New Exhibitor &
Platinum Sponsor

Working Smarter

October 3rd and 4th 2010 in Sturbridge, MA

VIEW the Complete program

THANK YOU for an EXCELLENT CONFERENCE!

NATIONAL SPEAKERS

READ descriptions of the workshops and speakers' biographies

Your Colleagues,
In the Trenches

READ descriptions of the workshops

SUNDAY AWARDS BANQUET

MSLA Awards: Lifetime Achievement, MA Super Librarian, President's Award, Advocate Award, Service Award and Web Seal of Excellence and Audrey Friend Scholarship

Dinner Speaker: Linda Nathan
The Hardest Questions Aren't on the Test: Lessons Learned from an Innovative Urban School

AUTHOR FEST

SHARING BEST PRACTICES

EXHIBITORS with the NEWest resources for School Libraries

SUNDAY SYMPOSIUM

Christopher Bing: Using Primary Sources

Authors and illustrators can attest firsthand to the importance of using primary sources in their work. Whether it’s crafting a novel with authentic detail, or illustrating a historic event, primary sources are essential tools.

Christopher Bing won a 2001 Caldecott Honor Award for Casey at the Bat. In a review, Booklist termed The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere a remarkable visual interpretation of Longfellow’s classic poem. His other notable works include Little Black Sambo and the illustrations for Lincoln Shot: A President's Life Remembered.

For each of his projects, Christopher Bing has used primary sources. His symposium will focus on authors’ and illustrators’ use of visual resources, illustrations, maps, diaries and letters. This is an important cross-curricular connection for social studies, language arts, and art. The principles are applicable at all academic levels.

Working freelance, Christopher Bing is a conceptual, editorial, and political illustrator. He has won numerous awards and his work has appeared in numerous publications: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and American Heritage Magazine.

SUNDAY SYMPOSIUM

Stephen Abram: FutureReady
Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Markets, Gale Cengage Learning

OK, the future is here.  What is the NEW normal and what are the new expectations for teacher librarians?  These expectations are not driven just by what libraries want to provide or tradition.  They are driven by the new ecology of the web and big players like Facebook, Bing, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon, Google and more. That is the new ecology of the 21st century.  How do we prepare learners for the new world they will encounter?

Is your library ready?  Are you offering both 'hot' and ‘cool’ information delivery?  Are you paying as much attention to the experience of the library as you do to the transactions?  What is your experience strategy?  How do your learning community conversations evolve? Can you audit your community relationships?  Has learning changed and have learners changed?

Are you meeting your community and learner expectations?  Will your library thrive in the 3.0 world?  What adaptations will you need to make to thrive in future scenarios.  How can we afford these changes? Are you future ready? Stephen Abram, a well known library technology futurist, will lead us through a conversation and presentation on these issues.

Biographical:
Stephen Abram, MLS, is Past-President 2008 of SLA and the past-President of the Canadian Library Association. He is the Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Markets for Gale Cengage Learning.  He was Vice President Innovation for SirsiDynix and Chief Strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute. He was Publisher Electronic Information at Thomson after managing several libraries. Stephen was listed by Library Journal as one of the top 50 people influencing the future of libraries. He has received numerous honors and speaks regularly internationally. His columns appear in Information Outlook and Multimedia and Internet @ Schools, OneSource, Feliciter, Access, as well writing for Library Journal. He is the author of ALA Editions' bestselling Out Front with Stephen Abram. His blog, "Stephen's Lighthouse," is a popular blog in the library sector.

SUNDAY DINNER SPEAKER

Linda Nathan
Headmaster, Boston Arts Academy
The Hardest Questions Aren’t on the Test: Lessons From an Innovative Urban School
In her book, The Hardest Questions Aren’t on the Test: Lessons from an Innovative Urban School, Nathan gives insights into the process of grappling with challenges, attempting to implement solutions, and evaluating the outcomes. Linda Nathan asks: How and why does a school develop a shared vision of what it stands for? What makes a great teacher? How can a principal help good teachers improve? Why must schools talk openly about race and achievement? 



Linda Nathan is the founding headmaster of the Boston Arts Academy, the city’s first and only public high school for the visual and performing arts. BAA sends over 95 percent of its graduates to college—all residents of the city of Boston.  Under her leadership, the school has won state, national, and international recognition and awards. These include a Massachusetts Compass Award, a “Breaking Ranks” award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and a Mentor School award from the Coalition of Essential Schools.

Linda was instrumental in starting Boston’s first performing-arts middle school, and was a driving force behind the creation of Fenway High School, recognized nationally for its innovative educational strategies and school-to-work programs. She is also a co-founder and board member of the Center for Collaborative Education in Boston, a nonprofit education reform organization dedicated to creating more equitable and democratic schools
.

MONDAY KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Michael Dahl: FROM TARZAN OF THE APES TO THE LIBRARY OF DOOM: One Author’s Journey into the 21st Century!  

From the moment he stepped into a library as a young child, Michael Dahl was hooked on books! He went on to read thousands and write hundreds of them, fiction, nonfiction, chapter books and graphic novels. Some of them won awards, and some of them turned reluctant readers into book lovers. Michael shares with insight and humor how librarians changed his life at various stages of his career, and what he has learned about books, children, and how the two connect (and sometimes collide!).

