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Join the Oklahoma State Department of Education's annual summer education conference for free online professional development starting on Monday, June 21st at 9:00 a.m. and running through Wednesday, June 23rd. The conference will include daily breakout sessions via Zoom. Click here to access the conference agenda, session information and additional information. Go to this registration link to register for free today!
To raise up and celebrate librarians and teachers teaming up to enhance learning, School Library Journal (SLJ) is launching the Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award.
Sponsored by TLC (The Library Corporation), the Award honors two K–12 educators—a library professional and a teacher—for stellar achievement in working together to engage students and foster curious lifetime learners. Nominations for the inaugural award are welcome from across the K–12 community and will be accepted starting June 10th through August 23rd.
Award criteria
A panel of judges comprised of SLJ editors; a TLC representative; a school principal; and a district-level leader will evaluate award applications per the following criteria:
- Outstanding collaboration in serving student need
- Exemplary use of technology tools
- Creativity in programming toward learning goals
- Effective integration of library services with curricula
- Demonstrated student engagement
The winning school librarian and teacher will each receive a $1,000 cash prize. The pair will also be profiled in a feature article to appear in the January 2022 issue of SLJ.
How to apply
Nominating statements of up to two pages should describe why the nominees are deserving of recognition, detailing their achievements toward the above criteria.
Statements should also include:
- Budget information (school and library, and technology funding)
- Student demographics
- A description of the community served
Two letters of recommendation must also accompany the application.
All required application elements, including both recommendation letters, must be emailed in one submission to SLJcollaborationaward@mediasourceinc.com.
Winners will be announced on September 27, 2021.
For more information, visit the award page at slj.com/sljcollaborationaward.
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The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) STEM Team is excited to announce the rejuvenation of the STEM Consortium. Our team will support educators, administrators, and educational non-profit organizations in leading the way to collaborate and establish partnerships in learning and preparing students for their futures.
The OSDE will host the first virtual meeting on July 16, 2021, from 10:00 am-12:00 pm. Please use this link to register for the first meeting. You will receive an email once your registration has been approved.
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The American Library Association (ALA) has awarded its 2021 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award to Shawnee (Okla.) Middle School for their program, The Tulsa Race Massacre: Assumptions Cause Conflict in Society. The $5,000 Jaffarian Award, supported by ALA’s Cultural Communities Fund, recognizes excellence in humanities programming in libraries that serve grades K-8. Using the Guided Inquiry Design Framework, Shawnee Middle School eighth-graders connected local Oklahoma history to contemporary events by evaluating conflicts made through assumptions.
Librarian Carol Jones, who co-developed the two-month program and co-planned this year’s unit with the 8th grade English Language Arts team, will present at the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) 2021 National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah from October 21st - 23rd.
The Jaffarian Award is administered by ALA’s Public Programs Office in cooperation with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). Applications for the 2022 award will open in February 2022. Application information, award guidelines and a list of previous winners are available at www.ala.org/jaffarian.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education announced today that it's expanding the eligibility for the state’s next teacher of the year recognition. Applications are now open for the 2022 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, and one teacher of the year winner from every school site will be allowed to apply for the prestigious award. Previously, the Oklahoma Teacher of the Year was selected from a limited pool of district teachers of the year.
The change is meant to elicit a broader representation of teachers from across the state and to ensure every exceptional Oklahoma educator is eligible for recognition, especially in districts that do not select a district-level teacher of the year.
School principals and district superintendents are encouraged to honor classroom teachers at the local level by providing them with the opportunity to participate. Nominees should be exceptionally skillful and dedicated classroom teachers who demonstrate creative and effective teaching with students of all backgrounds and abilities.
The Oklahoma Teacher of the Year serves as the state’s ambassador of teaching, sharing knowledge and resources with fellow educators around Oklahoma while encouraging education as a profession. The next Teacher of the Year will be named in March 2022.
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The 2021 OLA Annual Conference will be at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Norman Hotel & Conference Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The conference will be July 26-28 and there is a cost to attend. Click the registration link for more information and to register for the conference. |
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