2016 Networking Summit Sessions

Beyond QR Codes: How to Really Augment Your Library Program – Judy Walker (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
According to the recent New Horizon report, augmented and virtual reality is a trend that will impact both libraries and the K-12 curriculum. This session will discuss the various ways these technologies can enhance library programs such as creating interactive book jackets and newspapers a la Hogwart’s The Daily Prophet. Attendees will have hands on opportunities to work with some of the technologies as well as learn how to create their own augmented projects using Aurasma and Aurasma Studio. Attendees are strongly encouraged to bring their own electronic device.

Blended Learning for Student Success – Christie Canter (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
This session will demonstrate how to facilitate the use of digital learning tools through Haiku and promote student success. Blended learning is not just for classroom teachers as Media Specialists can deliver digital lessons, plans, and student projects/activities using blended learning and a learning management system. How faculty PD can be more efficiently promoted and delivered through blended learning will also be covered with examples of student projects and faculty PD sessions provided. Open discussion and idea exchange will be promoted and facilitated.

Brainstorm: Innovative Programming to Engage Stakeholders – Sedley Abercrombie (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
This session will begin with a brief introduction of ideas for low-cost programming that will engage stakeholders, increase traffic and meet a number of standards on the NC school library media coordinator appraisal instrument. Attendees will then break out into a carousel rotation to brainstorm ways they can implement these ideas in their schools. Results will be shared digitally. Topics will include but are not limited to, makerspaces, book clubs, code camps, hour of code, “book tastings”, anime club, Passport to the Media Center, yoga, Skyping, book fair events, mini-golf, Teen Tech Week, poetry month, Global Read Aloud, and Geography Awareness Week.

Building Global Communities – Colleen Pinyan (Interest Level: Elementary)
Today’s school librarians face the challenge of preparing students to succeed in our ever-expanding global community. We must transform our libraries into global media centers so our students develop the necessary tools and skills to become productive global citizens in their communities. Join Colleen Pinyan, Media Specialist at Brooks Global Studies Magnet School, as she leads a discussion about lesson plans, resources, and practical ideas to make your library the hub for building global community at your school. Please bring ideas and resources to share.

Cracking Coding – Hour of Code or Year of Code? – Julie Sloup & Shanda Robbins (Interest Level: Elementary)
Hour of Code and introducing young students to computer science and coding are hot topics. Have you thought of trying coding with your students, but were intimidated because you are unfamiliar with it? This session will discuss how to implement coding in schools to help train future technology leaders!

Creating a Culture and Climate of Reading in Middle and High School – Blake Norby & Deanna Harris (Interest Level: Middle, High)
This discussion-based session will be focused on what Library Media Coordinators can do in middle and high schools to help create a reading culture and climate within a school. Attendees are encouraged to share their own hindrances and challenges, examples of what’s been done in their schools, and gather suggestions and ideas from the group to take back to their own libraries.

Evolving Library Spaces – Kathy Parker & Christy Barham (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
To be college and career ready, today’s learners must be content creators rather than mere consumers of information. How do their learning needs affect the library media environments we create for them? What are the implications for our library media spaces? How are our spaces evolving to meet their needs? Join us as we delve into transforming library spaces. This is an interactive session and will involve “show and tell” time to learn about transformations occurring in libraries across the state. Participants are encouraged to bring a fully charged device to this session.

Flipping Your Library: Reinventing the Classroom Model for the Library – Teika Clavell & Mary Ellen Oxendine (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
“Flipping” a library is an excellent way to reach teachers, parents, and students from beyond the confines of the library and classroom. Using a variety of digital tools, librarians can model best practices and instructional tools for students as well as reach out to teachers.

Genre Shelving or Not? Meeting Your School’s Needs – Kim Gugino (Interest Level: Middle, High)
This session will look at how to determine if genre shelving is right for your school. The facilitator has experience switching to genre shelving at the middle school level and is currently in the process of “genrefying” a secondary school library. Participants are encouraged to bring questions and/or suggestions. Resources will be shared.

