The Daring Librarian

I got this compelling email from good friend and LJ/SLJ/The Horn Book publisher Ian Singer who forwarded a passionate plea to several of us to mobilize, sign the petition to Ensure all school libraries are properly staffed, open, and available for children every day and to get out the word via Twitter. So, I immediately signed the petition and Tweeted it out now I'm posting it here to share it with you my dear to readers! DEADLINE: November 27th My friends – Good morning. I’m writing on behalf of a single voice, who has reached out to School Library Journal looking for “help and hope”. And so, I am reaching out to you individually and collectively because the time for us to act is now. While at AASL, I spoke with very many of you about this exact issue and the pressing need for us to get together and more actively to support the plight of our school libraries and librarians . . . the time for us to act is now. So let’s start somewhere, together, and help our frien...

I eagerly drank the Dropbox Koolaid last year thanks to my good friend from METC_CSD Gina Hartman - I was sold when she said "because of Dropbox I don't care if my laptop crashes" My jaw literally dropped my eyes bugged out, and I realized THIS WAS BIG!  Now I love Dropbox more every day! Dropbox brings together seamlessly all of my devices. All of my Macs (iPad, Macbook laptop, & iMac work desktop) and my Android Fascinate phone (UPDATE 11:14 - iPhone 6+) . Between Dropbox & GoogleDocs - I really don't need to carry around flashdrives (But I still do -cause networks *can* still go down!) I'm a girl scout that way. The Cloud is here! Give it a shot by joining Dropbox – Are you a teacher?  Dropbox loves schools !  After you join, if you are an educator you can also get double the credit for referrals. That's 500 MB for you per friend & an extra 250MB for them that with your special .EDU account. (Update 11:14 - not sure about this anymo...

I'm a shameless NPR fan! In fact, I just spent about 3 hours driving home from #MASL11, #MSEA11, & Bethany Beach today laughing along with Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me & the Prairie Home Companion. I was also honored & gobsmacked to be interviewed by Bob Edwards last year! SQUEE!) /boasting So, when I got the below astounding tweet this afternoon from NPR rock star Michele Norris alerting me to a VERY AWESOME new NPR bookclub - I put my planed Sunday blog post on the back burner and started writing this! Neil Gaiman Geeky Uber Cool & Oh So Generous! Ok..so first Neil Gaiman proves his geek street cred by pairing up with Dr. Who and now he's combining his superpowers with that of NPR, All Things Considered, & Michele Norris to give our kids....ages 9-14 a Back-seat Book Club of their very own! So teens listen up! " Finally, NPR For YOU! For all those kids in the back seat who are fed a steady diet of NPR news, here's a book club just for...

( click for more sizes & to download ) It's been a while since I've added to my Comic Tutorial Collection - not surprising since September & October are always a busy time for teachers, right? But I was asked several times recently not WHAT WAS A QR CODE ...like my previous Comic Tutorial explained (below) ...but exactly HOW to CREATE A QR CODE ! So, here's a new comic tutorial that shows you how, in three easy steps, by copying & pasting a URL and using Goo.gl URL Shortener & QR Code Monkey how to save that created QR CODE graphic (.PNG format) and using it in a document or graphic, it's easy! With the AMAZING BONUS feature of aggregated data on that code! (see below)  QR CODE UPDATE! - 7/27/2014 Bitly doesn't do this anymore! [sad face] but Google URL shortener , does! YAY! Also, my fav QR Code creator right now for jazzy QR Codes is QR Code Monkey !  This is the coolest thing ever! Google saves the the statistics on that code ...

Melvil Dewey! Kablam! International Library Hip Hop Superstar! That's right, in Winston Salem where I was honored to be keynoting at the amazing North Carolina School Library Media (NCSLMA11) conference this past weekend I got to meet him! AND WOW! This guy is the real deal! Sporting a blingtastic gold & diamond encrusted library card, glasses, magic hoodie, & a rhyming dictionary this self-proclaimed Story Yeller can write some mad library & literacy rhymes! Check check check it out! His YouTube vid has gotten over half a MILLION hits! Amazing! Who is this guy? From the bio on his website : "Melvil Dewey teaches children the importance of libraries in our communities (and schools!), advocates reading and introduces basic library skills. His first single, The Dewey Decimal Rap , has over half a million hits on YouTube and is being distributed worldwide by McGraw-Hill in 2012. Meanwhile, two of his music videos have been deemed by The Huffington Post as two ...

I blogged about my unabashed love for The Week in Rap back in 2009 on my school library blog ....I went on and on about how AWEsome it was bringing current events & news written for students in an immediately engaging and Oh so Hip Hop way! Now, Flocabulary just gets even better! But it will cost you -though not too much...and it's totally worth it! Now, before you ask...NO! Neither Flocabulary (nor BrainPop) have asked me to write this or paid me for posting (AS IF!) I can't be bought! I only blog about sites, software, and products I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! (of course, I'd obvi take a hoodie!) Of course, the peeps at Flocabulary are going to keep the super popular and lauded Week In Rap -- With ARCHIVES ....AND Special Features! But this young, talented company, have also added SO many other subject categories of sweet rhymes & songs that immediately engage learning & inspire substantive conversations! What's for FREE? LOTS! According to VP of Sales Vlad Gutkov...

Back to School Night is Coming: Marketing to My Parents In a couple weeks we're having our Back to School Night (BTSN) at my middle school & it's a GREAT opportunity to start my year off right by giving my parents ALL the resources they need to be in constant communication with us! A friend & fellow teacher librarian in my district Barb Randolph mentioned that the teachers who posted QR codes in their classrooms had parents lining up to scan them on BTSN! So, taking that one step further I created with Comic Life & iPhoto a QR Code Tree Poster (see above) with all our important MHMS Daring School Library & school web links. I'll be posting this outside the Libary Media Center and in the school lobby as parents on BTSN don't usually visit the library....so I wanna "get 'em while the gettin is good!" Qr btsn site View more documents from gwyneth jones I've also created for my teachers a quick & easy QR Code Micros...