Who knew?

On Monday, we had Rosetta Lee come to do an all-day training (she'll be back throughout the year) and she opened with a lot of identity work.  Which groups did we feel we fit into?  Which were social constructs and which were more concrete?  One piece of wisdom she shared was that she believes that…

Where Will I Learn Next?

Now that I've (finally) had time to think about and digest my professional learning from last year, it's time to turn my attention to this year. Yes, being in a school is weird thanks to the "new year" starting in July. I'm already in 2018 and officially it doesn't start for another few months! Anyway,…

The Art of Not Caring

Many years ago as a newly minted school librarian I had the incredibly great fortune to work with and learn from an English teacher who'd been working in schools longer than I, a sort of informal mentor. The school we were at, Professional Children's School, is a bit of a weird place, having been established…

Personal, not private

Many years ago, when schools were just starting to think about email and giving faculty their own addresses, we were reminded that what happens on school "property" (digital or physical) belonged to the school - our searches, our emails, our content were theirs. It might have been personal, but it wasn't private. Many people in…

Thinking About Plagiarism at #ALAAC17

Just before creating this blog post, I read A Guide for Resisting Edtech: the Case against Turnitin which poses some interesting moral and ethical questions for us to ponder. Courtney Lewis presented at ALA's Annual Conference on international students and plagiarism. It's something that I've been thinking about for a few years, because how we…

The next level up: #ACRLNEC17

Working in an independent school, particularly one usually considered an "elite college preparatory" school means extra pressure to be aware of what my students will be expected to do and know in their next educational institution. It makes sense to spend the day at the ACRLNEC conference because many of the colleges and universities represented…

#NEISL17 Reflections

I love the NEAISL conference. I love it even more when I'm not hosting, as I did in 2015 and 2016. For those who don't know, it's a 40-year-old conference that brings together independent school librarians in New England (and a few from NY). We meet and talk and learn together for one day and…

Some random thoughts on books and reading

For a variety of reasons, I've been home alone this past week and have had far too much energy for my own good. Which, of course, means that Things Are Getting Done: organizing, mostly, but reading and writing letters and blog posts (lucky readers!) and cleaning. Don't judge, but when I moved my books from…