Merry Christmas!

Today was our last day at work and I was certainly busy! Started with seeing a kid outside when I opened the windows this morning, he was outside in the 30 degree weather, an hour early, so I had him come in the back library door and come get warm. I guess his dad doesn't have a good clock, so he said. I ended up with 6 classes in the library to check out since we didn't get to check out yesterday. I read The Clown of God by Tomie DePaola, one of my favorites. Mrs. M let me read instead of heading up to her room for my half hour of aiding and the other teacher was grateful. Was up in her room for the last hour and helped pass out tons of stuff for the kids to take home and work on over break. Had a short LLI class since there was an assembly at the beginning of the regular school day and that was fun. Some Christmas music and a sing-a-long too! Got a couple of presents, one from a teacher at Sprague - warmed my heart! Got everything all shut down and turned off - oh, I just remembered I forgot to water the plants ~~ oh well, I watered them really heavy last Friday!

Craft Day

Today was craft day where all the kids rotate among rooms and work on a holiday craft. I helped out in Mrs. B's room today because she didn't have anybody to help her manage the kids. We made stockings - red cardstock with a stocking printed on it, they cut it out, then glued cotton balls to the top and made glue designs then covered those with glitter. It was very busy! Didn't get a break until after I did my cafeteria duty though Mrs. B did ask a couple of times, it was just too busy to leave and I knew I had the entire afternoon since the kids left at 1:15. Got in my breaks and lunch, put away all the books that had come in this week and the few from last week, so things are looking very nice. Since I didn't have library time today, I offered to let two classes come in tomorrow during my library/prep time so the kids have a chance to check out books before break, so I have six classes coming in tomorrow! I'm exhausted, came home and took a nap!

Desolation

Of Smaug of course! Finally got to see the new Hobbit movie tonight and totally forgot what I did at work during the day! Oh well, I did LLI I'm sure! As well as some library time and a lot of the day up in Mrs. M's room. I had no classes today, so glad I had the movie to look forward to!

Order!

Very excited today, I turned in my first ever Baker and Taylor order! Mrs. H had always done it at Sprague, so I never bothered to learn it, but I learned today. With the JLG order I already did, and this, that still leaves a bit of money for supplies if I should need some more. I am so proud of myself and can't wait until the books arrive!! Had one class come in today and a couple of the kids actually asked to help me. That was awesome. They wanted character bucks, but I'm not sure if I get any ~~ must ask tomorrow! I read them My Penguin Osbert and afterwards I asked what a bad present would be and a kid put his hand up "A gun!" wow. That nearly floored me. I'm talking penguins and they're already so far down the road from that. Another said a bomb, another a bb gun. So I turned them into thinking of other animals and that was better! Helped Mrs. M today cutting out pentagons and triangles for her project in the afternoon and turned on the upstairs computer lab for her kiddos. Back down for lunch and cafeteria duty. Then my class and some cleaning up, then up for the activity and then some math, then a time for completing class work that had been left and you could watch the movie if you got it all done. Class over then to the library and getting that order done. Huzzah!

Orchestra Visit

Today was crazy. Put a new voice message on my phone since it still had last year's assistant on it. Had our LLI program first and sent them off for the weekend. Then heard there would be a fire drill at 9:30. Great, no students, I'd be in the library, perfect (except that I'd lose precious library time!). Then they decided to cancel. Then, I got in my first class of Kinders, and it went off! I ushered them out to the covered area and felt very bad that some of them didn't have coats. At least it was warmer today than it has been for a week or more. I was wearing a sweater vest and loaned it to a student. Got back into the library and nearly got done and the alarm went off again! Back out we went. This was all from yesterday's problem with the busted water pipe, but thank goodness we didn't have to go out again! My 5th grade class next had an assembly, so they didn't come in and I was able to get my jlg stuff ready to go for a PO number, but I wanted to talk to our principal first and was able to touch base with her at lunch and she said all right. I only want half out of my budget for this year used, and the invoice I was sent was for all of it, so I emailed the jlg rep to get an invoice for half for now, then the rest after our new budget year rolls around.   Then I had our music teacher ask if he could bring in the 4th grade orchestra to play for my Kinders, and I was ecstatic! Yes! We also had Mrs. H's kids in the computer lab, so she pulled them all out to listen and be an audience as well. It was great and I loved it! Then lunch, cafeteria duty and back for my last class of the week. I turned in my request for a PO, and then up to Mrs. M's room for the rest of the day. I helped with her 'Christmas Around the World' unit and we made stockings, wooden shoes, yule logs and finally the crowns for St. Lucia. It was busy, fun and the kids loved it. After school we had the teachers come into the library to discuss next Wednesday and I guess we're having a special day of activities for the kids to do, so there won't be anyone in library time :(  so I offered to be another place in the school (a teacher is also using his room) for anyone that would like to just come and read, do homework or work on computer skills while the others are doing the holiday things. Mr. M was very excited, Mrs. M was also very grateful because she has a student who wouldn't be participating in those things, so we'll see if anyone shows up!

Stress

There was a staff meeting this afternoon and after a talk from United Way, we had a talk about stress and how to control it. It's called R.A.D.A.R. looked pretty interesting. Then because of some strange compression problem, the fire alarms kept going off during the meeting. Some laughed that having the alarms going off randomly were giving them stress, but some good tricks for helping each other out and taking care of someone who maybe needed a stress break. Glad the kids were all gone. Had LLI this morning, finished reading one book, jumped into another. Had them draw a crane and label the parts, glad tomorrow is Friday. Did some library time, then had three classes come in. Cafeteria duty, then a bit more library time (did I ever mention that all my breaks (2 a day) are during library time? So if I have half an hour to work in there, it's really only 20 minutes?). Up to Mrs. M's class and we did more passport work and I brought in my old passport for her to let the kids see one. Then back down for another library class, then back up to Mrs. M's class to finish the math part of the day. Got in a lot of books and even some kids found lost books and brought them in so they could check out for the first time in awhile. That made me happy. Five days of work until break.

13,850,001

I guess according to someone that is my blog ranking in the US. Ha! Made me laugh! Did LLI and worked with the kids on their other consonant sounds and read the play from the book. Made them take it home again. Practiced our words. Then got all ready for my four classes today. Put the podium stand we have out so I could put out a David Macaulay book for the kids to look through since he is one of our December authors, The New How Things Work. Not much for a reading group, so I read Peter Sis A Small Tale of the Far Far North for my older kids. For the younger ones I read Sorry by Jean Van Leeuwen and for the youngest we did The Mitten and though I didn't have a mitten, I brought in a hat with beany babies and we stuffed the hat with them. I think they liked it. For the afternoon I worked on my Baker and Taylor list. For some reason I had two lists, and not quite sure how that happened, so I printed them off and compared, got rid of one. Added more books to the list. I like how when I hit the price quote it cuts the list price down! Got rid of some of the titles I liked, and added others. Ordered some graphic novels! A great way to spend the afternoon. Might go ahead and submit next week, just to get it out of the way and make sure I get my budget in before it disappears!

File Be Gone

Today we had a new lady come and use the old librarian office so I commented that if we got the old file cabinets out there would be more room, so later in the day one of our custodians came and carted them away! Yeah! More room! Much nicer! Sent out an email to let people know as well. Checked in lots of books today, sent out overdue and what was due reports to the teachers today. Sent back some books from other schools. Sent a book in for processing for our school that another school got rid of. Shelved all of the rest of last week's books. Worked up in Mrs. M's class today. She didn't have much for me to do in the morning, so I got to work the library a bit more checking in a whole box of books she had brought in from home. She's down to only 56 books out! Mr. B came by today to put a new part in  one of the lab computers! I gave him a big hug! We really missed him when he was sent off from Sprague. He used to have lunch nearly every day with Mrs. H and I. What a nice guy, funny, conversational with two women! I really miss him! It was good to hear his voice and hug a really great guy. Up in Mrs. M's room we did some reading today, then worked with a 'Christmas Passport' unit that shows what other countries do with the holiday time. It is fun and the kids really like it. Then we worked our math unit with clocks. I love working with the clocks! Did some cleaning and getting ready for classes tomorrow. Did LLI and had a good time with the students. Only had two, so I was very content. I can just about handle two! We worked on words that have consonants with two different sounds, like 'c' in city or cozy. A pretty good day all in all.

Delayed

Two hour delay today, but since I drove my hubby to work, I ended up coming in on my regular schedule anyways. So, I got some extra library time that way! Did go into the LLI room and divest of last week's stuffs and picked out my lessons for this week. Got all my fiction shelved and everybody books. Finished straightening up from last week and then had to do a bit more from Mrs. L's class after they left. We read 'The Mitten' today and that was fun. Helped out in Mrs. M's class with them making poinsettias and did a lot of clean up from that. Put my last class up on my Thankful for Great Books board and it looks good, from a 'well, everyone is on there' kind of stand point! They are saying more snow tonight, so we'll see! I have to finish up Game of Thrones, then have two more sitting here with more Game of Thrones coming in from Sprague.

Snow!

