A Gift of time

So today, which should have been an ordinary, busy day in the library turned out to be a gift of time for me. Instead of weeding my collection, circulating books, or working with students on oh so many things, I had an opportunity to sit at my desk and plan. Why? Because yesterday afternoon I was told that our school PTO would be having their annual Teacher Appreciation Day luncheon. I have to admit that I was a bit peeved at first as it meant kicking classes out of the library for the day without any notice -- I would have much preferred to have blocked out the day in advance, but so it goes. Here or the high school PTOs do as they will.
That said, it was an an AMAZING, SCRUMPTIOUS lunch. These ladies went above and beyond to show their support for us, and I think I can speak for all of us faculty when I say that it was much appreciated. This PTO is so supportive of the school and its many programs and classes. We are very fortunate to have them indeed.
But I digress. While noshing and noshing and noshing some more (weight loss, what?) I went through binders and texts and websites and put together an outline for the 'Advanced Research' class that I will be teaching next year. I would share, but I need to meet with my Principal first to be certain that we are on the same page. Needless to say I will be integrating technology, hopefully seamlessly, into my class. Rubrics were a big worry for me, but I have found a few that I can adapt to my needs. To all of you teachers out there on the web, THANK YOU for sharing so generously. Your selflessness makes developing engaging lesson plans fun in a quirky kind of way. So once I have made it through the first cycle of classes I will post my successes and failures so that others may use or lose what I have done. Spoiler alert (yes, I am channeling River Song for you Whovians out there)...BADGES! I cannot wait to play with these with my students. I just hope that they like them as much as I am liking making them. Once I am happy I will share a couple with you.
Thank you for reading!

One wonderful weekend!

So, I am still feeling that journaling urge from Campowerment. So here goes another moment's thoughts. I sit this evening being thankful again for the many blessings in my life. This past weekend was an affirmation of both life and love. Saturday I attended my first EdCamp and left so excited and energized with where my library life is heading. Sunday was my niece's bridal shower. What a beautiful and happy affirmation of life at a time when the loss of a loved one was still so raw for so many. Then, this evening I spent with my youngest having dinner and a drink at a local watering hole. We can talk and listen about concerns great and small, laugh, and love. This evening it was with her, another soon I'm sure will be with her sister (w/wo her husband), or her brother. Is there anything better or more important in life than this? If so, I cannot imagine what.
Thanks for reading.

One Great man.

I had the privilege this afternoon of attending the memorial service of a great, great man. Multi-national CEOs, other friends and family eulogized, talking about so many things, but most often about his love of family, his integrity, his business sense and his philanthropy. It was a full-house -- SRO. How is it possible for one man to make such a difference and know so many people? Simple. For Herbie it was easy...just be himself. His personality was bigger than life, his love bigger than the world, and his desire to make the world a better place awe inspiring. Over and over again these seemingly simple things were emphasized. I loved Herb from afar and I left his memorial so wishing I had connected more with this man. I thank God though that I can still cherish and love those he left behind. More important, I know that I need to do more in my own life to emulate this man, as should we all. Reach out to each other, see where there are needs and work to answer them, and most importantly love and cherish your friends and family. These are te treasures that we leave behind.
On an aside, I participated in Campowerment this weekend, and I do not think that I realized, while there, just how much I had been "cracked open". Else, I know I would not be putting this out on the web.

It just keeps snowing!

Snow days, when they are occasional and not too disruptive, are very enjoyable. I never thought to hear myself say this, but this is the 15th storm of the season, and it has gotten old. We teachers are scrambling to catch up and keep our students motivated, and students are getting frustrated with the compressed schedule to close out the cycle. Of course the PSSA season is upon us soon, always a disruption to the real education/learning of our students.

On the plus side, the gift of this time has allowed me to really explore educational technology and it's applications. A framework for my cycle classes next year is coalescing into a valid plan. I cannot wait to collaborate with the current teacher of these classes! Using #20 time as the bones for the class, and utilizing blogs, google docs & apps like Evernote.

Working backwards, I am thinking that students can place their concluding product online where their classmates can view them -- not taking class time as the class is only a 6 week cycle. Peers would then peer review using a google form. Or, I can have students present in class and use back channel to let peers comment. I'm sending out a student technology survey this week which will inform about student access to technology and whether back channel is even an option.

As always, so much to think about.

Today I put my GoogleSite up as my Library page. Of course the one page that I hadn't completed was in demand. Good grief! It's always something. Luckily I got it up and running within the hour. I still have to much to do there, and it will continue to be a growing site, but the bones are up.

Boxes of new books arrived in the building yesterday, but thankfully they haven't been delivered to me yet. Why thankfully you ask? Because finding the time to get them out amongst the masses will take a bit. But they'll be out to the students before the end of next week...hopefully.

I am going to get in touch with OverDrive since I noticed that they are no longer charging hosting fees. There selection is the most extensive out there for eBooks and audiobooks. Now to see what I can afford. First though, it would be great to survey my students to see what their availability to eReading technology is like. Tablets, obviously would be the best, but even access on home computers and/or smartphones would be nice. Then find out if they would utilize the availability of these materials.

I'm charging up my GoogleGlass to get that up and running for tomorrow. I've created a fitting which I hope will keep it up on my personal glasses. I no longer can wear contact lenses, so this is a must if I am to keep Glass. It would be great to have the kids utilize this to create vidcast book trailers, as a starting point. Then, I'm seeing this as a great formative assessment opportunity...kids vid-stepping the process as a tool for other kids. Pitfalls and successes, etc. Anyway, just some thoughts.

Well here I am, 6.5 months into being a Middle School Teacher Librarian, and finding that the more I know, the less I know. With the transformation from being a high school librarian to that of a middle school librarian, I have taken the opportunity to reinvent myself. Or, should I say, working toward the realization of my full potential. Being so supported by my building community has provided me with the impetus to reach out to the greater community of connected educators in my field. Technology has become such a key to engaging and educating my students, and I cannot wait to jump into the vast pool of technology in education. Maker spaces, Google sites, Symbaloo, blogs, trailers, project based learning, collaboration. I only wish I had more time -- better still two of me (Oh no!!). One me to spend 100% of my time learning, and one of me to work everyday implementing. I've spent several snow days putting together a google site for my school community, students & faculty alike. Hopefully it will be up and running soon, a continually evolving reflection of curated resources, useful vidcasts, student work and ideas, and so much more. I can also see a time in the not too distant future when the title of this blog will change to "Adventures in Being Middle School Libarian. LOVE MY PROFESSION!