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Week Three in Libraryland

Figured out how to dub a miniDV tape for the art teacher.  Made me realize I need to get up to speed on our video and editing equipment before I have to shoot/edit the Teacher of the Year videos coming up soon.  I emailed the lady at the county who showed me the broadcast equipment and she's coming Tuesday to help me out.  Awesome.

I feel like I'm learning as I go, but I'm getting a ton of compliments, which is always nice.  I didn't realize being a librarian would be so good for my ego.  I told my wife I never had this when I was the ESOL teacher.  "That's because no one knew what you were doing."  True.  I've gotten compliments on some of the gregarious read-alouds I've been doing for years, it's just that no one else was sitting there watching me do them (other than the kids, of course).  Reading aloud is one of the best parts.  The third graders are never quiet.  For anything.  But when I was reading them The Librarian of Basra you could have heard a pin drop.  That surprised me because it's definitely not on the "gregarious" list.

I went to FlickrCC and found a bunch of photos which I then ran through Picnik and added text to, then printed the pile out on the color printer.  Miss Information and the Volunteer Czarina glued and laminated them on posterboard and placed them around the library.  They turned out pretty good and kids are already checking out more nonfiction.  I need to do more of those.

Also decided to embed a slideshow of my self-made READ posters on my new library website.  I make one every morning with one of the previous day's photos (yes, I take pictures of students in my library every day) using Picnik and post it on the announcement slide show for the day.  I wasn't sure if I should post them on the site but Miss Information and the Czarina assure me that a Media Release form was sent home with all the other beginning-of-year paperwork for parents and are on file.  Since there's no identifying info, I think it's okay.  The Czarina's granddaughter is one of the kids and she can't imagine anyone not being delighted with it.  So I'll keep it up and only take down something should a parent complain.

The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq

FlickrCC

Picnik

Critical Thinking Sunday: Motivation Edition

I posted a Daniel Pink talk before along these lines, but I love these little animated things. He's talking about economists and business and profit motives, but I hear school discipline and management. Se what you think. How could you use this information with your students/children/life?

Week Two. Check.

Week two as a school librarian down.  The Week of the First Book Fair.

The morning broadcast is getting smoother, but now it's time to make a schedule and start getting other 5th graders in there.  I'm new to this kind of logistics.

Teaching classes around the book fair was a challenge.  Did I forget to mention that I started teaching two hour-long classes daily on Monday?  Oh, that's probably because no one told me what day I was going to start doing that until....Monday!  So that was a splash of cold water in the face.  But hey, third grade starts off the year in social studies learning about maps and globes.  That's always fun.  We talked about what social studies is and read Weslandia.  We talked about how maps are made and read part of The Librarian Who Measured the Earth and Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt and we just played around with a pile of laminated maps and some unclaimed classroom globes.  I had them look at the size of Africa on a map versus a globe and the shape of Greenland on a map versus a globe--that kind of thing.  And we talked about explorers and pirates.  Of course!  Oh, and I even found globes of the Moon and Mars to show them.  Not bad for flying by the seat of my pants.

The staff seemed happy when I bought two Boxes O'Joe and a bunch of Munchkins from Dunkin' Donuts for the Monday morning teacher preview.  I love making teachers happy.  I keep telling them they are not an interruption, but they don't always seem to believe me.  I've printed out Doug's sign and put it on my office door.  We'll see if that helps.  I think this is one of the biggest obstacles to collaboration: the fear that you're bothering someone.  Trust me, I'd much rather help you solve your problem than put stickers on books.  I need to put the stickers on the books, but that will get done and I want to help you when you need me.  The art teacher was definitely happy with the Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes! book and CD I loaned her from my daughter's personal collection.  Maybe the music teacher would like it as well...

I enjoyed meeting lots of parents this week.  Tuesday was Back to School night, so it was an extended Book Fair evening.  We also had a number of folks volunteers an hour or two throughout the week to help out with the Fair, which was cool.  But trust me, next year the book fair will not be this early.

