TEL Trainer of the Month
December 2009 TEL Trainer of the Month: Judy Bivens
by Jennifer Wooters
Congratulations to TEL’s Trainer of the Month, Judy Bivens! Judy was a high school librarian for 25 years, and now she is the Program Coordinator for the Master of Library & Information Science program for Library Media Specialists at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville.
Judy is an excellent trainer, and she has been involved in TEL training for years. Even though she is extremely busy, she still finds time to volunteer and provide TEL training when she is needed.
In addition to training, Judy also incorporates TEL into her students’ coursework. For example, students have the option to create lesson plans that include the use of TEL resources. Judy says, “I want all our librarians and teachers at all grade levels to know the amazing resources available to them as professionals and to their students as they plan lessons.” Many educators are unaware of the resources available to them and their students through TEL. Judy says, “I am always greatly pained when I do library orientation for graduate students and discover that they do not know about TEL… This is one of the areas that we need to continue to emphasize—professional development with TEL.”
When Judy demonstrates TEL to teachers, she especially likes to show them the Teacher Toolbox in the K – 12 databases [Gale's Junior Edition - K12, Student Edition - K12, and Kids InfoBits]. She says, “These tools offer wonderful resources for librarians and teachers as they are working with information literacy lessons. They work wonderfully with the new Tennessee State Standards for all curriculum areas. These are created for different grade levels and are great for collaboration!”
Judy notes that people are stunned when they see the variety of resources available to them at no cost: “They are amazed at the professional resources as teachers and also as graduate students. Many teachers serve in leadership roles with technology, curriculum areas, school improvement—they can find a plethora of research based materials through the TEL databases. When they realize that these are available to them even after they leave graduate school, they are speechless.” And as Judy trains teachers to use TEL, the advantages are passed on to students. Thank you, Judy, for your dedication to TEL training and promoting awareness of TEL!
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