If you would have told me a few months ago that I would be using bitmojis in the Library, I’m not sure I would have believed you.  I had created my bitmoji a while back, but then never really did anything with it.  Then, after Spring Break I came across something that has changed my life! I don’t mean to be dramatic, but OH MY GOODNESS!  In this crazy, stay-at-home-distance-learning-time, it has been one thing that has kept me sane and happy!

The first thing I came across was Shannon Miller’s blog The Library Voice. and how she used bitmojis in the library. (If you haven’t read her blog yet, get ready for an influx of awesome ideas!)  She actually created bitmoji bookmarks to send to her students as after being away from them due to the Coronavirus and Distance Learning.  I thought that was such a sweet idea, that I immediately started building my own bookmark.  What I didn’t expect was how soothing it would be to create my own “digital classroom”!

After I finished, reality hit!  I teach at a larger school with close to 700 students, and wasn’t sure about copying and mailing out that many bookmarks.  BUT it did give me a really good idea for next year.  I’m going to print out my bitmoji bookmarks and hand them out at Open House Night.  I plan to also make copies for the classroom teachers to hand out to the parents as well.  The QR code on the front takes them to our Library website.  On the back of the bookmark will be our library information, including all of our ebooks and database logins and passwords. (Crossing my fingers that we actually HAVE an Open House night!)

On that same blog post, Shannon also talked about using the same concept to create a fun Google Classroom banner.  I don’t really use Google Classroom with my students, but I used that same idea to create a fun banner on our “At Home Learning” tab on our library website. But this time, I added in actual pictures of my 3 cats that the students all know about.  (I used remove.bg to remove the background from pictures I had of them!  Talk about another game changing website!)

When we learned that we would NOT be going back to school for the rest of the year, my heart hurt so much!  So I started thinking, “How can I use bitmojis in the library to help my students have fun learning while at home?”  I think that’s when I got obsessed, but in a good way! LOL!

First, I used my bitmoji to create a title page for the YouTube Read-alouds I recorded for my kiddos.  We only had a few books left in our Battle of the Texas 2×2 books, and I didn’t want them to miss out on voting for our favorite book!  (You can read more about that here and here!)

Then I created a “Summer Reading Challenge” scene with links to our Summer journals that kids can print to keep track of their reading over summer break.

I also created a “Check out what I’ve read!” bookshelf with links for the books on our ebook format, Sora.  This way, if kids were interested in reading something I had read, all they had to do was click on the book on my bookshelf and it would take them to that book to check out on Sora.  My plan is to add to that bookshelf as I read over the summer.

As the school year ended, I started thinking ahead to next year.  There is still so much we don’t now about how next year will look.  But, whether we are in the classroom or having to learn from at home again, I think these bitmoji digital classrooms offer an exciting opportunity to be creative.

Teachers from all subjects can easily design a digital classroom for their lessons.  They can add links to books, articles, learning videos, or even “how-to” videos they record.  Think about it…this could even be a fun way to do Substitute Plans!  You could have all your materials linked on your digital classroom, and then record yourself on Screencastify or something like that giving the directions.  🙂

One of the things I plan on doing this summer is create multiple digital classrooms for different lessons I know I will be doing next year.  I’m even going to take some pictures of my library next week when I go to pack up for the summer so I could use those as well. Here are just some of the ideas I’ve thought of:

1. Bitmoji Library Scavenger Hunt with QR code videos about the different sections in the library.
2. Bitmoji review games for Fiction vs Non-Fiction
3. Bitmoji review games for the different genres.
4. Bitmoji digital breakouts for Digital Citizenship
5. Bitmoji lessons on how to do research

The ideas are too numerous to count!

But wait, there’s more!  Just this last week I came across this AMAZING Facebook group called “Bitmoji Craze for Educators“!  This group was formed simply to share ideas and help bitmoji lovers find new ways to be creative. There are SO many cool examples and an immense supply of “how-to” directions that even the most non-techy person can be successful!

Have you used bitmojis in the library or your classrooms yet?  I’d love to hear your ideas!