Tag Archives: CMLE Scholarship

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

CMLE Featured Service: Scholarships!

273/365: 09/30/2013. Money, Money, Money!
Apply for a CMLE Scholarship

 

Did you know that CMLE offers scholarships? Since our main priority is helping libraries be successful, we know that sometimes additional money is required to make that happen! We want to help you get the professional development you need in order to bring some new ideas or skills to your library or media center.

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 engagement and/or professional development. We encourage you to use the scholarships even if it can’t cover all of the costs. And, if you use our scholarship to help with costs, tell your administrator that you have used our program!

Keep in mind that two great library and technology conferences are quickly approaching: the annual MLA conference from September 29 – 30th in Duluth and the ITEM conference from October 13 – 15th in Brooklyn Park!

Whether it’s a conference, workshop, a way to learn new skills or teach others, being able to interact with your peers can be a great way to increase your energy and excitement about the library world. CMLE wants to help our members and their libraries or media centers continue to learn and grow. For full details, see our Scholarships Page for our easy (really, we promise!) application.

Need ideas for professional development? See our Continuing Education Page or visit the MN Library Continuing Education Calendar.

General, School Media Specialist

Guest Blogger: ISTE 2016, A CMLE Scholarship Report

ISTE photo 2The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Angie Kalthoff, Technology Integrationist at St. Cloud Area School District. You can also view the post on her blog. 

This blog post is my reflection for the CMLE scholarship I received to help cover part of my cost to attend ISTE 2016. I am sending a big THANK YOU to the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange (CMLE) for your support. 

The two questions I will reflect on include:

  • What were your favorite takeaways or new things learned?
  • As a result of attending this event, can you identify and explain a few things you can use/apply to your work or practice?

BreakOut EDU

Who is ready for something different?! I am, and I am excited about BreakOut EDU. James and Mark created a box with locks that correspond to numerous lessons you can pick for your students to solve and break open the box. It has been really neat to see their journey and BreakOut EDU grow over the past year. If you were one of the lucky attendees who got to participate in the challenge, you got to experience their new BreakOut EDU bus. I was not one of those lucky people but have had the experience at a few Google Summits in classrooms.
The two games I got to experience were Time Warp (where players are lost in time and need to navigate the history of communication in order to return to the present) and Decoding the War (where the war is at its peak and the only way to get an idea of what’s going to happen next is for the team of codebreakers to decipher the encrypted messages from Germany). Check out their site for more games and information.

While participating in the game, I was part of a team of educators who all had the same goal, to solve the puzzles to break open the box. Each time I participated, my role in the game changed based on the other personalities in the room. One time, I was a leader in helping others figure out what to do. The next time I was a worker and was assigned a task to figure out with a small group of people.

I now look forward to leading my first BreakOut EDU in August at a workshop I am leading for Innovative Educator Consulting as a team building activity. The website shares that “Breakout EDU creates ultra-engaging learning games for people of all ages. Games (Breakouts) teach teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking, and troubleshooting by presenting participants with challenges that ignite their natural drive to problem-solve.” Exactly what I am looking for!! I hope the participants are inspired, like I was, to bring this back to their schools.

I challenge you to try it and share your experience on social media with the team: http://twitter.com/breakoutEDU

Computer Science for All is an effort many are participating in…

Sunday afternoon I participated in the Computational Thinking Playground. As people walked towards the auditorium with the keynote, they passed the playground. Many stopped in to see what it was about. I was able to lead a few unplugged activities.

  • Happy Maps (Course 1)
  • Real Life Algorithms – Dice Race (Course 3)

Throughout the week at ISTE, we had a challenge for people to share how they are using Computer Science (CS) in their classrooms. You can see how people responded by checking out #wecancode on Twitter.

Tuesday morning there was a surprise appearance by R2-D2 and Hadi Partovi, founder of code.org, where he explained how important it is to expose all students to CS. Code.org would like educators to know:

  • “Anybody can learn” (whether you’re a student or teacher)
  • It’s about “computer science,” not “code,” and our focus is on schools
  • Computer science is foundational – for EVERY child
  • Improving diversity is core to our mission
  • This is a teacher-powered movement

Hadi showed how easy it is to get started in your first plugged activity by creating a game in the Star Wars hour of code course. My poster session took place right after the keynote finished and many people stopped by. My topic was on how kids can code and the many ways to approach it. However, many people were interested in Code.org since Hadi had just spoken about it. Since I am obviously a huge fan of code.org, I was happy to talk a lot about it and answer questions.

I was able to connect with many teachers that are implementing CS into their schools. My role at technology conferences has evolved over the past few years. At first, I would attend to consume information. Now I attend to share information, empower educators in their practice, and make connections that last beyond the conference.

