For my field experience in Library Media, I attended the NLA/NEMA Annual Conference held October 5-7, 2011 in Lincoln Nebraska.
At the NLA/NEMA conference, I attended many sessions that were both interesting and educational. I was able to meet many different people form libraries and schools who offered advice and contact information for questions and future concerns. It was a very welcoming and inviting environment, I was gad that I was able to attend.
One sessions that I attended was called Blogging and Globster led by Brent Catlett and Ann Feldman. Both presenters were friendly and energetic, they both obviously enjoyed what they do. One disappointing aspect of their talk, though, was that they had just found out that the use of Globster was no longer free. They did log in and show it to us, and explain how to get a fairly reasonable account with students access. They also talked about how tech savvy the students of today are and what they are expecting of education, and are not getting it. They gave us tools to use in the classroom in order to further enhance our teaching and lessons for the students so that they felt more involved and that they are able to show some of the knowledge about the technology in which they are so familiar. One of the tools that I thought would be great to use in a language arts class is kidblog.org. Although anyone can see the posts, it can be set up so that teachers can review what has been written before it is posted for all to see. Catlett and Feldman made the point that students like to see that their points are being looked at and validated. When students are completing in class work that only the teacher reads, it can make it seem like there is no real use for it. When it is taken to a level where all classmates can see your work, can post questions and responses, it becomes much more real and makes for a better educational environment.
Another session that I went to was called Book club in the classroom: An opportunity for collaboration by Cassandra Barnett. I chose this session as collaboration between the librarian and classroom teachers is something that is taught, but rarely used in the schools that I work in. Librarians are a well of knowledge that is often times overlooked by the classroom teachers because their focus is on the curriculum they have to get through and the timeline they are on. Librarians also need to branch out and contact classroom teachers in order to try to form that connection and so that others know that they are willing to work with them. I thought that this book club idea would be a great way for librarians and teachers to try out a partnership. Although the presenter had technical difficulties and was unable to use her power point in her talk, she made some great points. One of things that she talked about trying was collaborating on choosing books for the students groups in the class and conducting a book club in leu of a "lesson". Students would have roles in their discussion groups and there would be time to read in class and complete work. The librarian could lead a whole group lesson at times that would pertain to a particular theme or genre and the classroom teacher could teach vocabulary. Another important point that she brought up was to allow students to read for enjoyment in the classroom. She suggested setting up a time each week where students have the freedom to choose what they read for an extended period of time. A silent reading time slot at the end of the day or during a certain period so that students learn that sustained silent reading is an important aspect of their education as well as the other things involved with learning.