Immersion TLs and Universalis Junior

I invited the French Immersion Librarians to come to the DRC training lab to learn more about the features of the new "Universalis Junior" electronic encyclopedia we have acquired for the Immersion schools.

This resource fills a missing gap for FI students, and gives them the equivalent to the Worldbook mid-range offering (coming between the Advanced and the Discover kids' versions). It includes an up-to-date atlas.

Overview of the features HERE.

New Projects at DRC

I spoke recently to the Education Committee regarding the services that DRC has been providing this year, and hopes to expand in 2010-11. The presentation I used is posted HERE. I've also embedded the slide show below as a QT movie clip to give a sense of the big themes.

21st Century Teacher Librarian

I was recently asked to present on the topic of the "21st Century Teacher Librarian" for a workshop series put on by Follett. I had a lot of fun with this title.

We often read how TLs need to update, re-invent, modernize, etc. And we hear that in this new age, averything has changed, and libraries must keep up, or be left behind.

I began by showing a clip from a New York Times on-line article on the future of libraries and librarians. In among the descriptions of all the great things the featured librarian does with her students, was her description of the essentials of her job: "I connect kids to books and I connect them to information." What's interesting about this statement is that this sums up what teacher-librarians have been trying to do all along. My presentation explored the many ways we can meet both of these goals using the latest digital tools we have at our disposal.

Check out the link for my presentation notes.

Professional Resources from the DRC

I met with some teachers to explore the professional resources that are available through the District Resource Centre to support teachers as the fine-tune their practice. I've identified four sets of material that could be helpful.

1. ISL books
2. "Speaker in a box"
3. EBSCO professional Magazines
4. Annenburg Media video

For details on these resources, check out the links page I created for the presentation.

Web apps to use with Smartboards

I went to Anderson Elementary to do a Smartboard session. My goal was to expose the staff to a few great web-apps that help take advantage of the touch-and-move interactivity of the IWB (interactive whiteboard).  I put together a webpage with a set of links to general web apps, as well as some subject specific URLs.

I've also included some tutorials from a Smartboard video playlist, and links to a Notebook10 lesson repository as well as a Smartboard podcasting site. Check out the link for more info.

Destiny Homepages

One of the things we have been working on at the Library Admin Centre is a new template to overlay the catalog tab on the Destiny search page. (See the sample pic to see the "look".)  I first saw this idea on a school library site in the States. The right hand column allows for a consistent set of links that connect with district sits, while the left hand side holds "school-specific" ones. The middle column lets the TL insert an appropriate pic: books, the circ station, the front door, or a smiling staff member! What's nice is that it provides a "front door" feel without the TL being obligated to create a page him/herself.

Speaker in a box: Easy Pro-D

In looking for ways to multiply opportunities for Pro-D chairs, and help provide materials to develop great sessions for staff, DRC has ordered a number of professional development resources that come with a CD, video, DVD and/or facilitator's guide. This is a cost-effective way to provide access to some well-respected speakers. The cost to schools is zero, but gives all the benefits of bringing in a current "big name."

You can find these resources by checking out the DRC catalog, and looking in the Resource Lists (select "Public list" tab) for "Speaker in a box."

PRO-D morning at the DRC

The Bridge Elementary staff walked over to DRC to spend part of their Pro-D day with us. We met in the DRC training lab where I  reviewed the kinds of resources we have in our collection including the ISL books, the professional magazines and a variety of kits, novel labs, posters etc.

I did a quick refresher on the on-line tools we subscribe to: Encyclopedia of BC, WorldBook and the EBSCO databases. We also reviewed how to book materials from DRC via Richnet.

The session ended with a walkthrough of the DRC "stacks" and many teachers took the opportunity to take resources with them.

Tools for teaching French

Sue-Ann brought her UBC FSL student teachers to the DRC for a look at our resources and some pointers about how to use technology to help them teach French as a Second Language. I put together a page of links that they could refer to. (LINK) We looked at "Le Bon Patron", the entry level of World Book in French, 24 Heures (a "free" French-language paper), as well as some on-line magazine links and some other fun Web 2.0 tools to play with. (Here's an updated list (LINK.)

Rapid Web Developer workshop

This past week, I met with the Elementary administrators at Blundell School to review the steps needed to update their school websites. With Rosamar's help, we walked through each of the "editable" areas in the RWD folder and went over how to make changes and how to fix some common mistakes. Here's a link to the webpage I used for the session. The key is to stay on top of those few areas that must be updated (ie. Newsletter, Calendar). Other spots , like the School_News area, might need updating only once or twice a term. The advantage of using the RWD template is that everyone gets a nice looking site without having to know html or design layout.