ALA Annual Conference Panel Highlights Partnerships to Extend School Library Support
Every school library advocate has a unique story to share about how they developed and grew partnerships. A special panel during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago will bring together three library professionals to discuss the partnerships they formed to extend the base of support for school library programs beyond school librarians. “Partnerships to Strengthen School Libraries” will take place at 3:00 p.m. on Sun., June 25, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick in Burnham/CC 23A-C.
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New School Library Research Article Examines Preparation of Online Learning
A new article exploring how school library professionals are trained to deliver online learning is now available in volume 20 of the AASL’s peer-reviewed online journal, School Library Research (SLR). In “School Librarians Fully Online: Preparing the Twenty-First Century Professional,” a research team from Georgia Southern University examines the ways that school library preparation programs prepare candidates to design digital learning spaces that include fully online courses for K–12 students.
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Pilot Mountain Elementary School Wins ALA School Library Award for Program about Cultural and Historic Preservation
Pilot Mountain Elementary School, a public school in Pilot Mountain, NC, has been recognized by the American Library Association (ALA) for Everybody Has a Story, a library program that taught third-graders about cultural and historic preservation both locally and globally. As the recipient of ALA’s 2017 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming, the school’s library will receive $5,000.
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Robin Stout Shares Digital Citizenship Lessons in Article
Robin Stout, library media services and emerging technologies administrator in the Lewisville (TX) Independent School District, shares steps to enhance digital citizenship lessons in an online article. "My advice for librarians looking to foster a climate of responsible digital behavior is to bring parents, teachers, and administrators into the conversation early,” she writes. “These stakeholders serve as powerful models and are essential to a shared climate.”
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Ann Mlod Featured in School Librarian Calendar
Ann Mlod, librarian at Genesee Street Elementary School librarian, is adding a new title to her resume: calendar model. Mlod has been selected to be featured in a 2018 calendar showcasing librarians who make connections with students and their area. The picture being featured depicts Mlod while she was hiking Taal Volcano in the Philippines in 2016.
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Stephie Luyt Wins a Free Year of AASL Membership
By sharing the wealth of AASL membership with a colleague, Stephie Luyt has won a free year of AASL membership. Luyt 's name was drawn as a monthly winner of AASL’s Share the Wealth Campaign. By referring Genevieve Minor to AASL, Luyt has also been entered to win an AASL National Conference & Exhibition grand prize package, which includes registration, airfare, and hotel accommodations. For more information about AASL’s Share the Wealth program, visit http://www.ala.org/aasl/about/join/STW.
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Anita Celluccii and Laura D’Elia Awarded MSLA’s 2017 Service Award
Anita Cellucci of Westborough High School and Laura D’Elia of J. Harding Armstrong and Annie E. Fales elementary schools received Massachusetts School Library Association’s 2017 Service Award. Cellucci and D’Elia were honored for their dedication to the profession of school librarianship through leadership at the state level and beyond.
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Suzanna L. Panter started a new position as Program Manager, School Libraries, at Tacoma Public Schools.
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Submit a Member Current
Have you graduated, received a new certification, changed positions, or retired? Submit a Member Current for inclusion in the next KQ Express.
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FCC Accepting Public Comments on Net Neutrality
The FCC has published its proposal to undo the 2015 net neutrality rules and is now accepting public comment on the measure through July 17. The proposal asks a lot of questions, including whether net neutrality rules are needed at all. However, the FCC is obligated to review the comments it receives and to act in the public interest. The agency needs a robust public record that supports its decision.
Education Secretary Addresses Senate Appropriations Committee
Earlier this month Education Secretary Betsy DeVos addressed various topics during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's proposed education budget. Topics included approval of states' Every Student Succeeds Act plans, federal funding and discrimination in private schools.
The Hallmarks of Professional Development
Professional development may be most effective when it focuses on factors such as academic content, active learning, collaboration and coaching, according to a report from the nonprofit Learning Policy Institute. The report is based on analysis of 35 studies.
School Funding Still Feeling Effects of Recession Cuts
US schools have struggled to recover from recession-era spending cuts, as nearly half of states offer less education formula funding today compared with 2008, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Meanwhile, since the downturn, schools have brought back only about one-third of the 351,000 jobs that were lost.
Trump Administration Fills More Education Positions
President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have announced several appointments for the Education Department. Filled positions include assistant secretary for congressional affairs and deputy assistant secretaries for special education and rehabilitative services and higher-education programs.
Are Students Naturally Drawn to STEM?
