Upcoming Holiday & Observances w/ Teaching Resources - May 2021

With the 2020-2021 school year almost over, we encourage you to remind your students the ERS Portal online resources are available to them all summer long!

If you need a reminder of your student portal login(s), please contact library@ersconnect.org.

We have multiple resources for digital books, as well as online encyclopedias, streaming video providers, and more!

Did You Know? - May 2021

 

It’s the end of the ’20-’21 school year! I don’t know about you, but for me it was simultaneously super slow and also one of the fastest years ever. Lots of new stuff to learn and do! Lots of things to get used to!

We, the library staff at ERS, were divided into cohorts from August through mid-March, and one cohort never physically saw the other during that time period. Only Debra remained in the office at (almost) all times. We communicated via Google Hangouts, email, and Zoom meetings, managing to not only prepare materials for delivery, but also to begin offering online, interpersonal trainings and short seminars as well. Debra, Kim and I held weekly Zoom sessions varying in length from 45 minutes to 15 minutes, and are continuing to try different approaches to best serve our teachers’ needs. Maria sends out videos to the teachers who attend, 

so that they can review the content again if they like.

We are currently offering virtual office hours from 3:15-3:45 every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. If you have any questions about the ERS Library, Teacher Resource Center or navigating the ERS Portal, pop in and say hi! More information can be found at www.erslibrary.org.

I’d also like to say a big thanks to Sara, who puts this blog together and maintains it every single week. We have learned a lot about what we can do as a team this year, whether in person or in the digital realm. I believe that all of us in the field of Education are constantly growing and finding new ways to serve our students, so here’s a pat on the back to us all. 

Happy Summer!

Technology Tips - May 2021

                                                                                                          by Steve Woods, Instructional Technology Specialist

How to Stay Tech Trendy During the Summer Our team knows how busy you are even (and sometimes especially) during the Summer, and we certainly believe that you deserve some well-earned "down" time during our warmer months. That said, you never know when a tech tool might emerge that could make next year even more effective, memorable, and downright fun. If you'd like to keep tabs on technology trends while away from the classroom, here are some simple ways to do so:
	Here are 25 podcasts to consider. It's also easy to locate more in the Podcasts App on iPhones and Google Podcasts for Android Devices. Search for EduTech or Educational Technology... and don't forget to subscribe to them!
	Keep up on educational blogs using an RSS reader. There are a host of technology trend setters who write at least once a month about their discoveries. Use their curiosity to your advantage! Here are 100 popular educational blogs. Simply scroll down to the eLearning and Technology sections, and you'll find a few dozen to choose from. You can also search for blogs on special search tools like BlogSearchEngine.org. Search your phone's app store for RSS (or Really Simple Syndication) readers to subscribe to your favorite blogs and have new posts delivered right to you.
	Create and keep in touch with a social media based Professional Learning Network. Twitter is great for this. Is your Twitter account full of cobwebs? Brush them off, update your photo and profile, and learn how to find fellow tech curious educators like yourself. Here's an article on using a variety of social media networks to develop your educational PLN... It's all about the hashtags!
	Play with fun educational technologies near you, by taking advantage of the ERS Library media contract your campus got for you! You can still check out a variety of STEM kits by logging into the ERS Library Multimedia Portal and learn how to use them at your own pace, stress-free. You just might have a lot of personal fun steering around Beebots, Spheros and Ozobots manually or via code, discover how to introduce your class to virtual reality, create electrical circuits, and much more.
	There are so many ways to keep that learning spark going during the Summer, while enjoying yourself as well. See you next school year!

Engage your students in summer reading, with year-round access to Sora Audiobooks and MackinVIA eBooks!

(Access to these resources is part of your district’s/site’s annual ERS Library Media Services Agreement.)

	Whether listening for class or for fun, Sora's audiobook reader makes it easy, with powerful listening tools, professional narration, and syncing of your listening progress across devices so you can always pick up right where you left off.* Using Sora on your smartphone, tablet, or Internet enabled device  Getting Started with Sora
MackinVIA, named 2019 Product of the Year, is a multi-award-winning, digital content management system, providing easy access to eBooks, read-alongs, audiobooks, databases, and videos.*  Using MackinVIA on your smartphone, tablet, or Internet enabled device
These resources are also available through the ERS Library Student Portals: www.erslibrary.org
Log in with the User ID & Password for your ERS Portal (Educators), Teen Portal (Grades 9-12) or Kids Portal (Grades TK-8) account. Then follow the directions in the “Using Sora…” or “Using MackinVIA…” links above.
*If you don’t see these digital books in your ERS Portal content, please email library@ersconnect.org.

