On Tuesday, December 29th - the Library will close at 4:30 pm.

The SERC Library Staff wishes you ----

Winter Begins!

                               
Oh No ---- Winter begins, we so hope not!  We are rather enjoying this spring/fall weather!  I know, I know --- the law of averages just might win out El Nino or not!  Just remember from this day forward --- we gain daylight!

Here are some interesting Winter sites:

First Day of Winter 2015 - Old Farmer's Almanac
Shortest Day of the Year in the Northern Hemisphere - timeanddate.com
Everything you need to know:  December solstice 2015 - EarthSky
Everything you need to know about the Winter Solstice:  From astronomy to religion, the year's shortest day brings enduring mysteries, by Brian Handwerk, National Geographic, 12-21-15
Ring in the new season:  December Solstice happens next week, by Geoff Gaherty, Starry Night Education, space.com, 12-18-15

Activities:
Education World:  Celebrate Winter! Solstice Activites
Winter - Teacher Resources - TeacherVision
Winter Activities and Printables for Teacher - apples4theteacher.com

A few free webinars

Content Provided by: Amherst Central School District Saves Money and Improves Collaboration With Google for Education In this webinar, you'll hear from Amherst Central School District about how they leveraged Google Apps and Chromebooks to save money, increase productivity and collaboration, and extend learning beyond school hours. Get a peek at Amherst's decision making process, learn about the obstacles and challenges they overcame, and hear about the success they experienced with their implementation of Google Apps for Education and Chromebooks. Participants will: Get an overview of the Google for Education solution which includes Chromebooks, tablets with Google Play for Education, and Google Apps for Education Learn how this solution can be used to improve student learning, collaboration, and engagement Hear first-hand experience from a district using Chromebooks in the classroom to support their curriculum focus Be able to pose their questions to Amherst Central School District and Google Guests: Donna Frymire, district technology integration specialist, Amherst Central School District, Amherst, N.Y. Anthony Panella, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, Amherst Central School District, Amherst, N.Y. This webinar will be moderated by Stephen Fang, regional manager, Google for Education Register Here Students in Charge: Self-Assessment and Learning to Learn Schools are awash in learning goals, data, and information about how students are doing. But often, the students themselves are left in the dark about what they're learning and why, where they stand, and what they've got to do to get to the next step. Increasingly, teachers and schools are trying to help students own their own learning process by giving them time and tools to self-assess. Join us as we define student self-assessment and explore its tie to cognitive science and the growth mindset, explore strategies for helping students self-assess, and lay out challenges and misconceptions about student self-assessment. Underwriting for this webinar has been provided by the Raikes Foundation Guests: Heidi Andrade, associate professor, School of Education, University at Albany, State University of New York Angela Fremont-Appel, art teacher, New York City Public Schools This webinar will be moderated by Jaclyn Zubrzycki, contributing writer, Education Week Register now for this free live webinar. Sponsored by: Districts' Push for "Interoperability": Managing the Sea of Ed-Tech Content K-12 districts have struggled for years to manage the flood of data and content provided by different ed-tech vendors providing curriculum and instructional tools in their districts. Too often, administrators, teachers, and students are stuck trying to navigate a sea of different sign-ons and systems for all the various educational software and systems in use across their schools. But now, a growing number of districts are trying to clear through that muddle by requiring "interoperability" of ed-tech vendors—basically, asking them to ensure that their systems mesh with one another. The goal is to create a level of compatibility that allows K-12 users to access the content they want, without having to wade through different commercial providers' websites or proprietary systems. In this webinar, a pair of guests who are deeply familiar with the work of K-12 distrircts, and with interoperability, describe the benefits and challenges for K-12 officials in implementing the policy. Guests: Kecia Ray, executive director, Center for Digital Education, former executive director of learning technology, Metro Nashville school district Serena Sacks, chief information officer, Fulton County, Ga., school district This webinar will be moderated by Sean Cavanagh, associate editor, Education Week Register Here

Webinar

Helping Students Find a Good College Match Finding a college that's a good fit is challenging for any student, but especially for those who are the first in their families to attend college. In this webinar, we'll hear how one high school counselor helps her first-generation students navigate the college-planning maze. And we'll review national research that can offer guidance about the best ways to help first-generation and low-income students avoid key stumbling blocks on the road to college. Underwriting for this webinar has been provided by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Guests: Jessica Howell, executive director of research, College Board Lauren Quigley, director of college counseling, Young Women's Leadership School of Astoria (New York) This webinar will be moderated by Catherine Gewertz, associate editor, Education Week

Register now for this free live webinar.