Free SLANSW Professional Learning Resources 2024 Reading is Magic - 28 May 2024 About this presentation The CBCA Book Week, being held from 17 – 23 August, is one of the key events for school libraries in Australia, with libraries across the nation celebrating in a variety of ways. The theme for this year's CBCA Book Week is “Reading is Magic”. We have invited three experienced and renowned Book Week experts to share their plans for this year. In this meetup you will be provided with ideas for your library and for students across K-12. Join us on May 28 at 7:00pm for our online meetup and you are sure to go away with lots of ideas than can be used in your school library. About Leah Rose Leah has spent more than 20 years working in the Australian book industry. She was the children's specialist at her local Angus and Robertson book store, then moved to publishing for Walker Books Australia and then finally was the school specialist for Paul Macdonald at the Children's Bookshop. Leah has since been working as a Library Technician in school libraries, and is currently at a co-educational K-12 institution. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Information Services from CSU and also studied creative writing. In her spare time she proofs audio books for Audible and has recently finished serving as a judge in the 2022 Aurealis Awards. She is a committed reader of children's and YA literature and is a dedicated collector of picture books since her aunt gifted her ‘Dinotopia’ at the age of 8. About Vicki Bennett Vicki Bennett is a teacher librarian who works in two small primary schools in the Shoalhaven area since 2018. From 2012 – 2-17 she was a primary classroom teacher. She has been a member of SLANSW since 2018 and a member of the SLANSW Management Committee since 2020. Vicki is currently the secretary of SLANSW as well as the secretary for the Shoalhaven Teacher Librarian Network. Vicki is a very enthusiastic advocate for the role of the teacher librarian and school libraries who believes that the best approach for advocacy is to educate and inform everyone about the role of the teacher librarian. She is currently undertaking research at one of her schools about how collaborative teaching with the teacher librarian and classroom teacher in schools can improve student outcomes(literacy) and support classroom teachers with planning, implementation of inquiry learning, research, and providing appropriate and relevant resources to support their teaching. This research is aiming to provide an evidence-base to support collaborative teaching with the teacher librarian to share with school leadership. About Rhonda Creasey Rhonda Creasey is a busy Teacher Librarian at Merewether PS and Wallsend PS. She has worked in libraries and schools over the last three decades in NSW, WA and NT. She loves to learn and embraces any opportunity to develop new skills or refine her practice. Rhonda has been actively involved in leading Meetups, presenting at Online Open Forum and leading the IFF Working Party. Rhonda is excited to take on the role of co-ordinating the Professional Learning sub-committee and continuing the provision of quality learning for Teacher Librarians across the state. She looks forward to working with an interested and dynamic team. Suggested Standards addressed by this Online Meet-up 2.1.2 Apply knowledge of the content and teaching strategies of the teaching area to develop engaging teaching activities. 6.2.2 Participate in learning to update knowledge and practice targeted to professional needs and school and/or system priorities. 7.4.2 Participate in professional and community networks and forums to broaden knowledge and improve practice. 2023 About this presentation The Online Meetup, "Influencing for Impact" aims to help participants create the greatest impact and value-add within their own school community. Having worked with teacher librarians and other middle leaders across different sectors, Eli brings innovative and big picture thinking to her sessions. She will help us consider how we might use influencing techniques and linguistic styles when working with our school's senior leadership team. In this session, participants will engage in some practical activities and will leave with an action plan ready to implement. This topic is relevant for primary and secondary Teacher Librarians and Library staff. About Eli Simpson Eli Simpson’s work includes building the capacity of leaders and leadership teams that result in effective organisational cohesion, innovation, and improved learner outcomes. Eli has held multiple roles including classroom teacher, Pastoral Academic Care Leader, Leader of Pedagogy, Head of House, and Assistant Principal (Learning). Further resources Presentation Slides for Online Meetup_October23.pdfSuggested Standard Descriptors for this Meet-up: 2.5.2 Apply knowledge and understanding of effective teaching strategies to support students’ literacy and numeracy achievement. 6.2.2 Participate in learning to update knowledge and practice targeted to professional needs and school and/or system priorities. 6.3.2 Contribute to collegial discussions and apply constructive feedback from colleagues to improve professional knowledge and practice. 7.4.2 Participate in professional and community networks and forums to broaden knowledge and improve practice. 