A Growth Mindset Lesson using Ted-Ed – Jennifer Hinton (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
Empowering people young and old with an understanding of a growth mindset can be a game changer in motivating people to take charge of their own learning. This session will share resources and methods used to introduce the topic into a school culture. Participants will navigate a lesson in TED-Ed and have the opportunity to create their own.

How to Stop Being a One-Man Media Band! – Stephanie Rous & Angela West (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
In these days without Media Assistants, it is possible to not only survive but thrive working by yourself. You don’t have to do it all alone! Utilize your students at all levels, even elementary, to keep the media center running as smoothly as an orchestra playing its music. Learn ways to make your life easier and share new techniques for having student assistants at any school level.

Is Your Library Future Ready? – Joanna Gerakios, Julie Powell & Kellie Williams (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
Join a district lead media coordinator, a school librarian, and a furniture and design specialist as we share functional and fashionable changes we have made at several school library media centers. We will present the rationale behind those changes, and describe how those changes have helped our media programs increase patron engagement and facilitate participatory, future-reading learning activities. We will encourage discussion along the way as we provide a virtual tour of our recent library makeovers and showcase examples of furnishing options. We will also offer suggestions for making purchasing decisions and provide examples of learning activities that our makeovers have made possible. Come to this session if you want to explore ways to build community, create forward-thinking spaces within your library, and maybe even win a door prize!

Learning Centers in the Elementary School Media Center – Sharon Phillips (Interest Level: Elementary)
Centers in the library? YES! With the many demands on classroom teachers today, learning centers have taken a back burner in many elementary classrooms due to tight schedules. But no fear – you as a teacher librarian can bring them back! We will explore how to incorporate meaningful learning centers that foster a sense of community in the elementary school library/media center during fixed or flexibly scheduled classes. How to set up centers in your school library/media

center, collaborate with teachers to enhance what they are teaching in the classroom, and manage behavior and monitor learning throughout the process will be discussed.  Examples of centers, how they work, and resources will be shared. Participants will have the opportunity to collaborate and brainstorm with others in the creation of their own learning center to meet the needs of their patrons.

Let’s Create a Makerspace on the Cheap – Michelle Milliken (Interest Level: Elementary)
Wonder how and what resources you can pull together to create a basic makerspace with no budget and limited resources? The first half of this session will center on resources that already exist at schools and how to use them in a makerspace. Common household items that can be used will also be covered. The second half will identify methods to incorporate these resources and create a makerspace climate.

Library of Congress & Novice Researchers: Entry Points and Interplay – Tom Bober & Cheryl Lederle (Interest Level: Middle)
Join a teacher in residence and staff from the Library of Congress to explore how primary sources can play a key role in learning research skills. This webinar will illustrate areas in an inquiry research process where primary sources can play a key role as well as how primary sources interplay with each other, and with secondary sources, to affect student learning.

No- and Low-Cost E-Books – Elaine Yontz (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
The availability of no- and low-cost electronic books continues to expand. We will discuss resources appropriate to all grade levels, with emphasis on books that are appropriate for educational settings. Attendees will be invited to share sources they have found helpful. The session will include “lab time” to explore the sites independently. If you attended this session in past years, you will find some overlap but much new material. Attendees are strongly encouraged to bring their own electronic device.

On Your Own Island? Use Twitter to Build Your PLN! – Mollee Holloman & Tavia Clark (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
Most librarians are the only one in their school, but there’s a network of librarians on social media to connect with, both near and far. Mollee & Tavia have assembled a community of librarians and educators to inspire, help, encourage, problem-solve and grow with on Twitter. This session will discuss various projects using an online PLN, professional opportunities, and ways to use social media for fun (like virtual book clubs). Finally, the facilitators will start a discussion about a potential LibCamp (like EdCamps) here in NENC.

Our Makerspace Journey – Amelia White & Sarah Lanier (Interest Level: Middle)
This summer, several teachers from C.M. Eppes Middle School went to a training on the makerspace equipment they received through a Golden Leaf grant. Teachers developed lesson plans to enhance the use of the equipment to be used throughout the school year, and started a makerspace class where students could create a “passion project.” The plan is for the students to develop an innovative solution to a real world problem, and design a product in the innovation lab that will demonstrate their research. C.M Eppes just finished their first semester with this new class and saw much success and engagement and have started semester two with eight new students. This session will provide an overview of the class, examples of the student projects, collaborative conversations amongst participants, and allow participants to manipulate new resources used by students in the class.

