The Daring Librarian

Teacher Tip #112 Teacher Self-Care:  Create a Happy Folder In my School Library Media office desk I had a manilla folder where I carefully tucked all the hand written notes from kiddos & parents to read on a rainy day. I also SHAMELESSLY would first tape them to my office door (let the other teachers internally writhe with envy!)  Nah, really just to keep me motivated and also show the kiddos I appreciated their heartfelt little notes!  But.....before I tucked it away tenderly or taped it to my door, I took a picture of it and uploaded it to Flickr. A digital Happy Folder that pays back dividends of warm fuzzies and motivations for your future self.  Because, let's not kid ourselves, being an educator right now is HARD.  Start this habit NOW.  Don't be like me and wait 10 or 15 years. OK, some of that was because cell phones and digital cameras weren't as handy and as ubiquitous back then. But do your future self a favor, there will be days w...

Hey gang! I just want to share with you a few coloring pages I curated online & made into PDF's & JPEGS for my kiddos!  I love adding new coloring pages to our Makerspace, especially during special months and with themes. There are a LOT of FREE coloring pages out there for your Makerspace, you just know how to find them, adapt them, & follow the copyright licensing! I uploaded the curated coloring sheets as Jpegs on Flickr embedded below and to download as Printable PDF's on Slideshare. If you source or curate coloring pages make sure to research back to the origin or artist (RARELY it's Pinterest! Dig deeper!) and make sure to include the correct artist and attribution - and make sure it's been listed as FREE or Creative Commons. Am I harping on this too much? Librarian. 7 Easy Steps to Search for Coloring pages on Google:   Google any Topic - Example: Jane Austen Click over to Images Click Tools Click Size (choose Medium or ...

((re-post from my MHMS Media Blog - showing how we use our Google Forms, Google Docs and Wikspaces to have a conversation with our community!)) Murray Hill Middle School strives every day to put into practice our motto “excellence is our standard” and in doing so we need your help and your action! Utilizing Google forms, docs, and wikipages we provide many ways for you to feel connected to our school and to have a voice! You suggest the books & we buy them! During your media center orientations you will hear more about contributing YOUR suggestions to our annual book order. But for those of you who are tech savvy, at home, you can Google “MHMS Learning” and our Learning Wiki comes up first! (OR you could click the link ! LOL) ….there you will see the banner “ I WANT THIS BOOK .” Click on that banner and you can add any books, authors, or subjects of books that you would like to see purchased for our school library collection. (Murray Hill peeps only...sorry world!) You suggest ...

This short response from a Fresno Library Tweet the @oldspice guy seems to have made all the librarians go WILD this week - some even saying he should be the keynote for the next ALA or AASL conference. Hmmm I think they got Almost TOO excited. According to the vastly pithy & amusing gershbec "I've been listening to librarians tweet about Old Spice all day because he responded to a librarian's tweet. It's nuts. ...jokes about how he should be the ALA speaker, I mean kudos to wawoodworth for the idea, but let's be honest... He tweeted something, the marketing campaign is answering EVERYONE's questions, it's not like they're into libraries ... How to get librarians excited...have some marketing campaign mention libraries. " Now, while I'm terribly amused by the ad campaign, LOVE parodies, am a frequent visitor (if you're offended easily, please do not visit the site! Mommy..love you, but that's you!) .... I really don...

NEW! ISTE SIGMS Webinar Promoting your library media center and program has never been easier. Using quick, free, and easy animation studios teacher librarians can create engaging videos to market their media center, databases, research resources, special programs, and their love of reading to students, teachers, and the community. Combining easy animation with a wiki, website, or a blog your message will captivate your audience and reach beyond the brick and mortar walls of your school. Join us Dec 10th at 8pm! Details on where to tune in coming soon! If you can't see the video above go to my Xtranormal Channel or just click below! LOL