Sassy Stacks: A blog for school librarians

SPECIAL NOTE : I am working with Blogger to correct a problem with adding links to the published blog. Currently, the links imbedded in the blog aren't showing up in the public version. Therefore, for now, I have added the list of addresses at the bottom of the page that you can copy and paste into your browser.  Once the problem is corrected, I will re-publish. I apologize for the inconvenience.  https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/reach-all-learners-with-googles-accessibility-tools-suls049/ To piggy back off of last week's post, this week I'm going to talk about accessibility and adaptive technology resources.  "Assistive Technology (AT) is any item, piece of equipment, software program or product system that is used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of people living with disabilities" (School of Medicine Columbia, University of South Carolina, n.d.).  In last weeks post I mentioned how Chromebooks are built wit...

Howdy! Chromebooks have become a humongous aspect of daily classroom functions for a massive amount of students across the nation; therefore, this week I am focusing on some of the ways Chromebooks may effect teaching and learning using the R.A.T model of evaluation.  First, let's begin with what is the R.A.T. model? Dr. Joan Hughes (2019) developed R.A.T. as a method to judge how a piece of technology influences instruction, learning, and curriculum. R stands for Replacement, A stands for Amplification, and T stands for Transformation. In short, Replacement is the technology's ability to replace another object that might ordinarily be used in the classroom. Amplification is the degree to which the technology can amplify, or increase the effectiveness or productivity, of teaching and learning activities. Lastly, Hughes (2019) describes Transformation as the extent in which technology has created new ways of instructing students, involves new ways students can learn and interact...

Hello, all! Today I’m sharing an amazing website and blog I recently discovered.   It’s called TeachersFirst !   Tech Notes. https://blog.tcea.org/teachersfirst-resources-source-for-learning/ What I love about this resource is it is designed by teachers for teachers, and it contains a substantial collection of lesson plan ideas and tech tools librarians and teachers can easily integrate into curriculum. The ability for librarians to integrate “technology into the curricular areas… based on their knowledge of pedagogical principles and school curriculum, along with their technology expertise and collaborative experience” can allow librarians to serve as “leaders and valuable assets to their schools” (Johnson, 2012, p.3). Leadership, in the form of sharing useful tools to enhance relevant student learning, is a significant part of the American Association of School Librarians (2009) guidelines, and “collaboration with teachers is required in order to create authentic opportunit...