addresses Key Education Issues in State of the Union Address
In his sixth State of the Union address, President Barack Obama addressed several education issues, including the need for expanded access to high-speed broadband Internet, plans to offer affordable college education, and the importance of protecting students' data. Of net neutrality, he stated “I intend to protect a free and open Internet, to extend its reach to every classroom, and every community and help folks build the fastest networks, so that the next generation of digital innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our world.”
Oregon State Board of Education Adopts OASL’s Oregon School Library Standards
Last month the Oregon State Board of Education adopted the Oregon School Library Standards. The standards were developed by the Oregon Association of School Librarians (OASL) through a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the State Library. An OASL ad-hoc committee secured a meeting in November 2014 with Oregon Department of Education staff to present background information on the standards and propose their adoption. The standards were put before the state board of education for a first read at their December 2014 meeting. The information was well received, and the chair of the SBOE moved the matter to the consent agenda for the January 2015 meeting, where the standards were officially adopted.
Few Employers Believe College Graduates Ready for Workforce
While a majority of college students (59%) say they can solve complex problems in the workplace, only 24% of employers say they found that to be true of recent graduates, according to a new report by the Association of American Colleges & Universities. Some say colleges and universities need to do more to guide students into internships and other opportunities, so they can use their skills in the real world.
Social Media Update
 Facebook remains by far the most popular social media site with 71% of online adults using the platform, a Pew Research Center survey finds. Other platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn all saw significant increases over the past year in the proportion of online adults who now use their sites.
President Obama Announces America’s College Promise Proposal
Last month President Obama announced a community college proposal to make two years of community college free for responsible students across America. America’s College Promise would allow students to attend community colleges tuition-free if they attend half-time, are making satisfactory academic progress to a degree, and maintain a 2.5 GPA. To be eligible, community colleges would have to pledge to make their programs’ credits transfer to four-year institutions or lead to jobs in fields in demand, and states must commit to continuing existing commitments to higher education as well as provide a match to the federal grant.
Increasing Time for Teacher Collaboration Helps Improve Student Achievement
 A study from the Center on Education Policy finds that extra time for teacher collaboration and more robust teaching can help improve students’ academic achievement. The findings also show that additional instructional time may be moderately effective in improving academic achievement.
The Top States for K-12 Education
Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Vermont, and New Hampshire top this year’s Quality Counts ranking report on public education. Some states made big gains this year, including Wyoming, which jumped to 7 from 23, thanks—in part—to revised rating criteria.
Information Boosts Enrollment among Low-Income Students
Better information could help match low-income students with more-selective colleges, according to a recent study. The research follows up on an earlier study that revealed low-income students are more prone to enroll in less-selective colleges.
E-Story before Bed Can Disrupt Sleep
There’s plenty of research pointing to the benefits of parents reading to their children, but a new study suggests tech-addicted parents may want to go old school for the bedtime story. The research finds people who did their evening reading via a light-emitting electronic device had a harder time falling asleep and poorer quality sleep than those who read a print book. It’s the latest in a line of research on the effects of artificial, “blue-rich” light on sleep cycles.
Ed-Tech Investments Continue to Grow
Investment companies continue to put funding into education technology, according to a recent report from CB Insights. Still, some say education is playing catch-up. “Education is one of the last industries to be touched by Internet technology, and we're seeing a lot of catch-up going on,” said Betsy Corcoran, CEO of EdSurge, an industry news service and research company.
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Resources for School Librarians
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Why Teachers Should Partner with School Librarians
School librarians can help educators make the transition to inquiry-based learning, said Paige Jaeger, a school librarian turned administrator and co-author of "Think Tank Library: Brain-Based Learning Plans for New Standards." "This is so new for teachers, whereas librarians have been doing this for ten years," she said.
Comparing, Contrasting Tablets
The mobile device market continues to expand, and schools now have the option of choosing an alternative to the traditional tablet, including a phone-tablet device or a convertible notebook. This article offers a chart that contrasts and compares these devices.
Best Practices for Quality Student Assessments
Teachers and students will get out of assessments what they put into them, asserts Adisack Nhouyvanisvong, an educator and entrepreneur. In this blog post, he writes that studies have shown that engaging students in self-assessment and self-reflection are effective techniques and encourages teachers to use best practices for creating and delivering assessments.
