Category Archives: School Media Specialist

General, School Media Specialist

AASL Recommended Apps: Content Creation: Plotagon

plotagonIn June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

Plotagon is an app that features tons of options for the user to draw on when telling a story. Users can craft their story by using different locations, emotions, postures, sound effects, and music. Dialogue can be created using computer voices or the user can record their own. The characters can be reused, and stories can include multiple scenes. This app could be a good one to use when crafting debates. Plotagon Education gives teachers more control over the accounts and digital space and helps to protect student privacy.

This article from The Learning Counsel includes several examples of teachers that have used Plotagon in their own classrooms. Check out the Plotagon Blog for lots of great suggestions and news.

Cost: Free
Level: Elementary, Middle, and High School
Platforms: iOS

Check out their video:

Books, Public, School Media Specialist

Looking forward to Teen Lit Con 2017!

Do you like YA literature, or encouraging young adult readers? Start planning ahead, because Teen Lit Con 2017 is coming up! On Saturday, May 6th from 10am to 4pm at Sibley High School in Mendota Heights, both authors and teens will assemble to share their love of books and reading!

The event is free and open to the public! They will have different sessions, an exhibit hall, and many different author signings. To get a feel for the conference, check out last year’s event.

Some of the authors that will be at Teen Lit Con 2017 include:

Jay Asher, author of Thirteen Reasons Why

Meg Medina, author of Burn Baby Burn

J.M. Lee: Shadows of the Dark Crystal

 

Academic, Research, Resources, School Media Specialist, Special

Contribute to the ACRL Framework Sandbox

If you are in an academic library, or looking at academic information (as many of you are), you may want to be involved in a sandbox project from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). You can look through the contributions and information other people are creating, and you are very much encouraged to contribute information yourself! No need to be a member; they want contributions from everyone, so feel free to dive in here and browse around for information that might be relevant to you and your library! Continue reading Contribute to the ACRL Framework Sandbox →

Academic, Advocacy, Communication, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Library Advocacy Updates from EveryLibrary

To keep our members updated on the news affecting our profession, we share material from all kinds of library organizations. This is the latest weekly newsletter from the advocacy organization EveryLibrary.

Remember: library advocacy is everyone’s job! We know the work we do is important – be sure you tell other people about it, and the work you do to serve your community!

From EveryLibrary:

It already looks like 2017 will be a daunting year for library funding and support across the country. We are disheartened to report at least two public library closures and a continued decline of school library funding and support. We are also concerned about an empowered Republican Study Committee who have proposed Federal Budgets with an agenda that includes defunding the National Endowment of the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services which makes millions of dollars in grant money available to libraries. We will continue to see well organized institutions like the Koch Brothers funded Americans For Prosperity PAC come after libraries. That’s why we are starting this year by asking you to help us stand up against these initiatives and support our nation’s libraries.

Continue reading Library Advocacy Updates from EveryLibrary →