The Daring Librarian

Because you asked. I occasionally get emails from followers, readers, and conference audience members asking for advice. It's lovely! And flattering! And OK, a lot of work sometimes. But, I always try to answer and help. Recently, I spent so much time answering, linking to past posts, and giving paragraphs and paragraphs of advice I thought - Hey! This would be a good blog post! Some of these topics, I've blogged about before. I'm kind of passionate about being a passionate teacher, being positive, and just choosing one NEW thing at a time to try. So, though it's taken me a better part of a week to write this, and I warn you -- it's LONG. It's what they call nowdays a "deep dive" or a "long read" and that's OK! I thought... or hoped, it could be helpful to some new Educators, Admins, Teachers and Teacher Librarians! My Usual Disclaimer: These are my humble opinions and to quote the great Dalton, played with great gravitas by lat...

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 ...

Last time I blogged about Change, Innovation, and Tenacity and this time I want to finish this discussion by tackling Positivity and Collaboration.  Among my friends I've sometimes been accused of being a bit of a Polyanna who chooses to be happy. I think that's because I truly believe that ....Happiness is a Choice or that Stay Positive by Staying Out  of The Teacher's Lounge! And some days, it's an EFFORT! LOL I'm going into MAP testing season tomorrow, so I'll be having my waitress smile on most of the day. Yes, I was a waitress in my 20's when I needed 2 jobs to live in Downtown Baltimore...one of the best experiences of my life!  Taught me how to fake it, till you make it, stay positive, let things roll off my back, and keep smiling. (Even when inside I sometimes wanna let the expletives fly!)  All great training to be a middle school teacher! Don't Be a Funpire! Anyway, in my 23+ years of teaching I have noticed that sometimes the e...