Author Archives

Bitsy Griffin is the school librarian for Chatham Grove ES in Chapel Hill NC. She has 25+ years experience in elementary, middle, and high schools as a math teacher and librarian. She is active in AASL and the North Carolina School Library Media Association. Find her blog at http://www.bitsygriffin.com .

• Behind the Scenes at NC’s State Conference

  By Bitsy Griffin on 10/15/2020 • ( 1 )

  

  I’m the immediate past president of NCSLMA this year, which means I get to serve on NCSLMA’s Conference Planning Committee. I served along with our president elect, Cindy Sturdivant, and the incoming president elect, Jenny Umbarger. This year’s conference proved… Read More ›

• When You Give a School Librarian an Empty Space

  By Bitsy Griffin on 09/11/2020 • ( 0 )

  

  I walked into the new school library at Chatham Grove Elementary School for the first time in May 2020. There was so much space! It was incredible! We could host a square dance in between the eighteen double-sided rolling shelves,… Read More ›

• Remote Learning Reboot

  By Bitsy Griffin on 08/14/2020 • ( 0 )

  

  How are things going in your state and district? In North Carolina, we’ve been waiting–waiting to hear what the governor would say and then waiting to hear how districts would respond. Anticipating a need, the Friday Institute developed a course… Read More ›

• Newsletters for Communicating with Stakeholders

  By Bitsy Griffin on 07/10/2020 • ( 0 )

  

  I’m moving to a new school in a new district, and before I get there I want to plan for communication efforts. Developing a communication plans are not my problem! However, sticking to one gives me serious problems. One of… Read More ›

• Changing Schools!

  By Bitsy Griffin on 06/18/2020 • ( 2 )

  

  My theme for the year has absolutely been change! From the moment we hit 2020, it’s been one change after another. Chatham County Schools, which is a little over an hour from here, advertised for a school librarian in their… Read More ›

• Conferences in a Pandemic

  By Bitsy Griffin on 05/12/2020 • ( 3 )

  

  I think about conferences a lot. Anyone who has been a conference chair has a heightened level of appreciation for them. Conferences are yet another thing to add to COVID-19’s current list of casualties. Or are they? Educators are masters… Read More ›

• New Communication Habits

  By Bitsy Griffin on 04/14/2020 • ( 0 )

  

  I almost dropped my phone when our district’s chief communications officer started a phone message with, “Welcome to week four of e-learning.” Week four! How in the world did that happen? What a shock! Where does the time go? And… Read More ›

• Experimenting with online content delivery!

  By Bitsy Griffin on 03/25/2020 • ( 0 )

  

  A few weeks ago, I wrote about change. Oh my goodness! I had no idea of what was looming in the immediate future! Just two weeks back, I was making book fair plans. In what seemed like the blink of… Read More ›

• Change Ahead!

  By Bitsy Griffin on 03/18/2020 • ( 1 )

  

  I love change. I’m always peeking over the fence to see what else is there that might be of interest. I’m not even looking for greener pastures. As a matter of fact, I’m often looking for a broken down barn,… Read More ›

• Story Retell with Stop Motion

  By Bitsy Griffin on 03/04/2020 • ( 0 )

  

  Ms. Salinas, a second-grade teacher at Old Town, is full of energy and creativity. Whenever I approach her with an idea, her answer is always yes! I went to her with an idea I had for stop motion as a… Read More ›