More Kudos for SC’s School Library Programs

So I know many of you have seen this February article from Scholastic’s Administrator titled “Meet Your New School Library Media Specialist: Not Your Grandma’s Librarian…” I’m pretty sure I saw it when someone published it on the SCASL list serv, but I had already seen it in Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk blog too. SC received some really good kudos in that article, particularly for our LMS ADEPT program. What I did not realize was that the AASL Blog had president Sarah Kelly Johns had posted her thoughts on the article in February as well, and best she directly expressed an intrigue with our ADEPT instrument used to evaluate South Carolina Media Specialists.

I know many who actually worked on the development of the instrument, and I’ve had the chance to sit on evaluation teams (as many of you know, ADEPT is not done by a sole administrator, but rather a team of no less than two evaluators, one an administrator and one a peer.) With many of us being “singletons” in our schools, that peer is usually another practicing LMS from a neighboring school. I’ve been involved in the evaluation of LMS’s a couple of times using the instrument, and I must say it is a fair instrument that really reflects today’s school library media program. As a matter of fact, I’ve used my presence on these teams to “educate” principals on the vernacular of a current best practice library, and gotten some of them look at their program compared to best practice, hoping to be a catalyst for change in a school (i.e. showing how a fixed schedule does not really fit the evaluation instrument–that only an open or flexible schedule fits the evaluation instrument.)

Have I been able to make changes for the schools where I served on the team–particularly ones using a fixed schedule and a librarian as a planning period? No, I cannot say I have. I did though get the last school that I served on the team with to increase the school library budget so that the LMS would not be cited in the instrument on the collection when no monies had been allocated at all. I am proud of that instrument too, and hope that our administrators will take a second look at it now–particularly now that we are getting attention from a national perspective. I am also glad to know that activists in our organizations like AASL President Sarah Kelly Johns and Doug Johnson are giving our state kudos for the evaluation program we use to assess LMS’s. Do I think it will be a catalyst for major change? No. I will continue doing my part in educating administrators when I serve on evaluation teams, I promise. But we all know some things look good on paper, and that ometimes the reality bites. I wonder how many LMS’s in our state that have been required to do ADEPT have passed with flying colors, even though they have pathetic budgets, outdated collections, and no time for true collaboration (b/c they are the planning time for teachers)? I would wager many. Also let’s not forget the only LMS’s who have to go through the evaluation program are LMS’s who enter the profession as a first year educator, experienced LMS’s who move into South Carolina (and that is not every district or school, even), or LMS’s who work under progressive administrators who see the program and want to strive for change (and hope that the evaluation will be either a cure-all or cause a vacancy to fill.) Either way it is viewed, I still think the LMS Adept program deserves the merit and attention it is getting, and it makes me proud to work as a teacher librarian in the state of South Carolina.

One more note–for those of you who are using blogs for personal professional development, please note that the AASL Blog has relocated and renovated. Update your feeds to this address. Check out the new and improved AASL Weblog at http://aasl.ala.org/aaslblog or http://aaslblog.org

Are you busy this Tuesday evening @9:00?

Joyce Valenza (uber-teacher librarian, SLJ’s Neverending Search ), who will be joining us at the SCASL conference is a scheduled guest on one of my favorite web shows, the Women of Web 2.0 this coming Tuesday night. She and the Director of Media and Technology Doug Johnson (Blue Skunk Blog fame) of Mankato, Minnesota (another oneof my favorites!!) will be visiting the 2.0 ladies  (hence the name of the show Women of Web 2.0, known to many as WOW 2.0.)  There is a planned Ustream, and the EdTech Talk website that hosts the live program offers an AWESOME chat for the virtual participants.  Someone from the show watches the chat, and always brings our comments into the mix.  Plan to join the show on EdTech Talk (or Ustream–they will share details about the Ustream as we get closer to Tuesday.)  The show is on just about EVERY Tuesday night at 9:00 PM. EST.

Want to join in but don’t feel so comfy using the site? Email me or chat to me in my gmail (cathyjonelson) and I’ll assist you getting in to listen and even chat if you like. First timers sometimes have difficulty finding the audio stream.  Of course if you’ll jump right in the chat and ask for help, many there (Lisa Durff, Lisa Parisi, Carolyn Foote, me, others) will offer all kinds of things to try.  I consider myself (and these friends) regulars in the chat room, and all of us go out of our way to assist newcomers.  The shows are always powerful, the hour flies by, and you will make many new friends.  Best, this Tuesday is ALL ABOUT what we are about–school libraries.

C’mon, represent South Carolina LMS’s THIS Tuesday!

David Loertscher – an expert in the field of school librarianship

Please let me clarify something. My post regarding David Loertscher and David Warlick was primarily about how a webcast can draw me away from gurus like David Loertscher, and not to be misunderstood. I’ve followed David Loertscher through the years, and he adds value and has given excellent guidance on implementing a solid school library program that supports student learning. My favorite David L. presentation is from his book Ban the Bird Units! He has been in SC in recent years at our annual SCASL conference, and is well known among the SC school librarians. Doug Johnson said very positive things about David Loertscher and the presentation given in Second Life Wednesday Night, and I am glad I was able to use his post about the presentation since I did opt for the Women of Web webcast instead of ISTE’s David Loertscher presentation in Second Life. David Loertscher is right on top of current trends as you can see with his three spaces for students.