A majority of middle- and high-school students generally may not exhibit natural curiosity about science, technology, engineering and math, according to a survey, commissioned by Lockheed Martin, of 1,000 teachers. Data show about 38% of teachers believe students are naturally drawn to STEM.
Therapy Dogs May Improve Attitudes about Reading
Using therapy dogs may help boost students' literacy skills and attitudes about reading, according to a study by researchers at Tufts University. Data show positive outcomes for students who read to therapy dogs for 30 minutes one time a week.
Academics in Preschool Boosts Learning
Attending one year of an "academic-oriented preschool" boosts students' learning in literacy and math, compared with peers who do not attend such programs, according to a study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley. The study considered trends among 6,150 students nationwide.
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Resources for School Librarians
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Ideas to Boost Teens’ Social Media Awareness
Research shows that social media guidance for teens may be lacking, author and topic expert Ana Homayoun writes in this commentary. She offers ideas to help adults communicate with teens about "healthy socialization, effective self-regulation and overall safety."
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US Department of Education Introduces New IDEA Website
The US Department of Education has launched a new website with information and resources about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The resource comes three months after the previous site crashed because of technical problems.
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Using the SAMR Model
Teachers should consider the SAMR model -- substitution, augmentation, modification or redefinition -- to help technology foster student growth, according to middle-school science teacher Joanna Beck. In this blog post, she shares how the model can be integrated into teaching and learning.
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Google Program Seeks to Make Students “Internet Awesome”
Google announced a new tool to help students learn about online safety and digital citizenry. Google's recently announced "Be Internet Awesome" program includes educational resources such as an online game called Interland, which educators who helped test the game say resonated well with students.
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Fostering PBL Leadership Skills
Leaders of project-based learning need to assume several roles, including vision builder, design thinker and smart innovator, writes Tom Vander Ark, CEO of education advocacy firm Getting Smart. He outlines seven ways school leaders can develop these skills.
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How Differentiated Learning Boosts Students’ Skills
Literature lessons that are differentiated to the skills and needs of students help boost reading, writing and critical-thinking skills, writes educator and author Laura Robb. In this article, Robb writes that teachers may select texts on different instructional reading levels but cover the same theme, topic or genre, and students can discuss and write about what they are reading.
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Ideas to Foster Learning during Summer Break
Learning should be an ongoing process that occurs 365 days a year, asserts education leader Fred Ende. In this blog post, he shares ideas for fostering such learning, such as asking students to develop a "summer summary" before they leave for the break.
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How to Use Music across Curricula
Music can be incorporated across curricula, suggests elementary and special-education teacher Maria Alegria. In this blog post, she writes that using music in the classroom requires no special training and offers ways to use music in history, literacy, math and science lessons.
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Smithsonian Site Energizes Summer Learning
The Smithsonian Learning Lab website can help tie students' summer reading to the real world, writes middle-school literacy teacher Kathy Powers. In this blog post, she shares four ways she uses the website's reading resources and interactive tools to engage her students.
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Partnership & Collaborator News
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Four Tips for Effective Lesson Plans on Fake News
Studies show that teens can be the most vulnerable to misleading media, despite their birthright as so-called "digital natives." Media literacy lessons that stick with teen readers need to make a compelling case for critical literacy, reveal students' own media literacy blind spots, provide depth and nuance to the terms and phenomena discussed, and have relevant applications to teens' everyday use of media, according to these tips from ASCD.
Every Child a Reader Announces Winners of 10th Annual Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards
Every Child a Reader, a nonprofit charity dedicated to inspiring a love of reading in children and teens, is proud to announce the winners of the 10th Annual Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards. The 2017 winners are:
- K–2nd Grade Book of the Year: Madeline Finn and the Library Dog by Lisa Papp (Peachtree Publishers)
- 3rd–4th Grade Book of the Year: Once Upon an Elephant by Linda Stanek; illus. by Shennen Bersani (Arbordale Publishing)
- 5th–6th Grade Book of the Year: The Misadventures of Max Crumbly 1: Locker Hero by Rachel Renée Russell, with Nikki and Erin Russell (Aladdin/ Simon & Schuster)
- Teen Book of the Year: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (Henry Holt/Macmillan Children’s Publishing)
CoSN Issues Updated Student Privacy Toolkit for School Districts
CoSN released a new version of its national privacy toolkit for school system leaders. The updated Protecting Privacy in Connected Learning Toolkit, Version 3 equips districts with modern guidance to improve their privacy efforts, from complying with legal requirements to establishing trust within their communities. Developed by privacy experts and school technology leaders, the toolkit builds on CoSN’s privacy leadership through the Protecting Privacy initiative.
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