Nominate a Young Hero

The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes invites nominations for its 2013 awards. The Barron Prize, founded by author T.A. Barron, celebrates inspiring, public-spirited young people ages 8 to 18 who have made a significant positive difference to people or the planet. Ten winners each receive $5,000 to support their service work or higher education. Nomination deadline is April 30. For more information and to nominate, visit http://www.barronprize.org

New features for Mid-Hudson Library System Online Catalog

The Mid-Hudson Library System Online Catalog at http://midhudsonlibraries.org/, which provides access to all Hudson Valley residents to over 2.25 million items available in all sixty-six member public libraries, has some new features patrons will love! 

The MHLS Online Catalog is the main online ”discovery tool” that patrons use to find what they are looking for, and now they can find what they never even knew existed!

The MHLS Online Catalog now boasts:

• Reading Level Information
  If you’re interested in finding books that match a certain reading level, then you’ll like this feature. The MHLS Catalog now displays Lexile reading levels for juvenile titles. “Help younger readers find just the right book!”
• Hyperlinked series information
  For fans of series, reading order is essential. But it’s not always easy to find series information. The MHLS Catalog now displays all the titles in each series, in reading order!
• Recommended reading suggestions
  “Good books leave readers wanting more.” The MHLS Catalog now makes it easy to find “more like that” – whether it is more like that series, more like that title, or more like that author. The recommendations are created by trusted experts at NoveList who understand books and readers.
• Reviews from GoodReads
  Find out what “regular readers” think of a book!

These new catalog features were made possible through the work of the MHLS Central Library / Collection Development Advisory Committee and funding from Central Library Aid that comes from New York State to benefit public libraries and their patrons.

Online Informational Skills Tutorial for High School Students

Check out the Hemingway Library Information Online Skills Tutorial. “The tutorial covers all facets of the information literacy process and is designed to help prepare high school students for college-level research.” (School Library Monthly, v29 #5, February 2013, p.8)

http://helios.weber.edu/

Copyright Resources

10 Must Have Resources to Teach About Copyright and Fair Use

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/02/10-must-have-resources-to-teach-about.html

From Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

High School Library Design competition

Design a 21st Century Library

Sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF), the 2013 DiscoverDesign.org National High School Architecture Competition aims to promote architectural awareness and design problem-solving skills in high schools across the United States. The challenge is for students to redesign their high school library and rethink how their school’s library should, or could, function as technology advances and the notions of study and work change accordingly. The competition is open to any student at least 13 years old and currently enrolled in a US high school (grades 9–12). To be eligible for judging, a design project must include content (text and/or images) in each of the five steps of the design process. The five steps—Overview, Collect Info, Brainstorm Ideas, Develop Solutions, Final Design—are described in detail on the competition’s website. CAF’s partner, BlackSpectacles.com, is offering all students registered in the competition access to free online design software tutorials until the competition ends on May 14, 2013. The first-prize winner and one parent/guardian will receive a trip to Chicago, Illinois, in August 2013, and two tickets to a CAF river cruise and walking tour. The prize also includes a yearlong membership for design software tutorials from Black Spectacles ($280 value) and a copy of CAF’s The Architecture Handbook: A Student Guide to Understanding Buildings.

Deadlines: April 5, 2013, for registration; May 14, 2013, for submission of projects

http://discoverdesign.org/competition2013

School Libraries and Student Achievement Infographic

Newly designed infographic snapshot of Colorado/national studies done over the last 2 decades that show how teacher-librarians have a positive impact on student test scores.

Visit the link below to access online or scroll down to see the ‘printing’ link

http://www.lrs.org/news/2013/02/27/make-the-case-for-school-libraries-with-our-new-impact-studies-infographic/

New SLO Webinar posted

SLO 103 is now posted:

http://engageny.org/resource/slo-103-for-teachers

This video covers how to develop an SLO using past performance trends and student historical data (rather than an actual pre-assessment) in order to inform and determine appropriate targets and to inform instructional decisions and approaches.  In this webinar, they look at two separate course sections:  a US History Regents course where the summative assessment is the Regents exam and an 8th Grade Science class that culminates in a State assessment.

SLO for Librarians:  http://engageny.org/resource/slo-for-librarians

SLO 101: http://engageny.org/resource/student-learning-objectives-101

SLO 102: http://engageny.org/resource/slo-102-for-teachers