The daily life of a Middle School Library Media Assistant.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Sore Shoulders

Another great day in the library! 12 more hours down and Spring Break starts - right now! Got all, I mean all the accelerated reading books all put back with the regular collections. Finished off the everybody books, did all the non-fiction, then started with shelving the fiction in with the regular fiction. Then I wiped down all the empty shelves, 30 of them, and started to spread out the fiction over where the accelerated books used to be. It really does look fabulous! So all I did all day was move books and my shoulders are sore!! Then I hit my knee on that spot that just creams you out? Aaarrgghh! Had to rub it for a bit, then I just stayed easy with it for the rest of the day. I'm sure I'll have a bruise! Finished up more of the repairs and even got the beloved by all the kids Lego Ninjago and Harry Potter books fixed and back on the shelves. The kids will be so happy that they are back for check out! Took a bunch of teacher material stuff off the shelves in the library and put it in cupboards in the back. I'm sure no one has touched them or looked at them in years, no sense letting them sit out there collecting dust, so in the back they go. Got all the professional books all on three shelves in order, looking good! Left the G.L.A.D. books on those shelves as well since Mrs. M said not to move them!! Withdrew some more magazines, these on tolerance and gave them to our counselor for her to look through. I need to go through the magazines in the back room to see which of those are also barcoded to withdraw if I need to. Had a kid come in with his mom and they paid half his book fee, and promised to pay the rest after break. Also borrowed a ladder from our custodian today and wiped down all the tops of the high bookshelves, yuck! Lots of dust up there! Left some stuff to dry after I glued them, watered the plants, shut the shades. See ya April 1st!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

12 Hour Day

Today we started conferences so that meant we work 12 hours today and tomorrow and get off Friday. So, started early today at 7am. Worked in the library to start, then off to LLI. Got the kids off for Spring Break then my four classes in a row. Had one class that I ended up sticking out in the hall because they were so loud and we started doing our real ELPA testing today. Got those done, then lunch, then cafeteria duty, then I got all the books shelved. Started working on repairs today and really enjoyed that! Played my celtic music mix on Pandora and happily taped and glued most of the rest of the day! Got some of the repairs, the taped things, all put away and have all my glue projects weighted and stacked and pressured for the night, we'll see how they do tomorrow! Need a few things from home to finish some of the projects. I miss my repair box I left at Sprague :(  Ended the day with finding four plastic cubbies of tiny, 6x6 inch books about a millimeter thick all in the system. I'm beginning to freak out that I won't find everything to inventory! Half of the stuff will be 'lost' just because I can't find it. Then I went through magazines and they were all still in the system, the latest one was from 2008, so I deleted all of them and sorted them into the magazine holders we had under the shelves. Had a request from a teacher to look for some material from a name, and accidentally found something that might be what she was looking for but was in a notebook labeled 'Lecturas'. So I sent her the name of the section I think she wanted (a math thing!) and we'll see if that's what she needed. I hadn't heard by the time I left. Also had a book turned in today from the San Diego Public Library. Wow, that one had quite the journey! Gave it to our office manager to see if we could mail it back. Got a call from Technology about our computers and she had me look at our Tiger screen to see if I wanted it centered or stretched. I decided on stretched. According to my fitbit, I walked 10,509 steps today and most of it at work. Time to wind down for bed and up early tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Caught Up!

Well, I think I am basically all caught up with shelving! I did get in a few books just right before I left today, but everything else is on the shelves! Sorted through my repair stuff and got them in piles to work on tomorrow. Some for new labels, some need taping, some with glue, so I'll be able to crank through them tomorrow. Covered a few books as well since I got my contact paper back. Shifted more everybody books from the accelerated section onto the regular everybody books. Found that someone who helped me shelve last week, really didn't know what they were doing. I found several pockets of books that were in their own order at the end of a shelf, but if they had looked at the next shelf, that's where they belonged! I wondered how they had gotten done so fast. I bought a plastic pot at Walmart last night for my plant that got knocked over last month and broke its pot, so I think it must be happy. Got computers up and running this morning, off to LLI. Then back to the library for a moment and up to Mrs. M, she didn't have anything for me to do, so I offered to pick up the kids from music and did library stuffs. Then she had me do a reading group. I didn't have a clock or watch, and she eventually poked her head out of her room (we were in the hallway) and told me that it was already 10 minutes into my lunch! Quick downing of food, then cafeteria duty. Back to the library, then back up to Mrs. M's room for the afternoon. Math, a movie and finally back in the library. Got in some books that belong to Salem Public Library, so dropped those by on the way home. Glorious afternoon out, headed home to go and run!

