theMsMcCallum Blog

  This GIF was created by Carson McCallum using Canva with information from "The National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries." The Include Shared Foundation and Insight with Elizabeth Long from Doby's Mill Elementary in Kershaw County Reflections on the Shared Foundation The Include shared foundation put me in mind of how librarians are able to create environments of openness, understanding, and communication. The Think portion of the shared foundation addresses how librarians get learners to think about others and different learning experiences. It also addresses how librarians expose students to diverse points of view so they can become well-rounded, worldly thinkers and speakers. It is important for librarians to diversify the experience of learners so they can make connections between themselves and their local and global communities. The Create domain is about the provision of learning opportunities and the exposure of lea...

  This GIF was created by Carson McCallum using Canva with information from "The National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries." The Explore Shared Foundation and Insight with Emily Baccomo from Lugoff-Elgin Middle School Reflections on the Shared Foundation Reading the Explore Shared Foundation and trying to reflect on how I would implement the domains and competencies made me realize the importance of having a diverse collection and toolbox of ideas for serving school students and staff. The Explore shared foundation guides librarian involvement in student learning in both interactions and provision of library resources. The Think domain specifically emphasized the ideas about having multiple formats of materials available and different methods for encouraging questioning and reasons to read, write, or make. Matthew Joesph (2019) wrote an article for Teach Better about strategies for building critical thinking skills with students ...

  This GIF was created by Carson McCallum using Canva with information from "The National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries." The Engage Shared Foundation and Insight with Lorie Willis-Richards from Union County High School Reflections on the Shared Foundation The Engage shared foundation is geared toward how the librarian interacts with information materials and students. An important aspect of this standard is that information is shared legally and ethically. Students should know how to find information in different varieties that suits their needs and be able to incorporate, respond to, and cite that information without plagiarizing. The librarian should also be that same role model for staff - helping them to find resources and avoid copyright violations. One of the competencies that stood out to me about this foundation was from the Think domain about school librarians demonstrating how to analyze information for accuracy, va...

Incorporating technology in your lessons can take your lessons to a new height - but what about taking your students to a whole new reality? The evolution of technology means that there are increasingly new and interesting ways it can be incorporated into lessons or for engagement. Virtual reality (VR) is one of those amazing technological advances. If this is an interesting concept to you, you may want to explore your options as high tech can also mean a high price tag. One example of this is Hololens 2 . This is a headset that can be used to view and interact with images created in augmented reality. The Hololens 2 cost is $3,500 and includes the device, protective case, head strap, charger, and a one-year warranty. The bundle costs the same amount and includes $500 Azure credits and trials for Unity Pro and Pixyz Plug in. The website indicates examples in which this devices was beneficial for anatomy and biology based classes but a list of applications is also available. The apps p...

A blog I discovered was Stump the Teacher and the post I read was "Lessons from the Library Makerspace" by Josh Stumpenhorst. Stumpenhorst no longer uses the Blogger account so if you are interest in what he has to say he updates his new blog at the website here . At the time of publishing this blog entry, Stumpenhorst was discussing how he was evolving his practice as a librarian at a Junior High School and as a Learning Commons Director. He recalls that his gets questioned about the inclusion of a makerspace and responds that the maker space is not always connected to the core curriculum. The idea of a vibrant and busy creative space is contradictory to the stereotypical notion of the library as a quiet and isolated space. In my opinion, the latter doesn't work for today's learners as much as the former. Students today use technology and collaborate with peers across nations in ways that weren't dreamed about when libraries were first constructed and in order t...

Image Credit: Webpurify A comment that was made to be about modern day bullying is that it is worse than the bullying of 20 or even 30 years ago because it can go beyond the schoolyard. Now that students as young as elementary school have access to their peers through the internet, there is no barrier that makes a student safe from the cruel intent of a peer. There's also the phrase that "the internet is forever" - once a cruel post is made, it can spread beyond the conflicting students to the whole school, community, state, nation, etc. Anyone with access will be able to engage with the bullying and deleting is sometimes impossible. The background information and research outlined in "From the Sandbox to the Inbox: Comparing the Acts, Impacts, and Solutions of Bullying in K-12, Higher Education, and the Workplace" supports this - and there have been many more cases that have been covered in the media since. With this in mind, what can be done? The article from ...