2015 Networking Summit Sessions

Session 1: 10:00 – 11:15AM

Extreme Makeover, Library Edition – Robin Boltz & Keith Beisner (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)There is a growing body of research that space affects learning. The NC School of Science and Mathematics has just undergone a multi-year conversion from a staid academic library to a user-centered “collaboratory”. Is your library a candidate for conversion? This session will be a frank discussion about the project, and why, in order to create a highly collaborative space, you have to be some combination of inspired and insane.
Google Classroom in the Media Center – Christine Clark (Interest Level: Elementary)Google Classroom utilizes technology to create a dynamic and engaging platform. It can be used for playlists as well as PBL and STEAM projects. In this session, teachers will log into an existing Google Classroom and learn firsthand how they can utilize it in their media center.
From Makey Makey to Coding – Gail Holmes & Siedah Holmes (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)Makey Makey is great, but let’s add some flavor. Technology affects every field. No matter what career students want to pursue, they will need to learn problem solving, data analysis, and computational thinking. In this session, we will use a variety of self-guided tutorials, aimed at kindergarteners to adults, to explore coding as a strategy to demystify computer science for students.
Using Virtual Field Trips to Ignite Inquiry – Mollee Holloman (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle)Collaborate with teachers across your building and inspire students to discover their interests with the use of virtual field trips. Virtual field trips are a fun, engaging way to enrich curriculum, use technology, and build relationships with teachers that will lead to more collaboration. By inviting classes to embark on a virtual field trip in your library, you will also have the opportunity to demonstrate inquiry learning – a skill that is essential across elementary and secondary. Bring your laptops and tablets to explore examples and share ideas with other librarians! Experienced “guides” are encouraged to bring their own examples to discuss successes and ways to make them work in various content cores and grade levels.
Evaluating Book Apps for Classrooms and Media Centers – Jewel Davis & Margaret Gregor (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)Can we teach with book apps or are they just babysitting tools? Let’s examine some book apps that received rave reviews, talk about ways they might be used in classrooms and media centers, and discuss a rubric designed for app evaluation.
School Book Clubs: Titles, Tweets & Keeping it Cool – Abby Moore (Interest Level: Middle, High)In a perfect world (or library), books clubs are easy to plan, fun to execute and popular with your students. However, my experience with a high school book club was often not easy and, sometimes, it wasn’t fun at all. It was A LOT of work! After three years and one research project, I discovered some best practices for creating and sustaining a successful book club program. Have you ever considered starting a book club in your school library? Are you currently running a successful (or not so successful) book club? Together let’s discuss best practices and book choices for starting and maintaining a successful, fun and popular book club in your library!
Total Grant Makeover: Insider Tips for Creating Proposals that Funders Can’t Refuse – Cal Shepard & Michele Oros (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)State Librarian Cal Shepard and Beaufort County Schools Grant Writer Michele Oros will share essential strategies for turning good ideas into winning grant proposals. Participants will learn how to craft compelling needs assessments; design effective, engaging projects in response to needs; capture impacts and outcomes; and create reasonable but realistic budgets to support project activities. Under the guidance of Co-Facilitators, participants will revise sample sections of grant proposals to increase their funding potential. Ms. Shepard, who has reviewed grant proposals at state and national levels, will provide an insider’s perspective about the common elements of successful proposals and ways to avoid pitfalls that can sink funding applications.
It Takes Two: Primary Sources in the Library and Beyond – Cheryl Lederle & Rebecca Newland (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)Learn and apply strategies to place historic maps, cartoons, letters, photographs, and more from the Library of Congress at the center of inquiry-based learning. Use pairs of sources to make observations, inferences, and generate questions to build critical thinking skills and content knowledge across disciplines. Access free tools and primary sources from the Library of Congress website, and learn how to use primary sources to pair with a classroom teacher and tackle learning goals together. The Common Core State Standards, many state standards, and AASL’s Standards for the 21st-Century Learner specify the ability to read and analyze complex texts in a variety of formats. The session will address the power of “two” both by showing the power of analyzing pairs of primary sources, and how pairs of librarians and classroom teachers can effectively work together to drive school-wide learning with primary sources. This interactive session will model close reading of primary sources in a variety of formats. Participants will work with selected primary sources, and reflect on their own practice, generating ways to use primary sources in developing and delivering effective instruction either in stand-alone lessons or alongside classroom teachers.
Create a PD Technology Environment to Support Students, Teachers and Administrators – Joan Vey & Monica Gropp (Interest Level: Middle, High)Schools are busy, dynamic places. Trying to keep up with new resources, technologies and teaching methods is difficult. This session will discuss, share and demonstrate successful methods for creating a technology rich professional development environment in your school. Presenters will share tutorial guides they easily created using tools such as Microsoft, Screencast and Reflector which can help you create a 24/7 assistance center for your students and staff. Come prepared to share best practices used to inform and assist your staff. Visit our website http://rhslibrary.webnode.com/tech-guides/ to view our Web 2.0 tutorial guides.
Using Social Media to Promote Your Library #L2LSocialMedia – Amanda Bosch & Sedley Abercrombie (Interest Level: Middle, High)We will facilitate a discussion about a variety of social media tools used to promote libraries targeting audiences from middle school to college age patrons/students. The discussion will engage the audience with activities and discussion using Poll Everywhere, Twitter, Instagram, blogs, Haiku Deck and Storify.
Cost Wise Ways to Repair Books and Paper – Gloria Bradshaw & Chelsea Hauck (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)Got Budget Problems?! Come learn cost wise ways to repair books and paper. This session will cover mending a torn page, tipping in a disconnected page, replacing the cover on a paperback book and tightening hinges. As always, we expect and welcome your questions!

