Librarianship in 2020: Year of the Go-Getter. Empathy: The Most Important Back-to-School Supply. My most important back-to-school supply doesn't fit in a backpack, and it can't be ordered online.
It's as essential as a pencil, but unlike a pencil, no technology can replace it. In a sense, like a fresh box of crayons, it can come in many colors. Better than the latest gadget, it's possible to equip every student with it, and even better, when we do, it can transform our world. It's actually a "muscle" I've been working on all summer.
It's empathy. What's the Big Deal About Empathy? Empathy starts with putting yourself in someone else's shoes -- a key step in understanding perspectives that differ from your own. Leveraging School Library Programs During the Pandemic (Kachel & Fuhrman) CSL Statement SchoolLibraries Pandemic. Ten Tips for Re-Opening the Library Space. My school district in central Texas began the school year in late August with three weeks of online learning only.
On September 9, we allowed families to choose between online learning or face-to-face learning, and we have now been open for three weeks with about 50% of our students on campus. In that time, we’ve faced many challenges and decisions that I wish we had been able to more fully consider before we opened our doors. If your school hasn’t yet welcomed students back in person, here’s some things to consider. Buy more chargers. Lots of chargers. Listen with your heart, not with your head. School Librarian Role Pandemic Resources and Chart. Reopening and Return To Learn Plans For Upcoming School Year (Padlet share) Safe Ways to Reach Students and Teachers While Social Distancing. For most of us in school libraries, this year’s back-to-school season is unsettling.
My administrators have designated our high school library as a special education testing center, a place for overflow classroom students, and a computer distribution site. In order to fulfill social distancing requirements, they have no choice but to utilize the large spaces of libraries, gymnasiums, and cafeterias. Much of the concern is understandably centered around the students, who “will lose out whether they are in the buildings or not” (Yorio 2020). But school librarians, whose roles are no longer clearly defined, are worried about their jobs.
Because of this, we’re challenged to find innovative ways to reach students and staff members. Learning Acceleration Guide: Teacher Supplement. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced teachers to confront unprecedented challenges.
Teachers have done heroic work over the past few months to offer stability, learning, and care to your students and families. We know that the academic challenges facing our students in the fall are substantial, so we’ve built some resources to help teachers address the academic challenges they face. TNTP released the Learning Acceleration Guide to help school system leaders develop and execute a strategy for accelerating—rather than remediating—student learning. Since that release, teachers have asked us how to use the Learning Acceleration Guide in their work, so we developed this companion resource just for teachers. Reopening School Libraries: A Plan of Action. The COVID-19 pandemic brings exceptional challenges to school districts nationwide.
Do schools reopen to students in-person, online, or as a hybrid model of blended learning? And a decision made one day could change the next. Translation of Practice for Digital Learning. NYC: Translation of Practice for School Librarians. Practicing Self-Care as Schools Reopen. I am living through a global pandemic, national protests, economic turmoil, political discord, and Hurricane Isaias swept through my state.
My everyday life is indifferent to these occurrences and continues on with all of its complexity. Embedded School Librarian's Role in Distance Learning. Embedded Librarian?
The first thought that comes to my mind when I hear the word embedded is about a tick I found behind my dog’s left ear. When I asked a friend their first impression, they said a wartime journalist. Being an embedded librarian is not a new concept, but it has new meaning for me as a school librarian since the onset of distance learning and COVID-19. At first, as a school librarian during the COVID-19 Spring quarantine, I became a weird hybrid of tech-support and social media morale booster. However, as we begin plans for the fall as a combination of online and in-person classes, I contemplate my role. Embedding in the LMS We are using the Canvas learning management system.
Finally, if your administrator will allow a library “course,” I highly recommend this in the Canvas and other systems. Further reading on embedding librarianship into academic libraries is below. Author: Hannah Byrd Little. Mental Health America. Get ready for Back to School 2020 with MHA Mental Health America (MHA) has developed its 2020 Back to School Toolkit with this and more in mind to help students, parents, and school personnel navigate the uncharted waters of COVID-19.
Many children who return to school will be lonely, having been isolated for months. Many who remain at home will feel even lonelier and more isolated as they see members of their peer group out and about. Loneliness can translate to poor sleep, high blood pressure, greater risk of suicidal ideation, and even alcohol and drug use. *DC Public Schools panel: Power of Your School Librarian in COVID-19 World: Harnessing Technology, Literacy, and Community. Getting to Know Your School Librarian from a Safe Distance. I am starting a new position in a new school in a new district this fall after working for 16 years in my previous district.
With safety guidelines related to the global pandemic, I know that the way I have proceeded in the past when it comes to joining a new staff is not going to be the same this year. But I also know that for a high school librarian especially, it is important to get to know your staff, as without them, collaboration will not occur. The way teachers interact with each other on those initial days will be different this year. I hoped that the smile I would show behind my mask reached my eyes so my colleagues knew how happy I am to be there. I wondered if I would be able to join a group of teachers at a table during one of the meetings so I could get to know a few folks.
Creating Safety Guidelines in response to COVID-19 - Google Slides. Engagement Practice for School Librarians Guide District of Columbia Public Schools. Future Ready: Planning for High Quality Remote Learning. There is uncertainly at every turn and district and school leaders are working tirelessly with their teams to leverage all possible resources to feed students, meet connectivity needs, and redesign the educational experience on and off campus.
