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Tickled Pink to be a School Librarian

- April 21, 2021

As winter break approached in 2020, I was, like many of you, tired. I was tired of teaching in Zoom. I was tired of not being able to get books into the hands of ALL students, and was frustrated by the fact that many students who needed access to books the most were not getting them. I was tired of working either from my temporary home office or from what felt like a cavernous, empty school. What I--what EVERYONE--needed, was something to keep our spirits up. Something to unite our school community, to brighten the cold, dark days, and to make the slog to spring seem shorter. And that's when I got an idea. This is almost always dangerous. . . What if I did a reading challenge? What if it focused on stamina and FINISHING books (a problem I recognized, particularly in my 3-5th grade students)? And what if it culminated in something that would get the entire school community talking? After consulting with some classroom teachers and library colleagues, I lande...

Stories from School Libraries: Librarian Roundtables

- March 17, 2021

by TuesD Chambers We are living through unprecedented and challenging times. School librarians are often the social and emotional pulse of our community and we are sorely missing the social interactions that make us love our jobs. To try to ease that burden despite the isolation many of us feel, at Seattle Public School librarians have been holding round tables twice a week since November. My name is TuesD Chambers, and I am a high school librarian. I am also the Content Specialist for Secondary Librarians in Seattle Public Schools. Much of what we have done in the past needed to be rebooted for a virtual world. After talking to colleagues, we saw the need for increased community and connection within our librarian cohort. We started doing roundtables twice a week during COVID to address professional development and provide social and emotional support. Our roundtables are casual yet structured opportunities to check in on a variety of topics that are timely and important ...

Adventures in "Simultaneous Teaching"

- March 10, 2021

by Sarah Logan When my elementary school brought students back for face-to-face instruction for the full length of school days, the specialist schedule was a huge challenge. We needed students at school to have specialists fact-to-face to provide teacher prep time, and we still wanted students to have the same time with specialists as they would in a regular 5-day school week. We also knew that dropping community spread meant our schools would soon move to a 4-day in-person school week, so whatever solution we chose would be temporary. We agreed to try "rooming and zooming," or simultaneous teaching. No matter what name you give it, teaching students both face-to-face and in a virtual setting like Zoom presents a challenge. Teachers must divide their attention between the students in the room and those in the virtual space. For those in the virtual space, technology glitches and Internet speeds are as much of an issue as during fully remote learning. ...

Announcing: BIPOC Membership Scholarships

- March 04, 2021

Librarianship is an overwhelmingly white profession. This, as the ALA Member Demographics Survey from 2017 demonstrates, does not seem to be shifting despite efforts promoting diversity and inclusion within our profession. This fall, the WLA leadership retreats included a session focused on anti-racism and how we as an organization can start dismantling the systems that uphold racism. While this is not something that will happen overnight, WLA is committed to taking steps to address systemic racism within WLA and Librarianship. As the School Library Division committee chair and a white woman, I recognize that my efforts to add diverse titles to my collection and make all students feel welcome, seen, and valued, is not enough. We need diverse voices in our profession, and we need to encourage our BIPOC colleagues to be part of our professional organization. Your ScLD Leadership Committee believes strongly that it is time for change, and that we...

Librarians and the Washington Digital TeachKit: Partnerships in the Pandemic

- March 01, 2021

by Mark Rey Throughout my career as a teacher librarian and district leader, I’ve reveled in professional collaboration. As I continue my 29th year as a teacher librarian / instructional coach / teacher of the year / administrator / now free range educator, my rich professional friendships and diverse PLN have made me a better educator. But collaboration in a pandemic is hard. Social distancing has translated into professional isolation. A virtual breakout room is simply not the same as popping into a colleague’s classroom or meeting in the break room to forage for snacks. For teacher librarians who once regularly connected with fellow educators to lead, teach, and support the work of the school, it’s increasingly difficult to sustain collaboration as classroom colleagues struggle with remote and hybrid learning. The very real challenges of student engagement, management, and effective instructional design using diverse digital tools and services are yet to be solved. Despit...

WWU Children's Lit Conference Heads Online

- February 23, 2021

by Adam Shaffer Hello, WLA ScLD Blog readers! Adam Shaffer here, happy to be a guest contributor on the new blog. It’s the end of February, and maybe you feel like something is missing from your life (aside from everyday social connection). I know I do. For me, the end of February is the most glorious time for children’s literature lovers in the Pacific Northwest: The Western Washington University Children’s Literature Conference (and nErDcamp Bellingham , but that’s a topic for a future post). For each of the last seventeen years, WWUCLC hosted an all-star lineup of acclaimed authors and illustrators. And each of the last seventeen years, WWUCLC also welcomed 600+ teachers, librarians, and other kidlit advocates and devotees—a hot ticket indeed. Despite the size of the crowd, the event always feels intimate, as we connect with each other over the power of storytelling for young people. WWUCLC 2020 was the last hurrah for many of us, before COVID changed nearly ...

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