In this issue…
SAYL News in Brief
Libraries Offer Freedom from Reading Level Limitations [Delta Phi Kappan. 8min.]
“As librarians, teachers, and researchers, we must remember that reading is more than a mere process of moving up levels, and that struggling readers may have limited choices when leveled books are overemphasized. For students to truly love reading and to become engaged, lifelong readers, they must have opportunities to read a variety of texts. For this reason, reading in the library should be grounded in student choice, rather than assessment-based measures.”
What Is the Point of a Makerspace? [Cult of Pedagogy. 6 min.]
“They need to be able to engage in iterative thinking, creative thinking, critical thinking, they need to know how to pivot, how to change, how to revise, how to persevere. They need to solve complex problems. They need to think divergently. All of those are involved in that maker mindset.”
Book About Transgender Girl Breaks Ground — And Stirs Controversy — In Oregon Schools [OPB. 5 min.]
“It’s a statewide competition, in which kids read from a list of about dozen books, curated by a team of librarians. They duke it out answering Jeopardy!-style questions about the books. One of the books contenders will read this summer is unlike any before it.”
4 Ways You Can Get Creative This Summer [AASL KQ. 2 min.]
12 Great Digital Storytelling Apps for Young Learners [Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Resource]
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Scholarships, Grants and Awards Opportunities
Closes May 31st. Best Buy Community Grants. $5,000-10,000 to schools within 25 miles of a Best Buy store for”out-of-school time programs that create hands-on access to technology education and tools that teens will need to be successful in their future schooling and careers.”
Closes June 1st. NEA Learning & Leadership Grants. $2,000 (individual) or $5000 (group) for professional development for NEA members.
Closes June 1st. NEA Student Achievement Grants. $2,000 (individual) or $5000 (group) for classroom resources for NEA members.
For the complete record of scholarships, grants, and other award opportunities posted in SAYL Mail, visit the SGA Archives.
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Training and Continuing Education Opportunities
The following webinars are no cost and run approximately one hour unless otherwise noted. Opportunities not fitting your schedule? Many of these webinars will later be available as archives.
Tuesday, May 22nd, 11am – Developing Digital Citizens – Resources and Strategies [Texas State Library and Archives]
Tuesday, May 22nd, 11am – Behind the Scenes: SLJ in Conversation with Children’s Books Editors [SLJ]
Tuesday, May 22nd, noon – Summer Fun with Digital Citizenship [edWeb]
Tuesday, May 22nd, noon – A Look at the State of School Librarianship [ALA Publishing]
Tuesday, May 22nd, 1pm – Designing a Programming Language for Early Learners [edWeb]
Tuesday, May 22nd, 1:45pm – YALSA May 2018 Webinar: Learning Environments [edWeb]
Wednesday, May 23rd, 1pm – Visual and Data Literacy Learning [edWeb]
Wednesday, May 30th, 10am – STEAM & Project-Based Learning: Educators and Students Get Future-Ready [EdWeek]
Tuesday, June 12th, noon – Fighting Fake: Digital Forensics and News Literacy Education [edWeb]
Thursday, June 14th, 10am – Making Project-Based Learning More Than a Project [edWeb]
Thursday, June 14th, 1pm – STEM-errific Ways to Avoid the Summer Learning Loss [edWeb]
Additional and up-to-date opportunities at the School Library Development Training and Continuing Education Calendar
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Employment Opportunities
K-6 Librarian Nunaka Valley Elementary, Anchorage School District, 1.0 FTE
K-6 Librarian, Kincaid Elementary, Anchorage School District, 1.0 FTE
K-6 Librarian, Ptarmigan Elementary, Anchorage School District, 1.0 FTE
9-12 Librarian, North Pole High, Fairbanks North Star School District, 1.0 FTE
Additional and up-to-date information at Alaska Teacher Placement
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The latest from the newsletter of the Alaska Association of School Librarians, The Puffin. To submit an article, please contact The Puffin editor, Karina Reyes.
As Seen on Alaska School Librarians Facebook
A roundup of resources shared and questions asked on the Alaska School Librarians Facebook group. This is intended to give readers the chance to access resources at work if social media is filtered. Only timely questions, announcements, and links to non-social media resources are listed here.
5/16 – If you work with teens, check out this article and maybe read the book.
5/16 – Looking for ways to connect your students to the rest of the world. Check out this list.
5/17 – For summer library staff, but totally applicable to school librarians too. And pretty much everyone!
5/18 – AASL is seeking feedback on Knowledge Quest and the Knowledge Quest website to ensure both media platforms align with member needs. Please e-mail your regions and school library networks and ask them to complete the survey linked below. It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
www.surveymonkey.com/r/kq-survey
The survey closes on May 25 (but please try to complete it by May 22).
Your feedback is important and will help AASL better serve school librarians’ professional reading needs.
5/20 – I still use QR codes for library scavenger hunts, but I feel like I see them in less and less use. Do you use QR codes? If so, how? Do your students know what they are?
5/21 – NLLD 2018 was a great experience! How much more amazing it could have been with students there to share their experiences of how the library has impacted their lives. Start thinking about this now; even if you can’t bring students with you to DC, you can record them talking about their experience or have them write letters. Delivering hand-written letters to your legislator in person has amazing impact too! Or send them with someone else, or even mail them if you can’t make it to DC yourself.
Check It Out Next Time!
SAYL Mail is issued monthly during the summer. The next issue will be June 14th. To share news, success stories, resources, and opportunities, please contact Jared Shucha. To get SAYL Mail updates sent to your inbox, request a subscription to the AkASL listserv and ask a colleague to do the same!
[su_frame]Jared Shucha
School Library Coordinator
jared.shucha@alaska.gov
(907) 465-8187[/su_frame]