Avast Maties!

I found out it will be 'Talk Like a Pirate' day tomorrow! So I put together this display for in the library for the next couple of weeks. My aides helped me out and they enjoyed doing the display. I really had fun making my 'plank'! Tomorrow I think when the day starts, I'm going to put a brown poster paper 'plank' in the hallway, and if you run, you are called back to 'walk the plank!'. Mr. C was really into it and made a sign he held up during passing! Today we didn't have in any classes, but still had bands of kids waft through. I got my mom's old computer tower in to give to Mr. C and his 'computer museum' which is what I did with my mom's old Apple II GS. Worked with one of my aides on his shelving. He picked the Graphic Novels and thought that section was ONLY the cartoon books! Ha! So I helped him out with them today. Put all my aides' shelf assignments on a better piece of paper so I could keep track of that better! Tried to figure out what everyone was saying with the new Destiny library program, but my poor little brain was just having a very hard time! 

Book Talks & a Floatie

A busy weekend for sure! Oktoberfest, kayaking, working at my mom's. So, here is what I remember from Friday! I had a full day with book talks every period except 7th! I had fun with our journalism class showing them the great online resources they have available to them and going through them and all they offer. The other classes got my standard talk about the new program and how that affects the library and their checking out and searching. Then they also got a bit of a book talk on our new Diversity books. So that was fun! Got the rest of my aides to pick out their non-fiction sections and we worked a bit on that. The morning started out a bit rough. Our evening custodian came in with a book inside a garbage bag. She had found it floating in the boys restroom. Yes, in the .....  So, I charged the gentleman for the book since there was no way to save it. Then Mr. M came in asking for a referral, then Ms. P sent a student down calling me and telling me that student was to sit in a chair and read or do homework - no fraternizing with other students!! Discovered I still had some books at LMSS somewhere to come in - yeah! But wondering when we get to order?? Tried to get on Google Hangouts, but I had no camera nor microphone! So I could see and hear the others that made it in, but I was blank and unable to participate! But at least we can have meetings now during the work day and not have to drive all over - not to mention there is no longer any budget for meetings. A much quieter week next week with a blank book until Friday!

Non-Fiction Sign Ups

I managed to get done with the non-fiction shelf sign ups and did a great sheet on publisher with tables for the shelves, groupings and the numbers the students need to look at! I think it turned out rather well! Laminated. Got the Access Math all checked in and I think I know where it will end up in the back back room. Had four classes in today to just check out books and two orientations for 6th graders. Helped a lot of students looking for books today (one of my fave things!!) Have more book talks tomorrow...!! Got in a mini iPad for a student and had to figure out what to do about that. Scrolling through emails from yesterday, then sending an email to Ms. D at LMSS. Turned out to be as easy as printing up a barcode. Got barcodes for the pile of math teacher resources done that had been on my desk since I got back to work in August. Sent off a couple of books to other schools. The days just go by so fast with the new schedule and with my lunch during 5th period, it seems the students hardly get time to check out at all! I'm going to have to shorten up my talks :( 

Unboxed

Huzzah! All my books are out of boxes!! But that only happened at the end of the day. Had two orientation talks with 6th graders. I put away the two sets of fiction shelves that haven't been taken by aides yet (I still have one aide that's been out.) I put away all the non-fiction. Worked on cleaning up a few things that needed to be taken care of on those shelves as well. I'm sure there's more! I also worked with a couple of aides to clean up the Graphic Novel section and got that all nice and neat today. The girls did pretty good, but I don't think they will ever want to volunteer to do that section! I also did get those 3 boxes of books unpacked and on a cart. Checked them in, then started to put strips in them before I left. I should still have some books somewhere down at LMSS waiting for me!

Fiction Pick

I decided this year to let my aides pick the fiction sections they wanted, so they could pick an author or series that they might like. Then I spent most of the day working with them showing them how to read the shelves, make sure the books were all straight and pretty. Looking for anomalies, putting books up on the top of their shelves. I got into the 900's a little bit and they were a real mess! I worked the shelves a bit, but I know they still need a lot of work! Had two remember the rules and the changes over the summer talks along with a quick book talks for Ms. R's classes today. Did some laminating and had to change the rolls - ugh!! Then they were horribly misaligned so I had to straighten them out, but it got done. Got all the Diversity books on the excel sheet! Yeah, so now tomorrow I might get a chance to go through the three boxes of books I haven't touched yet from last June. Had both lunches in so the students were happy about that!

