Conference Time!

Image: SLJ

This is my third SLJ Leadership Summit and I am so hooked on this PD! I took a personal day today in order to have a stress-free, leisurely drive down after the morning rush hour instead of smack dab in the evening one! Plus, driving at night and me? Not so fun!

I took a walk around the neighborhood and found Edgar Allan Poe's grave. No self-respecting librarian would visit Baltimore and not stop here! It was such an interesting place! I took tons of pictures of all manner of interment, from headstone to obelisk to mausoleum and I think I spied some catacombs through an opaque window. 

I will post pix later. I took my school computer and can't remember my FB password to get the pix downloaded!

I used to have such a great sense of direction. The cemetery was a short walk from the hotel and I managed to get lost returning. The day was gorgeous but I was tired and need to finish reading a book to review, so I sat in the lounge, had a beer and read. I adore this book!

This evening's activities include an opening reception and a dinner with a vendor. I am looking forward to an excellent weekend. 

PD: SLJ Summit 2018 Continued

Registration and breakfast started at 8:30. I am an early riser even on my days off, so I had a good three and a half hours to read, catch up on news and blog before heading downstairs. 

George Takei was the morning keynote, which pleased me but sent my conference buddy, Linda, into geek heaven. She had a Sulu doll, which she has been posing all over the place during her trip to NYC. I took a pic of him at the Abrams preview. 

Takei has a graphic novel, They Called Us the Enemy, coming out in the spring that looks to be a must-purchase addition. He spoke eloquently and powerfully about his experience being rounded up and shipped out to an American internment camp with his family at age five. So much of what he said resonated with me that I couldn't keep up with my notes. I tweeted out an early quote, "Lessons of the past are so easily forgotten." Most of his life has been devoted to activism and he still seems optimistic. His mission is to raise awareness of the fallibility of America. It is great but also dark.

The next session featured two teachers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. They spoke about the before and after of February 14, 2017. They spoke passionately about their admiration for their students. They made clear that these students were thoughtful activists before the shooting. They discussed their book, We Say #neveragain: reporting by the Parkland journalists.

After that emotional start to the day, it was time for breakout sessions. I didn't take pictures from my first session, Owning the Power of Primary Sources in Student Learning by Tom Bober but I took tons of notes.

My second session was Teaching Tolerance Stand Up! Empowering LGBTQ Youth. It's always nice to attend a session and be reminded of a resource that is free and sometimes forgotten, Teaching Tolerance. 

Lunch was a nice buffet of salads and sandwich makings.

The afternoon sessions started with three librarians who started a library sustainability movement in New York State. That made me reflect on my own practice.

We we then entertained by Dan Zanes and Claudia Eliaza, who put on sensory-friendly performances for young people. 

After the break was the final panel moderated by Daryl Grabarek: Read Woke: a Movement Takes Hold. The authors who were able to attend were Ibi Zoboi, Renee Watson and her co-author Ellen Hagen. Cecily Lewis, founder of the Read Woke movement also spoke. 

 

Then there were free books and author signings followed by a cocktail party and more author signings! 

Nina Crews talking about Seeing into Tomorrow. This is a biography and twelve of Richard Wright's haiku illustrated with beautiful photo collages. 

 Charles Waters talking about Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of race, mistakes and friendship that he co-wrote with Irene Latham and I reviewed here. 

Duchess Harris talking about her biography of her grandmother, 

Then, I had the opportunity to have an extended conversation with Melissa Falkowski and Eric Garner!

I was able to tag along with Monty Quehl from Abdo books to a cool little restaurant called Chez Moi where I got to talk to Duchess and some other librarians from around the country. I got home way too late and, of course, could not fall asleep. Then I slept very poorly, awakening frequently. 

Looking forward to our half-day of sessions before I train into Manhattan to take son #3 out for lunch!

PD: SLJ Leadership Summit

I love professional development opportunities, especially when they are unique and utterly applicable to what I do. I want to be able to return to work recharged and with at least one new idea that I can implement immediately.

This is my second leadership summit. I attended my first in Nashville last year and became hooked. Links here and here and here.

