ALA+Annual+Meeting

=**CGCS Library Media Supervisors**= =**Anaheim, June 26-27**= Library Media Supervisors from the districts that are members of the Council of Great City Schools (CGCS) met in Anaheim, California, June 26-27, just prior to the ALA Annual Conference. Building upon recommendations from the participants in the October 2007 Reno meeting, the day and a half workshop was designed to highlight “Wisdom of the Group – Sharing Strategies that Work!” Participants described programs, activities, and/or strategies from their districts that may be useful to others. Library Media Specialists’ Networking Group **Prepared by: Leshell Hatley, Doctoral Student, iSchool, University of Maryland **Sponsor: GALE Cengage Learning **
 * Council of the Great City Schools
 * Please contact Leshell or Sheri with any questions.
 * Hosts: **
 * **Participant ** || **Affiliation ** ||
 * Dave Schroeter || GALE/Cengage ||
 * Pam Berger || Information Searcher ||
 * Barbara Stripling || New York City Dept. of Education ||
 * Ann Weeks || University of Maryland ||
 * Paul Whitsitt || Chicago Public Schools ||
 * Sheri Massey || University of Maryland ||
 * Leshell Hatley || University of Maryland ||
 * || Please request full participant list if interested. ||
 * __Summary

__** This summer’s meeting was in Anaheim, California, a few days before the start of the ALA Conference. We had an amazing time brainstorming, sharing, and checking up. **//Special thanks to Dave and Cengage for sponsoring our activities//**, which are briefly described below. A complete version of the notes, almost literal occurrence of each discussion, can be found here - [|Anaheim-Workshop-Notes.doc].  Thursday’s session started with a meet and greet. We had several returning and new faces. Please see the participants list above for more details. A complete agenda can be viewed via the slideshow from the day, also found on the WIKI. As the introductions continued, we learned about successes, similar challenges, and about the growth of the network, all can be seen from the results of this summer’s survey results. See for a copy of responses. We continued the discussion with Ann Week’s announcement that our network is officially a part of The Council of the Great City Schools ([|http://www.cgcs.org]) – a national organization, established in the mid-1950s, exclusively representing the needs of urban public schools. We have been granted support and access to the resources of the organization. See slideshow for potential benefits. Now, we need to determine what we want to do. Possibilities include: Thus, **Pam Berger** (infosearcher.com) led a **Brainstorming Session regarding option #3** above. The Council of the Great City School’s 52nd Annual Meeting is in October in Houston, TX. More information can be found here: http://www.cgcs.org/conferences/fall.aspx We were tasks with developing a 100-word proposal for our session which was due the following Monday. Please refer to actual notes on WIKI to read how the brainstorming session went and to read the various suggestions that lead to the final idea. Here is what we submitted: //**Creating Critical Thinkers and Independent Learners – How Effective Library Media Programs Contribute to Closing the Achievement Gap**// We would like to use Web 2.0 technology, particularly a webinar, and perhaps demonstrate this technology to the audience (with video recordings as backup). Now that the proposal has been submitted, we need to work on stories, vignettes, etc. Please see Ann Weeks for more information if you and your district are willing to participate. The brainstorming session was followed by a 10-15 minute break. **// Facilitator // = Barbara Stripling, NYC Public Schools // Book // =**The Power of Protocol** (citation at the top of The Tuning Protocol)= step-by-step guide to using protocols. // **__[|The Tuning Protocol.pdf]__** [handout] // Protocols enable substantive conversations fairly quickly (i.e. Student work example – multiple perspectives, thus invaluable insight results) Some details about **The Tuning Protocol**: 1st - Warm Comments - What is warm? (Complimentary, strength) 2nd - Cool Comments - What is cool? (Gap, question, etc.) 3rd - Reactions 4th - Group Conversation Please see detailed notes for the example and resulting warm and cool comments of the example used. We ended Thursday’s meeting with a few brief remarks about successes happening within the network. Here are a few brief comments, please see detailed notes for more:  i. Communications in school newsletter – projects, grade, hand work directly to teacher to be sent home. Projects are not graded.  ii. No background in granted. Good with parents – agreed to have one sit down. Got great angle (economy = financial literacy), someone a volunteered – she crafted the application. **Standards for the 21st Century Learner, AASL Workshop** code Pre-conference presenters include Cassandra Barnett, Fayetteville High School LMS, and Barbara Stripling, Director of Library Services, New York City Department of Education, and CGCS network member. Workshop participants reviewed the standards and explored curriculum integration possibilities. code The session was amazing and provided attendees with detailed explanations of how the standards are organized, the plans to finalize and disseminate them, and several fun examples lesson plans and activities geared towards demonstrating how to implement them. It was an awesome session. Feel free to ask any of the network members for their thoughts and experiences. Members of the network voted to brainstorm and discuss ideas for the 75-100 word proposal to be sent to The Council of the Great City Schools for the concurrent session in Houston. The result of that brainstorming session is the proposal above. Feel free to review the detailed notes on how the ideas for this proposal unfolded. These notes will also be useful for those districts interested in participating in this session.
 * The actual slideshow from Thursday's meeting is coming soon.
 * __Thursday, June 26, 2008: __**
 * 1) Data collection & dissemination (if funded)
 * 2) Dissertation Research (for any of Ann’s doctoral students)
 * 3) Concurrent Sessions at annual meetings
 * 75-100 Word CGCS Concurrent Session Proposal **
 * This session presents three vignettes about how school library media programs contribute to closing the achievement gap. Each vignette addresses a different aspect of then library media program and its unique place in fostering critical thinking and independent learning: (1) equitable access to high-quality, cutting **** – **** edge resources; (2) innovative reading and literacy programs; and (3) technology integration to enhance learning and teaching. The session ends with a discussion of the top ten things administrators can do to get the most from their school library media programs. **
 * ACTION ITEM: **
 * NEXT SESSION: THE TUNING PROTOCOL
 * Done as a group
 * 1 person presents issue/problem
 * Facilitator introduces protocol
 * Facilitator presents issue
 * Warm/Cool feedback (facilitator decides method)
 * Then conversation/discussion
 * Debriefing time (important because there are emotional aspects to it)
 * Problem along with problem solving process (great professional development)
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 153); font-family: Arial">NEXT SESSION: SHARING SUCCESSES **
 * 1) ** DC: ** Thrilled at increasing budget and get grant funding. Reconfigured library. Integrating more arts/drama and sent home copies. Research about UN countries. Work more and more with classroom teachers. Full-time and part-time assistant is good!
 * 2) How do teachers know about results of grant?
 * 1) ** CHICAGO **** : ** “Battle of the Books” Program – done without district money. 60 schools participating. Kids read thru year based on lists according to grade. Every kid gets a metal and a tshirt. Should only be fun. Introduction to great literature. Super simple. Rely on volunteers to be judges and timers. Corporate donors = fed breakfast and lunch. Guest author.
 * Dinner sponsored by GALE/Cengage. **
 * __<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 153); font-family: Arial">Friday, June 27, 2008: __**
 * Standards for the 21st Century Learner**, which were introduced in October 2007.
 * Lunch sponsored by GALE/Cengage. **