Continuously, school and district leaders are developing, refining, rewriting, and reviewing their learning plans to meet the ever changing needs of students. The Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed), in conjunction with the Future Ready Schools® (FRS) advisory team of nationally recognized school- and district-level practitioners, developed this resource to share ideas, best practices, and practical considerations for addressing the unique challenges of high-quality remote learning. School Libraries and the COVID Slide: Librarians at the Heart of School Renewal and Transformation.
You will receive a link to download the report in your email. If you don't receive it, please check your spam folder. The "COVID Slide" refers to the inevitable loss of learning that will happen while schools are shut down or shifted to online learning. This term originates from the idea of the "Summer Slide" where children tend to lose ground during the summer break from school. THE PLANET ESME PLAN: COVID-19 Can-Do: Three Unorthodox Things We Can Do to Improve Equity and Engagement in Remote Teaching Right Now. Artwork by Jean Marc Cote I am a K-8 teacher-librarian with the Chicago Public Schools.
I went to an online training early on in the COVID-19 outbreak to learn how to produce basic video content in which the instructor said, "just put up your green screen... " Green screen?! Let’s Talk A Conversation Starter for Future Ready Librarians® Building Collaborative Relationships 6.3. FRL Summit: Creative and Innovative Spaces & Resources for VIrtual & Blended Learning, FRL Summit on August 3, 2020 - Google Slides. Educators Turn to Bitmoji to Build Community and Engagement. Since remote learning started this past spring, Bitmojis have taken the education community by storm. Available through the Bitmoji app, these customizable, mini-me avatars have become stand-in teachers running virtual classrooms, enforcing rules and expectations, collecting assignments—and making students smile, we’ve heard. Simply put, they’re fun.
Amber Weaver, a second-grade teacher in Louisville, Kentucky, says she likes that her Bitmoji classroom—a virtual replica of her real one—makes resources like the school calendar easily accessible to her young students and provides them with a sense of virtual familiarity and stability during a tough time. But not everyone is a fan of the Bitmoji craze. Some educators believe that they’re a distracting fad and that teachers should be focusing more on creating effective lessons and supporting students’ well-being instead of creating cutesy virtual classrooms, according to an article in Education Week.
Getting Started. Creating Return To Learn Plans For Your Library: Future Ready Librarians® Webinar... Future Ready Librarian Summit...August 3 and 6, 2020. Student Motivation & Engagement - FRL Summit - Google Slides. Pivoting for Impactful Advocacy. “When people look slowly, they make discoveries.” –Austin Kleon, Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad (2019) The “School Librarian Role in Pandemic Learning Conditions” document focuses on the five important roles of a school librarian–instructional partner, teacher, leader, information specialist, and program administrator–during remote, hybrid, and in-person education. The 9-page resource guide and chart were created to help school librarians who were looking for suggestions and guidance on how to engage with learners and educators in all three learning environments.
As Courtney Lewis highlighted in the previous post, themes emerged from the feedback from the AASL Town Halls during the spring. Power of Your School Librarian_August 2020 Webinar Resouces. You have permission to NOT do ALL the things. There is a familiar sort of guilt in my life. That feeling of all the things that I should be doing. I should be reading and replying to more library Facebook threads. I should be going to Twitter chats. I should be spending more of my summer planning for a school year that is impossible to predict precisely.
I should be applying to present at virtual conferences this fall. On the importance of making a (reopening) plan. It’s always been my personal philosophy, whenever possible, to walk into tricky situations with solutions. Before walking into an administrator’s office, I usually had a proposal in my pocket. Regardless of how we return to school this fall, your district’s or your administrator’s plan will not fully address the specifics of your practice or your program. Building a District PLC for Librarians Incorporating Blended Learning with Students - Google Slides. COVID-19 Library Policies & Procedures. How can your teacher librarian help you? NJASL - Covid-19 Resources. Tools, Publications & Resources. Strong libraries — and a well-supported library workforce — are essential to the recovery of communities devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This collection of tools, developed and updated by units across the American Library Association, will help communities, library workers, and library supporters plot the best course forward for their libraries. Advocacy & Policy Learn about funding opportunities for recovery efforts and what you can do to advocate for your library at the local, state, and federal level. Education. AASL: Pandemic Resources for School Librarians. All Hands on Deck: Initial Guidance Regarding Reopening School Buildings - Educating Through Crisis. Reopen DC Taskforce Report - WTU Local 6. Washington DC Teachers Release Report to Safely Reopen Schools Teachers outline ways to protect teacher and student health while improving distance learning WASHINGTON — Concerned about the lack of teacher input into conversations about how we safely reopen schools in the District of Columbia, the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) released recommendations for how the District can work with teachers to ensure their safety and improve the education of DC students as the city reopens schools for instruction.
“The move to close our schools and move to Distance Learning in the spring was the right choice,” WTU President Elizabeth Davis said. “However, Distance Learning shined new light on the widespread opportunity gaps and the digital divide that plagues our city. PSLA: Library Reopening Plan & COVID Response (Copy/Add to Drive/Revise/Share/Use) - Documents de Google. [TOPCATS] : NJ Taskforce On Post COVID-19 Alignment, Trends and Strategies in New Jersey Libraries (mostly for public libraries)