There’s nothing like seeing a great movie in a theater. First of all, there’s the popcorn. Movie-theater popcorn is unlike anything you can microwave or cook on the stove. There’s the anticipation of a great film and spending 2 hours… Read More ›
Technology Integration
Stuck on Standards? The School Librarian’s Role
In last month’s post “Stuck on Standards?” I highlighted two examples of how to implement the AASL Standard Framework for Learners. In both examples, I utilized the same lesson and standard frameworks, scaffolding each for different grade levels. Scaffolding is… 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 Ready to Code (RtC) Collection
There are 450,000+ open computing jobs across the United States, but only 35% of high schools teach computer programming (code.org, 2019). The American Library Association (ALA) wanted to understand and support libraries with information and resources related to computer science…. Read More ›
Personalized Book Talks with YouTube
In an educational climate where English teachers are feeling overwhelmed by the mounting expectations from state and district administration, reading for enjoyment can be one of the first things to get the curriculum ax. Research time and again has shown… Read More ›
The Blended Learning-Ready School Librarian
Districts across the country are beginning to focus on personalized learning for students and staff. As we look for ways to meet students where they are on the educational playing field, blended learning’s flexible style is a natural fit…. Read More ›
Digital Solutions to Book Club Issues
Book Clubs Are Great! Except… I think we can all agree that book clubs are great. They encourage a sense of community and collaboration as the group reads and discusses their reactions to the texts. They foster students’ sense of… Read More ›
Code to Move: Mixing Coding with Brain Breaks
To Start: Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the CS Fundamentals Introduction Workshop sponsored by Code.org. This workshop explored why computer science should be taught to all students. The presenter was Vinos Kassab (@kassabv). She shared how students’ computational… 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 ›
Surviving the Wild of Middle School by Making It FUN
Supporting Curriculum and Adding FUN Each year seventh-grade students in my school read two class novels that focus on survival skills and wild terrain. Students read Call of the Wild by Jack London and Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen… Read More ›