The Daring Librarian

This is a story about Sister Libraries, Twitter, Google+ Hangout, and connecting kids! It all started with a Tweet by my dear friend & Tweep  Tiffany Whitehead aka The Mighty Little Librarian and her awesome BFF EL teacher Alaina Laperouse both of Central Middle School in Baton Rouge Louisiana! She had been inspired by a Tweet she had seen about sister classrooms started between @ heisereads and @ brianwyzlic - you know, like sister cities? She said she wanted a sister library & I was like I'm willing!! After a few Tweets back and forth a bit to establish time zones (because I'm an idiot when it comes to time zones!) we finally got our kiddos to meet and chat using Google+ Hangout! I've connected with classrooms before using Google Hangout before & blogged about it - but this was different, this was establishing a steady partnership! Our first chat happened in Kristin Cullison's classroom with her 6th grade research seminar class (and...

@Slideshare , my favourite presentation & file sharing site, is celebrating 10 Million  Presentations Uploaded to SlideShare by creating the infographic  below -- and astoundingly, the featured me! (I know, crazy right!?) So...of course I have to share it with you! (and my Mom! LOL)  Also featured on the infographic is the presentation that changed my graphical & preso life and is one of the most viral slidedecks on earth... You Suck at Powerpoint! by the amazing, inspiring, & social media guru JesseDee !  (View the Large Size) 10 Million Uploads: Our Favorites from SlideShare Funny thing is, they were kind enough and I was honored, flattered, and chuffed that they featured me but they got my brand name wrong.  They labeled me the "Darling Librarian" instead of the "Daring Librarian" I mean, I *can* be darling if given the chance & with my friends and loved ones! Here's my comment from their blog: "OhMyWordSli...

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 ...

  This just popped out of my mouth when I was doing the question & answer portion of my keynote last week at the AISL Baltimore conference. And I like it! What do you think? Librarians are the Key  to Information Mastery! There's a lot of talk out there that it's the end of librarianship because of Google and the Interwebs.  I know other states getting rid of their school librarians - but I gotta say Nay, Nay! Let us not give up the good fight! things are seemingly dire and bleak for our profession, what with California & Now, is when the world needs librarians the most! With SO much information out there who else better than a librarian to decode it, curate it, interpret it, organize it, authenticate it, and integrate it? Who else but the librarian is going to teach attribution and Creative Commons? Who else but the librarian is going to be able to filter through millions of research results, then curate and create a playlist of amazing resources i...

The Task: "You've moved to the upscale neighborhood of Mt. Olympus, rubbing elbows with the big shots, the wealthy, the divine - yes the Greek Gods. To fit in you better know who your neighbors are! This playlist will help you find out all about their habits, attitudes, and yes...their powers!" During testing season we have a challenge to support student research with limited access to our computer labs and mobile labs. So, teaming with my 7th grade English teachers, we've re-worked our usual Greek Mythology research unit & adding a Reality TV hook for engagement. (Confession: 2 of my 3 seventh grade English teachers & I are also all huge Bravo fans & and our shared guilty pleasure is the Real Housewives franchise) Since we didn't want to do "Real Housewives of Mt. Olympus" for fear that our guy students would be turned off by that, we thought Big Rich would do the trick! PS. This lesson also would work for our good friends in the S...

It's been about 3 years since I've blogged about FREE digital image editing & fun sites... So I thought I would update it! Thanks to my dear friend @ Linda Dougherty ‏ who Tweeted & Scooped to me about Ribbet which made me give it close look comparing it to my beloved PicMonkey.  I thought I owed you, my dear readers,  an unbiased review of these fab photo editing sites. Last time I talked about 5 of them - this year I'm giving you 10! (Plus a link to my Sqworl gallery with 66+ links) 1. What makes PicMonkey Made of Win? Features Galore! PicMonkey , is MADE of WIN! This beloved site with happy hipster styling beautifully filled in when Picknik went away . [pours some Diet Coke out for my fallen homey] Really, for 94% of what you need to do with images this site can do & WAY easier than Photoshop. I even thought of making a Comic Tutorial for it - but it really is SO easy and intuitive I don't think you need one! PicMonkey is a creation ...