The Daring Librarian

What do you get when you mash together Instagram, Vine, Flipagram, and Musical.ly? TikTok. My middle school students introduced me to TikTok this past school year when I noticed that my 6th grade girls were glued to it during recess.  Fifteen second videos that you can add music plus filters, stickers, text, and more. Here's what the Heavy says about TikTok - it's a: "global music and video platform, it was created in 2016 by Chinese internet technology company ByteDance. TikTok is known in China as Douyin. The video-sharing app has 150 million active daily users and the global app has three times that many subscribers. Most of the videos feature lip-syncing, lots of pets especially cats doing fun stuff, lots of pretty girls, many young, and parkour or other thrill-seeking clips among myriad other short clips. When YouTube crashed (last fall), TikTok was quick to swoop in. " TikTok is also unusual because it has a reaction feature (Video). "Se...

It hurts when something you love dearly goes away. Remember, how I said you didn't have to MARRY New Technology - you can just date it and drop it if you don't get along? Well,  sometimes your favorite new technology that you've developed strong feelings for, gone steady with, and kinda loved - just up and LEAVES you! Goes poof, outta the blue! Leaving you to pick up the digital pieces and find a new love & replacement.  Dying on the Vine & Instagram Invention For example, I just heard last week that Vine is going away - and I was all like what the heck!? Which then leaves me to wail plaintively, "Now what!?"   I wasn't an avid Viner, but I LOVED the app for easy Vine Video Book Trailers , Persuasive ELA Reading Projects , Science Experiments, and snazzy, musically enhanced, Library and school culture promotion.     They're saying that Vine is going away because Instagram added Video a while back and because of the growing pop...

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 ...

I was really excited to work with two great ELA cooperating (student) teachers who are from my alma mater, Towson University. Shout out to Jessica Robertson & Debora Chun ! An additional shout out their kind professor who actually had my blog on her "to read & review" list! So, they came to this school already familiar with my blog, how crazy is that? W00t! So, when they expressed a desire for us to work together before they left my school it was trixy finding 2-4 days between PARCC testing and MAP testing to fit them in, but we did!  As I mentioned in my last pos t I first wanted to do a Mystery Skype with an educator in the Dominican Republic because my 7th grade kiddos had just finished reading Before We Were Free . Sadly, after reaching out to, and never hearing back, from all of Mystery Skype educators in the Dominican Republic (Ok, there were only 4!) we had to move on to plan B! or should I say Plan V for Vine!  We tasked the kids to create a persuasive...

Education Trends-A-Go-Go It's SO easy to get overwhelmed with all the new education tech and trends going on in the world. 1:1 Flipping Future Ready Makerspace Genius Hour Common Core Mobile Learning Design Thinking Google Classroom Brain Based Learning Project Based Learning Learning Management Systems Transformative Brain Based Learning Spaces Sheesh....I could go on! It's EXHAUSTING! Ed Tech Relationship Anxiety Then....there's all the new technology that you have to get, use, and master! Don't have an unlimited budget or a super generous PTA? OK, now you have to get funding from a place like Donor's Choose . (Which is totally, doable! But does take a wee bit of effort) Once it was Smart Boards now it's Tablets and 3D printers. Then what? What happens when you run out of money to buy the supplies? OMGosh, again. Exhausting! Take a Deep Breath, It's OK! But I'm here to tell you...It's OK. You don't have to t...

Over the last six years we've made some great friends with the cool people at the website Flocabulary and we love what they've been creating lately with super engaging rap songs & videos tied in with the CCSS! (Common Core State Standards ) We've been using their Week in Rap news feature in our MHTV school TV studio since they landed on the hip hop education scene in 2008 ! Murray Hill even earned a video shout out last year ! W00t! (We were SO proud!) So, when I heard that they were teaming up with the awesome Common Sense Media people, to put out a music video about Digital Citizenship, - I was SO excited! Talk about wonder twin powers! This video is good to use with both students and teachers about making good choices across all social media outets. I've been on Twitter professionally now for 6 years, and I have an AMAZING & generous personal learning network of followers - so being careful, upbeat, positive and mindful of what I Tweet is importa...