End of Year Reflections

Every year, things change, new assignments and tasks are given, and goals are prioritized. This year was the same as others in that regard but greatly different for me in a lot of other ways. Working and going to school full time is harder than I remembered and I thought it would be a walk in the park. That's simply not the case; I'm not as smart as I once was, nor am I focused as I once was. Life is complicated now and I cannot let that change my work and school lives, respectively, though they heavily rely on one another.

There are many places in which I can use improvement as I believe everyone is continually improving. Though maybe I finally got down the mail system pat, maybe there's a different way of doing it? Maybe  we all should not be as hard on ourselves to do a job for the job's sake; rather, we should see how we do our job as a reflection of our personal life and go from there. That's where I'm at right now because nothing is quite indistinguishable from another.

2014-2015 Successes
1. Started an after school club, Makerspace Monday

• Makerspace Monday has been a hit and failure all at once. The weather had kept us from starting the club earlier than we did but despite that, children still signed up and came to the first two gatherings. This past Monday, however, was kind of blah. Only three kids came but they had fun putting on a puppet show and playing with puzzles. There needs to be a change next year in how the Makerspace is handled, if it even is done at all. With the way my school is going (i.e. I won't be graduating until May 2016 now), I don't know that I will have much expendable energy to devote to MM. Carrie and I have discussed having the LSLC open for an hour every week or so to let kids do whatever they need to. I'm just not sure how that will fit into the already rigid way of things around here.

2.  Developed the Lower School graphic novel collection

• This has been the highlight of my year! Nothing can be better than sharing your love for graphic novels and comics with students who may be new to this type of literature. There's also nothing like discussing conspiracy theories regarding superheroes or talking about one's favorite manga.  I'm honored that I have been able to take knowledge of one of my passions and put it into motion. Though some of the students' responses to my requests for suggestions have been a bit rough, overall the reaction has been positive and for that I am grateful. Next year, I plan on ordering less superhero books and more manga, everyday life books, and alternative heroes. 

3. Keep better track of overdue materials

• I'm always going to try to improve in this area because, frankly, it can get overwhelming. This year I was able to stay on top of student issues for the most part. It was working with teachers and parents that I had the most difficulty with. Oftentimes I feel like my position has no weight and there are no consequences I can sincerely give that will encourage people to return their materials. The children see me as a teacher (most of them anyway) and will often give the same respect to me as they would to Carrie. Teachers are not always that way. 

4. Gained useful information through professional development

• Professional development was on point for me this year! The sessions I attended at TLA were pertinent for the changes we are trying to press forward with in the library. Region 10's offerings were great for me, as they included Makerpsace activities and Lego club. Training through BER and the What's New in Children's Literature 2015 are always delightful and insightful. Though we are not able to do a lot of the lessons in the guidebook from that course, we can take bits and pieces and adapt them to our kids' needs.

5. Gained confidence in my ability to do my job

• Well, this is also on my list of weaknesses, but first let me explain myself regarding the confidence I've gained. I had hit a wall a long time ago that had all kinds of negative things about myself written on it. A lot of those things had to do with my intelligence and ability to do anything right (my brain is dramatic, I know). A lot has changed in my personal life to where I feel like I am capable of more than I tell myself. Shoot, this school year was a year of As and Bs on top of working my job. I feel very accomplished in that fact. That's also one of the challenges I need to work on next year. Whatever clicked, whatever changed, I am thankful for. I am ok with owning up to my mistakes and fixing them, talking out issues and being bold about where I stand. Am I perfect? No way! Slowly and surely, though, I am getting there.

2014-2015 Challenges
1. Grandparents and Special Friends Day

• Good. Gravy. I thought I had done a better job with organizing GPSFD gifts and whatnot, but it was overwhelming. Everyone always says that I can bring my laptop and lock myself up to work on it and I was always to afraid to say I needed to. Forget that! Next year, I need to dedicate more time to organizing the aftermath of that fateful November day. 

