Professional Learning Opportunities May 2023

It’s May. Already. But don’t worry. It means new month with awesome research, articles, webinars, podcasts and more on topics from AI to class novels, action research and leadership. Happy learning. 

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Webinars and videos

Information Literacy and Fake News – Best Practice in Supporting Students to Become Critical Thinkers – ASLA with Mali Jorm – 3 May 2023, 7:30pm AEST – $20 members, $40 non members – Online. 

Creating Change with Evidence: Action Research for Teacher Librarians – EduWebinar with Dr Kay Oddone – 17 May 2023, 7pm AEST – $40 non members – online. 

The School Library’s Role in Including Indigenous Australian Voice in the English Curriculum K-10 – SLANSW with Rosalyn Thomas – 9 May 2023, 7pm AEST – $35 non member – online. 

Free Virtual Roundtable Forum: Lateral Reading and Online Information – Karen Bonanno – 31 May 2023, 7pm AEST – Free – online. 

Engaging and Empowering School Libraries Update April 2023 – Ideas to help you save time – Elizabeth Hutchinson – free – on demand. 

Awards

It’s always a good idea to nominate a school library staff member you know for an award. It can have such power for promoting what they are doing in their school community. There are a few open now for nominations. 

Farshore Reading for Pleasure Awards – This UK-based award has five different award categories. Nominations close 5 June 2023.

The Queensland School Library Association Awards include four different awards. Nominations open 1st May and close the 30th of May. 

Podcasts

It’s not the end of the year here in Australia, but I loved this episode with Kelsey Bogan on the importance of collecting and sharing data about your school library. School Librarians United 219 End of Year Reports

After packing up my library and moving it three times in the past few years, I am a little scared to listen to this episode. School Librarians United 220 Packing Up

More awesome episodes from Your Kid’s Next Read with Allison Tait and Megan Daley. Top recommendations are Episode 96 Classroom Read-aloud novels and Episode 98 Books About Friendship.

The discussion has died down a little, but ChatGPT is still a big topic. Here’s a podcast episode for you from Lucas Maxwell: The Portable Magic Dispenser: Episode 53 Practical Ways to Use ChatGPT

App or resource

I recently discovered Actionbound. It’s a great app to make QR code scavenger hunts with missions, quizzes and lots of features. It also has a very affordable library pricing option.

The Days in Conflict interactive documentary series explores war through interactive maps, stories and more all from an Australian perspective. This article by Sam Doust explores how it works. 

How cool is this No Panic ChatGPT and AI guide from Alli McCrary. 

Need more links and resources about AI in Education? Pip Cleaves has you covered.

Articles and Blog posts

Don’t you love when Margaret Merga shares her work? And for free?!? How School Libraries Can Promote Health Literacy in Challenging Times – Margaret K. Merga. Full access. 

Teacher Librarian Raffeala has been sharing some incredible resources around the 2023 CBCA Shortlist and the 2023 NSS The Speedy Sloth. 

Class novels and how to select one is a question that comes up regularly in school library groups. Why class read-aloud novels are important and how to choose one by Sue Whiting by way of Allison Tait.

Managing a library team? Try these simple tips to improve morale with gratitude. Gratitude: an essential leadership skill for library leaders by Jane Cowell. 

Children, reading culture and libraries: Building blocks for a better future by Christian Lauersen.

Melissa Stewart has updated her post on the New 5 Kids of Nonfiction Book List 

Weeding books not your thing? Need some help? Lucas Maxwell has shared his Updated Weeding Policy. 

Did you read the SCIS Connections from Term 1, 2023? It includes articles on supporting learning with digital collections by Kathy Talbot and supporting literacy by Margaret Merga. 

The Evolving Role of Librarians: How is library leadership changing? by Kelly Banks. 

This comes as no surprise to us in the library world, but here’s an article on Libraries the key to lifting students’ reading outcomes by Bretty Henebery. 

Congratulations to Julie Stivers, named SLJ 2023 School Librarian of the Year. In this article, Andrew Bauld interviews Julie and asks about her library. Julie Stivers: Creating a Place To Read and Thrive

AI in Education: An opportunity for school libraries by Elizabeth Hutchinson. 

What does plagiarism look like in an age of AI? How does it impact writing.  6 Tenets of Postplagiarism. Thought-provoking ideas from Bridget Pearce that she took from a post from Dr Sarah Heaton. 

Do you work in a boys’ school? Check out the IBSC Special Interest Group Libraries – Reading Culture project. 

An evidence-based approach to improving academic reading skills – by Stephanie MacMahon, Amanda Wallas, Noni Harrison, Tom Harvey, Jack Leggett and Annemaree Carroll.

Want more professional learning?

Check out my professional learning series or have a look through last month’s professional learning list.