Got to see my first snowfall out my windows today! It was so cool! Did my LLI lesson today and gave my kids their seeds from the giant sequoia's in our neighborhood. That was fun. Read to three classes today, but the PM kindergarten was cancelled so I got a bit extra library time. Did The 12 Bugs of Christmas to the Kinders and they loved it, even got their attention away from watching the snow fall outside. The fifth graders were all right, we read The Gift of the Magi, a bit above their level, but they didn't do too bad. Proposed that I open the library on inclement days and have a space for kids to read, make up homework and work on keyboarding skills. Mr. M loved the idea, at least for half of my lunch duty time. So I'm working on it! Worked clock math with the kids today and then took them down to the computer lab to play math games on Sumdog. They wanted everyone outside to make sure the kids didn't go too wild when school got out, so luckily I had my mega winter coat and gloves and scarf and yelled "Walk! WALK!" to them. After we got all the kids out, Ms. T came on the intercom and told us all to go home and get home safely, so I got out a little early. Loved watching the snow out the windows today. That was a real joy!

Cold and Getting Colder

I keep hoping to see snow out my windows, but not yet! Did LLI today we worked on a book about the Redwood Trees. So when we left I told the kids I work with that I had Giant Sequioa seeds and for every word that they did extra from our consonant digraphs sheet, they would get a seed! So we'll see what happens with that. Read to another four classes today. It was good! Helped with Mrs. M's class for awhile today. Worked on my December Leaves posting for the month. Sad to see this week go! Really have enjoyed reading the Christmas books.

Quilted

Today for reading time I brought in a quilt I had made years ago since on Monday a girl had asked what a quilt was. It was fun to roll it out and then I draped it on my desk for the rest of the day. Two of the ladies came by and loved it! Did my LLI class today and then my four classes of reading in a row. The older kids didn't quite get The Gift of the Magi, but mostly listened. The other 2/3 blend loved the Jolly Christmas Postman. I held the last accordian postcard open so they could all peek into the postman's home through the letterbox and they all really enjoyed that! Then cafeteria time. Then the kids left for home for the day and I had lovely blessed library time. Got books displayed for the authors of the month, sorted and put away all the non-fiction and Everybody books, so just a shelf of fiction to go. Checked in a lot of books as well. I love my library time!

No More Dumping!

Halleluah! Our old custodian was sent to another school, and one of my old friends who is now a supervising custodian came in and told me "That's not your job! That should be the custodian that does that!" So he was there all day and talked with people. It was good just to see him again, but hearing I wouldn't have to cafeteria dump anymore was a great bonus and made my day! Huzzah! Worked up in Mrs. M's class this morning and this afternoon. Worked LLI this morning as well. I helped Mrs. M with some math scoring. And helped with reading to the kids. Several asked me to listen to them read. Maybe we are bonding at last. Then  helped with their math and tackling division. That went well. Got together some books for Mrs. M. Checked in about 100 books. Sent reports out on which students still had books out, and that because of the week off for the kids, everything was due! So I got to check in about 100 books. No classes in the library today, but packed tomorrow! 

Compassion

Today was the first of the month so we had our assembly today and the word for the month is compassion. Our Read-A-Long this week is also entitled 'compassion'! I had one class in today and we read about a bear who always missed Christmas because he was asleep, so all his friends come and wake him up the day before and keep him busy so he won't miss it again! A cute story. Worked in Mrs. M's class today twice. Did some work for her for math and turned on the upstairs computers (very, very slow - would start them, go back and work - check computers logging them in - go back and do more work - check computers and click on scholastic icon...) Cafeteria dumped. Worked on my December authors, not as many this month! Back up to Mrs. M's helping with a classroom ABC book and they started division today for math. The students were very engaged today and did some good work!

Giving Thanks

Today was a great day. Another long day, and all in the library! I was so happy! Did some laminating for barcodes for the kids and a poster that was ripped. Got the poster put back up and the barcodes all cut out and ready to go. Finished up my sub notes and think I have them the way I work so a sub will be all ready to go. Cleaned out the last three drawers up at the front desk and got off all the old tape remnants from the wood that were really bugging me. Cleaned all the front desk with the cleaner we use. Got all the repair stuff together and threw away another trash can full of stuff that I don't know why it's there, or why it was kept (overhead markers dated 1986..). Worked on the Baker and Taylor order today which was a lot of fun. Had some titles from teachers. Had some from Mrs. H. And oh! Yes! I could order Chi's Sweet Home! One of my favorite manga titles! Did the autodialer and my supervisor Mr. R came in and we had a good talk. I wasn't sure about the autodialer, so we went over the exported report and I finally sent it to our office manager and she got it to send out tomorrow. Mr. M came and took all the boxes of Title 1 books away so that cleared out the office a bit. Just need to get the file cabinets out now. A very, very satisfying day. Thankful for what I have, blessings of a job, and my family (who will all be with me this weekend!). Grateful for what I have!

Loonnnngggg Day

Started off today running over to Bush to grab some books I needed processed and then over to LMSS for the book giveaway. I ended up with 20 brand new books and 15 others. So, well worth the time to go over there and pick some new things. Came back and got all, and I do mean all, of my books shelved. I went into the back and pulled all the Read-A-Longs for the year that were in the cupboards in the back and kept the December ones and the first week of January, but everything else is back out. Got my schedule all redone so it tweaks my brain the right way. Put away all the Thanksgiving books and set out holiday books. Redid the boxes I keep the kids' bookmarks in. Tried to work the Autodialer, but I don't think I did something right??? So I put in a call to my supervisor. He's very techie so I know he'll figure it out. Did my day and a half, and do it over again tomorrow. Still have much to do! Had to go and buy some paint brushes to work on repairs tomorrow! More stuff to do! What fun though to have all that time just library time! Huzzah!

No K

Today, I didn't have three of my four groups because they were in Kindergarten and they didn't have school today (or yesterday either). So I got a lot done and by the end of the day I had all the books shelved from the week and started to work on 'lost' and billed books and found one already! I hope I find them all, but finding one was a great start! Did LLI and ended up with extra time so we made a story out of our word groups for the week using ending consonant clusters! It was fun. They wanted vampires, so I obliged! Ms. H's 5th graders were really good today when they came in, and that was a nice treat as well. Cafeteria dumped. Spent an hour and half in Mrs. L's room helping with math this afternoon and it went better than yesterday. The kids are off now until the 2nd, so they were more than ready to leave today! So glad I got everything shelved, one off my list for the two days next week, on to the next on the list....

You Shall Not Pass!!

Today I was in the cafeteria and so many kids tried to walk the wrong way I borrowed a staff from a volunteer I know and stood like Gandalf on the bridge of Khazad Dum! It was funny to me anyways :) Had a girl hug me and tell me that she was so glad I was their librarian. Got to spend some time with a boy who was looking for the Three Wolves and the Big Bad Pig, and I finally found it for him, he was so glad! Worked with four classes today. Had three in the morning and one in the afternoon. Read a shortened version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I modified that a bit. Read Sheila Rae the Brave to the younger ones. Had a good LLI meeting. Worked a bit on consonant clusters. Did a game, and a word search. Had them all read. Showed them a book with a much better picture of Ursa Major in it that I had drawn (not to mention mine was backwards! How embarassing!). Worked some in Mrs. M's class, then to my afternoon library class and back to Mrs. M's for math and we did arrays in grids and it was like the kids had never done anything like that before and we've been doing it for weeks! I felt totally worthless. The kids were out of control and I kind of just, scream inside my brain, hopefully they can't hear. Back in the library after school and I just wanted to work on my grid that shows all the stuff I do all day, because I don't like the one I have. The way they have it doesn't work and doesn't have all the information on it that I want to have handy.

Growing Leaves

Today I worked after school was out (our early out day at 1:15) on putting up all the student 'book leaves' on my tree bulletin board. Still looks a little rough, but hopefully I'll get it into shape here soon. Checked in books this morning, turned on computers. Was doing a lesson on fantasy for LLI this morning, so I grabbed some books from the library to use to show fantasy vs. fiction. Since we were doing a  lesson on How Bear Lost His Tail, I also used the constellation Ursa Major to show the kids that bears really had long tails at one time! They were pretty impressed (I think...). Then off quickly to the library for my four classes in a row day. I had one class that needed to still do their 'leaves' so they got busy and did that. I had one class I really had to yell at. I told them that when my husband asks how my day went, I get sad when I tell him that all I do is yell at kids all day. They were better after that. There's always a few though that really want to yank my chain! Enjoyed reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book to the older kids. Cafeteria dumped. Sent Ms. T an email on the keyboard site that LMSS has set up for the different grades since the kids will have to type for their testing this year. She was thankful and sent it out to the teachers. Finished off the day with reports of books due for Friday classes and put them in the teacher boxes as I left!

