Your NEW Achievery Classroom Hub Is Here!

 

Big news from our friends at The Achievery today.  The new Classroom feature is here!  

Classroom is the perfect way to make learning even more engaging within The Achievery.  It is designed to simplify and enhance instruction while managing all your classes in one space. 

As they shared online, 

The Achievery’s new Classroom feature makes it easier than ever to bring engaging lessons directly to your students.  Create your own classes, assign videos and activities, and monitor student progress all from one simple dashboard. 

You can: 

• Assign lessons and activities from across The Achievery’s library 

• Track completion and student performance in real time 

• Support both in-class and remote learning environments. 

Whether you’re introducing a new unit, planning enrichment projects, or organizing bleneded learning, Classroom gives you the tools to personalize instruction and keep every student on track, without extra platforms or logins. 

You can get started today by...

...creating a class in these three easy steps.  

I searched the topic of AI for 4th grade and it gave me a whole list of lessons.  I selected the handful of lessons I wanted to include in the class. 

After you select what lessons you'd like to include, 

...click on Create Class and it will give you the link to share with your students. 

You will do this for every class you want to have in The Achievery. 

Once your students start working, it will track student progress and watch how they are engaging with the content within your classes. You can track the data on video plays and activity completion.  

An important thing to remember is that all insights are anonymous, as students are never asked to provide real names.  This helps us as teachers and librarians understand participation and learning while keeping student privacy protected. 

I can't wait to start tracking the stats within our different classes.  My teachers will love this new feature in The Achievery too.  

If you need a little help, check out this tutorial on setting up Classrooms. 

You can sign up for your FREE Achievery account here.  Please invite your fellow colleagues and families to join.  It is FREE for everyone. 

There is something for every grade level, subject, interest, and more in The Achievery.  It's an incredible way to enhance students' learning experiences through interactive, engaging, and exciting learning experiences.  

Season 11 Is a Wrap—Press Play on the Future Ready Librarians® Podcast!

 

Season 11 of the Future Ready Librarians® Podcast officially wrapped up this week!

You can now dive into all 12 episodes featuring conversations on equity-minded weeding, AI and news literacy, library joy, English learner support, STEM Book of Battles, and more.

Listen anytime here, bookmark the podcast, and catch up on episodes designed to inform, inspire, and support library educators everywhere. 

Join the Town Everyone’s Talking About: December in PebbleTown!

Friends, the December PebbleTown Gazette has arrived—and it’s time to kick off a brand-new month of reading, learning, and winter fun in the funnest town around....PebbleTown! 

PebbleTown is a free, storybook-inspired reading and learning program that motivates students to explore, read, and share what they learn using PebbleGo, PebbleGo Next, or Capstone Interactive eBooks or Capstone Books. 

PebbleTown offers fun incentives and celebrations to keep students excited about reading and discovering new things — all while supporting and complementing what they are already learning in their classroom. 

This special reading program is designed to fit within an educator’s existing instruction — enhancing literacy, research skills, and background knowledge through joyful, curiosity-driven learning.

Here is how it works! 

You can sign up here and then venture through PebbleTown.  

Students track their journey across PebbleGo, earning badges and completing playful prompts that build curiosity and comprehension. 

Each month, you will find the monthly prompt in the Town Hall video in your issue of The Gazette. 

Submit your response to be entered to win 1 or 8 amazing prizes for your reading nook.  

Read your way through the program for exciting Grand Prizes in March, including a pizza party and up to $1000 in gift cards. 

Get started by signing up your classroom here. 

Once signed up, you’ll receive all program communications via email and on the confirmation page.  Be on the look out for an email with the PebbleTown Gazette where you can read all about December in our favorite town. 

You can expect to receive monthly updates and giveaway submission forms by email, and you can also  bookmark the PebbleTown Square page for all resources.

You can watch the December PebbleTown Story Hall here. 

I can't wait to see everyone in PebbleTown.  It's going to be such a fun year of reading and learning with other students, teachers, and school communities around the country. 

And don't forget to share your PebbleTown pride by sharing what your classroom is learning.  Post your class projects or learning moments on your favorite social platform, tag us, and use hashtag #PebbleTown25 to join the fun. 

Big News! 28 New PebbleGo Next Articles Are LIVE This Week, Friends!

 

Bigs news, friends !  There are 28 NEW PebbleGo Next articles live this week. 

The 28 new articles can be found in the Animals, Biographies, and Social Studies PebbleGo Next modules in both English and Spanish.  

This release supports PebbleGo's mission to grow with our classrooms and support standards-based instruction. 

