Getting Ready for a Book Talk

I got two Chromebooks up to the office for aides to use. Ms. M asked me to do that. I had to get another computer to another teacher too. I put all the books I withdrew into the back room. Someone has been coming in and putting a whole box of paper out by the copier and then taking the box!! I put a sign out today saying I need the boxes for all my surplus books! I think I’ve lost three boxes, but now I have my note! I spent some time reading for my book talk on Wednesday. I read White Rose by Kip Wilson. Wow. Great novel in verse based on the White Rose society in Germany during World War II. So very well done. I put away books, straightened up shelves, and at the end of the day scored volleyball. It was Parrish. The coach substitutes constantly, in, out, in, out. Ugh. Really got to me tonight. 

Synergy Happiness!

I had a phone call from a nice Ms. E and she got me all set up! Then I still wasn’t because she didn’t put a time in for me to start taking attendance, but fixed that in a trice and I’m so happy that I have my attendance back! Huzzah! I packed up the rest of the boxes I had ready. Ms. W asked if I had an AEM device for a student so I had to go and look for that. I also got out a notice to the Language Arts people to remind them their students could also check out eBooks and how to do that. I started the non-fiction inventory and got done the 0’s, 100’s and 200’s. I also weeded the 700’s. So many books untouched. I took out a whole cart load, four shelves full of books I pulled. Some still from the old South/Leslie library. A very busy day and I’m a bit sore from all the lifting. Glad it is the weekend, even though The Dowager Countess of Grantham does not know what a weekend is!

Synergy Frustrations

I headed straight up to Ms. M’s room today to get the brackets on her Chromebooks. She asked if I had one more Chromebook and I did, so after I got the brackets on, I got one from the cart downstairs and brought it up and got it all hooked up. I decided it was time to start packing up the rest of the deleted books from last year so I got through about seven boxes all labeled and taped shut. My principal called and said that I had permissions to do attendance in Synergy, and for the life of me, I tried so many different ways to get into it to take attendance I was going a bit crazy. They said I was good to go and closed my request and I still couldn’t get in!!! I finally took a screen shot so they could see what came up when I went in. I was extremely frustrated. I wasn’t going to make a good dinner, not really but decided I needed some home made Butternut Squash soup for dinner. So I did! I got all the rest of the Chromebook models all entered and put brackets on Mr. P’s cart and Ms. K’s. So, I think I’m done with the brackets. A good end to a very frustrating afternoon. Downton Abbey season one, watching King Felix pitch his last game - I had always wanted to sit in the King’s Court and now I won’t ever be able to. But by golly, I will get into attendance!!

Library Sign Ups

I came in and fired up the laminator since I forgot yesterday! I did four different teachers and set them out for the aides to deliver. Today I worked on the calendar for the library use. I had made a few sheets up for the old binder, but I needed to get the calendar online so everyone can see it and put themselves in without trekking down to the library. I started with trying to make a Google calendar, and our computer teacher said, oh, heavens, how about Google Sheets? So I turned to that, and spent quite a bit of time putting the calendar together for the rest of the year. I added in the teachers who had already signed up. Then I had to send the link to the Sheets so all the teachers have access. I got five Chromebooks ready for room 210. I went around to some of the rooms to get the model numbers of the computers. Then off to score volleyball again! 

Carts all Done!

I finished up labeling the last cart today! Cart #29! I’m glad that’s all done! I looked for an outlet in the back back room, and noticed the phone back there was not working. So I pulled out an old desk, some old pull down maps and pulled out the clip and put it back in and the phone powered up! Yeah! I had my aides get some science books ready and take them to a class. No testing today, but wait! Ms. P came back 7th period, so we had eight students testing. I had one aide that went into another class, one left sick earlier in the day, so I missed them both. I gave my one aide the Pokémon test and they did fantastic! I told them that maybe they needed to think of book titles as Pokémon! I might do a more complicated one for tomorrow! After work I totally forgot to laminate, so I had to put a post it note on my computer to do that first thing tomorrow morning! Instead I went to classrooms and looked at the computers to get which ones they were and to see if any needed the charger port bracket. I did the Title One cart today and put the brackets on all of those. So I’ll check some more tomorrow. I was asked to do an inventory of some items, so I went through and did that. Most were already gone. I asked for permission to see if we could get someone from the American Go Foundation to do some trainings with students “Go for it!” Mrs. M said! Ha! I also asked for a vacation day for October 11th, there are no students and no options for me and I know other LMA’s take the days off, so for the first time ever I asked and got permission to take it. That was nice and I really appreciate it.