You're Tomorrow

Had a teacher come in today and line up her class and then realized she hadn't signed up until tomorrow! So we grabbed books and got her all set up. So, we had her and then another math teacher and classes coming in for book talks on top of that! Luckily all my aides were in today. But, I had the clearance to get them all signed logged into the computers and they can check out from their own district accounts. So I had to get them all logged in and then over to the website and where to go from there. I was in about half an hour late because I had an MRI this morning and lovely Ms. M was there. She is awesome, but didn't know about the change to Follett for the library program yet, so she was happy because she used that so much in other districts! I did some orientation talks today with a bit of books for some classes, then a talk on memoirs for a couple of our older students. I love it when I talk a book and it gets checked out, makes me happy. No one in the district has any extra Spanish 1 books, so Mr. M asked me to get an estimate for that - 20 books, $1,000. It is what it is. Had a teacher ask me to find some Seedfolks books (I love that book!!) and I found some at another school, so maybe they will lend. I'll find out tomorrow. Got a bunch of my Diversity books all on my excel sheet so they will go out tomorrow. Worked on getting the shelving assignments set up for all my students. I think I will let them pick their own areas. I'm going to have to make a publisher set up I think, so I'll  always have the shelves set up the way I want them and can just change names, etc. Depending on how many aides I have! We'll see how it goes! 

Kept Them Busy

My aides were very busy today checking out math books and checking out 'Kercheski style' more math books for Mr. G and Mr. S. So I supervised all of them. Two aides did not come in today. Hummm.  I worked on my sub further notes list. Made a list of our in district numbers to put by our names on the new phone list. Updated my phone contact groups. Started a spreadsheet in Excel of the Diversity books so I can load them into Destiny when we can make that happen. And then they can actually go out and play. Had great quiet lunch kids in today and a group that started playing D&D!! Got a box of resources for one of our teachers. Did some laminating. Had to ask for more paper for our copier down here. Helped out students to show them how to copy. It was a very good and busy day. 

Aiding and Checking Out

Today all my aides got a chance to check out books. Most got to check out both books and textbooks, but a couple of periods got to check out one or the other. I gave 6 periods a talk about our new search engine - then they got to check out books. I found I can get to the catalogue search on the generic account thanks to our Yammer conversations, but I still want to get to the full check in/out using the generic. Not sure I'll get it, but am hoping. Got out books to Mr. M today. Sent off requested books. Filled the rack with books we already had since I don't have the new ones ready to go yet. I did get my lunch correct today! Got all the new sign up sheets into the notebook with the lunches correctly on 5th period! The 7 period day seems to go by so fast! I had students still checking out books today after the bell rang. Lunches are crazy with students wanting books! Put away a set of CD's for audio in the back room. It was a crazy day, with lots getting done. Books are getting out there and kids are happy! I only have one that buzzes around wanting to know if I got any new graphic novels in. So cute! Throat and eyes were better today, got a bit of rain last night and just got a nice sprinkle here! We so need the rain!

All Together Now

Everyone was back at school today! So fun to see so many familiar faces. Some haven't changed at all, some really have! I have aides every single period except for lunch, plus one extra, so I have 13 aides. My most ever!! Not sure what I will do with them all, but today I spent most of every period talking to them about - emergency items - what to do and where to go with fire, earthquake and conditions. Gave all of them a tour of the library and environs. A little bit of why we do what we do. Talked to them about the new Follett program and how that will work. Hoping the techs will have my generic password set to get into Follett by tomorrow so we can check out books! Gave them my expectations sheet. My voice started to give out! Luckily I still had my cough drops there, so it didn't go completely, but almost. Then my right eye started to water and get mucky. I'm sure from all the smoke in the air. I think I've been breathing smoky air since mid July when I was up in Banff and Jasper. Discovered today that I did the sign up sheets wrong. Put my lunch break into 4th period with A and B lunch which it was, and no, my lunch is  now actually 5th period and that's when the A and B lunches are. So redid those, now I just have to transfer information to the new ones from the old ones. Got asked if I had lunch passes ready, and I didn't, so I quickly did those for today. Started lunch and realized that I was eating at the wrong time! So stopped and waited until I really was supposed to have lunch! Hoping for rain. No lightning please for our firefighters out there battling all the fires here in the West. 

6th Grader Day

Today was all about the 6th graders and getting them used to lockers, different periods and the layout of the school. I really enjoy this day! So nice to have a small amount of students in today. I've heard we have 810 this year at the moment so tomorrow will be interesting when they all come back. I have aides every period this year. Oh my!! Spent every passing period out with the students helping them find where they needed to be. Helping with lockers. Spent time answering emails about The Secret Garden books one of our teachers want. Pulled and checked out to teachers today. Laminated. Got my schedule from Mr. M and he had given me an hour and a half lunch! Ha! So I changed that. But I am also to help out at the after school club if needed this year. Ugh. I get more work done that needs to be done after school than all day. Had teachers coming in after my new stop time and they weren't happy about that I had to leave and they would have to wait until tomorrow, but that's just what needs to be done. Smoky even inside the building today. The wildfires all around us were crazy. We looked like we were in fog all day, but it was smoke. You could smell it. I was very grateful that the library was one of the coolest rooms in the building today. Every where else I went you could feel the heat and humidity. We are all hoping it rains soon, no lightning please. There were even air quality advisories out today. I've never seen it this bad. Ever.