Monday, March 17, 2014

Bye Bye Ireland

Today was the last day I presented my Ireland slides and that was fun. The kids enjoyed it! And so did I! Came in and got computers up, slide show up and ready. Went to LLI for our first day and meeting time then back to the library. I got all, and I do mean all the books shelved! Nothing in the back except my repair piles! I was so excited! Started moving the accelerated everybody books over to the regular everybody books, that will help. Had a bit of extra time in the library since Mrs. M wasn't in and the sub had nothing for me to do, so I went into the library and then met the kids at PE and brought them up to the room for their reading time. Listened to about three kids, then off to my lunch, off to cafeteria duty. Back to the library for my one class today and they enjoyed the show. Then a bit of time in the library and back up to Mrs. M's class for math this afternoon. Then back down in the library after school. A student came and wanted to help, so I gave her a cleaning cloth and she wiped down all my shelves. That was a great help! I had sent an email to Mr. C and said we really needed to have a survey on how much time media assistants actually spent working in the library and he responded back with a survey monkey! Yeah! I helped get him started! That will be valuable information for our new supervisor, not to mention the union. 

Friday, March 14, 2014

Mrs. B - Angel

I took in my computer this morning to see if it might work, I couldn't get it. Called Technology and they can't help on personal computers. So they suggested I go to a techie person at school and we have Mrs. B who lives and breathes tech stuff. So I went to her and she sort of got my computer to work, but the resolution was so bad, she asked if I could put it on a flash drive, and voila! I had done that last night, so she snagged a computer out of the computer lab, hooked it up, put in my flash drive and it all worked! Not quite the same, but not bad! So I was able to show my slides to my four classes today. Wheww! Thank goodness for our techie people in our lives! Got almost all the back room cleaned out of books and I just have one shelf on a big cart of non-fiction! Did LLI this morning, then library stuffs (listening to pretty Dingle music!), then three classes in a row. The kids seemed very excited about the slides today. Lunch, kind of, I ended up with about ten minutes because I showed my slide show to her since she did a work study in Glasgow. Then cafeteria duty. Back to the library for a kinder class. They got all excited whenever they saw me in a picture. So cute! Then helped out in Mrs. M's class the rest of the afternoon. The kids got to make paper today and I was a helper for that. Then back in the library and closed stuff up for the weekend. Now off to Konditeroi's....

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Bad Kid

Got through my morning classes with my slide show and when my last class came in, a boy sat down at my computer and turned off the feed for the infocus machine. I was so pissed off. I could not get it to work and the kids were all over the place. I was so disgusted with them. Just ruined my whole day. I tried different things, but I don't know what he pushed, so I don't know how to undo it. I am so pissed. Must eat chocolate. The rest of the classes loved it. Did my LLI. In Mrs. M's class this afternoon had a fellow come in and talk to the kids about trees. I watched a table of pine branches and pinecones while the kids rotated around. I spent the rest of the afternoon shelving and trying to fix my computer. Got all the fiction and everybody books shelved with some help today. Just a bit of non-fiction to go. Got a call from a school about a book that was lost, the assistant there was certain the book was checked in, though it was billed. There's a screen that shows when the book was checked in or declared lost, I told her it must be lost, because it was billed. I don't have the book. It happened last March, so I told her, I wasn't there. More chocolate. Maybe Konditeri's.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Ireland Slide Show!

Today was green day at school, so I dressed in green and got ready to show my Ireland pics. They were fabulous! Played my music, and had a good time showing them to the kids. Had my LLI group, then to the library for my four classes in a row. Mrs. S's class was very talkative, I think they enjoyed it, but they were too busy talking, some of the talk was about the slides, the rest, maybe not so much. The other classes were all very respectful, then my lunch, then cafeteria duty and they were all gone for the day. I got a ton of shelving done and feel so much better about the back room! A great day, then off to meet some Sprague people for dinner at Annette's then off to the Pentacle for Les Miserable!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Clay Kells

Today I stopped by Sprague to pick up The Book of Kells title that we have there. The folios of the art work of the Book of Kells are spectacular! So I swung by, dropped off A Dance with Dragons, grabbed Kells and headed into work. I was late, but then I knew I would be and had told our office manager yesterday I'd be stopping to get that. It was good to see everyone. I miss it there so much. On to Bush, and one of the ladies had started the computers, but I had to go in and get one row going anyways. Off to LLI and I had one kid, then another came about half way through. I was expecting four but I seem to do better with the one or two that showed up! Back to the library for some sorting, do I have a ton to sort. Then to Mrs. M's room for more word cards and some reading. My lunch, then cafeteria duty. Back to the library and a student did her last work for me and paid off her book! I was so proud of her! I did more sorting. Then back up to Mrs. M's room and she insisted I do the art project the kids were doing, so they gave me a lump of clay and I made a nice little heart tray from it. They are working on them for Mother's Day, so maybe I will give it to my mother. Then math groups for the afternoon. Back down to shelve books. There was a group in the library all day, so I just shelved the nonfiction from my sorting piles. I had so many books I just piled them in stacks, the 100's here, next the 300's and so on. Got a lot shelved and stayed a bit late to make up for getting in late.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Deep Freeze