2. Being organized

• I used to think I was organized. In fact, when I started this job, I was much more organized.  My desk was secluded and so was I, leaving me to my own devices and time for organizing papers. Now? Not really. An article in the Huffington Post defined "12 Things Every Type B Person Wishes You Understood". Not all of these spoke to me, as I am ridiculously competitive. I would say 11 out of 12 hit a chord and I realized that I had been trying to force myself to be a Type A because some of the folks I work with are. It's okay that I'm not! I have accepted this about myself and am trying to come up with strategies to manage working with my crazy self. I am anal about writing and believe it or not appearances (think about that for a minute...) but in my personal life am trying to be kinder to myself. And if I must "label" myself, I'll be Type B.

3. Inventory

• Over the years I've learned that once you think you've done a really great job at something, you usually messed up somewhere (at least in my case). I felt that way with inventory this year. There are so many categories and variables that I messed things up a smidge. I know I shouldn't be worried about it but I have learned from my mistake and am planning on doing better next year. I'm not sure how I could fit this into a goal of mine necessarily, except maybe being extra thorough with every task.

4. Budgeting

• I stayed within my budget for graphic novels this year but felt I did not order things that I should have. It sounds silly but I really would like to focus more on being extra cautious about what I'm purchasing, asking if its just me who wants to read it vs. the kids, and if it will see circulation in the future. The superhero graphic novels I ordered kind of felt flat really, as they are not as cool and flashy as those for middle school (obviously). I'm going to work harder to keep up with the students' requests rather than what I'd like to see. Of course, they will be reviewed by two sources or me, but I need to rely on the kids more.

5. Work/Life balance

• I don't know what I'm doing. Most days I feel like its a struggle just to make sure I don't break down and cry or eat ice cream to comfort myself because life for me is stressful. I don't know how to balance school/work/wife stuff/other. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and they're about to pop off at any given time. After being denied financial aid this summer and originally being upset about it, I think its a good thing. I can only do so much. This summer will be a break to see what I can and cannot handle and how everything fits together. The solution will have to come from there.

I'm sure there's more I'm missing. Let's see, I've covered being kinder to myself (maybe I should include being kinder to others?), try to be more outgoing and collaborative, unafraid to teach lessons and create interactive games and the like for the students. Trust is a big component in this too. Though there is always room for improvement, I need to remember to congratulate myself for a job well done and forgive myself for mistakes I make, especially the minute ones. Hopefully 2015-2016 will be the best year yet.

Graphic Novels & Free Comic Book Day

Normally, I take a million pictures when I go to a comic book store, especially on a day filled with eccentrics and actors and people dressed like Wookie soldiers. Alas, I failed this year during Free Comic Book Day, even with all the sights to behold.

I think I was too intent on making sure I picked the right comics for our kids while scoping out any Daredevil/Archie merchandise to decorate our home with. Yes, we are nerds. That is just how it is.

Because of this glorious day, I was inspired to talk to the students about the history of graphic novels, why they are important and showcase a variety of some they may or may not have seen previously. I'd say it was a pretty great success, leading us to discussions on: what superheroes are better than others, is Superman really an alien?, and yes, Iron Man is from a comic book. 

Madness Comics is always a great source for comics and graphic novels for adults and they have a decent sized children's collection. I also got my information for the six traits of a superhero book and adapted it from ComicBook Resources.

This summer I'm hoping to catch up on some Ms. Marvel, Wonder Woman '77, and Fade Out.

Happy reading!

TLA: Survival, Nerds, and Crayons

TLA this year was a lot of fun. For those of you unfamiliar with the acronym, it stands for Texas Library Association. Every year they hold an annual conference in a different location, with this year's festivities being held in our wonderful capital--Austin! For the past five years or so, I have wanted to move to Austin. It is such a freeing place, where people can be what they want, do what they want, and play arcade games that are in still good working order (like I did at Pinballz!). Forgive me for my digression, but I am happy that we were able to spend a little bit of time in this awesome city.

Sure, most of the time was spent at the conference (obviously). I was thankful that I picked some pretty good sessions this year, though I was skeptical at first. Picking what you're going to attend is one of the biggest challenges for me. Sometimes the description is not at all what you thought it would be, but you just have to roll with it, get out your TLA App and find something else!

