Full Speed Ahead

So, we made it.  First quarter is officially in the books and we are moving forward.  Before you know it, winter break will be on our doorstep.

We have accomplished a lot in these past nine weeks. I have included a fun infographic that provides a little snapshot into what was going on in the library during this time.

Click here for a larger version.

Next up, and this is a biggie, is our Scholastic Book Fair.  This is a first for me and it has been several years since the junior high has hosted a book fair. Our fair begins on Wednesday, October 23rd and continues through the following week, ending on Halloween, Thursday, October 31st.  Our fair times are from 7 am until 6 pm on October 23rd & 24th. Yes, we will be open during parent/teacher conferences.  We continue the following week, October 28th through the 31st, with hours from 7 am until 3 pm.

I know you are all wondering, "But what if I won't be able to come to the wonderful junior high library to check out the book fair?"  No worries.  We are also online.  Starting today and running until November 7th, you can access our fair online. Click on this link to go to our online fair.  All purchases, whether at the book fair in our library or online, go to support our library's reading promotion program.

Next week's post will come out a day early because, drum roll please...Next Friday there is NO SCHOOL. Yes, teachers get excited about no school days, too.  Enjoy your weekend and this wonderful thing called second quarter.  Semester is just around the corner...Go Hawks!

Moving Right Along

Moving right along...sing along if you like!

Second quarter is right around the corner and we are...moving right along.  I can't believe we have been going strong for eight weeks.  We are checking out books left and right, which is a good thing.  We are moving forward in our implementation of new educational technologies, which is a great thing.

Mrs. Wright's class enjoying
new reads.

This week we enjoyed a book tasting in the library with a few of our classes.  We "sampled" books about animals, space, adventure, and humor.  A good time was had by all and some books that had been lonely on the shelf for a long time were checked out!

A sampling of our funny books.

We have a new book display for October to celebrate the upcoming fun-time known as Halloween.  Vampires, ghosts, paranormal, scary movie characters; if it's ghoulish, you can find it on display.

Check out something ghoulish today.

Our Scholastic Book Fair, the first in quite a while, is right around the corner.  We open for business October 23rd and run through October 31st.  In addition to the live book fair going on in the library, we have an online fair that runs from October 18th through November 7th.  All purchases from the online fair benefit our library just like the "in-person" purchases.  Click here to check-out our online fair homepage.  

That's it for this week.  Next week is the end of the quarter.  Are you ready?  I am...moving right along.

Progress

Image courtesy of Gwyneth Jones
licensed as free to use on GoogleImages

We are moving forward here at Hillsboro R3.  Google Apps is the name of the game and we are full time players.  All of our 7th graders (Thank you Mrs. Fete and Mr Holley) are now Google ready. They have Google accounts for school and know how to use them.  We had fun creating a shared document about the Pros & Cons of using Google Drive at school; and Mrs. Fete had her students take a fun 'quiz' using Google.

Image courtesy of Alastair Creeman
licensed as free to use on GoogleImages

Our teachers are moving forward with technology, too.  We will not be left behind!  We are using these Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with those in our Professional Learning Communities on various projects, including professional development with AFL (Assessment for Learning) and jointly creating common assessments. Ask one of our health teachers about their recent experience.  Mr. Allison's using Google, too!  We are moving forward, Hillsboro.  While it's true that change, and especially change related to technology, can be scary, we are ready.  If you have any questions about Google Apps for Education, please let me know.  I might not know the answer, but I bet I could Google it. =)

That's it for now.  It's time to get ready for the parade.  Go Hawks!