Friday, April 25, 2025

Big News! 27 New PebbleGo Articles Are LIVE This Week, Friends!

 

Bigs news, friends !  There were 27 NEW PebbleGo articles released this week. 
The new articles can be found in the Animals, Biographies, Science and Social Studies PebbleGo modules in both English and Spanish.  

Our kids will be soooo excited for these!

You can check out pebblego.com today. 


Thursday, April 24, 2025

Have Fun In The Sun With PebbleGo....A Special Summer Activity For Your Students!

 

With summer right around the corner, I have been looking for special summer activities for our students and families.  

I love when they use PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next at home and on-the-go. Today, our friends at Capstone shared a new activity perfect for the summer and our learners. 

You can print the Have Fun in the Sun with PebbleGo activity sheet for your students too. 

You've Been Book'd With Books About AI For Kids and Educators!

 

As we all learn more about and use AI, we are also looking for books featuring AI for our libraries and schools, and to learn from ourselves as educators. 

After attending the ASU-GSV conference this spring, I came home with a stack of AI book that I want to share with you.  

In this choice board, I brought together 24 books about AI.  You can go there to find the special AI Follett Content Titlewave list of books.  Or click on each book cover to see the individual titles too. 

Let me know if there are others to add to this Titlewave list, friends. I'd love to know what you are reading and sharing about AI too. 

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

How My Follett Content Rep Help Transform My Library-and My Journey as a Librarian

When I started my job 19 years ago as the teacher librarian at Van Meter Community School, one of my first visitors was my Follett Content representative, Judy Diedrichs. 

At the time, I had no idea how to be a librarian. I had a teacher degree, but had just started my masters in library science the same week I started my new job.  I remember looking around the two libraries in our building and thinking, There are a lot of old books in here. What do I do with these? How and where do I order new books? 

Then one day, Judy showed up in the library. I was so surprised someone came to our school to visit me and the library.  She had a bag of books and introduced herself as my Follett Content rep.  I remember her telling me how nice the library looked as my family and I had just painted it a cheery yellow. We talked and talked, and I confided in her that I didn't know where to start. 

We decided that as I was looking for new books to order for our K-12 library, first we needed to weed through a lot of books to make room and freshen up the collection.  Since I had just started my job and graduate classes, I had a lot of questions about the entire process of weeding. That day, Judy volunteered to come and help me.  In fact, she came and helped me weed 100's of books from our collection and showed me the process of weeding, and what to do with the books.  It was so much fun! Wee had a lot of laughs finding books like Gardening For Homemakers. 
After we weeded and reorganized the library, it was time to order new books.  By having a dedicated sales representative like Judy working with me on this project, it made the navigation of content selection easier. She showed me how to find book reviews, create lists and pull together series. 

Our partnership wasn't just about sales to Judy, it was about student success, curriculum alignment, and making sure I was feeling confident about about our decisions too. She helped me streamline purchasing, making it more efficient and stress-free.  And ever since that first box of books came, I have been hooked on ordering our books from Judy and Follett Content. 
In addition to my relationship with Judy, there are several reasons Follett Content stands out above the rest.
Let's start with their commitment to exceptional service. It truly made a difference. 
I also can't say enough about the incredible range of titles Follett carries - including 80,000 FollettBound® Titles with a lifetime binding guarantee. These durable, high-quality books are a go-to for me and make a real impact on both oru collection and budget. 

I also appreciate the quick shipping turnaround, which ensures our books arrive when we need them. This also makes an impact in our classrooms since I am often ordering books for our teachers they need quickly to support the curriculum and their lessons. 

This year, Follett Content introduced the newly enhanced sales organization to deliver more personalized support. With so many changes happening across education and libraries, having a dedicated rep by our side helps us confidently navigage new challenges and opportunities.  
If you haven't connected with your Follett Content rep, I highly encourage you to reach out. They're more than just support-they're true partners in your work, and you'll quickly see the value they bring to your library and school community.  
Judy was the first trusted partner in my library journey.  She took the time to listen, understood my vision, and aligned with the unique goals of our district. I'm grateful for every conversation, very visit, and the many ways she's supported me over the years. 

And the best part? Along the way, Judy became a friend. 

Follett Content continues to make a meaningful difference-not just for us as librarians and educators, but for the students we serve every day. 

