October 2019

October 14, 8-11:30

Professional Development for secondary teacher librarians is site based. Check with your admin.

Professional development for elementary teacher librarians will be in the Eldorado K-8 library.

We will be covering Fact vs Fiction, up through chapter 3, then split into interest groups for State Libraries Grant, Overdrive Marketplace review, Digital Citizenship, Maker Education, Website updating....

In preparation, read the Introduction and chapters 1&2 in Fact vs Fiction. Start thinking about what you would be interested in learning or leading.

Those of you in the Boulder Public Library service area will be able to teach database skills to your students starting October 15.

Now is the time to start promoting this awesome program to your families and staff. There is an opt-out form if parents do not want their student accessing databases.

To get to the databases, go to https://research.boulderlibrary.org/student-1. They can also get there through the BPL home page under the Kids & Teens button.

For those of you outside the BPL area, look forward to similar access with your area public library in 2020!

You have likely received an email recently from Follett and/or Mackin regarding collection analysis. The entire district collection has been uploaded to both Mackin and Follett. These vendors have split out each school and run an analysis on each collection.

When you meet with Bobbi Craig (Mackin) or Randy Thompson (Follett), they will go over the analysis with you and help you determine how best to work on your collections this year. Both vendors have some terrifically helpful tools for filling in gaps, rounding out thin areas, and adding the trendiest titles.

I encourage you to take a look at the new analyses while planning your purchases this fall.

237 titles have been purchased based on your requests. 49 are in Spanish. 39 are audiobooks.

Also included are titles from the Battle of the Books list, CCBA nominees, and copies of titles that are super popular.

Literacy and Language Arts are the first curricular area to jump on the OverDrive bandwagon. We are purchasing books for these programs in the near future. Part of the incorporation of digital texts in these areas is to allow assignments of titles to specific students or reading groups. To start, teachers will need a 3 week lead time between filling out this request form and the start of the assignment. I will handle the assignments until it reaches a saturation point. Later in the year, if this model works well, I will show you all how to assign titles.

The contract for district access of OverDrive is still in the works. The Contracting Department required competing bids, so I've had to gather information to add to the OverDrive quote. We are still on track for mid-October all student access.

I don't know what the process will be to refund money to those who were on time with paying their invoices. It has been assured to me that you will get this money back. My best guess is late October.

Opportunities at Colorado School of Mines

1. C-START 2020

New courses including CS Praxis test prep, Program aligned with Colorado K-12 Instructional Technology endorsement, Programming courses and more. See the attached flyer for more details. All C-START courses are eligible for graduate-level relicensure credit(s).

2. Scratch Meet-Up

Thursday, 10/24, and Tuesday, 12/10, (both 6-8 pm) at Colorado School of Mines. In this informal setting teachers practice Scratch programming activities, brainstorm how the activities match with standards and other content area requirements, and share instructional techniques. Best for elementary and MS teachers or new HS CS teachers. $15 for food and supplies.

3. National CSPdWeek - July 20-24, 2020

Exploring Computer Science, Bootstrap Algebra, Bootstrap Data Science, AP CS Principles. Five days of intense learning and FUN with teachers from all around the country! Prices vary depending on the program. See attached flyers for more details. And click HERE to see a video of Colorado teachers at CSPdWeek 2019.

4. DECtech and CS@Mines On Tour

The award-winning DECtech program engages girls grades 3-9 in STEM activities, led by female Mines undergraduate students. CS@Mines On Tour is a program where Mines undergraduate students come to your school and teach a variety of lessons specific to grade level and ability. See attached flier for details. Contact Lisa Maddux, lmaddux@mines.edu to arrange DECtech or CS@Mines On Tour events at your school.

I met an author at a family event this month. She said she would be thrilled to visit schools, free of charge, to encourage young authors in their early writing careers. Margi (M.J.) Evans writes both non-fiction and children's fiction. She is a former teacher at the secondary school level and lives in Parker.

"I have always loved writing and using my imagination to create stories and characters. Many of my books are about horses...from the non-fiction equestrian trail guide books titled "Riding Colorado", "Riding Colorado II" and "Riding Colorado III" to my fantasy stories. The Mist Trilogy which is about the noble and great horses that become unicorns in the after-life is comprised of "Behind the Mist", "Mists of Darkness" and "The Rising Mist". I am also the proud recipient of the first place award in the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards for my allegory of the revolutionary war titled "North Mystic"."

Check out Margi's works at http://www.dancinghorsepress.com/books.html