To find the Dolly Gray books, please search “Dolly Gray Award” in the books and more search on the library homepage: www.lib.byu.edu.  The current collection contains books nominated for the 2012 award, award winners and nominated titles from previous years will be added in the months to come so keep checking back.

The daily briefing also summarizes the news, career advice, and essays published in the current issue of The Chronicle’s print edition and provides links to the full text of each week’s issue on our Web site.

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For more information on Walter Dean Myers and his son check out:

Walter Dean Myers by Myrna Dee Maler.  Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2008. Call number: HBLL Juvenile Collection/ 928 M992marL

Pass it down: five picture-book families make their mark by Leonard Marcus.  New York : Walker & Co. : Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers, 2006. Call number: HBLL Juvenile Collection/ 928.08 M334p

Or for books by this father/son team check out:

Looking like me.  New York : Egmont USA, 2009. Call number: HBLL Juvenile Collection/ 813 M992L

Jazz.  New York : Holiday House, 2006.  Call number: HBLL Juvenile Collection/ 813 M992a

Blues journey.  New York : Holiday House, 2003.  Call number: HBLL Juvenile Collection/ 811 M992bj

If getting institutions of higher education to be more green is a subject that interests you here are some books you might want to check out:

Greening the ivory tower : improving the environmental track record of universities, colleges and other institutions by Sarah Hammond Creighton. Cambridge, Mass : MIT Press, 1998.  Call number:   GE 310 .C74 1998

The Campus and environmental responsibility edited by David J. Eagan, David W. Orr. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1992.  Call number:  LB 2341 .N48x no.77

Campus ecology : a guide to assessing environmental quality and creating strategies for change by April A. Smith and the Student Environmental Action Coalition ; illustrated by Thorina Rose. Los Angeles, Ca : Living Planet, 1993.  Call number:  TD 171 .S65x 1993

“TeachingBooks.net is an easy-to-use website that adds a multimedia dimension to the reading experiences of children’s and young adult books. This online database is developed and maintained to include thousands of resources about fiction and nonfiction books used in the K–12 environment, with every resource selected to encourage the integration of multimedia author and book materials into reading and library activities.”

This is an top-quality resources that compiles content from a number of sources but it also creates its own content making this a unique resources with information that does not exist elsewhere.  The other major benefit of this databases is its extensive multimedia, with many videos and audio files no matter what content area you teach if you are looking for ways to integrate children’s trade books into the classroom this resource has lots to offer.

Find this resource on the Education subject guide under Lesson Planning Resources Tab, or on the main library home page under databases either by searching the title or clicking on “T” then clicking on the title.

Provided to you by the Harold B. Lee Library, the Testing & Education Reference Center (Gale – http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/byu_main?db=TERC) offers over 100 practice tests and courses to help students prepare for educational tests including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, MAT, NCLEX, and PRAXIS. Information about graduate schools and careers is also included.  While access to the database is free for university students and faculty  you will be required to create a personal log in.  This personal log in ensures your privacy and it will allow you to save tests and return to them later as well as use the features that track your progress.

In partnership with the Utah State Library Division, Pioneer Online Library provides access to LearningExpress. You can get access to this database if you have a library card from any public library in Utah.  LearningExpress provides test preparation and career skills improvement resources. You can find resources designed to improve basic reading, math, writing, reasoning,  and science skills as well as test preparation for AP, PSAT, SAT, ACT, and other college admissions exams.  Also included are computer skills courses on major products from Microsoft and Adobe. There are also career skill building areas and sample tests for many different types of jobs including civil service, military, law enforcement, education, and health.  Additionally it contains information about US Citizenship, GED preparation, and a section for Spanish speakers. To access it go to the Public Pioneer web page, http://pioneer.utah.gov/ and click on the “LearningExpress Library” link under “Features” in the lower right corner.  You will then use your public library card number to log in.  As above you must set up your own personal account which provides you with instant online scoring and customized analysis of your strengths and weaknesses, and makes personalized recommendations. If you do not finish a test in the allotted time set by the library, you have 30 days to complete it. All of your answers are saved in your personal page, which ensures complete privacy.

A government study comparing student learning from online courses to learning from face-to-face classroom courses, found that online might be slightly better — with some caveats based on the different dimensions of the two types of learning experiences.  Here are some of the findings that struck me as the most interesting.  Emphases in the original.

• Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction. . . .  Interpretations of this result, however, should take into consideration the fact that online and face-to-face conditions generally differed on multiple dimensions, including the amount of time that learners spent on task.  The advantages observed for online learning conditions therefore may be the product of aspects of those treatment conditions other than the instructional delivery medium per se.
• Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction. . . .  [T]he observed advantage for online learning in general, and blended learning conditions in particular, is not necessarily rooted in the media used per se and may reflect differences in content, pedagogy and learning time.
• Studies in which learners in the online condition spent more time on task than students in the face-to-face condition found a greater benefit for online learning.
• Elements such as video or online quizzes do not appear to influence the amount that students learn in online classes. The research does not support the use of some frequently recommended online learning practices.  Inclusion of more media in an online application does not appear to enhance learning.  The practice of providing online quizzes does not seem to be more effective than other tactics such as assigning homework.

(U.S. Department of Education, 2009)

http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf

* Deadline: April 15, 2009 *

Congress in the Classroom is a national, award-winning education program now in its 17th year. Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, the workshop is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching about Congress.

We designed Congress in the Classroom for high school or middle school teachers who teach U.S. history, government, civics, political science, or social studies. Forty teachers will be selected in 2009 to take part in the program. All online applications must be received by no later than April 15, 2009. We will notify individuals of our decisions by April 30, 2009.

Although the workshop will feature a variety of sessions, the 2009 program will focus on two themes:(1) developments in the 111th Congress, and (2) new resources for teaching about Congress. The workshop consists of two types of sessions: those that focus on recent research and scholarship about Congress (and don’t always have an immediate application in the classroom) and those geared to specific ways to teach students about the federal legislature.

Throughout the program, you will work with subject matter experts as well as colleagues from across the nation. This combination of firsthand knowledge and peer-to-peer interaction will give you new ideas, materials, and a professionally enriching experience.

“Until now so much of what I did in my class on Congress was straight theory-this is what the Constitution says,” noted one of our teachers. “Now I can use these activities and illustrations to help get my students involved in the class and at the very least their community but hopefully in the federal government. This workshop has given me a way to help them see how relevant my class is and what they can do to help make changes in society.”

The 2009 workshop will be held Monday, July 27 – Thursday, July 30, at Embassy Suites, East Peoria, Illinois.

The program is certified by the Illinois State Board of Education for up to 22 Continuing Education Units. The program also is endorsed by the National Council for the Social Studies.

Participants are responsible for (1) a non-refundable $155 registration fee (required to confirm acceptance after notice of selection) and (2) transportation to and from Peoria, Illinois. Many school districts will pay all or a portion of these costs.

The Center pays for three nights lodging at the headquarters hotel (providing a single room for each participant), workshop materials, local transportation, all but three meals, and presenter honoraria and expenses. The Center spends between $30,000 and $35,000 to host the program each year.

What follows are the sessions planned for the 2009 edition of Congress in the Classroom®. Please re-visit the site for changes as the program develops.

* The View from Capitol Hill

Aaron Schock, freshman member of the House of Representatives from Illinois’s 18th congressional district INVITED

* Congressional Insight

A team-oriented, highly interactive simulation of a Congress member’s first term CONFIRMED

* The Ten Most Important Things to Know About the U.S. House of Representatives Raymond Smock, Director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies, Shepherd University and former Historian of the House CONFIRMED

* The Ten Most Important Things to Know About the U.S. Senate Betty K. Koed, Assistant Historian, U.S. Senate Historical Office CONFIRMED

* How We Developed the Art and History Sections of the New Capitol Visitor Center Maria Marable-Bunch and Carol Beebe, Public Programs Division, Capitol Visitor Center CONFIRMED

* Resources for Teachers from the House of Representatives Kathleen Johnson, Historical Publications Specialist, Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives CONFIRMED

* Teaching with Primary Sources:The Library of Congress’s Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program Cindy Rich, Project Director, Teaching with Primary Sources, Eastern Illinois University CONFIRMED

* What Do Our Students See When They Look at Congress?

Jeffrey Bernstein, Department of Political Science, Eastern Michigan University CONFIRMED

* The Congressional Glossary Project

Michael Kirby, FedNet CONFIRMED

* Evaluating the New President:What Factors Account for Success in the Oval Office?

Frank H. Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center CONFIRMED

* How to Get Your Point Across to Congress Members Stephanie Vance, Advocacy Associates, Washington, DC CONFIRMED

* The Influence of the Internet on Political Information and Engagement Julie Barko Germany, Director, Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet, The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management CONFIRMED

* Setting Up a Congressional Office

Congressional Management Foundation INVITED

Take a look at The Dirksen Center Web site – http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm — to see what participants say about the program.

* Registration *

If you are interested in registering for the Congress in the Classroom® 2009 workshop, you can complete an online registration form found at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/programs_CiCapplication.htm.