Utah, a set on Flickr.
Southern Utah is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen! We took the scenic drive and hit a number of National Parks, including Zion, Red Canyon, Grand Staircase, Arches, and Dixie National Forest. It was a VERY long day of driving, but worth it for all of the beautiful landscapes we were able to see!
I’m so excited to share two great links for you that are exciting AND library related during a time when I’m also posting lots of road trip stuff!
First, this has been in the making for quite some time! For the past year, I have served on the AASL Best Apps for Teaching & Learning committee. The AASL Best Websites have been hugely successful, and so I was very excited to be invited to join the team that would put together the first ever Best Apps list! We are all so very excited to see this list go out to educators, and the announcement was made at ALA in Chicago. Although I wasn’t able to be there for the presentation, I’m so happy and honored to have served with such an amazing group on this AASL committee!
Click here to see the 2013 AASL Best Apps for Teaching & Learning list!
I was so thrilled when I was asked to write a piece about ISTE, particularly about the SIGMS events, for School Library Journal. Even though it was hectic getting this written amidst crazy conference and road trip activities, this was really exciting for me and I’m happy to share the article with you now!
Carlsbad, a set on Flickr.
These are the photos taken at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. If you ever have the opportunity to visit, take it! It’s awe-inspiring!
So yeah…about those daily postings/videos. That didn’t happen…but ISTE did!
I’m writing this post from our little hotel in Whites City, NM at what I believe is 7:00 AM. I have a feeling that I am going to be constantly confused as to what time zone I’m in, and I’m trusting my phone to adjust accordingly (which probably isn’t the best choice, but whatever!). For future reference, if anyone is planning a trip to visit Carlsbad Caverns, book your room in Carlsbad far in advance. Otherwise, be prepared to find yourself at the Whites City Rodeway Inn, with a questionable grocery and far more questionable buffett as your only dining options for 20+ miles.
But what happened in those missing days between my last post and now? ISTE happened! And it was awesome! You can see the post below for all of the photos on the SIGMS Flickr set.
Alaina and I did this video on Saturday as we made our initial journey to San Antonio, but it never went public:
On Sunday, Alaina and I went to the Alamo. And it looked like I expected the Alamo to look.
We also made the most of our time visiting with my dear friend Matthew Winner and his wonderful wife Aimee!
I was SO excited to meet Sherry Gick (@LibraryFanatic):
And I got to see my awesome friends accept their SIGMS Technology Innovation Awards at the Opening Ceremony! Matthew, Sherry, and Gretchen were the primary award winners, and my fellow Louisiana librarian Elizabeth Kahn and her collaborating teacher won the secondary award!
  
The SIG Open House was loads of fun:
  
The SIGMS Playground on Monday morning was HUGELY successful! You can find the links shared here on the wiki.
We had other great SIGMS events, including the Forum and Annual Breakfast & Keynote. It was such a great conference with amazing SIGMS events. I am so thrilled to be the new SIGMS President and work with an organization that supports the work that school librarians do in their schools with technology!
Our last night at the conference was Tuesday (although we had the SIGMS Breakfast the next morning), and Alaina and I had a BLAST at Ed Tech Karaoke with our new AMAZING friends Rose Luna and Margaux DelGuidice. It’s so great when you meet kindred spirits, and that’s exactly what Alaina and I felt with Rose and Margaux! They’re friends, collaborators, and travel buddies just like us!
We are off to see Carlsbad Caverns, then Roswell, then Albuquerque. Yes, that’s the agenda for TODAY! And we’re off…
ISTE13, a set by ISTE SIGMS on Flickr.
These photos were taken by me of SIGMS events at ISTE13!
Tomorrow morning, I’m headed to San Antonio for ISTE13! I’m so excited that I can hardly stand it!! Not only will I be attending my fourth awesome ISTE conference, but it’s the first stop in an epic roadtrip for me and my BFF Alaina!
There’s so much to look forward to at ISTE, including some incredible SIGMS events! There’s a SIGMS event every day of the conference, which I love because the chance to be with my library friends and meet new ones is the best!
