INFOBytes

INFOhio’s most recent installment of Monday Mini Lessons is here!

Monday Mini Lessons are videos that showcase and model best practices for remote teaching using INFOhio’s high-quality, digital content. Each mini lesson will focus on strategies educators need to connect with and engage students during this time of social distancing. These model lessons are practical approaches with learned best practices to support the use of digital content in instruction, whether face-to-face or virtual.

March's focus for INFOhio's Monday Mini Lessons is using eBooks from Storia as reading choices for literature circles. Learn more about how to use eBooks from Storia to support literacy and strengthen student engagement for elementary students.

Watch our March Monday Mini Lessons, Using Storia to Support Literature Circles, and reflect on how you can modify this lesson to use in your own teaching practice. Also, continue to follow this article, which will be updated and include all of the Monday Mini Lessons in one place: Monday Mini Lessons Model Remote Teaching Best Practices.

We hope you tune in for more, as these lessons will continue every month on selected Mondays throughout the school year.

Create and share resources that promote innovative and collaborative learning with Open Space, a curriculum creation and collaboration tool powered by INFOhio. Instructional materials added to Open Space go through an evaluation process using a quality rubric. Most recently, new high-quality instructional STEM materials were added!

These STEM lessons and extension activities are appropriate for grades K-6 and have been provided by the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative and Hamilton County ESC.

STEM content added includes:

• STEM activities and experiments to do at home
• Back-to-School STEM Kits for students in grades K-6 each containing up to 7 interactive activities and labs
• information on STEM careers
• summer camp-themed STEM activities

For more information about STEM resources and Open Space, contact INFOhio at support.infohio.org.

Becoming an OELMA Member allows school librarians to be a part of an organization dedicated to supporting and providing learning opportunities that will meet each member’s professional needs.

The OELMA board is currently considering the development of a paraprofessional membership option, which will allow all library support staff the opportunity to be a part of this premier organization. More information on this membership option will be coming soon.

OELMA Member Benefits

• OELMA News – a newsletter filled with association and industry news, produced three times a year.
• Access to a website designed for your professional needs with members-only materials which include an electronic membership directory, electronic archives of newsletters and publications, and more.
• Conference discounts – OELMA members attend the Annual Conference at substantially discounted rates.
• Regional workshops – OELMA members are given the opportunity to attend any/all regional workshops at reduced, member rates.
• Participation in OELMA’s Listserv (Effective March 1, 2011, this became a members-only benefit).
• Participation in OELMA’s Blog.
• OELMA members are eligible for several awards and scholarships.
• Voting rights and participation on committees.

For more information on how to become a member visit the OELMA Becoming a Member page.

The INFOhio Support Team has prepared a series of workshops to show you how to inventory, organize, and clean up your library for the end of the school year. Most topics will be offered multiple days and times, so you can join us live to ask specific questions. Each webinar will be recorded and shared for those unable to attend a live session.

Planning on completing an inventory of your library this year? Learn how to conduct an inventory and generate the necessary reports that ensure your online catalog reflects what is actually on your shelves.

Dates and Times:

April 13, 11am - 12pm
April 28, 3pm - 4pm

Join Zoom Meeting

Everyone in your school will be excited to visit your "new" library when you update your collection with a modern bookstore twist. Learn about two ways to rethink your collection using genrefication or Dewey Lite strategies, and watch your circulation stats boom!

Dates and Times:

April 16, 3:00pm - 4:30pm

April 23, 9:00am - 10:30am

Join Zoom Meeting

The last few months of school can be chaotic if you work in the library. There is so much to do and so little time and energy to get it done! Between reminding students to return their books, getting everything checked in and shelved, working on inventory, overdue notices, final reports, and a gazillion other things, it can be exhausting.

Over the years, you may have developed your own end-of-the-year checklist to prepare your library for the summer. Although every library is different, this session will help you plan and get organized now, so you can have a smooth exit for the summer and a head start for the new school year.

Dates and Times:

April 30, 3:00pm - 4:00pm

May 7, 9:00am - 10:00am

Join Zoom Meeting

Getting your library into tip-top shape is not only an important step to preparing for the next school year, but it also improves report accuracy and data results when searching for items and patrons. Learn about the process of database cleanup and the reports you can run to identify expired patron accounts, know the age of your library’s collection, and determine which books to keep or remove from your library’s database.

Date and Time:

May 5, 3:00pm - 4:30pm

Join Zoom Meeting

Email: support@infohio.org
Website: www.infohio.org
Location: 1500 West Lane Avenue, Columbus, OH, USA
Phone: 614.840.9810 509
Facebook: www.facebook.com/INFOhio
Twitter: @INFOhio