The Daring Librarian

 How to be a Teacher Librarian Rock Star - Branding Tips & Tricks First thing I gotta say, I don’t know that I really love the term Library Rockstars because I think ALL Teachers, Librarians, Teacher-Librarians, Educators....we're all rock stars or each of us has an inner rock star just waiting to come out.  I also think it sounds a wee bit elitist. OK, a whole heck of a lot of elitist.  But who doesn’t want to rock it at their job? (BTW, I was asked to write this "Rock Star" article for another publication and using the Rock Star theme was their choice - So, I'm answering their questions - I did the best I could! They highly edited my responses, and I think I ended up sounding like a total prat, but here they are in their entirety.)  To what do you attribute your success? I try to...... Work hard Be Reliable Be Reflective Be Positive Hard work, a sense of humor, tenacity, and a stubbornly fought for positive mental and professional attitude. Yes...

  This just popped out of my mouth when I was doing the question & answer portion of my keynote last week at the AISL Baltimore conference. And I like it! What do you think? Librarians are the Key  to Information Mastery! There's a lot of talk out there that it's the end of librarianship because of Google and the Interwebs.  I know other states getting rid of their school librarians - but I gotta say Nay, Nay! Let us not give up the good fight! things are seemingly dire and bleak for our profession, what with California & Now, is when the world needs librarians the most! With SO much information out there who else better than a librarian to decode it, curate it, interpret it, organize it, authenticate it, and integrate it? Who else but the librarian is going to teach attribution and Creative Commons? Who else but the librarian is going to be able to filter through millions of research results, then curate and create a playlist of amazing resources i...

Exciting times ahead! As Lady FauxGa said above the ISTE conference in San Diego is being held from June 24-27 and is the largest ed tech gathering IN THE WORLD! (Don't miss my post: Daring Conference Packing Tips & Tricks ) A Life-Changing Ed-Tech Event My first NECC (now ISTE) conference was in 2007 - Atlanta - was epic! It's also where Kathy Schrock first introduced to me the virtual world of Second Life! See, I had been presenting every year at my state ISTE affiliate MSET since 1996 but had never had the moolah $ or the gumption to go to the "big show" until 2007. When I finally decided that saving all year for the conference was the best investment in my professional growth...I was forever changed. It was crazy! Overhwelming! Exhausting! But mostly it was amazingly inspiring and it challenged me to "step up' my professional game and to seriously dedicate myself to being the best educator and change agent I could be. So, if you're ...

To celebrate the #Eddies this year I thought I would do my nominating both on my professional blog and on our NEW! Daring School Library Edublog ! The EduBlogger award nomination process is a wonderful opportunity Pay it Forward by recognizing those in our PLN for their hard work and generosity. I wish I could name more than one on several of these categories! Gah! The Edublog awards has had a lot of buzz the last couple of years (both positive & hater) but I find the event & experience invigorating! I've been humbled & honored to be nominated a couple times (first by the amazing Shelly S Terrell! Thank you, Shelly!) and even came in second runner up once or twice! But what I get most from the Edublogs is an ever growing list of great new voices and views to add to my personal learning network. So, to practice what I preach about educational thieving, when I like something I STEAL IT! Here are my cribbed & adapted Edublog nominations! Heh heh heh! If you r...

Every year I look forward to going to ISTE Island and taking a snap for my Virtual Worlds Name Tag! Yes, I blogged about this last year..but it deserves a fresh mention! It's important that those of us who learn and teach on the grid show our SIGVE allegiance! It's also important to represent my Steampunk aesthetic by wearing my most fetching Steamy Victorian tophat by famed milliner Miss Reghan Straaf of Hatpins ! I'm also wearing Miss Punktuality gown by Cutea of Grimm Bros. with out of control grid breaking metal overskirt & matching rusty clock bedecked collar. Go big or go home, folks. I also gotta admit I photoshopped my Avatar...which frankly is just a bit odd. Get your own ISTE SIGVE Nametag! "If you're heading to Philly next week for ISTE 2011, don't be left without your avatar name badge. Come on over to ISTE HQ's and follow the directions at the photo booth. Thanks and see you soon! -Louise" Here's the SLURL to the Photobooth! ...