The first day was good, though nothing explicitly to write home about. Carrie and I attended Bluebonnet 101 which was a crash course on all things Bluebonnet. It would be a great event for beginning librarians or people new to elementary school. We've been doing it for a while now and it seemed not really appropriate for us.

We then ventured out into the world of the Exhibit Hall. It was smaller than last year and definitely the year before that. There were few freebies, which is understandable. We didn't spend much time here before we headed to lunch at Royal Blue Grocery--so happy they are coming to Dallas! Then we went to some other seminars. I went to Dan vs. Dan, which featured Dans Gutman and Yaccarino. It was hilarious! They discussed school visits and their ongoing prank wars. Ah, there's nothing like a good prank.

Then, Carrie and I went to something called App Smashing by a local to Dallas librarian. It was very informative regarding how to use multiple apps to have kids basically create library lessons for others. Its something that we might have to start in the early fall but we might have some really cool lessons by the end of the year. Maybe even our fourth grade leaders would be able to be put in charge!

I went back to the Exhibits and ran into some friends from my PPLS days, also talking with some story tellers and getting cards. Their handy-dandy phone charging station saved my behind! After hanging out there, I went to a Google thing with Carrie but we only stayed a few minutes before heading back to the Exhibits.

The following day was amazing. It was my last in Austin but it was so full of great workshops and stuff I did not mind. Morning sessions included story telling, marketing 101, and more exhibit time. This exhibit time, Carrie and I spoke with a bunch of different vendors and storytellers. Then...the Bluebonnet lunch!

The Bluebonnet lunch this year was much more fun than in years past. Drew Daywalt is probably one of the funniest dudes I've ever seen give a speech and Oliver Jeffers is always charming and nice. So, of course, I went to the autograph line to find out they were giving away 250~ copies of The Day the Crayons Quit and of course they would autograph! I didn't get a picture with them per se, but of me having the book autographed to me and my husband. I then asked Mr. Daywalt his advice for movie making, since he is seasoned in the horror genre, and it was simply to move to LA. I groaned and told him my husband will never like it, and he brainstormed with me a quick minute of what would work best. Mr. Jeffers said just to make as much stuff as possible and get it out there. Mr. Daywalt said if ever we come to LA, look him up and he'd be happy to meet up with me.

WHAT.

How cool is that? Ok, its pretty cool. I'll admit that. I felt like I could conquer the world simply by one person, even though he just met me in a non-Hollywood, non-cinema context, that he believed in me. I don't hear that from my family that often.

It was awesome.

Needless to say I think this TLA was pretty awesome. I learned a lot about brand cohesion, programming tips, and generally gained more knowledge and confidence as a professional person.

QR Codes: or, our journey into the magical world of web tools

If you've read my blog before, you know I like to consider myself the creative type. My mind is constantly bouncing from place to place, running free and wild, trying to come up with the best or most interesting way of presenting an activity. I don't always succeed, which is fine. The best time for me to do this kind of thinking or planning is when people set up a challenge and you just have to make it work.

There are times when projects are stressful and deadlines move constantly but those leave room for creativity to blossom and it has to!

Two 2nd grade classes wrote book reviews on some picture books Carrie picked out for them. We met with these teachers and discussed how to display the reviews in the library in a creative, technological way. The answer?

QR codes and an app called VoiceThread. The general consensus was to have the kids record themselves reading the book review through VoiceThread and have the picture of the book show up. Then, we would import the VoiceThread URL into my favorite QR code creator, then print the QR codes and stick them on the front of the books.

I wanted to take this a step further. I took a picture of the student holding his or her book as the image that would show up on VT, then had the student record. Instead of simply having the books with the QR codes, I made color copies of the books pretty close to true size. This was done after I put the QR codes on all the books, so there was no need to print and cut out even more. One of my personal goals is to be less wasteful, so if I can also achieve that at work, win-win!

