Author visits are an effective way to get students excited about reading. When students have a chance to see an author in person, they are often able to make some sort of connection with that individual. The two groups of… Read More ›
Student Engagement/ Teaching Models
Summer Reading
As a teacher and a parent, I have seen many different versions of summer reading. I remember helping my three children fill out various reading logs for their school and then doing something completely different for the public library. If… Read More ›
The School Wide Love for The Hate U Give
I am never one to turn down a free lunch. So when the invitation was extended by Khristi Jenkins (school librarian) and Wrenn Heisler (English teacher) at Patuxent High School to come and join in a lunch-time book discussion, I… Read More ›
Instagram Social Media Reboot for School Libraries
Social media is always changing From my very first post on Facebook in October of 2007, I have felt like I am just a bit behind the times in the world of social media. A student helped me create my… Read More ›
AASL Standards for Learners: Thinking Outside the Box – Criminal Profiling
One of the best things about the updated AASL National School Library Standards is the great level of flexibility in how to address the standards across the curriculum. The standards allow school librarians to engage students in learning that is well… Read More ›
Building a Reading Community, One Reader at a Time
This spring, one of our 9th graders found a safe spot with us in the Camden Hills Regional High School Library. Eric is a self-proclaimed non-reader. He’s not a member of our Student Library Advisory Committee. But he is… Read More ›
Reading Memoirs to Increase Empathy
One of the most valuable benefits of reading is cultivating a sense of empathy. By reading fiction, readers experience the emotions of an endless range of characters. In an article referencing neuroscience studies, Annie Murphy Paul states that “there is… Read More ›
Autonomy Lays the Foundation for Motivation
High ability does not guarantee high achievement. Our students need motivation if they are expected to perform at their greatest levels and to perform well over an extended period of time. For many students, motivation comes in the form of… Read More ›
Picture Books and Primary Sources: Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution. By Rob Sanders and Jamey Christoph
I am always glad when an anniversary of an event coincides with a historically based picture book. It adds a greater purpose to bring that book and event into student learning. This is the case with the upcoming 50th anniversary… Read More ›
Down the Rabbit Hole with Deep Fakes
Do you know what a deep fake is? A workshop I attended defined a deep fake as “the alteration of images, videos, and audio files with the intent of maliciously deceiving an audience into thinking they are real.” Workshop participants… Read More ›