FREE: School Library Social Media Calendar

One of my favorite, most relaxing things to do right now is to draw. If I can combine this habit with doing something productive, then so be it. One of the things that I spent some time on is a social media calendar for school libraries. 

If you have an Instagram account for yourself or for your school library, this un-dated calendar is full of ideas and prompts for posts throughout the course of an entire month! You could follow each day as listed, or pick and choose items as they are relevant to your situation. My thought was that if you have a rotating calendar of prompts, you can schedule posts ahead of time, or create content in bulk so that it's ready to go later on. 

Maybe you're lucky enough to have a volunteer or assistant that can help you run your school library account? Or, maybe your school has a social media club? This calendar would be a great way to give some structure or direction to someone else so that they can help out!

Click the image above to access a printable .PDF version of this school library social media calendar for FREE!

- Mrs L.

FREE! Zoom Signs for Remote Learning

One of my favorite things to do is draw on my iPad. It actually helps me to relax! In fact, I did all of the book illustrations for Coding to Kindness on my iPad using the Procreate app.

Some projects, like the book, are big projects that I work on over time. Other projects, like these Zoom signs, are something that I do out of necessity for myself... and then I realize how helpful they could potentially be for others, so I like to share! 

It started out as a set of signs that I would print out for myself to use for my remote students (currently, I'm expected to teach both remote and in-person/hybrid students at the same time). 

Full disclosure: this current situation is an unsustainable logistical nightmare. I've never felt like a worse teacher than I do this year. But teachers keep plugging forward, doing the best that we can with what we're given, and this idea is just one of them. 

It later occurred to me that a set of signs would also be a great tools for students! I can't even tell you how many times I've had students sit patiently with their hands up, and when I call on them, they ask, "May I use the bathroom?" 

...Aargh! You've been waiting that whole time? This is just one of the differences between elementary and middle school students. Middle school students don't wait. They'd just go. But those elementary students, they're so polite! If only my littles had a sign they could just hold up to silently alert me before ducking out for a minute, they could avoid waiting that whole awkward time! 

Is this the kind of thing that would help YOU out, too? If so, here's my entire folder of images - download them all, or just whatever you need! You can print them in color and cut them out into circles, or keep it simple by doing a quick black and white/photocopy printout, and square them off using a paper cutter. For the full treatment, print these out on card stock and laminate before gluing onto sticks. 

Keep a set for yourself, or create an entire class set to distribute and send home to students! And be sure to share share share with any other educators that you think might find this useful!  

Is there a sign that you wish existed, but isn't here? Send me a message via IG or Twitter, and I'll see what I can do! ☺️

- Mrs L.

Remote Learning Essentials: Teaching From Home (If You Are So Lucky...!)

As of right now, I won't get to teach from home. It's infuriating. I have asthma and ulcerative colitis, which is a chronic condition that comes and goes. I hadn't had a flare up since 2014. But it's here with full force presently, thanks to the stress I've been under regarding returning to school. Awesome.

Anyways, here's a blog post I've been meaning to write for those of you who ARE lucky enough to teach from home this fall. I have a really great work-from-home setup that does video conferencing and meetings pretty darn nicely, so I figured I'd share what works for me. I even have a whole pdf file with clickable links available HERE with complete details and recommended items.

download the entire pdf here

SCREEN REAL ESTATE

One of the items that I STRONGLY recommend (if you do nothing else!) is to get a second monitor. You can purchase one on Amazon relatively inexpensively, around $100, or you can use an iPad or other tablet you may have... or even an old computer/laptop? I've even seen teachers use tvs from their house to use as a second screen - so get creative! 

DON'T BE A SILHOUETTE

Next on my working-from-home list is lighting. It's a pet peeve of mine when people sit in front of a window. Like, their backdrop is a window. And I'm talking to a backlit silhouette. Aargh! This is simple (and free!) to fix. Just turn around. Face the window and the natural light, it will illuminate you beautifully! I know sometimes your layout may not permit this, so you can also invest in a simple light setup for your space, starting with a desk lamp for behind your computer that helps illuminate your face. You can get all fancy with a YouTuber-style ring light, or even invest in a videoconferencing light like Lume Cube sells. I do have one of these, and they're pretty cool. 

BUELLER? BUELLER?