Doug Johnson states it best here:

…David Loertscher has remained a constant source of inspiration and ideas in the field of school librarianship through out my career. He’s an amazing guy…

Thank you Doug for sharing the information from a presentation I had a hard time leaving as I made my way over to the Women of Web 2.0 webcast.

Cathy Nelson

David Warlick or David Loertscher

Yesterday I was in a dilemma about what evening professional development event I wanted to participate in. I had read weeks ago that Second Life planned a presentation event in conjunction with ISTE featuring David Loertscher, library media guru and professor at San Jose State. I had also heard that David Warlick would be a guest on a weekly webcast i join, Women of Web 2.0. So at 9pm last night I was truly a multitasking person, pulling up both, and trying both at the same time. As I waited for David Loertscher to begin, I am standing there in SL thinking how eerie it feels to be in a virtual world, and how I was NEVER really a gamer, and didn’t know if I would EVER develop a comfort zone for this. I actually stood, too, b/c I could NOT make my avatar sit down. Seats were rapidly filling. But the other part of my computer was iTunes (as well as a chat window), and the folks were shrieking with laughter and very obviously having a great time. The conversation was LIVELY and fun, and I kept going back so I could follow the chat. The ladies and their guests always bring in the conversations happening in the chat, and last night was no less. I was incorrect about the guests though. David Warlick is going to visit soon, but last night was a show focusing on using social networks and new presentation tools. It was mentioned that WOW2.0 was competing with an ISTE event in SL, but the chatroom had a record crowd–in the upper 30s. The guests were Darren Draper of Blog “Drapes Takes,” 5th grade teacher Dean Meyer, and Steve Hargadon of blog fame, Ning fame, and best, Edublogger Con fame form NECC 2007.

What a WISE decision I made. Even though I was mildly disappointed that it wasn’t David Warlick, it was still very powerful conversations about new, free (mostly opensource) presentation tools, like Elluminate, FlashMeeting, Google Presentations, and others, and how these tools have enabled us to have meaningful professional development with tools designed not only to share, but also involve and interact with participants. Many of the new tools have a chat feature enabled, and sometimes the presenter can even incorporate the back channeled conversations right into their presentations. How awesome. We also talked of the power of social networks and social networking, reliving just a bit of the power that came from EdubloggerCon (which i attended and participated in at NECC Atlanta 2007!!)

Doug Johnson of Blue Skunk Blog fame had blogged yesterday about how he planned to attend the David Loertscher presentation in SL. So I emailed him and shared about my quandry–which one to choose? He emailed me back today, noting that he went to the SL presentation, and it seemed to me he was mildly disappointed that David Loertscher was only there apparently in handout form, as his assistant conducted the presentation. The content was good, but available as a pdf handout download. (NOTE: You can get good summary as well as Doug’s take and thought provoking questions from this SL presentation in a post on his blog today.)

So with this information I now am SO GLAD I choose Women of Web 2.0. It was well worth the hour I spent online in this chatroom as I listened to the guests and hostesses carry the program. Best of all, I was NOT alone in my choice. Reports are that the chatroom had record numbers, and included in the chatroom were some really big experts like David Jakes, Miguel Ghulin, and LMS’s Joyce Valenza, Carloyn Foote, and Lisa Durff. (Great minds think alike, and apparently meet up in the same chatrooms!) My friends, it is a wonderful opportunity to network with educators who have a similar interests in students and education. Here is quoted text from their site that tells what it is:

WOW 2.0 is for all who are using the tools of the internet whether it be in a classroom setting, leading seminars, authoring books, maintaining blogs or wikis, or just enjoying the tools of the internet in an educational and exciting way.

WOW2 is brought to you by Cheryl Oakes, Jennifer Wagner, Sharon Peters, & Vicki Davis, four women who not only love using the tools of the Internet but also love sharing the tools with others…Each Tuesday night’s chat is great fun and we invite you to join in the conversation via the chat room.

One last note. I asked Jennifer Wagner when David Warlick will be there. They are trying to have him mid October, which for the show translates to Tuesday night, October 16, from 9-10PM. I promise if you come any Tuesday night you won’t be disappointed.

NECC 2007 — You can still tune in!

Even though Necc 2007 is now a distant memory, I am pleased to share many ways you can still enjoy this educational conference, an annual favorite of mine! Those who know me know that I am huge fan of library gurus Doug Johnson (of the Blue Skunk Blog) and Joyce Valenza (of the Neverending Search Blog), who I got to speak with personally at the conference. Yes, I was star struck by some of my favorites, but both of these are really easy going folks who love to talk about the state of libraries in education today. NECC made podcasts of many of the sessions, as well as webcasts. The podcasts are now available for you to listen to, and the webcasts will be coming soon. [UPDATE: Webcasts are available NOW here and HERE.]

Here is a link directly to Doug Johnson’s session titled Classrooms and Libraries for the Net Generation, and here is a link directly to Joyce Valenza’s session (co presented with Ken Rodoff) titled Inforamtion Fluency Meets Web 2.0. Both are excellent sessions I attended, and there was standing room only in these sessions. Many opted to sit on the floor. I even know of a small group who sat in the hallway and listend via someone “skypecasting” the session live!

There are a lot of other sessions available in this format at the Apple Learning Interchange Site, the official podcast channel of NECC.

No time to sit and listen?? Visit Hitchhikr or Technorati to read up on the sessions that were blogged. I wish I could share the energy in the blogger lounges as well, but most of that was unrecorded conversations. But you can read all about it in the blog postings from above.

As you enjoy your summer break, perhaps you’ll be able to enjoy this conference as well, even from afar.