last SOL Saturday

Day 28 of the Slice of Life challenge.

It is hard to believe that we are nearly at the end of our month-long SOL challenge.  I have enjoyed it tremendously and gained much from the experience. 

Writing is absolutely a daily habit now.  I should say, I generally wrote mostly daily before, but was not great about posting it--or sharing my writing in any way.  Actually writing is vital, of course, but the sharing is important, too.  Like my Fitbit actually tracks my steps, sharing my writing keeps me on track & holds me accountable with writing. I've played with form & style in my writing throughout the month. I've taken risks and been honest.

I have found over the years that I need a bit of a challenge to get moving and to stay the course, so I've signed up for the April Camp Nanowrimo as well as the YA Buccaneers' upcoming spring writing boot camp. I plan to slice on Tuesdays throughout the year, too.  I'm also looking forward to Kate Messner's Teachers Write virtual summer camp again.  

I have read so many amazing slices in such a wide variety of styles.  I've found new blogs to follow. There have been moments of tears as well as chuckles reading over the blog posts this month.  So much talent out there! I've learned to post comments much more regularly rather than just lurking. Comments are important!  I have been humbled and overjoyed to receive comments on most of my posts, as well.  Sometimes---if you never get comments---sometimes you think no one is out there reading what you write, or if they are reading it that it doesn't resonate with anyone.  It is a lonely feeling and can make you feel silly for sharing to begin with---and sometimes it makes you quit blogging for long bits because it seems like no one cares anyway.  I'm determined to let folks know I am reading them and their words are meaningful to me from this point on. 

countdown: a week in review

Day 27 of the Slice of Life challenge.

10 books added to the first purchase list of next year! (student & teacher requests)

  9 moments the Xerox machine had me about to throw wall-eyed hissy fits.

  8 coca-colas (I had to caffeinate HARD this week!)

  7 librarians at the meeting Thursday.

  6 awesome new Model United Nations projects to display

  5 days of Telpas testing going on upstairs.

  4 sections of fiction shelves now totally genre-fied.

  3 workshops/committee meetings after school.

  2 teenage boys crying in my office over love gone wrong.

  1 random dirty sock on the returned book cart when I walked in this morning.

field trip

Day 26 of the Slice of Life challenge.

Daughter-the-eldest had a field trip today. 

Two buses going to the same place.

3 hours one way.

All her friends on the other bus.  

They are all together.

She is alone.

She is 12.  Middle School.  Hard years. 

Figuring out who she is. Trying to find her place, her tribe.

I picked her up just now.  

I saw her birthday twin & best friend since the age of 3 

Walking with someone else. 

They shared a seat today on the other bus

While my kid sat alone in a seat all by herself.

How was the trip? I asked when she got in the car.

Boring. she said.

I sat by myself. 

I tried to text them on the bus

None of them texted back.

She doesn't tear up

But I do.

I try not to let her see.

She tells me that yesterday morning

When she got to school 

She walked to their table 

And said hello

The other girls didn't say hello back.

It has begun, I see.

The inevitable shift that happens in middle school.

I lived it myself

I taught through it for years

But this is my kid

And she is hurting

And I want to fix it

But I can't.

She is not a dainty darling

She is larger-than-life

Brimming with brilliance

And loud-and-proud

And funny as all get-out 

And strong-willed

And courageous

Traits that are not always prized in middle school 

By friends or teachers either, if I am truthful.

I know this from experience

I was that kid, too.

It took me a long time 

to truly appreciate my gifts

instead of letting comparison steal my joy

I had hoped (foolishly, I know) she would not 

Have to live it herself

But we all do

Don't we?

Prepping for the EOY reports

Each year the librarians in my district create our EOY (end of year) reports.
We began creating this district-wide about 6 years ago.

• we are continually revising what we do to improve
• currently, each school fills in the document template, turns it in to the school principal and a lead librarian.  that lead librarian compiles info from all campuses into a master document, as well.
• a one-page document of the "highlights" is also turned into each principal 

Examples of the highlights page front/back (terrible pics, sorry!)