How to Teach Students to Ask Probing Questions
Teaching students how to ask questions has implications far beyond the classroom and into society, asserts journalist and project-based learning advocate Suzie Boss. In this blog post, Boss describes the steps of the Question Formulation Technique and suggests ways teachers can implement the instructional method in classrooms, such as encouraging curiosity among students.
IT Rollouts Should Focus on Educational Goals
When launching technology, schools should focus on their educational goals -- not on the technology tools -- asserts Rob Dickson, executive director of information management systems for a Nebraska school district. This article highlights steps taken by his district to make technology "invisible."
Using Weather to Boost ELLs’ Literacy Skills
Weather can be an engaging theme to build the vocabulary and literacy skills of English-language learners, educator Larry Ferlazzo writes in this blog post. He includes lesson ideas and links to resources on season- and weather-themed lessons, such as teaching weather vocabulary through jazz chants or having students analyze and describe weather-related photos.
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Partnership and Collaborator News
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NEA's Read Across America Day Is March 2
 Oh, the Places You'll Go when you read! March 2 is NEA's Read Across America Day and this year, the book is the Seuss classic, Oh, The Places You'll Go. To make your event Seussational, go to Plan a Reading Event for Read Across America for tips and ideas to plan your own event. Be sure to follow Read Across America on Facebook and Twitter with #readacrossamerica.
Digital Learning Day Is March 13
Digital Learning Day will be held on March 13. Digital Learning Day celebrates innovative teaching practices that make learning more personalized and engaging and encourage exploration of how digital learning can provide more students with more opportunities to get the skills they need to succeed in college, career, and life. DigitalLearningDay.org offers customized toolkits for all audiences, grades, and subjects to help educators explore how they can contribute to the campaign. School librarians and other educators are invited to visit DigitalLearningDay.org to register to receive toolkits, resources, and invitations to run-up events and activities.
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Humane Society of the United States National KIND Teacher Award
 National Association for Humane and Environmental Education KIND Teacher Award recognizes an outstanding teacher who consistently incorporates humane and environmental education into his or her curriculum. Maximum award: recognition and a packet of grade-appropriate humane education materials. Eligibility: teachers K-6. Deadline: February 15, 2015.
World of 7 Billion Student Video Contest
For Population Education’s World of 7 Billion Student Video Contest, high school students from around the globe are challenged to create a short video (up to 60 seconds) about human population growth that highlights one of the following: the world is in the midst of the sixth mass extinction; most of the world's suitable farmland is already under cultivation; or worldwide, 1 in 10 primary school age children and 1 in 3 secondary age children are not enrolled in school. All videos must include a) how population growth impacts the issue, b) why the issue is important, and c) at least one idea for a sustainable solution. The first place winner will receive $1,000; second place winner $500; and honorable mentions $250 each. All students, grades 9-12, worldwide are eligible to participate and win. Entries are due by February 19, 2015.
Ezra Jack Keats Foundation Minigrants
The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation offers Minigrants to public and school libraries for programs that encourage literacy and creativity in children. Programs relating to the work of Ezra Jack Keats are welcome, but not required. Maximum award: $500. Eligibility: public and school libraries. Deadline: March 15, 2015.
NABT Outstanding New Biology Teacher Achievement Award
 The National Association of Biology Teachers Outstanding New Biology Teacher Achievement Award recognizes outstanding by a "new" biology/life science instructor within his/her first three years of teaching (when nominated) who has developed an original and outstanding program or technique and made a contribution to the profession at the start of his/her career. Maximum award: a travel fellowship, microscope, recognition plaque to be presented at the NABT Professional Development Conference, and one year of complimentary membership to NABT. Eligibility: teachers grades 7-12. Deadline: March 15, 2015.
NABT The Ron Mardigian Biotechnology Teaching Award
The National Association of Biology Teachers Ron Mardigian Biotechnology Teaching Award recognizes a teacher who demonstrates outstanding and creative teaching of biotechnology in the classroom. The award may be given for either a short-term series of activities or a long-term integration of biotechnology into the curriculum. The lessons must include active laboratory work and encompass major principles as well as processes of biotechnology. Criteria for selection include creativity, scientific accuracy and currency, quality of laboratory practice and safety, ease of replication, benefit to students and potential significance beyond the classroom. Maximum award: a recognition plaque to be presented at the NABT Professional Development Conference, one year of complimentary membership to NABT, and $1500 (up to $500 toward travel to the NABT Professional Development Conference and $1,000 in Bio-Rad materials). Eligibility: secondary school teachers. Deadline: March 15, 2015.
