Can't help my-shelf

   Teacher Librarian : Jen Gomez     School : Charleston County School of the Arts Shared Foundation : Engage Jen Gomez has been the Teacher Librarian at School of the Arts for 2 years. She came to the position after 4 years as the TL at another CCSD middle school; prior to that she taught Spanish. Her experience as a classroom teacher is evident in her approach to librarianship, as is her true empathy for her colleagues and the students she serves. SOA's library is shared by Academic Magnet High School, but each school has a dedicated librarian, so Mrs. Gomez is able to devote the majority of her time and attention to 6th-8th grade students and teachers. In discussing the AASL's shared foundations and competencies, Mrs. Gomez highlighted several lessons she's delivered already this year that we agree met criteria for multiple key commitments! Our conversation kept coming back to the Engage foundation, since she is often asked by teachers to support technology-driven and re

   Teacher Librarian : Alana Lewis     School : Sangaree Middle School Shared Foundation : Explore Alana Lewis has spent the past 4 years in Berkeley County School District as Sangaree Middle's teacher librarian, and previously served as the TL at an elementary school in Charleston County. Before earning her MLIS, she also worked in libraries for the College of Charleston. Just this month, Ms. Lewis was named the South Carolina Association of Teacher Librarians' 2024 Lowcountry Regional Librarian of the Year! I also have the privilege of serving as her library clerk this year, and she has been an invaluable mentor and role model for me. Teaching is Ms. Lewis's favorite part of her job, and one of the principles that guides all of her library programming is exploration. She is passionate about encouraging students to broaden their horizons when it comes to leisure reading, and she takes great care to curate and swap out library displays with different themes in an effort to

  Teacher Librarian : Dr. Lara Russell    School : Academic Magnet High School Shared Foundation : Include Dr. Lara Russell has been the Teacher Librarian at Academic Magnet High School in Charleston, SC for 5 years. One of her top priorities in her tenure there has been to bolster inclusivity in the Bonds Wilson library. Beginning in 2020, Dr. Russell chartered the school's first ever Library Advisory Committee as a way to amplify student voices in planning and executing library programming and curating the Bonds Wilson collection. Students from all grade levels volunteer their time and thoughts at monthly meetings to discuss their ideas, interests, goals, and needs with Dr. Russell; in turn, she applies their insights when planning special events and activities, library displays, and procurement of new materials. I so admire that Dr. Russell both understands and models responsive and inclusive librarianship through her practice of proactively seeking student opinions and ideas. I

Family dinners were a staple in my life growing up- never formal or fussy, most nights it was just my parents, sister and me at the kitchen table, often with local news or Jeopardy! on in the background. My dad made it a point to ask us about our days or what we'd learned, and often shared something he had recently learned or some example of how he'd used what we learned in school in the real world. He also loved to give us funny facts and sayings to apply to various situations, and I remember them all fondly and often. One of his best was a saying for answering a question whenever you didn't actually have a ready answer: you thoughtfully respond with "it depends chiefly on the nature of the terrain." Now I know that this phrase is essentially meaningless, and it is unlikely to satisfy someone who expects a real answer to a real question, but I also think it's a clever way of easing into a discussion rather than firing off a disingenuous response. It's ha

AR creates opportunities for teachers to help students grasp abstract concepts. By using the interaction and experimentation that AR technologies offer, teachers can enhance classroom experiences, teach new skills, inspire student minds, and get students excited about exploring new academic interests. (Maryville University, 2021) Immersive technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality are SO COOL. The technology itself, and the new ways they allow us to experience the world just are undeniably exciting and fun to explore, teeming with even more potential uses as technology continues to improve and evolve. When I was in school, AR referred to the reading incentive program that let students rack up points by taking quizzes on books read- points which were later cashed in for rewards and pizza parties. Fast forward an undisclosed number of years to today, and discussions of AR in education refer instead to augmented reality, or a sort of digital enhancement to some real world e

Credit: @ stefanoborghi.com Copyright: photo: www.stefanoborghi.com Making is an inquiry-driven social activity that allows students to develop the very same skills, dispositions, responsibilities, and strategies touted in the AASL's 21st Century Standards. It opens the library to students who want to acquire, use, and share information in ways other than book-discussion groups or research writing. Makers... apply digital and manual skills to solve problems and create items that address their needs. Makers are problem solvers, idea dreamers; they tinker, hack, and customize products and materials to better serve them. Makers live out lifelong learning. They see a problem, something that isn't working for them, and they research ways to solve the problem and experiment, pushing the limits until they are satisfied. (Canino-Fluit, 2014, para. 3)   Makerspaces (or innovation labs, creation stations, hackerspaces, STEM hubs, fab labs, etc.; a rose by any other name, after all...) ha