"Do what's best for kids!" The author's former principal said this often when they discussed media program needs. Media specialists can make media centers places where students and teachers want to be. This article looks at everyday, attainable, common sense best practices. These everyday best practices require time, energy, new ways of thinking,…

Describes the successful, grass-roots approach to staff development at Winona Middle School in Winona, Minnesota. Discusses categories of learners from early adapters to technophobes, staff training models, technical support, networking, policy plans, funding, and new challenges. (AEF)

Discusses technology-related staff development at Winona Middle School. Describes media entry-level exploration classes and other more advanced classes on electronic searching, Internet search strategies, using various tools, lessons design, and multimedia skills classes. Presents ideas on how teachers can provide meaningful staff development.…

Examines how data is useful in three integral areas of media center management and decision making: collection development and budgets, including circulation data and media center usage; curriculum integration and information literacy, including the types of instructional support librarians offer teachers; and staff development and staff skills.…

Describes a program developed at Winona Middle School (Minnesota) to integrate the state standard for information literacy into the curriculum. Explains the role of the school library media specialist and discusses the final product which is a student portfolio, a HyperStudio multimedia presentation that incorporates the newly acquired skills.…

Discusses how school library media specialists can build partnerships with principals: provide leadership and support to classroom teachers, be technology savvy, model information retrieval and technology use, collaborate in curriculum planning, develop a vision for technology in the school, participate in staff development, make clear the role of…

Explains how media specialists can play an active role in providing staff development that helps teachers use technology to teach in a changing learning environment and integrate technology in the curriculum. Highlights include key research about staff development, the changing role of the media specialist, and examples of successful staff…

Provides a synopsis of classes developed by the Winona (Minnesota) Middle School media center to provide staff with current Internet skills. Includes navigation techniques using browsers; e-mail; search engines; selecting and evaluating Web sites; Internet ethics and Netiquette; critical evaluation of Web sources; graphics; interactive video…

Discusses the need for improved teacher training in the use of technology and considers the role of school media specialists. Topics include providing focused workshops on technology integration; promoting peer mentoring; partnerships with universities; using online staff development resources; and promoting technology in curriculum development…

Media Specialists who are actively involved in staff development are in a unique position to present summer technology workshops to their schools and district staff. This article lists the key ingredients needed to create a successful summer tech program.

Describes a three-day technology academy that focused on topics and technologies for immediate use by teachers. Topics include location, budget (with a chart breaking down all costs), enrollment, and sessions held. A sidebar offers tips for running a technology academy. (JKP)

Presents the following tips for getting the school media center off to a good start in the fall: refocus to-do lists; be ready for business; provide advance scheduling; deal with perceptions; conduct new staff orientation; focus on teachers of new students; and provide ongoing staff development. (AEF)

The Internet's unique scope, characteristics and potential make it a vehicle for media specialists to model good use of information technology and provide far-reaching instructional leadership in schools. This article focuses on approaches to Web site selection, supervision, and staff development for effective use of the Internet in schools. (AEF)

Describes steps in the timeline for the Winona Area (Minnesota) Public School District's annual summer technology academy, with tips for success. The steps are presented according to how far in advance they should occur, from pre-planning six to eight months in advance to the first day of class. (AEF)

Discusses how to integrate a computer lab with a school library media center. Topics include planning; management issues; printing guidelines; scheduling; instruction and integration; staff development; supervision while classes are in the computer lab; and technical issues. (LRW)