I’m particularly excited about the SIGMS Playground, which I’m coordinating this year. We have some amazing volunteers that will be presenting their favorite resources at the Digital Age Media Center Playground…so if you’re at the conference, please stop by on Monday morning from 8-11:30.
Check out the wiki for details on the presenters and links to their resources!
Here’s a complete list of SIGMS events:
SIGMS Open House (Sunday, June 23rd, 3PM-5PM)
SIGMS Playground (Monday, June 24th, 8AM-11:30AM)Â SACC Park View Lobby
SIGMS Reception (Monday, June 24th, 5PM-7PM) at Hard Rock Cafe
SIGMS Forum (Tuesday, June 25th, 3:45PM-5:15PM) with Shannon Miller, Michelle Luhtala, and their administrators. Moderated by Gwyneth Jones & Tiffany Whitehead.
SIGMS Annual Breakfast & Keynote (Wednesday, June 26th, 8AM-9:30AM)Â with John T. Spencer.
If you’re attending ISTE, please say HI if you see me! The best part of a conference for me is the chance to meet and expand my PLN!
I have a really awesome principal, and I wanted him to come to ISTE this year to present on the SIGMS Librarians & Admins Forum panel. Alas, he couldn’t make plans to attend because he’s becoming a daddy (congrats and YAY to Mr. Fountain and his beautiful wife)!! So Alaina and I had the brilliant idea to create a Flat Fountain (you know…like Flat Stanley) to come along on our ISTE and epic roadtrip adventures. I’ve started a Flickr Photo Set that you can check out…it’s where I’ll upload the Flat Fountain photos (I’m sure there will be lots)!
***Readers beware: Over the next two weeks, I plan to post daily (hopefully!!) videos to share what happens with ISTE and beyond as Alaina and I travel WEST! Some of these videos will not be library or tech related, so you have been warned! 🙂
It’s summer and nothing screams summertime like a good old fashioned road trip!
My BFF Alaina and I had such a great trip last summer when we attended ISTE12 and explored San Diego and San Francisco around the conference time.
So of course we immediately started planning our adventures for ISTE13. San Antonio is within driving distance from Baton Rouge, so the idea of a road trip was easy! Alaina loves a good road trip novel more than anything, and I grew up spending 2-3 weeks every summer on the road with my grandparents in their RV (and they gave me the travel bug at a young age!).
We had a period of feeling extremely overwhelmed as we started to plan our travels. This is a serious (and seriously long) trip that we’re planning! I was so excited when I discovered this AMAZING site called Roadtrippers!
Using Roadtrippers, you can easily map out your route (easier than what I was trying to do with Google Maps). You can insert all of your stops, hotels, addresses of friends/family, and must see attractions. That alone would have made me happy! But then I discovered all of the awesome places they already have tagged.
It’s so easy to search for places to see along the way, including attractions, accommodations, entertainment, food & drink, history, nature, shopping, and sports. Within each of those categories, you can check the options that you’re interested in. Diners & drive-ins and local dining options? Don’t mind if I do! You can add these suggestions to your trips or pin them to a “Bucket List” so you can easily access them later. By spending time with Roadtrippers, I’m becoming more familiar with our route and travel options, while seeing what kind of fun and exciting pit stops we can add to our list!
I’m doing the bulk of my planning on the site, but of course Roadtrippers has an AWESOME app! I’ve downloaded it on the iPhone and iPad so I’ll have options to easily access the things I’ve saved and tagged as we travel.
 
 
I’ve been playing around with the app and it’s going to be such an asset on our major road trip. I’ve tried it out around town as well as on a mini-road trip to the beach…and it lead us to an awesome little restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives! Score!!
I can’t wait to share the adventures that Alaina and I have on our big road trip! Of course, I’ll be sharing things here, so don’t be alarmed if this blog goes in that direction for a little bit. 🙂
Along the way we plan to hit up: San Antonio & ISTE13, Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell, Albuquerque, the Grand Canyon (including a rafting adventure!), Las Vegas, Lake Mead/Hoover Dam, Denver, Topeka, Memphis…wow that’s quite a list, isn’t it?