Library of Congress Summer Teacher Institutes
 The Library of Congress is accepting applications for its five week-long summer programs for K-12 educators. Held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., this professional development opportunity provides tools and resources to effectively integrate primary sources into K-12 classroom teaching, with an emphasis on student engagement, critical thinking, and construction of knowledge. Tuition and materials are provided at no cost. Applications are due March 24.
McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation Teacher Development Grants
Teacher Development Grants from the McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation support the development of new K-12 learning programs. Small teams of teachers are encouraged to apply for funding to help integrate fresh strategies that encourage critical inquiry and to observe their effects on students. Prize: Grants are available up to $10,000 for a maximum of three years. Deadline: April 15, 2015.
Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes
The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes honors outstanding young leaders who have focused on helping their communities and fellow beings and/or on protecting the health and sustainability of the environment. Maximum award: $2,500. Eligibility: youth 8-18. Deadline: April 15, 2015.
World Hunger Leadership Challenge
The World Hunger Leadership Challenge was created by the USA TODAY Charitable Foundation and the Lift a Life Foundation, with assistance from the Yum! Foundation, to encourage middle and high school students to hone leadership skills by completing a service-learning project that solves hunger issues. Teams of students from public, private, and charter middle schools and high schools are invited to enter. Each team must create and execute a service-learning project that attempts to solve a local, statewide, or national hunger-related issue; develop an action plan to achieve the goal; and demonstrate leadership. Each entry must include a written summary or video overview of the project and quantifiable results. Submissions will be accepted through April 17, 2015.
Beacon Society's Jan Stauber Grant
The Beacon Society's Jan Stauber Grant provides up to $500 to fund the development of a project that will introduce young people to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about his famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. U.S. and Canadian teachers, librarians, Sherlockian literary societies, and others are invited to apply for the Beacon Society's major funding project.The deadline for applications is May 1.
Teacher Grants from the NEA Foundation
 Currently, the NEA offers grants in two categories, including “Student Achievement” and “Learning & Leadership." Both programs have a Feb. 1 deadline. Student Achievement grants are designed to help teachers engage students in critical thinking and problem solving in standards-based subject matter. Winning programs should also improve students' inquiry, self-paced learning, and critical reflection skills. The Learning & Leadership grants fund professional development experiences and collegiate study for educators. Prize: Grants range from $2,000 to $5,000. Deadline: June 1 and Oct. 15.
Fund for Teachers Grants
The Fund for Teachers provides funds for direct grants to teachers to support summer learning opportunities of their own design. Maximum award: $5,000. Eligibility: teachers who work with students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, with a minimum of three years teaching experience, full-time, spending at least 50 percent of the time in the classroom at the time grants are approved and made. Deadline: varies by state.
Grants to Increase Access to Healthy Foods from the No Kid Hungry Foundation
 Providing students access to healthy and nutritious meals is the focus of No Kid Hungry Foundation grants. Currently, the foundation supports projects that increase access to summer meal programs, school breakfast and after-school snacks and meals. Plus, advocacy efforts, including anti-hunger issues and needs and educating families about SNAP and the Women, Infants, and Children programs. Interested schools can submit letters of inquiry year-round. Prize: Average grants range from $5,000 to $10,000. Deadline: Rolling.
Adobe Software Grants
Educators at Title 1 schools are encouraged to apply for software and teacher development grants from Adobe. The program is designed to increase access to Adobe creative tools through the White House’s ConnectED initiative. In addition to software, educators also receive access to on-demand professional development, including webinars, workshops and collaborative courses to learn more about utilizing Adobe creative programs in the classroom. Prize: Schools receive access to a variety of Adobe tools, including Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements. Educators also receive access to online PD courses. Deadline: Rolling.
Classroom Newspaper Subscription Grants from USA TODAY
On a rolling basis, the USA TODAY Charitable Foundation awards teachers digital and print subscriptions to USA TODAY. Currently, the foundation is awarding digital subscriptions to teachers on a first-come, first-served basis; print subscriptions are unavailable at the moment. Teachers must submit a short online application to be considered. Prize: Classroom subscriptions to the e-edition of USA TODAY. Deadline: Rolling.
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