Our teachers and students will be soooo excited for these!  

I am creating a fun choice board to share the new articles and will share the template here on my blog too. 

You can read all about this weeks exciting release and learn more about PebbleGo Next here.

25 Days of Digital Inspiration From 25 Inspiring Librarians and Educators! Follow Along In December, Friends.

 

This week, we are kicking off something fun to wrap up the year—25 Days of Digital Inspiration on Instagram and YouTube! Every day in December, you’ll get 2.5 minutes of fast, purposeful learning featuring one of the amazing apps shared during this year’s annual Future Ready App Smash Webinar.

Get ready to spark your creativity. Shannon McClintock Miller and more than 25 inspiring educators will bring you quick-fire demos, fresh ideas, and powerful digital tools that are transforming libraries and classrooms. Each day’s featured tool comes straight from our webinar lineup and offers real-world applications you can use immediately. Every tool aligns with the Future Ready Librarians® Framework, supporting leadership, innovation, digital citizenship, and meaningful impact.

These daily micro-learning moments are designed to help you discover new tools in just a couple of minutes, find ready-to-use strategies, stay inspired during a busy season, and continue building your digital learning practice.

Featured Apps & Presenters

• The Achievery – Paige Chambers
• Adobe Express – Deborah Zeman
• Adobe Podcast – Nadine Poper
• Beanstack – Katie Capshaw
• Book Creator – Shannon McClintock Miller
• Checkology – Erin Olson
• Canva – Kristina Holzweiss
• Cloud Stop Motion – Kelly Martin
• Clips – Alexandra Cornejo
• The Detective Experience – Gabrielle Mace
• Goblin Tools – Katie Larson
• KaiBots – Rachel Lemansky & Heather Brown
• Kami – Katie McNamara
• Loom – Rain Smith
• News Literacy Project – Melanie LeJeune
• NotebookLM – Joyce Valenza
• Padlet – Debbie Tannenbaum
• Recording Message Phone – Crissi Brandhuber
• Stickity – Rachael Welsh
• Swank K-12 Streaming – Len Bryan
• Symbaloo – Jill Johnson
• Wayground – Amanda Hunt
• We Will Write – Pam Zettervall

Follow along on Instagram and YouTube so you don’t miss your daily dose of ideas and inspiration. Like, share, and comment on the daily posts to help amplify the amazing work of our presenters, spread fresh ideas across the network, and keep the inspiration going all month long. 

Get ready—your 2.5 minutes of learning starts now, friends. 

Join the Fun for Lock-A-Palooza With Our Friends From Breakout EDU on December 19th! Register Here!

 

Our friends at Breakout EDU are hosting a super fun LIVE event on December 19 called Lock-A-Palooza!

As shared in their invite,

Get ready to play Breakout EDU games LIVE throughout the day on December 19th!

Whether you bring your students, join during your prep time, or pop in first thing in the morning, we’ll be here waiting for you.

From 8:00 AM ET to 4:00 PM ET, we’ll host 30-minute live game sessions at the top of every hour.

Join using the same event link all day and come and go as it fits your schedule. There are plenty of games to play, so don’t miss out on the fun!

You can register for Lock-A-Palooza here, friends.

A Fun Day of Connection and Books at Van Meter With Our Friend and Publishers' Representative, Gabe Flynn!

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend time in the library in partnership with my friend Gabe Flynn, who visited our school to support our collection and help us explore ways to bring fresh, high‑interest titles to our readers.

Gabe and I worked together across the library, meeting students and educators, talking through book choices, and making sure we’re set up for a strong year ahead. What stood out to me most was how genuine Gabe’s support is. He wasn't just talking about titles and orders, but about our readers and what will truly engage them.

We looked at brand‑new series from ABDO, researched interest levels and formats that draw in readers, and set up a plan to help refresh our collection with titles that breathe energy into our space. Gabe brought great enthusiasm, practical guidance, and a shared excitement for students who may not always lean toward books but will when the right titles are there.

With Gabe's visit, we’re not just adding books - we’re building experiences. 

Thank you, Gabe, for investing your time and expertise with us! We can’t wait until you come back to visit us again. 

Our BOOKHUB & Virtual BOOKHUB For December! Our Monthly Read Aloud & eBook Program Using Books, Capstone Connect & CI eBooks For All Readers!

One of our favorite ways to share special books and celebrate reading is our monthly BOOKHUB Takeout Station. 

Each month, we put together a new group of books that teachers can come pick up to read and share with their students.  You can read all about it, and find the signage I created in Canva, here in this post.