Having a stay-cation kind of summer? Read an awesome road trip book! Here are a few of my favorites!
  
  
 
  
  ![WalkTwoMoons[1]](http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/WalkTwoMoons1.jpg)
What are your favorite road trip books? And more importantly, what songs should we add to our road trip playlist??
The annual ISTE Conference is always one of the major professional highlights of my year. I am so looking forward to this year’s conference in San Antonio. This will be my fourth consecutive year attending ISTE, and I would really feel like something major was missing if I didn’t have the opportunity to attend!
I will admit that my first ISTE experience in 2010 was a bit overwhelming…it’s such a HUGE conference. However, it’s massive size is reflected in its awesomeness as well, so if you are attending, prepare for information overload (but totally in a good way)!
My biggest suggestion for anyone attending would be to volunteer. Over the last few years, I have become very involved with SIGMS (the Special Interest Group for Media Specialists) and it all started with volunteering at the conference. There are tons of opportunities to volunteer with ISTE and they do a great job of recruiting and organizing volunteers. Volunteers even get an awesome ISTE t-shirt for their efforts! The best volunteer opportunity, in my opinion, is the SIGMS Playground. Volunteers can give an informal 5-10 minute presentation at one of the six computer stations for a one hour or two hour time slot. This gives you a chance to share your favorite tool or resource with others! It’s such a great way to get involved…and you can tell everyone that you presented at an International technology conference!! Interested in getting involved with the SIGMS Playground? Contact me! This year, one of my duties as SIGMS President-Elect is to coordinate our SIGMS Playground. And how did I get so involved with SIGMS leadership, you ask? Well…I started volunteering for the playground back in 2011!
Click here to volunteer for the SIGMS Playground! (**All playground volunteer spots are now full, but please visit the SIGMS Playground on Monday from 8-11:30am!)
The best thing for me about the ISTE Conference is the opportunity to spend time face to face with the members of my PLN. I gain so much from them throughout the year with the things they share on Twitter, in their blogs, and through webinars. This is a chance to  have conversations and plan awesome collaborative activities that will have a lasting impact when I return to school in the fall.  So I asked some of my dear friends and amazing members of my PLN to either share three things they are most looking forward to for ISTE 2013 or three tips that they would share with other attendees. Here’s what they had to say…
1. Packing a Punch! It’s important to pack the right stuff – I blogged about this last year & would add an extra battery pack that’s either heavy duty or cute & sleek for all your iDevices & telephony needs! I also try not to take too much home – no paper hording, and not much vendor swag (frankly, it’s gotta be something super sweet to lure me to take it home) and bring a lightweight luggage scale if you can – that way you’ll know when to ship & when to check! — It could be a super stress & money saver!
2. Small conversations in big places. I absolutely adore re-connecting with my Peeps, Tweeps, & PLN friends! I love sharing on Twitter but there’s nothing better than conversations in person, bright smiles, & warm hugs! I like to hang out at the Blogger’s Cafe or the Social Butterfly lounge when not doing board duties or helping out presentations – this is where I find I have the best conversations and am able to meet new kindred spirits! I also like happy hours & small dinners over big parties – but then again, this girl goes to bed by 9:30 so well….there you go!
3. Pace Yourself – The first ISTE or NECC I went to was in Atlanta 07 and I was totally overwhelmed, overstimulated, & over achieving! I learned SO much and I’ve got to say that it inspired me to do even more for my kids & community but it was EXHAUSTING! I actually would go fierce early but fizzle out by 2 or 3pm – the crowds overwhelmed me! I would go back to the hotel, take a wee nap, and then go back out and socialize a bit. So, don’t be ashamed if you crash early, take a nap, or don’t feel like going to a late night bash. Of course, I know you’ll have good company if you do…man, that Joyce Valenza can dance until dawn!
I LOVE ISTE and this year there is no overlap conflict/sacrifice. I can attend both ISTE and ALA!
