Jean Darnell: Awaken Librarian

So you heard that I've been living it up at  TLA (#txla15) for National Librarian's Week? Yep, that's true...when you're reaching for the stars, it doesn't hurt to touch the ones you already admire! Here's the low-down: Mutual Inspiration: After reading and scaring kiddos with his books, it was a dream beyond belief to meet Michael Dahl ! We shared scary stories & I shared the Halloween lessons we did, leaving him inspired. You don't believe me? Like his Facebook and ask him what lesson he took from "Duchess the Librarian?" And before I forget, for my kids at Goodman ES, Mr. Dahl isn't just a scary writer...recognize these books: Another year visiting & supporting the wonderful writing of Don Tate! Thank you Don, Chris and Jen Burton and EVERYONE at Eerdman's Books for Young Readers (Anita & Kathleen)! Andrea Pinkney challenged us to embrace diversity and write a "Letter to Diversity," as she shared her own...

EVEN BIGGER UPDATE! I just met, shook hands and bragged to Jonathan about the awesome jobs my kiddos are doing with his novel! So... BIG UPDATE: I tweeted the author of The Night Gardener, JONATHAN AUXIER , and he just responded to my tweet! Aaaahh! @JonathanAuxier You just made my day! :) Thank you so much for your validation for us #librarians ! #txlchat #txla15 #awesome Best wishes! — awakenlibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) April 8, 2015 In my continued celebration of Poetry Month, I created a little "How-to" video on creating a BLACKOUT POEM! They're extremely simple to do and I hope you enjoy. Here are some still shots of the pages from the video: BTW, I used the book called The Night Gardener in the video. Check out the book cover, author interview and Texas Bluebonnet trailer:

I happen to love Storybird for it's the perfect creative platform for artists, writers and innovators looking for their next muse! The ease in using their sight is self-explanatory and "child's play" when it comes to navigating. I'd love to meet the genius minds behind this app! Join us both as we celebrate National Poetry Month (April) with Storybird !

Yesterday, I had a wonderful author, Vuthy "Woody" Kuon , visit my students in the library! It literally rocked their socks to interact with Woody! Everything from his immigration from Cambodia to his fanatical presentation about his first experiences with public schools had the students laughing with glee. However, the icing on the cake was when Woody put marker to note-pad and illustrated fantastic "faces" for Humpty Dumpty! Librarians: Woody is worth every dollar of fun! Please reserve an author visit with him today! Here are some pictures from his captivating presentation: Woody was even kind enough to create a special bookmark for my kiddos! And the books I purchased for the library, he drew a caricature of the both of us! I've left my "portrait" in a book in the library! How awesome is that? Take a look at this video of my colleague-caricatures! Smiles of Humpty Dumpy from Awaken Librarian on Vimeo . Fun day today! Author/Illustrator...

To promote our book fair, I created a video of our most famous and 2nd strongest advocate of literacy, Mrs. Lisa Langston, campus principal at Lula Belle Goodman! My apologies Mrs. L, but I'm the #1 strongest advocate for literacy! :) sEcReT aGeNt BoOk LaDy from Awaken Librarian on Vimeo .

So the high-light of my morning is that my state library association, TLA, tweeted some of those lessons and programming initiatives that I do with my campus, as well as feature here on my blog! I CANNOT SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH! In the education field, validation is sparse some days, so I'm humbled and grateful for their acknowledgement! Enjoy! “ @awakenlibrarian : @TXLA Real Men Read http://t.co/q08YAGlc4E #coolstuff ” This is fantastic! Glorious gentlemen, indeed. — Texas Library Assoc (@TXLA) February 25, 2015 @awakenlibrarian So many cool ideas! 🐉 — Texas Library Assoc (@TXLA) February 25, 2015 And, here are my efforts featured on their Pinterest Page : ABSOLUTELY AWESOME MORNING! :)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!! I truly appreciate the Chinese culture and am always looking for a way to incorporate various findings into my library. This week we're celebrating the new year! You'll find below an Education Board that I created using Discovery Education's Board Builder ; as long as you have an account, you can login and watch the embedded videos. Be sure to watch the adorable video about a Rocky Mountain goat...she gives birth at the top of the mountain...see what happens! Here's the truly hilarious (and homely made) shadow puppet play that I did with my fabulous and supportive colleague, Mr. Michael Davenport! It's appropriate for grades 2nd-5th. Also, I paired this activity with National Geographic Kids Digital Book, Celebrate Chinese New Year With Fireworks, Dragons, and Lanterns Otto, Carolyn. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2009. 36 pp. Lastly, I couldn't forget my wonderful video about The Story of Nian, a ...