Autumn Wind

That's the concert tonight and I got to hear a bit of it today near the end of school as they practiced for the show tonight. Checked in books, ran reports, off to LLI. Back in for just half an hour and then off to Mrs. M's class. Helped put progress reports in envelopes, split out Scholastic magazines, listened to kids read. Back for lunch, back for cafeteria duty/dump. Since the program is tonight they had the curtain up and it comes out into the cafeteria, so the tables were different. We'd been told to try and keep the kids away from the curtains, so when they started to dump, the other folks were having them walk down the curtains with their trays and I ran up, 'No! Go the other way!' so they did and the kids with trays walked on the other side and when they were done, then they walked down the curtain side. Worked much better. Told the second lunch people about it and we did it then too. Since it was raining I told Mr. M that I'd love to have a group in the library on rainy days when the kids stay in. We'll see! Got all the Everybody books shelved after school today and rounded up books to read from our author list on the Read-A-Loud list. Looked up and yikes! Time to go! Loved seeing the kids work on their Mayflower ship drawings. One kid had the planks on the side of the ship with nail holes! Cute!

Mint M&M's

Came in today and as I walked from my car, Mr. M handed me a big bag of Christmas Mint M&M's. He's noticed I eat a one portion bag about every day when I'm done with lunch, so I thought it was funny. Watered the plants because I forgot them on Friday. Just had a meeting in LLI today, then worked the library for a bit. Finished up my November authors bulletin board and got books for my one class today. Focus is on authors this week so read a William Stieg book (the author of Shrek! kids liked that!). Helped do some report card stuff for Mrs. M this morning. Then had to take a student downstairs to the LLI room. Helped read with the kids a bit then turned on the upstairs computer lab. By the time I got that all going, it was time for my lunch. My stomach was growling! Helped out our Head Start teacher today during my lunch, I hate to turn someone away. Then she asked if I would read to the Preschool kids and I said I'd love to, but it's not my decision. She'd have to ask Ms. T. Ate, did my hour of cafeteria/dump duty and left a few minutes early to be ready for Mrs. L's class. Read to them and had them do their 'leaf' for my bulletin board. Just a few more classes to do! Then back up to Mrs. M's class after helping another teacher, and they were headed down to the gym, so I walked with them and there was something crazy going on. The kids from several classes were rotating around, gym, the library computer room, I'm not sure what was going on ~~ the last class was out of the computer lab because a teacher had reserved it, and another teacher was reading, but they left and went back to class, so I had a whole class to read to for about 25 minutes before school was over for the day, so I picked up Stuart Little and started to read. The boys were all squirrely, or maybe I should say mousey? But we made it to the end of the day and off they went. Had a sub come in and she helped put books in order on one of the carts while I shelved Everybody books and straightened out that section. So nice to have help!! Didn't get it all done, but it looks better.

Taking Over

Took over Mrs. F's LLI class today and she evaluated my teaching style and was very pleased with it. Since I really had no prep time for the lesson, I thought I did really well. Got all choked up and cried a bit in front of Mr. M today. I thought maybe I had passed a turning point, but maybe not. Had a lot of my Kinder's in today and still haven't made bookmarks for some of them. Got all my classes to make their 'leaves' for my tree, maybe? Except one, maybe? The power went out at second lunch today and for awhile there was the thought we'd have to close up school, but it came back on. I had my last Kinder class in right after lunch and I told them we didn't need lights to read! Ordered some of the tape I used at Sprague to mend books and a new Bush stamp with city and state on it. Did cafeteria dump. Worked in Mrs. M's class this afternoon and had a group with cookie wars and arrays. My first two groups I thought were a total disaster, but the last group worked fairly well and that made me at least not want to jump out the second story window! Worked the library after school, just straightening up the shelves, they were a mess. And all I did was the non-fiction and fiction. Didn't even get started on the everybody books or do the shelving I needed to do. Did get a cart out of the server room so I could put one of the TV's in there. The cart had a ton of book boxes on it, and they all shoved those into my little back room, oh well. If they get the file cabinets out of there I'll put the computer cart in there. That will get all the equipment off the library floor.

Vimeos

Did another sit and watch during the LLI class today. I might have to 'teach' tomorrow while Mrs. F watches to see how I do, but I was too busy today to talk with her and get prepared for it. Had in another four classes today and got three of them to do their 'Thankful' book leaves. Not sure how often I'll do that, but it sure takes up time in the library! Cafeteria dumped. Worked in Mrs. M's class today with reading and then after another library class back up for math. Then about 3:30 off to Myers Elementary for my first Library Elementary meeting. It ended up getting out about 4:45. I won a book! For the library of course. They picked my name out of the grab bag box first! I was excited and picked "Tallulah's Nutcracker" all pretty and blingey cover :) We had just finally gotten all our Flying Rhino books out to the teachers but I learned we also have vimeo to share the videos that accompany the books. So, I will send a notice out about that tomorrow. The rest of the info I'll keep for my December 'leaf' newsletter. Productive day.

No CD

Listened in with another group in the LLI room today and picked up more tips and hints. Had three groups in the library today. My one 4/5 blend did not get to come into the library today. They were my worst group last week, and when one of our people came and said would I be disrupted if they didn't come, I was glad! They were pretty bad last week. So I just had a partial group come in, about six kids and they were great. What a treat! Had the other groups work on their 'book leaves' for my tree bulletin board. Did cafeteria dump duty. Then the kids all left at 1:15. I was so excited! I could do some shelving and listen to my brand new Gaelic Storm CD I got last weekend!! But no, the teachers all came in at 2 and stayed for the entire afternoon and the last group left when I did - argh! I really needed the space/music therapy! Felt very depressed all day and could have let go and cried today, but didn't. Even texted hubby about that. Just kept it bottled up and worked like crazy. Mr. M said I was like the energizer bunny. No, just lots to do and not enough time to do it, and if I work hard, I won't have time to cry. Shelved all the non-fiction and regular fiction today, so only had the everybody books left and didn't want to shelve them because the teachers were all around that area. Put up a few more author bios on that bulletin board. Looked for some books for some teachers. Checked out some books to Mrs. M and another Ms. M. Got in a book I requested for some adult reading!

11-12-13

Just really cool date today! Got back late last night and glad to be at work so I can relax! Got to sit in on a group for the LLI class today and enjoyed watching Mrs. F work with her students. Had one student that I decided to report to the counselor. Since we are mandatory reporters, I felt I needed to, so I did. Got back and had a little bit of time to shelve books. Went up to Mrs. M's room and she was absent. I swept the floor, then when the sub came in and didn't have anything for me to do, I told him I'd rather be working in the library, so he said yes, and would I agree to bring up the kids from music class? So I did that. Had about half an hour with them listening to them read, and then my lunch. Cafeteria and trash dumping, then half an hour of library time checking in books and a bit of shelving. Then two hours up in the classroom helping with a bit of art project with our wonderful art volunteer Ms. J. Then had to take a student downstairs to the office since they didn't feel well. Back up for some math work. Then back down to the library and running books checked out lists for all the classes this week. Found out I have a meeting to go to on Thursday, so sent an email to Ms. S and Ms. T. Yeah! Tomorrow is Wednesday, my favorite day! 6 hours of library time! Huzzah!

5th

Had a good day. Graduated out my LLI class today and they were ready to go! Had in one of our 5th grade classes today and they were all very well behaved! Might have been because our principal sat in the class with me today, but still, they were fabulous. Ms. T also pulled me aside and told me how much people love having me here. They had said nice things at the Crystal Apple Awards last night, so that was nice of her to let me know! She also asked what she needed to do to help me get out of here tonight since I had made plans before I was informed of the move to catch the train up to Seattle, but I told her I had it all under control. I had worked three extra 15 minute shifts Monday - Wednesday so I could leave at 3:30 today. That was so kind of her! But I managed to work everything out. Worked upstairs for half an hour after lunch for my last class of the week. Then back down to read. Then another hour upstairs, run down, turn off computers, close windows and I'm on the road (ok, so the ride up to Portland was on the Amtrak throughway bus!) and looking forward to a great weekend with my daughter!

Missed

I missed a whole half hour in Mrs. M's class today. Totally did not even see it on my schedule even though it was there. I felt really bad. Had another four classes in today for reading, got all the fiction shelved from last week. Sorted out all the non-fiction and Everbody books so I can start shelving them tomorrow. Did LLI and my cafeteria duty. Worked again up in Mrs. M's room for an hour before the kids went home. They were doing a math test and then they had fun with a counting video where they got to get up and dance with the counting. They had fun and our principal came and did it too. Took some new pics, took down a torn poster. Need to repair it and laminate it. The kids seem so uninterested in behaving. Every day we have to quiet down the cafeteria. Almost every class I have in has someone misbehaving. It gets really tough repeating yourself every day. Sigh Worked on my sub notes, hopefully that will help me as well not forget where/when I'm supposed to be. Got Monday and Tuesday printed out.

Bush Library Leaves

Finished up my newsletter today and sent it out to staff. Take a look:

Good morning all,
   This will hopefully happen about every month and let you know of what is going on in the library and any other notes I may have!

   Remember! Long breaks are coming and you can order in a book from any of the SKSD libraries. Want a Grisham? I just read from Sprague - Playing for Pizza  about a third string quarterback who ends up in the Italian football (yes, the American kind!) league. It was fun! On the library search - if you scroll down to the bottom of the libraries, it will say "All Libraries", put in a book or author and it should tell you if it is available in the district. You all have district accounts and can order one in! Let me know, I'll send in the request and it will be sent here! Easy Peasy!

