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The purpose of the Illinois Standards Aligned Instruction for Libraries (I-SAIL) document is to empower and assist school librarians to educate students through information, media, digital, and individual literacies.

These standards focus directly on what the librarian teaches and the student learns. Librarians have a multi-faceted role that incorporates library management, circulation, collaboration, and instruction. The focus of this document is to provide a framework for the school librarian's impact on student learning. This is the language that is understood by school administrators. In writing these standards we considered the importance of measurable student growth and creating student learning objectives.

The 2022 model forgoes the aggregation of state and national standards and instead focuses on providing school librarians with a simplified framework that focuses on objectives related to four key literacies. Below you will find the link to a Google Drive Folder containing the new I-SAIL framework. This allows you to open, download, or print out the layout that best works for you.

Available until July 1, 2024

Standards Websites:

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The purpose of the Illinois Standards Aligned Instruction for Libraries (I-SAIL) document is to empower and assist school librarians to educate students through information, media, digital, and individual literacies. These standards focus directly on what the librarian teaches and the student learns. Librarians have a multi-faceted role that incorporates library management, circulation, collaboration, and instruction.

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This course provides an overview of media technologies used in the teaching/learning process. Emphasis is given to effective utilization of media (including interactive and multimedia technologies); facilitating creation/production of media by students and teachers in elementary, middle, and

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URL Shortener - Short URLs & Custom Free Link Shortener | Bitly

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Bitly’s Connections Platform is more than a free URL shortener, with robust link management software, advanced QR Code features, and a Link-in-bio solution.

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We are the most comprehensive media bias resource on the internet. Don't be fooled by Fake News sources. Search Media Bias. View Fact Checks. Breaking News.

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20 ways to use ChatGPT in the Classroom.png

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Content curation is a vital part of the creative process. In this blog post and podcast, we explore why curation matters and how we can help students learn how to engage in the curation process.

When we think of creativity, it's easy to picture a person coming up with something entirely new, pulling it from thin air and making it from scratch. But if you watch people engaged in creative work, they are often critical consumers of the same type of work they create. There's this ongoing cycle of critical consuming, inspiration, and creative work. As they create more, it leads to a deeper ability to consume critically, where they find more inspiration, and the cycle continues.

Chefs enjoy great meals. Musicians listen to great music. Engineers make sense out of what other people have designed. The better they are at consuming, the more likely they are to be inspired to create something new.

So, if we want students to be makers, we need students to be critical consumers.

However, we live in a world of instant information, where ideas go viral without much thought regarding accuracy and validity. It's a place where content is cheap. Cheap to make. Cheap to share. Cheap to consume. The traditional gatekeepers are gone, which is great for students. They can create and share their work in ways that were previously unimaginable.

But there's a cost. The best stuff doesn't always rise to the top and, if we're not careful, we mistake the speed of consumption for the depth of knowledge. This is why we need students to learn the art of curation.

In recent years, we've seen the rise in popularity of a group of bloggers that specialize in content curation. Think of Brain Pickings, Farnam Street, or Open Culture. In a world of information saturation, curation has become a critical skill.

But curation goes beyond simply collecting items online. The best curators know how to find what is best by immersing themselves in a niche area while also making surprising connections between ideas in seemingly unrelated worlds. Curators find specific excerpts that are relevant at the moment but also timeless. They can explain the purpose, the context, and the necessity of what they are citing.

I'm drawn toward an archaic definition of the term. It originally had a much more earthy, even gritty, connotation. Some linguists tie it back to the Medieval Latin word curare, which meant "to cure an illness." It had a connotation of providing loving attention and management. Other linguists tie the word "curator" goes back to the word curatus, which meant, "spiritual guide,"or "one responsible for the care of souls."

Over time, this word morphed into a deep care and love for a particular subject, knowledge, or set of artistic works. Think of art curators who define the spaces of a museum. They know the works on a deep level and can explain the meaning and purpose in ways that make the work more relevant.

Some of the best curators are able to tap into that original sense of being "one responsible for the care of souls." They care, not only about what the work means but about how it will make you a better person.

As teachers, this is what we do. We help students grow in wisdom. We're curators.

But that's also what we want with our students. We want them to have both an excited passion and a nuanced care for what they are learning. We want them to pay attention to context and purpose in the information they consume. We want them to make connections and provide their own lens.

[arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c01GXu8S520″ title="Students Need to Be Curators" /]
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Content curation begins with an intense love of the content. Think of gallery curators. They get giddy over the seemingly random (and yet almost impossible to replicate) approach of Jackson Pollock. However, they can engage in a two-hour discussion on the relationship between kitsch art and postmodern philosophy.

While there is an overlap with criticism, curators are more likely to geek out on the subject in a way that is explanatory instead of evaluative. This is often combined with a desire to make a work accessible to the public. On some level, both curators and critics are the gatekeepers of information (I know, I know, I mentioned earlier that the gatekeepers are gone). However, while critics are the ones shutting the gates, curators are often the ones who open the gates and convincing people to come inside.

