I am super excited to be attending the 2019 AASL National Conference in Louisville, where I will have the opportunity to hear great speakers, discover new books and resources, enhance my personal learning network, further my lifelong learning, and enjoy social activities with friends old and new. I know, though, that many school library people aren’t as fortunate and won’t be able to make it to Louisville. Don’t despair! The #AASL19 Social Media team is planning a rich #NOTATAASL experience for you.
Here’s what we have lined up:
- Follow the conference on social media. On Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, search for the #AASL19 hashtag to follow attendees’ postings. You should see some short Periscope video live streams on Twitter as well. Another hashtag to look for is #AASLstandards for postings about the AASL Standards. Twitter will allow you to do an OR search for #AASL19 OR #AASLstandards to see all those results at once. (Make sure to use full caps for OR to make the search work properly.)
- Post about the conference. Respond to posts with comments and questions, and use the #NOTATAASL hashtag when you do to let people know you are there “virtually.” Also search for this hashtag. You can add it to your OR search.
- Visit the #NOTATAASL19 LiveBinder. The NOTATAASL19 LiveBinder website at bit.ly/notataasl19 was set up for us by Peggy George and Susie Highley (members of the social media squad) and will serve as a “home base” for virtual attendees. Many thanks to Peggy and Susie for their hard work and leadership on this! During the conference, they will be curating links to shared presentation resources and blog posts, live streams from sessions and events, AASL Standards resources, and more. It already has a wealth of information about the conference, including social media feeds, links to follow the conference social media squad members, the #NOTATAASL19 challenge information, and more.
- Earn badges. For this conference, we have set up more than a dozen badges for attendees to earn through the Badgelist.com/aasl19 site. See Ashley Cooksey’s blog post and webinar about these badges, as well as her post with advice on how/where to display earned badges. While a number of the badges require live attendance, there are six that you can earn as a virtual attendee, including a special #NOTatAASL badge just for virtual participants. Check this Google Doc for short descriptions of each of the badges with notations of those appropriate for the NOTatAASL folks.
My #NOTATAASL name badge
- Take the #NOTATAASL19 Challenge. Have fun challenging yourself to set learning goals for the conference, write social media posts about the conference, earn badges from the AASL19 Badgelist site, share resources, and design and share a fun virtual name badge with ribbons in the NOTATAASL shared slideshow. (I included my name badge here for a bit of inspiration.) Win bragging rights if you earn the most points! The challenge spreadsheet is accessible through the LiveBinder and through bit.ly/notataasl19challenge. Each of the entries has a point value. For example, you earn 10 points for learning goals, 8 points for each original tweet, 20 points for creating a name badge, and 10 points for each Badgelist badge you earn. You record your activities in the spreadsheet, and it will automatically calculate your total points for you. All entries will be “on the honor code,” and we will recognize top points earners on social media at the end of the conference.
I do so wish that everyone could attend the conference live, but I believe you can get an excellent dose of professional development, networking, and fun as a #NOTATAASL participant. I look forward to seeing you online! And, I bet you’ll be inspired to make it to the next AASL conference in Salt Lake City in 2021!
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Author: Jane Lofton
Categories: AASL National Conference, Blog Topics, Community, Professional Development
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