The 2022 AASL Best Digital Tools For Teaching & Learning Have Been Announced!

One of my favorite lists of digital tools every year is the AASL Best Digital Tools for Teaching and Learning.  You will find each years winners back to 2009 here.

I was so excited to read this announcement from ALA this week and to check out the 2022 AASL Best Digital Tools! 

As shared online, 

“This year’s list offers something for everyone,” said Committee Chair Sam Northern. “Classroomscreen, Humanities in the Class Digital Library, and Slidesmania provide opportunities for blended learning and classroom collaborations. Noodletools and Powernotes are great options to help learners tackle the research process and organize research. Civic Online Reasoning and News-O-Matic can add to any digital citizenship lesson. And let’s not forget our commitment to developing lifelong learners and readers which iVox and Novel Effects can add engagement to reading programs.”

The recognition honors digital tools that foster innovation and collaboration, encourage exploration and participation, are user-friendly, and offer information and references. The technology resources are also evaluated for their application of AASL’s “National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries.”

I love putting this list together in a Collection by Destiny that I can use and share with our teachers. You will find it here to use or edit. 

I also created a Wakelet to curate the 2022 AASL Best Digital Tools for Teaching and Learning too. You will find the Wakelet here.

I can't wait to check out and use these digital tools with our teachers and students! 

A Special Flipgrid Live Event On May 6, 2022 With Author, Kelly Yang!

 

Join New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang as she highlights Asian American changemakers in her new picture book, Yes We Will! and get inspired by their stories in this special Flipgrid Live Event.

You can register here, friends... https://aka.ms/KellyYang

You've Been Virtually Book'd For STEAM & Makerspaces....A Special Program and List I Use Within Our Destiny Discover & Library Each Month!

 

This week, I am getting ready for lots of STEAM and Makerspace activities coming up in May as a special way to end our school year. 

One of the best parts is sharing lots of books with all of our makers within the library, classrooms and even at home. There are so many special ones that will inspire our makers and give them ideas, inspiration and fun. 

As part of this maker celebration, I put together a list and choice board filled with 14 new and favorite print and eBooks from our Destiny Discover that are part of our library collection. 

With these eBooks, I put together a choice board that our readers can access. 

Let me show you how I set up this choice board for my school community. 

First, I created the choice board in a Google Slide.  I added the covers of the 14 eBooks I included in this choice board. 

Second, I went to our Destiny Discover and...

...grabbed the links to each eBook.  

This is easy to do.  You just search for the eBook, click on the three little dots next to Open, and this drop down menu will appear. 

Click on Share and the link to the book will pop up. That is the url to share in the choice boards. 

Take the copied link and add it to the book cover.  

When every book cover is linked, you are ready to share the choice board. 

Go to File and down to Publish to the web.  

This will give you a link to share with the students and teachers.  

When they click on that published link, the You've Been Virtually Book'd For STEAM & Makerspaces will pop up and all of the eBooks can be read from there. 

I am excited about this list of 14 special new eBooks I put together in Titlewave.  In this choice board, you can click on any book cover to view and find the full book list from Titlewave there too. 

Our students and teachers will love these eBooks to celebrate STEAM and Makerspaces.  And I love how we can keep this program going all year long!  It brings so much to our readers each and every month.

Bookmarks for Our Summer Camp Adventure! You Will Find Them Here, Friends.

 

As we get ready to kick off Capstone's Summer Camp Adventure, I created bookmarks to share with our students and families so they have the information needed to get started. 

I created these special bookmarks in Buncee by Capstone that you will find here.  

You can print as is or make a copy to edit for your own school community. 

I had mine printed using Overnight Prints and they do an amazing job. You will find the link here. 

You Will Find This Weeks Future Ready Librarian Webinar, Reconsideration Process: From Complaint to Conclusion, Recording and Resources Here, Friends

 

This week, on April 27, I hosted the Future Ready Librarians Webinar, Reconsideration Process: Complaint to Conclusion with my friends and amazing teacher librarians, Martha Hickson and Elissa Malespina.  This is one you don't want to miss as it is filled with important and essential information for all of us. 

You will find the recording and resources here at this link. 

You will find the Google Slide presentation here too. 

It's Here, Friends....Our May Choice Board!

It's here, friends!  Our May Choice Board where reading, learning, making, coding, technology and music can take you on adventures all month long. 

This month, the choice board is filled with so many new and exciting things!  I can't wait to share it with our students, teachers and families, and all of you. 

You will find the Our May Choice Board here to share with students.  And if you would like to make changes or additions, you can make a copy to edit here.

There are also several choice boards embedded.  

Under the Learn about celebrate special events in May column, there are two including...

...the Cinco de Mayo Choice Board that you will find here in this post and...

...Star Wars Day...May the 4th Be With You Choice Board that you will find here in this post. 

Under the Read column, I have created a choice board for Children's Book Week on May2-8, 2022.  You will find it here in this post. 

I hope you and your students have a wonderful May and lots of fun exploring all of the choice boards this month.  

The NEW PebbleGo May 2022 Holidays Calendar Is Here and Ready To Use For Research, Learning, Creating and More!

It's almost May and time for the NEW PebbleGo May 2022 Holidays Calendar!  You will find it here.

Every month our friends at Capstone create and share a calendar full of educational and fun holidays and the PebbleGo articles related to that day.  

In May, we celebrate National Teacher's Day, Cinco de Mayo, Frog Jumping Day, Sally Ride Day, Memorial Day and more. 

