Be Intentional: Why Slow Change is Good for You

Be Intentional: Why Slow Change is Good for You | When changing something (your library space, your classroom, your life) quick, sudden change can be jarring. Being slow, deliberate and intentional can have power and make changes longer lasting.

I was a media specialist at my previous school for seven years.  A TON of things changed there during that time.  But they didn’t happen overnight.  I built things up piece by piece.  I experimented and tried new things.  There were plenty of failures, to be sure.  But there were also great successes that my … Read more

The Power of Slowing Down: Do I Really Need More?

The POWER of Slowing Down: Do I really need more? | It's so tempting in life to keep adding more and more. More responsibilities. More commitments. More speaking engagements and writing commitments and webinars and articles. But it's okay to slow down.

This summer has been one of a lot of reflecting for me.  For the first time in seven years, I’ll be at a new school next year.  This coming school year, I’ll have two books published under my name.  So much is going on and so much has happened so fast.  This summer, I’ve slowed … Read more

An Ode to the Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual

An Ode to the Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual | The Readers Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual served as a source of creative inspiration for me as a child. I loved flipping through its pages and dreaming up project ideas.

The Complete Do-it-yourself Manual When I was growing up, the 1973 edition of the Reader’s Digest Complete Do-it-yourself Manual sat on a shelf in our garage.  I was born in 1984, so the book was well over a decade old by the time I was reading it.  I wasn’t really that into the handyman section … Read more

What if we had CREATIVITY bellwork?

What if we had CREATIVITY BELLWORK? | What if, instead of forcing students through dull worksheets everyday, we created bellwork that allows them to flex their creativity?

  I’m working through Austin Kleon‘s amazing Steal Like an Artist Journal (Check out my review of his book Steal Like an Artist here).  As I’ve been working through the various exercises designed to boost creativity and help you get new ideas, I was struck by how beneficial these types of exercises would be to our … Read more