I am looking forward to learning formally and informally and FACE TO FACE from my generous colleagues. The mix itself is inspiring–the folks who are a part of our fabulous SIGMS, our classroom teacher edtech buddies, the admins, the vendors, the academics, the software developers, the publishers–all of whom have been part of, or will be part of, my PLN for years.
I love discovering newbie librarians and introducing them to ISTE!
From previous San Antonio conferences I know that it is important to go outside! The food, the music, the dancing, the shopping, and the River Walk rock!
1. Take the opportunity to meet people from your digital life in person. It’s is a great chance to exchange smiles and hugs face to face.
2. Create your own learning experiences in the hallways. Not all sessions are going to work for you. Find a group of people and talk about what interests you at the moment.
3. Make new connections. It is always great to hang with old friends, but I love meeting new ones. Social events like #EduBros are perfect for meeting new people and growing your PLN.
1. Say Hi – Attending conferences is as much about learning lots in concurrent sessions as it is about networking, making new instructional partnerships, and forging collaborative relationships. Don’t be afraid to sit next to someone new, ask about their background, and share about yourself. YOU have something great to offer, even if you don’t realize it yet.
2. Have a Back-up for your Back-up – Sometimes sessions are full… or aren’t what you expected. Having a back-up plan ahead of time will help you stay on top of the conference schedule rather than fumbling through the program. You can also usually get handouts, etc. from the presenter’s session via the session page on the conference website. Oh, and if you have a friend with you, divide and conquer so you can cover even more ground.
3. Party Up – Find your way to the evening parties held recreationally (ie. Edubros) or from one of the vendors. These are great ways to make new friends, score some free products from vendors, and break the “conference focus mode”. It’s also a fun opportunity to meet many of those people you only know from Twitter.
As a “first timer”, the 3 things I’m most looking forward to are:
1. Meeting y’all, my Twitter rockstar PLN members face-to-face! Twitter has expanded my world, my connections, and the way I run my library. Each of you has been influential in my professional life the past two years because of your contributions to the education field and your willingness to share on Twitter and on other social media platforms.
2. The keynote speaker, Jane McGonigal! I’m so excited to hear her speak about gamification and her work. I’m such a Fangirl!
3. All the awesome sessions! I mean really…it’s ISTE! My conference planner is slam packed full of so many cool sessions (several being taught by you guys!) I’m looking forward to learning awesome new ideas to enhance my teaching next school year.
4. Visiting Texas! (Yeah, I know this was only supposed to be a list of 3 things, but I’ve never been to the great state of Texas. Can’t wait!)
The three things that I look most forward to ISTE this year….
1. Even though we connect with one another almost every day through social media, ISTE is the place that we get to reconnect with our wonderful friends in person. And the place that we can make new friends or meet the ones we have only met on Twitter or Facebook before. I love walking outside or hanging out in the Blogger’s Cafe and seeing people I have known from Twitter….It is like you have met “a long lost friend” every time.
2. I love all of the connections that I make at ISTE with publishes, Web 2.0 creators, app developers, professionals, companies, experts and others. By making these connections I can bring so much back to the students, teachers and school community I work with.
3. This year I am most excited about my amazing friend Adam Bellow’s closing keynote at ISTE! He recently told me a little bit about it and I just cannot wait. We are all going to be inspired by his message. Â
1. Attending the conference for the state affiliate of ISTE has been a disappointment the last few years. I feel like I am light years ahead of everyone there, and I know that there is so much more for me to learn. So I am looking forward to networking and attending sessions with people who think like I do. Which means they are willing to stretch themselves and are willing to take chances with new ideas and new technologies.
2. I am definitely excited about meeting people F2F who I have “met” through social media.
3. I hope to leave with several new ideas that I can put into practice in my library next year. We are moving to a brand new building in August, and besides a new physical environment, I would like some fresh ideas for the program too.
One thing that I wanted to do this year to promote reading over the summer was to hold a book fair at the end of the year. I had my annual book fair back in the fall, so I wanted to take this opportunity to try something different. The librarians at our high school have been using a local independent book store for several years now to host their book fair, so I was excited to finally give them a try!
