WASHINGTON LIBRARY MEDIA ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Yakima, WA   October 8th, 9th and 10th

Catch the Information Express!  Connect, Engage, Inspire

Pre-conference Presenter Biographies & Sessions

• Kelly Milner Hals – Wonders of the Weird

• Steve Coker and Sean Fullerton – Explore New Online Tools!

• Sarah Applegate & Marianne Hunter – ABC’s of Library Advocacy     

• Kelly Martin, Trish Henry & Nadean Mayer's OSPI Presentation: Social Studies GLE's and CBA Resources   

• Randy Orwin – Oodles of Collaboration, Moodle and More

• Dr. Eliza Desrang – Ramona Quimby: Growing up Digital

• B & B’s – What’s new and good in HS and Adult Books

KELLY MILNER HALLS BIO:

For two decades, Kelly Milner Halls -- 51 -- has created high interest nonfiction for young readers with a special eye on reluctant readers.  As a child, Halls was a reluctant reader herself.  "I only read books about Abe Lincoln and vampires," she often admits.  When she decided to write for kids, she decided to create books she would have loved 40 years ago. 

From Dinosaur Mummies to Albino Animals to Tales of the Cryptids (a WLMA Sasquatch Award nominee) to Mysteries of the Mummy Kids and beyond, Halls books combine top notch research and interview skills with lively writing and images to capture the imaginations of young readers -- and adults who appreciate them.  Her next book, Saving the Baghdad Zoo/Fall 2009 is also high interest, but reflects a slightly more serious tone. 

Future titles will likely reflect Halls' slightly quirky writer's mindset.  Topics include the history of tattoos, animal mummies, a bat rescue hospital in Australia, aliens and UFOs and a new series for younger readers based on true stories of dinosaur family interaction.  "Whatever I write," Halls admits, "one thing will always be certain.  I'll do my best to get kids excited about writing and reading.  I'll do my best to get them excited about books that reflect the ultimate adventure we call real life." 

Presentation Title:  “Wonders of the Weird”:    Student favorite Kelly Milner Halls will share her fascinating books including Dinosaur Mummies, Albino Animals, Tales of the Cryptids and Dinosaur Parade.  Kelly is an award-winning author from Spokane who writes primarily nonfiction for children ages five through fourteen.  She will speak about where she gets her ideas from, how she does the research, and why she writes “weird” nonfiction. 2 sessions:  9 A.M. to noon for elementary and 1 to 4 P.M. for secondary.

Steve Coker BIO:
After fifteen successful and happy years as a sometimes itinerant English, Social Studies, Spanish and technology teacher, Steve finally determined that he could serve his students and colleagues more efficiently from a more centralized location: the school library.  Following a respected mentor's suggestion, Steve enrolled in the distance MLIS program at the University of Washington Information School, completing his degree in 2006.  The following year he secured his current position as Teacher-Librarian and Technology Coordinator at Rainier High School outside of Olympia.  He now spends his days fulfilling his destiny as a reading advocate, school (and district) "chief information officer" and information literacy instructor.

Sean Fullerton BIO:

 Before earning his teaching certificate in 1999, Sean dealt with databases and technology for a non-profit arts organization in Alaska, a provincial agency that coordinated distance education programs in B.C., and a middle school in Federal Way.  He has taught 5^th & 6^th grades, high school English online, 8^th grade math, and has coached other teachers on using inquiry methods to teach physical science.  Since 2007, he has been the Teacher-Librarian and Technology Coordinator at Chinook Elementary School in Auburn, Washington.  He loves helping students become more enthusiastic readers and effective users of ideas and information.

Presentation Title:  Explore New Online Tools!   http://sites.google.com/site/ideasandinfo/ for more information!

Steve Coker and Sean Fullerton will introduce (or re-introduce) you to online tools for sharing books, websites, student work, or collaborative planning with teachers and others in your library community.  Designed for novice and intermediate users, this lab session will help you create & share your own online content.  You will explore tools such as LibraryThing or Shelfari, Google Apps, Delicious, VoiceThread, photosharing, and/or blog and wiki sites to share information with your patrons and co-workers.  We will also discuss ways to apply these tools to teach information literacy skills and to collaborate with other teachers and staff at your school.  9 to noon session only.

