Recently, a first-grade teacher wanted to have her students use coding to create a summary. Her goal was to have students share a story and include how the main character developed as well as how the setting changed. She sought… Read More ›
STEM/STEAM
Adventures in 3D Printing
As the makerspace craze continues to sweep across libraries nationwide, school libraries are trying to come up with ways to engage students in meaningful makerspace work. This year the majority of my time at the close of the semester has… Read More ›
Books That Can Make a Difference
Think of a book that compelled you to make a difference. Some may say A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park urged them to act. This story is about a remarkable young man named Salva. He was one of… Read More ›
Ask the Hard Questions
Not quite a year ago, I saw a Twitter post by our state commissioner of education. The post was not out of the ordinary. He was sharing information about updates to state standards of accreditation. As I read through… Read More ›
The Mifflin’s Feather Friends Program: A Libraries Ready to Code Project
This month’s blog post features guest blogger Kristin Brumbach. Kristin helped to curate resources, developed content, and piloted strategies for coding as part of the Ready to Code (RTC) project. Kristin is the librarian at the Governor Mifflin High school… Read More ›
Computational Thinking in Your School Library
School and public libraries offer youth formal and informal learning environments, while providing access to a variety of resources. Librarians can introduce students to computational thinking and coding concepts in low-stakes contexts. This month’s post features Dr. Jennifer Moore (associate… Read More ›
On a Mission: Students with Exceptional Abilities Coding Music
Libraries Ready to Code (RtC) is an initiative of ALA that is sponsored by Google. This initiative focuses on the role of school and public libraries in providing opportunities for youth to develop computational thinking skills through coding activities and… Read More ›
The School Library, Makey Makey, and Learning
This month, when deciding what to blog about, I waited to start writing until after I finished a two-day collaboration with a visionary teacher at my high school using Makey Makey STEM kits. She is a creative, dynamic teacher, and… 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 ›