Saturday, January 31, 2015

AASL 2015 National Conference Committee Meeting

With Debra Kay Logan from Ohio, I have the pleasure of co-chairing AASL's next national conference, which will be held in Columbus, OH, November 5-8, 2015. MSLA'S Judi Paradis is co-chair of the subcommittee in charge of selecting and scheduling the concurrent sessions. Our entire committee of over a dozen school librarians from around the country, along with staff from AASL, met today. This is our second time meeting in person, but the first time everyone was able to attend. We hold monthly conference calls, but it was great to see everyone face-to-face.

Here are some quick notes of highlights that we will be reporting to the AASL Affiliate Assemby tomorrow.

Theme: Experience Education Evolution

We are looking at school librarians as proactive leaders in an educational environment that is in a state of constant flux. Change is the constant. The conference will embrace being aware of, informed about, managing, leading and assisting others with changing resources, programs, technology, methodologies, standards and teacher expectations. We want school librarians to leave Columbus feeling that they have a more than strong grasp of the evolving educational environment. We also want them to feel innovative, invigorated, inspired, excited and ready to stretch old boundaries and instill new energy into their school library programs. We want administrators to leave with a clear picture of school librarians at the forefront as a confident, willing, comfortable and nimble vanguard. We also see a connection between evolution and revolution. We are not passive in this changing system. We are advocates for students, teachers and learning

New:
  • Administrators free with their school librarian
  • Opening general session each day with thought-leaders in education
  • Heidi Hayes Jacobs, expert in curriculum and instruction 
  • Project Connect Panel: Administrators Empowering School Library Programs, sponsored by Follett
  • Brian Selznick, author of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, with a new book coming out in time for our conference
  • Closing keynote: Eszter Hargittai, who believes the concept of the digital native is a myth
  • Highlight affiliates and regions by providing opportunity for attendees to meet and network with others from their state and region
  • Exploratorium/IdeaXchange is now the IdeaLab, featuring learning stations with large screen monitors showcasing best practices in topics related to education evolution
  • UnConference with new twists and maybe some late-night games
  • Fun closing session that will be uniquely Columbus
Registration will open in early February.

In a separate post, I'll write more about author events.

No comments: