Jean Darnell: Awaken Librarian

The biggest bonus for attending TLA this week was that I found my son a "Reading and Rocking" Pete the Cat shirt! I wasn't allowed back home without something Pete the Cat. Pete's taken over my house, I-pad and bedtime stories. If he wasn't such a cool cat, then I wouldn't allow that! Rhyming intentional!

Here are some photos from the Texas Library Association Conference this week in San Antonio! Be well! First and foremost, I had a wonderful chance to meet my LIBRARIAN IDOL Mrs. Shannon McClintock Miller!!! (Van Meter Librarian Extraordinaire!) @txla and just met my #librarianidol @shannonmiller AWESOME pic.twitter.com/I7th7ZHh2T — awakenlibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) April 9, 2014 Then, as part of my winning the 2014 Scholarship for TLA's Black Caucus, I interacted volunteer to "man" our booth and meet such wonderful people, such as Mr. Roosevelt Weeks of the Houston Public Library ! The Lovely Exhibit Booth The Amazing Author Sharon Draper Giving a Wonderful Speech About Engaging Reluctant Readers The Multi-talented Kimberly Gay (Black Caucus Scholarship Chair, who selected ME as their recipient) Receiving a Surprise Award And, TLA promoting our booth! Stop by the TLA Black Caucus booth #2541 to meet these lovely ladies! @awakenlibrarian ...

So my Goodman Owl babies and I recently read Corey Rosen Schwartz's The Three Ninja Pigs! Let me just tell you, I thought that my innocent post on Goodreads about a great lesson in my class, that just so happened to center on The Three Ninja Pigs book, would motivate others to read an exciting book. Take a look at the post here: The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz My rating: 5 of 5 stars I LOVED sharing this book with my elementary babes. We did this right around the Chinese New Year. I was able to combo that wondrous event, with Bruce Lee (my childhood hero)! I appreciated the fact that the Ninja principles of self-discipline, respect, and harmony with nature were evident. Plus, the kids ADORED the illustrations. I taught them the proper bow/greeting for a sensei and had them all bow and greet their teacher, when she returned to collect them from rotation. She was flabbergasted and impressed. GREAT READ and catalyst for activity! So many of my boys are tak...

As my students prepare for STAAR (Texas' standardized test) , I wanted to share this great POWERFUL TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES slideshow, courtesy of Jen Jones' Hello Literacy blog: Powerful Test-Taking Strategies - Elementary Level from Jennifer Jones

It's been a while since I posted, I've been super busy getting ready for the Texas Library Association Conference coming up next month! And, we have an announcement... I AM THE WINNER OF THE TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BLACK CAUCUS SCHOLARSHIP!!!! Can we say "uber" excited??? Thank you to the TLA Black Caucus Committee , especially Ms. Kimberly Gay ! Now to the new tech tip I discovered! FlipQuiz is a SUPER easy way to create a game board! Oh Lord, where was this app a few years ago when I had a Jeopardy Game over Cantebury Tales for my high school seniors? Nevertheless, I created a new game board in a matter of minutes. It's great for book reviews, STAAR test preparation (Texas' Standardized Test) and just about anything you can think of. You're allowed to create hyperlinks inside the game-board, which makes for an excellent manner for students to cite their sources. Anyone for an interactive research project? Here's a quick game that I cr...

What I want to discuss today is a fellow blogger and librarian, Ingrid Abrams--The Magpie Librarian . Recently, she was featured in a Slate.com article titled, "This is What a Librarian Looks Like." http://magpielibrarian.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/slates-this-is-what-a-librarian-looks-like-this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/ Why this article is important to me (and all librarians) is because often times, librarians are stereotyped. I can't count the number of times folks look at me bewildered when I say, "I'm a librarian." It's like they're in disbelief that I am. Why? "Where's the disillusionment coming from?" is what I want to ask. So this insightful article about the diversity of librarians truly validated my belief: not all librarians are Caucasian ladies with glasses and prudent behavior. Kyle Cassidy, photographer and Slate.com contributing writer, decided at ALA's Mid-winter Conference to feature the wonderful...

Ok readers, last week it was embedding a tweet on your blog, THIS week, it's showing how Twitter can enhance your classroom. Take a look at this wonderful article from Mashable: "How Twitter in the Classroom is Boosting Student Engagement" and then conclude with watching this insightful break-down and authentic application of "Twit-in-the-C!" That's not yet copy-righted, but don't try to steal my slang! ;-) Remember, the internet is FOREVER!!!