Session 2: 11:30 – 12:45PM

Empowering Students to Take Charge of Their Library – Christine Tuttell (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)We will discuss ways to engage and connect students in the library program. A jumping off point for discussion will be the weeding project I conducted with my 2nd through 5th grade students who weeded and repurposed books as well as redesigned book covers to ignite interest in neglected books. We will also discuss makerspaces and technology integration within centers to engage and empower students.
What’s New at LEARN NC – Kimberly Hirsh(Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)Come ask questions and hear about LEARN NC’s latest resources to help you and your colleagues enhance student learning.
Computer Coding: So Simple My Six Year Old Can Do It – Vicky Mahoney (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)This session will focus on how computer science can be fun, collaborative and creative. We will do cooperative group activities to teach communication, perseverance, problem solving and computational ideas. We will look at several free resources from Code.org and MadewithCode.com.
There’s An APP for That! – Judy Walker (Interest Level: Middle, High)Sifting through the ever increasing number of apps for a variety of different devices is a daunting task even for the most dedicated librarian. In this session we will discuss some of the best places to go for reviews but, more importantly, participants will share/discuss their favorite apps. We will focus on content specific apps, but also discuss apps that facilitate classroom management and student creation of knowledge.
No-Cost and Lo-Cost Digital Books – Elaine Yontz & Tom Terrell (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)If you are building digital book collections and you have limited funds–and who doesn’t?–this presentation is for you. We will identify sources of free or low-cost digital books, including audio books that are appropriate for libraries and classrooms. Sources discussed will include NC-Live, We Give Books, Unite for Literacy, Google Books, HathiTrust, Internet Archive, Open Library, and the International Children’s Digital Library. Attendees will share other sources they have found helpful. The session will include “lab time” to explore these sites independently. Session attendees must bring their own laptops or tablets.
Mission, Vision, and Values – Deanna Harris (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)What are your mission and vision statements for your library media and instructional technology programs? What are your values and beliefs? Does your daily work support your mission, vision, and values? Participants will examine their beliefs and values about literacy, media and technology and about student education and achievement. They will leave the session with a better understanding of their own core values and the beginnings of mission and vision statements for their programs.
Digital Age Collection Management – Kathy Parker (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)In this session, we will view collection management through the lens of our professional standards, considering aspects of collection management such as selection policy, data driven decision-making, material selection, digital transition, etc. We will devote special attention to the digital shift’s implications for our collections and our collection management process. This session is interactive and requires a digital device, so BYOD.
Schoolnet for the School Media Library Coordinator: Using Home Base’s Instructional Improvement System – Cynthia Crowdus (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)This session will cover what Schoolnet offers to educators and specifically for School Media Library Coordinators. There will be an overview of Schoolnet and the resources available in it as well as time for group discussion and questions. Session attendees must bring their own laptops or tablets.
Beyond Curiosity: Using PBL Strategies to Promote Deeper Thinking and Understanding – Angela Finn (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)As librarians, we know teaching research-based/problem-solving strategies must be done authentically and intentionally. Although students are naturally curious, they are not naturally good thinkers. Most students are ready to comprehend information but not create knowledge. Come join us as we discuss and explore intentional practice that encourages deeper thinking.
ECU Storybook Theatre – Tales From Around the World – Patch Clark (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)ECU Storybook Theatre will present stories, and poetry from around the world including “The Fox and the Bear” from Finland, “Peach Boy” from Japan, and a collection of other stories gathered while linking in the Global Classroom. Each year new stories are added to the repertoire and this year new adaptations of popular children’s books will also be included in this fun interactive, performance session.

