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I'm working on revamping station ideas to tie them in with my Field Notes lessons. One of the stations I want to pursue is I am a Biographer and I thought I'd start with Women's History since it starts just next Tuesday. Read Write Think had this great idea of creating a scrapbook for Women's History. First, decide how to organize the scrapbook. Group entries thematically, such as Women in Sports, Women in Politics, or Women in Science. Pages can be arranged chronologically, by date, year, or decade. Students may also choose a unique approach, such as Women's History A-Z, with an entry for each letter of the alphabet. Use the Alphabet Organizer to get started.I like this because it can be done any month for this station, so I click on the Alphabet Organizer link. This lovely screen is what I see:Whoa! Wait! I thought I had Flash! Obviously I don't, so I click on the link and find out that they have retired Flash. mmmmmm that would explain why I've seen nothing needing it in ages. The good news is that I probably already have something similar, but it's going to bug me for a bit that I couldn't see this one!I am realizing that I'm seriously behind the times on this. FlashPlayer was discontinued in December of 2020, and in January of 2021 Flash content was blocked. Well, drat. Since I haven't noticed this before (or maybe I did, but it was a year ago and I just forgot), kudos to all the sites that took care of their old Flash content. Wondering what other Flash dinosaurs are out there roaming the internet in surprise locations . . .

http://bitsygriffin.blogspot.com/2022/02/adobe-flashplayer.html

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http://bitsygriffin.blogspot.com/2022/02/test.html

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 Winter Olympics Link

http://bitsygriffin.blogspot.com/2022/01/winter-olympics-lesson.html

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Link to Lesson

http://bitsygriffin.blogspot.com/2022/01/jackie-robinson-lesson-for-library.html

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link to lesson

http://bitsygriffin.blogspot.com/2022/01/snowy-day-lesson-for-library.html

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 I just finished an article y Joellen Killion called Are You Coaching Heavy or Light? I'm having a hard time finding it online, but if you search for it, you can download it. Again, I'm drawing parallels from a coaching article to school librarianship, but they really aren't outside the realms of possibilities.I'm at the beach right now, so while the author uses the terms light and heavy, I'm thinking shallow and deep. We start out in the shallow end. We learn the terrain, grasp the temperature, better understand the way the water is moving. If we want to get more than our feet wet, however, we have to venture out into deeper waters. I laughed when I saw Ms. Killion used these terms near the end of the article!Possible shallow behaviors:book recommendationslists of websitesmaterials that support read-aloudsattending PLCsteaching that supports subject standardsThese are important as the help build relationships with teachers and students and they are definitely within the boundaries of what we should be doing as school librarians. Possible deep behaviors:analyzing library and class dataexamining student workconducting action researchasking questions that will increase teacher use of the libraryengaging students in conversations about what they want/needcollaboration with teachersco-teachingHonestly, I'm not sure what I think about this list, and I'll be the first to admit that at the elementary level (where I teach 30-40 classes a week), even the shallow behaviors seem daunting. Do I even want to get my feet wet? These things are worth thinking about, though, as we set goals for the upcoming school year. I want to be a librarian with deep (or at least deeper) behaviors, but do I have the time and energy for those to be a reality? 

http://bitsygriffin.blogspot.com/2021/07/moving-librarianship-from-light-to-heavy.html

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I’ve been thinking a lot about the place that librarians have in the curriculum continuum in a school, and this has led me to reading books, blogs, and websites of curriculum coaches and a few principals. Ms. Houser recently posted titled, “How to clarify instructional coaching roles & responsibilities.” As I was reading it, I thought this could really be beneficial to school librarians too. I’m going to modify the list a bit to fit what we do. 1. Define what school librarians do. Make a list of what you do daily, weekly, monthly, and even annually. As an elementary librarian, what people see me do is teach, and at times it may look like I’ve got a good bit of spare time. But there are so many things that go on in the background when I’m not teaching. I loved that she included the question, “Where am I stretched thin?” Those times are on us before we know it, so let’s highlight them and see how we can make those times or tasks less cumbersome.Find a partner librarian! Everyone can benefit from a collaborator. I’ve got a couple that I talk with multiple times a day via texts. These relationships are incredibly valuable on so many levels. 2. Meet with your principal.This is one I’ve been talking about for years! Does your principal know what you do? Does she know how much time certain parts of your job take? What is his vision for the library and librarian at your school? At one school, the principal told me they wanted the library to be a place where students could come at any time to read. That’s a wonderful goal, but how does it happen if I’m on the specialist rotation teaching 6-9 classes each day? And this is a perfect time to discuss those “stretched thin” items. 3.  Share with your staff. Now that you have your role as school librarian clarified, you can start sharing with the staff. This could be done in part of a staff meeting, PLCs, email, or in a Staff Library Digital Handbook that you create. 

