Marilyn Carr

**Alt text:** A colorful graphic advertising free Summer Online Professional Learning opportunities. The image includes book studies such as *Just Read It*, *Developing Digital Detectives*, *Elevating Edu Design with AI*, and *The Shift to Student-Led*. It also features PD sessions on BlueSky networking, Pear Deck engagement, inbox organization, and a Digital Toolbox for EdTech. Bright, playful fonts and icons emphasize the variety and accessibility of the offerings.

I know that some of you were looking for my FREE PD over the summer. Just Read It by Jarred Amato is on there among 7 others.

Link to Sign Up #TLSky #EduSky #Skybrarians #BookStudy #Education

This should be a global event because it’s impacting almost every country in the world!

The Weekly 411 (5/2/25) A one-stop place for all your kid lit information needs.

Our weekly big list of kid lit links is up (May 2): www.kidlit411.com/2025/05/the-... Inside: New Query Trends, Midpoint Slump, Power of Punctuation in Poetry @inkedvoices.bsky.social. Thanks @anetacruz.bsky.social for the illo & Scholastic and @kariallenwrites.bsky.social for the PB giveaways.

Need an AI lesson builder? AI rubric creator? Just an AI partner? There are a lot of AI teacher tools out there... but did you know you can BUILD YOUR OWN us... Make Your OWN Custom AI Teacher Tool with Google Gemini

I've been working on coding a custom AI APP for teacher tools like "make a lesson plan" and "Write a parent letter", etc... using Google Gemini API

I recorded a demonstration of using Gemini to make the "Educator AI Assistant" app
buff.ly/QII91C5

#GoogleEDU #EduSky #GoogleGemini

“Cost of paper has gone up an average of 6% each year for the past 5 years. The budget hasn't gone up. Paper is symptomatic of an absolutely deep problem, which is how little attention is paid to what children actually need.”

@lizannefoster.bsky.social on @vancolour.bsky.social

#BCTF #BCED #BCPoli

I have been saying this when I call my reps to yell at them. Now I can say "As Justice Sotomayor says..."

Call your reps and demand they call for the release of Mahmoud Khalil and all of the other detained students as well as the folks sent to the concentration camp in El Salvador.

reps.fyi

We're suing Trump to save library funding. Show up for our libraries, American Library Association.

NEW: ALA is going to court to stop the President’s attempts to illegally dismantle the Institute of Museum & Library Services.

The President does not have the authority to destroy a federal agency. That's why we're taking action with our co-plaintiff @afscme.bsky.social. #ForOurLibraries (1/3)

When you look at the list of institutions they want to defund: libraries, museums, the Smithsonian, public schools, PBS, NPR, archives, you can clearly see that the real threat to an authoritarian regime is an informed and educated public

Teaching w CDN books
🇨🇦 I partnered w TEACH magazine to create a lesson centering refugee voices. My good friend, H.P. Fraser, generously shared her ideas. Please read her book,The Little Girl, and find inspo for engagement w Ss in the lesson❤️#sd38learn

teachmag.com/lessons/teachi…

An image showing several of the Canadian titles that are featured in the giveaway.

#ContestAlert 🎉
We're giving away a huge selection of #Canadian books featured in our latest Teaching Through Books series!
📌Like, follow & repost to enter
📌Contest ends March 31, 11:59 EDT

Explore our free teaching resource here: bit.ly/4kO3MKq #CanLit #Giveaway #K12

Creating fun stick friends for Louise and Milo with Grade 2’s in celebration of #ForestofReading Blue Spruce nominee #AnooshaSyed! #schoollibraryjoy #edusky

Want to Improve Schools? Education Assistants Have Ideas | The Tyee The Tyee interviewed three EAs about bettering students’ learning conditions.

Want to Improve Schools? Education Assistants Have Ideas via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2025/03...

Yes

Green background and dollar bills every class teaches personal finance.

Spreadsheets aren’t scary! Start young! 📊✨ Even kindergarteners can use Google Sheets for simple budgeting and tracking.

Give kids tech AND money skills they’ll use!

👉 👉 Read More Here: buff.ly/3F1iEEL

#GoogleSheets #FinancialEd

Two photos: One shows Zelenskyy in a black quarter zip at the White House meeting, the other shows Elon Musk in a black graphic t-shirt, black topcoat, and black ball cap, also meeting with the Trump cabinet.

