I Heart My Principal

I had my first-ever parent conference with her yesterday. When I left the classroom, I pretty much left parent/teacher conferences behind. In all my years as librarian, it was the first time a parent wanted the principal present for our discussion. I had been dreading it all week. Background: Before Christmas, a second grader returned books that were caked in banana (from an unfortunate meeting in his backpack). He didn't even bring them to me, but instead just put them in the bookdrop. Fortunately, my eagle-eyed assistant noticed the books and brought them to me. I kept them in my office and talked to the student about the damage, giving him a copy of his account so he could take it to his parents. A week or so after Christmas, I gave the books back to the student, explaining that they were still checked out to him and that I couldn't take them off his record because I couldn't put them back on the shelves in that condition. A few days later, the account summary was returned to the classroom teacher with a note from the boy's mother stating that there was nothing wrong with the books and that she wouldn't be paying for them. She included her phone number, so I called her to explain the school's position. Our discussion, which was quite tense and at times, heated, would have to continue in the presence of my principal, at the mother's request. The meeting was yesterday after school. My principal was SO SO SO awesome. I purposely didn't tell her very much about the situation, only the very basics. She hadn't even seen the books before the conference. She was behind me 100 %. It was so awesome. She looked through the books incredulously as the parent was telling her that there was nothing wrong with the books. She point blank asked the parent, "You don't see that there is damage to this book?" The principal got nowhere with the parent, either, and explained to her that while we could not legally make her pay for the books, paying for them was the right thing to do. The parent refused, and the principal said, "I am concerned about the message that this is is sending to your son." It was so great--it was exactly what I was thinking but knew I couldn't say. The principal was so strong. She didn't back down. She let the parent know that we (the school) didn't agree with her decision, and that it was the wrong decision. I cried when it was over--it was just the stress of the situation. I always cry when I am stressed. My principal thought I was crying for the child--which I guess I was, partly. I was more crying because this parent was SO STUPID. People should have to take some kind of test to be a parent. Ugh. My principal decided that we will allow the student to check out just one book at a time. If he returns it in good condition, then he can borrow another one. Since we have an open library, he can come in everyday if he wants a new book, so we aren't punishing him for his parents' stupidity. We did the best thing for the child. That's what matters. Even if his parents didn't.

Old Technology

Who would've thought that a TV is old technology? This concept was brought up at our librarians' meeting yesterday. Our county is opening some new schools next year, and we are hoping to install mounted data projectors in the classrooms instead of televisions. This is an interesting step forward, although it is not without its concerns. I am wondering if there are other schools (especially elementary) out there that use this technology. In other news, yesterday marked the official end of our book shipments. Every book we ordered is now officially in the library. Some still need to be cataloged and processed, but at least we have them. Most of the equipment is in, and we are waiting on one supply order. It is a GREAT feeling to know we are almost caught up. A funny thing happened yesterday: I was trying to get a class lined up to go, and they were being fairly uncooperative. This little girl was standing in front of me practically on my toes. I looked down at her and said, "What?!?!" rather impatiently, and she smiled and said, "I love your outfit today." She was just so cute. Oh my goodness. And it was a new outfit that my sister bought for me. Oh, another funny thing happened today. A fourth grader noticed that I had a Battleship game on the shelf. He asked what it was for, and I told him that sometimes kids play it when they've finished checking out books. He said, "Oh, I thought you played it on your break or something." I laughed OUT LOUD at that one. That was the funniest thing I heard all day. That's what keeps me here. Those kids keep me laughing.

Professional Days

How much do I love my principal? She allowed me 1 1/2 professional days to deal with all the boxes piling up in the back room. A whole day and a half where I didn't have to teach--I could just make progress and get things put where they belong. Oh, it felt so good!! I created such a mountain of trash on Thursday. At least 9 trash bags full of styrofoam and probably 30 boxes all flattened out waiting to be recycled. I should've taken a picture, it was so impressive! We are still waiting for a few deliveries, but mostly everything has arrived and is barcoded and into the system. Over the holiday break, the overheads and CD/tape players and listening centers arrived. What a relief! Teachers were very excited about those overheads. Now if we could just get electricity to our computers...