In all the craziness of last year, I forgot to blog about one of the grants we received. Almost every year that I’ve been a media specialist, I’ve applied for a grant from the Hillsborough Education Foundation. In previous years, I’ve applied for more graphic novels, books geared towards reluctant readers, and audiobooks. This year, … Read more
In the spring of 2021, the 6th grade science teacher and I began forming a plan. She had seen the engagement of 6th graders in our afterschool Maker Days program and wanted to find a way to bring that into her classroom so that ALL of our 6th graders could have this opportunity. We applied … Read more
In the spring of 2021, the 6th grade science teacher and I began forming a plan. She had seen the engagement of 6th graders in our afterschool Maker Days program and wanted to find a way to bring that into her classroom so that ALL of our 6th graders could have this opportunity. We … Read more
Bringing Hands-On Learning to Middle School Science with Makerspace Collaborations (Page contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using them, I get a small commission that helps support running this blog.) This session will look at a variety of ways that you can collaborate with your science classes and incorporate makerspaces and maker activities into the … Read more
This is my 12th school year as a teacher librarian. That also makes it my 12th year of teaching some type of library orientation to my students. Things have changed a lot over the years – from a pretty boring PowerPoint my first year to having to go to each socially distanced classroom individually … Read more
In Open Exploration in a Makerspace: What it is and Why We Need it, I explored why having open exploration time in your makerspace in an important part of the learning ecosystem. In this post, I dig more into the practical stuff – how to actually make this work in your space. Open Exploration in … Read more
Why We Need Books in Makerspaces Books play an essential role in all makerspaces, whether they are in the library or not. Instructional books can support students in learning complex skills and tools. Project books can give ideas and inspiration for what to make next. Art books can provide visual inspiration. Professional development books can … Read more
Writing a post like this isn’t easy. I feel like I know in my heart what my philosophy on makerspaces is, but putting it into tangible statements seems harder. So I started thinking about this more as a manifesto – if I was to make a grand statement about what I feel the value of … Read more
3 Myths About Libraries, Makerspaces and Books Even though they’ve been around since 2013, school library makerspaces still have a lot of misunderstandings surrounding them. This confusion can come from administrators, teachers, students and the librarians themselves. Unfortunately, believing these myths can often cause decisions to be made about libraries that are detrimental to the … Read more
It’s a new school year! Some of you may already be back, and some of you may be counting down the last days of summer. Either way, a new year is a fresh start, a chance to change things up and make your library program better. Here’s some things to think about as you get … Read more