Repackaging Research for the Common Core

While preparing for my  AASL breakout session scheduled for Saturday,  I thought I'd share some documents with our virtual library world.   Many of you cannot attend this national conference in Hartford for various reasons, and we will miss meeting you face-to-face!  

Since we are all in this paradigm shift together, I thought I'd share two research tools that I crafted to help inspire your teachers to "Repackage Research" for the Common Core:  A teacher self-assessment and a student self-assessment for research--Common Core style! 

There's a great deal more in my session than these two self-assessment checklists, but in case you can't attend, I didnt want you to miss out on what I believe is an incriminating self-assessment for teachers who are caught in the old paradigm of "fetching facts." 

If you attend my Saturday morning session, we will do some hands-on activities to understand how classroom  activities can evolve into "short term or more sustained" research activities.  We will share a recipe for creating Essential Questions and attendees should leave feeling that they understand how research within the CCSS should be vastly different that the old-school, low-budget, fact-fetching lame-excuse-for-research endeavors.   As Ross Todd says, "why bother?"  

 ResearchSchematic NYS (PDF -484 KB)

 SCDN Synthesizing! - Student (PDF -396 KB)

 Teacher self-assessment (PDF -314 KB)

 Repackaging Research Handout (PDF -865 KB) Sat @ 10:00 

When we return to work on Monday, our NYSED governing board will be voting on whether a research paper will be a requirement (postponed until December meeting) for HS graduation.   Most high performing schools are there already,  but we all know that some schools and classroom teachers are "territorial"  and do not collaborate with their librarians.  That is not CCSS aligned and you can diplomatically inform them.    

Here is our Commissioner of Education, Dr. John King,  speaking to 1000+ NYS Network Training ELA teachers last May about "research."   Long live the King!  

Also on Friday at 8:00  we are presenting Raising eReaders:  Rising above reluctancy 

Please join us for that session, if you are sitting on the fence wondering why or how to get started with eBooks for popular fiction!    

Here is a handout from that session:  Raising eReaders (PDF -270 KB) - Friday @ 8:00 

What Every Lone Ranger Librarian Needs for the Holidays

This is budget season, in case you haven't heard.  While Americans are out spending money buying gifts, school administrators are beginning the budget process which will likely last through February.  The real numbers will not be "released" until about six weeks before the vote, but now is the time to make yourself visible and indispensable.   Now is the time for your creative juices to flow and your ideas to flourish.   

Even in spite of all your creativity, it is likely that we will see a number of librarians losing their "aides" to help with all the daily tasks of running a library well.  Many librarians will be 'lone rangers' left to man the shop by themselves.   Here is a video from Lone Ranger Leanne at Stillwater Elementary School in NY, who has come up with one creative solution to help her be in two places at once.   Thanks Leanne for this creative Christmas, Hanukkah  or Kwanza present !idea!