Welcome Back to School!

Only a few more weeks until the B-K Schools ring with the voices of students and staff for the 2010-2011 school year! There will be a few changes for all of us to get used to.

One change will be the time I am in the school district as B-K's teacher librarian. My contract for 2010-11 was reduced to 45 days per school year. That equals out to 1 day a week.

I will be in the district every Wednesday, but I will not be teaching library skills classes like the last 2 years. I do plan to assist in the PK-12 classrooms with instruction in the use of library and Web 2.0 tools. Like last year, library aides will be Diana Rodriguez in the Jacobson LMC and Shirley McLaughlin in the 7-12 LMC.

Another change is the size of the 7-12 Library Media Center. The new alternative school has been placed on the south side. It is a room of its own with its own accessible doors to the outside. This reduces the size of the LMC by roughly one half. The computers remain in the same area.

This past summer Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Mennega and I attended a 3 day computer bootcamp directed by Dr. Scott McLeod and AEA 267. I really had my eyes opened! It was fun trying out new tech tools and their uses in education. One highlight was the keynote speech given by Sarah Brown-Wessling, 2010 National and Iowa Teacher of the Year about what tech tools she uses in her classroom. Just this week Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Suntken, and I attended a one day conference hosted by Bernajean Porter. Bernajean is an expert in digital storytelling and advocates the use of technology in the classroom.

I also participated in a world-wide 3-day online conference, 'Showcasing Innovation in Education.' The Reform Symposium was a free online conference for educators, administrators, parents and students. This year the conference was focused on innovative practices in education and what role these practices can play in educational reform. The Reform Symposium 2010 was held July 30-August 1st. There were 712 participants representing 59 countries who listened and participated in 35 presentations/keynotes/panels. i was cool seeing what educators in other countries taught their students. If you are interested, archives can be found at www.reformsymposium.com.

I hope you have been reading during the summer! My list includes The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank; Twilight and History edited by Nancy R. Reagin; Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black; The Named, The Dark, and The Key (Guardians of Time trilogy) by Marianne Curley; and Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer.

Read Every Day,
Mrs. Theresa Reiter
K-12 Teacher Librarian