If all of that seems too abstract, here are a few things that are a part of the curation process:

Searching for Content: The best curators are the ones who can find content that not everyone notices. This is what makes Maria Popova of Brain Pickings so amazing. She has this way of finding content that people are missing, looking in places we've overlooked.

Geeking Out on Content: The best curators are able to collect and consume great content. It's not mindless consumption. It is mindful and relaxed but also sharp and analytical. One of the things I've noticed about great curators is that they scribble notes all over the margins of books and yet they feel the complete freedom to skim and skip when necessary. They know how to find the information that actually matters.

Organizing Content: Curation often involves placing content into categories or themes. Often, students will try and figure out the "right" way to organize the information, because schools typically teach students an external organizational system. However, this sense of classification is deeply personal and should mirror the way that students think. It's a chance to engage in tagging and categorizing in a way that feels meaningful to the students.

Making Connections: The best curators are able to find connections between seemingly opposite artists, ideas, or disciplines in ways that make you think, "Man, I never considered that before."

Finding Trends: This aspect of curation is a little more analytical. Sometimes it even involves picking apart data or crunching numbers. It's the idea of looking at information across several spaces and finding specific trends. This is often where someone arrives at a different, counterintuitive conclusion.

Adding a Unique Lens: Curators rarely write in-depth explanations of the content. There's typically a certain clarity and brevity in the commentary they add. When done well, a curator almost seems invisible, moving along the snippets of content. And yet, over time, you begin to appreciate the subtle personality and voice of a curator. If the critic and commentator sometimes falls victim to shouting their opinions, the curator is gently whispering a relevant idea to a distracted culture.

Sharing the Content: Content curation has the end goal of getting great content into the hands of a larger audience. It is deliberately others-centered, even when the curator is introspective. Sometimes, the goal is to provide a set of practical information into the hands of readers. Others are more about offering something intriguing, even if it's not inherently practical.

1. Model content curation. Notice that few students walk into class with curation skills. We live in a consumer culture that values speed and amusement over slower, deliberate thought that is needed in curation. It's not surprising then, that teachers often need to model the curation process.

2. Let students geek out. Curators are natural geeks. They get excited about ideas and topics within their domain. They engage in research in a way that feels like an adventure. If we want students to engage in content curation, we need to let them geek out. Tap into their prior knowledge and let them run with it.

3. Spend more time on it. Content curation takes time. Take a look at any master curator and you'll see this commitment to time. There's no way around it. If you want to see students curate, you have to carve out specific time for it.

4. Begin earlier. Traditionally, teachers wait until the end of the year to have students do research. It's usually part of a multi-week project. If you begin at the beginning of the year, they will slowly learn the art of curation as the year progresses.

5. Let students own the process. They should choose the topics, the questions, and the sources they find interesting. This could connect to research, silent reading, blogging, or Genius Hour. It's also important to let students choose the platform. Curation can happen in a journal or a notebook if they want to keep it private. Or it could happen in a blog, in a podcast, or in a video series. In some cases, visual curation sites like Pinterest can work for students who want to organize things in a spatial manner.

People often say things like, "the teacher is no longer the source of information now that students can curate it themselves." This is typically accompanied by the term "guide on the side" to describe a teacher's role.

While I see some validity in this sentiment, I think it proves that now more than ever, teachers need to be curators. They need to be geeking out on their subjects. They need to help students figure out where to go. Yes, they might be "on the side," but they are still guides, helping students navigate the terrain for the first time ever. And that's precisely what a curator does. We curate so that we can help students learn the art of content curation.

Teachers are already curators. We piece together resources, research, and ideas as we develop lessons. We curate the content that we teach. This isn't anything new or groundbreaking. It's what happens when we find a great book or video and share it with our students.

But what if we take this art of curation and teach it to our students as well? What if we empowered students to curate their own content?

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Getting Started with Content Curation in the Classroom

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Content curation is a vital part of the creative process. In this blog post and podcast, we explore why curation matters and how we can help students learn how to engage in the curation process. When we think of creativity, it's easy to picture a person coming up with something entirely new, pulling it from thin air and making it from scratch.

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Curation, URL Bundlers, QR, & Notetaking

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Pearltrees lets you organize everything you’re interested in

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Starting a Makerspace: Baby steps - Renovated Learning

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Taking Baby Steps Towards Starting a Makerspace As you know if you’ve been following my blog and Twitter account, I’m a bit obsessed lately with the concept of Makerspaces in libraries. I’ve been brainstorming and grant writing. I’ve been telling everyone I know about my vision for what I want my school’s library Makerspace to ... Read more

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This free online PDF to DOC converter allows you to convert a PDF document to Microsoft Word DOC format, providing better quality than many other converters.

