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Writing a New Blog

Not sure if anyone is out there...but if you are reading this, you might be interested to know that starting today I am writing a new blog...about my life after retirement.  Could be a real snooze-fest but I hope that by committing to writing about my life, I will commit to living a richer one!  You can find me at onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com. Hope to reconnect with you there.

What have YOU Learned in the Library?

I was playing on Pinterest as I often do before bed and stumbled across this awesome scope and sequence for the elementary school library-media center curriculum developed by the Council Rock School District in Newton, Pennsylvania.  I think it will be helpful as I prepare for the End of Year Family Night this week at Moye.  I have been asked to present what the children have learned in the library this year and coincidentally, this scope and sequence provides an excellent outline of the instruction I have provided our mountain lions.  

I hope to be able to interview a few students from each grade level to get some direct quotes from our babies about what they have learned in the library in their own words.  I can list all of the things I think and hope the children have learned but hearing it from the proverbial "horse's mouth" or out of the "mouth of babes" will be more meaningful and more direct.  

Stay tuned here for more about my presentation and what the children tell me about their year in the library.

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

This has been a difficult school year.  I have gone from feeling optimistic in October to feeling discouraged and sad in February.  But the students at Moye always find the most amazing ways to boost my spirits and make everything all better.  Yesterday, while teaching a class in the library, one of our sweet third grade girls came to the library to bring me a very special treat.  I found her gift, a snow globe with a cross on top, beside my computer after I finished teaching but I wasn't sure which wonderful third grade girl had remembered me with the thoughtful surprise.  

Today the students in 3C came to the library to finish the lesson we started yesterday and I learned that the snow globe was the gift of Valeria D.  I can't begin to explain how very meaningful Valeria's beautiful present  was to me.  I have been struggling with some decisions in my life but Valeria helped me see my way more clearly.  There is no where I would rather be than working with the best babies in the world at H.R. Moye Elementary School and I think Valeria was the messenger of that message from God to me. 

Feeling RUSHED

The school year is just underway but I am feeling as if it should be May...hey, that rhymes.  Ms. Manso and I have had the library schedule in place for several weeks and by Friday, we will have seen all of the classes at least once and some of the classes twice.  For six years, Ms. Manso and I have worked side-by-side, complementing each other and kind of sharing responsibility for getting all of the work done.  Of course, nothing is ever completely done but we have worked well together, tackling all that we have to do, a little bit at a time. 

This year, with all of the district's problems and scandals, I believe the employees of EPISD are under the microscope.  Because Ms. Manso is paid with Title I funds, her duties in the library are being scrutinized and examined to determine which of her job responsibilities fall under the stringent government guidelines for Federal money.  We are still seeking clarification as to what Lorena can and cannot do but it is beginning to look like all of the book-related responsibilities are 'no-nos' and the large majority of her time now must be spent working hands on with me in instruction. 

Until this year, Ms. Manso and I have had a kind of choreography to our chores.  I handle all of the instruction, Lorena handles most of the book processing and most of the circulation of books, and we share lesson preparation tasks.  She shelves many more books than I do while I seem to be drowning in paperwork that I have to tend to.  But the way we have worked together has been a kind of library ballet. 

I am worried what the government guidelines will mean to the way we work in the library.  If you find books waiting to be shelved spilling out of the library into the main lobby at school, you will know that I am drowning in returned books that Lorena may not be allowed to shelve.  I appreciate your patience with the two of us and we adjust and adapt to the changes to our work.  And welcome any help with shelving!

Guess Who?

See the picture to the right?  Guess who this boy is?  You guessed it... William McCoin.  I finally met William McCoin!  I hope that this year I can close the library up in June without wondering who any of my students are.  Everyone of them should be able to come to the library on a regular basis...despite STAAR test preparations, cohorts, or tutoring.  I would like to think that the library activities we do just reinforce all of the good learning that is happening in our classrooms. 

I Finally Met the McCoins!

Today as I was busily adding the children's names into the circulation database, two little girls from 3B came into the library.  Itzel had accompanied Rosemary to tell me that Rosemary was unable to take an AR test and to ask me to check her account.  My computer was working very slowly so I asked Rosemary for her complete name and her ID number.  Imagine my surprise when she told me her last name was McCoin!  Today I finally met Rosemary McCoin!  And tomorrow, Rosemary is going to introduce me to her brother William.  Then I will be able to say I know the McCoins and can look forward to having them become regular library patrons.