Monday, April 21, 2025

Keep Learning Alive All Summer Long With The Bright Ideas Summer Learning Resources For Students from Book Creator!

 

Today, I am excited to share the Resources for Students from the Bright Ideas Hub from Book Creator.

They’re packed with fun, creative activities to keep student minds growing all summer long! 

you will find 4 awesome books to use and share with your students. 
Reading Journals to prevent summer slide with engaging reading journal and resources.
Art Projects to spark creativity this summer with engaging digital art books for grades K-5. 
STEM Books to keep young minds engaged with exciting STEM challenges that inspire creativity and critical thinking.
And Monthly Journals that keep summer days engaging, rain or shine, with fun and interactive monthly journals for May, June, July and August. 

Get the Resources for Students today, friends 👉 https://hubs.ly/Q03gBJQ_

We're Presenting On The Book Creator and Adobe Express Collaboration At The Creative Lib Fest...Join Us, Friends!

 

This weekend is the first ever Creative Lib Fest, A Celebration of Creativity in School Libraries with Adobe Express for Education and an amazing lineup of creative librarians.

The Creative Lib Fest is on April 26 from 11:00am-2:30pm EST. This will be a wonderful event for all school librarians. 

⭐Amanda Hunt and I will be presenting on the Book Creator and Adobe Express collaboration! We can't wait to share with all of you. ⭐ 

And we are thrilled to join the lineup of featured speakers: 

  • Shannon McClintock Miller
  • Amanda Hunt
  • Meggan Ford
  • Lauren Mobley
  • Rachael Welsh
  • Melissa Kincaid
  • Deb Zeman
  • Amber Hinkel
  • Celeste Lopez
  • Melissa Silerio
  • Misty Shea
  • Verity Olliff

Whether you’re looking to enhance digital storytelling, instructional partnerships, media literacy, student voice, or creative approaches to fostering a love of reading, this event is for you!

Earn Level 1 #adobeeducreative badge + door prizes!

I hope you will join us for this special event, friends. I cannot wait to connect and learn with all of you.  

One More Day (April 22) To Enter The Llama Llama Teacher Appreciation Contest From Our Friends At Penguin Young Readers!

There is one more day to enter the Llama Llama Teacher Appreciation Contest, friends. 

Five lucky winners will receive one classroom set of Llama Llama books, a $100 gift card, and a Llama Llama plush toy.
Nominate a teacher that embodies the values of compassion, empathy and kindness reflected in the Llama Llama book series. 

The contest ends April 22. Fans can enter the contest at LlamaLlamaTeacherContest.com, and see Official Rules at https://bit.ly/4kO5wDC for full details.



Building Community and Positivity Through Library Design.....Find The Recording and Slides From Our Recent Demco Webinar Here, Friends.

 

On April 15th, we hosted the sixth webinar in our new Demco webinar series. 

You can now find the recording of Building Community and Positivity Through Library Design here, along with the presentation slides here. 
...you will find all five in our webinar series.  

We loved learning and sharing with all of you.  We have one more webinars coming up that we will announce very soon.  

Have a lovely week, friends.

Join Us Saturday For The Creative Lib Fest, A Celebration of Creativity in School Libraries!

 

I am excited to be part of the very first Creative Lib Fest, A Celebration of Creativity in School Libraries with Adobe Express for Education and an amazing lineup of creative librarians. 

The Creative Lib Fest is on April 26 from 11:00am-2:30pm EST. This will be a wonderful event for all school librarians. 


As shared in the invite, 

April is School Library Month, and what better way to celebrate than by bringing together passionate school librarians and educators for a day filled with creativity, inspiration, and hands-on learning?

Join us for this free virtual event designed to spark ideas, build connections, and showcase innovative ways to bring Adobe Express for Education and creative learning strategies into school libraries.

📅 Event Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025

⏰ Time: 11am - 2:30pm ET

📍 Location: Virtual (links to sessions shared after registration)

Whether you’re looking to enhance digital storytelling, instructional partnerships, media literacy, student voice, or creative approaches to fostering a love of reading, this event is for you!

I will be presenting Designing Stories: Adobe Express Meets Book Creator with my amazing friend Amanda Hunt.  I can't wait! 

I hope you will join us for this special event, friends. I cannot wait to connect and learn with all of you.  The schedule will be shared very soon.

