Connected Educator Month and other Professional Development

October (Connected Educator Month) is always a busy time and this year is no exception.  Be sure to take advantage of the many professional opportunities.  Here are just a few:

Digital Shift -- This event will be held on Wed. October 14 from 9am to 4pm, Central time. 

Digital Shift is a virtual conference that is free and always full of great resources.  For example, Follett is one of the gold sponsors and Library Journal recently interviewed Nader Qaimari, their Senior Vice President of Content Solutions and Services, who shared some thoughts on user interface and library resources like eBooks. Even if you cannot make the entire day, register to be able to access the archives.

        Library 2.0 - This is the fifth annual Library2.0 worldwide event, another virtual conference to be held on October 20 from 9am until 10pm, Central time.  

        Family Action Network Speakers –a local opportunity featuring a truly impressive array of speakers and well worth investigating if you are in the area.  On Friday, October 9th Sherry Turkle will be speaking at the Skokie School in Winnetka.  If you missed her recent New York Times Op-ed piece, “Stop Googling. Let’s Talk,” do look for it and we will be adding a review on her forthcoming book, Reclaiming Conversation, to our book blog soon. The following Monday, October 12th, Anne-Marie Slaughter will be speaking at the Cornog.  She gained attention from a piece in The Atlantic a few years ago and also has a new book, Unfinished Business, about work/life balance which we reviewed in more detail here. Then on Wednesday, October 14, Julie Lythcott-Haims will give a talk at Glenbrook North High School. Her new book, How to Raise an Adult, was one that I purchased and forwarded to advisor chairs earlier this summer. (And that is just the FAN speakers for October!)

 If you have other professional development ideas to suggest, please let us know.