• Research,  Teaching,  Web 2.0

    Embracing Equity: The Power of Interactive Digital Notebooks

    Interactive Digital Notebooks (IDNs) are one of my favorite digital tools that can offer many benefits for educators, students, and school librarians alike. Let’s explore some of the advantages of uses these with students and in my case teachers.  They positively impact education in so many ways.  Interactive Digital Notebooks are a way to organize information in their essence. “A tool that allows students to learn interact with, reflect on, fill out, all digitally. It empowers students by teaching 21st century skills as well as taking ownership of their study time using digital tools.  It is not just a Just a slideshow with links and pictures.  It is so much…

  • Art of the Signature Banner
    edtech,  email,  Google,  Web 2.0

    The Art and Necessity of the Signature

    When emailing someone it is very easy to forget to include a clear email signature.  I cannot tell you how many emails I have received and I am not sure which district a person is from. This is important as a librarian because we resource share. Rather than having to Google or use our library directory please save your receiver a step and include a detailed signature. This could include:

  • edtech,  Web 2.0

    Flippity for the Win!

    On the 8th day of Create-mas I share with thee Flippity.  I have had a love affair with Flippity for so many year but we have some new items added.  They recently added multimedia flashcards.  What a great way to chunk up information into bite size pieces.  I find that when you have less information on each slide/flashcard it is easier for students and to be honest anyone absorb it. Like all Flippity items it uses a spreadsheet that you put in your own data/content.  Flippity does a wonderful job giving clear and concise directions for the novice and expert spreadsheet user.  You make a copy of the spreadsheet then…

  • edtech,  Web 2.0

    It is beginning to look like CREATE-MAS!!

    I love the holidays and I wanted to give a gift to everyone! Welcome to the 14 Days of Create-Mas!! I love educational technology and literacy so I decided to combine them both. It is that time of year again where I take some time to share some of my favorite tools, resources, and creative ways to use technology and literacy.  With each reveal of a new website/resource/idea.   This concept was first introduced to me in 2019 by Ryan and Brian from the Check this Out Podcast. Quite a few different educators are continuing this tradition and creating their own versions such as the 12 Days of Chrome-mas, 12 Days…

  • Choose Your Own Booktalk
    Book Reviews,  Booktalks,  eBooks,  Gamification

    CROB: Choose Your Own Booktalk

      During the pandemic I started to explore the best way to connect books with students.  This led to some creative ways to share books with students.  I have always found that standing and delivering content leads to comatose students.  If I could come up with a way to engage student during the booktalk I may just increase engagement.  So I have used several techniques and edtech solutions.  Choose Your Own Booktalk (CROB) One such solution was borrowed from a favorite book of mine which I call CROB or Choose Your Own Booktalk (Click link to see an example).  How many of you loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as…

  • Canva vs. Piktochart Banner
    Web 2.0

    Canva vs. Piktochart: Infographic Wars

    As a visual learner myself, I appreciate being able to see visual representations of text, data, and so much more. As a learner I am better able to digest information. I am a librarian so I love to read for pleasure but I find nonfiction information can be daunting at times for students to comprehend.  It appears that an infographic can convey information more quickly and with less space than other means of communication. However, creating the most effective infographic can be difficult.  Thankfully there are a couple of tech tools that make the process so much easier.  My favorite two tools are Canva and Piktochart. Which is better?  That…

  • Ebooks & Webcomics for FREE
    eBooks

    Yes, Graphic Novels are Reading and other FREE Online Sources

    Finding open source quality eBooks can be a struggle. As I was looking for other items I came across a beautifully illustrated version of Aesop’s Fables presented by The US Library of Congress. The US Library of Congress is one of the underutilized resources out there (in my humble opinion).  Another resource that I quite enjoy are the plethora of webcomics that are updated nearly every day.  During the pandemic I created a google doc with some of my favorites.  Some are for younger and some are for older audiences but the graphic format is extremely popular with students and adult alike. I recently went to an author talk with…