Library Media Tech Talk

Updated February 18, 2017 Recently, I have heard from many teacher librarian friends around the country (and world) that are encountering the effects of personnel and/ or budget cuts. This deeply saddens me when I learn of library services being cut back in any way. We should explore ways to be proactive to hopefully minimize these effects. Sometimes, no amount of promoting the library seems to make a difference when money is tight, but we should still make the effort to show the value of the library. It is crucial that we show the school, community, and world that libraries are an essential part of learning. We should strive to lead from the library and work to do this even from areas in which we are not comfortable because this is how growth takes place. I'd like to share what has worked for me in the 9 years I have served as a school librarian. This isn't a perfect method of leadership, but I have seen it work year after year. 1. Build Relationships I used to thi...

A Friendly Email It all started with an email from my friend, Tracey Wong, last summer. Tracey is a school librarian in New York City. I first connected with her via email after reading one of her magazine articles late last spring. In June, she emailed telling me I should apply for an unfamiliar program called MIE Expert (Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert). I love learning, and I'm always looking for ways to connect with other educators. At first glance, I knew that this program would be very beneficial. Microsoft selects educators each year to become part of the MIE Expert group. This is a large community with thousands of educators all over the world. All of the members are innovative leaders in education using technology. I thought this would be a great way to network and learn from others, so I decided to apply to see what might happen. Go here to learn more about being an MIE Expert. Skype has changed our learning community this year! Application and Acce...

Earlier this year our special services administrator, Mrs. Courtney Eubanks, approached me about participating in Disability Awareness Week. I was very interested in the idea. It is important to serve all types of learners in the library and give them a voice. I was especially interested in a disability awareness activity that Mrs. Eubanks described to me. She told me that she had access to several activities that allowed students to experience disabilities in a learning station format. I shared this activity with the library staff, and we were all excited to give it a try. We also partnered with our local First Step organization that assists students with disabilities in our community. It was decided that we would have a fundraiser in the library for First Step during Disability Awareness Week. The "Walk a Mile In My Shoes" Activity We decided to have a total of four learning stations for students to experience on the day of the event. Our Family and Consumer Science tea...

Each time I attend professional conferences, I come home overwhelmed with ideas. Hearing keynote speakers share their best practices while also issuing growth challenges is always thought provoking. This year, the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media (AAIM) Conference was held in Springdale, Arkansas. I want to share some of my most important takeaways from the conference. Dr. Joyce Valenza Dr. Valenza was the first keynote speaker of the conference. I have been following her on Twitter for many years; and it was great to hear her speak and meet her in person! Her first general session had many points that resonated with me. Her thoughts about our online presence being our "business card" was big! Here are some questions and thoughts that I'm still considering after her talk nearly a week ago: What footprint (business card) are we creating on social media? Our Twitter account/ feed is our new business card. What are we teaching students about this?...

Earlier this year, I published an article about my wife's (Cindy Evans) super hero library theme. Cindy has found this theme to be one of her most successful in recent years. She has noticed that students, teachers, and parents have really connected to super heroes. This is no surprise since, even 8 months after my original post, super hero movies continue to blow up the big screen! Super Librarian flying! Super Librarian On The Big Screen Cindy and I decided to take a road trip to the Grand Canyon during spring break. She knew she would be out of school on the following Wednesday when we returned. This would be a day she normally announced the Accelerated Reader awards for the nine weeks at a school assembly. She hated to miss this important moment for her students, so she pitched an idea that really resonated with me. Cindy asked if there was a way to make it appear she was flying over the Grand Canyon in her Super Librarian identity. Her learning community had loved the...