Alphabetize

Welcome Monday! We checked out four classes of math books today. Mr. A brought in the classes and they come around the table then up to the main desk, and right back out the door. Two of the classes did the small Shapes and Designs books, and two classes did the massive Core Connections Algebra (worth $98!). I finished up the Excel sheet of which cart is with what teacher and room, and Mrs. M asked I put that on Google Sheets, so I did that. I still want to add some data, but now everyone has access to who has which cart and how many Chromebooks are in that cart. Ms. P had students in testing all day, so we kept it pretty quiet. No lunch students in today, just to be sure the library had a testing environment if students were available. They were in all day, here and there. I had worked with my aide on Friday who was having trouble shelving, and today I stood beside him while they did the Order in the Library game. They could not do it. I was flummoxed that someone didn’t know how to alphabetize! I went to our IC and she said that yes, some of the students coming up, really do not know how to alphabetize. Since my aide likes Pokémon, I made a list of them, A-Z and we’ll see how they do with that list! Off to score volleyball!

Three Weeks

Did not even realize we are halfway through the first grading period! I got out the last two Chrome Carts to teachers and worked on getting the Chromebooks without a home into the last empty cart. I was glad to get them all out of my office and the library workroom! I also pulled eight chargers for some of the old Chromebooks out of Room 200 and will hook those up on Monday. I felt really bad because our choir teacher wanted a cart for her room today, and our IC was doing testing, and I kept swapping her out Chromebooks for her testing. It made me very frustrated and she was so kind and gracious as I would steal away some Chromebooks and give her others. The only good thing was that I didn't have to have any lunches in because she was testing, so I got a bit of a break in the day. I had one student come to be with password problems that was one of our challenged students and I spent some time with him getting him his correct ID number, resetting his password, then helping him with a new password. I was very gentle and kind with him, and loved that I got him all set, wrote down everything for him and told him to keep it handy in his planner. That was the best part of my day. I love it when I get to really help a student! I was really confused by the offerings for Microsoft Educator status. We are supposed to try and do these trainings but there are so many facets and most of them involve teaching and I'm not a teacher, so I need some clarification on what we are supposed to do. It was all mind boggling, so I think I must have missed something somewhere. I messed about with the Digital Citizenship stuff and still, feeling very confused and wondering how I am going to get out of that what I should, and if it is for teachers who have classes. So I went to Konditeroi's and got some Tuxedo cake for the evening. I have no confusion about that at all!

Three Carts

I got three Chrome Carts out to teachers today and felt really good about that! I think I only have two carts still to go and then everyone will have the resources they need in every classroom! That’s something to celebrate! 👏 Put away a bunch of non-fiction today. A lot of it was our very well loved graphic novels! One of my aides is working on a Hispanic Month display. She pulled some books and is working hard on it. I’m proud of her! Did some laminating. Helped aides from teachers make copies and showed them how to use our die-cut machine (it’s really old!). But I’m feeling great about all the Chromebooks and Chromecarts that got labeled today and out to teachers. I feel really accomplished! And that was making paper labels and taping them in, still no cartridge for the DYMO label maker, but old school works and the teachers have their resources! That’s all that matters in the end!