   Thankfulness - our word for the month. I'm telling the kids on their library visits how grateful we should be that amazing people have given us public libraries for anyone to check out any book they want. Something I am very grateful for!

   I am also working on a bulletin board on "Thankful for Good Books" where I hope to start next week having kids draw their favorite book cover and putting their book 'leaf' on a tree I'm working on! I hope that parents and students will come in during conferences and enjoy our great library, scope out some of the books I'll have out on display and students can show parents their favorite books on the tree.

   Highlighted authors for the month - I'm also working on a bulletin board to highlight our Read-A-Long authors for each month - this month's authors are:
Lois Ehlert
Kevin Henkes
P. D. Eastman
William Steig
Rosemary Wells
Marc Brown
Astrid Lindgreen
Daniel Pinkwater
Jean Fritz
Gloria Whelan
Mordicai Gerstein
C. S. Lewis (one of my all time faves!)
Madeleine L'Engle (another fave!)
Christopher Paolini
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Neil Gaiman (Good Omens with Terry Pratchett, what a hoot!)
Charles Schulz
Lousia May Alcott

   Yes, I've actually checked out a book from here - Basho and the River Stones. My son has a cat named Basho after the 15th century poet and master of the Haiku and I was shocked to see we had a book about him! It is a fable of gratefulness, where a fox tries to trick Basho into giving him all rights to the one cherry tree on Basho's property, but Basho instead shows the fox what is really important in life.

   I have for this year, an extra hour in the library and hope to use it to enhance the resources here at Bush and for our students. I am available from 7:45 to 4:15 most days and there is a calendar on the cupboard behind my desk that shows where I am out and about at if I'm not in here.

   Also - November is National Novel Writing Month! I have done Nanowrimo for seven years but decided to have a break this year. Nano is a great program where you are encouraged to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November! That is the adult side! They also have an amazing Young Writer's Program for young children where the children can pick how many words they'd like to try and write for the month. There are teacher resources, lesson plans and workbooks available! Go here to find out more: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/   Want to try it yourself?  Go here:  http://nanowrimo.org/  We have a great regional group that meets once a week on the weekend down at Salem Public Library. You can catch the event times and whereabouts on the library event page or sign up for the region on the Nano site where you can get all the fun and facts about our amazing region!

  That's enough for this month! Happy Thankful Reading!

Have already had two staff people say they loved it. Put my heading on my 'book leaf' bulletin board today and worked on my November authors board as well. Had four classes in for reading and check out. The older kids were terrible! A teacher had to come in twice to tell them to be quiet because there was a class in the computer lab taking a test. I felt bad for them. Had my LLI class this morning, and cafeteria dump duty, but the rest of the day was blessed library time! I hope that my newsletter sets the mood for what great things can happen when a library media assistant actually has time to do some things!

Thankful

I spend the least amount of time in the library on Tuesdays, so it's kind of a sad day for me. Worked LLI this morning and thought I'd be getting some training, but I guess that will be next week when my current little group will graduate out because they are now reading at class level. Printed out reports to teachers of kids who have books out for tomorrow's classes. Spent a lot of time in Mrs. M's class today, some of it reading, she even let me go down to the library for a bit because she didn't have much for me to do while the kids were at another activity (PE maybe?). I turned on computers for her in the upstairs lab - they take forever to load! - so they'd be ready when the kids were back and ready to do some Scholastic work. Got a key from our office assistant and got some supplies from the Nelson Room to start working on the bulletin board I want to do. Didn't like the letters they have on their cutting board, so I made do with letters off of the fonts from the computer. Worked on cutting those out today and got most of it done before I left. Checked in a lot of books today. Helped Mrs. M's class with math all afternoon and the kids are getting to know me. Sent out an email to our office manager and Ms. T that I'm putting in a bit of extra time so I can leave early on Friday for my trip to Seattle since I had bought the tickets before I knew I'd be changing schools.

Assembly

I guess the first Monday of every month is assembly day, so there was no LLI meeting today. I went down to the gym and the kids were a huge gyro wheel walking around the gym. I helped with 'no running, waaalkkk...' and then stayed for the presentations. Kids got awards and we went over our word for the month 'Thankfulness' - I am grateful for what I have. So, I really liked that, so I used it in my reading group today that we should all be thankful for all our really great libraries here in town. That anyone at Bush can come into our library here and check out books or from anywhere else in the district and we have a great library at Salem Public Library and it is amazing anyone can go and check out a book. Helped Mrs. M tally up grading pieces today. Worked the cafeteria, had one group come in today. Worked for an hour and half today up in Mrs. M's room for the afternoon in math. Helped the kids with their multiplication workbooks and then we did story problems and had to use her formula for writing it all out. I love it when I know the answer. Worked from 7:45 to 4:30 today. Added in an extra 15 minutes for the next three days so I will be able to leave early on Friday to catch my bus up to catch the train to Seattle on Friday. I had bought the tickets before I was informed of my move, so this seems to be the best way to make it work. Sent some author pictures for Ms. S to print off for me since I don't have access to the color printer yet. Need to ask about getting into the room upstairs for paper and stuffs for new bulletin boards. I think the one on the right side of the windows will be for our highlighted authors for the month. The one on the left will be for seasonal/monthly highlighting stuffs. This month will be for the kids to draw their own 'books I am thankful for' board.

Pots

Pulled out a bunch of pots and vases from under the sink today and sent out an email to staff to come and take what they wanted. Did LLI today and had all three of my kids. Came back, got things ready to go in the library and did my three classes today in the morning. Then lunch duty a bit of time in the library to get ready for my one afternoon class. Up to Mrs. M's class and helped get ready for pumpkin math, then back down for my class. Read Zen Ghost today for the 3rd graders and they really liked it. I think it was so different they were kind of shocked. Did more Fraidy Cats for the littler kids. Back up the Mrs. M's class, helped with snack and then the kids watched the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown while they ate. Came back down and took down the two bulletin boards. Want to do one with our November authors and the other one being 'Thankful for Good Books" which I'll have the kids help me with the next two weeks. Tomorrow is a grading day, so no work for us. Back on Monday.

Create Your Own Utopia

Got to spend six beautiful hours in the library today. Got a lot of cleaning up done! Moved shelves, cleaned out drawers, checked in nearly 100 books. Had four classes in back to back to be read to and checked out. Nearly lost my voice ~~ not sure how that happened. Raising my voice to get the kids quiet? Reading a long time each day? Was a bit of a shock. Did my usual LLI and cafeteria duty, but the rest of the day was in wondrous library land! Had the tech office call that they were loading some training things on the computers in the library lab for a training on Friday, so I let them know our schedule (kids were out at 1:15 today, so they had all afternoon) then emailed the teachers who are using the computers tomorrow so they'd know that there would be some extra icons on the computers when they brought classes in and to just ignore them. Had some teachers come in, see the books I have out on display and they picked them up. Helped a student with a book choice today, so I hope he likes it. Cleaned out drawers, cleaned up a lot of stuff in the little back room. Dumped a ton of papers and things that have been laying around for who knows how long. Four trays all filled with the same things - so now they all have their own trays and I threw away a ton of old things. How many pencils do you need in a drawer? I think I put 30 in the cabinet that holds resources for the kids. Feeling like I got some real things done today to make the library work better for me. I told one lady, "we had an admin that would tell us 'create your own utopia' (thanks Mr. T!) so that's what I worked on today. Things are getting cleaned up, more efficient and will help me run the library more smoothly.

Getting my Feet

Now that I've gotten my eight hours, I feel more ready to take on this position. I got everything finished up shelved today from last week. Only had one class today right after lunch, so spent my LLI hour with my two kids, the hour in the cafeteria, some prep time and then the rest of the day I was in Mrs. M's class. I helped record some things in her grade book. Helped the kids do art work of pumpkins. Then the last part of the day they had a special speaker, a trauma nurse coming in to talk about trauma and how to prevent it. Like, wear your helmet, wear pads. So Mrs. M took me aside and said that I could go ahead and work in the library since the nurse would be there until the end of class that day. Huzzah! So more time in the library! Found a book that a girl had lost when I discovered a whole section of books I didn't know about. Got some stuff cleaned out. Asked Mr. M if I could get some file cabinets removed so he said they could go into storage. Displayed more books! Worked on the day to day duties since my schedule is to convoluted in case I ever need a sub. Mrs. M is certain I will turn to the elementary side and never want to leave. She really is a sweetheart.

Take Me Home, Country Roads...

