It's Time To Renew Your Book Creator Certification, Friends!

 

As we kick off a new year of school and a new year of using Book Creator with our students, don't forget to renew your Book Creator Certified Author certification. 

I just renewed mine and loved learned about the newest features and tips.

When I completed the new course, I was so excited to earn...

...my new certificate and super cool badge I added to my blog and professional development plan. 

This is a great way to level up your Book Creator skills for the new year.  

Share this with your colleagues and friends so they can be an Book Creator certified author too. 

And get your Book Creator account today.

Building Digital Literacy Skills Through Story + Creation With Book Creator and the ISTE Digital Explorers!

                                 
I’m so excited to share the newly released ISTE Digital Explorers Reading Companions—created in partnership with Book Creator!

This summer at ISTE Live 25, my new children’s book series, ISTE Digital Explorers, with Capstone and ISTE, officially launched! These books help teach and support essential digital literacy skills in fun, age-appropriate, and meaningful ways—all aligned with the ISTE Student Standards.

I’ve teamed up with Book Creator to develop incredible Reading Companion Activity Books. These interactive resources are designed to extend the learning from each story, giving students hands-on, creative ways to explore the digital literacy themes covered in all four books.

These companions are the perfect addition to any classroom or library, helping educators seamlessly integrate the ISTE Digital Explorers series into their teaching while empowering students with the skills they need to thrive in today’s digital world.

You will find them on this new Book Creator page that includes all six of the activity books.

There is one for each of the four books...Hagan Proudly Presents, Jack's Playground Plan, 

Ana's Smart Move, and Sonia Speaks Up. 

Look inside of Hagan Proudly Presents to see what one of the reading companion includes! 

I love the Create a Favorite Animal Presentation at the end, which can also be found separately in the Book Creator library. 

And look at My Digital Citizenship Pledge! I am going to start the year off with this activity at my school.  The kids will love creating their own pledge in Book Creator. 

 I will be sharing more about the Digital Explorers Book Creator Book Companions throughout the summer and how I will use them with our students.  

I can't wait to hear how you will use them with your students too. 

Find the ISTE Digital Explorers Book Companions here, friends.

And get your Book Creator account today.

Join Us On September 23rd for Our NEW Future Ready Librarians Webinar, AI and Critical Thinking In The Library

 

We have an exciting webinar coming up on September 23rd at 5:00pm EST.  It's part of the Future Ready Librarians Webinar Series sponsored by Follett Content and Future Ready Schools. 

In this webinar, AI and Critical Thinking in the Library, Cathy Collins, Sarah Henderson, and Adam Phyall will be joining me for this important conversation. 

In today’s digital world, artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming research, information literacy, and critical thinking—and libraries are at the center of this evolution. As Future Ready Librarians, how can we effectively integrate both human and AI intelligence to support student inquiry, ethical research practices, and information literacy?

We’ll explore the role of AI in the library, its implications for research and critical thinking, and how librarians can guide students in navigating AI responsibly.

We will: 

• Understand how AI tools are shaping information discovery, synthesis, and evaluation.
• Identify strategies students can use to students analyze AI-generated content and verify sources.
• Explore ways to incorporate responsible AI practices into research instruction.
• Learn how AI can complement, not replace, human inquiry and librarian expertise.

You can register for this free webinar here, friends.  If you can't attend live, don't worry as we will send our the recording and resources after the webinar too. 

An Easy Way To Print Lots Of Canva Created Personalized Bookmarks For Your Readers!

  

Earlier this week, I shared the personalized bookmarks I created in Canva. You will find them in this post.

After I made them, I thought of an easier way to print lots of Canva created bookmarks at one time. 

I picked an 8 1/2 x 11 document in Canva and added four bookmarks across the page.  The names can each be edited to created personalized bookmarks for your students. 

I also created the Welcome Back To The Library, Friends the same way. 

And yesterday when I was with my friends in Nantucket, we had the idea to create one with a blank spot where our kids could write their own name. 

You will find this new Canva template here to copy and use for your readers. 

If you would rather use Google, I created a template for the bookmarks there too. 

I use a Google Slides presentation.  I change the slide size to 8 1/2 x 11 so I can easily print at school on cardstock.  

Four of the bookmarks from this Canva design fit on the Google Slide. 

This would be a super fun activity to do the first time your students come to the library.  

I have used Google Slides presentation for a lot of different bookmarks over the years.  There are almost 30 bookmarks here. You can make a copy too, friends. 

I hope this makes it super easy for you to make these new personalized bookmarks for your readers, friends. 

AI in K-5: Moving Beyond The Buzz With Real Classroom Learning...A Special Guest Post From Robo Wunderkind!

