Calling all Creatives – Rainbow Vision!

Rainbow Vision Literary Magazine

ISO student submissions!

“Rainbow Vision is specifically looking for material for our literary magazine that has an LGBTQIA+ theme, is written by LGBTQIA+ authors AND their allies, and/or is written for an LGBTQIA+ audience. We are currently accepting short stories, poetry, art work, song lyrics, personal narratives, essay, film/video, music/audio, photography, script/play/manuscript, drawing, etc.” – Ms. Danielle DuPuis

The deadline to submit is April 1st.

Click HERE to submit your creative products   

Please Note: Only open to HCPSS Students

Questions? Contact Ms. Danielle DuPuis, Library Media Specialist at Hammond High School – danielle_dupuis@hcpss.org

View Last year’s Magazine! 

Our May 2020 issue of Rainbow Vision received an “Excellent” rating from NCTE’s REALM. (Links to an external site.)

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“Teachers and students are encouraged to share this magazine. However, we’d ask that you not reprint or repost content publicly without permission. If you’d like a hard copy of this magazine or would like permission to post on your site, please email pride@hcpss.org for more details.”

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Students & Families: The MHMS Daring School Library Media Center has always been a Safe Space for ALL of our Students!  READ: Our School Library is a Safe Space 

 

Unlocking the Secret to 100+ FREE eBooks & Audiobooks

Hey Mountain Lions!

If you missed my presentation last week – here’s the info I shared about the secret way to unlock, filter, and find 100 FREE eBooks  – That’s right a variety of Fiction, Non-fiction, Graphic Novels, Horror, Mystery, Sports, Classics and MORE!  All through Clever and MackinVia.


Got a question? Email me in Canvas! Or drop by your Virtual Recess session!

  1. Log into HCPSS.me
  2. Go to GSuite
  3. Go to the waffle menu on the top right corner and select Google Meet
  4. Enter the nickname/code name /MHMS-gjones-recess-MonthDay

Every week it will be:

Tuesday 6th Graders

Wednesday 7th Graders and

Thursday 8th Graders

Dr. King: A True Servant Leader

As an educator I was touched by this timeless Huffington Post article from Mr. James Perry, once mayoral candidate and the the Executive Director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center:

“Among the most important lessons I’ve learned from Dr. King is the example of servant leadership. A servant leader is one who offers an inclusive vision; listens carefully to others; persuades through reason; and heals divisions while building community.

It is easy to spot servant leaders. In a room where others are jockeying for attention, they are the ones listening to someone others might consider unimportant. When faced with a problem, they look for solutions that benefit everyone. When something goes wrong, they take the blame. When things go well, they share the credit. They tell everyone the same story, even when it is inconvenient or difficult. They know that they don’t have all the answers, so they seek advice from others. They work hard and inspire others to do the same.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is an example of a servant leader. His life shows the extraordinary power of servant leadership to radically transform a nation.

Our communities and our country need servant leadership more than ever. Deepening economic woes threaten the American dream for far too many working
people. Racial divisions are embarrassingly persistent in too many aspects of our economic and social lives. Political despair is battering the uniquely American optimism that has made us a great nation.

There are precious few servant leaders in our current political environment. Many elected officials are more interested in personal power, individual legacy, and financial gain than in the sacrifice and commitment that servant leadership requires.”

@JamesHPerry

Powerful words.


As educators, we have the honor to teach the next generation of servant leaders. It is our job, duty, and privilege to instill in them the passion to effect change and the empathy to think outside themselves. To inspire them to think not of “me” but of “we.” We also must model these values and these practices for our students.

All educators, indeed, all school staff, must work together to model and teach teens that taking responsibility for our lives gives us total power in creating the kind of life we want for ourselves. Taking personal responsibility and thinking of the community. Over the years I’ve seen our students rally to raise funds for the Hurricane Katrina victims, Haiti relief, and yearly for our Howard County Grassroots Crisis campaign – helping the underprivileged and at risk in our community. I am proud of our kiddos, we’ve done well…but we can always do better!

Which brings me back full circle as to why I posted the words from page 333 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret on our library wall this year:

“It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our
abilities” ~ Albus Dumbledore

More inspiring words on responsibility:

“Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will – his personal responsibility.”

Albert Einstein

“It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself and no one else has made it.”

Sophocles

“A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make.”

Denis Waitley

from 7 Timeless Thoughts on Taking Responsibility for Your Life

Our fight for social justice, equality, fairness, and kindness to all people, goes on – inspired by his legacy. Let’s be inspired by the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr not just on his birthday – but every day – throughout the year!  