And I cannot say enough about the clerk, who I've nicknamed Miss Information and our Super Volunteer.  Those ladies rock!  Hard!  The clerk even dressed up in a Clifford suit for the last day and crashed the morning broadcast.  That was a hoot!  Then she went over and waved and hugged the Kindergartners.  Everyone really does love Clifford.

I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwan and James Dean

Fig Pudding

See the sunny colors of the cover?  On the back it says something about the warmth and fun of being in a large family.

FALSE advertising my friends.

Oh, it's a good book--don't get me wrong--and as well-written as you would expect from a writing guru like Ralph Fletcher.  And while it does have warmth and fun it also has...

SPOILER ALERT


Death!  It has the death of a major character and this is in no way alluded to on the front or back of this book.  Not a trace of it.  Now when you pick up Bridge to Terabithia or Charlotte's Web or anything with a dog on it, they're usually good enough to throw you a "will learn the preciousness of life" or a "and will have to deal with loss" or just a "ups and downs" at least, for crying out loud.

Good book.  Just, you know, give me a heads up next time.  Sheesh.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Don't tell on me, but I took this from my book fair shelf, read it and brought it back.  I'm so glad I did, too because I hand-sold a number of them to kids who were looking at Wimpy Kid and N.E.R.D.S. books.  One girl picked it up and her mom wrinkled her nose but I convinced her it was good.

It's the alleged "case files" put together by the main character.  A dweeb in their middle school has created an origami Yoda finger puppet and does a terrible Yoda impression when he answers questions you put too it.  The weird thing is that the dweeb can barely dress himself and has no social graces, yet the Yoda answers are sometimes spot on.  Well, at least to middle schoolers.

It's no surprise that the main character's major dilemma is wondering if a certain female of the species likes him.  So he's gathering all the "evidence" and testimonials he can to see if the Yoda puppet is really giving good advice.  Because you know, talking to Each short chapter is "typed" in a different font, as they're all from different characters,  and include wonderfully silly doodles.  They each end with the commentary by the main character and a skeptical friend of his who isn't buying it.  The book includes, of course, directions for folding your own origami Yoda (though not the freaky cool one on the cover, I don't think).  I've already seen a few of these popping up at my school!

I had fun with this one and I think would have enjoyed it in 5th-7th grades.  The characters seem genuine and the underlying theme of trying to be nice to each other is a great one but it doesn't hit you over the head.  I'll get it for my library and show it to 5th graders looking for something after Wimpy Kid.

Lucky Thirteenth

It's been a great first week.  The orientation lessons have been short and sweet.  I preface each one with a read aloud and tell them, "This has nothing to do with the library, but I like to read aloud and it's funny."  Then I show them a boring slide show and say, "Now I am obligated by The Code of The Librarian to show you this boring slide show.  But since you've done this before, I'll be brief."  I mostly hit the importance of the shelf marker (i.e., paint stick) and keeping your book in your book bag when you're not reading it so you can't possibly lose it.

I cracked up at one kid because I always whip out one of the paint stick at this point and say, "This is not a drum stick or a Jedi light saber!"  So this one little guy was wide-eyed and said, "You know about Star Wars?!?"  Does he think Star Wars is a new thing?  I was probably having Jedi lightsaber fights with my brother before his parents were born!

Then I ask them to try as best they can to keep little siblings and pets away from the books "because they might try to eat it or pee on it" which is a guaranteed group "Eeeew!"

Then we get right to the checking out of the books!  Most of them go straight for the series fiction, but there are a few that go for more interesting fiction and non-fiction and, well, it's just great to see them all buzzing around.  I haven't had one leave empty-handed yet!

One week down.  Thirty-five more to go!