2022 Megan Light, Rhonda Creasey, Melanie Walker - 15 February 2022 How do you recommend books to your students? About this presentation In this first session of the year Megan Light (K.O.A.L.A.) and Management Committee members Rhonda Creasey and Melanie Walker will share their experiences and ideas on innovative ways to effectively recommend books to students across K-12. The content of this webinar will assist participants to provide informed reading recommendations to their students through consideration of the knowledge and strategies offered by the presenters and through discussion with colleagues. About Megan Light Megan has taught in public and independent schools for 32 years in various roles including Classroom Teacher, Stage Leader, IB PYP Facilitator, Digital Literacy Leader and Teacher Librarian. In 2021, she was nominated for the ASLA Australian Teacher Librarian of the Year Award. In her current TL role and as K.O.A.L.A. President, Megan is passionate about the importance of reading and the value of Australian children’s literature. She actively pursues the promotion of reading and literature through student agency; and connecting readers with the creators of the books they discover and love. About Rhonda Creasey Rhonda is a teacher librarian at Wallsend PS in Newcastle. She has had wide experience teaching in Sydney, Perth and Darwin both in classrooms and libraries. Rhonda majored in Children's Literature in her original degree (B.Ed) and has been connected to libraries for most of her teaching life. She is passionate about connecting students to quality literature and being a reader for enjoyment. She has had the opportunity to refurbish two libraries-Harrington Park (SW Sydney) and Wallsend (Hunter). These experiences have taught her the importance of connecting and engaging both students and teachers to see the library as the central learning hub of the school. Rhonda's Wallsend library is colourful and vibrant with artwork connected to every school student, displayed on the walls, created annually from each book week celebration. In addition, Rhonda spends two days a week as Teacher Librarian at Merewether PS. When you enter her libraries you want to stay and absorb some of the magic and warmth that surrounds you. About Melanie Walker Melanie is currently Teacher Librarian at Catherine McAuley Catholic College Medowie, a brand new secondary Catholic high school in Port Stephens. She has over 16 years of teaching experience across grades 7-12 along with experience as Teacher Librarian in K-12 school settings. Melanie is passionate about working with other teacher librarians and has a particular interest in developing the School Library Association Mentoring SIG, to be trialled in 2022. Further resources Jamboard.pngSuggested Standard Descriptors for this Meet-up: 2.5.2 Apply knowledge and understanding of effective teaching strategies to support students’ literacy and numeracy achievement. 6.2.2 Participate in learning to update knowledge and practice targeted to professional needs and school and/or system priorities. 6.3.2 Contribute to collegial discussions and apply constructive feedback from colleagues to improve professional knowledge and practice. 7.4.2 Participate in professional and community networks and forums to broaden knowledge and improve practice. 2021 SLANSW Celebrates National Science Week- 17 August 2021 About this presentation An online meetup about how Teacher Librarians and Library teams can collaborate across the curriculum and across the school to design and deliver exciting learning activities for students. The School Library Association of NSW presented an online meetup in the SLANSW Zoom Conference Room on Tuesday August 17 from 7:00-8:00pm. The presenters were Science Teachers, Classroom Teachers, Teacher Librarians and Library staff from Cherrybrook Technology High School and Broughton Anglican College. They shared cross-curriculum initiatives and teaching programs used in their schools and explained how Science faculties and Library teams can collaborate to engage students in exciting Science based learning activities. Secondary School Setting Our presenters shared their experiences relating to the implementation the Murder in the Library program at Cherrybrook Technology High School. Whilst this program is aimed primarily at Year 10 Science (forensics) it is also a cross-curricular program and is used for English (Year 9 Investigative Journalism and Year 10 Crime genre study) as well as Legal Studies and sometimes as a fun activity for Gifted and Talented junior classes. The activity also involves staff from across the school, including everyone from the Principal and Deputies to Head Teachers and classroom teachers from a variety of faculties. Primary School Setting Our presenters from Broughton Anglican College shared their experience about how collaboration between Teacher Librarians and Primary Classroom teachers to integrate information fluency skills into Science programs leads to greater student engagement, an improvement in the quality of work produced and greater support of teachers in planning units, developing assessments and rubrics. Presenter Bios
Suggested Standard Descriptors for this Meet-up: 2.2.2 Organise content into coherent, well-sequenced learning and teaching programs. 2.3.2 Design and implement learning and teaching programs using knowledge of curriculum, assessment and reporting requirements. 3.3.2 Select and use relevant teaching strategies to develop knowledge, skills, problem-solving, and critical and creative thinking. 6.2.2 Participate in learning to update knowledge and practice targeted to professional needs and school and/or system priorities. 7.4.2 Participate in professional and community networks and forums to broaden knowledge and improve practice. 