pafa.net » School Libraries

Got a terrific school library web site?

pollyalida — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:14:22 +0000

Got a terrific school library web site? Does your site need a pick me up? Or a complete make-over? Get some inspiration from your colleagues web sites and share your own great examples on the new SchoolLibraryWebSites wiki spearheaded by Joyce Valenza (Pointing to effective practice, join the wiki!)

The wiki has examples of:

Elementary, Middle School & High School web sites
Pathfinders
Book & Reading Promotion Ideas
… and so much more!

Also a handy-dandy list of school library bloggers and tweeters! So if you’re looking for a few new blogs to follow or want a ready made group of school library colleagues to connect with on twitter, you’re in business!

Banned Book Week at the Unquiet Library

pollyalida — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:36:35 +0000

Buffy Hamilton, Roxanne Johnson and Tammy Beasley have done a great job transforming their library (Creekview High School, GA) for Banned Book Week. The windows are wrapped in brown paper and books covered with “Do Not Read” covers. Take a look at the full set of pics on flickr.

K-12 Hot Topic Technology Webinars

pollyalida — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:19:32 +0000

Check out these free webinars from Project Tomorrow® and T.H.E. Journal for those interested in K-12 IT issues:

Aug 19 Mobile Devices within Instruction
Sep 16 Digital Content
Oct 14 Web 2.0 and Education
Oct 28 21st Century Skills
Nov 11 Top 10 Trends in Student Learning with Technology
Dec 2 Internet Safety

FAQs not rules!

pollyalida — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:18:51 +0000

This is terrific – instead of a list of library rules The Unquiet Library has Frequently Asked Questions. Buffy Hamilton created a fun slide-based mini-orientation that is included in their library research guides for specific classes. Take a look at the guide for an 11th grade English class as an example.

Buffy is using LibGuides to create these research guides. It’s a great service, but if your school doesn’t have this service, you can still make some great research guides using a wiki.

Upcoming School Library Workshops

pollyalida — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:47:55 +0000

It’s almost August and it finally feels like summer. And for me August is full of workshops for school library media specialists.

WSWHE BOCES SLS

August 6 – Wikis and Blogs
August 7 – Digital Storytellling
August 27 – Google Greats
For more info and registration

Oswego & OCM BOCES SLS

August 12 & 13 – Tech Camp in Slow Motion
For more info and registration

And look for another post soon with my fall schedule including classes in Connecticut, New York and at Internet Librarian in Monterey, CA in October.

KidLib Camp 2009 – August 13

pollyalida — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:16:58 +0000

Don’t miss this unconference! KidLibCamp – for librarians interested in youth service in school & public libraries.

KidLibCamp 2009 is a place for youth services librarians to get together and talk about topics that are important to serving children in school and public libraries. KidLibCamp is an unconference that asks participants to share their work, skills, or knowledge as active participants. Unlike more traditional conferences, KidLibCamp will be highly participatory. Sessions will be determined the day of the KidLibCamp by those in attendance.

If you’ve never been to an unconference, you’re in for a treat. Sharing knowledge and collaborating are what drive an unconference. Everyone has a chance to contribute and learn. This day is being organized by Linda W. Braun or Gretchen Hams-Casserotti. The meeting is being held at Darien PL in southwest CT. If you’re in my neck of the woods (eastern NY) it’s an easy trip.

Gretchen and the Children’s Services Dept. did a really interesting reorganization of their collections when they moved to their new building in January – you can read about it at KidLit Reorg 2008 on Tame The Web. And go to the unconference and see it first hand and share your own great ideas with your colleagues.

Elementary School 2.0

pollyalida — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:16:32 +0000

Buffy Hamilton (The Unquiet Librarian) posted some great examples today of how elementary schools are using social media to communicate with faculty, parents & students. Read her post!

I wanted to highlight two of her examples from Christina Bentheim at the Dickens Elementary School in North Las Vegas, NV.

1: A wiki page chock full of resources for teacher, parents & students and with a great Glogster graphic as an interactive front page.

2: Her NetVibes information portal full of subject resources, a parenting section, teaching resources and more.

Is There a Place for Media Specialists Who Don’t Know Social Media?

pollyalida — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:02:35 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

This should be a great discussion!!! Participate live – Thursday night.

Join us tomorrow on the Future of Education at 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 12am GMT (next day) when Joyce Valenza leads a discussion on the future of librarians and their role in education. Special guests: Buffy Hamilton, Cathy Nelson, and Carolyn Foote! See the full event details at http://www.futureofeducation.com/forum/topics/panel-discussion-is-there-a

(via email from Classroom 2.0)

I will work for chocolate!

pollyalida — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:42:23 +0000

These lovely quilted hot pads were given to the speakers at the NYLA/ SLMS meeting last week. And lots of chocolate bars.

Thanks to everyone who came to my two sessions at the NYLA/SLMS annual conference. The resources for the sessions are on my wiki.

There were so many good ideas being shared by people who attended, but we ran out of time to talk and share. I hope you’ll use this page to share the web sites, project ideas and examples of how you’re using the tools we talked about.

The comments box awaits your input!

Student book reviews linked to catalog

pollyalida — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:57:14 +0000

In a class last week, Jenny Brown and Silvia Lilly from the Bethlehem HS showed us how they were linking their students’ book reviews to their catalog. They save the reviews on their school server and then link in the 856 field. Pretty nifty simple trick. Try searching for Kite Runner.