 

Today, I have a special guest blog post to share from my friends at Robo Wunderkind.

I just love what Robo Wunderkind has created to support our K–5 learners with AI. As educators, we know that artificial intelligence isn’t some far-off futuristic idea—it’s here, and it’s already woven into the daily lives of our students. From Alexa answering their questions at home, to YouTube recommending their next video, to a chatbot sparking story ideas, AI is everywhere.

But simply being exposed to AI isn’t enough. We want our students to grow into confident, creative, and critical users of this technology. Students need opportunities to understand, explore, and create with AI in meaningful ways.

That’s why I’m so excited about this guest post. Robo Wunderkind shares four powerful strategies K–5 educators can use to help turn AI from a novelty into a true foundation for lifelong learning. Even better, they include practical classroom ideas you can try right away.

Here’s a quick preview of what you’ll find inside their post:

• Demystify How AI Works – Break down complex ideas into kid-friendly language and activities so students understand AI is built by humans—not magic.

• Make It Hands-On and Iterative – Encourage tinkering, experimenting, and revising so students see AI as something they can shape and improve.

• Integrate Across the Curriculum – Use AI to spark curiosity in reading, math, science, art, and beyond, rather than treating it as an isolated subject.

• Connect to Digital Citizenship – Help students think critically about AI’s impact, including bias, privacy, and ethical use.

Each of these strategies comes with classroom-ready examples that make AI learning approachable, playful, and connected to real-world skills.

I can’t wait for you to dive into the full guest post and see how Robo Wunderkind is helping us prepare our youngest learners for an AI-driven future. You can find the entire post here.

They are also looking for educators who would like to pilot the AI literacy curriculum—an amazing opportunity to be part of this innovative work from the very beginning. You can sign up here.

I’m so excited to bring this experience to our students and school community this fall, and I know our learners will be just as eager to explore and create with AI through Robo Wunderkind.

NEW Dot Day Bookmarks For Your Kids To Color and Create!

We love celebrating International Dot Day at the beginning of the school year. Dot Day is always on September 15 and it's the best day to celebrate making your mark on the world. 

I love creating new activities every year too.  Today. I created a new bookmark that our kids can pick up and create in the library, their classrooms, and at home. 

I would love to share them with you too, friends. You can find the Google Slide here with four bookmarks to copy and use with your students and community too. 

Sign up here and celebrate Dot Day too! 

Spark Digital Citizenship Conversations With The Digital Norms Notebooks From Book Creator!

               

I am really excited about the Digital Norms Notebooks that are part of...

....Book Creator's Back to School Hub. 

Digital norms, also known as netiquette or digital etiquette, are the accepted behaviors and practices for interacting online.  I am always looking for new creative and engaging ways to teach and practice these skills with our students in kindergarten through 12th grade. 

These remixable books help teachers and students establish expectations for using technology responsibly and respectfully.  They include prompts and activities around: 

AI use in the classroom,

Digital discourse and collalboration,

Evaluating sources, and...

...Online privacy and safety, and more. 

It’s a great way to introduce digital citizenship at the start of the year—and spark important conversations in any library and classroom.

You can remix the Elementary Digital Norms Notebook and...

....the Secondary Digital Norms Notebook. 

Take a look in the Book Creator Back to School Hub to see all of the other amazing resources for librarians, teachers, coaches, families and more. 

Together: Partnering with Teachers, Students & Families To Kick Off The New Year!

It's that time of year where we think of fun, creative and special ways to share what we do as teacher librarians.  This year, I did something different and focused it around the theme of "Together" as that encompasses so much of what we do with our teachers, students, families, and community. 

For our teachers and associates, we created Taylor inspired bracelets that spelled our Together 💗 VM and included Smarties candy, and...

...a half sheet of paper sharing what we can do together this year.  

Let me share what I wrote....

...to include with the bracelets and candy. I also included our NEW Library and Technology BINGO sheet.  You can find out more about this special reading program here. 

And you will find the TOGETHER note template here, friends.  Feel free to use and mix up for your work too.

The September Activity Journal From Book Creator Is Here, Friends! Remix and Share With Your Students Today!

The September Activity Journal from Book Creator is here! 

The September Activity Journal is packed full of special activities to celebrate amazing events throughout September including...

...National Read A Book Day, 

National Coloring Day, 

Hispanic Heritage Month, 

Good Neighbor Day, and so much more.

And don't forget that you can get all of the Monthly Activity Journals in the back of the September Activity Journal too.

Remix the September Activity Journal and make it your own. You can change up any of the pages and then share it with your students. 

The Book Creator Activity Journals are perfect to share in our classrooms and libraries. I love sharing these with my teachers every month so they can complete them with their students in class. 

Get Book Creator today, friends.