Who knew someone had made some kids books from John Denver songs? News to me! But we have three of them! When I was sent to Bush, I was told I'd have eight hours, and when I got here, I was told the position was only 7. So, last week, HR told my principal that yes, I was to get eight hours, so I started that today. What a joy to spend more time in the library! I was just about dancing when I came in at 7:45 today and got to stay until 4:15. I got some shelving done! Displayed some awesome books for kids to get inspired by! Picked out some great books for the Read-A-Loud since the calendar we had was a bit off from what I could see! It is awesome! Sent out book requests for the teacher I aide for. She needs some Jeanette Winter books, so I sent out a call to get some in and so far, everyone has replied with a yes. Good news! Just had a meeting in LLI this morning, so that was to get set up for the week. Worked a bit in the classroom this morning getting a math game ready for this afternoon. Read with the kids a bit before my lunch. Had a group in after cafeteria duty and read them 'Fraidy Cats' and they loved it. Worked a bit with the classroom this afternoon after I contacted schools for Winter books. Then nearly a whole hour to be in the library after school got out. So nice!

Clomp, Clomp

Got to read the last time out of the old lady book today to the kindergarten classes. Did the LLI class today and S had broken her glasses the other day, and is waiting for a new pair. The office tried regular tape to hold them, so I took them and used some of our book strapping tape on them and broke off a piece of a paperclip to try and hold the ear piece together with the frame. Don't know if it worked or not, but it was better than the tape in the office! Had a wonderful volunteer that sorted out the non-fiction I took in for the week and nearly got it all put away today! That was splendid. They had Farm to Market at my school today and as I was in the library getting ready for classes, one of my old bosses came in from food services and gave me a big hug. She was really surprised and looked really glad to see me. I am learning how to control the kids, but it is hard. I'm not a very militaristic person, but I see the advantages of controlling these huge class sizes. Worked the lunch and garbage today, though I did leave a couple of minutes early at the end because of my kindergarten class coming in. When I told the lady in charge today that I would have to leave a bit early she was "What?? Who's going to do your station??" The kids were all late today because of the Farm to Market set up. I did stay until almost the last minute, but when I did get down to the library, there were already a couple of kids waiting. Kept back a couple of boys who had pushed books on the shelves as they left the computer lab. I made them pull all the books back out, fronting them. They were not happy and pleaded for me to let them get to PE! I am fitting in. I am learning. I enjoy reading to the kids, my big lovely windows, and when the windows are open, the lights are on, and I'm checking out books, I really am content.

Book Slappers

Had a couple of boys today at one of the tables just slapping their books down and slapping down the covers. I made them come over to my desk and sit behind the desk! Threatened them with not getting books today - no book slapping!!! Had my wonderful DLC kids in today and they are amazing. I think some of them even tried to do the motions of the book I read them. Did LLI reading today and had the kids write sentences from their book into their journals. Had them do silent reading to start, then introduced the new book. I liked one of them wanted to write from the book "Astronaut means a sailor among the stars." Nice! Checked in lots of books, managed to get all the laminated barcodes cut out, though some I wasn't able to trim up nicely, but at least they were separated! When I get time in the library with kids, I open all the windows and turn on all the lights. When the library is being lived in, it comes alive. I love all the books I get to put out to catch the kids' eyes and see them checking them out. The buzz of them talking - even though by standards at the school they are too noisey, I still love the buzz. One group today was all sitting in a line from the door waiting for their teacher to pick them up. Everyone had a book open and was looking at it and sharing it with the kids around them. That was so exciting! I even told them how happy it made me. Can I whine, just a little? I feel a bit picked on. Is it because I'm the library media assistant? I'm the only one with lunch at 11:20, which doesn't bother me because I sit in the library and read which is what I'd do at Sprague if I wasn't talking with Mrs. H. I'm the only one who has to work both lunches and the only one that has to monitor the kids dumping their milk and food. What is up with that? Because I'm new I'm the bottom of the tank? Or just because I'm the library lady and it's not that much different? I watch the clock the whole entire hour I'm there, and am so ready to bolt the minute the clock hits 12:50. Sometimes I get out a few minutes early when I have a class coming in immediately, but I still think it's unfair. Thank you. Done whining.

Like a Beautiful Lake

I love my Wednesdays. I get five hours in the library! When Mr. M asked me how was I doing today, I said, 'it's like I'm hiking and come upon this beautiful lake and dive in and play with the otters, and watch the eagles soar over head and just soak it in..." Ah, sublime. Did my LLI group this morning and then had four classes come in for reading and checking out books. My first group actually broke one of the shelves, the fastener that held the shelf up got too pinched and fell out. I was not happy :(  We had a talk about how I really did not have time for this, and that the library was not a place to run! Quiet voices! Harmonica! Did I mention I brought in my old harmonica and use that as a cue to be still and be quiet? It might work! Also had to stop a class three times to be quiet today. One class came in so late with only five minutes left we just talked about library rules. And since they were late, I was able to restretch the fastener and get those books back on the shelf. Loved my little kids, we had a great book to read "The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Scared of Anything" and we got to stomp our feet, wiggle our bodies, wave our arms, clap our hands and nod our heads and say 'BOO!' at the end. They really enjoyed it! Ah, ha! Though one boy got a bloody nose because he said someone had hit him while they were checking out books. I sent him to the office and Ms. T and Mr. M showed up and helped corral my little wild things. This afternoon since the kids leave at 1:15, I got to look for books kids said they turned in (yeah!), got all of last week's books shelved. Found more fabulous books to put on display, cut out some bookmarks I laminated yesterday, answered emails, even got my break in!

Gummy Vampires

One of the students in Mrs. Mc's class explained his drawing to me. We were making a little packet of birthday wishes for one of the girls. I asked him if that was something she liked and he said no, it was what he liked though! Made up Word Work big manila envelopes for the kids this morning in Mrs. Mc's class and she asked me to go down and laminate, so I asked if I could also run through the five classes I had barcode cards for as well, and she said sure. So I ran through the envelopes and then the cards. Math seems to be the rule for the afternoon and I had a group except for the last round. Where did they all go? So I helped out the other stations. Maybe they just don't like me. Or what I was doing. Did the LLI work today again and did cafeteria duty. I got half an hour this morning in the library and got some of the non-fiction shelved and displayed some of the books that caught my eye. Found a book that a kid had said he turned in. There's a lot of that going around. Checked in about six classes of books, maybe? Well, there were six piles on my desk when I'd get back to the library. I've begun to sort when I check them in - Everybody books, then fiction, then non-fiction. At least I can get them that far. Managed to cut out a couple rows of barcode cards before I left today. Put away about half of the non-fiction. So much I want to do. At least tomorrow I get to have four classes come in and then all afternoon to shelve and do some things. So, turn on and log in computers when I get there tomorrow. Then off to LLI then some prep before my first class comes in. Looking forward to it!

Clear as Mud

So today I finished up a whole week of kids since I didn't start until Tuesday last week. Had a meeting with the LLI people about what kids we would be working with this week, what the program was, how fast we were moving, who the kids were and what to look for. "It was clear as mud, but it covered the ground, and the confusion made my head go round..." as Henry Bellafonte once sang. So we just plow on and try to wrap my head around a new group and what they are learning. I guess they mix up groups all the time. Got all the non-fiction sorted today and got some put away, but I kept seeing all these fabulous books to display on the shelves. So I will do more shelving tomorrow. I think I have library time, though no classes tomorrow. I do LLI and then work in the classroom for the rest of the time. Had a really nice 1st and 2nd grade blend class in today and they did really well. Still a little noisey, but not bad. Cafeteria duty - I'm the only one that has to work both lunches. Got to do math with Mrs. Mc's class today. I love it that I know the answers! Hung up some math posters for her. Did a check off sheet on who had brought in their emergency plan sheets (in case they need to go home early - walk? bus? get picked up?) Mr. S my teacher librarian supervisor came by today and helped a counselor with some tech stuff for a video she wanted kids to watch on bullying. We did some more talking and he gave me some stuff that he had on ordering. I gave him my schedule so he'd know when he could come in, especially to help with classroom management.

Leaving Work

I absolutely hate leaving things undone, but today I had to leave all the fiction and non-fiction books on a cart without putting them away. I managed to get the Everybody readers all put away today and part of the non-fiction sorted, but it was time to go and I had to leave. Worked the LLI again today, then down to get ready for three more classes. Ms. A's kindergarten gets the award for the best behaved class of the week. They were truly a joy to read to, check out to and I wish all the classes were like that! Lunch duty, one more class coming in. Only got about 15 minutes of my lunch today because I was talking with the principal about how I have no classroom management skills, none. So she is going to find someone to help me out. I'm getting the schedule down a bit, and I got to play a math game during my IA time. People are still incredibly lovely, I just hope I can get to place of fitting in before they abandon me!