Sarah and Marianne’s BIO's:

Sarah Applegate is the teacher-librarian at River Ridge High School in Lacey Washington.  As a 2002 National Board Certified Teacher, WLMA past-president and current WLMA Advocacy Co-Chair, Sarah has been very involved in school library advocacy at the district and state level.  Sarah has testified at the Washington State Legislature, presented to her school board and been interviewed by newspaper reporters from around the state and country about school libraries and performance pay for teachers.  Sarah spends her precious free time with her toddler Marieka, husband Rob and finding time to run and ride her bike.

Marianne Hunter is a National Board Certified Teacher-Librarian at Timberline High School in Lacey, WA. She has worked at Timberline for 25 years, the last 16 as Teacher-Librarian. She has served in many capacities on the WLMA Board, including region chair, secretary, vice-president and president. She earned her master’s degree in Education from Western Washington University and her library endorsement at Pacific Lutheran University. In her spare time, Marianne enjoys hang gliding, Bollywood and wrestling with alligators.

The ABC's of Library Advocacy: Creating a vision, finding your voice, making an impact

Kelly Martin is our new Social Studies and International Education Program Supervisor to the state of Washington.  A native of Fall City, Washington, Kelly began her career as a legislative intern and continued to work with the Senate as the Assistant Page School Teacher.  With great passion, Kelly subsequently pursued teaching social studies at the high school level.  With the birth of her son, Kelly spent time at home all-the-while volunteering in support of her husband’s career in the United States Air Force.  Most recently Kelly served as the program supervisor for the Legislative Youth Advisory Council.  In her spare time, Kelly enjoys being a Mom to her two year old son, volunteer work with the U.S. Air Force, and boating.

Nadean Meyer, Learning Resources Librarian at Eastern Washington University works with educators, faculty, and perspective educators about research skills, resources, and learning. She is co-chair of the WLMA Task Force on Social Studies CBAs and maintains the WLMA web page on CBAs and created the LSTA Supporting Student Success training web resources for perspective grant writers. She has presented on this topic since 2005 across the state, at OSPI conferences, and the Internet Librarian 2008 conference. She is completing an article about the collaborative aspects of this statewide project. Nadean was an award winning Teacher Librarian at Medical Lake High School for ten years and worked with students and teachers on the YA Galley Project, multimedia project based learning, vocational classes, and many other projects. She also worked in elementary schools for ten years.  Nadean enjoys traveling throughout the Pacific Northwest, whitewater rafting, knitting, and lots and lots of reading. This summer she is working with a literacy faculty member on a Summer Research Grant about memoirs and children's book authors.

Trish Henry is a Teacher-Librarian and Webmaster in the Mead School
District. An OSPI trained CBA trainer, Trish is the author of the widely
used Mead CBA website. In addition to several years as an elementary
teacher-librarian, Trish has been a middle school and a high school
Media Specialist and English teacher. Trish conducts workshops both
locally and at the State level on a variety of topics including social
studies, library resources and technology in the classroom.

NEW for YOU: current social studies classroom based assessments (CBA's) required this year for 3rd through 12th graders.  The morning  session will be designed for educators who teach 3rd-5th graders and the afternoon session will be for those who teach 6th-12th graders.  Please mark the appropriate box on your preconference registration form the the session you want to attend.

2 sessions:  9 A.M. to noon and 1 to 4 P.M.

Randy Orwin BIO:

Randy was the former Director of Technology with Bainbridge Island School District and runs his own educational technology consulting company. He has a broad background in the K12 educational arena having been a tech director for nine years and a classroom teacher for fourteen years, two of those as a high school librarian. He is very passionate about teaching and learning, especially when it comes to the use of technology. He has over 20 years of experience working with teachers on technology integration and a Masters degree in Instructional Technology from Utah State University. On a technical level he is a Certified Novell Engineer and holds the CompTIA A+ and Network + certifications.  He is a strong advocate for Open Source software in the K12 environment and has taught numerous Open Source workshops throughout the country both to teachers and technicians alike.  He is considered by many to be a “Moodle Master” and is one of the founders of the Moodle Users Group Northwest site. He is a member of the CoSN (Consortium for School Networking) Open Technologies Advisory Board, is on the Board of Advisors for the National Center for Open Source and Education and was recently nominated by the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for a technology innovator award because of his creative use of Open Source software in his school district.  One of his favorite quotes is: “It’s not about the technology; it is all about powerful teaching and learning!”

