The Great Wall of Legos!

 

                      

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I will admit, I am totally obsessed with the use of Legos in schools and libraries. Let me explain... kids of all ages can enjoy legos.  They are easy to house and keep neat. There is no limit on the things you can build and create. There is no recurring cost and most parents don't mind donating used legos to schools. You can use Legos to teach the elements of a story and other state standards. You can teach team work, collaboration, and social skills. 

                           

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When I have my own library, my very first Maskerspace will be Legos! I have mounds of legos just waiting. Lego tables, building mats, and storage boxes are essential.  I especially want a Lego wall!! My vision for this wall is rather simple.  I want a space where students of all ages can quickly create something visible in the library. Over time, students can add to another student's work to create something totally different. According to Lauren Britton, "A maker space refers to people coming together to create and share resources, knowledge, and "stuff""(Britton, 2012). By having one wall for the school, the students can develop a sence of community and collaboration.  

"Makers build off the ideas of others and choose the best tools for the job" 

(Makerspace Playbook, 2013)

                           

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Let me introduce you to the most amazing blog that I came across recently.  This blog is called Renovated Learning: Building a Culture of Creativity + Discovery in Education. This blog is filled with amazing information on Makerspace! 

http://www.renovatedlearning.com/blog/

In this blog, you can find out:

How to build a Lego wall.

The Tale of the Epic Lego Wall

Epic Builds

Lego Wall Round-up: Celebrating a Year of Awesome

I love that the creator of this blog looks back and evaluates the usefullness of the Lego wall. I feel that a Lego wall can be a great addition to any library or classroom because they allow for endless creativity at any age. 

Resources

Brittion, Lauren. (2012, October 1). The Makings of Maker Spaces, Part 1: Space for Creation Not 

      Consumption. School Library Journal the-makings-of-maker-spaces-part-1-space-for-creation-not-

      just-consumption

Image 1. https://www.npr.org/2021/04/03/983870097/people-are-stealing-legos-heres-why

Image 2. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/06/education-lego-let-our-kids-be-kids-

      protesters-sats

Image 3. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a9/7f/f7/a97ff7adf0aec4b5cb226e3417f2dd81.jpg

Makerspace Team (2013). Makerspace Playbook: School Edition. Maker Media

Rendina, Diana. (2015). Renovated Learnig: Building a Cuture of Creativity + Discovery in Education. 

       http://www.renovatedlearning.com/blog/

Rendina, Diana. (2014, September 12). How to Build an Epic Lego Wall. Renovated Learnig: Building a 

       Cuture of Creativity + Discovery in Education. http://www.renovatedlearning.com/2014/09/12/the-

       epic-library-lego-wall-how-to-build-one/

Rendina, Diana. (2014, September 11). The Tale of the Epic Lego Wall. Renovated Learnig: Building a Cuture of Creativity + Discovery in Education. http://www.renovatedlearning.com/2014/09/11/the-tale-of-the-epic-library-lego-wall-part-1/

Rendina, Diana. (2014, September26). Recent Epic Lego Builds. Renovated Learnig: Building a Cuture of Creativity + Discovery in Education. http://www.renovatedlearning.com/2014/09/26/recent-epic-lego-builds/

Rendina, Diana. (2015, September 11). Celebrating a Year of Awesome. Renovated Learnig: Building a Cuture of Creativity + Discovery in Education. http://www.renovatedlearning.com/2015/09/11/lego-wall-round-up/

"Don't Be Mean Behind the Screen"

                                           

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This week hit me HARD!!!  The videos, articles, and pictures in this weeks module were often hard to digest.  Just as Faucher, Cassidy, and Jackson pointed out in their article "From the Sand Box to the Inbox," the face of bullying has changed drastically. As a kid of the 80's and 90's, bullying was name calling and 'yo mama' jokes.  Now our children are bombarded with innocent social media posts that make them feel less than as well as down right vicious cyber attacks from peers and even random unknown people.  We are fueling the fire on mental illness and pushing our precious youth right over the edge and it breaks my heart.  

                                         

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If you have been a classroom teacher before, you understand the connection you make with your students. They become 'your kids.'  I was always looking out for my classroom students as if they were my own. Now with my sights set on being a librarian, I'll have 500+ students.  I have no doubt that I wil make that connection with most of them!  I know I will become a mama bear and things like cyberbullying will anger me even more because it will be multiplied by 500!  

The one thing that stood out the most to me this week is the ease at which people can cyberbully.  There are numerous platforms that make bullying a sport.  They hide your identiy to embolden people to be mean. We see it all of the time with adults on Facebook.  By putting a screen in between the bully and the victim, the bully looses the human connection that initates the remorse response.  These young victims sit alone while dealing with their hurt and pain.

