Have you checked out SymbalooEdu lately?

SymbalooEdu is an interactive collection of all your favorite web tools, YouTube videos, Animoto videos, lesson plans, RSS Feeds, and much, much more.  

Create links to research tools, lib guides, e-books, and cool sites like EasyBib.  Having all the links in one place makes researching easier for students and teachers. Symbaloo easily embeds in library homepages such as Destiny.  Students love using the webmix with icons. Before using Symbaloo, I had a list of links to important resources on my library homepage. This frustrated students who were looking to find links quickly.  The colorful icons help students find resources easily.  Symbaloo is a great tool for student projects. Let students create webmixes on any topic and share them.  Students can also create e-portfolios and have a professional body of work for the 21st century. The possibilities are endless! Check out www.SymbalooEdu.com today!

TALL TEXANS 2013

Being selected to be a part of the Tall Texan Leadership Development Class of 2013 has been one the highlights of my career.  I am thankful for the Texas Library Association’s commitment to create an institute that prepares leaders to excel in the field of librarianship.  Jack Siggins, Director of the George Washington University Gelman Library, and Maureen Sullivan, Past President of the American Library Association, were the institute’s facilitators.  Along with an amazing group of mentors, Jack and Maureen shared insights from their own careers and leadership theories to help us become successful leaders.   

Jack Siggins & Maureen Sullivan

With an emphasis on collaboration, we learned how to lead groups of professionals, utilize risk taking strategies, and develop interpersonal relationships and skills. 

Ted Wanner is the project coordinator for Tall Texans and does a wonderful job organizing the institute. The Montserrat Jesuit Retreat Center, a beautiful facility overlooking a lake, provided the accommodations for the institute.  

I would like to express my thanks to everyone who helped to create a wonderful Tall Texan experience: Texas Library Association, Jack Siggins and Maureen Sullivan, Ted Wanner, Sharon Amastae, Donald Dyal, Oralia Garza de Cortes, Carlyn Gray, Deborah Halsted, Ling Hwey Jeng, TASL, YART, and all the participants of the Tall Texan Class of 2013. A special thanks to my longtime mentor and friend Sharon Gullett, my amazing superintendent, Keith Boles, for supporting me, and Stacey Sullivan who has always believed in me.

Our Amazing Mentors

“Why not?”

Lessons Library Lady Learned from the Seniors of 2013

 

     The seniors of 2013 have taught me some pretty important lessons this year. The most powerful of all is, “Why Not?”  I started this school year pretty much the same as I always have for fifteen years.   I planned with teachers, prepared the library for another year, and thought I was on the right track.  I have always loved my profession, but at times I did feel I could do more. I just wasn’t sure what it was; then, walked in a group of amazing young men and women who turned my world upside down. 

     Cleverly disguised as library assistants, these young sages challenged all my traditional thinking.  We sat in my office and brainstormed ideas—not just occasionally, but most every day.  What could we do to promote reading, help teachers, and push ourselves to grow? We came up with crazy ideas and really simple ones too.  I am proud to say we implemented most of them and changed the way students and teachers feel about the library at our school. 

     Our mantra this year became, “Why not?”  As we thought of ideas that were too farfetched, we tossed them aside, only to resurrect them later as we thought, “Why not?”  When you really think about it, what would stop you from doing something great--fear, worry, lack of confidence?  Well, I had all of those and so did my students, but together we knew we could accomplish anything. To quote Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”   From dressing up as Library Lady in outrageous costumes and checking out books in the cafeteria to creating forensic crime scenes, I feel we have accomplished so much more than we dreamed possible.  We have created a library that is viable, relevant, and no longer invisible. Now we are the first place teachers and students come for research help, tech tools, great books, and a place to socialize. Do you want to know the best part? This is only the start--the sky is the limit.  Imagine what we can do next year! 

     As the year draws to a close, my wonderful seniors are graduating and going off to change the world while they will always leave a lasting impression on me.  Seniors, please remember the road that lays before you is filled with joys and hardships, opportunities and challenges, but most of all your future is what you make it.  So why not make it as awesome as you are???