Sync Audiobooks celebrates 12 years of FREE audiobook downloads for teens!

(Additional titles available in June, July & August)

SYNC Audiobooks for Teens returns for a 12th season of free audiobook downloads to keep for individuals ages 13 and up! AudioFile Magazine has hosted this program all these years to encourage the development of new listeners during middle- and high-school summer vacation periods. Listening to audiobooks has been demonstrated to increase literacy capacity in highly skilled bookworms as well as those who don’t identify themselves as readers, to provide opportunities to deepen capacity for empathy, and to offer exposure to a wide variety of genres, voices, and expressive styles.

This year, the SYNC season runs for 14 weeks, from April 29 through August 4, for a total of 28 titles, all available to participants worldwide. SYNC titles will be delivered via OverDrive’s Sora app, compatible with all types of computers, tablets, and smartphones. Once downloaded during each title’s single week of availability, the audiobook remains the participant’s, with no due date. A few subtle changes in SYNC’s website have been made; however, if you are a longtime SYNC fan, these changes will seem more cosmetic than practical compared with your past experience.

SYNC’s website is currently up and running, providing teachers, library staff, group leaders, and anyone else who might find them useful with access to a toolkit that includes a suite of posters, as well as Frequently Asked Questions with guiding answers. The full list of titles, publishers, and date ranges for each pair of free titles all can be found on the site. Please encourage others who work with the targeted audience of teens of middle and high school ages to review basic procedural steps before the season opens.

This year’s SYNC title collection includes dramas, autobiographies, fantasies, thrillers, romances, and much more. Participants will be offered many #OwnVoices audiobooks, a classic tale from China, an artist’s tour of a career in professional art, some often-requested humor, and collections of short stories. Performance styles include single narration, author narration, full-cast performances, and dual performer deliveries. Some of the audiobooks have a run time under two hours, of particular appeal to brand-new listeners, and others run as long as 12 hours and more.

New Items in the ERS Library's Circulating Collection - May 2021

Click cover images below to access more resources for these titles on TeachingBooks!

ERS Library *Virtual Office Hours* -- Answering your questions about our resources & services!

 

Important *End of the School Year* Information from the ERS Library

As we enter the last full month of the 2020-21 school year, the ERS Library staff would like to relay some important information--

1.) End-of-year pickups: This year’s final dates for ERS Library Delivery & Pickup Service are June 1 - 3. Please request a pickup no later than Monday, May 30 and be sure to have returning materials and ERS bags in the designated spot by 9:00am on your site’s assigned day. All ERS Library materials remaining in your possession after your site's final pickup date will become your responsibility to return directly to the ERS Library. Note: If your District’s last day of school is prior to the dates listed, please ensure your ERS Library materials have been picked up before you leave campus for the summer.

2.) Reserving materials for use during summer school: If you would like to use ERS Library materials with your summer school students, please reserve these to be delivered to your site between May 25-27 or June 1-3. As no pickup service is available during the summer months, set the return date as the day you intend to return these items to the ERS Library. Pickup and return of reserved materials is also available at the ERS Library via Curbside Service. Email library@ersconnect.org or call (559) 651-3031 to confirm your arrival date/time.

3.) ERS Library Summer Hours: 8:00am – 5:00pm Monday through Friday, 9:00am - 4:00pm for curbside services; CLOSED 7/5 in observance of Independence Day.

4.) Registration for our 2021-22 CheckThisOut! service will open on Thursday, July 1st. The link will be available via an email sent to all staff at ERS Library contracting districts/sites and on the CheckThisOut! page of the ERS Portal.

5.) Stay informed: Subscribe to Bookmarked to receive updates on all things ERS Library -– library services, ERS Portal resources, additions to the circulating collection, upcoming training opportunities and more.

6.) ERS Library Delivery & Pickup Service will resume on August 10, 2021. When reserving items for next year in the Follett Destiny Online Library Catalog, schedule them by selecting the “For a specific date” option [Do not use "As soon as possible"], then choosing which of your site’s assigned weekly delivery days you want to receive--and later return--the item(s). There will be no delivery service during the weeks of Thanksgiving Break (11/22-26), Winter Break (12/20-1/7) or Spring Break (4/11-15).

Thank you for allowing us to provide you with resources and support. We look forward to assisting you again soon!

The ERS Library Staff