Just as librarians need to teach information literacy, we also need to be educating our students about technology edicate and cyberbullying. We cannot assume that these lessons will be taught at home. Anti cyberbullying lessons need to be taught at school.  Our local school dedicates a week to the anti bullying compaign.  In addition to lessons, librarains, teachers, parents, and administrators, need to constantly reinforce anti cyberbullying lessons and create a daily dialog about how we should be treating others in person and online.

              

                              

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Part of the solution to end cyberbullying is to teach children, and adults, to build each other up.  If we are constantly pointing out the good in each other we will leave little time to focus on tearing each other down.  I loved the video Digital4Good Smile Cards! Cards like this could be given out when students check out library books.  The students would be encouraged to keep passing these little cards around to people.  You never know when a card will land in the hands of someone who really needs it.  Librarians could also use the Snapchat, instagram, and twitter accounts are raise awareness to cyberbullying and give shoutouts to amazing students at school.  Creating a school climate of kindness, respect, and inclusiveness will set the tone for students to notice when their cyber activity has become hurtful.  This amosphere will also be helpful when the victims of cyber bullying reach out of help.  Librarians, teachers, and other school staff must be in tune with their student body and their mental health.  

Refrences

Faucher, C., Cassidy, W., & Jackson, M. (2015). From the sandbox to the inbox: Comparing the acts,  

     impacts, and solutions of bullying in K-12, higher education, and the workplace. Journal of Education

    And Training Studies, 3(6), 11-125.

Image 1. https://schoolessentials.com.au/Product/8261942/DON%27T%20BE%20MEAN%20POP%20

    CHART%20%20%20%20%20%20%20/#.YWhySS2cZQI Retrieved: October 2021.

Image 2. https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it Retrieved: October 2021.

Image 3.https://web.archive.org/web/20181129151348/http://www.edudemic.com/teachers-guide-digital

    -citizenship/

Never in a MILLION Years....

 Never in a million years would I have thought that Snapchat would become an acceptable platform for an educator to communicate with students! 

Librarysmoak6

My goal as a school librarian is to create a library atmosphere that is safe, welcoming, and full of hidden treasures waiting for kids to explore.  To do this, I must meet them where they are.  And, they are on Snapchat!  They live on Snapchat!  After reading the article by Jensen, Integrating Social Media into Online Education, as well as observing my own four children, Snapchat is among the top social media tools used by students.  I chose this platform with the intentions of it being an "add-on" to the school's Facebook and Instagram page.  Let's face it, kids with Snapchat are getting younger and younger.  My Snapchat account will give these students, and their parents, a worthwhile account to follow.  

Things I plan to post:

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Fun books, magazines, videos, and links for kids to check out.  These types of posts can be linked to areas of instruction in classrooms as well as the library.  Sharing information that will get kids excited to explore curriculum topics creates a "win-win" situation.  Kids win because they gain a more in-depth knowledge of school standards, and teachers win because students gain a more in-depth knowledge of school standards!!  

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Games, trivia, and contests.  These posts will be used to hook students to the account.  If the students are constantly looking at our page for the next game or contest, they might just happen to stumble upon a new book that will grab their attention. 

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Silly stories about library staff to build connections.  It is really important to connect with the students and families in the community.  By letting people see behind the scenes of the library, they will want to come into the library to see what is going on.  

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Announcements/ reminders about upcoming events such a the Book Fair and overdue books.  Communication is key in creating a space where kids want to come. A school can have the biggest and best library in the world, but if we fail to let people know, it will one lonely place.  Sending out quick announcements will keep students in the know about what is going on in the library.

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Connections to classroom and library lessons in the real world. Letting kids see why we learn things is so important. Taking a selfie to show students an electric car charging in a parking lot can be a really cool way to make a connection between the lesson on electricity and real life.

I believe with these types of posts, students will be excited about library events, topics, and even instruction.  By obtaining a positive social media presence, I can be my own best advocate for the school library.  If kids are excited, parents are excited.  This will lead to an amazing network of learning opportunities, support systems, and the mastery of independent inquiry. "Social media is the perfect companion tool for a great many things we already do in the library"(Robertson, 2017).

Resources

Image 1. https://www.naperville203.org/highlands

Image 2. https://legolibrarian.com/2017/03/13/tween-programming-are-you-smarter-than-a-librarian-                     trivia-night/

Image 3. https://electricliterature.com/librarians-are-secretly-the-funnest-people-alive/

 

Image 4. http://clipart-library.com/clipart/105005.htm

Image 5. https://www.learningliftoff.com/5-outdoor-learning-activities-to-celebrate-spring/

Jensen, Lucas. (2019).  Integrating Social Media into Online Education. Library Technology Reports. 

Robertson, Nikki. (2017). Connected Librarians: Tap into Social Media to Enhance Professional                             Development and Student Learning. International Society for Technology in Education.