The Daring Librarian

Sometimes, you just have to wing it. Or go for it. Even if it's a wacky idea. Like, a couple weeks ago, when our local weather person was going to be out of school & we didn't have a quick replacement - what to do? Another #MHTVNews crew member was at home with a broken wrist & we were facetiming her in the studio before the show when the 7th grader Payton who started the facetime call, had the wild idea to put Kasey (our injured wing friend) on the TV show on using the phone! Brilliant! But would it work? Payton took a picture of the weather script & sent it to her -- I was busily trying to share it with her via GSuite - Payton won. And we tested the volume through the whole school. The rest of the school wasn't so happy about that! (the morning bell hadn't rung yet, simmer down folks!) LOL But here's how it came out --- I invite you to play the short video below. It wasn't perfect, we wish we had used the set up as pictured above,...

The Summer Reading List is Here! Where does the time fly? I can't believe it's that time of year again! Time to share our Summer Reading List with you! It's my 27th year in HCPSS and 22nd year here at Murray Hill Middle School! W00t! A lot of things have changed but some thing stay the same. Like still LOVING to read. Every day. Especially, in the Summer time! There's nothing better to sit outside, on the beach, under an umbrella, or in a screened in porch and just read. For hours and hours! Where do you like to read? Any verified official Murray Hill kid who answers that in the comments will get a surprise next year! Sorry, Svetlana in Vladivostok, you are not eligible to win, but I still appreciate you reading this blog!   We Invite you to view & download the Middle School Summer Reading List Jpeg Page 1 and Page 2 or 2019SR_MSfinal- PDF  Thanks to our our A+ partner Librarians at the Howard County Library and two of our local HCPSS Middle S...

I was touched by this timeless Huffington Post article from Mr. James Perry, once mayoral candidate and the the Executive Director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center: "Among the most important lessons I've learned from Dr. King is the example of servant leadership. A servant leader is one who offers an inclusive vision; listens carefully to others; persuades through reason; and heals divisions while building community. It is easy to spot servant leaders. In a room where others are jockeying for attention, they are the ones listening to someone others might consider unimportant. When faced with a problem, they look for solutions that benefit everyone. When something goes wrong, they take the blame. When things go well, they share the credit. They tell everyone the same story, even when it is inconvenient or difficult. They know that they don't have all the answers, so they seek advice from others. They work hard and inspire others to do the same. ...

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 ...

Yes, we did it. Inspired by Tim Gwynn's TV studio kids doing the Internet MEME dance sensation The Harlem Shake, Winecoff Style (embedded at the end!) you know we had to make our own! What is a MEME, you may ask? Well, I've blogged about this before but here's a quick primer graphic below in case you missed it. Oh and for those of you going to #SCASL13 and #MACUL13 - come see me present QR Codes, I'll be talkin more about them there! So, why has this one Meme sprouted like a gajillion versions in the last two weeks? I think because it's fun & easy to film and most importantly easy to edit! Basically, it's shot in 2 scenes, the first being one person masked dancing with people around assiduously ignoring them for the first 15 seconds of the song, then when the song s ays "Harlem Shake" you cut to everyone going wild dancing usually with costumes & props for a total of 30-40 seconds. Now, schools, universities, companies, & groups ...

Gotcha Back!  I want to share this amazing video that one of our outstanding, talented, amazing, adorable - ok, I'm a bit of a fan grrl for Denise Adams our new MHMS Guidance Counselor. (Ms. Shuman's pretty cool, too!)  She did this video all by herself! W00t! (With a little help from her kids!;-) Starring our awesome Murray Hill Middle School kiddos. She used a stop action sports setting on her camera to get the step-effect of the photos. We have an anti-bullying PBIS campaign going in our school and this video supports it wonderfully - and it gets me a little choked up..."I'm all farklempt! " Here's the video link on the SchoolTubes and the embedded vid below in case the YouTubes are blocked in your district or the embed doesn't work for you!     If it's important, FIND A WAY - to be a How to be a Ninja Warrior Filter Fighter ! Imma B Another GREAT video for PBIS is this inspiring one from Nashville, TN!  It espouses a real positive mes...