PASSIONATE ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARIES
I’m not sure about you, but as we head into April I am ready for school holidays. Maybe after a week of sleep, I’ll be ready to dive into some professional learning to reignite my creativity and excitement for the term ahead. Happy learning.
It seems March 2023 is a great month for school library staff to learn something new. With so many fantastic webinars on offer, blogs and articles and, of course, our favourite podcasts releasing more episodes, there is something for everyone.
Do you love Lego? How about your school library users? I bet they love Lego. If you are like me and love having hands-on activities in your school library or makerspace, you probably want to have some Lego. But it can be extremely expensive and hard to buy in bulk. I had the incredible Mel from St Joesph’s Nudgee College recommend Bricktastics to me and I am so grateful she did.
Bricktastics is an Australia company that sell second-hand Lego. The buy and source pre-loved Lego, sort it into packs and then sell it. They cater specifically to education settings with their bulk packs, and donate to education and children in countries who need it. They have also launched their own Bricktastic Bricks. While based in Australia, they do ship internationally.
Here is your list of school library related professional learning webinars, podcasts and more to get you started this February 2023.
Are the students in your school library bookmark mad? Mine are. While you can buy beautiful bookmarks to give out to students, perfect for author visits, book week or special events, I find that most readers, especially the younger students, go through too many bookmarks for me to be able to afford to keep up a steady supply. I’ve always printed bookmarks to have at the circulation desk. The students love picking out a new design, it prevents the dreaded dog earring of pages and they are easy to tie into special events. I used to search online for free printable bookmark designs, and while this did find me some great deigns, I was limited in what I could use.
Happy new year! Well, almost. Another year, another chance to learn, experience and grow. There are so many incredible learning opportunities coming our way and I can’t wait to share them with you this year. I hope to make these lists relevant for all school library professionals. If you have any suggestions, ideas or have a professional learning opportunity you’d like me to include, please get in touch.
Are you planning to put your feet up this December (either by the beach or by a roaring fire)? Maybe you need a great article to read or podcast to listen to? Here’s a list of school library professional learning links for you.
A fun activity I’ve run this year was designing t-shirts with our Cricut machine. I’ve it with two class groups and will extend that to a lunchtime activity and after school activity once we have our new space next year.
I love our Library’s Cricut machine. I even convinced the Design Tech department that they needed one, so now I have two to use.
Designing t-shirts is so easy with the Cricut machines and the end products look great. I loved how quickly my students picked up the design, cut and heat process. Once they got the basics down, they quickly started attempting more detailed designs.
Have to be honest, the list this month is a little bit light, simply because I’ve been so busy I haven’t had much time to search for great PD. If you have an event, article, podcast to share, I’d love to hear from you.
I’m not sure what it is about October, maybe the Northern Hemisphere returning to school, but the amount of professional learning opportunities out there seem pretty epic at the moment.
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