Library Media Tech Talk

We have made several exciting connections via Skype during the fall of 2016. I want to share about three connections we have made in the last few weeks. These are all special to me for different reasons, and I will share about the significance of each. What is amazing about each of these events is that they wouldn't have happened if not for the magic of social media. If you are not a connected educator, I hope these stories will convince you to start connecting (for your growth and for your learning community). Connecting With Shannon Miller I have previously shared that Shannon McClintock Miller inspired me to create this blog and to become a connected teacher librarian. I heard her speak at the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media Conference in 2014. Since taking up these practices that year (and learning more about Twitter through our assistant principal, Mathew Thornton), my professional life has forever changed. I've been blessed with thousands of new educator f...

Teen Read Week crept up on us this year, but we were still able to pull off some special events for our learners. I want to take a moment to share some of the events we did in the library. Teen Read Week is sponsored each year by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). This year it was held from October 9-15, 2016. Get Caught Reading This is one of my favorite activities to do with our students. If we catch them reading, we snap a quick photo and collect their name for a prize drawing. I have done this sporadically for many years. In the future, we should send the photos to a custom hashtag on Twitter and Instagram. "Get Caught Reading" is always a blast! Skype With 1st Graders In the spring, I wrote about our connection with my teacher librarian friend (and MIEExpert), Karey Killian. We have been wanting to connect again this year, and we decided to make it happen during Teen Read Week. We picked a day that Karey had a first-grade class. She ...

While attending the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media Conference back in the spring , I was approached by our State Program Advisor for School Libraries. Cassandra Barnett. She told me she wanted to send a film team from the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) to feature our library program. She was specifically interested in our newly renovated library spaces and our collaboration programs. I was surprised and excited by this wonderful opportunity for our learning community. Later in the fall, I was contacted by director, Cindy Hogue, about a visit. Gayle and Kevin prepare for Sidra's interview The Visits Cassandra and Cindy were accompanied by the film crew, Gayle Morris and Kevin Briggs. We decided to invite them to our annual 8th grade English class Dust Bowl collaboration. It was great fun to show the team how we use the library for common core collaborations that we design to bring books to life for our high school learners. The team returned a week l...

This week I had a wonderful opportunity to present to my teacher librarian friends on a TL Virtual Cafe webinar. I have to admit that I was both nervous and excited to speak to colleagues across the nation using this presentation format. The topic I was requested to present was Future Ready Librarians . To prepare, I researched the topic online. I discovered a blog article by Joyce Valenza that revealed the background information on Future Ready Schools. Superintendents that take the Future Ready Pledge are agreeing to make meaningful changes in their district's curriculum toward a digital learning transition. I also discovered a lot of excellent information on the FutureReady.org Librarians Page.   There are numerous Future Ready components that we can strive to provide for our learning communities through our library services. In fact, if we could aspire to show evidence in each of these areas, we would have an exemplary school library program. In our school library pro...

Twitter never ceases to amaze me. In August, my wife and I were enjoying a Saturday clothes shopping trip. I remember we were in JCPenney picking out our new school clothes. (This is an annual pilgrimage for us every August.) At some point during that shopping session, I received a Tweet from Leigh Morris. As I recall, she was asking me about Breakout EDU. When I looked at her Twitter profile and realized she was a teacher in Cape Town, South Africa, I immediately followed her and told her I would love to connect our learning communities together this year. It was a delightful visit via my iPhone Twitter app as I followed my wife around the store. It was easy to tell that Leigh was a passionate teacher, and I was so glad she reached out to me! These are the motivated educators I consistently encounter on Twitter. Skype Antics If you have been watching this blog and my social media, you know I love connecting our students and teachers via Skype. Recently, we have been experimen...

The first of the school year is always a wild experience full of change and excitement! August went by extremely fast, and now I'm trying to figure out where the first half of September has gone. I thought I would take this opportunity to reflect on a few of the library events over the past few weeks. Each of these are programs we have hosted in previous years, but it is the first time we have attempted them in our new library spaces. I will also provide links to detailed blog articles we have written about the events in the past. The Dust Bowl ( Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse) This is a collaboration we have done with 8th grade English classes since 2012. The program is designed to introduce students to the 1930s (and Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse) by immersing them in a variety of media from the era. This year we featured four learning centers: 1. FDR Dust Bowl Speech (Audio File) 2. Woody Guthrie Dust Bowl Blues (Music Video) 3. Book Check Out/ Artifac...