The Daring Librarian

I'm proud to teach in Howard County Maryland. We are a rich tapestry of many threads that reflect the global community and complexity that is the Washington DC Metro area.   Warning, this post might load slowly because of a lot of embedded cool social media!  Coming up with our duct tape drivers license ideas w/ our cool 6th graders #makerspace A photo posted by Gwyneth Jones (@thedaringlibrarian) on Sep 18, 2015 at 8:40am PDT Being Fabulously Diverse Since 1997!  Our kids are delightfully multicultural and come from diverse family backgrounds. Some kids live in 500K houses, and some live in apartments, townhouses, homeless shelters and mobile homes. We have 35% free & reduced lunch - one of the highest in our county. Before Social Media I used to say we were the best kept secret in Howard County. Because, when people visit from the other side of the county, they're always amazed at how shiny, beautiful, bright, and of the positive school vibe ...

Hey gang! It's the beginning of a new school year, so let's put into perspective why we're here. Why we do what we do. And even when you may be testing 89 days out of 180 - there will always be time to do some really great things for our kiddos. Even one or two lessons of AWESOME can change a life, mind, and outlook of a reluctant learner (or fellow teacher!) And gee, I think this post will have to be in 2 parts and please bear with my conversational tone which is high overdrive today. This is a blog not a novel.  Change & Innovation So embrace some change in your school or classroom. Try something NEW this year! Even if it scares you. Especially if it scares you! I'm in my Danielson evaluation year this year & am quietly freaking out over wanting to do a GREAT job in my observations. I really haven't been observed formally in YEARS!---- Try something new, and if you don't like it, you don't have to keep doing it! I know, I know... I ...

I truly find Lady Gaga amazingly inspiring and motivational. She's a mega talented writer and rock star who truly cares for her little monsters, preaches acceptance and tolerance,  & is a powerful agent of change. The full video is embeded at the end of the post - but let's talk about some of the highlights and how they can teach us some important lessons. 1. Be happy to be here Lady Gaga says "I truly believe I have so many followers on Twitter just cause I write nice stuff! ...I don't whine, I don't make fun of anybody. I'm just happy to be here! " When it comes to Twitter, G+, or social media in general - just be happy to be here! Who wants to talk to a Debbie downer at at party, right? I mean, I'm going into the hospital tomorrow to finally replace my busted knee (no skateboarding, parkour, or surfing this season!) but I'm really gonna try NOT to whine, angst, or go on and on about it on Twitter in the next few weeks. My Twitter sh...