The Daring Librarian

  Hello dear readers!  I'm in the mood for a break from the usual, and with the holidays coming, I'd like to share a few cooking ideas! Some of the ideas I've posted before, but I thought I would put them all together here, in one blog post for ease! Disclaimer:   I'm not a chef and most all of these recipies I've gotten from other people or places, put my spin on it,  results are not guaranteed & your mileage may vary! LOL I think I found this while I was lost in a forest of Pinterest pins - or drowning in a Pinterest pool - you know, you go check on something on Pinterest (or YouTube or BuzzFeed or Awkward Family Photos) and you get "lost" and stumble upon things that are super cool! This recipe was one of them that I HAD to try!  Baked Cauliflower Buffalo Bites - the best of the buffalo wing taste but with yummy cauliflower all baked in the oven and served with bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks. I know this sounds hard to believe th...

  #X Before You Drive Here's a news story written by our MHTV correspondent, 8th grader the uber awesome herself, Stephannie J. "AWESOMENESS TV and many of your favorite celebrities, including James Maslow, Demi Lovato and R5, have joined the movement to stop texting and driving and you should, too! Check out this video featuring some of your favorite YouTubers. Weekly Chris looked pretty good in that video, am I right ladies? (Steph's words, not mine!) So how can you join the movement? Go to itcanwait.com and take the pledge. Spread the word and make this known! #itcanwait "  Thanks Steph! We grownups need to model this for our kiddos. Like transparency and creating a positive digital footprint, we don't have any credibility if we're texting and driving the same time we tell teenagers to X before you drive. My new crosover RAV4 (Squee!) has hands free paring with my phone and I will use that - but I don't touch my phone when I drive...

Four years ago on Doug Johnson's awesome The Blue Skunk Blog a commenter named Glynda said " Doug, I just read in the SLJ that Teacher librarian Gwyneth Jones is now a board member of ISTE. Perhaps she can help ensure that administrators are not only aware of NETS-A but also following them. " ISTE NETS & the Common Core I recently ended that four year elected term on the ISTE Board of Directors and as I reflect upon my service, participation, and accomplishments balanced with Glenda's comment, I can say that if that was the sole standard of success - I failed! I couldn't then, and I can't now, "ensure" that admins are aware of NETS and I surely can't make them follow the NETS. I think we ALL must have an ongoing conversation with our Admin & staff about how we can integrate ISTE NETS into our daily instruction. Just like teaching technology in isolation, it shouldn't just happen once at a professional develo...

Codes to Teach Like a Cowboy / Cowgirl I am SO very excited to announce that two educators whom I greatly respect and admire are going to guest speak on our #TLChat Virtual Cafe webinar series : Shelly Terrell & Jake Duncan "Teaching can feel like trying to conquer the Wild West. We need inspiration and advice from trailblazers used to rough terrains. Two Texas educators invite you to join this campfire conversation in which they will share some practical ideas and tips for handling anything from fundraising to teaching with little technology. Giddy up! Get your boots on and join us for this adventurous ride that’ll get you fired up and equipped for the school year." October 6th, 2014 8pm Eastern USA time Session Wikipage Did you miss it? It was AWESOME!  A huge thanks to the ever amazing & generous Shelly & Jake!  Watch, listen, & enjoy by clicking on the Blackboard Session Archive Link (Please give it a min to download ...

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...

For the last five years at the #TLChat Virtual Cafe we've offered a FREE webinar to help librarians and teachers of all subjects and levels get ready for the next school year. This casual discussion generates ideas on how to build school allies, support new teachers, & become indispensable to administration & staff at the beginning of EVERY school year. I'm joined in this conversation by amazing, librarians, friends, and moderators Tiffany Whitehead and Jennifer LaGarde......and hopefully YOU! W00t! Join in! Sept 8th, 2014 - 8pm EST Participant Link Back to School Special Wikipage I Want YOU to Grab the Mic! This year we've flipped the script and are inviting YOU to step up to the mic and share your ideas, tips, tricks, and cool ways to get excited, energized, and to supercharge the library program or classroom throughout the school year. How to do it?  Easy! Just add a slide! Visit our shared and open to edit Google presentation - check out...

  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...