Professional Travel Grants for Graduate Students
School Librarianship
VAASL 2016
7 years
I had the great opportunity to attend the VAASL Conference in Norfolk, VA. This was the second opportunity for me to attend this conference. Again, it was a wonderful conference, and I cannot wait to attend again next year. It was very exciting to learn so many new things that I would be able to use in my classroom, as well as ideas for when I become a librarian. This year, just like last year, I came away feeling refreshed, energized and excited about teaching and becoming a librarian. I was able to attend Thursday, Friday and Saturday concurrent sessions, but my favorite day by far was Friday!
I attended, But they’re scary! Tech tools to over math and science teachers, using picture books in 6-8, charting the course with topics and trend and of course the keynote speaker, John Schu. The concurrent sessions gave me some great ideas to use for my current classroom as well as share with my teachers in the building. I am already planning on sharing the great tech tools in the math and science department meetings. Listening to Audrey Church’s top ten, was just amazing. I attended last year as well, and this year was just as good or better then last.
John Schu, was so inspirational to me as teacher, book lover and future librarian. As I look into the future to becoming a librarian, I plan to keep the quote “What do you want your library students to remember about your library 10 years from now?” and “Not to get the books back, but the readers back.” He is a person/librarian/lover of books, that we all can hope to become and be able to share with students. He gave some great book talks and ways to promote reading and libraries for every student.
Again, I was not disappointed by this conference and look forward to many more!
Virginia Association of School Librarians Conference
7 years
Michelle Yalavarthi
I had the opportunity to attend my first state conference for school librarians in Norfolk, Virginia. I was able to apply what I learned through my Longwood grad classes to the conference sessions. I was able to learn the best educational apps to use in education and share that knowledge with the other teachers at my school. I also learned about how to use student helpers most effectively in the school library. The information that was shared with me at the conference will impact how I manage my school library and teach students and staff how to use the latest technology. The conference was an amazing way to learn from professional school librarians in Virginia. I look forward to attending the conference next year.
VAASL 2016
7 years
I was so thrilled to attend my first VAASL Conference in Norfolk. I attended the Thursday and Friday sessions. There were so many options or sessions to choose from. I enjoyed meeting all the new people. It was a great opportunity to network with everyone. The format of the conference was easy to follow and the sessions were informative. The length of the sessions were perfect. I appreciate being able to view the documents and presentations of the sessions I could not attend. I am not a librarian yet, but the conference gave me insight on what to expect. The atmosphere was friendly and up beat. I appreciate this as there have been other types of conferences that were dry and boring. I recommend any educator attending this annual conference. I will not miss one in the future.
The Importance of Good Directions…
8 years
by
in School Librarianship
The November 2015 VAASL conference was amazing, and my first large scale professional conference. What did I take away from said conference? Well, always double check the room numbers. Turns out that there is a BIG difference between auditorium and amphitheater. Oops! Luckily, we realized when no one showed up, that we were in the wrong place and made it to our session with a few extra minutes to spare. As someone who has been to several smaller conferences, the VAASL conference has a lot to offer. Sessions were lead by librarians and educators who genuinely have a passion for their profession. All were eager to share their expertise and to lend a helping hand in any way they could. I got so many great ideas from how to improve Sustained Silent Reading at our school, to sponsoring a Virginia Readers Choice group to listening to Longwood’s very own Dr. Church present on the 10 emerging trends in librarianship. This conference was a great use of my time, and a fantastic way to network with other professionals!
I cannot wait to attend next year!
VAASL 2015 by Kelly Parsons
8 years
by
in School Librarianship
Photo with award winning children’s author, Laura Murray. My 2nd grade students LOVED her “The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School” series.
The 2015 VAASL Conference in Williamsburg, VA was my first true professional development experience as a “future” librarian. The conference provided me with many tools, resources, lesson plans, and ideas to help prepare me for a position as a school librarian. The theme of the conference was “Librarians on the Edge” in which countless opportunities for innovative teaching and learning were provided. As a result of attending this conference I have many new ideas and resources for empowering our students as 21st Century learners. I deliberately chose a very diverse schedule of topics during the 3 day conference which included the following:
- developing and enriching collaborative partnerships with staff and students;
- integrating the most recent technologies into all facets of instruction;
- learning stations;
- developing engaging and meaningful lesson plans and activities for students;
- connecting students globally through social media
Additionally, I met some inspiring authors of children’s and young adults’ books including Laura Murray (The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School series); Kristin Levine (The Paper Cowboy, The Lions of Little Rock, and The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had); Steve Watkins (The Black O, Juvie, and What Comes After); and Lezli Evans (Rain Song, Snow Dance, and Can You Count 10 Toes?)