And look at just a few of the PebbleGo articles that can be paired up with these days....

...throughout the month of May. 

You will find the May 2022 Holidays (PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next) Choice Board that I created here.  All you have to do is add your links from your PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next to the special days like this...

I love sharing these calendars with our teachers each month.  They can be used as a whole class or even given to students to practice their research skills throughout the month by locating and reading the articles in PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next. 

And now we can take these fun monthly research opportunities one step further with PebbleGo Create. I will show you how to do this in the next post, friends. 

Do You Need To Make A Copy Of Our Virtual Summer Camp Adventure? Visit This Post For The Link and Instructions, Friends.

 

Happy Thursday, friends. 

A lot of you have requested a way to make a copy of our Virtual Summer Camp Adventure with Capstone.  I have put all of the weeks into one Google Slides deck to make it super easy to make a copy and changes in case things are blocked for your students and within your district. 

Here is what I did and how you can share it with your students and families too. 

Go to this link to find the Google Slides of our Virtual Summer Camp Adventure. 

When the slides open like this, click on File and go to Make a Copy of the Entire Presentation or of Selected Slides.  

If you want it split into the six separate bi-weekly themes, you will want to click on Selected Slides to make six different links.   

When Copy Document pops up, you can give it a name and click on OK. 

Once you have it copied, to share it with students go to File...

... and down to Publish to the Web. 

When the Publish to the Web box pops up, click on Publish. 

This will give you a link to share with your students and families.  

Also, note that the tiles on the bottom of the first slide will take you to the different weeks too.  You will want to check these after you make a copy to make sure they take campers to the correct place. 

If you need more information about our Virtual Camp Adventure, visit this post and let me know if you have any questions.  I am happy to help. 

Have a great weekend. 

FREE Virtual Stickerboard For Your Facebook Groups! And A Surprise Image We Can Work On Together, Too!

It's so much fun collaborating and creating within virtual stickerboards!  In fact, last week we worked on a virtual stickerboard in the Future Ready Librarian Facebook for Earth Day. It was so much fun to see the image come to life as we worked on it from all over the world. 

Today, I thought it would be fun to share another virtual stickerboard to celebrate a special offer our friends at StickTogether shared today in their newsletter.  

You can join our virtual sticker board here, friends.  

As StickTogether shared online today, 

The past year has been hard on all of us and building community is more important than ever. Because of this need, we have created a fun and interactive way to build community and 'stick together!' Every week we have been posting one in our Let's StickTogether Facebook Group and our community has really enjoyed 'sticking together' on their own time, to reveal the mystery image. 

We would love to offer you all a FREE Virtual Stickerboard to share in your Facebook Groups. We will create a Custom Stickerboard with an image that works for your group. All you need to do is share the link and then watch the image come together as your members 'stick together.'

If you are interested in grabbing your FREE Virtual Stickerboard for your Facebook Group, please email Brinana Cua at brinana@letsticktogether.com. 

Let us know what you group is about so that we can choose the perfect image for you. We will share a proof with you before we send the link. 

Thank you, StickTogether friends. We sure do appreciate everything you do to support all of us. 

And friends, don't forget to visit our special stickerboard here where we can stick together too. 

Where Will You GO This Summer? Capstone's Virtual Summer Camp Adventure Is Now Open For The Summer!

I am so excited to announce that Capstone's Virtual Camp Adventure is open for the summer!

All students and families can visit capstonepub.com/summerchoiceboards to access this 12-week long fun summer learning and reading adventure with our friends at Capstone.  

This summer we are opening the Capstone Virtual Camp Adventure on April 25, 2022 so everyone can show your students, teachers and families around camp before summer break.  

On the capstonepub.com/summerchoiceboards site, there are six bi-weekly Where Will You Go This Summer? themes that include a choice board and set of 20 FREE Capstone Interactive eBooks for each. 

The choice boards can be accessed by clicking on Open Choice Board under each tile.  

They include...

Let's GO to space;  

Let's GO back in time; 

Let's GO to where our imagination takes us; 

Let's GO to the water: 

Let's GO on a trip; and...

Let's GO on a safari! 

When they click on Open Choice Board, it will take users straight to the choice board that is filled with reading, making, moving, coding, stem, technology and fun virtual field trips around the world.  

In the left hand corner, they will find a place to click to GO to eBooks around the six different themes. 

All they have to do to read and listen to the Capstone Interactive eBooks is click on the eBook covers.  They are directly linked so a username and password is not required. 

If you want to make any changes or edits, you will can make a copy of the entire 12-weeks of choice boards here. 

As the students and families use the choice boards and need help, there is a Family Help button on each choice board slide and...

...on the bottom of the capstonepub.com/summerchoiceboards site.  You can find it here too. 

This document includes How To Use The Virtual Camp Adventure With Your Children This Summer and...

...Directions For Using The Virtual Camp Adventure Choice Boards. 

At the very bottom of the page, there are two FREE downloads that will help when promoting Capstone's Virtual Summer Camp Adventure. 

You can find the flyer here where you can copy or edit, and....

...and the special bookmarks I created in Buncee by Capstone here.  You can print as is or make a copy to edit this too. 

I just had mine printed using Overnight Prints and they do an amazing job. You will find the link here. 

I hope all of the students and families have a special summer visiting Our Virtual Camp Adventure.  I can't wait to see and hear all of the different ways it is used and what is learned, read, and created from this amazing summer experience. 

Please let me know if you have any questions...I am happy to help you, friends.