Tag Archives: MEMO

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

Flipped Classroom Event Coming This April!

1 Comment

FlippedCl

More and more educators are considering incorporating the concept of a flipped classroom in there schools. The learning ideology “flips” traditional teaching methods by delivering instructional content online and outside of class time. Then, class time is used to further analyze and explore the learned concepts individually or in groups. If you would like to learn more about this topic, CMLE has developed a libguide click here to read more=>

Event Materials

On April 12th, the Minnesota Educational Media Organization (MEMO) in collaboration with Total Information for Education Systems (TIES) and The Flipped Learning Network, are hosting an all day event titled,  “The Flipped Classroom and You.” Registration is $65, and can be discounted for groups of 6 or more.

Follow these links for additional information on the event, to register and/or to submit a proposal to participate as a presenter.

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

Register to Attend the 2013 Library Legislative Day

Mark Ranum, 2013 Legislative Chair, is now taking registrations for Library Legislative Day. Details below and the link for registration is at the bottom.

2013 MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Day

The 2013 MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Day is an opportunity for library advocates (you, your staff and board, your patrons, other library lovers) to gather at the Minnesota State Capitol to show support and raise awareness of issues for libraries.

Attendees should make appointments to meet as many of their Representatives and Senators as possible to remind them of the importance of libraries to the success of the communities in their district. The MLA/MEMO Platform and accompanying Talking Points will be available to help guide attendees in their advocacy.

More than anything, legislators need to see that their constituents value libraries and be reminded that they should, too.

2013 event features:

  • Price: Acknowledging the pinch on personal and organizational budgets these days, there is NO REGISTRATION FEE. The meeting includes a briefing the evening before. We hope that having no fee will encourage a large turnout—especially critical in this time when money is scarce.
  • Lunch: Lunch is on your own. There are several venues within easy reach of the Capitol building, including the Sweetwater Grille & Bar in the Kelly Inn and fast food restaurants. Many buildings in the Capitol complex have their own cafeterias. The Capitol cafeteria is in the basement and is closed when the Legislature is not in session. The Transportation and Centennial Building cafeterias are on the ground floor of each building. The Veterans Service Building cafeteria is on the fifth floor. Menus are available online. The Capitol also has a snack bar on the second floor (where the House and Senate chambers are located) during the session.
  • Location: This year, the meeting will again be at the Best Western Kelly Inn St. Paul Hotel (161 Saint Anthony Ave, St. Paul, MN 55103).
  • Lodging: Save time and stay overnight at the Best Western Kelly Inn St. Paul Hotel. There is a small block of rooms being held for our group. Please contact the Best Western Kelly Inn St. Paul Hotel at 651-227-8711. Reference the 2013 MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Day to get the best rate.
  • Parking: Parking at the Best Western Kelly Inn St. Paul is free and on a first come, first served basis.

There are many advocacy groups that legislators hear from. If libraries are not well represented, funding may go elsewhere. Please register now and join us.

Mark Ranum
2013 Legislative Chair

Event Details

START

5:00pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013

END

4:00pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013

SCHEDULE

Tuesday, March 5, 2013 (St. Anthony Room)
5:00–5:30pm Registration
5:30–6:30pm Legislative Briefing (hors d’oeuvres will be served)

 Wednesday, March 6, 2013 (Sibly Room)

8:00am–1:00pm Registration
9:00–10:00am Legislative Briefing (repeat of Tuesday)
10:00am–4:00pm 2013 MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Day

LOCATION

Best Western Kelly Inn

161 Saint Anthony Ave

St. Paul, MN 55103

See map: Google Maps

PRICES

–       FREE for MEMO and MLA members

REGISTER BY

11:59pm on Friday, March 1, 2013

LINK: REGISTER HERE!

School Media Specialist

Upcoming Flipped Classroom Mini Conference

According to Mary Mehsikomer…..

The Flipped Classroom is a topic that seems to be on everybody’s mind these days. MEMO is planning a one-day “mini conference” around flipped learning that you won’t want to miss. Save April 12, 2013 on your calendars to attend this event at TIES in St. Paul.

I am also looking for some volunteers to help me plan the day so that it meets the needs of all attendees. If you are at all interested in helping with this – and it won’t be a huge amount of work – please contact me at mary.mehsikomer@ties.k12.mn.us or via phone at 651-999-6510. I need some people to help us flip out!  Thank You!

Mary Mehsikomer,Technology Integration Development & Outreach Facilitator, TIES

E-mail: mary.mehsikomer@ties.k12.mn.us

Skype: mary.mehsikomer2

Twitter: marytmm

Academic, Check this out:, School Media Specialist

Workshops to Create a Virtual Learning Commons

Dhaivyd Hilgendorf, MEMO President offers this opportunity to all interested parties…. Dhaivyd writes,

“I will be conducting a series of three free workshops that will enable you to experiment with and create a VLC for your school. And, you will have something to showcase for Digital Learning Day in Feb. The  three  ninety minutes sessions will be Jan. 14, 21, and Feb. 4th at five pm Pacific/eight pm eastern on each of the Monday evenings.

Objective: To create a collaborative virtual learning commons that replaces the school library website. The site will contain five major  virtual rooms:

  • The Information Center,
  • The Literacy Center,
  • the Knowledge Building Center,
  • The Experimental Learning Center, and
  • School Culture.

We will focus on using Google Sites as the construction tool, but other software can be used. Participants will  construct either a sandbox prototype or a real VLC for their school. Opportunities to collaborate across participants will be the focus.

To sign up, just send an email to me at: reader.david@gmail.com

And, I would appreciate it if you would announce this across whatever state networks you have access to.

The website for the series is building at: https://sites.google.com/site/virtuallearningcommonsworkshop/

Please join us.”

Check this out:, General, School Media Specialist

New Models for Professional Development?

scratchingWhen 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?