Professional Learning Opportunities May 2021
Here is my list of professional learning opportunities for May 2021. Some of them are time sensitive, others are just what has come to my attention this month. It’s a way to help me keep track of things that I find or that are recommended to me. They mostly are for school librarians or the school library setting, but many are transferable to any library or education setting.
Looking for more resources? Check out my Professional Learning Series.
Last month’s Professional Learning list.
Most of the opportunities below are free and easily accessibly by following the links, others are require a fee. If you have any suggestions or links, I’d love to hear from you. Comment below or contact me here.
Publications and Websites
I’ve just recently discovered Rachael Yates’ website. She is the Primary eLearning Facilitator at St Peter’s Lutheran College. She has some great articles and tips about tech use for children and teens and tech tips for teachers. Check out her website EducationalTechAndInnovation
Reading in the Age of Distrust by Alison J Head. Are educators equipping students with the analytical and deep reading skills they need for the future?
State of America’s Libraries Report 2021 – featuring the ways that libraries across sectors in the USA responded to the COVID-19 crisis.
April 2021 edition of the School Library Journal. The SLJ is currently enabling free digital access to their journal library. Once you enter your details in the link here, you’ll get access to the current and previous editions. The April 2021 edition features the School Librarians of the Year in the US.
Library and Information Week via ALIA. 17-23 May 2021. Access lots of free resources and tips for promoting your library programs on social media.
ACCESS from ASLA, Vol 35, Issue 1, March 2021 is available for members or via subscription on the ASLA website.
Conferences, Courses, Webinars, Podcasts and Meet Ups
National Education Summit. This one is for June, but it’s time to put it on your radar now. The Building Capacity School Libraries conference is spread over two days (5 and 6 June 2021) and has a great list of presenters (I might be biased, as I am one of them). There is a fee involved and this event is face-to-face in Brisbane. Find out more here.
AISNSW Teacher Librarian Conference 2021 – Turning a new page. This is an in-person event event, hosted at the State Library of NSW. 17 May 2021. Costs involved.
Check out the latest podcasts from School Librarians United. The most recent podcasts feature Student Ambassadors, Classroom Management in a Pandemic, The Equality Act and LGBTQ Rights and Modern School Library Programs.
Tech It Over Episode 14: The Next Generation of Libraries. Video via youtube. Three US librarians talk about what they are reading (first 26 mins) and how they use Tik Tok to advocate for their profession.
An interesting initiative from the American Library Association, Holding Space is a national virtual tour to chat with librarians across sectors. Day 5 features school librarians from Texas. Topics covered include STEM, building a culture of inquiry, PD, advocacy and diverse student needs. You can watch it here on YouTube.
CAVAL Steer Your Career three part series. This was held in March, but the recordings are freely available on the CAVAL website. While they have a university library angle, the webinar topics are still highly relevant to all librarians and include tips for resume building, using LinkedIn for networking and tips for transitioning across sectors.
The Many Hats We Wear As Future Ready Librarians. Video interview with Heather Fox.
Self-Care for Kids, Teachers and Artists Podcast from ChatAboutChildren.
ChangeMakers How Small Groups Make Big Change weekly training over 9 sessions. From April 29 to June 24 each Thursday at 6pm AEST. Free.
INCITE in conversation: Creating community online with LibraryCraft. 13 May 2021. Online. Free event.
Two social media channels to follow
Top New books of May
App/Tech of the month
Mote. If you’re like me, you may have seen some references on social media to teachers using mote. What is this strange thing? It’s a Chrome browser extension that enables you to add voice recorded notes and feedback on documents and emails. I haven’t tried it yet myself. The free edition gives you access to 30second recordings, but doesn’t use the voice to text feature – you’ll have to pay for that. This tools seems especially relevant for younger students, students who have trouble reading written feedback or those that just need to hear the teacher’s voice. Helpful for those working remotely.
Leave a Reply