Celebrate National Donut Day 

The Center of Everything

by Linda Urban

What better way to start off the day than with a Skype visit from the wonderful Linda Urban?  The creative writing class was so excited to meet a real, live author.  They all anxiously gathered round the computer as we waited for Ms. Urban to Skype call us.  Ready, Set, Go!  She is calling! She is on the screen! We all rush to say hello at once.  There she is...a real, live author.  The students all have their questions ready and anxiously await their turn to talk to her.  

Her first question is,  "Do you have your donuts???"  "Yes, we do!" everyone chanted as we see Ms. Urban hold hers up on the screen.  Ms. Urban's publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, has graciously provided donuts for the entire class.  We are so glad the protagonist of The Center of Everything lives in the fictional town of  Bunning, New Hampshire.  Bunning, as it turns out, is the home of the modern day donut. 

Each student had the opportunity to ask questions and personally talk with Ms. Urban.  "Wow", they say after it is over, "she is really nice." Yes, I think, yes, she is really nice. Not only did Ms. Urban take the time to visit with each student and answer their questions, but she told funny stories about her writing. She gave the students more than she knows this morning. She encouraged those high school students to keep on writing and not give up.  As they left, every one of them was excited! How often do high school students get super excited about writing? I think she gave them a wondrous gift that they will have forever.  Thank you, Ms. Urban!  

National Donut Day is June 7, 2013.  Why not celebrate with The Center of Everything and a donut?

Jet Off to Space with a Good Book!

Library Lady rocketed into the lunchroom to check out books to all her amazing high school students. The students love dystopian novels, so I took this opportunity to promote all the cool futuristic books in the library.  What was at the top of the list?  

• The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth is still the most popular series in the library this month. Students are still excited about this series and cannot wait until October for the third installment.  
• Feed by M T Anderson is a popular read set in the future where most people have a computer implant in their head to control their environment.
• Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky has students wondering how they would date in the future. In the year 2060, when people hardly ever leave the security of their houses, and instead do everything online, even dating, Madeline Freeman, the seventeen year old daughter of the man who created the national digital school attended by all citizens, is wooed by a group of radicals who are trying to unplug.

• MILA 2.0  by Debra Driza is a tale of a sixteen year old who discovers she is not who she thinks she is. She is on the run from the CIA and a rogue intelligence group. "Who is she?" or more the more troubling question is "What is she becoming?".
• Frozen by Robin Wasserman is book one in the Cold Awakening Trilogy.  Lia, involved in an accident that should have killed her, wakes to find her wealthy parents have paid for her to have an experimental procedure that makes her a mech, one of a select group of people given mechanical bodies that never die or age, and though she tries to return to her old life, she finds nothing is the same, and is soon drawn into a group of mechs and begins to see the limitless possibilities of her new body.

Nothing is cooler than checking out a futuristic book from your favorite robot librarian!

Do you want to be a crime scene investigator?

John Doe, a frequent library patron, was found at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 30th in the library by Mrs. Cooper.  There is no evidence of foul play, but there is an ongoing investigation into his death.  Come by the library and use your forensic skills to solve our mysterious death. 

In collaboration with our science department, we have created a mock crime scene in the library.  We have QR code clues, book clues, and many other hints for the most observant students.  This all started with a simple idea.  Nikki D. Robertson posted a picture of a forensic book display, and that set my mind to thinking.  One of our creative biology teachers asked, "Why don't you do that?"  I thought, why not?  So we decided to create our own interactive crime scene.  Students received a bookmark with their first QR code clue and are now investigating the mysterious death of John Doe. 

School Lunch Lady Superhero Day!

Jarrett J. Krosoczka is honoring lunch ladies around the nation on May 3, 2013.  Cafeteria workers play an important role in our children's lives and rarely get recognition for their hard work.  Take this opportunity to say, "Thank You!" to your school lunch lady.  For great ideas and free printables visit a special website Krosoczka created just for this event School Lunch Lady Superhero Day!  At our high school, each lunch lady will receive an apron that students, staff, and administrators have signed to show their appreciation.    Let's all show our cafeteria workers that they ROCK!!!