When collaborating with teachers, I like to have a toolkit of ideas as we brainstorm ways to design lessons and assessment activities. Like authors get writer’s block, I also get “stuck” thinking of new ideas to implement with classes. The… Read More ›
lessons
Being an Active Collaborator
If there is one consistency in our ever-changing school library profession, it is the need to tell the world who we are, what we do, and why we’re essential workers. Remote Collaboration Collaboration is always difficult for educators. But this… Read More ›
5 Lesson Ideas with Picture Books and Laughter
“Laughter is the best medicine.” You’ve heard that saying, right? The Mayo Clinic supports this message in their post “Stress Relief from Laughter? It’s No Joke.” They present the benefits of having a good laugh. So when things get a… Read More ›
Social and Emotional Picture Books for Face-to-Face Learning
How are you feeling about starting the new school year in a face-to-face environment? Anxious? Worried? You are not alone. Your learning community is probably feeling the same way. So, how do we help everyone feel more comfortable? Start by… Read More ›
4 Takeaways about Applied Digital Skills
You know when you learn about a resource and say to yourself, “Ah, I wish I had learned about this before!” That is how I feel about Applied Digital Skills by Google for Education. Recently, I was fortunate enough to… Read More ›
Illustrated Maps: How Drawing One Map Can Support the Explore Shared Foundation
Illustrated maps are creative representations of a region. They are colorful, fun and interesting. These maps can be found on purses, shirts, coffee mugs, posters, and in books. When you look closely at these maps, you’ll realize the research that… Read More ›
Engage Readers with the Whole Book Approach
The Whole Book Approach is a read-aloud model that engages learners to gather clues from illustrations. Readers become active participants as they look closely at the artwork from cover to cover. This model is important because learners use their schema… Read More ›
School Librarians as Citizen Archivists
As a librarian, records, research, and historical events fascinate me. I also enjoy tagging information that I find, write, or include in articles, blog posts, or tweets. It would come as no surprise that when I attended a session given… Read More ›
Canned Lesson Plans: Help or Hindrance?
“Checklist Planning Clipboard To Do.” Pixabay, Pixabay.com, pixabay.com/p-1614702/?no_redirect. Like most aspects of education, standards are never static. Here in New York City, we are in the process of updating our ESIFC (Empire State Information Fluency Continuum) to align with the new… Read More ›
Library Centers: Explore the Arts with Picture Books
A library center is a space set up for exploration with limited instruction. Think of a library center as an exhibit in a children’s museum. Here, you’ll notice learners engage with few directions. There’s a sense of freedom in choosing… Read More ›