TCEA Did Not Disappoint This Year

TCEA did not disappoint this year.  Lots of new learning, new people, old colleagues, and AI.  As always, some sessions were better than others.  We did get some positive feedback on our session which was the first day at 1:30 pm.  It wasn't a packed house, but not as many people were there on Saturday.  To be honest, I would have skipped Saturday if I wasn't already presenting.  As I  get older, my weekends become sacred.  I need downtime these days.

The best session I attended was AI & Research Tools: Transforming Libraries for Dynamic Outcomes.  What made it stand out from the others was the practical ways a librarian could use these tools with students and research.  So many AI presentations are all about the theory of AI - where it pulls its data, the history, etc.  I guess I am past knowing about the theory/history and am ready for the practical examples of how to use AI in the classroom.  After all, AI is just the next tool.  If we are not using it, we are obsolete.  Will AI replace my job? . . . not in my lifetime.  Will someone using AI replace me?  That is the better question, and I believe the answer is YES.  AI is definitely here to stay.

Other sessions I attended are listed below with my take away piece of information.

These are a few of my Favorite Things - I want to create a choice board of digital breakouts for students to do at their own pace. Great idea from this session.

Creative PD to ACE your Library Evaluation - okay, this was our presentation, but my one take away - create with purpose. Create your programs and activities around your library standards.

Canva: Amplifying Student Voice in School Libraries - pay attention to the design - what can people see? what do you want to emphasize? Also loved the "New Year's Reading Resolution" that students could design and put up in the library

EdTech Bytes: A Subscription Box to Rule them All - I WANT TO DO THIS!!! not sure if I will try with teachers or students first. Still thinking

Tech Treks: Adventure abounds with Digital Scavenger Hunts - great secondary examples

Tools you Can Use Tomorrow - I think I need to revisit Padlet

Unlock the magic of Genially - I really am better at this program than I thought. I need to explore the breakout examples.

Tech Badge Dash: Building Teacher Capacity within Your School  - I've always wanted to do this, but this session was a bit too technical for me. More coding than I am comfortable doing.

Magic of AI in Canva for Education - that icebreaker is worthy of adapting and doing with a group of teachers or students

Tech Tastings for Teachers - need a digital binder or hub for all teacher training, I might be doing that with Canvas. Need to revisit.

My Favorite AI Apps - need to look at Copilot (Microsoft's version of ChatGPT)

Like I said, TCEA did not disappoint this year. I have lots of new ideas, and I need to see where they will fit in my library program.

Looking Forward to TCEA

 

I am looking forward to TCEA this year.  Pam & I are presenting again, but this time we are on day 1 of the conference.  We are armed with vinyl stickers, candy, and a solid presentation if I do say so myself. So I am waking up early on Saturday to make sure I get to Austin in time.  I'm not going to lie; I was hoping to sleep in.  It's been a long couple of weeks.

As I am looking over the program, I see a lot of AI sessions, Canva, Canvas and Google stuff too.  I spotted my favorite presenter, Leslie Fischer.  She always has great sessions. Shannon Miller has a few sessions too.  I was hoping for some Beanstack sessions since I just bought it this semester; I didn't see any.  However, I was invited to a Beanstack breakfast.  So hopefully there will be a presentation as well. I also have their booth selected. I'm sure they will have some demonstrations there.

Of course I have selected way too many sessions, and some of them are concurrent.  Can't be in two sessions at the same time unless your are Hermione with the time turner necklace!  I have 13 sessions highlighted for Monday alone.  My brain will be dead for sure!  I am so glad I am staying at the conference hotel.  My brain goes to mush so quickly at these conferences, and I am going to need some down time. It's definitely an information overload problem, but there is always such good stuff to learn here.  Hopefully I will go back to school with new information and fun things to do in the library.  Because isn't that what it is all about?

The Evolution of the Activity Calendars

I still enjoy creating my monthly calendars, and December is no exception.  This month we have lots of Fri-YAY activities, colors sheets, puzzles and more.  We are writing Christmas cards to the Troops overseas. Our National Day Give Away this month is National "Buddy the Elf" day; we have candy canes and Elf stickers to give out on Dec. 18th.   Definitely some fun stuff!

I have been creating monthly calendars since the Spring of 2018.  Then and now, I usually send out the calendars out on social media, in newsletters, the library website and our Canvas Course.  Over the years, the calendar has definitely changed. 

Here is a bit of a comparison.  

• My first monthly calendar . . . March 2018 
  
  
• My latest monthly calendar . . . December 2023

Some of main differences I see now that I am comparing the two are . . . migrating from Google Docs to Google Slides, the integration of Bitmojis (which happened during Covid), and the interactivity of the more recent calendars.  That March 2018 is pretty stagnant.  I guess the reason why is I modeled the calendar off the old public library calendars which were conducive to making copies or posting to a website; it was information only.  

Once Covid hit and everyone went home, my calendars grew more interactive.  It was more about having an experience, not just giving out information.  When everyone came back to school, my calendars shifted again to a hybrid experience. Some activities the students have to come into the library to do, and some activities are digital.  For instance, if you go to the December 2023 calendar, almost all of the pictures go to an activity or an extension.  That definitely wasn't happening in 2018.

Yes, the calendars do take time.  At the end of the year, I try to make blank ones for the next school year.  That has helped.  I have also found ways to use the calendar as part of my appraisal document.  So it's definitely a win-win.

Prepping for December Fun

 

I am so excited about my activities next month.  I think I am most excited about my faculty and staff "12 Days of Christmas" activity.  I adapted an activity I have seen floating around where the tech department puts together a Christmas Advent Calendar, and each day their faculty opened a new day for a tech tip, tech tool, or other tech related info.  