Mandatory Training

I had a quiet morning so I decided it was a great day to work on my mandatory training. This is something we do every September. It takes a few hours and I had to leave it a few times, but I finished it all and got the quizzes all perfectly passed. Got three classroom sets of books out to teachers with the help of my aides. Two for science, one for math. Found some math books that a teacher needed and he took them today. And our curriculum PA didn’t need the extra Read 180 books we have. I got another cart out to a teacher, and almost got another one ready. Had a class in to do a book talk, but so sad, no one picked any of the books I talked about. I feel like I let the students down. I got both lunches ready for students, and then got all involved in picking out my books for the book talk and one of the lunch crew had to come down and get the passes! I was on top of it for B lunch! We had to close the girls bathroom by the library because of vandalism. I had noticed a student in there twice in the morning. I even asked her if she was all right. I could see her shoes, that’s how I knew she was the same student. She said she had thrown up, and I asked her to go to the office and get taken care of! So she wouldn’t spread anything and get some help. I was sad that there was vandalism, and that that student may have been involved. I had to go up and identify the student for security. Makes me so sad. I’m hoping that the student gets the help they need, whoever it was. I ended the day with scoring another volleyball game! I love to watch the girls, either side! A great series of hits and saves makes me cheer no matter what school! But still nice we won all five games tonight! Home to spaghetti!

Label Laminating

We started the day with Ms. K’s first two classes coming in to work. I worked on getting labels on the cart of Chromebooks. Then the labels ran out and the office didn’t have any more. Sad face. I was all set on getting that cart out today and getting another partial cart out. Dang. I moved the old book drop box and a Leslie Lion picture back in the student store. I worked on my whole cart of non-fiction books I needed to put away and also looked at the mis-shelved books from all the students going through them. I still need to work on that! There were a lot of them! I also put away all the textbooks in the back. Put the extra Chromebooks in one of the empty carts. Ms. K came in to say she was keeping the rest of her classes in her room, and could I just check out the books to her? So I did that and ended up having both lunches in rather than just one since her class wasn’t coming in. Ended the day finding some Read 180 books I’m not sure if anyone knew about. We got an email from our curriculum person looking for some and I asked our teacher if that was ours? Did we need them? And sent her the email from curriculum. Then I turned on the laminator and I knew, my heart dropped, that I’d have to put on new rolls, and yes, I did. But it actually went really smooth! One of the best ones ever! I was happy so I could go home! 

Training Aides

It’s a Monday, and today I gave my aides their shelving assignments. They got to pick what they wanted and I find that works the best. First period was a bit crazy because I needed to finish the Chrome cart for Ms. N. I picked up the label maker so I could number all the Chromebooks and the slots where they go and so I could also give an extra Chromebook to Ms. M to get her cart up to the number of her largest classroom. So I was happy to get that all done before first period actually started. Thank goodness for AVID strong day so I had an extra 15 minutes to get that cart ready! Had to the AVID slides for my 4 boys in here, then to get my aide to pick his area. I had them get books off the shelving cart for their area. Showed them how I want the shelves and displays done. I had lovely plants in the window corner over the weekend and they were finally taken back to the choir room. It was cute to see these four girls each carrying a plant out. I got another cart ready this afternoon for Mr. E. Just 13 Chromebooks, but in their own cart so I had to rig up the chargers and of course, label them all.  Got some books together for the plot workshop Ms. K is doing tomorrow. Packed up some Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key books for Kennedy Elementary. I pulled in all the new Chromecarts into the back rooms this afternoon since I have classes coming in tomorrow. After work I scored the first volleyball games of the season! I love watching our girls play! And they won four out of five today and I saw some amazing plays on both sides. I’m tired! Time to relax before bed!

Cart 💖

The Chrome Carts arrived today!!! Six fully stocked Chrome Carts and 4 empty carts!! Super exciting!! First though, I had the library filled all day with classes coming in to check out books! Non-fiction, and after they came I found out that they were really looking for narrative non-fiction. I had put out a ton of display books for non-fiction because I wanted the students to see all the areas the non-fiction covered and the options they had other than narratives! It was very, very busy!! Just before lunches, the truck came with all the Chrome carts! We had four techs come in and help along with my aide to get them all in before lunches came in. I got one ready for Ms. N, but I need to get a label gun for them before I take them over to her. She only needs 23, so I pulled the others and the chargers, put them in one of the empty carts for another teacher. So I had LOTS going on. I’m doing this Sunday afternoon! Took me that long to recover! Had the Peer Helpers in for their first meeting, and 7th period was set aside for students to finish testing, but it was pretty quiet. With four classes in checking out and being sure they were getting the books they needed for their assignment, we even dipped into the fiction a bit so students at the end still had a good selection, but that means we have a LOT of books to put away this week. But, I will get my aides set tomorrow for their areas and get them started to work on shelving! And - since I got empty carts my AEM cart is now back in place and my smuggling day worked out. Can I say “Thank you Lord for saving me???” Now when Ms. W comes in on Monday I’ll have a cart just for her, like she had before I smuggled it ;) 