Here’s the video we played on #MHTVNews this morning. It came from, of all places, WWE.


And here’s a wonderful article by GlobalMindedEd:

If MLK Were Alive Today, What Would He Ask of Us?

Kelvin Garvanne, an Emmy Award Winning Television Host and Writer and Technical Writer for U.S. Military Training Exercises

Dr. Martin Luther King would ask us to commit ourselves to fighting to uphold the innate worthiness of each human being in America and on Earth.
Years battling for equality have not achieved the goal of social justice. Therefore, Dr. King would demand we look at each other and recognize our humanity inherently makes us worthy of enjoying basic human conditions that sustain our lives. Dr. King would say the struggle to recognize worthiness is more relevant than legal battles to legislate equality.
Martin Luther King Jr. would look America squarely in its collective face and ask why we have not solved the problems of racism, militarism, and capitalism.
Martin Luther King Jr. would ask why we have not agreed that every human being is worthy of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Dr. King would admit the attempt to legislate equality was ill fated and doomed to fail because the myth of America had overtaken its reality. Dr. King would urge Americans to recognize each of us is worthy of inalienable rights and that should be the focus of our battle for social justice.
Dr. King would ask elected officials where is there moral courage. Why is their commitment restricted to their constituents and not every human being who is, or aspires to be, an American?
Finally, Martin Luther King, Jr. would ask us what have we learned and why does it appear we have forgotten history’s lessons; or have conceded defeat in the struggle to uphold America’s founding principles.”

(This was originally posted on the MHMS Media Blog: Martin Luther King, Jr: A True Servant Leader Jan 18, 2010 and I have pretty much posted a variation of this every other if not every year. I think we need it most right now.)

Got Charge?

 

Spend $130 Bucks and Literally Give Kids the Power!

 

We’ve discovered that the mix of the digital divide, possible turbulent home lives, and general teenage forgetfulness can result in a loss of power. So, for vaious reasons it seems that some of my students who DO have devices (yes, there are still a lot who do NOT) show up to school with a low or no charge.  Yes, they sometimes admit that they fall asleep with their phone next to them and not plugged in. Shocker.

A device that they LOVE to use for social connections and fun in the hallways and during free time. Oh yeah, and sometimes in class for learning, too! Without that device they feel a serious gap in their daily lives.

We Fill That Gap!

We want the kids to feel like the Library Media Center – Learning Commons and Makerspace Station – is a safe place to land and the place to go when they need things. Like finishing and priting out homework, relaxing and making something at our Makerspace Station, practicing mindfulness with our Coloring Zen area, or borrowing a charger to power up their devices. This is our third try with this concept, the first two were failures – if you interested you can read about this journey going back four years on my professional blog. So far, this is going GREAT! 

Backstory: A few years ago, I was inspired by the charging lockers I saw during a visit to the Hillwood High School Library in Nashville with the ISTE Board of Directors and I wanted to support our BYOD pilot program and our kiddos by giving them a place to recharge their devices in school.

 
And of course that place was going to be our school Library Media Center — shameless how we will do just about ANYthing to get kiddos to visit our Library!
 
Because I think we’ve now hit on a really easy, relatively low cost, & popular way to give my kids the power they crave and need. 
 
 Approximate cost for 8 chargers & 10 cords = $130 bucks
Piece of mind not worrying that kiddos will have their devices stolen or locked out on your watch? 
Priceless!
Procedure:
Kids (and staff) can request a charging device, first come, first serve anytime before 2pm. I also bought 2 flat chargers for staff to borrow. Kids come first. Always. 
We keep the chargers tucked away on a shelf behind the Circulation Desk.
Kids must first show that their phone has less than 30% charge to get one. (We found at first some kids just wanted it for the cool factor – which was cool, but not cool for the kids who really NEEDED them!)  
We don’t lend them out for the charging of fancy headphones – these are for devices that could possibly be used in the classroom.
Kids can borrow the charger alone or with a multi-device cord. They must initial to agree to pay for the loss or damage of the device & cord (Yeah, we know this isn’t really enforceable) 
We ask that kids agree not to let the device out of their sight – if they’re asked to share it – we trust them to keep track of it.
We also ask that kids bring back the device at the end of the day. Do they always remember? Nope! That’s why we collect their last period class teacher (I, or my amazing Media assistant Kathi Bell, calls classrooms at the end of the day to get them back – or we track them down the first period of the next day.
Yeah, We’re Popular! 
Some days we’re cleaned out of chargers within the first 5 minutes of school. I’m making a sign for our front door that says “Yes, We Have Awesome Chargers to Borrow!”  or “Sorry, All Chargers Have Been Borrowed” with Bitmoji cartoons. 
This is a complimentary service. We also reserve the right to not lend out a charger on an early dismissal day, after 1:30pm,  or to a kiddo who has proven to be unreliable with the charger in the past. But that hasn’t happened yet. Frankly, I doubt it ever will.  Don’t tell my students, for all my fierceness [snaps Z formation] I’m kind of a soft touch. But I gotta keep that leverage because we want to keep these chargers nice for everyone. So far though, the kids have been super fantastic and very enthusiastic about this new FREE perk we’re providing to them! 