Show your excitement and invite others to join! Download our "I'm Attending" graphic and share it on social media.

Use #CreativeLibFest and #AdobeEduCreative so we can celebrate with you!

See you Saturday, friends. 

Sunday, April 20, 2025

Here Is How (And Why) To Sign Up For Book Creator

 

Book Creator is my go-to for students to express creativity and demonstrate learning. It's simple, inclusive, and easy for students and teachers to collaborate and share the books they create. 

Students love adding text, images, drawings, backgrounds, videos, voice and more through various apps like Animated Emojis, Adobe AI Image Generator, 3D Models, and Canva. Every book is unique and brings their learning and voice to life in such an special way.  

I am excited to share how you can sign up and start using Book Creator with your students too. 

There are two plans: 

The Book Creator Starter Plan is FREE for all teachers. The free account includes:

  • 1 library with capacity to create 40 books (unlimited students can join your library)
  • Loads of core creativity features such as multimedia tools, AI creativity features, and accessibility features are included
  • Publish as many books and libraries as you like
The Book Creator Premium Plan is $130 per year or $13 per month. The premium account includes: 
  • Create unlimited libraries with capacity for 1,000 books
  • Real-time collaboration for students and teachers
  • Translate books and text and audio in books
  • 800+ page templates
  • Invite other teachers with co-teaching mode
  • Premium apps like Sketchfab (3D models) and Google Maps
  • Get full analytics on published books - see who has read your book from across the world!

You can use the code SHANNON at the checkout when upgrading and get 1 month of premium FREE.

Book Creator brings so much joy to our classrooms, libraries and communities. I can't wait to see what your students create too. 

🌍 Celebrate Earth Week with Merge EDU: Bringing Planet Earth to Life in Your Classroom and Libraries!

 

I love using Merge EDU with our students to celebrate special events. 

This week, we are excited to use Merge EDU to celebrate Earth Day and Earth Week. 
Check out this post from the Merge EDU site to learn how to use their apps and experiences with your students too. 

Introducing The PebbleGo Resource Center...The NEW Hub for PebbleGo Support, Inspiration, and Updates!

 

Friends, I am so excited to share the NEW PebbleGo Resource Center with you today.  This is the in-app educator hub for PebbleGo support, inspiration, and updates.  It is filled with so much inspiration and incredible support for all of us as educators and librarians. 

The PebbleGo Resource Center is available when we are logged in with an administrator or teacher username and password.  Students will not see the Resource Center. 

Here is what you find in the PebbleGo Resource Center. 
Using PebbleGo filled with Educator Materials including Educator Inspiration, Explore Article Topics, Read-Made Activities, Recorded Training Archive, and Downloadables. 
You can even find upcoming webinar including ELLs in Action with Veronica Rodriguez and myself this week on April 24. You can register here, friends
I love how Using PebbleGo takes us to all of the amazing resources on PebbleGo too. 
Support helps you find answers, technical support and even let's you submit a ticket for help. 
Announcements allows you to stay up-to-date on important PebbleGo updates.
Product Updates gives us the latest improvements and new features across the PebbleGo suit.  
And Connect With Us invites us to join the PebbleGo Community and subscribe to the PebbleGo Monthly Newsletter for more educator stories, tips, and collaboration opportunities. 

You can read all about the PebbleGo Resource Center here and check it out today, friends.

You are going to love the PebbleGo Resource Center too! 



Introducing the PebbleGo Resource Center — 

Earth Day Teaching Ideas From Our Friends At TeachingBooks

 

Our friends at TeachingBooks have brought together a wonderful list of Earth Day Teaching Ideas filled with books and resources for teachers and librarians. 

I always find so many new books and ideas from their amazing resources.  

You will find the Earth Day Teaching Ideas from TeachingBooks here. 

My New Early Chapter Book Series, ISTE Digital Explorers, Is Almost Here! Read About The First 4 Books Here, Friends!

 

I am so excited to share some big news with you! 

My new early chapter book series, ISTE Digital Explorers, in partnership with Capstone and ISTE, comes out this summer.  There will be 7 books in the series, with the first 4 coming out in August.

And just wait until you see the amazing illustrations by Mel Darmawan. She did such an amazing job bringing Sonia, Hagan, Ana, Jack and the other characters to life. 

