In the Thick of It

So, a few weeks have passed since my last post.  My good intentions of communicating, or "getting out the good word," every week did not come to pass.  I am officially calling a do-over; and here we go.

We have really been hopping in the library here at good ol' Hillsboro Junior High.  All of our students have usernames and passwords for using computers here at school.  They also have the ability to check their assignments and grades on Infinite Campus.  This is something new for the junior high and we are excited to offer our students the opportunity to begin their journey to responsibility and accountability. Look out high school, here they come!

Our immediate future includes working with the 8th grade English Language Arts classes on using the free online tool, "EasyBib" in creating work cited pages to promote the understanding of intellectual property and plagiarism.  We will also be working with two 7th grade classes (Mrs. Fete and Mr. Holley) in beginning our newest Web 2.0 tool -- GoogleDocs.  This is a very exciting venture into using technology to create and collaborate on our path to knowledge.  I will be sure to keep everyone updated on this new endeavor.

Of course, we have check-outs going on non-stop; it's kind of like a revolving door and I love it; Lots of books serving their purpose.  We also have a first (at least for me) coming up next month.  We will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair from October 23 through October 31.  The first two days coincide with parent-teacher conferences and we will be open in the evening for those parents who want to stop by before or after meeting with the teachers.  We haven't had a book fair at the junior high in a while and I have only participated as a parent in the past.  I'm super excited...and a little nervous.  As soon as I know how to set up the online version of the fair, I'll be sure to get the link out to the masses.

I'm going to end this week's post with a little bit about me.  This is my second year at the junior high and as a librarian.  I made the move from the high school last year and, while I was very content in my role as English and Drama teacher, I am so glad I made this move.  I am working with some amazing educators and I really appreciate the special nuances of our student population. Until next time...