[CASL-L] SLJ article on cutting LMS in CA district

[Cathy Andronik]

When I read that article, there was smoke coming out of my ears.  Remember when we all believed that Common Core was our salvation?  Or Learning Commons?  Yet more and more, I'm hearing that schools are buying into prepackaged, canned CC rather than having teachers come to their LMS's for good, RECENT, IN-PRINT nonfiction reading.  (If you look at the canned materials, much of the recommended supplemental reading is old and OP.)  My district is proclaiming WE ARE CREATING LEARNING COMMONS--which, as I understand it, will be staffed by "facilitators" who may not even be certified.  Because there will be teachers in the room with their classes anyway, and they know how to access and evaluate high quality online materials like databases, right?
 
My fellow LIBRARIANS (and I do believe this all started when we began disputing what to call ourselves, which is a sign of an identity crisis, an indication that even WE weren't sure what our function was), I'm going to say something radical, and those of you who have met me at CASL, AASL, ALA, etc. have heard this:  STOP CONCENTRATING ON SPEAKING OUT AT CASL, AASL, and ALA!!  Enough with preaching to the converted when it's the heathens who hold our livelihood in their hands.  If we really want to survive, we need to infiltrate the ranks of the people who make the decisions that affect us:  SUPERINTENDENTS, PRINCIPALS, etc.!!!!  WE NEED TO GET ON THE AGENDAS OF THEIR CONFERENCES!!!  Schools of education, too.  I remember helping a newbie elementary teacher when I was moonlighting in the children's dept. of a public library.  Her words:  "I'm not sure there are such things, but I'm looking for biographies for second graders."  She was
 amazed 1) that there ARE such things, and really good ones, too; 2) that  the library at her school (in a well-funded district) probably owned them as well.  
 
There are many in our ranks who are persuasive speakers comfortable with the higher-ups.  I'd do it, but I'm neither (too antagonistic and defensive, not good at the quick, witty comeback).
 
Or maybe we'd all be happier teaching keyboarding...
 
Cathy Andronik
Teacher librarian
Brien McMahon HS
Norwalk

________________________________
From: Jane Martellino <jmartellino at rsd6.org>
To: CASL_L <casl-l at mylist.net> 
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 10:31 AM
Subject: Re: [CASL-L] SLJ article on cutting LMS in CA district



Dear Colleagues,

I am becoming more and more concerned for our profession.  

All to often we are reading about such cuts.  

All to often I am noticing LMS not even included.  For instance, I attend Teacher's College Reunion Days- 2 times a year and I have yet heard a presenter suggest to the participants to seek out their LMS for collaboration and resource suggestions.

Recently we received an email for an upcoming event from Scholastic to be held in the Boston area.  The PD day looks great and I plan to attend.  However, as part of their promo material, they had a triangle showing the three groups who should attend- again no mention of LMS!  And yet it is a reading summit on the power of independent reading hosted by Scholastic Book Fairs!


We need to speak up, initiate, and not only get seated at the table but lead the table!

Not too long ago it was shared on this list that I was chosen to be part of the "CT Dream Team" ( a name I don't particularly care for).  It's a partnership with Learn Zillion and our DOE.  There was some discussion about the agenda of these groups.  I will tell you that it has been an incredibly rich learning experience.  AND it is vitally important that we have representation at such key initiatives.

I guess reading the announcement on the CA cuts shared by Irene, made me want to rally our group.  CASL is needed more than ever to strengthen and support our members.  We need to increase our collaboration with each other.  Opportunities through CLC Roundtables exist for such work as well as our upcoming joint CECA/CASL conference.

And we have this listserve to share and lighten the load.  We can tweak each other's resources to meet the needs of our communities.  But we need to share the good stuff!

In that light, I wanted to share with you how I "raised the bar" on the summer reading packet for our district.  I know as parents, we all tend to skim and scan the materials that get sent home. So I thought we should have a digital version for parents to access whenever and as often as they like.  But, I sprinkled in interviews with key folks in the school to make the material more inviting and engaging. It literally took 5 minutes to create all the interviews on the ipad and then embed them into the flyer I already created.  This is still a draft so I will be refining it a bit. However, I wanted to share it with you now, in case you wanted to use any of the ideas/resources.
http://goo.gl/TSQDSk


Also, here is the pdf for the upcoming CECA/CASL conference- get your district support for your attendance!

Jane


-- 

Jane E.  Martellino 
K-6 School Media Specialist
RSD6
Connecticut


Preparing all students for learning, living and achieving.


Title IX – ContactSection 504 Contact
Christine Fenn, CounselorJody Lambert
98 Wamogo Road, Litchfield, CT 0675998 Wamogo Road, Litchfield, CT 06759
860-567-7400860-567-7400
Regional School District No. 6 does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.  The following people have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:
_______________________________________________
CASL-L mailing list
CASL-L at mylist.net
http://mylist.net/listinfo/casl-l
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mylist.net/archives/casl-l/attachments/20140528/6a6d2aef/attachment.html>