It's Summertime!

I realize it shows my age, but merely writing the words "It's Summertime"  brings to mind a song by the Fresh Prince (and album of the same name). Anyway...

What do librarians do during the summer? Well, this librarian travels, cooks, gardens, does numerous household chores, and, naturally, reads! Last month I took two weeks to cross a large number of tasks of the never-ending "needs to be done" list, including but not limited to painting the kitchen cabinets and the porch furniture. Although I don't have access to all the wonderful books in my library, I have taken the opportunity over the last month to re-read a few good favorites and to read two nonfiction books that have been very eye-opening. In a few days I start my Asian adventure by traveling to Vietnam! August will be filled with gathering information and resources for our Makerspace.

Hope you have a fun-filled and relaxing summer too!

End of the Year Reflections

Here it is! The last workday of the year!

Walking through the parking lot this morning, I realized that, for the first time in many years, I made it from January through June without missing any school days for being sick.

Wow!

I don't mean being at school while fighting off a cold (or bronchitis). Actually, I have had the healthiest six months of my 20 years of working in schools! And I still feel great!

Now that all the shelves are dusted, the blinds are closed, the counters clear, and the teachers are all checked off for having returned their materials, what have I learned this year?

From the first half of the year, at the elementary school:

1. No matter the planning, live streaming is not always going to go smoothly. Especially if the streaming code has one little number or letter wrong. Fortunately, it's a easy fix, even for fifth grade technicians.
2. Kindergartners can drive you batty, make you cry, and make you smile...all within one class period. Momar...you were one of the reasons I loved kindergartners. Thank you for the beautiful picture of me when you drew your favorite thing in the library.  It will remain on my desk for a long time.
3. When technology services "upgrades" the operating system, be prepared for the older devices to rebel. Especially in the middle of a research project in all upper grades. Fortunately, we could take turns on the desktops when the minis refused to start up.
4. You never realize how much there is to do until you create a manual explaining everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING!) the administration, faculty, parents, and students have come to expect. I don't think the 3-inch binder with 22 tabs was too long. Was it?
5. This is a great school, with a great staff and students. I'm thankful for my many experiences and for my students.

From the second half of the year, at the high school:

1. Wow. I thought my own teenagers were tall...I went from being taller than all my students to being shorter than the vast majority. It's nice to feel "petite"!
2. When one English teacher begins a research project, all English teachers will want to begin a research project. Creative and strategic scheduling is necessary to get everyone into the databases. And heaven help the schedule when we miss a week due to snow!
3. Very few teachers and students remember to use the e-books. Some serious advertising will need to take place next year, as well as staff training so these wonderful resources are used adequately.
4. You can learn to draw anything using You Tube. Several of my students worked on their drawing skills during SMART lunch. The number of ways to draw eyes is amazing.
5. Collaboration with the art teachers means phenomenal artwork to be displayed in the media center. One of the judging criteria: will I grow tired of it after the next ten years? (And in conjunction with this and #4: WOW! This school is FILLED with talented artists!)
6. This is where I have wanted to be for awhile. The wait has been worth it. I love working at this school with its great faculty and students. Arrrrgh! Go Pirates!

Hungry for a Good Book?

Ah, the last 2 weeks of school. This is that wonderful time of year when my days are filled with...

...exams.

Administering, proctoring, monitoring. EOCs, NCFEs, TMFEs, CTE....no matter the acronym, grade level, or duty assignment, it makes for some fairly lengthy days. (Unfortunately, the rules say no reading -gasp!- while exams are taking place.)

However, as I walked up and down the rows of tables, students diligently typing answers for online assessments or bubbling tiny circles with their #2 pencils, my gaze occasionally fell upon the fiction books in the center of the media center. And, then, a title would catch my eye. (For any and all aspiring writers, the title and how it's written on the spine can be very important. Forget fancy fonts...too hard to read at a glance.) Some titles, like Unbroken, The Trials of..., or Zombie ? did not attract much attention. Others, however, had me taking note of their location and returning to them once the testing session had concluded. As a result, I have enjoyed several books I might not have noticed otherwise. (That is the problem with over 22,000 titles: you can't read them all!)

