The Daring Librarian

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 ...

  Inspired by a recent blog post by the amazing Richard Byrne I wanted to add a few more things to the list I wrote 3 years ago how to use QR Codes to connect with students, parents, and the community on Back to School Night and during the school year.  Some of these ideas include examples, links to free downloadables, and graphics that you can snag & use in your school.  I've also updated my popular How to Create a QR Code in 3 Easy Steps Infographic comic tutorial to help out! Set the Stage: Have Parents Download the QR Code Scanning App! In preparation for BTSN I posted on our school digital newspaper Murray Messages: QR Codes Hit the Hill! "We hereat MHMS, embrace mobile media. Proof of which you’ll see in cool black and white when you visit us for Back to School Night! Have a smart phone? Be ready & download a QR code scanner app! We really like the FREE iNigma QR code reader available in both Droid, iPhone, or iPad versio...

Promote Reading With QR Code  Loo Reviews & Pocket Videos!  Here's a fun idea! Combine QR Codes that link to video book trailers on a laminated sign taped to the back of a bathroom stall door that says "Do NOT Scan These!" and you should get the kids streaming into the high school library to check out books!  Let's face it, kids sneak their smart phones into the bathroom to check their text messages why not take advantage of that & get them into the school library! Even better if you have the time & ability to let the kiddos create their OWN trailers & post them to SchoolTube! Don't forget the teachers! Create signs with the hottest YA books for the teachers bathrooms, too! Now...my principal gently put the kibosh on this brilliant idea for our middle school bathrooms, and totally I see his point. Whether I like it or not, we're not BYOD yet, and our school district policy says middle schoolers must keep their cell phones in their ...

One of my fav members of my PLN on Twitter is Josh Stumpenhorst - this morning he posted this Tweet about an article on Social Media Today titled QR codes – Don’t Believe the Hype which got my blood boiling because it's flawed logic - especially for educators! Josh Stumpenhorst ‏ @ stumpteacher QR codes – don’t believe the hype http://zite.to/LVIjYc interesting Which, of course, leads to great Tweets & discussions. So I decided to write a blog post refuting their assertions because when it comes to QR Codes you know I'm a fangrrl! If you search my blog with "QR Codes" you'll see I've blogged a LOT about them over the years, what they are , connecting with parents and the community , and lessons utilizing them in the classroom & library ! Josh Stumpenhorst ‏ @ stumpteacher @ gwynethjones @ MsMensing Ha, I love when a blog post gets p...

We had an exciting day a few Friday's ago when we used Google+ to hang out with the 2nd grade gifted inclusion kids at Ms. Mensing's class from Sonoran Sky Elementary in Scottsdale, Arizona! Whew! That's a mouthful! But these kids were AWEsome! I taught a brief lesson on QR Codes in the Classroom (and Library!) all about where QR Codes came from, how they are different than regular bar codes, and how they are being used all over the world to transmit information like Text Messages, Video, and URL Web links via Mobile Media! QR Codes in the Elementary Classroom View more presentations from gwyneth jones Say What!? Audio QR Codes! After that my 6th graders in Ms. Torsani's Math class held up to the camera special QR Voice audio codes & written messages they composed for the kids! QR Code Voice is a really cool new resource! You just type in a short message (100 Characters) and click and Voila! You get a QR Code that when scanned reads out in a robotic voic...