GOAL #1 MHMS provides  a safe and nurturing school environment that respects our diversity and commonality.

Why do we do this?

You never know what kinds of things kids are struggling with at home. What if a kid doesn’t have a computer at home and just a mobile device and needs to do homework? This is important! We can help fill the gaps that the world & circumstance gives to these kiddos.

My kids tell me you can get these chargers at Five Below. I haven’t tried them yet. If we lose a lot over the year, I might give them a whirl. The multi device cords are CHEAP! Meaning, inexpensive to pick up (via Amazon) but they can sometimes stop working and can break. So far, so good, though and this has been a LOT less of a headache than those fancy expensive charging lockers.  
 
This great idea was inspired by the amazing Teacher Librarian at Wilde Lake Middle School – Sarah Russo!
I should have started with that! [smacks forehead] but I wanted to give how we run this first.
 
Are you a Teacher Librarian, or educator and want to hear what problems we encountered with our previous attempts at charging stations and charging lockers?
If so,
So, if you’re a school – here’s my suggestion: Save 90% of your money and try the cheapo errr inexpensive portable chargers first.  
Because, NO ONE wants to be responsible for a kids only device but it’s AWESOME to be responsible to give POWER to a kid and their beloved device!
Your turn! 
What am I missing here? Any other suggestions? Successes? Do you like that we help out the kiddos? What other things could we add to our School Library to make it a more appealing place (Other than a Keurig -that would be boss!)  Please hit me up in the comments and share your thoughts! Thank you for reading!

Our ever evolving BYOD Policy.

Buying information. If you want to get one of these for yourself or for your kiddo, check Amazon! So far, they’ve been great & I did have 2 die on my (after being used by kids…a LOT) but the company is sending me 2 replacements! I couldn’t ask for better customer service than that!
 Again, if you’re in education and would like more information:
Check out my professional blog.  Thank you for reading! 

 

FREE eBooks for Winter Break Reading!

This is a really nice FREE offer from our friend Katie

at Capstone!

When I first heard this, I thought it was too good to be true! I thanked her vaguely on Twitter then I thought – could I possibly share it with everyone?  So, I called her to double check that I could share it with you, the world, and his wife – and she said YES!

Students (and your kids!) can choose FREE eBooks from a library of over 3,200 to download & read over the break****

From Mythology, Scary Stories, Fiction, to Graphic Novels – there’s more than enough interesting titles to choose. You can even access interactive books to read to your little siblings or to your pets! (They always deserve it!)

Middle school kiddos can filter by grade level.

Below there’s even a letter to for parents (in English & Spanish) or students AND Bonus: a printable bookmark with login & password.

*****(Download FAST offer ends Jan 15th)

Visit our Library Media Center to load up on books for the Winter Break! Take home as many as you want! (as long as you don’t have any overdue books, cause – you know – I ain’t THAT crazy!) We have many readers in our school (you know who you are!) who can read a book a day — ok, sometimes even more! We want to make sure you’ve got great stuff to enjoy!

Don’t forget to visit our lovely local Savage Branch Library, too!

Tis the Reading Season!  

 

Download Interactive Bookmarks

Capstone Interactive eBook Bookmarks- winter break-18ejij3

Letter for parents

CI Home Letter-1lbxo5j

Letter for parents in Spanish!

CI Home Letter Spanish-1dvr000

Why not Tweet a Thank you to Katie & Capstone for this generous gift to all our reading families!? That would be Awesome! Please say you heard it from @GwynethJones the Daring Librarian! Maybe if we show our gratitude enough, we’ll get even more FREE trials! W00t! Who doesn’t like FREE?

Women’s History Month at MHMS

We celebrated Women’s History Month at MHMS by creating a book display and daily feature news stories on MHTV about famous and significant women in history! Here are the scripts we wrote for this, feel free to use with attribution and a link back.

