Miss Bee's Books

As soon as I read about HP Reveal (previously Aurasma) I got super excited.  I envisioned a teen wandering around her school library.  She isn't sure what she should read next, so she's just scanning titles to see if anything catches her eye.  Her gaze lands on the cool mint spine of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl.   She's heard of this one; wasn't her friend Emma reading it awhile back?  She pulls out her phone, pops open HP Reveal and points her phone at the cover.  Suddenly, Emma is right there on her screen, gushing about how much she loved Fangirl . "Oh my god, this book is life," Emma says, sitting cross-legged on her couch, waving the book at the camera.  Her hair is long, she must have recorded this Aura before she cut it.  "I feel so seen.  Oh, and if you like this, you have to read  Carry On and Wayward Son  which are basically the slash fic Cath is writing the whole time in Fangirl." Back in the library, our teen puts her...

A few years back the school district I taught for decided the school needed a Makerspace.  They bought a big cart, some Littlebits , and some  Code and Go Robot Mouse  sets.  The library was the natural home for this cart.   Unfortunately I was in only my first or second year of being a school librarian and hadn't started my MLIS yet.  I had only really heard of Makerspaces in passing and didn't have a lot of extra time to figure it out.  I wish I had access to Teach Outside the Box back then. So You Want to Start a Makerspace Educator Brooke Brown recently published a gloriously extensive intro to Makerspaces.  Having begun hosting a Makerspace five years ago, she recently decided to share all that she has learned along the way.  The post begins with a definition of a Makerspace and why they are important.  The rest of the blog is broken down into her 5 S's of a Successful Makerspace: Space, Stuff, Schedule, Structure, ...

I don't like the word 'bully'.  It labels a kid as definitively bad and leaves no room for redemption.  I prefer to consider bullying behaviors.  Instead of the kid being bad, it's their behaviors educators and students need to look out for.  Behaviors can be identified and altered.  Behaviors can be addressed.  And the student isn't walking around school with a giant "B" on their chest for the rest of their education.  Another problem with using the label Bully is that some people may be behaving in hurtful ways, bu t struggle to own it because they don't see themselves as a Bully.  However, if we focus on the behaviors, instead of the concept of The Bully, then we have more room for self-reflection. Same goes for cyberbullying.  By teaching students about these behaviors they can identify when they are engaging in them.  Now that children are growing up with constant internet access, bullying behaviors can be found online too. ...

I recently got the chance to visit a local elementary school's Literacy Night.  Students rotated through a series of literacy-themed stations: a book tasting, the local library, 2 real-live children's authors (!), and Flipgrid book reviews.  Before this night, I had heard about Flipgrid, but hadn't seen it in action.  Students sat at computers and browsed book recommendations their peers had made using Flipgrid.  The effect was both charming and incredibly engaging.  Students were delighted to see videos made by their friends and to show their own video to their families.   https://www.pexels.com/photo/boy-watching-video-using-laptop-821948/ by Bruce Mars Flipgrid is accessible online at  flipgrid.com .  Flipgrid is free to use.  Educators need only sign-up, then provide their students with a Flip Code.  After entering the Flip Code, students can make a short video based on a prompt recorded by the teacher. Much like popul...

Universal Design for Learning argues for flexible learning environments to support a variety of learners. Students may have learning disabilities, be learning in a non-fluent language, or have a different learning style, but all will benefit from Universal Design. Snap&Read provides flexibility for web-reading and note-taking. Snap&Read is an assistive technology created by Don Johnston. Once purchased it can be installed as a Google Chrome Extension and used with any website or PDF opened in the browser. Many of its features are also available via the iPad app. Finally, 3.2 million Amazon Kindle books and the Bookshare library are compatible as well (2019). The Snap&Read product page provides video demos for many of its functions. An individual subscription to Snap&Read costs $4.99/month, though schools or districts can sign-up for $0.50-$2.00 per student annually. To subscribe go to https://learningtools.donjohnston.com/product/snap-read/ and select Prici...

https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=slj-reviews-kid-friendly-robots-dash-and-dot-test-drive There are countless ways to teach coding to children. Not just websites and apps, but hardware too.  Dash and Dot are two programmable robots created by Wonder Workshop to get elementary-aged children started with coding.  Using the scaffolded apps, users can create increasingly complex code to program the robots to make sounds, flash colored lights, move attachable arms, and navigate paths.  Of the two robots, only Dash is mobile.  The robots have been around for several years and have amassed a satisfying library of lessons available on blogs, the web,  Pinterest,  and Youtube.  In a brilliant marketing strategy, Wonder Workshop has curated much of this content on their own website and social media.  Wonder Workshop also hosts a  virtual competition  every year, which encourages long-term, iterative, and team-based problem solving.  ...

Nothing strikes fear into some people's hearts like the word "coding".  It is enigmatic, complex, and  the new skill for children to learn.  Past ISTE Librarian's Network President, Nikki Robertson, states that teaching coding is "tantamount to teaching reading, writing, and mathematics" (2019).  And she is not alone in that view: Tufts professor Marina Umaschi Bers believes   "coding is a way to achieve literacy in the 21st century". With coding's emphasis on problem solving, it teaches children to manage frustration, to persevere through challenges, to collaborate with others, and to think creatively (2017). In this increasingly technological world, children need to learn coding. School librarians and media specialists, as technological leaders, are in the perfect position to teach it to them. https://ccsuconed.wordpress.com/2017/06/28/5-reasons-kids-should-learn-to-code/ But what if the technological leader doesn't know how to ...

"It is up to the reader or viewer to negotiate truth."   Joyce Valenza, 2016 In this world of fake news, it's easy to forget that even legitimate sources must be looked at skeptically.  Of course, the first step is to verify a news story isn't fake, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is "true" either.  Truth is, unfortunately, not as objective as we would like to believe.  Every "truth" is colored by the opinions of the person delivering it.  Recognizing that fact is an essential part of being media literate. The Liturgists podcast provides wonderful tools for verifying media in their episode "Fake News & Media Literacy".  The process, simplified into the catchy, tongue-in-cheek song, embedded to the right outlines how to identify fake news.  But the hosts don't stop there, they continue to talk about their information diet.  How they make sure to consume a diverse range of legitimate sources, from different sides of ...

"Being a connector is like being a weaver of a learning web for students." (Cromartie & Burns, 2019). By I, Luc Viatour, CC BY-SA 3.0,  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3626879 Cromartie and Burns' article in the May 2019 issue of  Knowledge Quest  acknowledges that the role of librarian has been different in the past and calls for school librarians to shift their mindset for the present. Though written about the AASL standards, this article could easily pertain to the ISTE standards.  Both sets of standards focus on supporting learners by helping them create knowledge instead of feeding it to them.  In the past, librarians have been keepers of knowledge, collectors of materials, and enforcers of rules.  The AASL standards, and ISTE standards alike, require more fluidity from educators.  It is the educator's job to provide tools that encourage inquiry, creativity, and exploration.  The ISTE standards for educators ...