How to Ruin My Teenage Life by Simone Elkeles:
I must admit, I had to stifle quite a few giggles since the students had been told by the test administrator to remain quiet. (Testing was still ongoing in the conference room of the media center.) Between the accidental fathering of puppies, the Israeli commando boyfriend, and everything else going on in Amy's life, I couldn't help but smile often during this book. Kudos to Ms. Elkeles for the fabulous voice she created for Amy. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of her "How to Ruin..." series.

Geek High by Piper Banks:
Okay. I'll be honest. I had a preconceived notion of what this book would entail from the title alone. Don't you? Maybe a romance between the geek and the most popular kid at school? Stereotypes galore? Well......you don't always get what you expect. Another believable and funny book complete with mostly wicked stepmother, seemingly wicked stepsister, a school dance, the new school blog, and a host of characters who defy or embrace the label of "geek".  This book is also the first in a series so I have more reading to do!

New Books!

Since students are unable to checkout books this close to the end of the year, I got to read the newest books first. (Just one of many benefits to being the media coordinator!) This month's selections were very different from last month, and I'd like to talk a bit about them. First, all of them are realistic fiction (although one has some paranormal activity) with characters who do not fit in with their peers. That sounds like typical teen fiction, but these are not typical plots. In fact, not all the main characters are likable, but all generate sympathy from the reader over some of the things they have to handle in their young lives.

Boys Don't Knit (In Public) by T.S. Easton

Ben Fletcher is not a "normal" teen, thanks to a bizarre set of circumstances and his semi-delinquent friends, Ben must keep a journal (even though he already has a diary in order to stay sane with his slightly dysfunctional family), "give back" to the "victim" of his crime (even though she pelts him with various household items, including hemorrhoid creme tubes), and take a class at the local community center (of which his choices are limited to his dad's auto mechanics class, how-to use Microsoft office, pottery, or knitting). Through the same bad luck that follows him everywhere, he ends up in the knitting class where he discovers a talent to read the patterns and envision the mechanics of getting there. Naturally, however, he must hide this from his father, friends, bullies, and the girl he likes. It's a fun read that is actually targeted to guys.

Still Waters by Ash Parsons

Jason has very little positives in his life, with the exception of his little sister and a fearsome reputation as the guy you DON'T want to mess with. Having spent time in juvie for hitting a teacher and being thought of as "crazy" when he laughed after another student punched him, Jason cultivates this fear from his classmates as the only power he has in life. He takes a job being the "friend" of an incredibly spoiled, wealthy classmate in order to save enough money to escape his abusive father and care for his sister. There is too much that goes on to mention without spoiling the plot as it unfolds. Definitely well-written and worth the read. 

The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

This book is told through the point of view of Amber, a teenager convicted of sabotaging her abusive step-father's truck and causing his horrific death, and Violet, a ballet dancer whose best friend, Ori, was convicted of murdering two of the other dancers in their studio. Through the eyes of Amber, we see the events leading to tragedy at the Aurora Hills juvenile girls' dentention center, including Ori's time there. Violet's viewpoint shows there's more to a person than how wealthy and talented she might be. When we learn what really happened the night of the dance recital and what occurred at the Aurora Hills tragedy, we also see the paranormal come into play. Sometimes, all is not what it seems and sometimes it is EXACTLY what it first appeared to be.

Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert

What would you do if your father is looking at the death penalty and it is your testimony that will secure his freedom or put him on death row? And what if you blame yourself for the events leading to that situation in the first place? Then, on top of that, you want to reconnect with the older brother you haven't seen in 10 years who is now your guardian, you are trying to make a bargain with God to keep your life together, and the high school baseball state championship rests upon your shoulder (literally since you're the pitcher). Could you hold it together? Will you tell the truth on the stand? Could you choose between God and your father? Braden faces all of those problems, and has to redefine the way he looks at himself, his family, and his faith. 

Makerspace and More

Although it's not yet the end of this year, in between all the EOY tasks I normally do, I am already looking ahead to next year! I keep reminding myself not to "wish my life away" by being impatient about the new school year prior to the end of the current one! (Plus, I have great summer plans so I don't want to skip July!)

The first thing I am eagerly awaiting is being one of the Digital Learning Coaches (DLC) for my school. I will get to spend time with different departments and other groups helping them utilize technology and introducing new technologies to them. Zaption, LitTrips, and DiscoveryEd classrooms will be the first topics, and there are many more after those! Working with staff is always rewarding because, ultimately, it also helps my students (and with a projected enrollment of 1811, I have a LOT of students).