From that, I decided to do the "12 Days of Christmas - Library Edition."  Instead of all tech tips, I put in fun facts, book recommendations, tech tools, brain breaks, and a few snacks.  Of course they have to come to the library to collect those.  I chose the 12 days of Christmas so I only had to come up with 12 different things, and it works out beautifully with our calendar.

I am launching it at the end of the week, and I know it is Christmas related.  Just like all other activities we do through the library, participation is not mandatory.  Hopefully next year I will find something more inclusive to do.  Maybe December celebrations around the world calendar? I'll have to think about that one.

For now, here is the 12 Days of Christmas - Library Edition.

Working on the Work

 

So I may have overextended myself.  I have 4 presentations this year.  One was on October 28th.  The next one is Nov. 16th.  Then the big conference presentations are in February and April.  I do believe in giving back to my profession, and as I near retirement, I guess I kicked that sentiment into overdrive.

Presentation on Oct. 28th - Canva Librarians Fall Showcase

This was a virtual one day conference from a Facebook group where I contribute.  It was a really informative conference, and there are a lot of talented librarians out there.  My favorite presentation was Deb & Amanda's "Be a Canva Catalyst."  They started right at 8am, and they were fabulous.  My presentation was about Potty PD.  I have done these for a few years now, and I wanted to share my ideas in the hopes that another librarian will have the means to start their own Potty PD easily.  My presentation was about attaching the Potty PDs to the library standards, and making sure you understand your audience.  Here is that presentation, Potty PD: Learn Something New While in the Loo. I think it went well despite my "you're on mute" problems.  

Presentation on Nov. 16th - ESC 11 Librarian Conference

I am re-sharing my presentation from the TCEA virtual conference last summer.  I had to change some of the examples and templates now that I have started a new year, but the concept is the same.  It is a cautionary tale about storing all your documentation for your appraiser in the same place.  The first year I was asked for documentation for all 6 library strands, I did have it.  However, it was scattered across the great wide web.  I had stuff in Canva, Wakelet, Canvas, my Google Drive, Genially, and a few other places.  So threading all that together at the last minute was not fun.  Now I take a proactive approach and set up a document at the beginning of the year.  Then at the end of the month, or 6 weeks, I put notes and links in my document.  This year it is a Google Site.  Here is my work in progress this year:  SHS Library 2023-2024.

The name of the presentation I am doing on Nov. 16th is "Prepping your Library One Year at a Time."  Again, it is similar to the presentation last summer, but I think it is worth the repeat.

Presentation for TCEA (state tech conference) & TLA (state library conference) - Feb. 2nd & Apr ?

The presentation Pam and I are currently working on for the state conferences is "Creative PD to Ace your Library Evaluation."  Sorry, no link to share just yet, but I think it is going to be a solid resource for librarians who need help boosting their end of year evaluations.  We are taking the librarian from the beginning of the year where he/she/they are going to evaluate their own program to the end where all programs, activities, and professional development have been done and documented.  I am double dipping a bit because I am showing my yearly Google Site where I am documenting everything (from the presentation on Nov. 16th).  

Having everything in one place simplifies the appraisal documentation.  All I need to do is give my appraiser a link.  She will be able to see everything I did this year with a click of that link.  

I think Pam and I are going to present this information in front of our librarians at the next district library meeting.  It's a dry run for the state conferences, and it gives out our information to those who can't go to the conferences this year.  

I hope everyone is as excited as I am to talk about appraisals and documentation!  LOL!

First Six Weeks Check In

 

Here are the library usage statistics for the first 6 weeks of school.  

Some of the highlights included 

creating the ID schedule for the Social Studies classes, 

visits from the English III classes where we did some Book Speed Dating, 

and the 40 Book Pledge met twice.  

We also hosted 2 national day giveaways.  August 31st was National Trail Mix day, and September 8th was World Literacy day.  

I started the Mystery Box with a Genre Scavenger Hunt, 

and we checked out A LOT of books.  

It's so good to see our students reading!

SHS Library Stats - Sept 2023 by Jeneene Tahaney

Proposal Accepted!

 

Our proposal for both TCEA 2024 & TxLA 2024 was accepted.  Pam & I found out about TCEA late last month, and TxLA just sent us the acceptance last week.  Here is our proposal summary:

Creative PD to ACE your Library Evaluation

Providing professional development to our campus community is part of our library standards. What happens if you are denied the "face-to-face time" by your administrator? When traditional avenues to reach your audience do not work, it’s time to let those creative juices flow. Learn some innovative ways to reach your audiences, document your endeavors, and strengthen your end-of-year evaluation. Example ideas and templates are included!

This presentation will be similar to the one I organized for the Virtual TCEA Library Conference back at the end of June.  As I sent in the June proposal, I anticipated that questions might be about the activities as much as the organization.  That was definitely correct. When I presented in June, a lot of the follow up questions were more about the actual activities and PD I did, and not just about the organization.  I then felt validated in creating the proposal for this year -  a presentation that not only walks the audience through the organization process, but also highlights the actual activities we do.  We use both active and passive programs to make sure we are covering all the library standards to document for our evaluations.

Now that Pam is our library coordinator (Yay! Congratulations!), she no longer has her own library.  So we are planning to adjust the presentation to show her end of the job, supporting us, and my end of the job, being a high school librarian.  It's a different dynamic for us when presenting this year, but I don't anticipate that it will be a problem.  We have similar presenting styles, and we do well together.

Come see us in February 2024 for TCEA, and/or April 2024 for TxLA!