I love Tuesdays!

Day 24 of the Slice of Life challenge.

I always look forward to Tuesdays.  You've made it past the Monday blues, and the alarm doesn't surprise you nearly as much on the second morning of the work week as it does the first. 

Tuesdays are also the day we host the #txlchat, a Twitter chat for Texas librarians (and anyone from anywhere who would like to join us!) I am so proud to be a co-moderator for this weekly chat.  It has been a real highlight of my professional career as it has given me the opportunity to build an incredible PLN filled with others who also view the library as a vital change-agent for this new age of learning.  The days of a completely closed off, always quiet, do-not-touch-my-books version of a library are l-o-n-g gone.  A school library should be the heart & hub of a school, and #txlchat helps me to share ideas and sharpen the saw and keep learning, growing, and moving into the future so that my students have a great place to think and dream, and learn and create and just BE in our library.

Tonight's chat will be especially important. The state library standards have been around for 10 years, and a revision is about to take place. In my district, we use these standards to build our end of year reports, to lobby the powers that be for adequate funding for books & technology, and to share what amazing things we have going on for our students and teachers.  These are incredibly important and I am excited not only to see what changes are in store, but to have a voice in those changes.  Tonight will be an opportunity to do just that!

We'd love to have you join us this week (and every week!).    

One More Day

Day 12 of the Slice of Life Challenge from Two Writing Teachers

Rambling thoughts on a rainy night.

One more day closer to spring break. 

It has been an incredibly hectic week and I am flat worn out. 

Murphy's Law over and over and over again.

Still raining.  Wondering if I should start collecting wood and gathering animals two by two.

Lovely assistant is VERY much missed when she is sick at home with a nasty bug. 

Did I mention hubby is out of town, too?

and baby girl had a school performance I didn't know about until two hours before it began? 

(where, oh where is the plain white shirt? no--you cannot wear high heels with your jeans. you are 5.)

and daughter-the-eldest had to be picked up at a special time from school along with her bestie so this mama had to leave work.as.quickly.as.possible?

and the Navy presentation was today?

The coke machine ran out of cokes.  RAN OUT OF COKES.

(yes, I know water is better.  yes, I did drink coffee all morning. sometimes a gal needs a coke.)

But...I made it through.

One more day.  

I can do this. 

Genrefying

Day 10 of the Slice of Life Challenge from Two Writing Teachers

The genrefication is moving along swimmingly.  By the time I left work today I had completed two sections of the first bookshelf--which I realize doesn't sound like much but is right on target for the goal I've set for completing an entire side of each Fiction bookshelf per week. 

After much deliberation, I've settled on the following genres to label:

Realistic Fiction 

Fantasy

Sci-Fi

Mystery 

Adventure

Classic

Historical Fiction

Story Collection

These labels will be placed at the top of the book spine, and I have some secondary labels available for the bottom of the spine (these won't change the location of the book, but will just aid students in finding what they want within a genre section) of Sports, Romance, and Suspense. 

So, all the books will be labeled, have their spine labels changed to reflect the genre, and be changed in the catalog.  I'm also making sure to denote the series in the cataloging (ex. Need Chronicles, bk. 2) as I go along.  

My plan is to label all the books first, and then do the big switcharoo once I have a better idea the size area I will need for each section.  

It is a big undertaking, but I love being able to see the progress as I move along and the students have been so excited to know this is where we are headed.

Things I wish you could hear

Day 9 of the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge

Life is hard and wonderful and filled with uncertainty.  Every day I watch the students in my library as they find their way through it, and often think to myself, --I wish I could tell you this in a way that you would really hear it--- but more often than not I know that these are lessons we all must learn on our own and in our own time.  When the student is ready, the teacher will come kind of thing. Even with that knowledge, these have been on my mind to share so here are a few tidbits I wish they could hear. 

1. Don't ever make yourself "smaller" to fit into someone else's vision of who you should be.
2. Guys feel feelings just as deeply, they've just been taught by our world to suck it up in order to be a man.
3. Khalil Gibran wrote, "Let there be spaces in our togetherness."  These are wise, wise words for every relationship be it friendship or love.
4. At the heart of most anger is fear.
5. Be you.  
6. Everyone is carrying a burden.  Everyone. 
7. When in doubt, choose kindness.
8. Love isn't about control.  Love isn't about shutting you off from friends and family. Love doesn't call you names or hurt you.
9. Being "cool" isn't all it's cracked up to be.
10. Trust your gut.  
11. Loving someone doesn't necessarily mean you are meant to be together forever. That doesn't make what you have less real.  Summer doesn't mean the winter wasn't important & necessary & real.
12. Celebrate the success of your friends.  Their success doesn't take away from you--there isn't a scarcity of success; there is plenty for all of us to enjoy.
13. Apologize and mean it. We all screw up at one point or another.  Learn to own your mistakes and make amends.
14. Guys who only want you if you act ditzy don't want the real you.  This is exhausting and ridiculous.  Please don't fall into this trap.  
15. If you try to control your loved ones you will end up being resentful and angry.
16. You can't make someone love you and you can't change anyone but yourself.  
17. You were put on this earth to shine.  Don't hide your light under a bushel. Don't let anyone dull your sparkle.
18. When people hurt you, forgive them.  This doesn't mean you don't move forward, this means you feel your feelings and then you release them so you CAN move forward.
19. Do what makes your heart sing.  
20. You are important.  You matter.  YOU have gifts no one else can offer this world.  

Come to think of it, these are words I wish I could share with many adults, too.  Did I mention I need to remind myself of them often, as well?

