As with Wednesday, I got up extremely early for me (5am and my normal time is 6:30 am) in order to get to the convention center in time to get a parking spot and get to the first session at 8am!

“Digital Comics, Graphic Novels, Sequential Art, and Technology Enhanced Learning” presented by Annette Lamb.

Just a few of my many notes from this session are below. I wrote down a bunch more of specific graphic novels I wanted to check out to see if I might start carrying them in my school library. I also jotted down some specific uses for current assignments by various teachers at my school. If you are interested in reading all of my notes, send me a request and I’ll get a copy to you.

• Comics are sequential arts. One panel is actually a cartoon not a comic.
• Marvel has many of their classic comics online.
• Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
• Check out Wikimedia Commons part of wikipedia free photos that can be used in production. The CDC has a Public Health Image Library students can use in their assignments.
• She uses the Comic Life software package available for both mac and windows, only $20 for individual license, and as educators, can load it to your school and home computers. Make quick comic pages (or books) in minutes.
• Using Graphic Novels with Children & Teens from Scholastic. Click on the box that says: “Click Here for Teaching with Graphix”

The next session I atted was “Jamie Adoff – From Rock n Roll to Poetry/Prose and Everything in Between” presented by young adult novel author Jamie Adoff.

Mr. Adoff was a dynamic and enthusiastic speaker. I didn’t realize he also wrote picture books, as I was only familiar with his young adult novels. I didn’t take notes, as I was to enraptured of his presentation. I did write down that he is the son of Arnold Adoff and the late Virginia Hamilton. Wow, to have TWO authors as parents!

General Session/Keynote Seaker Joyce Valenza – “Web 2.0 Meets Information Fluency: Designing Projects for 21st Century Learners.”

Once again, I didn’t take notes as I was too much in awe of the speaker. I do remember the challenge she gave us to begin using the items she went over and that if these are blocked in our schools/districts, then it’s our job to see that this is changed. I did write down three things:

• Subscribe to Alan Levine’s Cogdogroo Wiki & blog
• Tip to search for photos in FlickR using not just nouns, but also by verbs and adjectives, too!
• Image Chef to create custom graphics see the one I created “Wagener-Salley Rocks!”

After the Keynote, I volunteered at the SCASL Store booth for a little over an hour and then went to lunch at Monterrey’s (one of my favorite Mexican restaurant chains).

The last session of the day I attended was “School Library Websites: The State of the Art – Information Landscapes for 21st Century Learners” presented by Joyce Valenza and one where I was one of the facilitators!

As with the Keynote, I’m blown away by all that Joyce Valenza does and had to share with us. Many of the items she shared I had already been introduced to by Cathy Nelson, but it was wonderful to see how they are used in schools. Once again she charged us with seeing that these tools are unblocked and used (used appropriately!) in our schools. Items she showcased: Twitter, Skype, Amimoto, and VoiceThread.

At the end of the session, I was both pumped and exhausted. I made one more pass of the vendor booths and then went to Richland County Public Library to pick up some books needed for my booktalking session on Friday. Then I headed home.