Plan a Slam: Competitive Performance Poetry – Katherine Toriello (Interest Level: Middle, High)
Learn how to host a poetry slam (competitive performance poetry) to revitalize an interest of poetry in adolescents and young adults in this informative session. Collaborate with Language Arts teachers and community groups to teach poetry and motivate students to create original pieces of writing to perform for judges and an audience in a fast-paced, competitive environment where performers use all the tricks of poetic techniques, storytelling, songwriting, theater, and stand-up comedy to express themselves.

Reading and Research – Connecting Information Literacy Skills in Lower School Curriculum on a Fixed Schedule – Angela Finn & Dr. Rhonda Zayas-Palmer (Interest Level: Elementary)
How does a lower school library on a fixed schedule have a collaborative research program embedded into the curriculum that supports student learning objectives and holds students accountable? Follow our Reading and Research (R & R) Program design from planning to implementation. R & R was designed to align 5th grade language arts curriculum, outcomes, and standards with desired information literacy outcomes in one to two projects over a year. Throughout the school year, students engage in self-directed research with the ongoing support of information literacy skills taught in library class. This session will focus on the following questions: How do you ensure information literacy skills are fully integrated into the curriculum? How can librarians de-emphasize formal research units that do not require original thinking/conclusions? How can a successful integration example build confidence between librarians and faculty for future success?

School Book Clubs: Updating Your Vision and Practices for 21st Century Learners – Sheila Scott, Monica Gropp, John Smith, Emily Yates & Barbara Flohr (Interest Level: Middle, High)
This small group of facilitators is eager to share their book club experiences. They recognize book clubs are often challenging to get up and running, and will discuss formats that work and ones they are still trying out. Discover some best practices for creating a book club for 21st century learners, and find the right combination of elements that will provide you the tools to flourish as a book club facilitator. Your skills will promote increased student participation levels and school wide growth and achievement.

Shedding Light on the Leadership of Librarians – Kira Chauvin Berggren & Christopher Howell (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
Using the results of a mixed-methods dissertation study, which illustrated how positive relationships between administrators and librarians often led to increased awareness and promotion of the importance and relevance of school library media programs, we will present a toolkit specifically designed for new and prospective media specialists. The toolkit is packed with data, student-created presentations, research, and talking points designed to equip media specialists with a quick guide to help them achieve exemplary scores on the Rubric for Evaluating North Carolina’s School Library Media Coordinators and educate stakeholders about their importance in 21st century learning environments.

Storybook Theatre – The Giver and Tales from Around the World – Patch Clark (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle)
Storybook Theatre will share scenes from their current production of “The Giver” and also exciting tales from around the world they have collected through global linking. This session will share techniques for working with scenes from both the novel, “The Giver” and the play in the classroom and also methods for incorporating tales from around the world into the curriculum.

Teaching Research Skills (with NoodleTools) – Jen Baker (Interest Level: Middle, High)
Teacher Librarians are the go-to people at schools for teaching research, but often don’t have enough guidance on how to best teach the research process in a practical way. Pamlico County High School has been using NoodleTools with great results, but learning to use it effectively involved a lot of trial and error for both the librarian and the teachers. This session will share what was learned, and engage attendees to discuss what has worked well for them, the struggles they have, and what the experts say regarding teaching research skills in secondary schools.

What Has Social Media Done for You Lately? Encouraging Librarians to Build a Professional Learning Network – Abby Moore (Interest Level: Elementary, Middle, High)
Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, Facebook, Pinterest. You’re always connected. But what are you getting out of the time and effort you put into staying connected? Librarians, especially, are expected to be the tech gurus in their schools, and rightly so, but how might librarians make technology and social media work for us? Start building your Professional Learning Network (PLN) now! Cultivate it! Learn from your peers! The purpose of this session is to discuss strategies and best practices for building and maintaining a PLN. Who should you connect with? Who might you learn from? Additionally, we will identify must-have connections in any librarian’s PLN.