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.

Hey Kids, Look at This!

We had a great afternoon with Jerry Pallotta. He did two shows (his word) for the kids and signed books for almost three hours. We were set up in the activity room and he brought kids on stage and made them laugh. He had control of that very large room the whole time, and he even managed to include a little bit of teaching and learning in his talks. During his signing time, he was making deals with a couple of boys trading sports cards. It's something they'll never forget, I'm sure.

When I was introducing Jerry to the little kids, I caught the face of one of the boys who mouthed the words "Jerrrrryyyy Palllllottttaaa" with me as I said it. It looked like he was so excited--like he was meeting a rock star. So cute. One of our kindergarten classes had been brainstorming ideas about the visit and decided that they should dress up to meet Jerry Pallotta. They were all in nice dresses and the boys wore ties. He took pictures with that class after the show and another picture with just the boys and their ties. Again, so cute.

My library intern brought his fancy camera along, so I'll post some photos as soon as I get them.

Family Math Night

Even though I wasn't terribly excited about Be Excited About Math Day last week, I definitely got excited about Math Night this week. Well, I was excited at how awesomely our math specialist incorporated our upcoming author visit into her program. Author Jerry Pallotta will be at our school this Friday, and he has written many counting books and math concept books. The math specialist had a table of his books (with order forms for signed copies) and little counting, addition, or subtraction books that the kids could make on their own. There were flashy stickers there and glitter markers and stamps and stamp pads. The kids had such a great time!

I even made a special vest for the occasion. I bought some fancy number fabric from my favorite online store and whipped up a vest (lined and everything!) on Sunday. Here was the super-cool fabric:

BEAM Day! (not)

Aren't you excited? Aren't you excited about Be Excited About Math Day? I am not. Let me tell you why. Be Excited About Math Day is being held in the Library.

If this were a school-wide event for students, I would Be Excited. Really, I love math! But this is a stupid district-implemented PR event for parents who are NOT Excited About Math.

We're going to show un-Excited parents how Exciting Math can Be! We're going to stage (oh, yes, I said stage) a Math lesson in the library so parents can watch. We're going to prepare a class to Be Excited about having parents watch them in the library learning Math.

Meanwhile, my classes and I are banished to the classrooms for the day. I am NOT Excited.

Christmas in February

I've had a Christmas cactus in the library since the first holiday after we moved in, 2005. It had blooms on it that year and none at all since then. This month, it has started blooming and it looks fabulous!! We gently refer to it as developmentally delayed. I am just happy that it is flowering at all. People think I have a green thumb because there are lots of plants in the library, and every so often a new one appears on a bookshelf tucked in among the natives. When people ask, I tell them that the plants thrive on neglect; if I started paying attention to them, they'd probably die. That's not totally true, but pretty close.

Movie Day

There's a cold-wave racing through our state this week, and that, coupled with our district's lowering the heat as a cost-saving measure, has made it pretty chilly at school recently. Our boilers apparently also conked out, and some of our classrooms were in the 50's today! The art, music, and PE rooms were all in the mid-50's, but the library was a comfy 64 degrees. So with about four minutes to go until our first class of the day, we decided to bring all the students into the library and show a movie. I just grabbed something off the shelf and we showed "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" by Judy Blume. It was originally made in 1986 and it was just perfect. Every grade enjoyed it--from kindergarten through fifth graders. Even I didn't mind watching it six times today. I even found a favorite quote: the mom says to Keith, "Mice are not my favorite animals." The way she says it is just too cute. Then we had a little happy hour after school and now it's time to enjoy a four day weekend.

Advocacy

Today, another librarian and I had a meeting with our library supervisor to discuss advocacy. In this time of budget shortfalls and cuts, we want to do everything we can do increase our visibility and indispensibility in our district. She was all for it!! We brainstormed lots of ideas about how to do this, and I am very excited about getting started with it all. Advocacy intimidates me a lot; I equate it with being a salesperson. But I suppose I have to get over that feeling, since I am selling myself and my program. I'll keep you posted!

new stuff

So I found a new blog to visit, and it has totally inspired me to be a better librarian and a better blogger! The Orange Room is my new favorite place on the web, and one of the reasons I like it so much is that it is updated often. I started my new class tonight, Technical Services, and it went pretty well. The students were very excited about the syllabus, mostly because it contains virtually no out-of-class assignments (besides reading). We'll be doing a lot of stuff in class and this will make all of us happy. Over Thanksgiving, I went into the craft room, and the calendar was still set to August. I realized at that moment that my entire fall was consumed by the Reference class I taught. I'm going to try not to let that happen this time around! The fourth and fifth graders are working with almanacs this week, and the class I had today actually groaned when I told them it was time to put their almanacs away. What a nice moment. I love the almanac, too.

