Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

 

Facebook

I am a frequent user of Facebook. I am familiar with its formats and tools. When I searched school library pages on Facebook, I was surprised at what I found. They didn’t seem to be viewed much. There were few likes or comments.  Some things I saw posted were bookfair announcements, AR party announcements, information about visiting authors, project displays, club announcements, and promotions to attract more visitors. The advantage I see to using Facebook to promote the library is it has the potential to reach a large audience. The disadvantage of it is the audience that it reaches. I may reach the parents of the students, but not so much the students themselves.

 

Twitter

I am not familiar with Twitter. This is the first time I have actually explored and learned what it has to offer. I did notice right off that there are many more younger users of Twitter. (my children included)  I located the Twitter feeds of some of the biggest names in educational technology today and read parts of their feeds. This is some of what I found:

Jim Lerman @jimlerman

            Did You Know Your iPhone Has a Built-in Dictionary? Here’s How to Use It

https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-use-iphone-dictionary/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

5 instructional practices that drive student engagement

https://t.co/Gl2x8Mwrun

 

The Daring Librarian @GwynethJones

            Black History Month | All About the Holidays

https://lpb.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/fa375094-c2f2-48eb-b65b-51861b5666e0/black-history-month-all-about-the-holidays/

 

Why are certain schoolbooks being banned in US?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60261660    

 

Linda Braun @lbraun2000

Partnering with Future Ready with the Library: Lessons Learned from Working with Rural and Small Public Library Staff

https://clalliance.org/publications/partnering-with-future-ready-with-the-library-lessons-learned-from-working-with-rural-and-small-public-library-staff/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=CLA&utm_medium=social

Teens on a Year That Changed Everything

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/08/learning/teens-pandemic-art.html

 

Lathy Schrock @kathyschrock

            Teaching Podcasting: A Curriculum Guide for Educators

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/662116901/teaching-podcasting-a-curriculum-guide-for-educators

Something she does differently than the others in her Tweets, she has more personal interactions with her followers. It’s not just a list of good articles. If you read her feed, you can get all sorts of ideas about using podcasting in teaching.

 

Instagram

I am also not familiar with Instagram (again, my children had to school me)  It is not very user-friendly. I added a few photos that included text on the pictures, and I found some pictures that I put into my highlights. I probably have duplicates in various places, but I am a new user.  I like Instagram, it is just going to take some practice working with it.  I can see its value to schools and libraries. You can post photos of your own library, events, books. It is creative, and this makes it attractive to students. Here is the link to a post on my Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ5cP4Xrqhi/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

While there, I have some great library ideas in highlights. 

Blogs and Blog Readers

 When looking for a feed reader, I tried out several from https://bloggingwizard.com/free-rss-feed-readers/ I  chose the Feedly Blog Reader.  Feedly was the most user-friendly. When I searched for articles, it provided me a list of other choices to follow that were similar to what I entered into my search. It made it simple to create new folders for each blog I decided to follow. It tells how recent the posts are updated, so I can unfollow any that are not up to date. You can create boards to keep helpful articles with easy access for future projects. It was easy to find the websites of each blog because there was a link at the bottom of each article that takes you to the website.

Featured Blogs 

1. Knowledge Quest: Journal of the American Association of School Librarians

https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/

Provides up-to-date articles on anything to do with school libraries. Some of the recent article topics range from website evaluation to literacy through comics and graphic novels to using grants for funding.

 

2. ALSC blog

https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/

Provides up-to-date articles on school libraries with a focus on children. Some current articles highlight children’s summer reading programs, technology in the library and circulating hotspots.

 

3. Emerging Education Technologies

https://www.emergingedtech.com/

Provides information on topics pertaining to technology in education. Some of the current articles discuss using student data to drive instruction, ethical hacking, and how to implement a genius hour in your classroom.

 

4. Watch. Connect. Read.

http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/

The following is from the website: “John Schu has made a career out of advocating for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books, and the people that connect them. John is a children’s book author, part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, and the children’s librarian for Bookelicious (Bookelicious.com). His greatest joy is sharing his love of reading with countless educators and students around the world.”

  

5. 100 Scope Notes

https://100scopenotes.com/

This is a School Library Journal blog. The following is from the website: “Children's literature news, reviews and assorted school librarian oddities. Combine one part kid's books, one part school librarianship, a splash of absurdity and you get 100 Scope Notes. Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee.”