Author Visit -- April Henry!

Mystery/suspense author April Henry visited our library on Monday, and it was a wonderful day! Many of the students read her books, and teachers read some excerpts from her books, and she had some really interesting stories to tell.

Here she is during her presentation (that's an ASL interpreter next to her):

A bunch of schools in my area got together to host her visit, so we shared the expenses of hotel/food/airfare, and then we each paid her speaking fee.  At my school, she gave a writing workshop to a group of seventh graders, and then spoke to each grade level (6, 7, 8) in the gym during their electives time.  She also had lunch with a small group of students.

Here she is during the writing workshop.  The kids loved it, and some even brought her more writing to read later in the day (which she did read AND comment on) on the way home in the car.  Amazing!

Before her visit, we did a few things to make our school look welcoming, and one of our favorite things was re-creating her books' covers using our own students' faces.  I will post them here side by side (maybe... if I can figure that out), so you can see how much the kids got into it.  After we took the pictures, I did a little Photoshopping magic (without using Photoshop OR magic), and we gave her copies of these:

Original cover

Our cover

Another cover we made

Original

Our version--she held her own hand over her mouth, so it's not as scary as it looks!

Our version #1

#2

#3

    

The real cove

I think I joined a cult.

The Erin Condren cult!!! I ordered a teacher planner for this coming year.  So excited and nervous.  Of course, the fact that it is a million dollars is what makes me nervous, but it just looks so beautiful.  It is much happier than the one I made for myself this past year.

In case you want to order something, go through this link.  Everything is just so pretty.  And happy.  I know I've used that word HAPPY a lot.

I really don't know much about the whole EC phenomenon, but from what I researched, it is all speaking to me--as a person of style and as a fashion-forward thinker.  And in fact, I wasn't sure where to blog about this--on my teacher blog or my crafter blog.  The lines are fuzzy.  Perhaps I'll post it in both places.

This is what I ordered--the ready-to-ship option, which has a generic cover (still super-cute, though!).  It comes with a coupon for a free personalized cover, so I'll get the one I really want once this one comes.

I also ordered some markers (I'm a pen connoisseur) that I hope I'll love, and a case for the planner, which of course, I'll need since the notebook will accompany me everywhere.  This is the case I ordered, and the cover I plan to get will match AND be one of my school colors.  (Squeeeee!!!)

It's that time of year when I start thinking about school and start to get that squiggly feeling in my stomach.  Only 5 1/2 weeks to go!!!

OMG it's over!!

I truly cannot believe that my first year of middle school is over.  That was truly one of the fastest years of my career.  And I cannot WAIT for next year! My colleagues roll their eyes at me, but, I am serious!  Now that the space is organized and the collection is in better shape, it is time to GET EXCITED ABOUT READING!!! I am so excited to plan reading promotions and get the kids more into reading!

My smart goal (ugh--for those of you having to do them, too) for this year was to increase fiction circulation by coding the books by genre.  I put a colored dot on the spine label of each fiction book to help the kids know what genre it belonged to.  Circulation went from about 8,500 last year to over 12,000 this year!! I am so excited!! I'm not sure what to attribute the increase to, but I have some theories:

• Better organization: the paperback books that had siblings in the regular fiction books are now relocated to be next to their hardcover relatives.
• Better variety: instead of promoting the tried and true books that all the kids read anyway (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, 39 Clues, Warriors, etc), I weeded the excessive copies we had of those titles and encouraged students to choose something similar, yet different.
• Weeding: getting rid of the old, outdated, unattractive books helped students find better and more interesting books, both in fiction and non-fiction.  Fiction was my focus for the 1/2 half of the year, but tackling non-fiction definitely helped our circ numbers.  
• Reading: I read more this year than I have in many years.  I thank my dear friend and colleague Jenny for being a great reader-librarian role model.  I was able to talk to the kids about what they liked/didn't like and recommend books based on that.  When I finally read Divergent, I felt like shouting it from the rooftops!  The kids were horrified that I hadn't read it.

My principal was hands-off yet supportive.  He allowed me to try out new stuff and checked in often enough that I knew he was interested--but not overbearing.

Last summer, I spent most days cleaning out the rooms off of the library proper.  I looked at the shelves, but not knowing better, I thought everything looked pretty good.  It wasn't until we started using the collection and the catalog that I realized what a disaster it was.  Trying to find a book was so frustrating, and using the catalog was futile, since most of the records were incorrect or incomplete or both.  The entire first semester was spent cleaning up the catalog and weeding the fiction section.  Consolidating the paperback books into the fiction section was also a must, and it revealed lots of duplicates.  What a waste of money!

Most of the winter months were spent adding AR quiz information to the catalog records.  I can say that we have now updated all books that have AR quizzes--both the book label and the record are intact and correct.  That was huge.

Then, in late winter, I started tackling the non-fiction shelves.  What an awful, awful nightmare.  Who knew I'd find books about Soviet George and West Germany! Seriously?!?!? The school opened in 1996, long after the Iron Curtain fell and Germany was unified.  Unbelievable.

I haven't even talked about the kids--how I adore their quirky strange selves!! They were really the best part of the job and made the shit-show of the physical space bearable.  Next year is going to be just really, really awesome!!

I Love My Job / I am Heartbroken

I really do.  I love what I do and I love where I go.  I have not had this feeling for a few years, and I am really enjoying it.
The middle schoolers completely and totally crack me up.  They are quick-witted and determined to find their place in the world, even though they are afraid to stand out while doing so.  I am working so hard on building relationships with them.  One girl was in my office the other day and closed the door behind her.  I then was privileged to find out the name of her crush.  :)  I was sworn to secrecy.
I got this valentine on Thursday, with a tootsie-roll pop and starburst attached:

So lovely.  And appreciated.

In other news... sad news.
A former elementary student, now 20 years old, was arrested and charged with some pretty terrifying charges last weekend.  He and a cousin drove around for a couple of weeks, firing a shotgun at occupied homes (miraculously not injuring anyone).  It was just last Saturday that I saw the breaking news of his arrest, and I gasped and immediately felt my heart sink.
After leaving elementary school, this young man came back for several years and helped with my summer library program.  He built things for me and taught me how to weld.  I was just heartbroken about the news and still am.  He is in jail without bond until his preliminary hearing in mid-April.  I wrote to his mom through FB last weekend, and she responded that she, too, is heartbroken and in shock.  She recalled those summers that he helped me and said, "happier times."  Indeed.  If you've bee following this blog, then you might remember this sign. He made it in sixth grade for me, and I still have it: