Presenters
Statewide School Library Lead
James Allen is currently the Statewide School Library Lead and a Digital Learning Coach for the Kentucky Department of Education in the Office of Education Technology. Previously he was a school librarian for sixteen years. James is an organizer and regular moderator of #KyLChat which gives librarians across Kentucky a place to share and explore new ideas. James is also a Google for Education Certified Innovator, Google Earth Education Expert, and a member of the ISTE Community Leader group. You can find James on Twitter @TLJamesA and his website TLJamesA.com.
Associate Director- Instructional Tech.
Rachel Barcus is a District Digital Learning Coach and Library Lead for Fayette County Public Schools in Lexington, KY. Her passion is providing an environment for students to think deeply about the content through hands on, making experiences.
Bill Bass is the innovation coordinator for instructional technology, information, library media and federal programs in the Parkway School District in St. Louis, Missouri where he leads the district library and instructional technology programs and creates conditions to foster districtwide classroom innovation. As a speaker, writer and professional developer, he focuses on systemic and sustainable integration of technology into classrooms. He is a past president of the ISTE Board of Directors and is a frequent conference speaker and presenter. He has written numerous articles and book chapters, and is the author of three books.
Creative Learning Strategist
Martha Bongiorno is a student voice activist and is currently serving as a school librarian in Metro Atlanta. She supports students and educators by pushing boundaries of traditional education to empower learners as thinkers and creators to make positive change in their communities. With her unique perspective from the heart of the school, she explores how the tapestry of learning is interwoven with literacy, technology, creativity, and student voice. Martha serves others as an ISTE Ambassador, Immediate Past-President of Georgia Library Media Association, a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and Master Trainer, a Flipgrid Student Voice Ambassador since 2016, and an Adobe Creative Leader.
Margaux DelGuidice-Calemmo is the school librarian at Garden City High School, an ISTE Certified Educator, published author and national speaker. A former contributing editor for Publisher's Weekly, writing about education and school libraries, her most recent publication is featured in the book, Media Literacy Research and Applications across Disciplines. Calemmo has been recognized as a Library Journal Mover and Shaker and was featured by PBS as an American Graduate Day Champion. Follow her on Twitter: @metadatachick
Ashley Cooksey(she/her/hers) is the Director of the Technology Learning Center and an adjunct instructor at the University of Central Arkansas. She is also a 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher. Ashley is a member of the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media and is chair of its leadership development and public relations committees. She was awarded the Pat McDonald Outstanding Individual Achievement Award from AAIM in 2019 and the Technology Leader of the Year Award in 2021. Ashley was named an AASL Social Media Superstar, Advocacy Ambassador, in 2018. She is an ISTE-U Future Ready Librarianship course leader.
Independent Educational Consultant
Marge enjoyed a 40 year career in public education and now works as an independent educational consultant. She is the author of The Elementary School Library Makespace: A Start Up Guide and has another book connecting books and maker activities scheduled for release in December, 2022. The books and maker activities for today focus on STEAM options. Come and enjoy connecting STEAM, literature and inexpensive actions you can easily put in place in your classroom. You'll leave with some small items to remind you of your adventure here and ideas to use in the upcoming school year.
District Digital Learning Coach
Ashley Faulkner is a STEM Learning Coach from Lexington, Kentucky. In this role, she not only operates the district's STEM Bus serving all 40 Elementary schools, but also leads district-wide initiatives and trains teachers to implement STEM into their classrooms.
Ed Tech Librarian, Professor, and Author
Kristina A. Holzweiss is a high school ed tech librarian. She shares ideas and resources about her school library and makerspaces on her website bunheadwithducttape.com. Kristina was named the School Library Journal Librarian of the Year in 2015, a National School Board 2016 - 2017 "20 to Watch" emerging education technology leader, and a 2018 Library Journal Mover & Shaker. She is also the winner of the 2015 NYSCATE Lee Bryant Outstanding Teacher Award and 2015 Long Island Technology Summit Fred Podolski Leadership and Innovation Award. She is the author of "Hacking School Libraries" and Scholastic makerspace books.
Instructional Technology Coach
Tim Jones (the 2022 KASL Outstanding School Media Librarian) has presented at ALA and AASL Conferences, virtually to Peru, and at multiple state conferences on the topics of graphic novels and media literacy. His article "Teaching Media Literacy Using Graphic Novels" was published in Booklist's July 2022 issue, a topic he presented for the 2022 KASL Conference and 2022 KLA Conference. A member on the KLA and KASL boards, he's served in school libraries for 16 years. He is now serving the school library at Eastern High School (Louisville) and is co-owner, writer-editor, and social media director for NIMCO, Inc.
Certified Library Media Specialist
Karey is a K-5 Library/Media Specialist serving the Milton Area School District at Baugher and White Deer Elementary Schools. With over 23 years of teaching experience, her ultimate goal is to make learning fun and enjoyable for scholars. She's presented at various events throughout the USA and internationally. She loves sharing ideas that helps students build confidence as they either discover or advance their abilities. She was awarded the ISTE Librarian Network Award in 2017, served on the ISTE STEM leadership team, and is currently serving the Mid-Atlantic region of MIEEs as Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow.
Elissa Malespina is a member of the South Orange - Maplewood Board of Education and a Teacher Librarian at Union High School in Union, NJ.
Elissa is an award-winning librarian and a Past President of the ISTE Librarian Network. She was recently named one of the Top 100 EdTech Influencers by EdTech Digest & a 2022 Mover & Shaker Change Agent by Library Journal.
Teacher Librarian & Program Director
Katie McNamara serves as a teacher librarian at North High School in Bakersfield, California and director of the Teacher Librarian Program at Fresno Pacific University. She is a Google Certified Innovator, SCWriP Teacher-consultant, California School Library Association Past President, and AASL Tech Troubadour. Katie has authored contributing chapters and published many journal articles. She has won numerous awards for being innovative and sharing content. She enjoys learning, empowering teachers to inspire student learning, and frequently sharing her expertise as a national and global presenter. Inspire.Create.Empower.Repeat. Connect on Twitter @KatieJMcNamara
District Teacher Librarian
Shannon serves as the preschool-12 district teacher librarian and innovation director at Van Meter Community School District in Iowa. She is also the Future Ready Librarians Spokesperson working with the Alliance of Excellent Education in Washington DC. Shannon is an avid blogger at, The Library Voice, writing, speaking and consulting on librarianship, education and students around the world.
Director of Unified Arts/MLL Teacher
Luis Oliveira is the Director of Unified Arts and the MLL specialist at Middletown High School in Middletown, RI. He holds a Master’s Degree in Bilingual-Bicultural Education and certification in Computer Science and Spanish. He has over 30 years of teaching and leadership experience. His journey as an ESL student gives him a unique perspective. He speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese. He is a member of several ambassador programs for tools that provide access and opportunity for his students. He is an Adjunct Professor at Roger William University providing future educators with technological tools to enhance teaching and learning.
Library Technology Coach
Granite School District
Michelle Reed began her teaching career in sixth grade. After being in the classroom for 7 years, she transitioned to a technology specialist. After working as an STS at several elementary schools in the Salt Lake Valley and earning her Masters degree in Instructional Technology, she started her current position as a Library Technology Coach at a middle school in Kearns, Utah. She has been instrumental in her district's First Lego League program. With a love of books, technology, and robots this position has been a perfect fit for her talents.
Diana Rendina, MLIS, is the teacher librarian at Tampa Preparatory School, an independent 6-12 school. Previously, she was the media specialist at Stewart Middle Magnet School where she transformed their library and piloted their makerspace program. Diana has received several awards including the 2016 ISTE Outstanding Young Educator Award and the 2015 American Association of School Librarians Frances Henne award. She coauthored Challenge-Based Learning in the School Library Makerspace and is the author of Reimagining Library Spaces: Transform Your Space on Any Budget. You can find her at RenovatedLearning.com and on social media as @DianaLRendina.
State Library Media Specialist
Davina Sauthoff is the Library Media Specialist for the Utah State Board of Education where she collaborates and provides support and professional learning to K-12 school librarians. Prior to her current position, Davina was the district library coach, a school librarian, and a classroom teacher. She serves as the Executive Director for the Utah Educational Library Media Association. Davina holds an MBA from Southern Utah University, endorsements in Library Media, Instructional Coaching, Educational Technology, and English as a Second Language and is currently working on a Ed.D in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah.
Technology Instructor/Trainer
Kayla Towner is a Utah Education Network (UEN) senior technology trainer & a Utah Teacher Fellow. She is passionate about implementing learning that focuses on student agency, providing choices & ways to show competency (PCBL). Kayla encourages educators to be innovative creators by expanding their comfort zones. She is excited about sharing Utah's Online School Library, a free virtual library available to Utah K-12 teachers & students. Kayla enjoys working with Canvas, Google, Canva, & Microsoft to develop her students' media skills. Kayla has a Master's Degree in the Arts of Teaching & is committed to helping students develop 21st-century skills.
Mary Anne has been a Library Technology Coach for 7 years at Churchill Junior High School and an education for 27 years. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Theatre Arts and Dance from Southern Utah University as well as her Library Media endorsement. Mary Anne also has enforcements in Technology, Biology, and Middle School sciences and is a Certified Google Coach.
Session description
This playground will be facilitated by school library leaders from across the country. Topics for each station will vary but will include information on STEM opportunities in the school library, digital citizenship, media literacy, literature and more.
Purpose & objective
The purpose of the Library Playground is to offer an opportunity for school librarians to network and learn with each other, but also to demonstrate to educators in other roles, teachers, administrators, and coaches, what is possible when you have a strong school library program. If we follow the model we have used in the past... playground presenters will informally share resources, instructional ideas, technology tools, and more. This allows attendees to gather a large amount of knowledge and potential professional connections in a short period of time.
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Outline
Content and activities:
12:45-1:45:
AI in the School Library - Elissa Malespina
Animating Your Curriculum with Stop Motion Animation - Rachel Barcus
Designing with Canva: Creative Tools for Librarians - Kristina Holzweiss
Utah's Online School Library: A Model for State Library Best Practices - Kayla Towner
One School Book: K-12 Tech Tips & Tools - Margaux DelGuidice-Calemmo
ChatGPT- The School Librarian’s Personal Assistant - Katie McNamara
Tips and Tricks to Reimagine Your Library Space - Diana Rendina
Celebrate and Learn About Being A Future Ready Librarian! - Shannon Miller
1:45-2:45:
The Key to MakerSpace: Students - Michelle Reed
Standards Come Alive Through Maker Activities - Marge Cox
Embracing the Spirit of Radical Hope: The Power Within for Challenging Times - Davina Sauthoff
From Panels to Proficiency: Comics as Tools for Media Literacy - Tim Jones
Supercharge Your Read Alouds with Novel Effect - Luis Oliveira
Tech-savvy and Proactive: Becoming an Embedded Leader as a School Librarian - Martha Bongiorno
Giving Students Agency: three ways to facilitate student choice & voice with digital tools - Ashley Cooksey
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Supporting research
https://www.iste.org/professional-development/for-librarians
https://www.iste.org/explore/librarians-are-key-educations-digital-transformation
https://conference.iste.org/2022/program/search/detail_session.php?id=115774015
https://cdn.iste.org/www-root/Libraries/Documents%20%26%20Files/ISTEU%20Docs/iste-standards-e_frl-crosswalk_6-2018_v7-2.pdf?wv1MfDhoPKserxbH7V1mM6CJT39klO3F=
https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/finding-technology-tribe-iste-librarians-network/
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Explore and create: Playground 
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