Woah.

I am completely blown away. An author commented on my blog. A real author. Author of the book I just got in the mail. Someone read my blog besides me. Last night, when I saw the comment, I was higher than the stars. Tonight, thinking about it, I am still there!

I'll have to really start thinking about my book reviews now. Maybe it's time to get serious. Oh, that sounds like work now. At the moment, I am completely hooked on Zach's Lie by Roland Smith. Roland spoke to some nearby middle-schoolers, and I got to sneak over and listen to one of his presentations. He is a friend of Jerry Pallotta, and I got to tell him, "I'm one of Jerry's cousins!" (Jerry told me to say that.) I am not, of course, but I could be! Roland was so perfect for the middle-schoolers: fast-talking, sarcastic, funny. I can see why they loved him.

Anyway, I will booktalk Zach's Lie to our fifth graders this week and next. I think they'll enjoy the suspenseful plot. No more time to blog--time to read!

Blah...

Ugh...I am sick. Sick as a dog, although my dog is never sick. It's just a cold, but woah--it has hit me like a ton of bricks today. I even called in sick this morning. The woman I called was like, "You never call in sick!" I know...I know. I slept all day, me and my dog curled up on the bed snoring together.

I got a new book in the mail today from Amazon. It is so very cute, and I am already thinking of ways I can use it with the kiddos. It's called Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban and Henry Cole. I love Henry's illustrations--there is just so much fun in them. I just noticed now that it is not scheduled for publication until May 4, 2009. How did they release it already? I am confused; I don't know how that happens. Oh well, I am thrilled to have it. Look how the words in the title get bigger. So cute.

Movin' on Up!

Today, I did something very exciting. I got to speak to a college class of prospective elementary teachers about the library. About how they should hopefully use the library and librarian in their future schools. My number one focus was that librarians are instructional partners. I described how we can partner with them for student success. I talked to them about how our lessons correlate with what they are teaching in the classroom, and how we can collaborate to create meaningful lessons for students. We spent a little bit of time talking about censorship and book challenges. That was interesting, mostly because I recently read an article from SLJ on self-censorship that has really stuck with me. I feel very guilty about certain choices I've made, especially And Tango Makes Three. My good friend Henry Cole illustrated it, and I love the book, and I own a copy, but I have chosen not to put it in the library because I am worried about parents' reactions. And I know it is wrong. I was very excited about getting to talk to a college class. Here was a funny thing on the campus tonight: there is a biannual speaker series, and it was tonight. The guest speaker was Sam Donaldson. And me! Just not to the same audience.

Let Down

I am feeling so let down today. It is a sad feeling that I've not shaken yet, even though it happened at 9 this morning.

One of my duties is to run the morning announcements. We have a cast of fifth graders, a fifth grade camera man, and a kindergartner to say the pledge. I type up the script and we practice it and go live, all in the span of 30 minutes.

Our new-ish PE teacher (2nd year teacher) wanted to help with the broadcast, and the principal wouldn't let him run it but would allow him to assist me. Sigh. Help like this I do not need. He rarely comes on time (the studio door is always locked and I've instructed the students not to even LOOK at him if he tries to come in after we've started) and even when he promises to work with the students before the broadcast he finds other things to do. Today, he came in as the pledge leader was leaving. Whatever. There was nothing I could do at that point to keep him out. The kicker though, was that his cell phone rang--twice--during the broadcast. I am rolling my eyes still! Then he started whispering to the cameraman, who knows what he was saying, except that he was the closest thing to the microphones and guess what got picked up?!?!

When the broadcast ended, I just walked out of the studio and went in my office and closed the doors. He knew I was mad at him. He even emailed an apology. I am choosing not to accept it right now. He makes my job harder, and THAT I do not need!

I had some pretty blunt words for him after school when he tried to come in again and apologize, and I do believe I shocked him. He needed to hear it, and even if I feel slightly bad about being so direct (calling him a screw-up and a colleage I could not count on), he deserved it. Maybe it'll sink in (I'm certainly not the only one frustrated with him) this time.

Sigh. What do you do when a colleague lets you down?

Two Awesome Things

Two awesome things happened in my library today. First, a student made a comment today that completely blew me away. I was reading Henry's Freedom Box aloud to a fourth grade class (it's one of our state's Readers' Choice books), and on the second page a student interrupted my reading (interrupted!) and said, "Miss R., that was a simile." I stopped reading and set the book down. I asked him to repeat what he'd said. His friends wanted to know what he said, and I made him say it again louder. I was just beside myself with joy. I didn't even know what to say to the student except, "Yes, Robert, it IS a simile." I felt flushed. I had to fan myself. It was a beautiful moment, one of those moments teachers dream about. It has renewed my faith in teaching and in students. OK, now for the fun stuff. Our author visit with Jerry Pallotta was completely fun and exciting for the kids. I had a great afternoon with him (and of course, that's the most important part), even though he is a Red Sox fan. He was great with the kids and they learned some stuff and didn't even know it. My fabulous library intern took pictures of the event with his fancy wedding-gig camera, and here are some of them: This is Jerry Pallotta with his lion skull on a student's head. The kids loved this and Jerry also did it with a (much smaller) monkey skull. That was pretty silly, too. I love this picture. The activity room was completely darkened, and he was up on the stage in front of the ceiling mounted projector and screen. Take a close look at this picture. We see the lion's skull in Jerry's hands, we see the shadow it casts near the bottom of the picture, and we see the large illustration of the skull on the screen. Very cool.