Day 1 Schedule

Session Title:  Serving impoverished and Houselessness Youth, their Families and Community

Session Description:  Often our students experience a lack of educational resources, housing, food and other necessities.  This session will do a deep dive into how school librarians and educators as a whole can support our most vulnerable students and their families—while also considering fellow colleagues who may be experiencing poverty too. 

Session Title:  Restoring Media Literacy in a Post-Truth, AI World 

Session Description:  In a world where truth and empathy are constantly under attack, educators must prioritize media literacy skills that foster compassion and critical thinking. This session will cover: 1.) What methods of spreading misinformation/disinformation today (e.g. memes, AI, deepfakes) pose special challenges to media literacy and democracy? 2.) What neurological and sociological causes lead people to believe in and seek out falsehoods? 3.) How can these factors be countered by school librarians, public librarians, and journalists when they work together? ]4.) What strategies and resources are available to K-12 librarians for embedding media literacy skills in their instruction and collaborations? 

Session Title:  Diversity & SEL for the School Library

Session Description:  With the pandemic and schools going remote our students and school communities exhibited a need for social and emotional learning (SEL) skills. The skills help support academic and personal success while alleviating some of the stresses and issues caused by the pandemic. This presentation on school library programming and collection development with social emotional learning books and resources with a lens on diversity will help K-12 librarians prepare their students and school communities to not only survive but thrive. 

Session Title:  One Book: The Power of an All-School Read 

Session Description:  Of all we do as media specialists, I believe our most important role is creating a culture of reading. One way I have done this is by organizing four One Book reads. This session provides a roadmap for leading your own One Book read, covering everything from funding to implementation. 

Session Title:  Advocating for Readers by Ending Literacy Shaming 

Session Description:  Parents, teachers, librarians: We all want to improve kids’ literacy. But too often, kids receive messages and signals telling them their reading choices are “wrong.” This session will help participants learn to recognize this “literacy shaming” in multiple settings and take steps to end it. 

Session Title:  Create a Legendary Library with Wakelet 

Session Description:  Catch the Wakelet wave and discover how this powerful yet simple tool promotes the 6 Cs of Future Ready Learning: From student portfolios to class newsletters, from research to storytelling, Wakelet brings so many fresh possibilities to the library. Come explore all the innovative ways it can be integrated to transform teaching and learning!!