I was excited that it is in Brooklyn this year and quite proud of myself for eschewing driving in and paying fifty dollars a night to house my car. My husband dropped me at the bus stop Thursday night for a 6:30 bus to the Port Authority. Turns out there was no 6:30 bus but one came at 6:42. A surprising number of people got on along the way. I listened to Property of the Rebel Librarian and finished it in my hotel room.

I caught the A train at about 8:30 and was surprised to have to stand. The subway just got more and more crowded as we travelled downtown. Who knew so many people return home so late?

My room is oddly furnished, curious use of Corian, and interesting but ineffective lighting. I slept fairly well for me.

Friday morning featured a publisher preview at Abrams. I was able to get my two school librarian friends from Georgia on the guest list and we trained three stops to lower Manhattan. Of course, we were early so we walked over to the 9/11 Memorial. St. Paul/ Trinity Church was not yet open. They were somberly impressed by the memorial. This was my third time visiting and I still had to wipe away tears. 

We loved the preview and left well fed and laden with arcs and posters. We walked the churchyard and checked out the gorgeous interior of the church. Definitely worth a visit if you're ever in NYC. 

I chose to attend the Mackin Focus Group for the afternoon. The group was led by Michelle Luhtala and the theme was "Guiding Positive Disruption in Your Learning Community." Twenty or so librarians from all over the U.S. shared challenges and things we are proud of. There was a brief discussion of AASL standards and, unfortunately, time ran out before we got to Mackin and their products that would help support our work. Note to self: stop by the booth and find out.

Later, there was an opening reception where we all mingled and networked and ran into old conference friends and met new ones. Follett had an exhibit of their book fair, so we perused that and authors were on hand to sign books.

This morning the conference proper opens.

SLJ Summit - Day 3

So-o tired this morning! I worked on yesterday's blog post and munched on my leftover filet mignon. Then we went to breakfast, where I did not expect this:

It was delicious. 

The breakfast keynote was Tamika Brown, School Librarian of the Year with her interesting career. But it was the panel with two superintendents that I found fairly energizing. "At the end of the day, I am a teacher first." Thomas S. Tucker, 2016 AASA National Superintendent of the Year. Earlier, he stated, "there should be sacred time devoted to independent reading every day."

Dr. Bill Chapman, superintendent from Texas: "My librarians push me every day. My librarians make reading fun."

The breakout session was with Alvin Irby who challenged me in so many ways. He was a teacher before starting a non-profit initiative to get books into the hands of black boys, called The Barbershop ...

We had a Town Hall meeting that provided me with more food for thought and some ideas to pursue. 

The closing keynote was Alvin Irby again.

Before we left, we took a trip to the Parthenon. 

 

We were going to have lunch before my roomies dropped me at the airport but none of us were hungry, so I decided to just get to the airport really early and work. 

I've been so used to TSA-Pre that I totally failed at the security line! Now our flight is delayed an hour with no reason given.

Sigh. Oh well. Small price to pay for a spectacular weekend of professional development.

SLJ Leadership Summit - Day 2

Saturday dawned cloudy and warm and rain was in the forecast; but the weather didn't matter because a long, full day was on tap.

Breakfast was self-serve and healthy - fruit, yogurts, I skipped the danish and grabbed a bran muffin. 

John Green was the keynote speaker. He has a new book, Turtles All the Way Down coming out next Tuesday and I sort of hoped that we'd get a copy; but there's an embargo on it so we all got a signed copy of Looking for Alaska, which turns ten this year! Yay! I will have to wait until Tuesday along with the rest of the world to read Turtles. His speech was funny, incisive and surprisingly emotional. I jotted a couple of quotes that resonated with me: I don't think the internet can fix the internet." 'Algorithms value clicks over nuance." And, "online tools jumpstart discussion, don't replace it."  

There was a panel called World Tour of Administrators: The literacy challenge and beyond. I didn't take any notes and am having trouble dredging up talking points. The only thing I wrote was, "Digital citizenship is not a lesson but a way of thinking and behaving and should be ongoing." A point I happen to agree with.

I chose Trust Me: media literacy for research as my first breakout session. This was pretty dynamic and very useful. I took tons of notes and both got some new ideas and feel that I'm on the right track with what I'm teaching this year.

