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Share a Story 2012: A Quick Look Back

We had several notes over the weekend from folks who were "just now" catching up on Share a Story - Shape a Future 2012 and reading the posts. We hope you're still basking in all that great, positive energy!!

We also had a couple of other items and additions that I wanted to highlight. I'll be adding them to our Comprehensive Index of Posts and List of Contributors, but I also want to share them here.

Excellent resource for children's literacy/teaching.

Library advocacy. I am honored to join you tonight to celebrate ten outstanding librarians and the thousands more that you represent. This award is truly significant because the nominations received from across the country show that libraries continue to play a critical role in our democracy, and that librarians are once-again on the front lines of a battle that will shape the future of our country. It is a battle that is fought out of view and the heroes are people who didn't seek a career of confrontation, but who live lives of principle and meaning - understanding that the gift of knowledge is the greatest gift we can give to each other.

In the Share a Story-Shape a Future introductory entry today, I indicated this posting would be a list of blogs I hope you will find useful in your efforts to become more familiar with a wide array of multicultural books and customs. The list is not comprehensive, but it is a list I can indeed recommend to you given my familiarity with these blogs. Let's get acquainted!

The mission of Web 2.0 Labs is to continue to cultivate, incubate, and grow existing and future opportunities for peer learning in education. Educators, librarians, and students are given the opportunity to learn from and work with each other, and to promote the personal and collective value of that work through social media projects. 

This is from the June 2011 ODE Social Sciences Newsletter: "Understanding how to manage money is a skill that is more important today than ever. You can look all around for examples of poor financial decisions. Let us turn that around for our next generation. Financial Beginnings and Operation HOPE offer free financial education programs for students in grades 4-12 as well as young adults. All programs are free and provide age-specific curriculum and activities and are designed to promote self-sufficiency, fiscal responsibility, and encourage active and educated participation in the banking system. The fun, engaging and relevant programs are taught by professionals from the community. Together, Financial Beginnings and Operation HOPE have served nearly 25,000 youth at more than 100 schools throughout the Pacific Northwest." Every year the Office of the State Treasurer sponsors the Reading is an Investment (RII) program between October and March. Anyone who wanted to schedule the elementary financial program, Banking on our Future, could try to time it so it happens when RII is active. http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1707 http://www.ost.state.or.us/read

Great show to reflect on.

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

The dramatic changes in society, exponential advances in technology and globalization of 'everything' are easily recognizable one decade into the 21st Century.

"The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) presents 30 Second Thought Leadership: Insights from Leaders in the School Library Community, a new video podcast series delivering brief and practical advice from respected school library leaders on important questions about school libraries today and in the future."

"The National Academies Press has announced that all PDF versions of books that they publish are now downloadable to anyone free of charge. This includes a current catalog of more than 4,000 books plus future reports produced by the Press." There's a section devoted to the subject of education.