The Daring Librarian

5 Ways to Reflect, & Not Regret, Teaching OR... Summer Thoughts for Fall Success! I love teaching! I love being a School Teacher Librarian & Technology Specialist. I love my practice, my profession, my school, my library, my students, my families, and my community! I can't imagine doing anything else that feeds my soul like being an educator. I love the seasons and the time and tide of it. * Full confession, this is an update of a blog post I wrote a few years ago - because I think we should reflect on these subjects every summer or every year. Every new school year is a do-over. Any and all the mistakes or things you didn't get to do the year before can be corrected the next year. It's like an on-going karmic gift that keeps on giving year after year! I can't think of any other profession that gives you such a clear start and stop and a time to reflect. The great thing about summers off (other than that they are made of awesome) is the ability...

Using The Magic Words "Pilot Test!"   Last year I mentioned at the bottom of my Amazon Echo blog post that I was trying something NEW in our library, a BYOD Charging station.  It consisted of a tall AV cart with 2 USB charging hubs and I bought a bunch of multi-ended charging cords. It was on the honor system - come into the Media Center, plug in your device, check out a book or read, and charge while you were here. Still had my disclaimer, though! Your device, Your Responsibility It worked like a dream for months! Until one kid had a beef with another and a tablet, left on it's own over many class periods, went missing. Le sigh. Unbowed, undeterred, and stubborn as all get out, I went back to the drawing board!  Three years ago, while still on the ISTE Board of Directors, I was touring the fabulous Hillwood High School Library   in Nashville, and I saw this amazing bank of lockers in a school library that had electrical outlets in them! WOW! It blew...