These turned out ADORABLE. Because I recorded with all of the kids, I was able to see them in a different light and get to know them a bit better. This 2nd grade group is pretty awesome. Some of them were very shy about recording their voices, refusing to let anyone hear them at all. Some were quiet, others loud, a few that were very professional in their writing and presentation. I'm so proud of all of them!

After the fake book covers were made, Carrie and I put the books out on the Everybody shelves. Then I made a few signs to designate the space and told people to ask a librarian for an iPad if they want to listen to a review. Sadly, nobody has borrowed one from us to listen. I'm really hoping that will change.

This is where I fail the most: paper cutting. UGH. I tried to make the letters look like a skilled craftsperson made them, but no, it looks like me, a monkey with two left hands and bad depth perception.

 

These signs were better, but the handwriting looks like my mom's and not the cool, hip thing I was going for. Whatever.

I think the project was a success and am hopeful the entire 2nd grade will want to participate next year!

I think that I shall never see/A poem as lovely as our poetree

We've been busier the past several weeks simply getting ready for this month than we have in a while, I think. There have been lots of fun and unique things we've been able to do. Let me start with our poetry month planning!

Back before spring break, Carrie and I started planning Poetry Month and what exactly we were wanting to do. One thing was for sure--we needed to be as punny as possible and create a poetree. A poetree is basically a paper tree, either three dimensional or not, where kiddos can hang up poems they made or teachers can hang up famous poems.

Thankfully we have some very creative and flexible parent volunteers who were able to take our crazy idea and make it so. Here they are building the tree:

We never thought we would run out of wall space after our redesign so quickly. I'm happy we have pictures and color on every single wall, including our new "wall of fame" as I've been starting to call it. Anyway, here's the finished tree + some really cute kid poetry from our fabulous students.

I made the cloud banner up top to let people know why on Earth we have a tree in the library, and was going to make a kite with the most famous tree poem ever on it. There has been very little free time for me to do this so the wall is as kite-less as it ever was. Still looks pretty darn good to me, though. If the font on the clouds looks familiar, its a dupe of Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham font, which can be downloaded at my favorite website dafont.com. A lot of times I will try to copy the font by hand, which does not always turn out so well. I need to take a hand lettering class this summer!

Since its Poetry Month, the kids have been working on different types of poems. Shape poetry has been fun for 1st and 2nd grade and Kinder and Pre-K have had fun with sensory poems. The best part is they're really being good about not eating the candy or taking the smencils.

Black out poems are challenging and force kids to think outside of the box. Our 3rd and 4th graders are currently working on those, with passages from Harry Potter and Whatever After. We tried to pick things they might already know about but that has good vocabulary. They also can use the newspaper if they prefer, though it is far more time consuming.

It's been a lot of fun. I was reading somewhere that you shouldn't necessarily save all your poetry for April. Exposing kids to a variety of literature, including a variety of poetry, early on is important to their development of being a reader and a creative thinker. Maybe we can incorporate more poetry into regular lessons next year, but for our schedule, Poetry Month it is.

Makerspace Monday: Day 1

Our first Makerspace Monday was a success! 6 students came to make stop motion animation films, though it kind of just turned into a Play-Doh tossing fest. Everything turned out fine. The kids didn't have really enough time to finish their projects, but I think in the future we may just have the Makerspace area open daily after school or at least weekly. We've been talking about what we want to do with it but this is our grand experiment!

Aardman studios, here we come!

There was a great variety of ages and interests even within this small of a group. The students were able to pair up without fuss. If they didn't want to make a movie, psh, they could paint! Play with Play-doh! Whatever!

And this is where the beauty starts. I'm so happy we pulled this month's Makerspace together. Hopefully next month we will have a full group of 10 but I'm happy with what we did in our small group.

Makerspace Monday has arrived!

ITS HERE.

The day I've been waiting for, scared of, and nervous about.

Makerspace Monday!!

We're simplifying the program a little to simply feature two different types of movie making, stop motion animation and no budget filmmaking (ha). They'll be using our spiffy iPads with some neat apps, such as the appropriately named Stop Motion and iMovie. LOVE.

This is going to be a blast! Pictures will be on their way soon.