One reason why I think respectability is stupid is because it's often used as a mask. Such judgements are rarely about the clothes themselves, but more often about the bodies beneath them. To wit, no one raised an issue when Elon wore a graphic t-shirt and ball cap to meet the Trump cabinet.

"History will remember this day— when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for."

Helping Students Become Authors Is Easier Than You Think It's easy to have your students be authors! Have them write a personal narrative using Book Creator and share it out!

Helping Students Become Authors Is Easier Than You Think

Check out the #BeAnAuthor competition, get your students involved!
buff.ly/4bruMLG

@bookcreator.com #EduSky

Could not agree more. The Prez & VP are shameful, embarrassing Putin puppets & a disgrace to our country. 🤮

#SlavaUkraine 🇺🇦

This is a great resource for the lost art of book repair! Challenge: could this Master successfully repair a Branches “Super Rabbit Boy” book? 😂🤦‍♀️ #BCTLA #sd36tl

The “loose parts” cart. It has rolling wheels for easy transporting, three tiers of shelves to stack bins on, and is approximately 1 foot wide by 4 feet long. Mostly, the goal is to have non-representational objects (other than the plastic animals and some toy cars, which often aren’t needed/used) to build with imaginative creativity. Bins of paper tubes, various building block items, pipe cleaners, feathers, burlap strips, ribbons, pine cones, various sticks items…etc, etc.

A picture of some bear dens that the kindergarten class next-door made when the teacher borrowed the loose parts cart to have them do a little story studio to reinforce the learning they’ve been doing about bear life cycles in hibernation. Sometimes we co-teach a lesson like that and other times when my blocks for team teaching are all filled, people just borrow the cart and wheel it to their class.

A second picture of some bear dens that the kindergarten class next-door made with the loose parts cart. If possible, will sometimes leave the kids scenes put together off to the side, somewhere to come back to on another day for further reflection and storytelling. Other times if things need to be cleaned up at the end of a session, we take photos of the scenes so they can be put on screen or print it out later for further work.

Years ago, I built up a cart full of a collection of funky junk #LooseParts for some #StoryStudio #PlayLearning.
Gist:
Give kids building prompt tied to curricular learning; they make a scene; then, do either/both oral/written reflection/story/pres about what they’ve created to show knowledge.

1/2⬇️

B.C. needs to step up with education funding: Surrey unions, DPAC Overcrowding, under-staffing and more make up issues in Surrey school district

A report on our press conference
www.mapleridgenews.com/news/bc-need...

As a Cdn watching things unfold below the border lately (& fearing the same elements rising here), I don’t have much to offer (untyped so many things) except a sense of solidarity, empathy and commitment to resistance in all the ways that we librarians can do to show support for communities at risk.

Public education advocates in B.C. urge Eby to scrap proposed review of school programs Advocates are sounding the alarm over Premier David Eby's proposed review of school programs. As Jessica Cheung reports, with resources for B.C. schools already stretched thin, they're worried it will...

www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

Illustrated header for 'Debbie’s Unofficial Guide to Bluesky' showing a woman watering a tree against a bright blue sky filled with butterfly silhouettes. Text includes 'by @debbieohi.com' and a QR code leading to the guide at DebbieOhi.link/BlueSkyGuide.

Hi, I'm Debbie Ridpath Ohi, author & illustrator, gamer, bibliophile. I Want To Read ALL The Books.

#BlueSkyTips links:
UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO BLUESKY - Quickstart Guide - Curation Tips - KidLit Community - KidLit Mega Feed - Board Gaming
Uplift

💙🦋 Questions? Try SEARCH in my Unofficial Guide!

Surrey teachers voice frustrations Three education advocacy groups in Surrey are calling on the B.C. Ministry of Education and the Surrey school district to prioritize the system with adequate funding and resources. Kier Junos reports.

I did some media yesterday
vancouver.citynews.ca/video/2025/0...

www.facebook.com/share/p/19vp... @maddow.msnbc.com @lawrenceodonnell.msnbc.com @velshimsnbc.bsky.social @theweekendmsnbc.bsky.social Please someone have @hcrichardson.bsky.social on ASAP.

Illustration of long-haired girl in red clock on flower-filled green hillside, looking up into the blue sky. In the sky, we see a few fluffy clouds along with some white skywriting that spellings the word "bluesky."

Do you know a kidlit/YA person new to Bluesky? Here are starting resources that might help, pls see full thread 👇🏼

My take on social media
Quick tips + templates
My Bluesky how-to videos
KidLit Authors & Illustrators On Bluesky
Kate Messner's KidLit Community list

cont'd