This information applies to 2012. I'm not sure if this will be an annual event.
Connected Educator Month is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, and several organizations are sponsoring programs and activities, including AASL and SETDA, the State Educational Technology Directors Association. So what is CEM, anyway? "Online communities and learning networks are helping hundreds of thousands of educators learn, reducing isolation and providing 'just in time' access to knowledge and opportunities for collaboration. However, many educators are not yet participating and others aren't realizing the full benefits. In many cases, schools, districts, and states also are not recognizing and rewarding this essential professional learning. For these reasons, the U.S. Department of Education's Connected Educators initiative has made August 2012 Connected Educator Month. Throughout the month, there will be coordinated opportunities to participate in events and activities in dozens of online locations to develop skills and enhance one's personal learning network." As one ad for the program proclaims, it's "all of August, all for free, all online - shape the future of the profession."
Explore activities in the starter kit at your own pace:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/38904447/starter-kit-final.pdf
"There are some remarkable efforts underway in American schools to invest the next generation of students with the literacy skills needed to innovate, solve problems, and meet unprecedented challenges. Until now, there has been no way to connect these initiatives, to provide models for advancing literacy learning in every subject, to collaborate in identifying and pursuing critical research questions about literacy teaching and learning on a consistent, sustained basis. That's about to change. The National Center for Literacy Education (NCLE) is building a coalition of stakeholders representing the premiere education organizations, policy analysts, researchers, and foundations who are working together to identify and share the plans, practices, support systems, and assessments used by educator teams working to improve literacy learning. NCLE will celebrate the work of successful school teams across the country that are achieving remarkable results in advancing literacy learning, and share what is learned with education policymakers…NCLE is providing the Literacy in Learning Exchange as a free resource to all educator teams. All educators are invited to use the free site to build or further develop a team in their school, district, or across schools/districts, or in their out-of-school setting. Educators that embrace the challenge of sponsoring and supporting a team will be eligible to apply for recognition and support as Centers for Literacy Education."
Does your school have (need) a literacy team? If so, hopefully library staff is involved.
Centers for Literacy Education, or collaborative groups/teams working toward capacity building for literacy: http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/about/centers-literacy-education
The library is an important resource for English language learners and their families. While serving a diverse, bilingual population presents a number of challenges, the library can be a lifeline for students and families who are new to this country or who speak multiple languages.
Oodles of free printables
for kids
Early learning resources for preschool and beyond, kids parties and fun games for holidays ... it's about having creative fun times with kids and learning together!
Book Talk Resources Galore: I thought it would be a good idea to archive all of the Book Talk Tuesday posts- make them a little easier to access. On this blog you will find the links to all of the books that have been shared. We will still post Book Talk Tuesday on The Lemme Library page each week... only once the week is over will I archive the post on this blog.
Kathy Otto, an Oregon school librarian, has a blog about incorporating children's books when teaching in grades K-6. "My goal is to create a resource for teachers, home schoolers and anyone interested in quality books for children. Each title is one I have carefully evaluated and selected to support curriculum as well as your class read-alouds. Elementary school librarians are losing their jobs nationwide resulting in the loss of this valuable resource for students and teachers. I have 35 years experience working with kids and their books, so you can consider me your personal librarian!" Check it out!