How to Start a Makerspace When You’re Broke

How to Start a Makerspace When You're Broke

  You CAN start a makerspace even if you’re broke In my recent post on AASL Knowledge Quest, I decided to revisit and revamp a popular article that I wrote for the ISTE Librarians Network Scanner about starting a makerspace on a budget.  Since writing that article in November 2014, I’ve talked to many more educators and … Read more

Read This Book: Essentialism

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, is not a book written specifically for educators, yet out of all the books I’ve read so far this year, it’s had the most profound effect on me. The author, Greg McKeown, explains his philosophy of Essentialism in the book.  And I found myself nodding my head over and … Read more

Read this Book: Steal Like an Artist

Read this Book: Steal Like an Artist | While being an educator might not be seen as a "creative" type career, the advice that Austin Kleon offers about sharing your work and putting yourself out there really resonates with me. There's a great deal we educators have to learn from him. | RenovatedLearning.com

While on the flight to AASL in Columbus, OH, I read Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative in its entirety.  Like Show Your Work, which I read over the summer, Steal Like an Artist offers fantastic advice on being creative, promoting your work, sharing with others and following your … Read more

How to Let Go of Fear & Put Yourself Out There

How to LET GO of FEAR and Put Yourself Out There | It can be so easy for us to downplay our achievements, to be scared of the criticism of others, and to never share our voices. But I feel that it is vital for us to put ourselves out there, take the risk, and share our stories. | RenovatedLearning.com

As I’ve been reflecting on all that’s happened this year and I look ahead to next year, I’ve been thinking about how things have changed for me and how I’ve grown. Learning to put yourself out there When I first started working as a school librarian just over five years ago, I was treading water, trying to … Read more

Read This Book: Get Active

Read this book: Get Active: Reimagining Learning Spaces for Student Success | In my review of Get Active, I talk about the learning space design theory that this book discusses. In particular, I look into how active learning spaces play a role in school libraries.

  Get Active: Reimagining Learning Spaces for Student Success I got my copy of Get Active: Reimagining Learning Spaces for Student Success at ISTE 2015 this summer in Philadelphia.  I love reading about and studying learning space design theory.  I truly feel that innovative learning environments can transform how our students learn.  This book is an … Read more

AASL 15 Reflections

AASL 15 Reflections - In this post, I share about my experiences at the AASL 2015 conference in Columbus, OH. It starts with the Treasure Mountain preconference, then moves on to talking about meeting authors, seeing friends, sharing about makerspaces and more.

AASL Awesomeness Last week I went to my first ever American Association of School Librarians conference in Columbus, OH (thanks to ABC-CLIO and the France Henne award).  It was an amazing and wonderful whirlwind of hanging out with friends, listening to fantastic speakers, meeting my favorite authors and getting to share with so many people … Read more

Read This Book: Making Makers

Making Makers: Kids, Tools, and the Future of Innovation | This book takes a look at the childhood expereinces of many prominent makers, and looks at what common factors they had. It also offers advice for helping raise the next generation of makers.

“What is a ‘maker’? Quite simply, makers make things. Some makers build robots, some sew clothes, some prepare food, some design tools, some construct houses. ‘Maker’ isn’t a title conveyed after passing some test or degree program; rather, it is a self-identification.  It’s also not, by any stretch of the imagination, a new concept.” In … Read more