Here is our BOOKHUB Menu for December. You will find the Canva template here.

A few years ago, I thought it would also be found to create a Virtual BOOKHUB each month. 

Capstone Connect is the perfect place to help me create too! 

Capstone Connect is an amazing digital platform from our friends at Capstone that connects PebbleGo, PebbleGo Next, Capstone Interactive eBooks and teachers resources in one place with links to use that connect to each resource.

Let me show you how I put the our December Virtual BOOKHUB choice board.

First, I logged into our Capstone Connect. 

I searched Winter using the Title Search in Capstone Connect. 

When I searched Winter, it gave me the results eBooks, PebbleGo articles and teacher resources.

For the choice board I created, I needed the book cover and link to the eBook.  

To view the eBook, I clicked on All About Animals in Winter and the eBook...

...opened up in Capstone Interactive.  This let me view the eBook and also grab the cover image. 

I then clicked on Copy Link and took it to the choice board. 

I then went back to the You've Been Virtually Book'd For December choice board I created in Google Slides.  I added the screen shot of the book cover, clicked on the image, and added the link I copied to the image. 

When our students and teachers click on the book covers, it will take them straight to the ebooks within Capstone Interactive.  

We don't even have to login because by using Capstone Connect it takes us directly to the eBooks and PebbleGo resources every time.  

We love our You've Been Book'd program and can't wait to celebrate reading in one more way with our students as we share our You've Been Virtually Book'd program every month! 

I made a template for you to create your own You've Been Virtually Book'd For December.  If you have Capstone Interactive eBooks, you can find the link and add them to the book covers I have included in this choice board.

I also created this blank template for December to fill in with your own eBooks and choices for December.

You will find it here to make a copy, friends. 

A Snowy Week Read: The Big Snowdown and Winter-Inspired Activities!

 

With our first big snow of the season happening over the weekend, I have been getting books and resources pulled together for our students and teachers. 

One of my favorite new Capstone books, The Big Snowdown by Katy Hudson, is perfect for this week! 

As shared on the Capstone site, 

The big moment is here—the start of the first winter games! Most of the forest animals have trained all year, honing their skills to compete in a variety of events. Owl hasn’t trained at all. But Owl isn’t worried! She's always the best at everything without having to train or practice. Her natural talent and confidence are enough—or so she thinks. Best-selling author/illustrator Katy Hudson brilliantly showcases themes of self-awareness, friendship, and the difference between being confident and being arrogant in this entertaining picture book.

As always, Katy created such an amazing story with beautifully detailed illustrations sharing the story of Owl and his friends. 

We see these characters throughout Katy's other books she has done with Capstone...

 ...and I know our students will love that connection. 

Katy and Capstone also created The Big Snowdown Activities packet that is filled with fun and creative activities for our readers. 

I love these activities and how they can be used within the library, STEM, and classroom in so many different ways. 

We will be using art supplies on some and I even popped the crossword puzzle into Kami for the kids to complete using the tools there. 

I am excited to share The Big Snowdown and all of these super fun activities this week. You will find the book here on the Capstone site to order for your readers and library too.

Learn About Book Creator and 24 Other Digital Tools and Apps In The 6th Annual Future Ready Librarians AppSmash! Watch It Here, Friends.

 

On November 18,  we celebrated the 6th Annual Future Ready Librarians App Smash Extravaganza where 24 inspiring librarians and educators joined me to share our favorite digital tools, resources, and innovative ideas. 

I loved sharing Book Creator, the simplest way for all learners to create content in the classroom. I love how we can give students freedom to tell stories their way in Book Creator. They can show what they know in the way that works best for them through all of the accessibility features.

I was excited to share the NEW Empowering Teacher Librarians site on Book Creator.  

It is  filled with ways to create, curate, and collaborate as librarians using Book Creator.

There is a library of Teacher Librarian Resources including the library toolkit and Books Librarians Love. 

We even have a Future Ready Librarian Annual Report book that you can remix to use for your annual report portfolio. 

I loved working on this with the Book Creator team to make something all Future Ready Librarians can use to develop, document, and celebrate our skills and work within the wedges of our framework. 

Book Creator inspires librarians to develop readers, learners, and creators in the library, and through collaboration with teachers too.  

And one more super cool resource included in Books Librarians Love are the book companions for my ISTE Digital Explorers series.  They can be found here. 

  

Get Book Creator today, friends.

You will find the webinar slides here. The webinar recording can be found on slide 2 and also here. 

We hope that you use this presentation and all of the resources to bring new ideas and inspiration to your libraries, classrooms, and school communities too.