Session 3: 2:00 – 3:15PM

Are You Ready For Change? Finding the Right Fit and Managing the Transition to a New School Level – Lisa McElwee & Louise Price (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)Are media coordinators truly ready to change from one “grade area” to another? What is actually needed to be prepared when you change from a middle school to an elementary setting? What if you changed from an elementary media coordinator to a high school media coordinator? The struggles with changing – knowing the curriculum, knowing the ways and lingo that is associated with different levels of education – and ways you can be prepared (or at least able to handle) if you are switched or decide to change will be discussed.
Google Classroom: Seamlessly Connecting Students and Teachers – Kim Gugino (Interest Level: Middle, High)Google Classroom is an online learning management system (LMS) that allows teachers to seamlessly integrate Google Apps for Education, a variety of other multimedia and Web 2.0 resources to present and manage virtual classrooms. Newbies and veterans of Google Apps for Education will share how Google Classroom can be used to easily connect with students and manage assignments in online, blended, and flipped classrooms.
Developing Digital Citizens for a 21st Century World – Colleen Pinyan & Sarah Chrisman (Interest Level: Elementary)Are your students prepared to survive in a 21st Century world? Do you have the right tools to help them become productive digital citizens? Do you need fresh ideas for equipping students to safely and effectively navigate the Web? Join us for a round table discussion to share resources and lesson ideas to foster social and academic responsibility in a digital learning environment. Bring your own device so we can explore these resources together. If you have a tool to share with the group, please email it to us in advance so we can add it to our combined list (chrisms@gcsnc.com or mpinyans@gcsnc.com).
There’s An APP for That! – Judy Walker (Interest Level: Elementary)Sifting through the ever increasing number of apps for a variety of different devices is a daunting task even for the most dedicated librarian. In this session we will discuss some of the best places to go for reviews but, more importantly, participants will share/discuss their favorite apps. We will focus on content specific apps, but also discuss apps that facilitate classroom management and student creation of knowledge.
Marketing the School Library Media Center – Tom Terrell & Elaine Yontz (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)There is a pervasive perception that libraries no longer matter. The theory goes something like, “Everything is online, so why do we need libraries?” This view, while widespread, could not be more wrong. School librarians need to shatter this perception and educate their teachers, principals, and students about what a real 21st century library can do for them. This session will offer tips and techniques garnered from successful marketing efforts and will include a discussion of your challenges and successes in telling your library’s story. We will discuss how to change the view of your library from “Book Museum” to “Information Super-Center!”
Growing the Makerspace Mindset – Joanna Gerakios & Laura Mangum (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)Join us as we share our first steps toward embedding makerspaces into our school library media centers. We will discuss the rationale for moving in the makerspace direction, district and school level initiatives, organization of space, and equipment options. Project ideas and resources for further investigation will also be presented. Attendees will have time to ask questions and will be encouraged to share their own ventures towards the Makerspace movement.
In Cahoots with Curriculum: Co-Teaching to Support Instruction and Increase Student Achievement – Pamela Sands & Aritia Smalls(Interest Level: Middle, High)This session will focus on bridging the gap between the school media center and classroom learning. We will guide media coordinators through the process of effective collaborating and co-teaching to support student standards and increase achievement. We will address common obstacles and share strategies that have proved themselves worthy of implementation.
Targeting Small Grant Opportunities for Your Collection – Robin Willis (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)I will briefly present several examples of small grant proposals I have submitted and how to target areas of your collection for improvement through these grants. Then I will facilitate small group collaboration amongst participants to brainstorm ideas for both grant resources and areas of their collection/foci for targeting small grant opportunities. Session attendees must bring their own laptops or tablets.
Whose History Is It Anyway? Diversity in Children’s and Young Adult Historical Fiction – April Dawkins & Elizabeth Hartnett (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)Across the board, prominent reading lists neglect to include diverse authors, viewpoints, and historical figures in a ratio that reflects reality. For example, of the 171 informational texts recommended in the CCSS, only 18 were by authors of color. The lives of the poor and non-white are rarely part of the story, despite the fact that more than half of the children in the U.S. fit into those categories. Considering the fact that the best readers are those who make personal connections with text, this situation seems to stack the deck against many of the children we serve. Through exploration of outstanding resources, the facilitators will provide practitioners with a number of tools for improving the diversity of the historical fiction collections in their school libraries. Participants will be encouraged to share their knowledge on this topic, in order to utilize the “wisdom of the room,” and practical strategies will be discussed for advocating the use of diverse titles in classroom instruction. In addition, the session will help participants to develop ideas for collaborating with classroom teachers to integrate the use of historical fiction into their curricula.
ECU Storybook Theatre – Tales From Around the World – Patch Clark (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)ECU Storybook Theatre will present stories, and poetry from around the world including “The Fox and the Bear” from Finland, “Peach Boy” from Japan, and a collection of other stories gathered while linking in the Global Classroom. Each year new stories are added to the repertoire and this year new adaptations of popular children’s books will also be included in this fun interactive, performance session.