Tales from a Loud Librarian

Stem Cell Writing Assignment I have been writing a lot here about the different types of collaboration that I have been doing in all subject areas. I want to share an instance where I created the tool for a science class, but I didn't really do any teaching for this assignment. The biology teacher, Mrs., Higgins, came to me recently about beefing up an assignment that she has done in the past. She had created a writing assignment on the stem cell controversy that she has used before. Students had to take a stance on whether they believed embryonic stem cells should be used for research, or if they thought the use of adult stem cells was sufficient. She was happy with the idea of the product where students wrote a letter or a speech defending their stance. It was the research part that she felt needed some help. She was pleased with the pathfinders that I have created for her lessons, and she thought it would work well in this situation, too., Together we came up wit...

I have designed several tools for students in Mrs. Higgins' science classes to use for a specific project. When Mrs. Higgins and I sat down to talk about the balloon car project for her 9th grade physical science class, I knew that a Livebinder would be the best way to collate the tools for the students. Usually, there is a link to the library OPAC as the first tab in any tool used for research. This time I decided to create a bibliography of all the print material and just insert the bibliography in a tab. I also pulled the books and had them ready for the students on a cart, but with the bibliography I really didn't need to do that. I always thought of Livebinders as a take only resource, not a give and take. I happened upon a blog post from Livebinders with a link showing how to create interactive tab/s . I loved the idea of adding a padlet inside my binder. It is super easy to use an embed code in one of your tabs.  For the balloon car project, the students ...

It's not often that we see 35 little ones sitting on the floor in the PFTSTA Library It has been almost nine years since I was an elementary school librarian. I miss the beautiful picture books, and the way I could hold a class of 32 kids in the palm of my hands as I told a gripping story. Luckily, we have an event every year that gives me the opportunity to ham it up and be silly in front of a group of kids.  Each semester, Mrs. Higgins, the seventh grade science teacher invites the 4th graders from Metairie Academy to visit PFTSTA. The students spend 45 minutes engaged in the experiments that the 7th graders created, and then they spend 45 minutes with me. I have two fabulous books by Steve Jenkin s that I have used for three different Extravaganza events. The non-fiction books, Bones and Actual Size , are huge with amazing pictures and the science fits right into the event. You can see me on the right reading to the students.  Once I read the books, my 8...