Oodles of Collaboration, Moodle and More:  Randy and Kathy Ellison will be presenting on the role of today's librarian in a 21st century school with a focus on the use of the Moodle learning management system and the relationships between a contemporary librarian, a school's staff and the district level technology department.  1 to 4 P.M. session only.

Dr. Eliza T. Dresang Bio:

Dr. Eliza Dresang’s awareness of a ‘difference’ in digital age youth and their books started with her year on the 1991 Caldecott Award Committee that honored David Macaulay’s Black and White.  Her advisory group of fifth graders had adored this book, but following the announcement, she found that many adults did not share their appreciation. She set out to discover why. Her investigation led to the development of the “Radical Change” framework that explains changes in both books and behaviors of digital age youth. Long before the 2.0 world became obvious, she had identified the interactivity, connectivity, and access of the digital world as influential in these changes. Her work has altered the opinion of many adults from sorrow (about the changes) to celebration. She has published widely on the topic, including the award winning Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age.

Before joining the University of Washington Information School in January 2009 as the Beverly Cleary Professorship for Children and Youth Services, Dr. Dresang was an elementary school librarian, District Director for school libraries and technology in the Madison, WI school district, and most recently the Eliza Atkins Gleason Professor in the Florida State University College of Information. At FSU she co-directed the multi-million dollar grant-funded Project LEAD, a unique leadership program for library media specialists based on National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and established a research institute on school libraries.  Her research has included a 3 year study of 9 – 13 year olds use of computers.

In 2007 she was awarded the prestigious American Library Association/Scholastic Award for her “unique contribution to reading by children and young people and outstanding achievement in the profession.” Her ALA leadership includes election to the ALA governing Council, the Freedom to Read Foundation Board, the Association for Library Service (ALSC) to Children Board, and the 2004 Newbery Award Committee chair (The Tale of Despereaux). Her groundbreaking teaching about multicultural/international resources reflects in her chairing the Pura Belpré and Batchelder Award Committees.  Currently, she is chairing the ALA/ALSC 2010 Notable Children’s Book Committee, after 2 years as a member.

Presentation Title:  “Ramona Quimby: Growing Up Digital.” 

In 1955 Beverly Cleary’s well loved character, Ramona Quimby, appeared in her first feature role.  Subsequently she starred in 7 more books across 4 decades. But what would life be like for Ramona Quimby in a book set in 2009 or beyond? Dr. Eliza Dresang, Clearly Professor at the University of Washington and author of the award-winning Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age, answers this question. Through a series of presentations interspersed with highly interactive sessions, she shares strategies for how school library media specialists can recognize, capitalize on, celebrate, and put to use the radical changes in books, interests, and behaviors of youth who are growing up digital.  9 A.M. to noon session only.

Jerene Battisti and Angelina Benedetti BIOS:

Jerene Battisti is the Education and Teen Services Coordinator for the King County Library System (WA). She was a member of the 2009 Best Books for Young Adults committee for YALSA, a division of the American Library Association.

Angelina Benedetti also works for the King County Library System in Collection Management Services. She served on Best Books for Young Adults from 2002-2005 and again in 2008. She writes the “35 Going On 13” online column for Library Journal, featuring teen titles of interest to adult readers.

Title of Preconference: “You’re Invited”: a feast of new literature for teens

Level:  Middle school/High School

Whet your appetite with this feast of new books for teens and the readers who love them. Divided thematically, this menu presents new fiction and nonfiction for middle school, junior high, and high school readers – including fantasies, biographies, fun nonfiction, historical and realistic fiction books. Each participant will take away an annotated bibliography of approximately 100 titles, an understanding of recent trends in publishing and plenty of great stories to share.]

Your presenters are Jerene Battisti and Angelina Benedetti, who say their love of good books is only matched by their love of good food and good friends. Jerene and Angelina have presented for the WLMA Conference for ten years.

 Enjoy as these ladies serve up a three-hour feast of new books.  2 sessions:  9 A.M. to noon and 1 to 4 P.M.