MSLA 2013: Monday Sessions

Monday began with the amazing fabulous Barbara Stripling (Anna will write more about her), who's going to ALA president next year. It gives me such hope.  Maybe...maybe ALA will improve through her awesome.  Don't let it beat you down, Barbara.  Love you!


I attended three break-out sessions.  The first was iPads and Free Agent Learning with Deborah Froggatt and Allegra D'Ambruoso.  Next year, my school is going 1:1 with iPads.  We had iPad carts this year (nightmare, iPads are NOT designed to be shared devices).  There are mixed feelings about this switch, and I was hoping to get some insight into regular classroom use, maintenance, things like that.  Unfortunately for me, my school is further along with using iPads than the presenters were, so I wasn't able to get a whole lot that was new out of it.  However, I think it was great for people who are just starting, or considering brining iPads into their schools or libraries.

MSLA 2013: Sunday Highlights

This past weekend, Anna and I and many other Massachusetts librarians attended the annual Massachusetts School Library Association conference in exotic Sturbridge, MA.  We had two full days of all school librarian-focused speakers and sessions.  The theme of this year's conference was "Lead and Learn."  All conference handouts can be found on the MSLA website.

Anna will be talking about the first speaker of the day, Pam Berger, in another post.  I'm going to start with the second speaker of the day, Richard Byrne.  I was looking forward to hearing him speak, as his topic was about developing a power PLN (personal learning network).  The blurb about his talk said: "Librarians who want to expand their professional learning opportunities beyond the traditional in-service days, occasional conference, and graduate course, will be introduced to networks like Classroom 2.0, Educator's PLN, and Google Plus."  Sounds good, yes?  Well it might have been if that's what actually happened.  But I'm afraid it wasn't.  At all.

Everything started out just fine.  Richard talked about how essential it is for librarians to have a personal learning network, especially if you're the only librarian in your school, possibly even the only one in your district.  I completely agree with this.  I'm so lucky that I work in a library with two other full time librarians.  It's wonderful to always have someone to bounce ideas off of or ask for feedback.  If you're alone, technology can give you a way to have a community, even a global community.  Even if you're not alone that's pretty cool!

Alan November at MSLA

It's been a week since Anna and I were at MSLA, but I still haven't done my write-ups due to the fact that last week was INSANE!  And because of this I have not gotten to tell you about the fabulousness that is Alan November.  That will be fixed now.

Alan November (who for whatever reason I always refer to using both first and last name) had a three-hour slot to speak, and I could have listen to him talk for hours more.  Alan November, would you be my mentor?  He was not only incredibly inspirational, but also gave concrete strategies to use in the classroom.

He started off talking about the Internet, and how now the Internet is actually used in a less creative way than it was in the 80s.  It had become a place to cut and place and do things quickly and not have to think.  Alan November stressed that technology should not be misinterpreted to be innovation.  Thank you, Alan November, for saying that.  I worry about this.  I've certainly seen it in my school, and I know others are concerned as well.  It's hard not to get excited about the newest, shiniest thing.  We want that new shiny thing, because then we are cutting edge and using technology in the classroom and so forth.  But what's the point of announcing "We've bought a whole cart of iPads!" if there is no curriculum in place to actually use those iPads?  If there's no instruction in place to teach the teachers who are suppose to use those iPads in their classrooms?  Yes, it's exciting when something comes out that might possibly have educational potential, but we need to stop and think and plan and decide if it's going to enhance learning.

Lori Cooney: Web 2.0 Tools

Lori Cooney did a fantastic job recommending different websites, apps, and software, that further collaboration and teaching. I cannot wait to implement them ALL! I am hoping to embed her presentation in this post, because the amount of stuff she talked about would take forever to write down. For now I'll just link it.

News

If you're around my age, you have no doubt also dealt with this troubling question: which is better? The Baby-Sitter's Club or Sweet Valley High? BuzzFeed is going with The Baby-Sitter's Club.

For the Percy Jackson fans out there, Adidas has made a Hermes shoe. From Inspiration for Youth Advocates blog.

How Should Schools Handle Cyberbullying? From The New York Times.

Also at war, who's more popular, Harry Potter or Twilight? On Twitter, Harry Potter is winning.

In other Harry Potter news, trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is up! So excited!

In other Twilight news, this kid is awesome. Author Michelle Pan on her book, Why Bella Should Have Dumped Edward. From I Heart Daily.

Transforming Teens Spaces @ ALA Annual Conference. From YPulse.

Students Not Being Encouraged to Use Technology. From the Journal.