Jean Darnell: Awaken Librarian!

I've discovered a new book... AND I'M IN LOVE! In this one book, I will cover all subjects in learning (music, art, language art, social students, science, technology & PE-via dancing), ready? Here we go... Here's a small video I created to put on the morning announcements to entice the students: And, what kind of librarian would I be without including a book review: Mummy Cat by Marcus Ewert My rating: 5 of 5 stars I absolutely loved this book as it's the perfect platform to cover every subject taught in school. Without giving away too much, Mummy Cat was the victim of vengeance and now awaits to be reunited with his owner, the Queen of Egypt! The fluidity of Marcus Ewert 's choice of words is wonderful. Please check out my blog post, as it has the blessing of both author and illustrator: Mummy Cat! And, did I mention that illustrator Lisa Brown has fantastic illustrations that allude to the text seamlessly? View all my reviews Then, I beg...

Yesterday was our first day back! I enjoyed seeing all the faces light up with curiosity and joy for the new beginning! But, at the end of the day I did feel exhausted, like any Monday! :) But something truly great happened that Monday evening. I joined the Twitter #PLN (Professional Learning Network) hashtag #growthmindset and it changed my vision for this year. Thank you Kelly Mendoza for hosting the PLN last night! :) I needed this visual to share w/a new #PLN , #growthmindset ! https://t.co/TpJ2SFtWJp — awakenlibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) August 25, 2015 I💜this!! Change your words = change your mindset.Dare we add Change your World? #GrowthMindset #5550 @GilcreaseElem https://t.co/L6pa152AXW — Misty Gerber (@misty_gerber) August 24, 2015 For those that don't know, I'm a librarian at a Title 1, elementary campus. Some of our kids are well-rounded, with middle class income families. And some, are not as fortunate. But regardless of income, I practice the b...

I'm getting that tingly feeling again...the students are on their way back to the library! I feel like this: Do students feel this way about being in your class after the first day? #teachergoals pic.twitter.com/luxhgZEFJF — Teacher Goals (@teachergoals) August 10, 2015

So I've come across the book Emily's Blue Period by Cathleen Daly with illustrations by Lisa Brown. It's a clever combination of my favorites: art, family, heart-felt emotions and perseverance. Without giving away too much Emily goes through a "blue" period to mimic her temporary obsession with Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and to counteract the upheaval in her family. On a personal aside, I LOVE Picasso. Who else but he could divide his work into these distinct periods: The Blue Period (1901-1904), which were sad looking paintings using blue and blue-green colours. The Rose Period (1905-1907), which was a more happy style with orange and pink colours. The African- influenced Period (1908-1909) and The Cubism Period (1909- 1919). In my 30 seconds Book Talk : Emily's a young artist. She's impressionable in ways that make her uniqueness shine bright. However, she begins to mimic famed artist Pablo Picasso's "blue period" just when...

Today, I'm attending the Fort Bend ISD Digital Learning Conference and I'm super excited to share the new tool to me EdPuzzle ! You can record audio, trim/edit the video and see which users have answered what questions and export data into an Excel spreadsheet! It's a wonderful classroom tool. I absolutely can't wait to share it at the next professional development inservice! So those that know me, when I get excited about a new thing, I blog it, tweet it and USE it! So here's my "work in progress" EdPuzzle using the #WeNeedDiverseBooks Campaign that I hope takes over the world! Please take at look at it below and use the class code: e09Nmy --that's a zero before the 9 and it IS case sensitive--to leave your comments to the questions embedded in the video!

So my co-worker/friend, Michael Davenport , have this on-going collaborative nature between us! We're constantly bouncing ideas off of each other. Our latest initiative was the idea to record our PDAS observations. This way well intentioned principals can catch all the AWESOMENESS that educators do, that they might not have noticed while in the classroom observing and/or conducting a walk-through. Here's my tweet to bring the Texas Education Agency's attention to our grand idea: @teainfo @txeduchat Why not video PDAS observ. so Ts/Admin can view at their leisure all domain levels? Add peer evaluation too! #txlchat — awakenlibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) May 28, 2015 I mentioned this to @teainfo @txeduchat yesterday! Well intentioned leaders miss measurable moments! May I help out? https://t.co/r9Um6hwRcw — awakenlibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) May 29, 2015 Well, being the overachiever, nutty blossom that I am, I wanted to research what resources were already out there...

So as my kiddos at Goodman Elementary know, I LOVE to give away FREE BOOKS! I'm a fervent believer in kiddos having their own library at home! My kids have a library each of their own and they constantly see me reading. My hope is to one day leave them my library with all my various genres so they can hold it, see my earmarks and notes and reconnect with me, though I physically may be gone! Below are the books I gave away today with their research questions. It concludes with this morning's broadcast announcements! I hope you enjoy! The research: Name 5 writers from the Romantic Period (1800-1850) with one of them being a woman. (Aimed at 5th graders) The research: Name 6 different types of dogs. (Aimed at grades 1st through 4th). The research: Name 6 different famous chefs. (Aimed at grades 1st-5th). Book Give-a-ways! from AwakenLibrarian on Vimeo . Here's the Rutabaga: The Adventure Chef trailer referenced in the morning broadcast: Rutabaga-T...