DLC

Best moment of the day was when the DLC class came in. Some in special wheelchairs, some walking in, all of them sat around my desk. I hopped up on the desk and read them Steven Kellogg's Chicken Little book. Truly a wonderful time in the library. I also learned I was supposed to have some very easy reading books out on a table for them, so I grabbed some off of the top of the shelves I already had out, and then pulled some more. Quite the quick effort but they were so worth it! Best class of the day :) Got into reading with the LLI program this morning. For awhile I only had one student, getting things going and understanding the program is coming. Figuring out the packets and books and activities is a challenge to get it all done in an hour. This group of kids has fallen behind because of all the subs and other issues with their group leader, so hopefully I can get them back on track. Did IA work with Ms. M again today and helped her get her speakers working so the kids could hear the lesson on Christopher Columbus. Then they came down the library computer lab to work on math so at least I got to stay in the library! As I was trying to get some shelving done in the last few minutes, there was a meeting in the library to announce one of our teachers was nominated for a Crystal Apple award. That is quite the honor. I managed to sort out the books that have been returned this week, Everybody books are even sorted by author's last name, all the fiction on one shelf and all the non-fiction on another. Had one student cry today because things got crazy and he ended up not getting a book to check out. Made me sad :(

Key in Trunk

Came out from work today and as I was digging for the car key, I thought "hmmm, I've left the key in the trunk lock before, let me go to the back of the car." and there it was. Sat there all day from 8am to 3:40pm. Stupid. So happy to work in the library almost all day today. I still had to work on the LLI program in the morning, and do cafeteria watch and food dump, but in the morning half of the day I got to check out books to four classes of kids! They were noisey and I have no skills in controlling them, but I will have to pick some up. Checking out books and in books and trying to keep the rapscallions under control is crazy. And the questions! Students asking all sorts of stuff and butting in to other students and raising hands and climbing around when they need to listen! But books got checked out, books got checked in, stories got read. So life was pretty good today. The school gets out at 1:15 on Wednesdays, so I got to go to a staff gathering for October birthdays and then spent the afternoon with the previous media assistant who had worked there for years. She was so helpful! I was really impressed that she wanted to come over and show me stuffs, and areas and books and how she did things - truly a blessing for the day. I have a lot of clean up to do, not to mention finding out what we need and working on lists, getting classes with their cards for checking out. So much to do! How will I ever get it all done?  Moved computer stuffs around today because the mass of wires on top of the desk really bugged me, and the silly little pull out drawer for the keyboard was a pain! I just need to drill one hole in the desk top to feed the wires for the printer and I'll be pretty set with how I want all that to work together. Much better set up in my mind!

First Day

The whole school was very welcoming to me today. The library has seven huge windows to look out on the yard, so that is a great feature. I hope to watch snow this winter. The Instructional Couch spent a lot of time showing me around today, getting this and that, he really invested in me and I so appreciated his insights. Got a phone number from the lady who worked the library and she is coming over tomorrow to help me out and show me a few things. The only thing that was sad was that I really only get to spend 15 hours a week working in the library. Five hours a week is in with LLI reading groups which is exciting to me. Helping students to read is quite the challenge and I guess this method is good. I also spend ten hours working as an Instructional Assistant in the classroom. This morning I did get to listen to some of the kids read, so that was cool. Good thing math this afternoon was easy! The other five hours I get to stand in the cafeteria and monitor students as they eat and then get to make sure they dispose of their food and lunch items in the proper containers. Not that great, but I guess someone has to do it. Got a lot of hearty welcomes, and I think they are hoping I will stick and stay. I see a longing for someone in this position who will invest in the school and be there for them. Checked in books today from classrooms since they will be coming for check out tomorrow. Several kids were very excited that I'd be in the library. Got to help out with leaf rubbings today in the classroom, so that was cool as well. Must get pic of new library to put in here, and probably have to change the name here. No textbooks in elementary's. I left a bit early today because I needed a new badge, my old one was for Sprague of course, and the picture I think was from 1998? So over to Security to get a new one. Then over to LMSS for training on how to order books. I still have $500+ in my budget, so I will need to order! Never had to do that with Mrs. H around, we just suggested titles and she went for it :)

Help! I Need Somebody...

I didn't really know where to go today for the four hours I had to work. I needed the afternoon off to move my mom to an assisted living place, so HR allowed me to have my high school half day, then the rest of the day to help out my mom. I ended up calling LMSS and they said "Sure, come on down!" What a great treat it was. I got trained by the best in the business on how to run the elementary program, and we'll just have to see how much of it I remember tomorrow! The Principal at Bush, Ms. T sent out a nice newsletter welcoming me to Bush and I even got a phone call tonight from someone who used to be at Sprague and is now there and she is so excited I'm coming. So nice to hear. So most of my four hours was in training with a bit of laminating thrown in for fun. I did get my mom all transferred today, a big relief for her and me to get out of her double room at the rehab place and get into a nice quiet apartment all to herself, and I got to tell you, it's pretty darn nice, my son even said, 'hey, I'd like to live here!'  I'm off to Bush, arrival at 8:15 in the morning. I wonder what traffic will be like?

Piped Out

What an honor today to get piped out of the building by our own Mr. J. I've been asking for years for him to come into the library and play, so last night I asked if he'd pipe me out today and he did. Scotland the Brave, we marched out to! If you have to go, go out with a flare! We got together just outside the main library doors and he set up his bag and off we went, right down the main hallway, in front of the office, and out the main doors. I marched ahead and Mr. J followed me and I jauntily walked away, looking at our magnificent trees, hearing the pipes and he piped me all the way to my car. I really wish I had a picture of us marching up from the front doors, but oh well! Said a ton of goodbyes today, managed not to cry all day. Most people were in absolute shock that this was it for me. I talked with my union today. They said they knew all about the 'situation' and I was just the one in the middle. I said, oh, so I was the scapegoat, and they said yep, pretty much. Worked hard today to finish up the piles of repairs I was working on. Went through some stuff still on my back desk and Mrs. H and I made decisions on a couple of books, whether to bill or not. Some we did, some we didn't. Lots of hard goodbyes, even to students. Tried to talk to the new principal today, but we never did get together. One small reprieve, I do get to take half a day Monday to help my mom relocate and start at Bush on Tuesday, so I'll get four hours at Sprague yet!

Told

Today I was told it was a done deal. Tomorrow is my last day at Sprague. I am being transferred to Bush Elementary. I think it is all part of some of the shifting that occurred over the summer, and now to straighten out some decisions, they are moving more people around and I am one of them. :(  Helped figure out a kid and this book which turned out to not be his problem so that made him happy and able to buy homecoming tickets. Sent off a DVD to a school and two books. Did more repairs on American Gov books - hopefully will get them in a place to where they are basically done before I leave tomorrow night. Checked in and out library books and textbooks. Cleaned out almost all my personal stuff. Tomorrow will be a sad day :(

Meet

Today we had our first meeting for the new year. I wanted to hide out in the library, but Mrs. H said 'no, you need to go!' so I did. Completed the checklist they gave us, going onto the QAM drive and the staff handbook for a couple of the things we needed to do. Checked out six classes of books today. Two from English with the Platinum books and four of the Financial Algebra books. Processed in four magazines. Checked in our typical about 45 a day library books. Checked out a lot as well. Worked a bit on repairs. I knew we had gotten in a Conceptual Physics book, and so I scrounged through the back and finally found where our aides had been stashing them. Got an answer to our online access to the AP Biology and turned that over to the teacher. Sent off five books to other schools and got in two that we had sent out.

Glad to Be Back!

So glad to be back home! After being so sick and sitting with my mom in the hospital for days, it was a relief to be back at work today! I happily checked in books! Trolled through four days of emails! Had our aide unpack boxes and let the teacher know the extra Financial Algebra books had arrived! Helped a mom with a book her son had lost so he could buy homecoming tickets! Mailed off eight books to different schools! Checked out books! Found our order for AP Biology and yes we should have online access to that program, contacted rep and teacher! Put money in print accounts for students! Answered phones! Got visited by a former student! Let Ms. W use my computer for the staff meeting! Processed in two magazines! Can't wait for tomorrow!

Sick

Yesterday I was so sick from Saturday night's all night throwing up bout, I knew I still didn't have it in me to work, so I called in sick. Today I went in and managed to last until noon, then threw in the towel and headed home for a nap. Will be gone the rest of the week since my mom is having surgery early tomorrow morning. Checked in and out books, looked through our new booklist magazine and tagged some suggestions. Decided I was not being very productive! Headed home.

Nothing

It seems like I did nothing today, but I did. Worked more repairs. Watched the kids coming in on passes and our release kids. Sent one book off to another school. It was pretty mundane actually.

One Gross

We had that many students sign into the library today during classes. I counted our sign in sheet, so that's how many students come into the library for either work from class or who are on release - about 144 today in 7 periods, so 20 students a period on average. Worked more on repairs today. Checked in and out. Found out the back doors weren't locked, so locked them when I saw some staff just walk in. Had conversation about a student with our Destiny guru - he was replacing books and when I tried to check them in, they were already in, but didn't come off his bill - so I had to monkey around with the program and let our bookkeeper know about it.

At that Point

Felt good today that I got to a point where I could pull out a stack of books and work on repairs! So I started with our American Government and Politics Today books. The ones we have left all need a bit of care, some more than others, but that will make books ready to be checked out next year while I work on ones that really needed some TLC, but the kids needed them more. Checked out three class sets of Physics: Principles and Problems. Sent out a book to be borrowed. Checked in and out various titles, library and textbook today. Excited to hear that we can put one song on a CD and get it to play over the speakers during passing! Mrs. H and I thought Dolly Parton's 9 - 5 would be good! Had an aide count books in the back, asked teachers if they wanted them, sent out an email to other schools to see if any of them want them. Mr. D said he did want to keep all 95 of the gnarly Fundamentals of College Physics books (and we still have 19 very nice copies on the shelf). So, working through stuffs.