http://bitsygriffin.blogspot.com/2021/07/defining-our-roles-as-school-librarians.html

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 Last school year was a bear for us all. We taught remotely, we taught combinations of remote and in-person, we taught multiple groups on different days, and we taught in person. We were told 6-feet was very important until there were too many kids in school to do 6-feet, then 3-feet became important. And let's see, how many first days did we have? Well, I quit counting so, I'm not really sure anymore!Thank goodness for summer! We have 8 weeks of summer break, and it's been a little more than a month now. When people ask what I've done, I say nothing. Glorious nothing. So I have done the following:watched TVreadnappedspent untold hours on social medialunched with friendsplayed with the grandkidswent on lots of long walks with Ronand lots of no-brain needed things ;)I focused on all those good nothing things that there just never seems to be enough time for during the school year! But doing nothing isn't quite right. More tangible things have slipped into all this nothingness and I've moved forward on more than a few things!finished plans for a summer reading programpracticed my Spanish *most* dayscrocheted several blanketsfound a new place to live in the fallworked in the school book roommade new EASY, Nonfiction, and Fiction signsstarted making plans for an idea I got about Library Reading Journalsvisited some ideas for Kindle booksworked on various websiteI also applied and interviewed for a job outside my comfort zone. I didn't get it, but I gave it a shot!Today, I'm trying not to panic as I look over the next three weeks. My Type A personality is trying to assert itself, and I'm just not ready for it to emerge. Even though, reality says I've done more than nothing, the schedule was relaxed. If I got up and chose to do nothing, nothing was a fine accomplishment. 

http://bitsygriffin.blogspot.com/2021/07/summer-refresh.html

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Gator Greetings for the upcoming school year. It is two sided, but difficult to see from the outside because of the sun and tinted windows. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQBkoADA3n7/?utm_medium=tumblr

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I walked into the new school library at Chatham Grove Elementary School for the first time in May 2020. There was so much space! It was incredible! We could host a square dance in between the eighteen double-sided rolling shelves, four book carts, and two rolling chairs. The furniture looked so small all by themselves. [...]You may view the latest post athttps://knowledgequest.aasl.org/when-you-give-a-school-librarian-an-empty-space/

http://bitsygriffin.blogspot.com/2020/09/when-you-give-school-librarian-empty.html

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What fun! https://www.kidsaskauthors.com/join-the-kid-reviewer-club https://www.instagram.com/p/CB1YGliA7C4/?igshid=yhpygafsjb6t

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Join award-winning children’s book authors and idea machines Stacy McAnulty (My Universe series) and Lily Williams (If Animals Disappeared series) for fascinating insight into their research. Come prepared to tune up your scientific knowledge about our universe and the crucial role so many of our favorite animals play in the world. Author Q&A to follow. https://static.macmillan.com/static/macmillanchildrens/mackids-streaming-schoolhouse/science-class-june.html https://www.instagram.com/p/CByjbO9guld/?igshid=1i45qi4dasqtd

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Max Explains Everything: Puppy Expert! Deborah Hocking prizes! Check out her website to find out more! https://www.instagram.com/p/CByh_VuAKWl/?igshid=y55p532yclf8

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Two walls done. Need more paint! https://www.instagram.com/p/CBl13J6Ai5X/?igshid=11yzjope30lcm

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at Marietta, Atlanta, GA https://www.instagram.com/p/CBa5O6RAd__/?igshid=5379b53m7mqa

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at Marietta, Georgia https://www.instagram.com/p/CBa5HX_gwO3/?igshid=w5gvfyle6rw8

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at Winston-Salem, North Carolina https://www.instagram.com/p/CBa4lgsgVhq/?igshid=gmi9y3ybxifg