**At my code.org workshop last week an attendee shared the following link: bit.ly/ISTE16tote. This document has each day of the conference broken down with resources for each session. Yikes!! This is a great tool. **

 

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Featured CMLE Service: Scholarships

MoneyAre professional development funds tight in your work setting? Is the money to pay your registration to a conference in the budget, but there is no money for hotel or mileage, or to pay a sub so you can be away from your workplace?

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 engagement and/or professional development. All expenses mentioned earlier are appropriate and we encourage you to use the scholarships even if it can’t cover all of the costs. And, if you use our scholarship to help with costs, feel free to mention to your administrator that you have used our program!

Need help paying for that sub? CMLE scholarships come in very handy in settings that require your employer to pay for a “sub” while you are off enhancing your library skill sets. When you fill out the form, just indicate the amount you need to cover that expense.

We all owe it to ourselves to keep our skill sets sharp. Confidence and new energy often result when we take time to invest in ourselves and spend time with our peers. CMLE would like to support you to that end. For all of the details and to apply for a scholarship, go to CMLE Scholarships. The application is quite simple and should take no more than 10 minutes if you know what you want to attend and have the event information in hand.

For more info on library conferences and other library continuing education events, go to the Minnesota Library Continuing Education Calendar listing.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/o4onocb, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

	

	
	




	
	

				

			Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special
		

			
TIES Conference Summary: A CMLE Scholarship

		

			 		

	


		

		
Jenny McNewThe following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Jeanette McNew, Talahi Media Specialist, St. Cloud School District.


I would like to thank CMLE for the scholarship to attend the TIES 2015 Conference:  Breaking Through: Transforming Pedagogy with Technology!


In 1990, I attended my first TIES conference and was inspired by Roger Wagner’s HyperStudio. Things have really changed since then, but once again I was thrilled to be able to attend. As a Media Specialist in a school library working to integrate a MakerSpace, I was eager to listen to Sylvia Martinez author of Invent to Learn. Although she made many good points about authentic learning in the area of STEM, George Couros, author of The Innovator’s Mindset, stole the show. He is a gifted speaker and truly inspired us to think about being a kid in our classroom while making us laugh and cry all in the same moment. Listening to his keynote really motivated me to improve on what I do for myself and my students each and every day.


What I love about TIES in the recent years is it is no longer about the newest and coolest technology, but has embraced the application of those technologies in real-time situations. Many times during the two days I would hear the comment, “My brain is full!” There is something for everyone and rarely do you find someone there who is not inspired by something they heard in a session or while collaborating with a new connection that was made. Do not misunderstand me – I was one of those in the “playground” this year checking out the Lego robotics, Swivl, and the Bee-bots.


Several sessions I attended really made me think about branding. Who are we allowing to brand our school and why do we let them control what is being said about us? How can we make social media work for us in branding our school and teaching digital citizenship? With that comes staff development. How do we best meet our teachers’ needs for staff development in a differentiated manner? There were several really good sessions with some great ideas to implement meeting these needs of students and staff.


Once again, thank you CMLE for the opportunity to attend this amazing conference.


 

	

	
	




	
	

				

			Academic, General, School Media Specialist
		

			
LITA Forum 2015 Summary: A CMLE Scholarship

		

			 		

	


		

		
The following post was submitted by CMLE Scholarship recipient, Violet Fox, College of St. Happy Holidays!Benedict/St. John’s University Metadata Librarian.


I was able to attend LITA Forum 2015 (sponsored by the American Library Association’s Library and Information Technology Association division) in Minneapolis in November. It was my first time at LITA Forum, which is designed for those working on the cutting edge of technology to bring innovative services to library users. I found the Forum unique in its focus on experimentation and sharing—many speakers encouraged attendees to “get their hands dirty” and try out new projects.


I attended a number of sessions focused on how the shift to Linked Data can open new methods of research and discovery. Making resources easy to find and providing new ways to present data were on the minds of many at the Forum. Particularly interesting to me were the ways that people were working with legacy data and finding ways to effectively manipulate disparate metadata. Again and again I heard common themes emerge: thorough documentation and user testing are essential components of any project, as well as flexibility in responding to changing needs.


I found Mx A. Matienzo’s keynote especially inspiring. Director of Technology for the Digital Public Library of America, Matienzo discussed how the good intentions of libraries can lead to shortchanging our users by speaking over their voices. Matienzo also reminded attendees to be vigilant in keeping our communities in mind, empowering them to interpret their own past and shape their own future. The keynote made me reconsider the value that libraries have (perhaps unthinkingly) placed in centralization of knowledge organization—one-size-fits-all doesn’t necessarily apply to controlled vocabularies or classification schemes, so how can we create systems that work best for our local users?


A list of presentations and posters from LITA Forum (many of which have accompanying slides) can be found at the wiki.  I’m so grateful for the opportunity to attend my first LITA Forum, and I’m looking forward to experimenting with the implementation of new features for my own library’s catalog.


Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/nuex2ot, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0