SLAVConnects

A reflection about one school library faculty's goal of creating a positive learning environment with space that would help students and teachers develop real-world connections and the approach they took to creating it. The ideas for the space included housing the collection, helping students and teachers collaborate, being a hub for learning with a flexible floor plan and supporting newly developing areas in educational technology. The school decided to create a learning commons to move beyond traditional thinking about libraries and respond to what the kids and teachers really needed. The faculty envisioned their environment to be developmentally appropriate for their young students, as well as to foster a sense of creativity, inspiration, and encourage dialogue and a sense of community. The new learning commons library offered more space for stacks, added conference rooms and a lounge area, but the learning commons concept informed more than the library. These design changes increase opportunities to be inspired by student work and performances and create stronger interpersonal connections among students and faculty.

"Post has links to newspaper templates. it includes some good designs that students can choose from to create their own newspaper. They are all for Microsoft Word.

A way for students to create a more professional version of their work. Works (stories/poems) can be published using the ReadWriteThink Printing Press student interactive.

A how-to about creating digital blackout poems. "These can help struggling readers focus on the MOST important words in the poem to find the main idea/theme of the poem in a fun and artful way:" There is an example of how to use You Doodle as well as a non-technology option.

Word Mover (By ReadWriteThink) is designed to help students develop poems and short stories Students can use word banks already created or they can also add new words to the list. They can then drag onto a canvas they have selected to construct their poem or story. They are also able to manipulate and move the text as they wish to creatively publish poetry. There are six different categories and 12 canvas backgrounds students may select. Useful lesson plans that use the app for a variety of learning levels and subjects are also shared.

Advice worth looking at. "Whether you are a classroom teacher, instructional coach, or administrator, ask yourself these ten questions before going any further"

A good article about developing literacy skills. "All Australian children and young people becoming literate I believe it is vital we understand and define the complexity of literacy. Literacy encompasses the knowledge and skills students need to access, understand, analyse and evaluate information, make meaning, express thoughts and emotions, present ideas and opinions, interact with others and participate in activities at school and in their lives beyond school. "

"A nice class activity when the books being read by the students have specific locations for the settings. You can create a book map using My Maps from Google to highlight the settings in which these texts took place."

"What makers this process unique is that it offers a thematic approach to planning and creating a makerspace.  After deciding upon the themes you want to advance in your makerspace, and procuring the necessary equipment, materials and supplies to support each theme, attention can be given then to designing the physical aspects of your makerspace.  A good place to start this process is to think about your school's mission statement and vision and then think through how your makerspace can be seen as a physical representation of that strategy.  "

Author looks at the universal ideas/themes that lie behind different types of successful makerspaces.

" When students need to use their research skills for one assignment or another they can go onto the Internet. From this they may find all sorts of information is hurled. What they need to do is sift through tho find the best for their situation. This post offers some tips on how do we can assist students sift through so much information to get at the best and most reliable content"

"No two school makerspaces should ever be exactly alike, because no two school communities are ever exactly alike. What do the best ones have in common? This post tries to identify the main features "

"Digital literacy has been dubbed as a fourth literacy. Whereas reading, writing, and mathematics are considered as the cornerstone of being literate, literacy in this day is not complete if a person is not capable of accessing and creating digital information. Therefore it is important to talk about digital literacy in education and eLearning."