Michael Dahl is the author of more than 100 books for children and young adults. He has won the AEP Distinguished Achievement Award three times for his nonfiction, and a Teacher’s Choice award from Learning Magazine. He has written The Everything Kid’s Joke Book and Gotcha Covered! (with Kathleen Baxter) on nonfiction books that get kids excited about reading. His Finnegan Zwake mystery series published by Simon & Schuster won rave reviews. The Chicago Tribune called it a “wisecracking riot” and “golden!” Two of its titles, The Viking Claw and The Coral Coffin were both shortlisted for the Edgar and the Anthony mystery awards. He has written and edited numerous graphic novels for younger readers, and has authored the Library of Doom adventure series, as well as the Dragonblood books. He has also written the DC chapter books The Last Son of Krypton, The Man Behind the Mask, and Trial of the Amazons, which feature the origin stories of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Dahl has spoken at schools, libraries, and conferences across the US, including ALA, AASL, Texas Library Association, IRA, National Association for the Education of Young Children, Alabama Instructional Media Association, the Tulsa Reading Council, and the Northeast Ohio Library Association.

Learning Commons Panel
(Level: All)
Robin Cicchetti, Concord-Carlisle HS
Linda Picceri, Watertown Middle-HS
Judi Paradis, Plympton Elementary, Waltham
Valerie Diggs, Moderator, ChelmsfordHS
The panel members will discuss the learning commons philosophy and present ways in which they are converting their libraries into the learning commons model at all three levels; elementary, middle and high school.

Bringing STEM to Your Library
(Level: Elementary)
Katie Cersale-Messina Whelan Elementary, Revere
Classroom teachers struggle to fit the required time for math into their daily curriculum, never mind science, technology and engineering. The school librarian can help them! Your school library can be a resource for science, technology, engineering, and math materials. This session will give school librarians ideas to bring back to their libraries to help support STEM at their school. We will go over where to find materials, STEM read alouds, web resources, and project idea.

AASL’s 25 Top Websites for Teaching & Learning
(Level: All)
Linda Friel, Member-AASL Task Force
Find out how these websites were selected, the criteria used, how these websites best support the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner, and how these websites can be integrated into a variety of curricula. Come, bring your laptops, and have some fun as you use this opportunity to focus on possible ways to collaborate with classroom teachers and use these exciting Web 2.0 tools to enhance student achievement.

Building a Reading Buzz in the Library
(Level: Elementary)           
Judi Paradis, Plympton Elementary, Waltham
Mary Kenslea, Henry Whittemore Elementary, Waltham
Elementary school libraries are important partners in literacy, supporting all student readers and helping them develop a strong reading habit.  In this program, we will share a number of easy-to-implement ideas for creating excitement around reading throughout the school, from reading incentive programs to book group ideas to partnerships with teachers and reading specialists.

Digital Storytelling: Bringing New Media Together with Traditional Literacies
(Level: All)
Carol Kelly, Salem State
The wide variety of new media offers rich and varied presentation options for student work, but too often its use also disguises a lack of substantial content and traditional research.  Digital Storytelling offers us the opportunity to foster those skills and to set high standards for learning while still supporting the use of the exciting range of possibilities.  Basic resources, examples of projects, excellent rubrics and open-ended ideas for every grade level will be included.

Working WITH the Web: Enhancing Student Research Using Web 2.0 Tools 
(Level: Middle/High)
Christopher Franks Springfield HS of Commerce
Have you read up on Web 2.0, and attended workshops on using wikis and other tools, but are still not sure how you can implement them at your school? Then this session is for you.  We will be examining ways you can begin collaborating with teachers to make research projects more engaging using Web annotation, site creation, and other Web-based tools. At the same time, we will be exploring ways to embrace skeptics and reactive Web usage/filtering policies.

Primary Sources Personalize History: Using Alan’s Letters as an Intro. to World War II
(Level: Middle & High)
Using her recently printed book, Alan’s Letters, Ms. Rial will show how to use primary resources as an introduction to the Massachusetts Social Studies Standards on WWII. Suggestions for finding primary resources are given, as well as suggestions for adapting the format of the study to other wars or historical time periods, and to all ethnic groups. The comparison between the official textbook history, and personal history as lived through the era under investigation, is discussed. It is this contrast that has added value for the student researcher.  Several ideas for student products- from technology to reader’s theatre- will be presented. Aside from the obvious connection to Social Studies, librarians who work with Language Arts teachers using first person writing techniques, diaries, and letters may find this interesting, as well as anyone interested in family genealogy.           

Nancy Rial has both a background in the fine arts, and in library science. After a B.A. in Art from UMass, Amherst, she went on to earn both an M.F.A. from Boston University, and an M.L.S. from Simmons College. She has taught both subjects, and is currently a Library Media Specialist with the Cambridge Public Schools. She travels between France and her home in Cambridge, and is currently trying to learn French as rapidly as possible!

Digital Literacy Challenge
(Level: All)
Rachel Costello Pentucket High School
Lindsey Barlow Independent Instructional Technology Specialist
Often librarians and technology specialists are tasked with promoting digital literacy without classes. This two-year-long digital literacy challenge project took students and faculty beyond the bell and outside the classroom, alternating library and Web 2.0 learning activities. Learning activities included social book marking, online library catalog, citation generators, online study skills workshops, digital footprints, book review messaging, online giving, database search, presidential pledge wiki, online study sessions, Wordle clouds, LibraryThing, audio creators and more. These challenges not only expose students to educational technology but models instructional uses for teachers and administrators. This session previews the project with a take-home e-package to replicate in your school.