the web log for the daring library media/technology center
of murray hill middle school - howard county public schools - laurel, maryland
last year we were so fortunate to team with a Canadian published author Mr. Dale Jarvis who worked with us and our 6th grade English team to bring our kids digital storytelling through the unit Many Voices, Many Stories, & Many Lands! & this year we want to do it again!...but i wanted to share with you a NEW story by Mr. Jarvis..and one done in such a neat way it makes me itch to try this with our kids! please to enjoy!
i know, i know....i haven't blogged lately... we've been busy with our annual book and equipment order! every year when we buy new books we put out a notice to all of our teachers....asking "what do you want?" we also...and this is the most important!! ask the kids "what do you want?" our suggestion bus on the circulation desk gets full of student requests...also, when any kid asks for a book and we don't have it... i immediatley check to see if any *other* HCPSS middle school has it and if they do...we add that to the list! in case you're wondering, we place the following list as priority for purchasing:
Mrs. Black pours over all these and i add in my 2 cents then we look at the needs of our collection, filling in what we have weeded or where we see areas that need to be built up and we place our order! YAY!!!! then when the order comes in we see what we got! it's like a holiday in the Media Center!! we usually keep all the NEW books on a cart for students to get to them right away....i also invite the teachers over to see that what they asked for we have now! and anything we wanted that we didn't get goes into the file for next year! we love technology....we do!!!
i am so blessed to work with such great kids! year in and year out i get to know them and sometimes they come back to visit and even email! i recently got an email from a former MHMS student and MHTV crew member who updated me on her life. WOW!"Hi Mrs Jones!!!and my reply was:
How is everything? I wish I still lived in the area so I could come and visit.
I can't say I expect you to remember me, but I was one of your kids from the Murray Hill's class of 2000. I got a little nostalgic and Googled MHMS and wondered if you had any more pictures from MHTV 99-2000. I'd love to be able to see if I can remember anyone
Thanks so much!
LeKesha Lewis
"AWww you're gorgeous!!and hers:
i'm so happy to hear from you and see what an outstanding, smart, accomplished and AWEsome person you stayed! (cause you always WERE!) and got even better growing up! i'm SO proud of you!! congrats baby!
~gwyneth"
(and yes MHMS kids, when you turn 18 & graduate HS you can call me gwyneth, too! LOL)
"Well, I'm an event planner in DC and I will be graduating from UVA next summer (Architecture major, minor in Japanese language). You can imagine how gas prices have been murdering me between Charlottesville, VA and DC. I will also be getting married May 22nd 2010 to this absolutely amazing guy. He's a teacher and mixed martial arts instructor. We'll be opening an MMA school in the DC area in a few years.
The black and white picture is of me and my best friend Chelsea. The second one is me in an awesome leather mask at a Renaissance festival last year, and the third picture is of Dave and I at a John Mayer concert at Merriweather in July.
thanks so much for the link and i'll be in touch with wedding invitations as soon as I start sending them."
"I LOVED MHTV. When I got to Long Reach I was on their TV crew as well. In 12th grade I became Director of LRTV, composed the Senior Video (much like the experience I had doing the 8th grade slide show!) and I was the greeting speaker at our graduation. I was in the Visual Communications practicum at LRHS as well and MHTV definitely helped me as far as developing that all-important sense of teamwork and basic understandings of visual artforms and technology. That, of course, led me into my major in Architecture, so in a way all the magic started in MHTV!So see? being part of the MHTV crew helps in SO many ways that you will later see...and if nothign else it may get you out of class....wait! Mr. D! i'm just kidding about that part!!!
THe TV studio became something of a haven for me. It was a creative outlet and often got me out of class. ;) There was always something new to learn. It was especially rewarding to be able to go to bed at night, then get up in the morning and have an idea for a new segment or way to run the show, and have the support system there that is willing to develop your ideas. Everyone had an important role in creating a successful and unique show everyday. Anchoring helped build my confidendce in public speaking (and I do a LOT of that), and camera work and research prepared me for team-leading and directing. Its definitely a uique experience that not a lot of people especially at that age, can say that they have.
I definitely miss it!
You can totally use my picture. I think it would be an honor to help get kids interested in one of the principle programs that made me so happy as a kid and played a role in defining what I do with my career."
News@School Live!
NEW Books in the Media Center!
"Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that it has moved back the release date of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to Summer 2009. The sixth installment of the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise will now open day-and-date domestically and in the major international markets on July 17, 2009. The announcement was made by Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros. In making the announcement, Mr. Horn stated, “Our reasons for shifting ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to summer are twofold: we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment."
***August 15, 2008***
Movie News Flash!
So, many of you have heard that the release of the sixth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has been moved from this Thanksgiving to next summer. First and foremost, please know that this schedule change has absolutely nothing to do with Twilight, me, or Summit Films (so enough with the imdb death wishes, okay?). This is Warner Bros. decision, and it was not motivated by anything Twilight-related.
Now for the good news! Though we're all sad to have to wait for Harry Potter, this open spot at the theater creates a cool opportunity. The good people at Summit were thrilled to let me know that now Twilight fans are going to get their movie three weeks earlier than scheduled. That's right—Twilight will be released in theaters November 21st! Let the merry-making commence!
--Stephenie
Mr. John Jewitt visits from the Howard County Public Library to share the details of the summer reading game: Experience a "Metamorphosis!" to our 6th graders.
Phineas Gage : a gruesome but true story about brain science by John Fleischman.
YAY!! it's that time of year again! Wow, did that year go fast, too! ...the Media Center is trying to get back all of its books and you're already thinking of going "downy ocean" and reading a book on the beach! (ok, so maybe that's what *i'm* thinking of! LOL) anyway the Media Specialists in collaboration with the public Librarians of the Howard County Library system ....created the:
This interactive lesson show students how underwater archaeological sites are found, mapped, and plotted.
"Dale Gilbert Jarvis is the Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer for the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, a storyteller, author and performer. Dale sits on the Board of Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada, is the founder of the St. John's Storytelling Circle, and serves as president of the St. John's Storytelling Festival, Inc." 
and Other Ghostly Campfire Tales. The unit started with the usual background information about what things make a folktale, legend, and urban legend. After that introduction, the students came into the Media Center with the results of their story mining homework where they ask their family what stories they heard of as a kid or in the neighborhood where they grew up. 
i was fortunate and honored to represent MHMS & Howard County Schools at a day-long exploration of dinosaurs last saturday, including presentations from two scientists, a paleontologist-guided tour through our Dinosaur Mysteries exhibit, demonstrations of activities for the classroom, and a screening of the IMAX film Dinosaurs Alive 3D at the Maryland Science Center. i greatly enjoyed the speakers Tom Holtz and Alan Turner who provided some enlightening information on dinosaurs, their evolution and variety, along with reports on current research. Tom is from the University of Maryland and Alan from the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
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