(via Michele Ostrow, University of Texas at Austin)
The ACRL Instruction Section Management & Leadership Committee is excited to announce our spring online professional-development series, three online webinars on topics of interest to instruction coordinators and library staff with instruction responsibilities. We hope you can join us for any, or all, of these free events.
“Accessibility in Teaching with Technology”
Monday, May 1 (12:00-1:00 PM CST)
Register for this free event here.
Description
Students bring a diversity of needs to our classroom. Teaching with accessibility in mind can help us include and accommodate them all. In this webinar you will learn how to incorporate accessible practices and values into your teaching with technology. This webinar will focus on classroom climate, selecting tools and platforms, presenting information, and training student creators.
Presenter
Stephanie Rosen is Accessibility Specialist at the University of Michigan Library, and has worked at the intersection of accessibility and higher education since 2010. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Texas at Austin and has presented in many contexts on accessible scholarship, publishing, and teaching.
“Developing an Effective Mentoring Program”
Wednesday, May 17 (1:00-2:00 PM CST)
Register for this free event here.
Description
Library staff members, graduate students and librarians can benefit greatly from mentoring programs. Acting as a teacher and a guide to the real world, mentors have the opportunity to encourage and advise by sharing their experiences and knowledge with mentees who benefit greatly from individualized attention. In this webinar, you will learn the many ways that mentoring programs can be structured and the benefits of each. In addition, librarians from UT-Austin will present their methods and approaches for mentoring graduate students new to library instruction as well as librarians with minimal teaching experience. They will also discuss a sustainable approach to a peer-mentoring program that can be adapted to any organization.
Presenters
Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen, Wilsonville Campus Librarian at the Oregon Institute of Technology, has edited, written, and mentored/eed in a number of places. Through personal experience, committee participation, and research she has noticed a convergence on mentoring in the last couple of years. In 2015 she guest edited the Fall Oregon Library Association Quarterly on Mentoring, and in 2016 she edited the book, Beyond Mentoring: A guide for librarians and information professionals.
Sarah Brandt, Librarian for First-Year Programs at the University of Texas at Austin, teaches information literacy skills in the undergraduate core curriculum and works with the School of Undergraduate Studies to incorporate information literacy into a variety of programs. She mentors graduate students to teach first year students and supports subject liaison librarians in their teaching.
Elise Nacca, Head of Information Literacy Services at the University of Texas at Austin, manages a unit that integrates information literacy skills into the first-year curriculum and supports subject liaison librarians in their teaching. She developed and managed a peer mentoring program for library staff who teach.
Krystal Wyatt-Baxter, Head of Assessment at the University of Texas at Austin, is now in a role focusing on assessment. In her previous role, she taught first year students and mentored graduate students into teaching roles.
“Critical Reflection to Improve and Grow As Librarians Who Teach”
Friday, June 2 (11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Register for this free event here.
Description
Reflection is a practice that helps instruction librarians and coordinators focus on various aspects of their teaching in order to grow and improve as teachers. This presentation will begin by defining reflection and reflexivity while describing when, how and why it is used, as well as outlining benefits, challenges and examples of the practice.
Presenters
Maria Accardi is the Coordinator of Instruction at Indiana University Southeast. She is the author of Feminist Pedagogy for Library Instruction (Library Juice Press, 2013), editor of the forthcoming The Feminist Reference Desk: Concepts, Critiques, and Conversations (Library Juice Press), and co-editor of Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods (Library Juice Press, 2010).
Michelle Reale is the Faculty Librarian for English and Music at Arcadia University. She is the author of Becoming a Reflective Librarian and Teacher: Strategies for Mindful Academic Practice (ACRL, 2017).