Cranky

Day 8 of the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge

Another damp and gray Sunday. Pleasant enough on occasion, but a bit depressing when found in a long string of damp and gray days. Lovely with a fire in the fireplace, a hearty stew simmering on the stovetop and the smell of freshly baked bread in the air.  Even more wonderful if you add cozy favorite chair, a great book, and some hot tea. 

None of the cozy elements were to be found today. Instead, my home was filled with the entire family still feeling a bit questionable with tremulous stomachs from our encounter with rich fried foods Friday night for a birthday celebration and all of us rather cranky due to this and the springing forward of time.  I'm always thrown off with time changes, but the springing forward is the worst. Add to that a meeting which required me to shower and leave the house. In the rain.

And two fussy daughters. 

The husband?  Only semi-cranky.  ;)

Days like this I just want to hibernate.  I want to sleep my cranky away.  

I won't make my Fitbit quota for the first time since I began wearing it--

My stomach is still quite questionable--

Even watching Harry Potter didn't fix it--

Nor did a hot bath--

I'm thinking it is time to go to bed and hope for a sunny disposition tomorrow despite the weather forecast. 

My real job

Day 7 of the #SOL15 Challenge

If you've read my blog at all you know I absolutely love my job. From the smell of the place (coffee & books) to the excitement of receiving new boxes of books (Squeee!) to helping students with their research & other scholarly needs, I love it all.  One aspect of my job that I didn't really fully understand before my time with secondary students is making the library a safe haven.  I mean, I knew I wanted it to be a cozy welcoming place, but I didn't really get how necessary this aspect of the librarian gig actually is.  

Every day--EVERY.SINGLE.DAY--the library is filled with kids who need a place; kids who are hurting as they try to figure out this thing called life.  I am honored to be able to provide a place for them. I really believe that as much, as I love bringing books & people together, that is my true calling--to help provide that space for those who need it. Sometimes these kids find their way into my office, or behind the circ desk at the front with my lovely assistant.  Sometimes they find their way through high school by finding "their people" who are also in the library.  Life is less difficult with friends to help you navigate the sometimes rough seas.  

Truthfully, there are days when it is hard for me to smile one more time at one more person; days when my to-do list is left half-done because those things I needed to do cannot be a higher priority than the students I am there to serve.  People are important, and they need to know they matter to someone. 

Day 6: It's Friday!

It is Day 6 of the Slice of Life Challenge!

Time to do the Friday afternoon happy dance!  whoop! whoop! After a L-O-N-G day filled with strange tech issues and a million interruptions of my genrefication plans, I still managed to log in over 7000 steps on my fitbit at work, drink water rather than the coke I was craving (man, I was tired today---didn't sleep well last night), get the aforementioned tech issues fixed, talk books & writing to some awesome kiddos and walk out the door this afternoon with the sounds of our Anime Club having a fun-filled meeting in the library.  

Hoping everyone has a wonderful restful weekend!

Sonja

As seen this morning in the library...

My goal is to write a post each & every day this month for the Slice of Life challenge from the always fabulous Two Writing Teachers blog.


As a new-to-the-high-school librarian, I have been pleasantly surprised over and over again with my students.  Teens are just FUN to work with, man.  Yesterday afternoon we did a bit of spring decorating including a book display with books in a giant Easter basket along with some giant plastic Easter eggs.  Before we even had the table finished I had kids coming up to tell me how pretty it looked and how cool the giant eggs & basket were.  We even had a few ask if they could take selfies with the eggs!  This morning, two football players (and all-around nice guys) decided the two sides of the large blue egg would make eggcellent hats.  They cracked me up & were totally onboard with me posting the pics on our library Instagram page.  Who knew these would be such a hit?

Yes, there are occasions when I see students making  poor choices, but, for the most part, my day consists of seeing:

• friends supporting one another through hard times
• kids offering comfort when a friend is stressed
• students working hard to complete assignments 
• students chilling out with one another & being silly
• kids recommending books they love to one another
•  rousing games of chess & checkers

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  I LOVE my job.  I'm so glad I made the move out of my middle school comfort zone and into this new world that is the high school.  I have found my place to make a difference. 

Sonja

what a day

Every day this month I'll be posting as part of the Slice of Life challenge.

My assistant called me from the circ desk.  "Have you read your email?"

I hadn't.  I was smack in the middle of processing the first two rows of shelves in my genrefying project.*  I clicked over to my open-but-minimized email window and read the news. Late start tomorrow due to expected bad winter weather conditions.  The district admin called it fairly early today. 

Now, I love a good snow day as much as anyone else because here in East Texas they are rare gifts indeed, but I have to admit I'm just not as thrilled about tomorrow as most of my friends. I knew immediately I would have two upset girls.  My oldest, since she has been looking forward to tomorrow's field trip to a couple of museums in Houston (now postponed) and my youngest because the program she was scheduled to perform in had been rescheduled for tomorrow night from the last week of icy weather conditions (now cancelled).  

Now here we are at almost 9:30.  I'm exhausted having dealt with daily life at school, then daily life at home, with the additional drama of the afore-mentioned two girls.  My fitbit battery is almost dead (did I mention I misplaced the charger within minutes of opening the box?) and a toilet overflowed (such an understatement---picture the Mighty Mississippi flowing) while daughter-the-eldest and dear husband were at Lowe's buying something archery related.  We've fixed the issue, but am still working on washing and drying every towel in the house used to sop up the mess.  Daughter-the-youngest is crying because  she "doesn't want the cat to die" (the cat is fine.  daughter is tired and gets melancholy at this level of exhaustion. she is five. we had a neighbor pass away a few months ago and now we are very aware and concerned about death of loved ones.  tears over the possibility of death at least a weekly occurrence at this juncture.)

Maybe that extra two hours will do us all some good!

*genrefying going well for the first day.  got 2 rows of books labeled and new spine labels typed into the computer.  moving right along!