Another exciting addition to my school is the implementation of MTAC. I was co-chair of MTAC (Media-Technology Advisory Council) at my former school for 8-1/2 years. Having a council of teachers to determine technology and media needs, especially after teachers return from conferences with new ideas, helps to budget for these needs and discuss the effectiveness of different tools and programs. This also will help teachers since they can present information to their rep and the reps will have some helpful troubleshooting tips for our existing technology.

Finally, my most exciting addition to the media center (pending final approval -- fingers crossed!) will be our Makerspace! (Makerspace is a learning environment that is student-directed for the creation, discovery, and innovation of S.T.E.A.M. activities. -Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.) Because a lot of students come to the media center for either A or B lunch every day to work on projects, study, do homework, and read, this is the perfect place to have students explore one of our four Makerspaces. (A different one each day, Monday thru Thursday. Fridays are reserved for something special!) The first four Makerspaces, decided upon with a lot of student input, will be Forensics, Engineering, Future Fashion Design, and Animation.

Forensics: learning how to take and compare fingerprints, blood splatter, DNA analysis, shoe and tire prints, and solving a mystery contest.

Engineering: CAD, designing bridges online, creating penny catapults, and more!

FFD: working on the Shoe of the Future Contest and the Stuck-at-Prom Challenge.

Animation: Using our GoAnimate accounts to create entries into the Pirate Film Festival!

Whew! Sound exhausting? Well, since students can only do one of those a semester, they will hopefully be excited every week to work on a project.

Oh, what about Fridays? Well...we are planning to start a Makerbot Academy donors choose page to get a 3-D printer. Students will have to sign up on Mondays for a printing slot (and pay for the materials...fortunately it will be a small printer so it won't be expensive). I'm SO excited about having that technology!

Keep watching for updates and how-to information regarding Makerspaces in the Media Center!

(Reminder to self...this year is going very well, and you're not ready to be done with it quite yet!)

Librarians to Watch Out For!

I have never figured out the stereotype of librarians: glasses, hair in bun, frumpy clothes, and an outrageously stern disposition who hate everyone and only live for the books and, maybe, a cat. True, I wear glasses. Sometimes I put my waist length hair in a bun. (And while I refuse to dress like my teenage daughter or students, I would like to think my clothes aren't too bad!) Plus, I enjoy interacting with students and expect the library to be quiet enough for others to concentrate, but not silent. I want people to visit my library! (And my dogs don't think to kindly of the neighbor's cats...but that's another story.)

Of course, then there's that OTHER stereotype. The one with librarians cast in the exact opposite of the first.  Where did that come from?

Well, if you look at our culture, you'll see both of those stereotypes plus a few more interesting characters portrayed in books and movies. (the strict Madame Pince in Harry Potter, murder-solving elderly Ivy Malone from Lorena McCourtney's Invisible series, Dr. Yanina Zenchenko in Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library -- the library itself is coveted by librarians everywhere with its robots who shelve books, holographic statues, and a holographic tiger wandering the aisles)  Noah Wylie's series of movies turn librarians into a cross between Indiana Jones and every big winner on Jeopardy! The spin off TV show, The Librarians, makes us into crime-syndicate fighting super hereos. (How do I apply?) And then there's this video by a New Zealand band, Haunted Love. I think every school librarian in the world wants those bookshelves...

End of Year Already?

Once May shows up on the calendar, the library becomes a slightly different place. Every year I wonder, where has the time gone? Is it already the end?

This year, thankfully, I am not alone with library inventory. (Technically I wasn't alone for the last 6 years, but one of us had to teach classes while the other worked the inventory tasks.) With the aid of all 7 assistants, we have been moving through the scanning of 22,000+ titles, putting things in order, and I've been able to complete my portion of the AMTR (Annual Media and Technology Report) for the state.

But other than those chores, how else does a high school differ from elementary at the end of the year? To begin with, during over a week of AP testing, I get to see some students who have not spent a lot of time in the media center since they have been displaced from their regular room. Then there is the large numbers of students struggling to finish the final research papers. We've actually had to rotate students on and off computers at smart lunch just to give everyone a chance to finish and print! I have very few "empty spots" on the calendar for classes as well. Don't worry, I'm not complaining! I enjoy guiding students to finding the correct sources, format their outlines and writing, and helping them make sure the works cited pages are complete.

In my spare time, I'm going through student applications for library science for next year.