Category Archives: School Media Specialist

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools 2020: codespark

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  has announced their top choices for “electronic resources that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their educator collaborators.” These resources were formerly separated into the Best Apps and Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and are now combined into the Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning.

This awesome coding app is FREE for teachers and librarians! “CodeSpark Academy is an app and website that wordlessly introduces young users to the world of coding through games. Parents and children can use it on their own, and educators can create classes to manage student use.”

Shared foundations: Explore, Engage, Inquire

Common Sense Education has this review of the app, along with instruction ideas for teachers. Class Tech Tips has this article about the app, and the University of Pittsburgh included the app on their page of STEM learning resources.

This quick video shows how the app works:

Watch this 3 min video on getting started with CodeSpark for educators:

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools 2020: World 101

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  has announced their top choices for “electronic resources that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their educator collaborators.” These resources were formerly separated into the Best Apps and Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and are now combined into the Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning.

 World 101 is a program that “offers information from an independent non-partisan sources about international relations. The world is divided into regions and information is provided for each region on politics, economics, etc. From essays and discussion questions to glossaries and up-to-date reading lists, World101 provides comprehensive teaching resources for each of our modules.”

Shared foundations: Inquire, Curate, Explore

World 101 has this page full of resources for educators. It has a searchable list of topics and each one includes discussion questions, reading materials, and other teaching resources. EconEdLink has this interactive lesson on Globalization that uses the program.

This one minute video shows how this program works:

You can check out our archive of past recommended apps here.

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools 2020: Parlay Ideas

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  has announced their top choices for “electronic resources that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their educator collaborators.” These resources were formerly separated into the Best Apps and Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and are now combined into the Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning.

You can check out our archive of past recommended apps here.

Parlay Ideas “is a robust discussion tool, fostering deep understanding, equitable collaboration, and mindful reflection, in both live and asynchronous learning environments.”

Shared foundations: Collaborate, Inquire

EdSurge has this review of the app, and Common Sense Education has this review specifically for teachers. HundrED has this great article about Parlay which includes several videos that show how the app works in the classroom. Parlay is also included in this article from Mud and Ink Teaching that lists several other apps and tech ideas that can be especially helpful during remote learning.

Watch this one minute video to see how Parlay Ideas works:

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Best Digital Tools 2020: Emotional ABC’s

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The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  has announced their top choices for “electronic resources that provide enhanced learning and curriculum development for school librarians and their educator collaborators.” These resources were formerly separated into the Best Apps and Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and are now combined into the Best Digital Tools for Teaching & Learning.

You can check out our archive of past recommended apps here.

The curriculum Emotional ABCs Classroom “is a teacher-led, research-based Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum that provides teachers (K–3) with 20 sequential Workshops, support materials, and a flexible structure for classroom instruction.” The program fulfills these foundations: Include, Collaborate, Engage, Explore.

This article from PR Newswire explains how the curriculum works and why it is important. EdSurge has this review of the program and states it is very easy for teachers to use. Common Sense Education shares pro/cons, more reviews, and teaching tools for using the Emotional ABCs program. And finally, the site itself has a free classroom teacher guide that includes workshops and additional materials.

Check out this two minute video about how the curriculum works:

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist

Ideas for Summertime Reading🌞

Even when life is (relatively) more normal, helping keep your students and/or kids current with their reading skills over summer break can be a challenge! We’ll share some ideas here and link to articles with helpful suggestions. When all else fails, maybe suggest a reading picnic, with treats involved! 😊📚🌳

Some favorite ideas:

  • Of course, your local library probably usually has a great summer reading program. Check with them to see if they have made alternative plans for this year.
  • Write a letter to your child, student, or young reader in your life and send it in the mail! Getting mail is exciting!
  • Family reading time (can do this over Zoom, too!) Everyone grab a book or magazine and spend 10-30 minutes reading together. Or, if you have very small readers, let them see you reading. They will probably want to “borrow” the book you are finding so interesting.
  • Build a book nook! Use pillows, blankets, a real tent, whatever you can find, to create a cozy fort just for reading!

Links to helpful articles:

Any great summer reading tips of your own? Share in the comments!