My school does not have a Makerspace, and starting one this year, is not in the plans.  We would like to add a Makerspace eventually and I thought adding a STEM or STEAM Challenge of the month would be an excellent way to see what kind of Maker activities my students enjoy most.  Although I don't have a budget for materials, I am very lucky to have a wide array of supplies available to me (paper, paint, crayons, markers, scissors, tape, etc.)  What I am unable to get through our basic supplies, parents are always willing to send in.

Since I did not start this position until mid December, I decided to start our first STEM Challenge in January.  Our first challenge was called "Snowman Stretch"  Students had to make a snowman using only the materials provided.  The challenge?  The idea is to build the tallest snowman, but each snowman build must balance on it's own.  The first day I put out the challenge in early January, I was not quite sure how popular this activity would be.  My students really gravitated towards the STEM Challenge and were soon planning their next visit to the library so they could work on their snowmen.  Many of my students decided to work in teams, and the collaboration I saw happen between them was fantastic.  This challenge will soon be over and we will start a new one for February.   My students are already wondering what the next challenge will be.  Hint:  It has to do with Valentine's Day.

So where do I get my ideas for my STEM Challenges?  Well, STEM is everywhere and a basic internet search will give you tons of hits.  My favorite places to find ideas is Pinterest, Twitter, and Teachers Pay Teachers (not everything costs money on TPT)  Of course the best ideas sometimes come from our students!

Here are the files I created for the sign and directions.  Some of the clipart has been changed due to copyright law.  Enjoy!

Snowman Stretch Sign
Snowman Stretch Directions

This December I began a new chapter in my career, when I left School Lane Charter School and began a new position at Indian Mills Memorial School in Shamong Township School District in Shamong, New Jersey.  Leaving was not an easy decision.  School Lane was about ten minutes from my home, I was comfortable there, and I was in a brand new library.  Some might wonder why I would choose to leave.  

I will always miss the students and teachers that I grew to know in the three years I spent at School Lane.  I honestly hope I made at least a small difference to the students and staff.  I believe that I did manage to change the library at their K-6 school, as well as their new high school.  When I first began my career there, the library was seen as a place only to check books in and out.  I was also able to incorporate many of the technology programs that I find necessary to our children's futures.  Lastly I started a Makerspace at the 7-12 school.  So many of my students treasured this addition to the library.

Working at Indian Mills Memorial School has brought back my excitement and zest for teaching.  I have been working on rearranging the shelves, so I can make the library my own.  I am making contacts with the wonderful faculty and hope to begin working on many collaborative projects.  I am also excited to bring STEM to the library space with monthly STEM challenges.  I am lucky enough to teach two Information Literacy courses per day.  My students are creating their own computer animation projects using Scratch, which incorporates block coding.  The future looks bright here, and I am very excited to be part of such a dynamic school.  

This is such a hot topic, and is not going away anytime in the near future.  Joyce Valenza has written an excellent article on this topic titled "Manifesto for 21st Century Librarians" Check out the section Joyce wrote about what she believes school librarians should unlearn.

I have been a school librarian since 1998, and have seen the field change tremendously.  It really is a wonderful and exciting time to be a librarian.  When I completed my first field experience, the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature was still being taught. Students now have information at their fingertips, and that information is not contained to just the walls of the library.  Websites, Web 2.0, Research Databases, Online Catalog - all of these items are available any place a student has internet access.  Through the library website, students can easily find all these items, and if they are in need of help, they can easily contact the librarian.  I personally set up a library account through Schoology, which allows my students to message me with research requests, and they receive an answer within the hour.  Many other school libraries are doing the same with various programs.

Perhaps one of the biggest change I have seen to school libraries, has been the invention of the Library Makerspace.  The Makerspace is an area where students can come together to create, explore, and design anything.  Every Makerspace area is a little different, because every library is a little different.  The Maker area should be comprised of items the students want to see in the area.  Some of the most common things found in the Makerspace area include (Circuit building kits, Engineering (Legos, K'nex), Robotics, Crafts (Perler beads, Rainbow Loom, Duct Tape, Origami, Paper, Markers, etc.), Technology to pull apart and investigate, Coding, Movie-making (Green Screen, Claymation).  The possibilities are endless!  The Makerspace has created a new atmosphere for the school library, and invites students who may have never used a library before to come in.  Many of my students will use the Makerspace, and find other reasons to use the library.  Sometimes their exploration of the Makerspace area leads to the interest of checking out a book related to their invention.

The library of the past is disappearing, and we must embrace the future.  This is accomplished by finding out what other school libraries are doing (what works for them and what might work for you), become a Twitter junkie and connect with others who are excellent 21st Century Librarians and lastly take the time to learn new technologies and figure out how they can best be used in your school.