With the holidays upon us, we couldn’t resist creating a special little message for all of you to enjoy!
Please note that CMLE offices will be closed December 24th & 25th and December 31 & January 1st.
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New Models for Professional Development?
When I was at the October MEMO Conference, I heard media specialists talking about new ways to provide professional development to their teachers. Some were doing screencasting of the content they needed to teach, then were putting that captured video in a handy place on their website for teachers. In this model, teachers could access the lesson at the precise time they needed to learn. This model is sometimes referred to as “just in time” learning.
Others were talking about structured events where teachers worked in groups to learn about using new tools or methods to deliver their curriculum. Apparently, a strong bond developed amongst teachers who worked together in these groups. So when I saw the following post on the SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education blog, talking about teacher learning communities, I was intrigued. According to the post, “The one-size-fits-all model of professional development available to most teachers does not work, veteran teacher Katrina Stevens writes in this blog post. Stevens suggests a learning community model with daily, ongoing PD focused on student learning. “In order to successfully implement new practices and improve student learning, a learning community needs to 1) focus its efforts, 2) work collaboratively, 3) be willing to reflect and examine what’s working and 4) be willing to make adjustments when they aren’t seeing the desired outcomes for students,” she writes. Read the full blog post at SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education
This is well and good for how we work with teachers and students, but what about media specialists? How do you learn best? Is there a learning community model that best fits your needs? If there isn’t one, could we build one?
Terrible Things That Must End in 2013!
And it begins…..the lists that review what was ill conceived or simply not well received in 2012. There are 22 items on this list, and some of them made me laugh out loud! If I was asked to vote on them, I would pounce on talking about bacon, sharing unappealing Instagram pics of food (some of them look like poo), skinny jeans, drop crotch pants….oh my, almost all of them! I was just explaining yesterday how silly I feel using my iPad to take a picture too, and surprise, it is in this list. I was right, grab your phone and save your reputation! So take a moment to add a little end-of-the-year reflection and levity into your life and comment here about which ones resonate most with you! Get the full list and rationale at the Gawker blog post from 12-11-2012.
Goodreads Choice Awards are In!
Are you interested in knowing what average readers like you and I deem to be the best books in 2012? The results of the Goodreads Choice Awards 2012 are in! The winners were voted on by the site users, making it a sort of People’s Choice of the book world. How many people voted? Over 1.1 million votes were cast this year and winners and runner-ups are listed below. There were a few close calls, and more than a few landslide victories. It’s fun to see if your favorites this year match the list below. Feel free to comment on which ones were the best of the best in your eyes!
Best Fiction
The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling 11,525 votes
Where We Belong by Emily Giffin 7,841 votes
Mystery and Thriller
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (woohoo!) 27,502 votes
Celebrity in Death by J.D. Robb 6,364 votes
Best Historical Fiction
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman 6,918 votes
Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel 6,516 votes
Best Fantasy
The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King 8,226 votes
The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde 5,221 votes
Paranormal Fantasy
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness 12,660 votes
Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich 5,917 votes
Science Fiction
The Long Earth by Terry Prachett and Stephen Baxter 7,670 votes
Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey 5,624 votes
Romance
Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James 22,967 votes
Bared to You by Sylvia Day 8,306 votes
Best Horror
The Twelve by Justin Cronin 7,414 votes
Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz 6,549
Best Memoir & Autobiography
Wild by Cheryl Strayed 8,207
Paris in Love by Eloisa James 4,308
Best History & Biography
Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith 6,507 votes
Drift by Rachel Maddow 4,313 votes
Best Nonfiction
Quiet by Susan Cain 7,532 votes
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo 5,356 votes
Food and Cookbooks
The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond 7,977 votes
The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila 2,888 votes
Best Humor
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson 13,066 votes
I Am A Pole (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert 4,984 votes
Graphic Novel and Comics
The Walking Dead, Vol. 16: A Larger World by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard 8,614 votes
Avatar by Gene Luen Yang 6,937 votes
Best Poetry
A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver 5,520 votes
Alien Vs. Predator by Michael Robbins 1,333 votes
Best Goodreads Author
Insurgent by Veronica Roth 20,328 votes
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare 13,858 votes
Young Adult Fiction
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 37,438 votes
Easy by Tammara Webber 8,890 votes
Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction
Insurgent by Veronica Roth 23,827 votes
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare 14,814 votes
Middle Grade & Children’s
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan 16,681 votes
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney 7,912 votes
Picture Books
Olivia and the Fairy Princesses by Ian Falconer 7,699 votes
The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems 6,971 votes
OCLC and Goodreads
My enjoyment and use of Goodreads continues, and I am encouraging family members, friends, and colleagues who count on me as their readers advisor to join me on Goodreads. Have you noticed that through a partnership with OCLC (since 2007), you can pretty painlessly link to your home library to see if the item you are longing for on your “to-read list” is 
available? It makes perfect sense for the two entities to partner up, and this union has provided greater visibility for libraries. A new agreement pledges to improve Goodreads members’ experience of finding fresh, new things to read through libraries. It will also provide libraries with a way to reach this key group of dedicated readers through social media. Since 2007, Goodreads has sent more than 5 million web referrals to WorldCat, and it is hopeful that the expanded partnership will increase that number.
Go to http://tinyurl.com/co75gl8 for the minute details of this expanded partnership between OCLC and Goodreads.