Tag Archives: CMLE Scholarship

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

TIES Conference: CMLE Scholarship Report

The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Paul Moe,  Sartell Elementary Instructional Technology Specialist

TIES 2013 Conference – Fast Forward; Transforming Pedagogy with Technology

moeI would like to thank CMLE for accepting my scholarship application!

I had a very good time at the TIES conference and  attended many excellent sessions. I  was able to find several new iPad apps that we are currently using in our schools. I also attended a few sessions on how other districts are managing their iPads. I found that we are all going through a rapidly changing time, which makes it hard to manage these new devices easily. It was nice to see that even large school districts such as St. Paul are dealing with the same issues we are.

I was also able to make some connections with colleagues from other school districts and have started setting up some meetings to discuss our uses of Schoology. We are hoping to have a google hangout with a few other districts to share what’s working and what is not with Schoology and iPads. The evenings were also filled with lots of sharing on how things are going with iPad carts with a group from Grand Rapids. They are trying to decide on which device to purchase and had many questions about the iPads. I was also able to attend a social sponsored by Schoology where I was able to get some inside information on future updates and changes. As is the case with most conferences, I left with tons of new ideas but will focus on a few new apps and improving our use of Schoology.

Thank you again for the opportunity.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

TIES Conference: CMLE Scholarship Recipient

The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Debbie Disher,  Media Specialist at Holdingford Schools

TIES 2013 Conference – Fast Forward; Transforming Pedagogy with Technology

Deb Disher, Media Specialist
Deb Disher, Media Specialist

After missing last years TIES Conference I went to the December’s conference with great excitement and anticipation.  I was not disappointed.  I found myself in several great sessions covering technology and staff development.

One of the things that I took away from the conference was the need for me to change our staff development for technology.  Although I am always encouraging teachers that we need to change the way our classrooms operate, I realized that our staff development hasn’t changed that much.  In a session by Kriss Zajner he shared his passion for technology and how they are doing staff development in his district.  He shared how they are using Twitter, mini sessions, 15 minute sessions, continuous learning and sharing, etc.

Another great session was “IGNITE Technology – Enhanced Professional Development” presented by 4 different schools.  Some of the key points in this session included:

  • •making staff development fun
  • •making it about students and their achievement – not the software/hardware
  • •sharing not presenting
  • •make it comfortable – maybe a different location
  • •tech camps.

Because of these sessions we will be working on several changes for our technology staff development.  We plan to start some weekly introduction sessions, Tweeting and making staff development sessions fun.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

TIES Conference: CMLE Scholarship Recipient

The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Nancy Lorentz,  Media Specialist at Becker High School

TIES2013logo_web400x140TIES 2013 Conference – Fast Forward; Transforming Pedagogy with Technology

The  very first session I attended this year was “Tech Tools for Reading and Writing in Content Areas,” by Laura Gudmundson.  Using a very organized Google Site, Laura shared many ways to use technology to improve instruction.  One of the ideas that jumped out at me immediately was using Animoto for vocabulary–our students could certainly do the same using iMovie trailers.  How exciting for students to have to demonstrate the meaning of a word and not just copy a definition.   I’ve never been very impressed with teaching students to blog — unless they really have something unique and creative to say.  However, teaching students to comment properly on blogs on the New York Times website or CNN.com–now THAT’s a lifelong writing skill that everyone could use!  Laura also has many, many resources on her presentation site that I will use when I have more time to explore them all.

Sally Mays and Dawn Nelson were an awesome presentation team with their session, “Be Essential:  The Role of Librarians and Media Specialists.”   They very energetically gave us tips on how to make ourselves and what we do visible to administrators, students and parents.  They have every student sign in when they enter the media center so that they can keep statistics for their weekly report to the administrators.  Sally reminded me of several tools that I know are great to use, but are great to hear about again.  We all joined their class in Today’s Meet–a great tool that I can use when doing staff development.  They talked about collaborating with our staff, offering resources, making literature connections, teaching research skills and having outside connections so that we are best able to support our staff.   These are things that I do all of the time, but they emphasize how important it is to make sure our administrators KNOW that we’re doing it.  I can definitely do a better job of that.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

TIES Conference: CMLE Scholarship Recipient

The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Marlene Peterson,  Elementary Media Specialist at John Clark Elementary and Richmond Elementary (Rocori)

1026206_10200793689498228_166602550_oTIES 2013 Conference – Fast Forward; Transforming Pedagogy with Technology

 Thanks to a CMLE scholarship, it was my privilege to attend the TIES 2013 Conference in December.  I thoroughly enjoyed the sessions, vendors and moments of collaboration with other educators and experts.

One session that I attended was the “Best free websites for upper elementary” with presenters Krista Isaacs and Melissa Wilber from Lakeview Elementary.  The presenters demonstrated 21st century initiatives and skills.  I was inspired by the examples of student projects and videos that were shared.  I went away with a handful of websites that I would start using immediately, along with a dozen more websites that would take a little more time to implement.

I was drawn next to a session on “Digital Citizenship,” an important consideration for all educators.  This was a great session presented by Troy Reynolds (Wini-Mac) who shared practical ideas that can be quickly implemented, based upon the Common Sense Media organization.  Their website offers a digital citizenship scope and sequence, student assessment, lesson plans and many other educator resources. I plan on using this resource with the 5th grade media classes that I teach each week.

My favorite session was “Enticing struggling readers to read a good Nook ” presented by Bonnie Fahning and Kate Tinguely (Prio-Lake-Savage).  I loved their idea that holding a Nook takes away peer pressure and embarrassment for the student who doesn’t want others to see what they are reading.  They found that using a Nook engages the readers with the text.  They shared that they have had very few problems with their Nooks, which are checked out to students just as they would check out a library book.  They were very happy with the Nook professional development, support and reviews given by Barnes and Noble.  This session gave me inspiration and encouragement to further pursue digital books for my reluctant readers.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

CMLE Featured Service: Scholarships

CMLElogoFY11

Are professional development funds tight in your work setting? Did you know that CMLE offers scholarships of up to $200 per fiscal year per individual for staff affiliated with  any type of  library in Aitkin, Benton, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright counties in Central Minnesota? The scholarships can be used to attend workshops, conferences, library meetings or task forces, and other library-related activities to promote professional development. CMLE scholarships also come in handy in settings that require your employer to pay for a “sub” while you are off enhancing your library skill sets. Past recipients of the scholarship program were able to use CMLE scholarships towards attendance at national library conferences such as ISTE, AASL, and ALA. Locally, members received scholarships for attending the Children’s Literature Workshop in St. Cloud, the TIES conference in the Twin Cities, the Library Technology Conference at Macalaster College, and for annual MEMO and MLA conferences too. Keep watching the Upcoming Events portion of our Weekly Review message for upcoming opportunities.

We all owe it to ourselves to keep our skill sets sharp. Confidence and engagement often result when we  take time to invest in ourselves. CMLE would like to support you to that end. For all of the details and to apply for a scholarship, go to www.cmle.org/scholarships.asp.