School Librarians Want More Tech—and Bandwidth | SLJ 2015 Tech Survey Photo by Bob Gathany IPads, maker spaces, 3-D printers, and coding skills top the tech wish lists for 1,259 school librarians across the country, according to School Library Journal’s (SLJ) 2015 Technology Survey. Educators are hungry to bring their students even more—whether that’s robotics classes or Arduino kits. “New computers, tablets, video equipment, all digital tools, instruction on usage, [and] enough bandwidth” count among the must-haves for Andrea Oshima, a school librarian at Aviara Oaks Elementary School in Carlsbad, CA. While school librarians are eager to expand their tech tools, they have concerns about adequate infrastructure and connectivity, budgets, and administrative support. Supporting project creation From coding to application development, adopting GoPro cameras and Raspberry Pis, librarians are determined to support “project creation,” as one respondent said. Applications However, social media access is still not allowed at some schools. Need for bandwidth Budgets
HippoCampus - Homework and Study Help - Free help with your algebra, biology, environmental science, American government, US history, physics and religion homework Ideas And Inspiration For The K-12 Community - K-12 Internet Resource Center K-12 Science and Health Education MedlinePlus(Grades 6 -12+) Easy to read health information. An excellent source for all ages. Also available in Spanish PubMed(Grades 11 – 12+) A citation index for articles from medical and life science journals. ^ Back to Top Drought Drought(Grades 8 - 12) Information page about droughts, why they occur, and their impact on our health and the environment. Floods Floods Factsheet (PDF, 1.32 MB)(Grades 1 - 8) Engaging factsheet to help students better understand floods.Federal Emergency Management Agency Floods iQuest(Grades 6 - 8) Lesson plan to teach students about the causes and impact of flooding on the environment and human health. Environmental Health Science/Chemistry ChemIDplus(Grades 7 – 12+) View and manipulate chemical structures for over 388,000 chemicals. Forensics and Medical Technology Base Chase(Grades 7 - 12) Mobile iOS game that teaches DNA base pairing. ToxMystery(Grades 1 – 5) Interactive site teaching elementary school students about toxic substances in the home.
Fully Loaded: Outfitting a teacher librarian for the 21st century. Here’s what it takes. Illustration by John S. Dykes What does it mean to be fully loaded? I often consider the notion for my students. In fact, ever since I acquired the first apps for my iPhone, I’ve adopted the admittedly odd habit of pondering which apps I would “load” onto my students. If, indeed, high school students were smartphones or iPads, I would do my very best to fully load them with the critical skills and tools they need to become information- and media-fluent adults. Like many of you, I’m often blessed with the opportunity to mentor preservice teacher librarians. A former nurse who also volunteered with us as a parent, Nora is nearing the completion of her Masters of Education program at Arcadia University in Philadelphia and will soon receive her teacher-librarian credential. But there are gaps, missing competencies critical for contemporary practice. With the understanding that this list will need revisiting every couple of years, here are my nonnegotiable requirements for 2011:
America in Class: Resources for history & literature teachers Home | ASHP/CML Teacher Resources The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching. Find Library of Congress lesson plans and more that meet Common Core standards, state content standards, and the standards of national organizations. Discover and discuss ways to bring the power of Library of Congress primary sources into the classroom. Go to the blog Subscribe to the blog via e-mail or RSS. Using Primary Sources Discover quick and easy ways to begin using primary sources in your classroom, with teachers' guides, information on citing sources and copyright, and the Library's primary source analysis tool. TPS Partners The Teaching with Primary Sources Program builds partnerships with educational organizations to support effective instruction using primary sources. The Teaching with Primary Sources Journal