Have you heard of bullet journals? The system has been around for a while, but it has morphed into a huge movement of both digital and analog planners. Ryder Carroll developed the Bullet Journal system, and you can read more… Read More ›
Makerspaces/Learning Commons
Libraries Welcome All Families: Makerspace Mondays!
The AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School and Public Library Cooperation is now focusing its work on equity, diversity, and inclusion projects that include library partnerships. This blog post is the first in this new series. By Carrie Sanders The YALSA… Read More ›
Fun and Facilitation
The wood piece falls from my hand. I pick it up, put it in the clamp, and saw away at the block until the blade slices through the remaining attached fibers and one piece becomes two. I have thirty minutes… Read More ›
Examining the Word “Literacy”
I recently became curious about how the word “literacy” has been paired with other words to create terms all librarians use within their practice. Curiosity surfaced when I read the term “innovation literacy.” Thinking I had hit upon a new concept,… Read More ›
Geo Tools Connect Students with the World
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? A trip to the pristine beaches of Hawaii sounds nice. The view of Machu Picchu from the top of Huayna Picchu mountain is breathtaking. Perhaps you long to… Read More ›
The Monthly STEAM Challenge
One of the things I’ve struggled with as a high school librarian is makerspaces. At my large suburban high school, students have ample opportunities to take STEM/STEAM-related classes that allow them to create the types of projects they might make… Read More ›
Make Learning Awesome with Augmented Reality
With one hand holding a cardboard virtual reality (VR) viewer, the young boy raises his other arm and wiggles his fingers to grasp an unseen object. The student forgets he is inside a Kentucky classroom. Virtual reality transported the boy… Read More ›
Your Wish Granted with Library Grants
“By a show of hands, how many of you have visited the Parthenon in Nashville?” I asked a second-grade class one day in the library. Even though my school is 40 miles from the full-scale replica of the original Parthenon… Read More ›
Makerspaces – To Kit or Not to Kit?
I am lucky enough to serve librarians, teachers, and students in Denver Public Schools, which has a wonderful collection of circulating makerspace kits for librarians and teachers to check out–kind of a “try before you buy” concept that provides a… Read More ›
Organizing 3D Printing Projects
The library 3D printers are receiving more use as additional classes utilize these devices for content assignments. When we first received the 3D printer, we began small with individual students creating and printing personal designs. We were encouraged by the… Read More ›