What Are the Rules?

— We’ll post the same Student Opinion question for every Friday, starting June 15. Each will ask, “What Interested You Most in The Times This Week?” That’s where you should post your picks (and reasons) any time until the next Friday. Then we’ll close that post and open a new one with the same question.

As soon as the contest starts, we’ll also make sure to keep an up-to-date link to at the top of this page leading you to that week’s question. If you bookmark this page, you can always find the link to the place to post your answer.

— You can choose from anything published in the print paper or on NYTimes.com in 2012. And yes, videos, graphics, slide shows and podcasts count.

— Feel free to participate each week, but we allow only one submission per person per week.

— The contest is open to students ages 13 to 25.

— Each response should be 350 words or fewer. (To check, you can paste yours into an online word-count tool like this one before you submit it.)

— Give us your first name only, in accordance with our privacy rules. No last names, but please also post your age and hometown.

— Make sure to provide us with a full headline (For example, “Lessons in the Art of Pillow Fort Construction”) or the URL(s), or Web address(es), of the Times material you choose so others can find them easily. To find a URL, just copy and paste what comes up at the top of the page in your browser. This post’s URL, for example, is http://www.wahslibrary.info/wp-admin/post.php?post=272.

According to their site you can use it to:

Interesting video about why so many pens are used to sign bills into law.

I write about heroes.

I spent ten years writing the books Heroes for My Daughter and Heroes for My Son, to give my children examples of inspiring people whose virtues, talents and wisdom made them such great role models.

There were some famous heroes in those books, ranging from Abraham Lincoln to Lucille Ball. There were also lesser-known “regular” people. But regardless of their fame, they all proved that ordinary people change the world.

One of those ordinary people is my former English teacher Sheila Spicer.

When I was in ninth grade, Miss Spicer came up to me and said, “You can write.” She told me, “You’re in the wrong class. You need to be in the honors class.”
For the entire school year, she made me sit in a corner and do the honors work, rather than what she was teaching the other kids in the classroom.
What she was really telling me was, “You’re going to thank me later.”

A decade later, when my first novel was published, I knocked on her classroom door. I said, “My name is Brad Meltzer, and this novel is for you.” And she started crying.
When I asked why she was crying, she said, “I was going to retire this year because I thought I wasn’t having an impact anymore.” What amazed me most was she had no idea of her impact on me.

In our schools today, there are many Mrs. Spicers, teachers who work away from the spotlight, going about the business of inspiring their students to aspire to greatness. This is especially true of our school librarians.

And as we celebrate National Library Week, it is important that we recognize the importance of school librarians. School librarians transform lives through education and make it possible for students to thrive in a 21st century learning environment.

You will find them at places like Pine Grove Middle School, in the East Syracuse Minoa School District in New York, which received one of the “National School Library Program of the Year” awards from the American Association of School Librarians, a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
Librarian Sue Kowalski created areas for students to focus on graphic novels and drawing. Through her “iStaff” program, middle school students were able to act as tutors, reading advisors and event tech support, while assuming the role of ambassadors to visiting legislators.

School librarians play an integral role in their schools, collaborating with teachers on lesson plans, working with administrators to obtain grants and aiding students in using new media.

But like Mrs. Spicer, their vital work is largely unrecognized. What is worse, it is being compromised, as local, state and federal funding for school libraries continues to shrink.

While this might improve the bottom line for schools, it is depriving students of an equal opportunity to gather the skills necessary to learn, participate and compete in today’s world.

On the federal level, school libraries are facing an uphill battle.

President Obama’s proposed budget called for eliminating millions of dollars in funding to school libraries.

Recently thousands of library supporters signed a petition that was sent to President Obama. Written by Indiana school librarian Carl Harvey, it calls for every child in America to receive access to an effective school library program.

In particular, it calls for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to include a dedicated funding source for effective school library programs.

The petition drive was successful, but the future for school libraries hangs perilously in the balance.

When I see what is happening to school library budgets today, I am horrified to think that we live in a country where school librarians – with the power to inspire, as my former teacher inspired me – are considered expendable just for the sake of saving a few bucks.

Let’s not sacrifice our future. As policymakers and school administrators struggle with tough decisions, we as a nation must voice our support and advocate for funding, so that all children have access to 21st century school library programs.

We are a world starving for heroes. If you want to find them, support our school libraries.

This article originally appeared at Huffington Post.

Tell us why you love the library!

Innovative Mind-Mapping Tools For Education
http://bitly.com/H3zZmf

Characteristics of Effective Instruction
During the 2010-2011 school year, the Iowa Core Network is concentrating their work on the characteristics of effective instruction and the universal constructs. As materials are developed they are being uploaded to a statewide Moodle site currently housed at Heartland AEA. Districts and schools are encouraged to contact their AEA Iowa Core Lead or DE Partner for more information.
http://bitly.com/HjCHED

Do Students Know Enough Smart Learning Strategies (blog post)
Do Students Know Enough Smart Learning Strategies? Lenny Gonzales What’s the key to effective learning? One intriguing body of research suggests a rather gnomic answer: It’s not just what you know. It’s what you know about what you know.
http://bitly.com/Ht2lY9

BigFuture–the College Board’s New College Planning Website
Choosing a college is a big and exciting decision. Explore your interests and take the time to find a college that will put you on a path to a bright future.
http://bitly.com/H4pm7e

Ed-Tech Top Ten Lists
10 best apps for education, 10 Free sites for Teachers, 10 skills every student should have, 10 myths about teaching, 10 ways schools are using Social Media effectively
http://bitly.com/GZsxve

Play Dead – Teacher in a Strange Land – Education Week Teacher
Nancy Flanagan is an education writer and consultant focusing on teacher leadership. She spent 30 years in a K-12 music classroom in Hartland, Mich, and was named Michigan Teacher of the Year in 1993. She is National Board-certified, and a member of the Teacher Leaders Network.
http://bitly.com/HjEF7T

Education Week: Districts Gear Up for Shift to Informational Texts
In an English/language arts classroom in Iowa, 10th graders are analyzing the rhetoric in books about computer geeks, fast food, teenage marketing, the working poor, chocolate-making, and diamond-mining. Their teacher, Sarah Brown Wessling, let them choose books about those real-world topics as part of a unit on truth.
http://bitly.com/H10jnG

April Fools’ Day Pranks Teachers Can Play
Just for fun!
http://bitly.com/H123h7

North Carolina lures ‘Hunger Games’ fans – CNN.com
(CNN) — The young stars of “The Hunger Games” may remember the blockbuster movie as the one that propelled their careers to the next level. But the biggest breakout star of the “The Hunger Games” may well turn out to be the state of North Carolina.
http://bitly.com/Hl75Qn

Here are the top five things you should know about the College Board’s new college planning site:

Your account is still here.
Continue to use the same College Board username and password you’ve been using. Get to your account by clicking the My Organizer toolbar at the bottom of every page.
The tools you’ve used before are still here — only better.
Be sure to check out the new College Search, where you’ll be guided to find the best colleges for you and see new college profiles.
You’ll hear real stories from real college students throughout the site.
See videos of students who share how they got to college — and what college is really like. You can also see counselors and admission experts answering top college planning questions.
You’ll find guidance every step of the way.
You’ll see advice and tools for every stage of the process, from exploring your options to making your big decisions. Not sure where to start? Go to Get Started.
A custom college plan is one question away.
Tell us a little about yourself and get a custom, interactive college guide. Stay on top of key dates, find out what you should be doing right now and track your progress. Make your plan now.