The lunch buffet was grand as was the lunch keynote. Alan Miller spoke about The News Literacy Project. Lots of notes to follow up on there. 

The first afternoon panel was, Using Graphic Novels to Develop Racial Literacy. A high school librarian and language arts teacher brought four students to discuss how Gene Luen Yang's Printz Award winning book influenced them. Each student was incredibly articulate and thoughtful. I kept throwing quotes up on my FB feed. Totally bowled over, as was Gene. He kept saying that he couldn't add to what they said. One student, who identified as "not straight" and used or coined the term, overcompenstraight, was particularly thought-provoking. He asked for help "to completely be me." And used interesting similes and metaphors like the experience was like "reaching into a bucket of eels." He dislikes the term, micro-aggression, preferring instead, the term, macro-oppression. He claims this removes the dichotomy of aggressor and victim. Instead, he chooses to find a way to love the aggressor. Wow. 

The next panel was entitled: Visual Literacy; extending meaning through art and featured Cece Bell, Gareth Hinds and Javaka Steptoe. 

Panel moderator, Daryl Grabarek asked some interesting questions and each artist presented fascinating slides showing their process.

Authors were available to autograph their books following the conference. A cocktail reception followed featuring local authors signing their books and a strolling fiddler.

I piggybacked onto an invitation by Abdo books to dinner at Southern. The conversation was rambling and hilarious and the food was A-Mazing!

Several "pumpkin coaches" trotted by.

After dinner, we walked across the pedestrian bridge to burn some calories and take in the view.

All-in-all, a stupendous day.

SLJ Leadership Summit! Day One

I am in Nashville for the first time attending the School Library Journal Leadership Summit for the first time. And I am quite excited about FINALLY getting to one! I learned the hard way that I cannot wait to register for the amazing conferences SLJ puts together. 

I arrived late Thursday evening hoping to get a little sightseeing in on Friday, before the afternoon focus group I was scheduled to attend. My roommate learned of a hot breakfast place called Biscuit Love, known for its chocolate gravy covered biscuits so we hoofed it over on a gorgeous morning. There was a line, but we were assured that it was short by Biscuit Love standards so we chatted and caught up with each other while we waited. Once we got in, I resisted the amazing merch - mugs, tee shirts, cookbooks, jars of jam and honey and just ordered.

I decided on those biscuits with chocolate gravy and added a side of sautéd mushrooms and something they call chronic bacon - spicy, sweet, thick-cut bacon. 

Dee. Lish. Us!

After that, we met our third roommate and visited the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. It's a beautiful space and it turns out I know more about country music than I thought!

My pals trekked off to visit some family and I wandered up and down "Music Row" checking out the scene. The windows of all the bars and honky-tonks were flung open and all the live bands competed with one another. The street was crowded and the afternoon was gorgeous. Crammed in among the competing live music venues were a bunch of stores selling boots. Now, my boot collection is not as extensive as my collection of cons, but I suddenly felt I should've worn boots instead. Lots of booted gals (and guys) were about. The stores were crammed and the boots were expensive! 

I joined a focus group with the folks from Gale. I sat with three librarians and listened to two separate presentations about changes being made to an existing product and a possible new product. We were shown dummies of possible layouts and asked for our opinions. I've never done this before. It was fascinating. 

Then, there was a cocktail party (Thank you Capstone!) on a deck as the sun set on a gorgeous day. I saw Javaka Steptoe in conversation with on of my SLJ editors and said hello. I spied a fellow focus group member and we chatted. It turns out she was invited to the same dinner I was, so we strolled over to that restaurant together.

Dinner, thanks to Mackin, was at a restaurant called Kitchen Notes. The wall decor was arrangements of recipe cards blown up and framed and the food was quite tasty - crab cakes, fried green tomatoes and a choice of three entrees. 

I was so tired and full at the end of a long day that I could not blog about it. I started this post on Saturday, but couldn't get Internet access at the meeting and was too tired Saturday night to blog. So-o, here it is Sunday morning and I'm scrambling like a middle schooler to catch up. My post will probably be filled with typos and bad grammar, but there you have it.

Fun times!