Melissa Youth OnSTAGE Summer camp

Karen and I started a non-profit group so we could get Melissa Youth OnSTAGE going. With nothing more than an idea and the backing of parents we started. Wow! Our two camp sessions had 30 students each! So many we had to take on another instructor who also quit at our former elementary scool. We had two one-week sessions and had a full variety show at the end of each. All new material for each week! We also did a 4th of July show in the 103 degree Texas summer heat! The kids all performed admirably and the parents are great. I am so proud of this community for supporting something outside the box and I hope we can continue as we start our fall shows. This is a labor of love on our part and we are so proud to see young performers gain confidence and enjoy the company of those who have the same interests! Anything is possible with the hard work required...and believe me it is hard work! Here are a few pictures. If you want to see them perform, use my VIMEO page at the top links.

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

I am leaving my school of three years this fall and moving to another district. I will miss the kids, parents and teachers of the district an awful lot. They are why I stayed this year when I had an opportunity to leave early on. I owed them many things and didn't want to walk away from that. This has truly been both the best and worst of years for me. I have been planning this for some time and hoping in these tough economic times I would be able to make the move. Things have worked out very well thus far. We started our performing arts group this spring to make sure we maintained our connection with the kids. That will continue and I am very happy about that. The next thing on the agenda is the performing arts camp this summer. We had 60 kids sign up for our two sessions which I think is quite an accomplishment. This fall we will open our first season with "Into the Woods, jr." Change is always difficult but sometimes necessary and I look forward to a new life while hanging on to the best part of the old. If you need to contact me, my old school e-mail will not work. You can contact me at: doctorloopy@gmail.com

Melissa Youth OnSTAGE

Recently my wife and I started a youth performing arts group. We felt there was a need in the community for a low cost chance for students to perform. Last weekend was our first variety show and we were thrilled with the outcome. 15 kids and an audience of over 100! This summer we are having two sessions of performing arts camp before starting a season of plays and musicals in the fall. We have both had experience in performing and could not be happier with our talented young performers!

Texas Library Association Conference

I recently went to the annual Texas Library Association Conference in Austin to pick up an award that Paige and I won for a video. Imagine my surprise when we not only won that, but I was also presented with the Texas Librarian of the Year award! What a shock and what a great honor. It's been a fantastic year for me and for my students. I could not be happier!

2011 Storytubes results are in!

Wow, I got the results of our Storytube videos entered into this year's competition. All of my kids used animation in the style we invented. This year we did very well! Paige won a Judge's Choice honor in the 11-13 year old category for her Justin Bieber video. I'm so glad we changed from her original idea of a Michael Jackson biography. We also won a Judges Choice in the 5-7 year olds for one of those Magic Tree House non fiction guides. My wife had two videos entered and both received honorable mentions! We also have a few that will go on to the voting round. I'll keep you informed on those. Here is the video that won in the 5-7's:


We are so proud that our kids from this little school in Melissa Texas continues to shine on the national stage! Remember, our entire PK-12 population is 1400!

2011 Storytubes contest

Last year several of our kids entered the national Storytubes contest. Though we failed to impress the judges, we still won a couple of the online voting audience awards. We're back this year with more of our animated book reviews. My wife also had her kids participate this year with a live action/animation mix. Here is one of the videos I made with a fifth grader. I am very please with the way it turned out. She came up with the concept and wrote it herself. * WARNING* Justin Bieber content :)

Latest Dallas Morning News Article: Class Size

Texas is deciding what to do about our massive budget deficit. Among the proposed cuts in education is removing the cap of 22 students per classroom. In my latest article for the Dallas Morning News I discuss why this is a bad idea. Dallas Morning News

TCEA Wrap up

As usual, I enjoyed my trip to TCEA a great deal. It is always nice to mix and mingle with people who understand what it is you do. Karen and I spent one evening with the Glogster people at a dinner for the Glogster ambassadors. These are really nice people who are receptive to what we have to say about their product. I am always impressed when I get the chance to talk with them. You should try Glogster if you haven't already! Karen had two presentations and her classroom integration talk drew at least 150 people! I had about 60-75 at mine which I considered quite good considering part of my time was up against the first keynote. Presenting gives you a very unique perspective on your work and I love having that opportunity. Thanks to all those who came out to hear me.
On Wednesday afternoon I attended our Library Special Interest Group meeting and was both surprised and delighted to recieve the annual award for "Amazing Librarian." It has indeed been a great year and I am always honored when my work is recongnized among such great librarians here in Texas.




There have been several snow days in Texas over the last couple of weeks so there is much to do here. Time to wrap my head around testing. First, I want to show you a video I produced for the upcoming Texas Library Association contest. It needed to be based on the theme "Crossing Boundaries." I think it turned out rather well! Thanks to Paige for all her help! Wish us luck.

Breaking down Boundaries. TXLA contest entry from Doug Valentine on Vimeo.

TCEA Conference

Next week I'll be attending the TCEA conference in Austin. What a wonderful conference this is! It is as large as many national conferences and includes teachers, librarian, administrators and students as well as so many technology experts. I am going to be presenting this year on Wednesday February 9th at 8:00 a.m. Not being a morning person, this may be difficult! Click here for a link containing information on what I'll be discussing. If you are in Texas I highly recommend you drop by and see me and enjoy this great conference.

Great Expectations...

I was fortunate enough to be selected as an opinion columnist this year for the Dallas Morning News. It has been a great exercise in writing and editing. My first column was on the fallacies in the movie "Waiting for Superman." This time i wrote about something near and dear to me, expectations of ourselves and students. I really believe that having high expectations is vital to student achievement. I have seen any number of examples where setting high goals led to unimaginable student achievements. Too often we sell students (and sell ourselves!) short on what is possible. We put up our own roadblocks to success. We say the kids are too young, not experienced enough or we've just never tried to do it that way before. Kids will believe they can do anything if we let them. The way they perceive accomplishment depends on how we value what they do. We need to promote excellence and lead the there. Great adults are not necessarily the ones who scored well on state tests; they are the ones that found out early on that they were capable of accomplishment in all that they do. They were given the tools and guidance to believe in themselves and what they were doing no matter what facet of life they were engaged in. We are not in the test passing business, we are creating people. That is the higher calling.
Here is the link to my editorial. Feel free to add stories or comment! DALLAS MORNING NEWS