I was blown away by this AWESOME book fair hosted by Cavalier House Books! I’m telling you, this was the BEST book fair I have ever seen!! The folks at Cavalier House Books make this fair a dream — they set up and tear down the fair! AND they have someone there during the entire fair to do all of the actual book selling! I had such a great time spending the week with John Cavalier, who is so obviously passionate about what he does and full of awesome ideas to keep growing his business. He was great interacting with the kids, looking up books they were interested, and making orders on things he didn’t currently have available to bring in from the store. No lame restock orders that never come in time or come in partially full here, baby!
The selection that was made available to my students at this fair absolutely blew us all away. So many students and teachers walked in and IMMEDIATELY commented on how much better this fair was than any we’ve had in the past. There were books available for every type of reader, something to get everyone excited!
I cannot say enough good things about our CHB Book Fair! I am now a loyal customer for life and look forward to some of the great things that can come from building a relationship with such an awesome local indie book store! And check out these pictures of the fair…they will speak for themselves!
You’re jealous, right? 🙂
One of the many hats that I wear at school is that of a Beta Club sponsor. This is my first year as a sponsor, and it’s a role I took on because my BFF and ELA teacher has been a sponsor for several years. Every year, our Beta Club takes a trip to Orlando at the end of the year. This trip is a CMS tradition — in fact, the last time I went to Orlando and Disney World was when I went on the Beta Club trip as a 7th grader at CMS! So obviously I was very excited to attend this trip again as a sponsor this year. Anyone who has taken a group of students on a trip before knows how much planning, stress, and anxiety come with such a thing, but it was definitely worth it all! A total of 52 of us (38 students and 14 adults) took the trip, visiting Universal Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot.
The thing that I was obviously looking forward to the most was visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd, so I could hardly contain my excitement in the weeks leading up to the trip. I read so many articles and blog posts about how to make the most of my visit, and I knew everything I wanted to do there and the order in which I wanted to do it. Walking into this area of the park is literally like walking into the world of Harry Potter that we all know and love from the books and movies. It was everything I hoped it would be and more! Seriously, I got emotional as I entered Hogsmeade.
The first thing I needed to do immediately upon arrival was to head to Ollivander’s for my wand. Obviously, this is what every young wizard needs! I NEEDED to be selected as the person to get fitted for the wand in my group. I had two other teacher chaperones (including my BFF) and three of my awesome Beta students cheering me on as we entered the shop. They faked us out for a minute, telling my group that they ruined things for me with their over-enthusiasm (I think we all almost cried at that moment), but I WASÂ the lucky wizard who was selected!! I had to talk myself out of bursting into tears the entire time — I know it sounds crazy to anyone who isn’t Harry Potter obsessed, but this was one of those moments in life that I will NEVER forget! I still tear up and get chills just thinking about it. AND my amazingly fabulous friend videoed the whole scene:
AMAZING! This was my most magical moment of the trip, by far. Naturally, I purchased the wand that selected ME…along with tons of other awesome HP accessories! Next, we rode the Forbidden Journey, which was incredibly amazing as well. You work your way through Hogwarts, hop on your “broom” and feel like you are actually flying around with Harry and friends.
We saw the rest of the sights in Hogsmeade, had a frozen butterbeer, rode the Dueling Dragons coaster, and saw the Hogwarts Express!
   
This place is a must visit for any and all Harry Potter fans…it really was indescribable!
The rest of the trip was great as well. Lots of walking, lots of roller coasters, and we were unbelievably lucky to have lots of very short lines! It was a great time to visit and a great time was had by all. We had such amazing students and parents that attended the trip, which really made it all the better.
I have to share this awesome picture on my favorite coaster (and I think we rode them all!!) — Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios:
And I have to give a great big shout out to my awesome BFF Alaina for being the best trip master and coordinator EVER! Here we are waiting for her magical moment, the parade, light show, and fireworks in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom:
And if you’re interested in seeing the hundreds of pictures I took (what can I say, I love our Beta Club camera!!), you can see them here on Flickr.