My Father's Dragon

See?  This is just the kind of thing that's going to make me happy I'm now a librarian.  Here's a classic I've never read.  I was tossing 3rd grade read aloud ideas around with My Lovely Bride, the best 4th grade teacher ever, and this was one she mentioned.  I couldn't place it, but lo, it was in my library.  So I'm off to a good start catching up with children's lit.

It's kind of like and extended version of Harold and the Purple Crayon and is a great beginning chapter book.  It follows the adventures of a young boy, the narrator's father, who tricks a number of wild beasts on an island that would otherwise eat him up with just the right combination of items in his pack in an effort to, of course, rescue a baby dragon.  The pictures keep the tone light throughout.

It's silly and wonderful and will be a good one to recommend to imaginative second and third graders.

I hear there are sequels but don't know anything about them yet.

I am the Happy Victim of Books

(via bookpron)

Dear Larry,

That's awesome!  I just wish I would have known about this that evening I had dinner with you and Joanna Cole at the Children's Literature conference back when.  I'm going to go find one of these so I can get you to sign it next time I see you!

Best,

Jim

Much To Tell!

Ok, my first three official days in the library have passed and I think they went pretty well if I do say so myself.

Wednesday was the first day back for all staff and we had a relatively breezy get-to-know-you/welcome back kind of thing.  Everyone seems happy with the new principal and were happy to meet me.  I wore my "Librarian By Day/Ninja By Night" t-shirt to represent!  My clerk kept getting pulled to help in the office, but we did get to go over what needed to be done before Monday.

Thursday was Open House/Registration.  Again, clerk (I wonder if she'll mind if I nickname her Miss Information?) got pulled for office stuff, so I was totally alone in the empty library.  So I set up displays and straightened between glad-handing people who poked in for a look-see.  I knew our numbers had gone down but I didn't realized there had been some jiggering with the district lines so some students were coming from a neighboring school.  I haven't been to that one but maybe ours is newer or something because those kids seemed impressed with ours.  Which was nice to hear, of course!

The two displays I set up were one for Seymour Simon (whose birthday is next week) which includes a globe of the moon and a globe of Mars along with a bunch of his books.  The other is a "What did you do this summer?" with books on beaches and baseball and fireflies and summer camp and anything else I could think of in that vein.

I had many people sign up to volunteer, but I'm betting mostly for read alouds.  But that's ok.  Any help is good and if it gives them a good feeling about the library, it can't hurt with advocacy efforts.  One fellow asked if it would count for his community service hours.  I told him I supposed he'd have to ask his PO on that one.  Freaked out the clerk when I told her.  "What did he do?" she wanted to know.  Like I was going to ask!  I'm sure if it's just community service hours it could be anything too nefarious.

Friday was more meetings (but not too many) and helping teachers.  One wanted "back to school books" so I went a bit crazy.  I checked out a big pile to her, took them down to her room and let her pick what she wanted.  With the rest I checked them back in and decided to make a third display!

One thing I did Friday which has nothing at all to do with getting ready for school, but proves I'm a big anal librarian is reorder the series fiction section into alphabetical order by series.  It was just random before and was bugging me.  And it had "Star Trek/Star Wars" as one thing!  When they're clearly very different!  Sheesh, people.

But no.  The main ting was meeting the staff and starting off those relationships.  Monday will be continuing those and beginning to make some relationships with the students.  That's what it's all about.

I can't wait!

Seymour Simon has a great website, by the way.  Something to share with the staff on Monday.

Don't Listen, Kids!

So I haven't read this book, but a 6th grader acquaintance of mine has Listen! by Stephanie S. Tolan on his summer reading list.  Looks like an uplifting story about a grieving and injured girl who makes an "almost psychic connection" with a stray dog.  My friend seemed to be enjoying it for the most part and it sounded fine.

But then I got a gander at the extras in the back of the book, which include a short how-to by the author on trying to actually try to get a psychic connection going with "your animal companion."

My friend and I had to giggle over that nonsense.

Listen!