Locks and Chains

We have a couple of plexiglass display cases, so I took the one that was empty and put in classic banned books and covered them with these crazy metal clips with chains on them and these tiny little locks we had in the back. I was very happy with how they turned out. Finished covering all the paperback books we had gotten in so all the new books are now out and on display. Processed one magazine. Updated release list. Checked in and out various library and textbooks. Laminated for about an hour in the back, had lots of stuff. I get scared doing the big ones. Today Mrs. K had us do the big huge  map of the school ones. I had to fold them, run them through, then slit up the sides and carefully edge down the sealed edge with the boxknife to unfold them. Tricky, and I know Mrs. M did a fabulous job, but I think I'm getting it down. Got back one of the books we sent out and was excited that it was our first 'completed' loan on the lending library program.

Banned Book Week

I knew Banned Book Week was soon, but not this week! Mrs. H was all over it though and had posted to me on Facebook "Hey, I just met you, this is crazy, someone just banned me, so read me, maybe!" from the popular song going around right now, so we took our stuff off the bulletin board and did that on it with pictures of books that are on our shelves (well, except for Captain Underpants) around it. Then I took our nice shelving unit and crossed over 'new' with 'Banned!' books and a notice of why they were banned and pulled all the titles we currently have on the shelves to display there. Turned out pretty nice all in all! We also have a couple of teachers doing a writing unit, so Mr. S gave us a list of books on writing, and we had about 2/3rds of them, so I pulled them, and then also pulled some books that might be similar calibur that I don't think he knew we had on the shelf. Mrs. H is going to book talk them tomorrow for the class so I had to turn down two students who wanted to check them out! They can after the talk tomorrow! Checked in 39 library books today and various textbooks. Mr. L had classes in and so I had to help a lot of students with their computer log-ins. Had to flip Mr. L's screen so it would project onto the screen at the front of the lab. Helped a student pick out a book for class. Had some great aide help today and my release list of kids keeps getting longer. A good day all in all!

Big Plans I Say

Mrs. H got this cute little kid book, Big Plans and I decided I loved it so much, we put it in with our Junior Library Guild order to send in for processing. Sent out 25 Importance of Being Earnest. Cleaned out our books on hold stack. Checked out five classes of Chemistry books today. Processed one magazine, and got to cover more of our new books - only have about 15 to go!

Seeing the Light

Really worked on getting things cleared up today. Carts all in the back room, only two tables with books on them (well, except for the Chemistry books that will be picked up tomorrow!) Almost everything cleared out of the front, boxes put up and away in the back. The last shipment of books packed and out the door. I even got to contact paper some of the new paperback books today! Deleted all our AVID stuff so Mrs. H could just give it all to the new coordinator for her to use as she wished. Checked in and out a ton of library books today, one transfer, two magazines processed. It was like poking your head up out of the water and going, "Oh, hey, I can see the light!" Exciting to finally be at that point!

Cart-a-Mania

We currently have way too many carts up front! I have at least four of them in various book sets, there were three empty ones and a flat cart! I keep thinking we're getting somewhere, but maybe not! Ms. L came in with her students to get The Adoration of Jenna Fox today and was very apologetic because she had told me they wouldn't be in until tomorrow! Quick run to the back, grab books, check them out. Still checking out various titles. Got in our 30 extra new Realidades 3 books so a lady needed something to do, so I had her start to break in the spines, stamp and barcode them. Got in 115 Chemistry books and I got them all out and ready for Mr. D's classes. We also got in an extra box that was supposed to go to North I think of Culinary textbooks - opps! Put that one back to go out! Boxes all over, checking our release kids. Mrs. H was book talking all day so we had plenty of kids coming in and checking out books. Manga Club had their first meeting today and that was fun to see them all excited about the new year. I think they had the biggest group I've ever seen in there and one of our new teachers, Mr. L likes Manga, so he came and met them all and sat in on the meeting. Another busy day, they go by fast!

Wednesday

All day today I kept thinking it was Wednesday. Not sure why, but it was funny. A group of kids came into the library and one asked "What day is it today?" so I said "Wednesday!" Boxed up the rest of the Biology books to send to McNary. Processed in five magazines. Worked the release list. Checked out two class sets, one of Lord of the Flies and one of Biology and had an aide deliver them. Laminated all the stuff in the back. Mr. P gets the award for the biggest stack of things to laminate! Checked out to a class Lord of the Flies and various other titles today. Though my greatest 'kudo' for the day... we have a student who had two books out to him from last year. He knew where one was, but couldn't remember the other. He brought in Peak today and we cleared it, and the other book was the Coffin Quilt. I asked if he'd taken Mrs. O's class last year, and he said yes. So I went through the books we had used last year, and none of them were his copy. Then I remembered that we had withdrawn a batch and put them in her room, so I sent him down with the barcode and there it was! It had been withdrawn, but not checked in to get it off his record! Ta dahhh!! It still wouldn't check in, but the program allowed me to 'claim a return' on it and now he's all clear and could check out a book. He was happy, I was very, very, very happy we got all that taken care of. Then I also sent an email to our bookkeeper to make sure it gets off his account if it was on there. Happy afternoon!

More Checking Out

Today we had four Biology classes checking out books, four 10th grade lit checking out. Two classes of Beowulf coming in to check out, two class set of Lord of the Flies going out since we got in our extra 100. Three books sent out into the district, checked all the students coming in to make sure they had a pass or were on the release list I made last Friday. Unpacked Spanish for Mastery 3 and let Mr. C know they were here. Packed the first set of 36 Biology books to head over to McNary (but they didn't get picked up today). Firmed up almost all of the newspaper orders so I will order those tomorrow so they start arriving. Doesn't look like much, but I was hopping all day.

Release

So today's focus was on getting my release students all on a list, so I can just go down it when they sign in and tick them off, and I can also easily see who isn't on the list and find out if they have a pass, or are skipping, or whatever! Sent out more book requests, checked out books here and there. Decluttered my inbox. Got my lists of who wants newspapers for this year. Glad I have my release list! I'm sure I'll add to it on Monday, but at least now I have a start!

Cleaning up

Today I came in to find some tables for a meeting had been moved out into one of our walkways, so I had to take some time to put them back where they belong before I turned everything on and then opened up the library for the day. Got some 9th grade literature books ready for Mrs. H to take to her meeting this afternoon and swap. Worked on my Mandatory Training for the year. Didn't get it done, but at least I got through some of it. Dibbied out our dictionaries to the teachers who all wanted some and had an aide deliver them to the classrooms. Checked out more book reads for classes today. They are doing real heavy emphasis on more reading in the classroom, so it's great to have kids come in and have to check out a book, any book! As long as they are reading. Had to ask for some barcodes since the set we got seemed to disappear for our latest first aid books. Cleaned out almost all my emails, putting them in files for reference later. Only have two more book sets to send to other schools - Yeah! Had the whole JV football team in the library this afternoon and they were very well behaved on the whole - nice to have them in there. Laminated today, but it wasn't quite the pile it was on Tuesday. Checked in textbooks from people who had dropped classes and checked them out other books. Checked on a book order for one teacher, it's been ordered, now we're just waiting for it to come in.

Lending Library

Came in today and turned on all the computers, then let the kids come in. Mrs. H really likes our old Lending Library program so we pulled it up and she took on the task of clearing all the old data. The last time it was used was over two years ago! So we entered in all the books we've leant out so far and the two we've requested. We'll see how it goes! Students and people in and out all day, checking in this, out that. Got our 7th period aide to start on the first aid books, unwrapping them, stamping them and putting on the bar codes. Getting students used to signing in when they come in the library is tricky! You really have to keep an eagle eye out for them! I think I'm going to make or see if we can get a list of which kids have actual release so I can keep up with them! Put out the last of the Earth Science books to go over to McNary. I know I did more, but the day just flies by and suddenly it's over. Busy, busy, busy!

Checking Out

Had two classes come in today to check out reading books for class and Mrs. H was at a meeting so I was the lone assistant. It took a bit, and I saw some really cool books I'd love to check out and some I already had read, so that was fun. Packed up 6 more boxes of Earth Science books, so those are all done, but no one picked up the set from yesterday! So the ones I packed today are still on the cart. Got in our stuffs I sent to LMSS so I opened all the audio books and had to make envelopes for the new ones, but the old ones were really crammed, so I measured and found one box that fits our manila envelopes (like the 6X10 ones) and cut it to fit. I'd like to find boxes 7 or 8 inches by 20 inches, so we'll see how we can make that work! Stripped all the rest of the new paperback books and though I got out the contact paper to cover, never made it that far. Processed in five magazines. Answered emails. Yes, we want Geometry books - no we don't. Sent off two books from a request. Mrs. H cleared our old Lending Library program, so we'll work on that to see if we can still make it work for us. Though I like the excel sheet, this program does have some good reports she likes. Turned off all the monitors for the night and headed home. Good night!