Here’s our Google Doc: You may copy this, but please make sure to give proper attribution. Thank you!

 

 

Women’s History Month Book Display – Pull List

(not perfect by any means, much like me! LOL)

Non Fiction

Women’s suffrage : a primary source history of the women’s rights movement in America   – 305.42 ADA

Failure is impossible! : the history of American women’s rights (2000) by Kendall, Martha E. Series: Nonfiction – 305.42 KEN

The good, the bad, and the Barbie : a doll’s history and her impact on us – 688.7 STO

Take it to the hoop : 100 years of women’s basketball (2003) 796.323 STE

Winning ways : a photohistory of American women in sports (1996) by Macy, Sue.     2 Available      Add to List     Shelf Location: Call Number     Nonfiction – 796 MAC

Outrageous women of the Middle Ages (1998) by Leon, Vicki – 920 LEO

I am Malala : (2014)  921 YOU

Gold rush women (1997) by Murphy, Claire Rudolf.   Lexile Measure: – 971.9 MUR

Black women of the Old West (1995) by Katz, William Loren. – 978 KAT

 

Reference:

Encyclopedia of women’s history in America. (1996) by Cullen-DuPont, Kathryn        Reference Collection – REF 305.4 CUL

Women of achievement in Maryland history (2002) by Stegman, Carolyn B        Reference Collection – REF 920 STE

 

Fiction:

Audacity (2015) by Crowder, Melanie. – F CRO

Mare’s war by Davis, Tanita S. – F DAV

The clockwork scarab : a Stoker & Holmes novel (2013) F GLE

 

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We Need YOU!

Big thanks to our current volunteers, Mrs. Smith-Bacon and Mrs. Bailey (with student Library Media helper daughter Abby!) for their help this year and being so generous and amazing!

We’d love to have you join us in all the fun!  Look at these cute faces!

Contact Ms. Jones Gwyneth_Jones @at hcpss.org if you’re interested and for more information!

WE Really Appreciate ALL of our Family Volunteer!

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Warning: Do NOT Read This Blog Post!

Hello dear readers, this is Gwyneth Jones – your one and only ridiculously humble Daring Librarian here with dire 

LATE BREAKING NEWS!

As Sophia (the delightfully cheerful girl above) reported on MHTV News we must share something distasteful with you.  

Why? Because I recently awoke feeling a dreadful malaise and a lingering doleful fear about something I just uncovered. When I say “uncover” imagine turning over a mossy rock expecting cute wriggly earth worms and rolly polly pill bugs only to find a suspect piece of butterscotch candy wrapped in a soggy cellophane wrapper…well, read below for our news story.

Oh, and don’t be angry with me OR with the smiley Sophia…we HAD to give this news to give you pause!

Here’s the Script:

We here at #MHTVNews usually like to share uplifting and heartwarming stories about young people who joyfully create amazing things and are rewarded for their Scientific, Literary, Artistic, and or Academic Achievements.

Today not so much.

We’re here to give a warning that there is a pernicious, which means here deadly, and terrifying new series now available for streaming on this thing called The Netflix.

It’s called:

The Series of Unfortunate Events

by Lemony Snicket.

(And as a wry aside, may I add that this is surely a silly name for a terribly sinister author! I met him once in 2004, at the Howard County Public Library – He signed a book for me and though I was introduced to him by one of my favourite students as the Evil Daring Librarian Ms. Jones – he said I was only Allegedly Evil! As if!  [snit] /a)

Please don’t watch this next video if you are sensitive by nature.

You can look away now.

Of course, we have all the books in this horrid series in the Murray Hill Daring School Library Media Center, we consider that fair warning so that you may read them, if you are so inclined, to be properly prepared. They are terrible books of horrible events and only appreciated by those who are slightly tetched in the heid (Scottish variety) or bloodthirsty.

Again, you’ve been warned.

Oh and Count Olaf? We’re keeping a weather eye on you, you can be sure of that! No more sneaking around and hiding in my Library Office.

 

BONUS Delightful GAME:

Find Count Olaf Hiding in my Office!

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Fall STEM Opportunities at HiTech

Here are the splendid FALL FREE Offerings at our local STE(A)M HiTech Center at the Savage Branch Library!

Here are the related links since the graphics above aren’t clickable!

Registration & More Information

Got Questions? Ask our friendly neighborhood Teen Librarian:

Sarah Cooke
Teens’ Instructor
Howard County Library System — Savage Branch
410-313-0760 main
410-313-0752 office

Hey Kiddos! Try the FREE Escape from Detention Game App!

Read about it!

GET IT!