The sessions that were especially helpful included:
“Two is Better Than One” by Tanya Parrott and Kathy Stavros: In this session the presenters provided many lesson ideas, resources, and strategies for collaborating with teachers of all grade levels. Specific activities that support the curriculum were presented, I will share many of these ideas with teachers here at Norge. Examples included life cycles (grade 2); maps (grade 4); and identifying letters (K).
Using Stations to Manage the Library by DeWayne Harrell: This elementary librarian presented many great ways to create a variety of library stations which incorporate reading, technology, strategy board games, and hands on activities for students. I have used several of these resources already in our library, but I will investigate many of the other resources that Harrell provided.
On the Edge with the Top Ten Topics and Trends by Audrey Church: A wealth of online resources, articles, professional journals, and tutorial videos were presented in this session. Topics included Coding, Digital Citizenship, Diverse Books, Flexible Scheduling, Read Alouds, and much more. I would greatly appreciate it if we could meet to further discuss the benefits of flexible scheduling.
I came away from this conference with many “ready to implement” lessons and resources for library lessons. Additionally, I have many great ideas for collaborating with staff and students. I will spend the next few months viewing many of the other resources provided at this conference.
Future Librarian Inspired by the 2015 VAASL Conference
8 years
by
in School Librarianship
Where to start? The VAASL Conference was a wonderful experience, from perusing the vendors and getting to see 3D printers at work to attending conference sessions, it was nonstop. It was hard to choose which sessions to attend with so many options. My favorites were Online Tools in Action, Pairing Literature with Primary Sources, Oh the Places You’ll Go (four cool tools), and the Coding sessions, but I enjoyed every single one of the sessions I chose to attend. I am so excited to try out the “Hour of Code” and am signed up for training in DC for next week.
I thought the speakers were wonderful, especially Maggie Stiefvater who divided her speech into 8 chapters of her life. I loved that and thought it was a brilliant way to keep the audience focused while she was talking. I also enjoyed meeting Lamar Giles and can’t wait to share his new book in my current classroom. This experience was well worth the cost and I hope to be able to attend next year, as well.
VAASL 2015
8 years
by
in School Librarianship
I am very happy that I was able to attend the 2015 VAASL conference in Williamsburg VA. The keynote speakers were wonderful and both had very powerful messages about student reading and participating in the library. I was able to attend many different sessions that gave me some wonderful ideas that I cannot wait to put into practice in my library. I have been looking into creating a makerspace in the library and now have a much better idea about how to get one going and use it to help increase student learning. Overall it was a wonderful experience and I cannot wait to attend again next year!
VAASL
8 years
by
in School Librarianship
The VAASL Conference was wonderful. I loved meeting up with other librarians and reconnecting with former classmates. Such a wonderful network to be a part of with fabulous exchanges of ideas and inspiration. I attended information sessions about creating an atmosphere of reading, collaboration, using Twitter, teaching students to write computer code and many more! I am so grateful for this opportunity!
VAASL 2015
8 years
by
in School Librarianship
VAASL 2015 in Williamsburg was a great experience! The best part was meeting librarians from across Virginia and sharing ideas as we waited to attend sessions. The sessions were informative and left you with a feeling of excitement and hunger for more learning. Sessions I attended included book talks by local authors, sessions on creating a Makerspace and twitter account, and a session on the latest trends for 2015. I am so looking forward to VAASL 2016!
I hate Nicholas Sparks-VAASL 2015
8 years
by
in School Librarianship
I cannot stand his books! If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading one, here is how THEY ALL go…there is a tragedy, and due to the tragedy, someone falls in love. Now, you have no reason to ever have to read one his books! Sparks has written tons of books, they have all been on the New York Times Best Seller’s List, and he has sold over 100 million copies. So clearly, my feelings about his books are not the majority. People like them. They buy them. LOTS of them.
As a graduate student in School Librarianship, I have been recently struggling with how to teach content in the library while not crushing the potential spirit of readers. With so much emphasis in schools on test scores and data, how do you maintain student’s excitement?
Margaret Willison was Thursday’s keynote speaker at VAASL and she is funny! And what I took away from her presentation is that people are going to read what they like. It may not be what you like or perhaps even millions of people worldwide like, but for them, there is value in what they are reading. So, instead of promoting certain books, promote the love of reading for there is certainly value in the love of reading.
We all have our things. Sparks certainly isn’t mine. But I LOVE the Confessions of a Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. And while the basic plot is the same in that series just like Spark’s books, I gain huge value in the pleasure of reading.
Where to find Willison:
https://twitter.com/MrsFridayNext?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
http://tinyletter.com/twobossydames
https://twitter.com/atvpodcast
http://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/129472378/pop-culture-happy-hour/