Reflections and AASL Digital Tools

This week, our module discussed school librarians as technology leaders. Many are responsible for managing laptops and other audio visual equipment. Middle and high school librarians often print ID badges, print posters, and laminate. Teachers often collaborate with school librarians to enhance their lessons through digital tools and resources.  In my experience, teachers will send their class to the library if they have to leave and do not have a substitute teacher to cover their class period.  When this happens, I am responsible for assisting the students with their classwork.  It is beneficial for me to be familiar with the technology that they're using, or be able to recommend a digital resource that can help them with their classwork. Our modules shared several articles that detailed the need for school librarians to be proficient with technology. Life in the library is not just a quiet room with only books; we have vibrant makerspaces, computer catalogs, computer check in/out stations, Promethean boards, and much more. 

One of the first resources that school librarians can refer to is the school library website.  At minimum, it should have easy access to digital tools such as the library catalog.  I think that other resources such as a link to the public library, and state provided research tools such as SC Discus, will be helpful for students to use for their research. 

I have always enjoyed seeing photos of school libraries.  I think it would be cool to have a virtual tour or pictures of the library for everyone to view.  They could visualize what the sections look like, where they need to go for self-check out, what the circulation desk looks like, what the book return area looks like, etc. 

I also feel that it's necessary to have a section for library rules, check out policies, and a book suggestion order form.  I also think that each school library should post their district's policy on book selection, removal, and banning. 

________________________________________________________________________________

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has created a wonderful webpage that lists the best digital tools for Teaching and Learning.  Every year, educators can nominate their favorite digital tools and the winners are listed on the website.  The digital tool that I want to discuss is called KidLit TV.

This resource offers tons of videos with authors, music, book trailers and more.  I think this would be very helpful for school librarians and other teachers who wanted to add a bit of razzle dazzle to their lesson plans.  This would be great for an author study within a school library, or for a teacher to introduce a new book. There are several different sections of Kid Lit TV, including KLTV Shows, Radio, Crafts, Book Trailers, and more. 

KLTV Shows offers interviews with children's book authors, virtual read-aloud sessions with an author reading a book, and Ready Set Draw! that shows students the steps of how to draw a particular animal or book character. 

Kid Lit Radio offers a children's literature podcast made just for kids! Each episode is an interview with an author about the book that they've written.

Kid Lit Crafts and Activities offers several themed crafts/activities for numerous subjects such as weather, seasons, holidays, and more.

Kid Lit Book Trailers are videos that introduce and promote a book.  Usually it is created in a video format and gives a brief overview of the story.