Meeting Check

We had six classes in today checking out books. We had two of the classes doing memoirs and autobiographies. It was a lot of fun. Then we had four classes come in just to check out fiction books. I had a student tell me he had turned in a book that was still on his record. I got ready to email the school and decided to walk over and check my shelf, and there it was. So, I sent it back to McKay and put a note on his account that it’s been taken care of. I’m just rolling my eyes here, that either my aides never noticed or I never noticed. Had both lunches in today, and let my noisy, group know that maybe they could try again in October. That made B lunch just lovely and quiet. It was nice. I had a meeting this afternoon that went from 4 to 5:30. I got my iPad for my green screen set up, so that was really nice! 

Never Forget

I almost did not bring in my display material today. I really wondered if it mattered to our students who weren’t even born yet. But at the last moment, I did. So glad I made that choice again to honor those who lost their lives. I knew it was right when I drove in and saw the flag at half mast. I will do it again next year for the last time for me. I really want to visit the site one of these days and pay homage. I finished up the Chrome Cart for Ms. S today and took it to her at the end of the day, huzzah! I also did a lot of work on the AEM devices and sent in the list to our coordinator and now she wants to visit, on Monday, and I’ve given her cart away! Prayers that I get one in!!! Had our lockdown drill today and it went well. My only comment was that the library doors didn’t lock shut and they said they knew about that. So hopefully that will get resolved. A very busy day, but lots of good things done! Ms. N has her 11 minimum Chromebooks for tomorrow. I have one extra Chromebook for Ms. M, but I need chargers for two more. Hummmm... might have to do some pirating - I think that’s like smuggling, but cooler costumes. Have classes in tomorrow! I already had to tell a gentleman to leave the library at B lunch today. Already?? Oh my. 

Smuggling

That’s right. I smuggled a Chrome Cart today. I needed to get a cart to Ms. S and I had a cart that really belongs to another entity, but I’m sure it will work out and when we get our empty cart, I will get them back in a new home! But it’s more exciting to get a teacher a cart for her room. I had all the Chromebooks, but I still needed more chargers! I checked one cart that I thought had 12 chargers, and it didn’t! Then I found another cart that had the ten I still needed! So I managed to get all the chargers (30) of them into the cart and hooked up. I still need to get the Chromebooks relabeled and in there, but that should be pretty easy. I had set up to go to classrooms during the teacher prep. I still have more to go, but most are cleaned out. I have four that I need tech to bring me the keys to. Had both lunches come in today and I think they liked it. Did a bit of laminating at the end. Had an aide change, got another new aide. Helped students get online from a room with a sub. I was so tired by the end of the day, but so very happy with what I got done!

Carts

A great Monday! I did find out from Mr. Farias that students do have access to the workbooks online and so he just sent down students that really wanted a paper copy and we had plenty workbooks for those that did want one! A great collaboration! I let our principal know about the issue when I came in and she was excited to hear we had got it all taken care of. We also had 8th graders come in to check out books today. So we were pretty busy. I worked on my substitute plans I need to do. I had to put in a heat ticket to get keys for some of the computer carts I need to get chargers out of. I went around the building today, tracking down the carts. Seeing who needed access by key, Allen wrench or using the combo lock. I did get back to one cart (yeah! It used a key that I actually have!) and pulled 7 chargers out of it. I’ll work on the others tomorrow since I won’t have classes in. I’ll even have students in for lunches tomorrow. Scary!! Tried to access the student reset password tab today, but couldn’t find it. I’ll have to find it tomorrow. Some students just can’t remember their password from last year and it looks like they won’t be able to. Finished reading Rebound from Kwame Alexander and finished my preview of the George Takei graphic novel about his internment in the Japanese camps after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, They Called Us Enemy. Really well done, I was incredibly impressed. 

