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Chrome Webstore
In my last post I talked about the Tweet Deck Chrome Extension, but let’s dial it back a bit and talk about how to find it and what the Chrome Webstore is anyway.Think of the Chrome Webstore as a free...
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What is a #Hashtag Anyway?
If you’re a beginning social media user, you may have bumped into this weird symbol:That symbol, commonly known as a pound or number sign, is now known in the social media world as a hashtag. It was...
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SGO's and Library Media Specialists: Problems and Solutions
If you're like many of the other public school professionals out there, you've probably recently had to do your SGOs for the year. In my district, School Library Media Specialists must do SGOs as...
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Ten Things I Did to Get a Library Job
I have my dream job and sometimes people ask how I was able to get it. I can't tell you exactly what made the difference, because I can't read the minds of the people who hired me, but here are the...
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How to Pitch Your Library Renovation to Admin
Most of us don't work in state-of-the-art school libraries with unlimited budgets. Instead most of us work in libraries that are falling apart, often with no budget at all, at a time when society is...
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OneTab Chrome Extension for Teachers
I learned about a new chrome extension (also available for firefox) on the House of EdTech podcast. It has been such a game changer for me and my work flows that I just had to share it with you. It's...
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Coping with Personnel Change in Your School
Change is scary. It means having to rethink and possibly undo everything you've been doing up until that point. It means revisiting your own incompetence. It means spending a lot more time doing what...
View ArticleDear Sucky Librarian
The following blog post is an homage to Dear Sucky Administrator, written by Tony Sinasis on his blog, Leading Motivated Learners, which you can find here. This is the librarians’ version. Thank you...
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It's Not Your Library
I am a lucky librarian! I work in a gorgeous, air conditioned two-story 5,000 square foot space. My administration has always been super supportive and I have spent almost $100,000 of grant money...
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ESSA: Victory for Libraries!
ESSA: What you need to know!ESSA stands for the Every Student Succeeds Act, a new bill signed in last month by President Obama. ESSA is basically a renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education...
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Is Checking Out Too Big a Price to Pay?
I did some weeding in my library today. I placed books of interest to adults in the faculty room and books of interest to teens in the library entrance. I sent an email to staff telling them where to...
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Back in the Genrefication Saddle
Almost two years ago I began a mission: to genrefy my fiction section. I did lots of research, attended workshops, and picked the brains of other librarians who have already made that journey.And...
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The Forgotten PD: Meeting Face to Face
I <3 professional development. I enjoy attending conferences. I am energized by giving workshops. I delight in learning from my online personal and professional learning communities and even...
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City of Blades: A Divine Read
City of Blades is the second book in The Divine Cities series by Robert Jackson Bennett. It tells of the continuing war between two peoples: the Saypuri and the Continentals who once enslaved them....
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A Dangerous Place: Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place
A Dangerous Place is Jacqueline Winspear's 11th book in the Maisie Dobbs series. It is spring, 1937 in the British garrison town of Gibraltor. Late 30's Gibraltar is a place of "between," full of...
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PARCC is NOT a graduation requirement for the Class of 2016!
IMPORTANT: PARCC is NOT a graduation requirement for the Class of 2016On Friday, May 6 the NJDOE and the Education Law Center reached a settlement on a case that has far reaching implications for...
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You Don't Need Religion to Raise Good Kids!
I wish this book had existed ten years ago when I was starting my family. Parents are often vilified for choosing to raise their children secularly, but this book provides a wonderful grace-filled...
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The Inspiration Behind Your Procrastination
When I began reading The Big Thing I was expecting organizational charts, schedules, and/or tips on how to be creative like people who do it well. I was expecting a convert, but was instead amused to...
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Pinned to the Cause
Every night, before I go to sleep, I lay out the jewelry I'm going to wear for the following day on my jewelry box. I'm organized like that. Guess that goes with the whole librarian stereotype.This...
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Hair in All the Wrong Places: A School Library Journal Book Review
Published August 2016 IssueGr 5-8-- Like most 13-year-olds going through puberty, Colin Strauss has to deal with extra hair, body odor, and growth spurts, but turning into a fledgling werewolf makes...
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What Kind of Librarian Are You?
In my almost ten years as a librarian, I have had the opportunity to work in different kinds of librarianship. I was a school library media specialist for six years, seven if you include my field...
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Book Review: The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull
The Ynaa, an alien species, arrive on The Virgin Islands to teach its inhabitants “a lesson.” They shower their new neighbors with advanced technology but their generosity is tempered by a violence we...
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Book Review: Recursion by Blake Crouch
Brilliant neuroscientist Helena Smith set out to map human memory in an effort to save her mother from Alzheimer’s. She instead creates the means to command time itself through memory, and of course...
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Book Review: "Loonshots" by Safi Bahcall
In “Loonshots,” Safi Bahcall aims to “show you how the science of phase transitions suggests a surprising new way of thinking about the world around us – about the mysteries of group behavior.” Bahcall...
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Lead to the Normal
We need to normalize mistakes and bad hair days. Not knowing the answer to questions even though we are library workers. We need to normalize mental health and medication and therapy. We need to...
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