Beat Nite

It's that time of year again, time for our annual Beat Nite. Mr. Hixon's Senior English classes invade our library and turn it into a "Beat Cafe" right out of the 50's. Snap, snap, clapping is not allowed. It is hard to let them tear the library apart but they really do wonders and transform the library into a cool cafe where poets read and musicians play.
The Beat Movement which began in the 1950's was a term coined to describe an ant-establishment movement. Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac were two prominent poets of the Beat Movement.
The night will be filled with poems dealing with first love, first love lost, family issues, fear of the unknown (college) and some regular teen angst. Many of the poems are truly heartbreaking to hear. It makes you realize how much baggage some of our students carry around.

Book Club Field Trip

Our Book Club traveled to Barnes and Noble for our annual field trip and we had loads of fun. What a great group of kids. We are truly blessed to work with such a nice group of young adults who love to read and think that going to a book store is wonderful. We are sorry to see our Seniors leave but wish them all the best and look forward to recruiting some Freshmen for next year. So many books to read such little time.


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Technology Conference Day Two

Day two of the Region One ESC Technology Conference and it was better than yesterday. Attended a Twitter session which was informative and fun. The presenter was witty and kept the session fresh. The Flip Video session was so much fun!! We recently purchased a Flip camera for the library and I wanted to see how to use it effectively in the library. I'm thinking of practicing what I learned by taping the seniors signing the senior bulletin board we set up for them every year and posting the video on our library blog. The kids will love it, they are such hams. The Movie maker session was so informative. For some reason I was intimidated by movie maker, I thought Photo story was easier. Now maybe I can try my hand at making book trailers using both types of media.

As much as I have loved attending this conference, I really need to get back to work. My assistants texted me all morning about situations that required my attention. That was my clue, that although I have two more days of this wonderful conference I really need to get back to work.

I am really lucky to work at Porter High School where my administration allows me to not only attend the Texas Library Conference every year, but also other conferences which allow me to grow as a professional.

Technology Conference

Day One of Region One ESC Technology Conference. It was very hard deciding what sessions to attend, reminded me of TLA, when there are 2 or 3 sessions I want to attend and they are all at the same time. Thanks to whoever thought of repeating the sessions on different days of the conference and/or different times.
Web 2.0 is being covered in different sessions by different presenters. Thankfully, I have completed 23 Things and am familiar with many of the Web 2.0 tools. Google Docs was a good session, the presenter answered many of my questions. One great thing about the conference is after only one day I have a list of possible topics for teacher inservice days.

H1N1

Here it is, the dreaded H1N1. This is the virus that forced so many schools to close. H1N1, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is a new virus that causes influenza like symptoms and is probably spread people-to-people. Thankfully, there have not been as many people stricken with the disease. Unfortunately, one Mercedes, Texas school teacher has died from complications associated with H1N1. Preventive measures and good common sense are in my opinion why the flu has not spread as quickly or as virulently as thought.

Now we wait to hear whether we make up this week or get a waiver from TEA and end school as planned. The one positive about staying home for the week is all of the reading I have been doing. I finished reading Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series and just loved it. Highly recommend.

Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day is this first Saturday in May and is being celebrated across the nation at participating comic book stores. Free comic books will be given away free to anyone who comes into the stores requesting one. Please check with stores for any rules. In Brownsville, Rogue Comics at 13 N. Park Plaza will start giving away comic books at 11:00 am. Free comics, door prizes and more, see you there!