Just a Few of my Favorite Things

Come on, sing it with me:

Girls with a novel
and boys with some comics,
Aides over keyboards and checking and marking,
spaces on shelves where the books used to be,
These are a few of my favorite things!

Had seven classes in today doing our library orientation and checking out books! So exciting to see books getting checked out! We had three periods where I had two classes in at a time and I loved the energy, the stacks of books heading out, I know we had over 200 check outs today. I sent off a couple of  books to other schools today, also got Spanish workbooks out to see what would be available for classes. Some are really not in very good shape.  I really hate giving out bad books. They are not meant to be used year after year. Did some laminating at the end of the day and packed up! A very busy day! Love it!!!

Better

Still feeling a bit iffy today, but at least I wasn’t in the bathroom! Had my aides work on their “Order in the Library”. I found a link that worked and had my aides work on that today. I got the rest of the Chromecarts out. And thought we had keys to the backs to get out the chargers, but no! We don’t. Just to open the fronts. Dang. I’ll put in a ticket tomorrow. Then at the end of the day I realized one of our Language Arts teachers didn’t get a cart. Oh no! And here I thought I had everyone covered. Rats. Now I will have to do some back tracking. Dang. Leftover mess ups from yesterday afternoon’s gastro troubles I’ll put it down to. I attended a quick training on the new Classroom Relay program. We got to use the new plasma screen TV! I was excited to see it in use! They got it all set up on Friday and it worked great. Right now, even though I have aides, I’m not a teacher so I can’t get into Synergy to do attendance. I have to email our attendance person every period so she can do it. Seems like too many steps to me, but I realize the security of having only licensed teachers be in there and not just any employee. I think I’m done with the MakerSpace cart, except for the papers. I’ll hopefully get them done tomorrow. Excited to have my first classes in tomorrow! Class orientation and checking out books!! So excited! We even have two classes coming in at a time, so it should be really busy and it’ll give my aides good training. I’ll show them a book, then let them at it while I watch to make sure everything is going well. Oh, and my 5th period aide who was scheduled during my lunch? She’s going to be the new Attendance Office aide! I was so happy for her! 

Wednesday the 4th - Aide Orientation

I spent most of today working with my new aides and getting them oriented to the library. One of them is back from last year, so that was nice to have someone already trained! I have 11 aides so far, one of them is during my lunch, so she will have to be moved, which will be sad, she seems really nice. We went over my expectations, toured the library and textbooks. The second part of the day, I was pretty much running to the bathroom every so often. Maybe what I had for breakfast was coming through? I barely managed to get through the last two periods and left a bit early. I told our office manager I could sit on the toilet at work or at home - she was “argh! I don’t need to hear the details!” But I really wanted to be there for my aides’ first day in the library. Not the way to spend the first full day with students!

6th Grade in the House

We had all our 6th graders come in today and I must admit, wouldn't it be nice if we just had 6th graders for the rest of the year? I worked on some paperwork, the class rosters were way too much for what I wanted, so I copied the list, revised it to what I needed, and printed it up so I'd have a list of teachers and their classes. It turned out really nice. I worked a lot on the MakerSpace cart, opening up all the boxes, putting some away, putting some into a hold for later when we need parts. I pulled in our moving stair case so I could fix the 'Library' graphic outside, it was coming off. Then brought it in so I could remove some other posters and the 'Everybody' graphic letters that were still over the graphic novels. I had a meeting with our principal and we talked about how the library operates. She liked what I had to say, and some things will remain the same. I was out in the hallways during the passing times and I even had one girl ask when the library would be open. 🧡💚💙 That made me so happy! Then I had to get the Chrome Carts ready, with just the number of Chromebooks for that class. I worked on that for the rest of the afternoon. A Chrome Cart for each teacher who will use the cart on a daily business. Most had 36 Chromebooks, so I pulled Chromebooks to match their largest class. I had about 15 of them done and ready for teachers when the day was over, and I still managed to get some laminating done. I loved helping our 6th graders, and their faces. Tomorrow, everyone is back!