Came in this morning to find all the computers still on. So when I tried to poke them awake, they kept scrolling this 'update installed, restart computer' so I did, and the same message came up again. I ended up called Technology and they got them all sorted out for me. Then to LLI for our Monday meeting and I got all set up for my kids for this week. Back to the library and I worked on my authors of the month. Got in some of my new books!! Yeah!! Put them on display. Took my Caldecott sign and put it up on the 'Go for the Gold - READ' bulletin board. Up to Mrs. M's room and worked on some index cards for spelling helps. Then took a group into the computer lab until lunch. Had lunch, then cafeteria duty, then Mrs. L's class came in and I read them Tomie De Paola's St. Patrick, and that went well. Then more work on my authors and back up to Mrs. M's room, more index cards, helped with math a bit. Then a fire drill! Back to the room and it was time to clean up and send them home. Back to the library, more author stuff, had a note from technology to not turn off computers tonight. 

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Missing Laura

A pretty ordinary day. Since we don't work tomorrow and there are no kids, I got my weekend reads ready for my LLI kids. They wanted to do the play out of their Fox and Gull book, but when it was time to read, they got all shy and didn't want to do it! Back to the library and to get ready for my classes today. Someone stole my pic of Laura Ingalls Wilder off my February authors board. Really? Seriously? Read Girls Think of Everything about the invention of chocolate chip cookies, the kids really liked that! And the younger ones got The Boy Who Lived on Fairfield Street about Dr. Seuss. Shelved books today. Did my March Bush Library Leaves newsletter and told everyone about my Ireland slide show I'm doing for next week. Had my lunch, did cafeteria duty, back to the library, more sorting and shelving and had some kids in working for me. Some of them just wanted to play with their walkie talkies and walk around, so I sent them back to the gym, but I had a couple that worked really hard. One girl only needs to work for me one more time to get her book paid off! Then up to Mrs. M's room and listened to her read the end of Charlotte's Web. Back to the library for Mrs. H's class, then back up to Mrs. M's class to watch Charlotte's Web. A lady was in there for Mrs. L with a student who need assistance, and she had come from Sprague, so we chatted while the kids ate their snack and watched the movie. Back down to the library for the last bit, shelved like crazy, but still not caught up from letting them take an extra book last month! Thank goodness they're down to just one book for K-2, and two for 3-5! That will help!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Great Afternoon

Today went well, chocked up on aspirin and away we went. Lesson in LLI, then straight to the library for my four classes in a row. They all behaved fairly well today! Then my lunch and cafeteria duty. I ended up sitting down for a bit since I got a little dizzy there, but then off to the library for the afternoon and Mrs. H from Sprague came and visited me!!! I was so excited!!! She went over my last order for the year and approved my choices. Then we talked about my budget since I wasn't sure on the numbers. Then she helped me shelve for the rest of the afternoon and we talked like we used to at Sprague. It was so good :)  I really miss her. Sent her back with a book a kid finished from Sprague. She brought me four books for my library and we looked up The Book of Kells that Sprague has and found out it's been in the hands of student since September! So hopefully Mrs. H will have it for our quilt shop hop day Saturday so I can use it next week for my slide show from my trip to Ireland last summer. Not to mention I checked in 209 books!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Sick

Smartfinded in sick this morning. Took me three computers to get to where my passwords are for that since I hardly ever use them. One computer wouldn't let me go back far enough. Another couldn't find the internet. My hubby slept in our spare room was last night so I wouldn't breathe on him and when he got up I finally got onto that computer, found my passwords and got that taken care of. Sent an email to people affected by that. Had our granddaughters over on Sunday and Stanzi had little snotzies, so I think I got it from her. If I was at Sprague, I would have gone in since I work in a bubble and don't have personal one on one contact with the kids there for more than a moment or two. But today at Bush, I have my new LLI group I meet with, three or so kids that I sit at a table with for an hour, then reading time one on one with kids up in Mrs. M's room, and with her class all afternoon (and she just got done being sick herself!). So, I stayed home. Hated to do it, usually my attendance is impeccable. But not worth possibly getting some kids sick that I have to interact with today. It's an easy day for a sub as well since I mostly IA all day. Back to bed.

Monday, March 3, 2014

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Had our first of the month assembly and a little girl, I have no idea who she is, came up to me and held my hand as we walked around the gym before the assembly began. They gave out the awards for the Love of Reading month. Then back to the library for an hour. Worked on my self evaluation, answered emails, read the book, The Boy on Fairfield Street for Dr. Seuss' birthday which is today. Then up to Mrs. M's room. Graded papers, then took some students down to work on a math test. Then my lunch, cafeteria duty (they passed out ice cream to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday!) Then back to the library for Mrs. L's class. Then a bit to put away books, back up to Mrs. M's for some math. back down to the library and got all the one cart of non-fiction shelf put away. Checked in some books as well. Sent a book to Sprague since they sent it to Bush by mistake.