If your microphone on your computer is not-so-great, it's easy to hook up an external mic. Just figure out what your computer input is: USB? Bluetooth? 1/8" (headphone) jack? and decide how much you want to spend! You may not have even realized it, but your earbuds with the built-in microphone are actually really good! Just this last week I decided to really treat myself with a back-to school gift of some sweet black Pixel Buds. #fancy. 

download the entire pdf here

NO MORE HEADACHES

Have you noticed increased eyestrain and headaches from starting at a screen for so long? You might want to try some blue light glasses. I gotta admit, I really just love the fashion statement of glasses, so I searched out some funky cat-eye styles on Amazon. For $10-20 you can grab a pair (or switch up your wardrobe with multiples!) and see what you think. Some people swear by them, and others claim to not notice any difference. I have noticed less eye strain when I've got mine on. Even if it's a placebo effect, I'll take it. And they're cute. :)

SHE'S CRAFTY

I've seen a bunch of awesome ideas for setting up your mobile phone or iPad as a doc cam for filming demonstrations, drawing, writing, or books. My fave is to use a locker shelf! (Face it, kids are always throwing these things out at the end of the year - harvest them up for free when you can!) Of course, you can always splurge on a gooseneck-style holder from Amazon for around $25-30 bucks, so it depends on how much effort you want to put into it. 

GFB FACTOR

Lastly, do not underestimate the power of a comfortable desk chair! I splurged on a cushy upholstered velvety swivel one in the spring, and I haven't regretted it once! My old desk chair was molded plastic, and I had no idea how uncomfortable that could be until I had to sit in it for hours on end last spring. Eek! (NOT Good For Butts, as my husband would say re: his made-up scale for measuring chair effectiveness.)

Do you want to see more of my home office setup? I actually did a whole Reset EDU video on this topic, and you can watch it here: 

- Mrs L.

#AllMeansAll: Tech Help Webinars for IL State Teachers

During April and May 2020, I worked with Teach Plus IL, who, in partnership with ILSTOY and NBPTS, held virtual PLN groups made up of teachers across the state in order to provide support during COVID-19 e-learning and remote-learning initiatives. The project, named All Means All, was an awesome way for educators to connect with other colleagues who taught in the same subject areas and levels and receive a variety of support. 

My part in this campaign was to provide weekly tech help sessions via webinar for any interested teachers. It was really awesome to be regarded as a leader who had some knowledge to share! I love learning about and sharing tech tools that can help make a difference in the everyday lives of teachers, and that can help students better demonstrate understanding or obtain additional help and support as needed. 

I am so grateful to have so many awesome friends and ed tech connections in my professional learning network that I was able to bring some of them in to help me and give Illinois state teachers a better understanding of some essential tech tools for e-learning! 

Here's what we covered:

• 4.23.20: Google Classroom for Beginners
• 4.30.20: Screencastify Basics (ft. Nefertiti Dukes)
• 5.7.20: Flipgrid Fever (ft. Jornea Erwin and Jess Boyce)
• 5.14.20: Google Jamboard for All (ft. Kim Mattina)
• 5.21.20: GSuite Tools, Which Ones to Use?
  (Handout 1: Google Tools | Handout 2: Google Meet)

The sessions above are all linked to the accompanying 1-pager handout that I gave to webinar attendees (with the exception of Jamboard, which is linked to Kim Mattina's website full of awesome resources!).

You can find out more about All Means All on the Teach Plus website here.  

- Mrs L.

A Message from ILSTOY Teachers to All Educators

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! 

Ever since our stay-at-home-order, I've been pretty bogged down with not only teaching from home, but a lot of other outside projects, too. (Have you seen my media page lately? Lots of podcasts, webinars, etc... I know I don't even have them all listed there!) So needless to say, both this blog and Reset EDU channels have suffered as a result... :(

One of my outside projects is a weekly LIVE tech help webinar for teachers across IL state. It's an effort through Teach Plus IL and the ILSTOY network to create PLCs of teachers, no matter where they teach/live in the state, to help them with their remote learning challenges. It's been fun, but intimidating! The first week was all about Google Classroom, and last week we demonstrated Screencastify for teachers. I was lucky to have Nef from Screencastify stop by to take some Q&A from the attendees. This week will be all about Flipgrid, and Jornea has agreed to stop by! I'm pretty excited. Coming up after that are sessions on Jamboard (w/my friend Kim Mattina of The Suite Talk) and Google Suite for Education tools. 

Another project I'm involved with is the ILSTOY (IL State Teachers of the Year) organization. We wanted to do something to help show our support for teaching during our current situation. One of those things is to partner up with ASCD and PBS to support the #SeniorPortrait Campaign "to amplify the voices of millions of high school seniors whose class experiences were dramatically disrupted by the coronavirus shutdown."

Our other project was a short video that we released to show our support and thanks to teachers out there doing whatever they can to help support our students. You can check it out here:

I know that we would love to get as wide a reach as possible with this video! Please share this message on your social media channels and tag a teacher who you know could use a little boost!

- Mrs L.