• a now-retired librarian created the original template and chose the particular strands to document from our state standards and guidelines document. These focus primarily on staffing and funding issues. I'm really not sure why other bits were not originally included.  
• These are ALSO used  as our 5 year plan per our standards and guidelines in our long document.
• as none of the programming/events were being highlighted in these documents, we have created a district library showcase each month.  Here is an example:

In an effort to keep moving forward, we looking for new innovative ways to share our EOY reports with our stakeholders.  The Texas standards and guidelines are about to be revised--the appointment of a steering committee is coming up in the next month.  With that said, we are not going to throw out the current document we use locally just yet as we really like that our EOY report is based on these standards.

Here are a few examples of great EOY reports that I'd like to share with my team.

• from the ever-amazing Sue Fitzgerald at The Unpretentious Librarian
• Jennifer LaGarde always has inspiration at The Adventures of Library Girl 
• this article by library super star Joyce Valenza has impact.
• this slideshare has some important points to remember, especially slide 14!
• Solon Community School District has an interesting magazine format. 

Questions to ponder:

1. How are we telling our story?
2. Who is our audience?  Do different audiences need different types of reports? 
3. Reflection is so important.  Is our current tool the best tool for this?
4. Admin is busy role. Most want concise, data-driven information
5. In decided what to include, should we look at the AASL guidelines more? Our district library evaluation tool? Our CIP?
6. What is the goal for this tool?  Perhaps when the new standards are in place, some of these questions will be easier to answer.
7. Currently the 5 year plan "required" by our standards actually only refers to "a 5-year strategy for planning, implementing, evaluating, and reporting the budget." Perhaps we should really consider 2 separate reports? Our current report does show growth over time, so that is very helpful. 
8. Joyce Valenza summed it up so well in her article referring to Jennifer LaGarde's words:I tried  to focus on data they would actually care about. (For example, instead of bemoaning the state of my 400s or shouting about the number of times A Diary of a Wimpy Kid was checked out, I focused on student impact, the relationship between library services and academic success and how our library meets the identified needs of students at our school).

spinning

Day 25 of the Slice of Life Challenge

The weeks after spring break flash by so quickly. Its as though time has actually sped up and we are all barrelling forward ninety-to-nothing. We don't just ease into things after spring break, either...oh no!  We are all-in.  Testing, a million meetings, kids trying like anything to get their projects finished and their prom dresses ordered. Life spins very quickly. This week is spinning like mad.

I'm exhausted tonight.  We had a make a trip to Wal-Mart tonight since daughter-the-eldest has a field trip tomorrow and will need snacks. Our monthly district librarians meeting is tomorrow afternoon and we will discuss our End of Year reports.  Daughter-the-youngest brought home 2 field trip permission slips tonight. I was asked today if  I'm going to be at graduation. 

Yes, the days are spinning, spinning past and the end of the year is fast approaching.  Things won't slow down---we all know this. Hoping more sleep is in the cards for me tonight, and I can promise you awesome coffee will be going down in the library office tomorrow morning--and on a wing and a prayer I'll hold on tight 'til the end. 

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!).    

Manic Monday

Day 23 of the Slice of Life challenge.

Just another manic Monday...

I had a difficult time settling down to sleep last night. I finally just got up and found my way back into the living room.  I tried reading.  I tried watching a little TV.  Nothing worked very well. Sometime around midnight I ambled back to bed and gave it another try. 

As a result of the No-sleep-for-you fairy's shenanigans, I was exhausted as all get out when the alarm sounded at 5:07.  Everything I touched dropped.  Everything I poured spilled.  My girls decided they must, must, must have a packed lunch this morning--you know, when there was virtually nothing to pack. No one could find matching socks.  It was one of those mornings. I was on the verge of tears and I am not a crier.  Then the you-need-gas light began flashing on my way to work.

I got the text from my lovely assistant.  She was feeling bad and wouldn't be able to make it in today. Once I got in my office I discovered the socks I thought were black were actually navy. The only navy element to my otherwise black outfit.  

At approximately 7:45 all that turned around.  Coffee finally made and in hand, I started on my usual rounds around the library.  One of my senior girls came in and said, "You know, Mrs. Schulz, it is impossible to mourn the end of our spring break when we get to hear your wonderful friendly 'Good Morning!'"  

Day made.  

And no one else even noticed or cared my socks matched nothing but each other.  ;)