Stripping

Totally forgot about putting the tattle strips into the new books last Friday! Argh! I've got to get more into Mrs. M's amazing way of handling books! I think I found most of them to strip. One of our aides went around where we had displayed the new books and pulled out all the ones that didn't have our dot on top (to show they've been stripped) and I think we got most of them! Also turned in an order for The Adoration of Jenna Fox, and didn't know that with Permabound I have to send that through Mrs. H first! Luckily the order hasn't been placed yet, so we caught it in time! What a learning curve! Checked out more books today, but it's slowing down. Boxed up five boxes of Earth Science books and got those sent out to North HS and boxed up six more boxes to send to McNary and I'll send another six boxes to them tomorrow. Then I have 9th grade lit books to send (25) and 75 Biology books to pack up. Ordered in a couple of library books from out and about and worked on my spreadsheet so it will make sense to me when I look at it. Had our aides put away a cart of books we pulled last spring for reading groups and they needed to be put in the back. Checked in Catcher in the Rye we got in from another school. Had a phone call from a lady who wanted to know if we were needing another library assistant? She really wanted to work in a library! I told her we'd just lost our other assistant and were down hours for this year. What a busy day! Checked out our release kids, had them check in and then went through SASI to see if they really did have release. One of our students was hiding in the library this morning, and he got caught by one of the IA's this afternoon, and when I tried to sweet talk him into going to class I got a mouthful of 'F*** the class. I don't learn any F*** thing in there..."  not to mention I "came out of my mother's a**" and so on, so I took him to the office and left him there to settle down and get some help. He was here a couple of years ago, was gone and is now back. I tried to talk at him about how important it was to hang in there, he'd just come back and that showed how much he'd grown, but there was always more work to do. He's one of those kids that you want to help, but he needs to help himself as well and needs some coaching, so hopefully I can help provide that to him. He does not have any release periods so I will be vigilant!

First Week Down & Stats

Finally! The first week of students is over! A little easier today, but still checking out textbooks and a few lines, but not nearly as bad as yesterday and Wednesday! Got the rest of the Baker and Taylor order unboxed today. Turned around one of our reference shelves that had been put in backwards. Worked out a deal with the Earth Science textbooks that everyone should be partially happy with. What a broohaha! But Mrs. H and I finally made a decision since no one else would with all the information we had available. Mr. L showed me how to change the rolls on the laminator machine so hopefully I can do it next time by myself. Had our aide pull all the textbooks back to where my desk used to be and we'll be able to open up the library for lunches starting Monday. Glad the day is over! Trolled through a ton of emails deciding which to go in a file and others to go ahead and delete. In four days we checked out 28 class sets for 1,089 books, and to 93 classes of students for 3,077 books! Life is good! Home to my daughter who is visiting and my granddaughter too!

Turn it in

That's what Mrs. H did for a lot of today! We had classes in and she got to teach. Ms. A took her place at one of the computers and helped me check out books. Another day of lots of things going on, kids in, books checked out, it was great. Though we did have our program shut down for a restart so that it would run faster, it was worth it because it did run much faster after that. I had to turn three classes away at the door :(  We only had a little bit of a notice and I totally thought it was over already, and then oh my! It was just in a few minutes, so I wasn't able to warn the teachers. But it only took about 10 minutes, and we were back up and a big difference! Processed in five teacher magazines and eight for the library. Put in an order for Realidades 3 books, so hopefully that will get approved and off. So much going on, but things should be slowing down tomorrow and getting back to normal. Pulled a TV and DVD player for an event tonight and made sure they were working. They wanted to use the library and I was "ah, we have books all over the tables in here...." so they will use the Commons instead. Getting to know our release kids as well, love to see them come in.

Accomodation

Everyone was back at school today and if we weren't checking out books to students, we were bringing in new ones. Did send a box of texts back to McNary HS. And a box of audio books to LMSS for processing. Responded as appropriate to 49 different emails. We also had a teacher who just had a new baby and his substitute showed up today with classes looking for their books. I quickly told her it was all right and we regeared to make sure his kids got their books as well as the kids we already had scheduled to come in. Crazy lines at the end of 6th and beginning of 7th period as two block classes came in at the same time getting two books each - the line just kept growing as Mrs. H and I checked out books it seemed! Day got done, we have a new aide and he helped put out books for classes tomorrow so we were all set before we left today and got out on time. I'll have some good stats at the end of the week! Stopped all our release kids and made them show me their schedules and then sign in. They weren't real happy about it, they pretty much just came and went last year as they pleased, and others who were not on release as well ~~~ !

New Oly Day

Our first school day is dedicated to our freshmen! It's a great day and time for them to get a handle on the school before all the other students crowd the halls. I like it :)  We had groups come into the library to check it out, but other groups just walked by, so we cheered them on. Had to cart in two boxes of books I picked up on Thursday at the meeting and get them all checked in. Also checked in a class set of ASL resources the teacher doesn't need for this year. Checked out a library book and sent it off to North HS. Got in a book someone tried to rub off all the Sprague stamps and lost the cover to. So I restamped it and put the new barcode and spine label on. Processed in the rest of the AP Chemistry Laboratory manuals and checked them out to Mr. W. Answered a ton of emails from teachers. Helped Mrs. H with our newly configured computer lab. Had to add in computers and got Vision to work on it. After lunch I started pulling books for classes tomorrow. Algebra 2 73; World History 135; Economics 61; Physics 89; Giancolli and the Prep 25; Reading Literature 55; Art for the Ages all 77 of the big ones (took me four trips with the flat cart); American Pageant 78; American Experience 78; Precalculus 78; Practice of Statistics 38; Prentice Hall Platinum 35 and Mrs. H had to help out and put out a couple of hundred America Pathways. Did some more class sets, Mr. C had 40 World Literature and 68 America Pathways; Mr. L got 40 Conceptual Physics. Mr. C got 38 of the Twentieth Century and Mrs. P had to trade in her American Government book for the US Government book (she likes the US Gov book better). Had some freshmen come in and actually check out books today so that was a lot of fun. Had teachers putting stuff back by the laminator and sent out an email saying we would laminate on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm getting quite the pile back there! Moved old AV carts down to the new teacher workroom in the old Oly Lounge. What else? That was a lot, and I'm sure I've forgotten something or two! But that's it for tonight, I'm bushed!

Training

Came in and did a bunch of laminating today. There were teacher schedules, 'keep off track' signs, posters, an amazing newspaper copy from the Kansas Times about WW II that was awesome! Loaded more carts up for teacher class sets, processed in all the new AP Chemistry actual textbooks - put those out on a table for pick up next Wednesday. Snagged emails, replied, had lunch then off to the LMSS Destiny Training for the afternoon. Took books, picked up books from the other high schools, learned a few things about the program and then done for the week! Phew! Back to work on Tuesday and all our new incoming freshmen!

AP books

Opened up the boxes of AP Chemistry and got them all unpacked, the boxes put away for use later. Stamped and barcoded all the Student Guides, the AP Test Books, and almost got to the actual texts! Did a lot of carts for teacher class sets today and answered a lot of emails. I kept very busy, and my list of books for student pick-ups starting next Wednesday is growing.

Welcome Back Teachers

Which made it very busy for me today! Checked out four class sets to teachers today and took the numbers and days for when they'd bring in students to check out books. Did reconnect with quite a few! Got in our new AP Chemistry books, and Mr. W was very excited and pleased that I got him all fitted out with the teacher resources we got in, and he approved all the books for the students so I can start processing those in. Helped out some of our new teachers. Worked with Mr. D on the Conceptual Physics books and how we lost so many last year. With only two teachers, they can each have a class set and I'll have some extra for the students that really need a copy. Working with Mr. J and our admin to find out how many Earth Science books we need to keep and who to send the rest out to. Had a student and mother come in. They had been billed for books and said they were in, so I checked, and yes, the books were in! I love it when that happens. One came up with a note that a different student had been billed for it, so I checked her out to make sure that she had no fines on her account from us. Good to have our teachers back, a very busy day!

Almost 7

That's right, ramping up my time to get in so next week I'll be coming in at 6:45 for the students. Worked on another box of the Baker and Taylor order, putting in strips and checking off titles. Placed some more on the rack, and others on the rolling book shelves over by the 900's. Worked on the bulletin board by the front door, Mrs. M always did an amazing job, she is so talented and artisitic, so the kids will have to put up with my sorry excuses for boards! But that's all right! At least I got it started with 'Welcome Back Oly's' on there for the staff meeting tomorrow! Checked in several books for students and helped clear a few. Talked to a student about our Manga club today. She had heard about it and will be a freshman this year, and she's really excited about it. Finally heard that we did get our AP Chemistry books in, but they sent me a document with labels, but the labels won't print correctly on the labels! Only three rows actually were usuable :(   So I sent an email letting them know they didn't print correctly. I have been having to tweak my printing of labels, so maybe this will get my settings back in line. Checked out a class set of books to Mrs. W today, and have to get some for Mrs. J tomorrow. The rush is on!