Pandemic Diary 17 August 2020: My Shelter-in-Place Birthday
My birthday looked pretty different this year due to shelter-in-place, but I still loved every minute of it.
Read articlePandemic Diary 16 March 2020: Shelter in place order issued for the Bay Area
The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that as of midnight tonight, a shelter-in-place order will be in effect for six Bay Area counties, including San Francisco, Santa Clara (where we are), San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda. Why the new restrictions, and what’s it like to live with them so far?
Read articleMaking our nonfiction section more browse-able: Part III
I continue to be obsessed with finding ways to make our nonfiction section feel more like the nonfiction section in a bookstore, and less like an inscrutable wall of books organized by arcane numerical wizardry. This week, how I’m planning to use the front half of the library to drive traffic to the back (where the nonfiction lives).
Read articleAn end of the year library report & why it matters
The teacher librarian at my school constantly talks about the importance of advocating for our school library and its services. So when I saw Kelsey Bogan (@kelseybogan) tweet about her one-page end of the year library report, I knew I wanted to create something similar for us. Here’s what I learned in the process.
Read articleUpdate: Middle school library life in these Omicron times
If I were you, I’d be really curious to know what it’s like to work in a public school library during Omicron. With the caveat that our district has done a lot of mitigation work during this pandemic (ventilation upgrades, mask mandates, vaccine mandates), and is located in California so eating outdoors and opening windows is possible, Omicron is still having an impact.
Read articleBook Review: In the Name of the Family by Sarah Dunant
My 14-year-old was completely obsessed with this book for at least two days, so of course I had to read it to see what all the fuss was about.
Read articleLanguishing our way through 2021, coping skills for kids, and other news of the week
All week I kept stumbling across useful articles and podcasts about this almost-there-but-not-quite-yet moment in the pandemic. Here are three of my favorites on muddling through this moment in the pandemic; helping middle schoolers establish and evolve critical coping skills to manage their stress, anger, and anxiety; and pandemic changes parents actually want to keep.
Read articlePalo Alto Public Art Project: Lost in My Abstract Garden on California Avenue
Palo Alto has installed eight new temporary murals designed to give residents struggling with the pandemic a bit of an emotional boost this spring. Last week, I visited the murals along California Avenue, and found myself spending a great deal of time with Carrie Lederer’s mural, Lost in My Abstract Garden.
Read articleThe Palo Alto Public Art Project is helping us remember how to be in public spaces again
With Santa Clara County slowly resuming economic and social activities, looking at some freshly installed public art is a great opportunity to get my entire family used to roaming freely around the world again.
Read articleDetecting and neutralizing misinformation, a couple of book reviews, and other tidbits that crossed my desk this week: A Caterpickles miscellany*
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and reading about how to detect and neutralize misinformation this week –and how to teach my daughter to do the same. Here are a few of the articles, blog posts, and books I’ve found most helpful.
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CATERPICKLES 