WEMTA+Conference

===**Share information you gathered at the WEMTA Spring Conference. Not all of you will be able to attend, but by sharing the resources you learned about and speaker presentations heard, it may help others to convince school administrators about the benefits of attending this critical state conference designed specifically for school librarians.**===


 * I really enjoyed WEMTA. I learned about photo story to use as a tool for digital stories. What I found out is that it is a free download and I intend on having my tech person download the program when I return from break. The person who facilitated this session also talked about the headphones with mics that worked well. Since I need new** **headphones I was interested in the recommendations. An inspiring session was given by Shannon Miller. She reminded me of Buffy Hamilton and all of the things that she does in her library. I think that is awesome that she is able to teach at a one to one school. I learned something new at all of the sessions, other than the Ninja Presentation session, however the speaker for the session was entertaining.**


 * I, too, attended WEMTA, and it's always a challenge to sift through the endless amount of resources and information gained via attending the sessions. The most inspirational session I attended was Mike Slowinski's session regarding 21st Century LMCs. Entertaining and dynamic, Mike is an energetic, enthusiastic changemaker who's facilitated major improvements in the West DePere High School LMC. (He was going to post links to his Google Sketch Up presentation he shared, but I don't see the link anywhere within the WEMTA WIKI or on his district's website. It is truly phenomenal!) Rushton Hurley was Friday's keynote speaker. I had difficulty hearing him because he spoke while we ate. The link he posted on WEMTA is a goldmine of resources you might be interested in viewing. Rushton teaches high school Japanese. In my mind, anyone who takes on that feat is one to admire and respect! Check out the resources. They include videos, contest entries, lesson plan sites, etc. It will take hours to view even one section of what he posted!**
 * Another session I attended was Ashwaubenon's session on the 1:1 initiative they implemented this year. This was of interest to me because Green Bay, the neighboring district, must compete with Ashwaubenon, and it was recently announced that by fall 2013, GB sixth and ninth grade students will participate in a 1:1 program. What I most took from the Ashwaubenon presentation was that the filters could (and were) certainly work on the computers even when off of school grounds. This was a concern brought forth by our District Oversight Committee for Instruction and Technology session where the 1:1 initiative was recently revealed. Thus, it's good to be able to share information regarding the availability of appropriate filters beyond the school walls.**