Each story in this early chapter book series focuses on one ISTE Student Standard. Young readers will be inspired to engage with technology in thoughtful, responsible, and innovative ways to learn, grow, and connect in our digital world. 
In fact, it features Sonia, her friends, and family, from my picture book, Sonia's Digital World. 

The first one in this new series, Sonia Speaks Up, can be found here on NetGalley. 

As shared online, 

Sonia and her class finally get to use the digital platform for artwork! Sonia is proud of her lion painting, and she can't wait to share it. But after seeing rude comments on the other paintings, she decides not to post it after all. The next day at school, Mr. Thompson reminds the class what it means to be a good digital citizen, perfectly showing this ISTE standard in a relatable classroom situation. Created in partnership with ISTE, this early chapter book offers an engaging introduction to important concepts in technology education.
You can get a sneak peak of the other books in the series on the back of the book posted above.  I can't wait until you see them all, friends.  
And if you will be at the ISTE LIVE 25 Conference this summer, Sonia and I will be too. 

Support Summer Reading With Your Follett Book eFair! Check Out How We Kicked It Off With Our Readers Today!

This week, we kick off our Follett Book eFair! We are so excited to host one more eFair to support summer reading with our readers and their families. 

Have you heard of the Follett Book eFairs, friends? 

A Follett Book eFair is an online book fair. It's a book fair for everyone! They are a fun and easy way for PreK-8th grade students and families to shop for books while your school earns rewards.  With popular characters and the hottest new releases, everyone is sure to find something they love. 

Follett Book eFairs are available to all PreK-8 schools in the US, and there is no minimum sales requirement.  It's the perfect type of book fair to bring to your school community anytime of the year, but perfect with limited time left at the end of the school year and as we support summer reading. 

Let me show you how it works and what we are doing to kick this off for our readers, teachers, and families.
First, go to Follett Book eFairs and register here.

You sign up with the dates and details. 
A few weeks before your Follett Book eFair, a super cool box of materials will be delivered to your school. 
The box includes everything you need as you host Follett Book eFair.....
...Title Highlight Flyers to hand out to your readers, 
Promotional Posters, Goals Posters, Computer Monitor Sign, 
...and this great Coordinator Checklist and Guide. 

This box of materials pairs perfectly with the...
....Follett Book eFair site that organizes all of the details you need to set up, promote, organize and run your eFair. 
When you log into the Follett Book eFairs site, 
you will find links to Promote eFair, View Book, View Orders and download Orders Report. 
It's helpful having a few different ways to share the eFairs including a code and direct link. 
There is also a place to Manage Teacher Wish Lists. They just go to the link to manage their wish list and adding books they'd like for their classroom. 
By adding the teachers, it will also make it easier to distribute books after they are shipped to your school, because the orders are then grouped together for each teacher. 
We can also promote our Follett Book eFair by sending reminder emails to the parents who have order from previous eFairs.  As we have more and more eFairs, our list will grow and this will become a great way to promote them. 

Oh, and guess what?  There is a special Teacher Discount Code you can give your teachers. They get a 20% discount off full-priced items by entering the code in their cart. They will love this! 
As students and families log into our Follett Book eFair site,  they will see a message and the Goal that you set for your eFair. They can click on any of the images to go to that genre, and...
...choose from a drop down menu that features Picture Books, Beginning Readers, Chapter Books, and Middle Grade Fiction. 
At the very top of the page, I set up Staff Recommendations by choosing several books I wanted to highlight at our eFair and ones I know our readers will love. 

There are lots of visual ways to search for books, and books can be typed into the search bar too. 

With the details and our Follett Book eFair set up, I also wanted to download several materials to promote and celebrate our eFair. 
On the site, you will find the area to Promote My eFair with lots of resources like...
.....Download Materials to Share, which includes several types of materials to download and share including Quick Start Guides, 
Message Templates, 
Digital Promotion, and...
....Posters and Signs. 
With the posters and signs, you can even type in the details and print them in color or black and white.
These were also a great addition to the posters and flyers we got with the box of materials that we filled out and added a QR code and bit.ly to make it super easy for everyone to use and order from. 
I took a few of the posters and signs...
...to make a little flyer to attach to the Title Highlight Flyers. 

It's been so much fun talking to our students about the books they see in the flyers as they take these home this week. They are very excited. 

As our Follett Book eFair continues over the next few weeks, I will give an update or two on my blog and social.  So follow along,