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A quick way to start a conversation is by asking someone about their favorite game. Whether it's the latest video game craze ( Fornite takes the cake there), a beloved childhood board game or the local sports team they never miss watching, games are an engaging topic.
As adults we love games. And so do our students.
Adding elements of gameplay in the classroom increases engagement. Throw in opportunities for students to level up, earn badges and points using teamwork in a friendly competition and watch their motivation skyrocket.
Gamification can be as simple as adding a Kahoot to the end of a unit or as complex as #QRBreakIn, an exciting game-based approach to centers.
During the weekly #DitchBook Twitter chat (Thursdays at 7 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. MST / 9 p.m. CST / 10 p.m. EST), we discussed gamification in the classroom. The conversation included ideas for using gameplay to create experiences that are different, innovative, tech-laden, creative and hands-on.

Below you will find 20 ways to gamify your class. Educators shared ideas along with links to resources so that you can begin using gamification in your classroom right away! Be sure to click on ALL of the blue links for quick access to all of the tools and templates!

Check out this Wakelet to see the whole discussion along with this Padlet full of gamification resources crowdsourced by the #Ditchbook community.

20 ways to gamify your class

1. Turn a boring sit and get PD or class about learning a new tool into an exciting experience through gamification.

3. Turn a spreadsheet into a game of BINGO, contecto, tic-tac-toe and more with the templates provided in Flippity.

4. Bring board games like Scrabble into the classroom digitally.

A3: We can remix all sorts of games in Slides/Drawings/PowerPoint/Spark. Pull in design elements from the games. Make the template what you need it to be. Then share with students! #ditchbook https://t.co/xhNUUxWPpp
- Matt Miller @ #NCTIES2020 3/4-5 (@jmattmiller) February 21, 2020

7. Utilize online apps and tools like Class Craft, Quizlet, Kahoot, Class Dojo to add gamification to your lessons.

8. Google Sheets can be a fantastic tool for adding elements like points, badges and leveling up. Check out Alice Keeler's post and template.

A3: There are lots of ways/tools for this, but it depends some on your theme. I am doing a Marvel's Agents of Shield theme, so side missions for agents will be in the form of QR codes all over campus. Sneaky ways to get learning in outside of class time. 🙂 #DitchBook
- Lᴀᴜʀᴀ Sᴛᴇɪɴʙʀɪɴᴋ #RockNTheBoat (@SteinbrinkLaura) September 28, 2018

10. Google Forms have many, many uses in the classroom. Try using them for a digital addition to BreakoutEDU.

11. A simple but effective way to add a little competition into Google Classroom is to let them reply to one another and choose their favorite response.

Q3: I've even used Google Classroom "Question" assignments and had Ss reply to their favorite peer responses with "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner". Student with the highest votes wins #ditchbook
- Jenna Ervin (@EverythingErvin) September 28, 2018

12. Old classics like "The Price Is Right" can make a comeback in the modern classroom using G Suite tools!

14. Story Cubes add the element of storytelling to a game-based activity. Pair them with an online tool like Flipgrid to create a challenge for your students.

15. The Iron Chef Eduprotocol is a class favorite for adding a bit of friendly competition to any subject area.

16. Why keep scavenger hunts confined to school grounds? With Google Earth or Nearpod, students can literally explore the entire globe!

17. Your students are extremely creative. Get them in on the gamification by challenging them to make badges for their accomplishments. Alice Keeler has some great templates to get you and your students started.

Q4: I had students last year who wanted to make their own badges for tasks they completed, to encourage higher-performance and competition with the other classes #ditchbook
- Jenna Ervin (@EverythingErvin) September 28, 2018

18. There's a reason that online multiplayer games like Clash of Clans are so popular. When we leverage that engagement in the class, serious learning can come out of play.

19. Start the year off with a gamified syllabus! Elementary level teachers can use this idea for the beginning of the year or even for Back to School Night!

20. Level up your gamification and challenge your class to create their own game!

How do you feel about game-based learning? How have you used it in class? Which of these ideas could you start using? Leave your ideas in a comment below!

Want to get in on the next #DitchBook Twitter chat?
Having trouble? Still unclear on how a Twitter chat works? Feel free to tweet to these #DitchBook ambassadors and they'll help - Karly Moura @karlymoura, Sean Fahey @seanjfahey, Sandy Otto @sandyrotto, Rachel Marker @rachelmarker, Evan Mosier @emosier3, Mandi Tolen @TTmomTT, Craig Klement @craigklement, Tara Martin @taramartinedu, Krista Harmsworth @zonie71, Anne Kamper @annekamper, Rayna Freedman @rlfreedm, Lance McClard @drmcclard, Stephanie DeMichele @sdemichele or David Platt @herrplatt!

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Are you looking for quality, meaningful professional learning that both equips and inspires teachers?

Matt provides in-person and virtual keynotes, workshops and breakout sessions that equip, inspire and encourage teachers to create change in their classrooms. Teachers leave with loads of resources. They participate. They laugh. They see tech use and teaching in a new light. Click the link below to contact us and learn how you can bring Matt to your school or district!

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Games are fun. We love playing them, watching them and even creating them. But how can we bring elements of gameplay into our classroom in meaningful ways? Here are 15 ways to gamify your class.