Party in the Library

Today I will continue my series where I speak with school librarians and how they incorporate the shared foundations in the AASL standards into their programming. Today's interview is with Merri-Anna Allred, the school librarian at New Providence Elementary School. We examine the shared foundation of "Explore." Mrs. Allred begins by saying that materials should match the school population, but also include other groups. For example, the Indian and Asian populations at her school have been growing so she has been adding materials to reflect that. It is interesting to note that both Mrs. Jorgenson and Mrs. Allred brought this up, even though they focused on different foundations. This is because a strong, diverse collection is vital to be able to support all the AASL standards. When collaborating with teachers, Mrs. Allred takes it on a case-by-case basis. For example, 4th graders were researching the American Revolution and wanted support for students creating a bibliograp...

Today's interview is with Sarah Jorgenson, the school librarian at Carolina Spring Middle School in Lexington, SC. We focus on the shared foundation of "Include" and how she implements this into her library program.  Something that is obvious as soon as you walk into the school library at Carolina Springs Middle School is their commitment to inclusiveness. This is the poster that greets you: I knew that Sarah would be perfect to have a discussion with about the shared foundation of "Include." She begins by discussing that she wants her collection to be reflective of the students she serves, but also reflective of a wide representation of people. I am reminded of Dr. Bishop's phrase of literature being used to serve as windows and mirrors. She wants to make sure her displays reflect this as well. Not only does she feel it's important to make sure the collection is inclusive, but the library space as well. The CSMS library includes different types of seati...

Today will begin a 4-part series of interviews with school librarians. I spoke with four different school librarians about the AASL standards. Each librarian was asked the same questions, but each one focused on a different shared foundation. Today I will be sharing my thoughts and reflections on my interview with Mrs. Debbie Oswald at Lexington High School. I asked her to consider the shared foundation of "Collaborate." Mrs. Oswald says that she incorporates this through creating a faculty newsletter each semester, serving on the Wildcat Leadership team, her weekly meetings with all district high school librarians, her monthly meetings with all district school librarians from all levels, and social media. Resources she uses to collaborate are Google Classroom, Destiny, the school website, Twitter, and Facebook. She creates displays that highlights different authors and genres. She also collaborates with students when they come in for personal inquiry projects. More collabora...

As I reflect back on this past semester, I really felt like the assignments and activities completed for this course are valuable for my future career as a school librarian. It made me wish I was already working in a school library so that I could immediately apply what I learned in this course! It wasn't just helpful, but also fun to research technology hardware, digital tools, and makerspace resources. I enjoyed learning about my classmates' findings through their blog posts. Hopefully, everyone will keep their blog public so that I can return to them throughout the program and when I begin my journey of a school librarian. I feel like I now have a toolbox of websites, resources, and school librarian professionals to turn to when I need help. The biggest takeaway for me is the website assignment. It seemed overwhelming at first that I could create my own website. Don't you have to have mad coding skills for that? No, you don't! I chose Google Sites and it was surprisi...

As I was reading Jennifer Snelling's article "25 resources to bring AR and VR into the classroom," I couldn't help but be fascinated by the video linked about how one teacher used AR for her students with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). One video led to another and I was introduced to Floreo, virtual reality software designed for individuals with ASD and other related disorders. Here is the original video I discovered that features the founders of Floreo. Of course, that led me to visit their home page:                                                                               ( Image from floreotech.com) To use Floreo, you must have iOS devices (preferably an iPhone for the student and an iPad for the teacher/therapist/parent) and a compatible VR headset. T...

What I appreciate about the makerspace movement in libraries is that almost anything goes, as far as materials are concerned. Some schools or districts may have a non-existent budget for makerspace items, but that's okay. I found a blog called BubbleUp Classroom written by a teacher and a librarian. In one of their posts about makerspaces, they gave 5 ideas for  Low-tech maker challenges . It uses very budget-friendly items such as paper bags, pipe cleaners, paper, and tape. These challenges are for students who may enjoy coming in to experiment with makerspace items, but need some direction in what to create. They also encourage collaboration and communication among students.  Image from https://www.bubbleupclassroom.org/home/bubbleup-take5-low-tech-maker-challenges This is a video about making a mini makerspace using low tech tools: In The Making of Makerspaces Part 1, Lauren Britton reminds us that low-tech low-cost items can be just as popular as their costly counterparts,...