"Tech-nically Speaking: The ABCs of Merging IT Literacy with Elementary Essentials" will explore the integration of IT literacy into elementary education by leveraging interdisciplinary teaching methods. Attendees will learn to align information technology standards with core subjects like math, science, and arts using innovative cross-walking techniques. The session includes hands-on demonstrations of creating crosswalks with AI tools, detailed examples of integrating standards, and strategies for addressing challenges. Participants will leave with actionable templates for prompts, lesson plans, and assessments, fostering critical thinking, creativity, and personalized learning. The focus will be on showcasing multiple tools and strategies for effective curriculum enhancement.
Digital Learning Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Amanda is an instructional technology professional with 20+ years in the field of education. She spent the first part of her career as a classroom teacher in the Appleton Area School District. Following that, Amanda worked as an Instructional Technology Coach with the Neenah Joint... Read More →
Students' excitement while wearing the goggles “brings down the house”. Their voices of joy, “saying look at this”are contagious during these immersive experiences. Their oohs and ahhs tell me life is good. Learners run to show their classroom teacher showing them what they are seeing. The sheer volume has brought administrators into the LMC to see what’s going on. Come discover how virtual reality (VR) can ignite a passion for learning and inspire your students by: Participate in a hands-on Virtual Reality field trip to space and beyond Steps for preparing students for virtual reality experiences. What The Robot LAB Standard VR Kit is and how easy it is to use Exploring what VR field trips are already available How to use a Ricoh 360-Degree Camera for making the Images to create your own VR tours Experience some of the VR experiences successfully done with students Brainstorming VR ideas to inspire creating VR experiences impacting learning together
School Library Media Specialist, Appleton Area School District
Jeff celebrates 35 years serving the AASD as a library media specialist and is a longtime WEMTA member. He earned a Master’s in Library Science (UW-Madison), and a Bachelor’s Degree in elementary education (UW-La Crosse). One of his proudest achievements was receiving the special... Read More →
In this session you will learn how having a therapy dog in your library can improve school engagement and help develop a more inclusive, supportive school environment. Attendees will also learn practical steps that can be taken to implement therapy dog programs in their own school libraries. Facing opposition or district hoops and red tape, this presenter will share how she was able to overcome the obstacles to bring her certified therapy dog into her libraries. Information will include organizations to contact to find volunteer therapy dog teams willing to visit, process to get your own dog certified, where to purchase liability insurance, research to support having a therapy dog in the library, management ideas, and much, much, more!
Hello! I’m Jennifer Georgia. I have been a librarian for the past 15 years in the Green Bay Area Public School district. Prior to that I taught in Green Bay for 14 years. I currently am full time at Martin Elementary School in Green Bay. I am married to my husband of 30 years and... Read More →
Engage students with technology and transform their assignments into high-quality, impactful work. In this session, you'll explore tools like podcasts, videos, and storyboards to enhance learning experiences. Plus, you'll receive an interactive Choice Board that you can use as a valuable resource for future lessons.
Join us to learn what's new as well as tried and true with BadgerLink resources for 2025! Wisconsin's Online Library is jampacked with licensed, trustworthy online resources and databases chock full of content that can help you as an educator, librarian, and professional as much as it can help your students.
Excited to dive in, but never sure where to begin? Attend this session to learn about specific resources and what they offer.
Had recent success or failure sharing a BadgerLink resource like Points of View Reference Source, the new Explora, or Britannica School - Early Elementary with your students? Come and share with your colleagues, get tips and tricks to take back to your library, and find out more about our freely available, statewide resource collection known as BadgerLink.
BadgerLink Technical Support & Training Specialist, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Jen is on the Library Services Team at DPI, where she works primarily on BadgerLink, providing technical support and training. She also writes BadgerLink's Bulletin posts and mails out promotional posters and bookmarks. Reach out to her for all things BadgerLink!
Merge Edu is a platform that has been around for quite a while and many educators have a Merge Cube (or many) sitting on a shelf, unused. If you don't have one, don't fret, as all attendees of this session (up to 30) will receive a free cube.
Merge has grown to be a well-known augmented reality tool with science-aligned lessons. We love watching educators get excited about Merge--if the educators can get this excited, imagine what your students will think!
We will explore the Merge EDU platform and you'll get a free trial. Some features will be free forever, some are subscription based. No matter your subscription type, you'll leave this session energized and full of ideas.
Please bring an ipad, chromebook, or phone (some sort of technology that will allow you to downlad apps)
Mackin is a long-term education distributor for print, ebooks, and makerspace products and other library and classroom materials for grades PK-12.Known throughout the world over for exemplary service and a stringent attention to detail, we have access to over 18,000 publishers and... Read More →
What can't Canva do?! Over the past 5 years, Canva has become my go-to resource. In this session, you'll learn how to sign up for a free premium educator account, the ins and outs of creating resources with Canva, and how to use this tool with students. You'll leave creating one or more of the following: social media graphics, infographics (like for library reports), posters, flyers, presentations and videos.
This is my 15th year as a school librarian and my first year with my current district, Greendale Public Schools near Milwaukee. I work in the middle school and high school libraries, and I love it! Being a school librarian is my dream job.
In today’s visual media-driven world, teaching media literacy is more important than ever. The "World in Motion" video creation lesson equips students with essential media literacy skills through a hands-on project that explores various forms of motion—whether physical, emotional, or societal. In this interactive session, participants will experience the lesson firsthand. They will learn to guide students in planning, storyboarding, shooting, and editing short video projects. Attendees will explore accessible video editing tools, engage in hands-on activities, and discover strategies to integrate video creation into their curriculum to enhance critical thinking, storytelling, and media literacy. By the end, participants will: Understand how to implement a media literacy-focused video project. Gain adaptable storyboarding and video editing strategies. Experience creating engaging, interactive student projects.
In this session, we'll explore programming options for your library to help students explore books and hopefully even fall in love with a few. I'll present activities I've hosted in the past, including READ Dating, Virtual READ Dating, Book Buffets, etc. I'll provide information on multiple ways to set these activities up and share a template for Virtual READ Dating. We will also talk about data collection so you can prove these activities work to help get students excited about reading! Have you hosted this type of activity in your library? If so, please join us to share other ideas. New to the idea? We'll cover everything you need to know to host one of these activities when you get back to school! Bring a device and start to build a Virtual READ dating experience during this session! Let's get students hooked on books!
Library Technology Specialist, Stoughton Area School District
I have been a library media specialist at River Bluff Middle School for the past twenty years. I love getting students excited about books and reading! Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, travelling, reading, attending Badger sporting events, and... Read More →