2020 Disaster Preparedness: Dealing with compounding disasters - 27 October 2020 SLANSW in collaboration with the School Library Association of Victoria (SLAV) and Blue Shield Australia facilitated this online meet-up presented by Heather Brown, Sue Hutley and Susan Mapleson. About this presentation The goal of this Online Meet-up was to provide our members with practical strategies to deal with disasters, should their library be directly impacted in the future. Presenters shared their experiences, guided participants through creating a 'preparedness document' and looked to strengthen support networks across the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) sectors. Presenter Bio Heather Brown is an Assistant Director at Artlab Australia/State Library of South Australia and is the co-author of the ALIA Disaster Management for Libraries Guide. Heather will discuss practical tips for disaster preparedness, the ALIA template documents and scenarios and other useful resources available. Susan Mapleson is the Senior Teacher Librarian at Christian College, Geelong. In her 21 years at the school the last couple have been the most challenging as the Senior Library was flooded twice and then in 2018 the Library and Administration building were destroyed by fire. This experience is not something that you are ever prepared for, but I hope to share some of the positives that came out of rebuilding a new library. Sue Hutley is the General Manager, Library Customer Services at Bond University Library. During her career, Sue has worked in managerial positions in special, public and academic libraries and well as a not-for-profit Executive Director. Sue is currently the volunteer Chair of Blue Shield Australia, a national committee of Blue Shield International, working to protect cultural heritage threatened by armed conflict and natural disasters. Additional resources provided by Melissa Fraser The St Joseph's Experience.pptx The St Joseph's Experience.pptx.docx Suggested NESA Descriptors for this Meet-up: 4.4.2, 6.2.2, 7.4.2 2019 Lynette Barker - 21 May 2019“What makes you say that?”: Using visible thinking routines to deepen thinkingAbout this presentation In this presentation, Lynette challenges the audience, "If we see learning as a product of thinking, then as educators we must take time to ensure our lessons are rich in thinking opportunities and that the thinking is made visible to us. How can we achieve this?" In 2005 at the conclusion of a 5 year project into cultivating thinking dispositions, Ron Ritchhart and his Project Zero colleagues developed a set of simple strategies for scaffolding thinking, known as thinking routines. These thinking routines are at the heart of visible thinking. During the session, Lynette provides a brief overview of thinking routines, shares practical examples of routines she has used in her library, and provides resources that will help you to take the first step towards using routines to enrich learning for your students. Lynette also explores how the routines are easily adapted to suit students from Kindergarten to Year 12. Presenter bio Lynette Barker is the Teacher Librarian / Learning Technology Coordinator at St Therese’s Primary School, New Lambton. As a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, she is passionate about the use of technology to enhance learning and loves demonstrating how technology fits naturally with thinking routines. 2018 Helen Stower - 25 September 2018Evidence-based practice: How do we measure the impact of literacy promotion in school libraries
About this presentation The session is presented by Helen Stower who is the Programme Leader of Information Services & iCentre at Mt Alvernia College in Kedron, Qld. One of the cornerstone programs in the Mt Alvernia iCentre is the literature promotion program called Campfire. This program is run formally in Year 7 & 8. The program is well received at the school and the TL team at Mt Alvernia had some great anecdotal feedback about our Campfire sessions. They also had loan statistics that showed Campfire sessions have dramatically increased the number of books borrowed by students. But is a book borrowed a book read? It had long been Helen's concern that the TL team did not have any hard evidence that the program has merit and is beneficial to the literacy outcomes of our students. Throughout 2018, the Mt Alvernia TL team endeavoured to gather such evidence. This project is a work in progress and this presentation shares what they have learned so far. Q&A time | Free SLANSW Professional Learning Resources 2024 2023 2022 How do you recommend books to your students? 2021 SLANSW Celebrates National Science Week2020 2019 2018
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Amber Sorensen has been a teacher-librarian at Cherrybrook Technology High School (CTHS) since 2014. She began her career as a corporate librarian before retraining and working as a secondary History teacher. Amber is passionate about encouraging a love of reading, developing student information fluency skills and supporting teaching and learning through collaboration with classroom teachers.
Magali Mello has a background in laboratory management, specialising in Food and Environmental Testing and has also taught at TAFE and Western Sydney University. She retrained as a secondary teacher to pursue her passion for Science and education. Magali is a big advocator of student-centred learning that encompasses practical tasks to encourage a love for Science in her students.
Cath works as a Teacher Librarian at Broughton Anglican College, a P-12 College in South-West Sydney. She started in the position in 2020, along with commencing her Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) at Charles Sturt University. Cath has been teaching Primary since 2014, after moving out of a 20 year career working as an Intensive Care Paramedic. Term 4 in her first year of teaching seemed a good time to throw out the rule book and integrate all her Year 5 programs to conduct a Guided Inquiry unit around Global Connections. Working closely with the Head of Information Services, Cath was hooked. The move to Information Services was inevitable – although it took a few years to get there. Cath’s current focus is rebuilding collaborative relationships with primary classroom teachers to integrate the teaching of information fluency and inquiry skills into curriculum programs. Her favourite book series is Alan Bradley’s Flavia De Luce series, and she is currently reading, Am I Just My Brain, by Sharon Dirckz.