Library Media Tech Talk

I decided to work on a Friday when school was out to get caught up on some tasks. We have a CAPS (Career Advising and Planning Services) program at Lakeside High School. I had arranged to have a CAPS visit with a parent and student on this day since I was at work. The purpose of the meeting is to go over the student's course selections for next year and to answer any questions that might come up. When time permits in CAPS meetings, I love to find out what students career interests might be. The student I met with today is in 9th grade, and she talked about her passion for physical therapy. She and her parent even talked about a possible internship in the coming months. What a great opportunity! As a teacher librarian, I started this professional blog about a year ago. Since then, I have seen countless blogs online. One particular student blog stands out to me. Marc Guberti is a teenage entrepreneur from New York. I connected with him on Twitter and have been watching how he mar...

Here is a quick idea for those of you that have 3D Printers! We decided to print 3D figures to give away to students during lunch in both of our library facilities at Lakeside High School on Friday, February 13th. Makerbot's Thingiverse  always has cool new 3D project files waiting to be downloaded to print! I found a small stick figure holding a heart that was perfect for a Valentine's Day theme! I sized it down so it could print within a 45 minute period.  We finally decided to print the figures in white We were able to have the printer going in the library, so students could see it working each period. The intent was to inspire them to try our makerspace time on Thursdays after school! We want them to learn to use this 21st century tool! The students loved watching the 3D Printer work! One of our winners during the lunch drawings! Our library assistant, Peggy Schaeffer had the idea to color the heart with a pink Sharpie! The idea was a su...

We take for granted how savvy most students are with technology. We decided to tap into this skill-set by inviting a few of our students to present technology to teachers during lunch in the library. We decided to call the program "Teach The Teacher" or T3. At our school, many teachers still have students create PowerPoint presentations as a research product. We have been encouraging them to try Prezi for several years now. Some teachers are beginning to use Prezi in the classroom! We thought that this would be an excellent first session for "Teach The Teacher". Mr. Brooks Lee asks a question about Prezi I asked two students that are regulars in the library to consider leading this first program. They quickly agreed to present! I had them give me an outline of what they would share.  We sent out invitations to teachers over email (complete with the banner above designed by Mr. Ray Borel, LHS Library Assistant). We had three teachers attend the sess...

"Alone we are strong... together we are stronger." As an educator, I have learned that it is impossible to be an expert in all areas. We must have resources to help us in our weak areas. It is not a sign of weakness to ask others for help or to reach out to those resources. In addition, we should share what works for us with others. I encourage everyone to share your best programming locally at your own school and also at professional conferences! We all have programs that connect well with our learning communities, and we should share these to inspire others! What if we all connected with great teachers on social media and shared our best ideas? Here is an example of how these concepts can benefit everyone: During the summer of 2014 my LHS teacher librarian partner (Mrs. Misti Bell) and I had the privilege of presenting at the High Schools That Work c onference in Nashville, Tennessee. We presented our most successful common core library collaborations with a...