We can tell from our blog stats that many of you either already love or have an interest in Pinterest. Learnist is a website (app) that is similar to Pinterest and is designed for educators. Read about how English teacher Hauna Zaich uses 
Learnist in her eight and tenth grade classes. Zaich says, “This year, I wanted to incorporate elements of a flipped classroom into my teaching, and I found that Learnist was a great tool for that. In the classroom, I’ve used Learnist as a practical option for my lessons, and students were receptive to the Learnboards I created to teach grammar. (Here are two that I used to help teach tenth graders about passive and active voice and verb tense and verb agreement.) I think my students found the mix of reading, examples, videos and online practice activities to be helpful.” Read the full article at Edutopia.org/Hauna Zaich’s blog (11/12)
Category Archives: School Media Specialist
14 Ways Public Libraries Are Good for the Country
An oldie but a goodie, this information has been offered before in other venues. It resides on the iLoveLibraries.org site (an initiative of the American Library Association). This little list is a great source to review so you have a solid set of talking points as we move into new relationships with legislators. You always need to have your “elevator speech” ready!
It is sometimes harder (takes more time too) to explain and speak to the virtues and issues of special, school, and academic libraries, because without a full explanation about funding streams and mission, it is easy jump to a conclusion of redundancy. But most legislators fully understand public libraries, a well-loved, well understood concept. The concise little list of 14 is available at http://tinyurl.com/8ryvrfx
*The list linked to in this post originally appeared in the Librarians Books of Lists (Chicago: ALA Editions, 2010).
Curb Your Librarian Frustration in 8 Steps
Are you feeling a bit discouraged, negative, or hopeless in your work? It happens to the best of us from time to time, so don’t be too hard on yourself, but also take action! If you have adopted a passive “whatever” attitude, take action now. Stephen Abram’s blog post on this subject is exactly what we all need to refocus and revisit our passion. You’ve heard the saying, “teach like your hair is on fire?” Librarians are teachers, coaches, advisors, mentors…the list goes on! Can you even imagine how we could change the world if we approached our work with the passion we had when we started our careers? You are in for a treat…read Stephen’s blog post at http://tinyurl.com/b224qdj and engage in librarianship again like your hair is on fire!
Library Journal’s List of America’s Star Libraries – Six Minnesota Libraries Named!
Six Minnesota public libraries have been named to Library Journal’s list of America’s Star Libraries for 2012. The designated libraries include:
Minnesota:
Hennepin County Library
Grand Marais Public Library
Jessie F. Hallett Memorial Library, Crosby
East Grand Forks Campbell Library
Ely Public Library
Edgerton Public Library
For more information see: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/11/managing-libraries/lj-index/class-of-2012/americas-star-libraries-2012-top-rated-libraries/
Minnesota Book Awards Resources Available!
The Minnesota Book Awards is accepting applications from public libraries and public schools interested in receiving up to $500 in funding reimbursement for hosting an author program featuring a Minnesota Book Award winning or finalist author. Interested parties are encouraged to apply by November 23, but applications will remain open until all funding is allocated (which will probably be at least through the end of November).
For more information, please visit: http://www.thefriends.org/programs/mnbookawards/mba_resources.html#funding.
Bookmarks, posters, and reading guides featuring the 2012 winning authors and their books are available to MEMO members at no charge. To view the items and/or download the reading guides, please visit: http://www.thefriends.org/programs/mnbookawards/mba_resources.html.
To request materials, please email mnbookawards@thefriends.org and provide:
- Quantity desired of each material
- Complete address to which the items should be mailed