Reading Extravaganza

Fourth grade hosted a special reading extravaganza for their students yesterday in the library. There were about 200 people in the library from 10am to noon, and they each got a free book (even the adults!), had some hot chocolate and cookies, had their picture taken with our mascot, and checked out library books to read over the winter holiday. It was a great event, and the fourth grade teachers are already talking about doing another one in June. How fun. It was like summer library but in the winter!

Fall Conference

Our state librarians' fall conference was last week. It was, as usual, completely fabulous from the beginning to the end. I feel like I have so many friends throughout the state. It's like a family reunion. There were so many wonderful sessions to go to; some times it was hard to decide on just one to visit. A couple times, I tried to go to a session but it was completely full (fire-code-violation-full), and I didn't get to hear the speaker. I learned a lot, which is an important reason to miss school and spend lots of money. One of my favorite sessions was presented by an author named Lynn Farrell Stover. She writes library lessons that are super-fabulous and adaptable to what I do in library classes. We sat together at an awards dinner Friday night, and the conversation never lagged. She was delightful. I left the conference completely exhausted and laden down with more boxes and bags than I came with. I passed out a bunch of stuff to the students in my LIBR 310 class (and they totally loved that), but there is still plenty of conference-related work for me to do. I was in charge of evaluations this year, and I have lots of conference evaluations to tabulate and evaluate.

Me and My BFF

I am so lucky. Me and my Tomie. I sound like Rosie O'Donnell.

Strega Nona

I got to meet someone great today. Tomie dePaola came to my town this afternoon to sign books. He has a new pop-up book that just came out (so cute!) and is touring independent bookstores and signing. What a treat.

Tomie was delightful. Simply delightful. He was full of laughter, kind, gentle, and interested in those of us in line. (I had heard stories to the contrary, but I am happy to say that I no longer will believe them or repeat them.) Truly, I feel honored to have met him. I cannot say that about many people. He is an icon, a national treasure.

I have a picture of us. It's out in my camera (which I left in my car). I will upload it tomorrow.

ADVOCACY

The State of Virginia is doing something new this year... it sounds right up the librarians' alley. LEXILE MEASURES" TO PROVIDE PARENTS AND TEACHERS WITH NEW TOOL TOPROMOTE READING & LITERACY ~ Addition to SOL Reports Connects Students with Challenging Books ~ RICHMOND * Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced a new initiative that will help parents select books that will strengthen their children's reading skills. When elementary and middle school students receive their Standards of Learning (SOL) test reports next spring and summer, their reading scores will be accompanied by ac orresponding "Lexile measure" parents can use to select books. A Lexile measure ranks reading ability and text difficulty on a single scale, allowing parents * and teachers * to select books at or slightly above a student's reading level. Currently, more than 115,000 books have been assigned a Lexile measure. "Virginia must increase literacy levels if the Commonwealth is to compete in the global economy," Governor Kaine said. "Adding thisinformation to SOL reports is another way to help Virginia students develop the comprehension skills they'll need to be successful." Governor Kaine and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) workedwith MetaMetrics Inc. to include Lexile measures in the SOL testing program to provide parents and educators with a new tool for selecting reading materials that challenge students and increase comprehension. Adding Lexile measures to SOL reports supports Governor Kaine's goal of increasing early reading skills and the Board of Education's focus on improving adolescent literacy. "This is a practical step that connects teachers and parents in a partnership to promote reading and literacy," said Board of Education President Mark E. Emblidge. "Teachers can use Lexile measures to assign and recommend books that will help students develop stronger reading skills," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright. "Parents can use Lexile measures to select texts that reinforce what teachers are trying toaccomplish in the classroom." Lexile measures will be reported with the scores of students taking SOL reading tests in grades 3-8 next spring. In the meantime, students, parents and teachers can match scores from the 2008 SOL reading tests with corresponding Lexile measures by using a conversion table available on the VDOE Web site. "Lexiles enhance state assessment programs by converting scale scores into useful information," said MetaMetrics President Malbert Smith III."MetaMetrics is proud to collaborate with Governor Kaine, the Board ofEducation and VDOE in providing this new tool for Virginia's schools and families." MetaMetrics maintains an online database of books with Lexile measures that can be searched by title, author, topic and reading level. To promote the use of Lexile measures, VDOE is providing elementary, middle and high schools Lexile charts with sample book titles grouped by Lexile range and difficulty level. The charts will be distributed to parents of students in grades 3-9 and include information on how to select books using a Lexile measure. Two Web-based training modules are available on the VDOE Web site for parents and educators to gain an understanding of Lexile measures and how they can be used to increase students' reading comprehension skills. VDOE is conducting four training sessions this fall for division-level instructional leaders, administrators, school librarians and reading specialists on how Lexile measures can be used to increase reading achievement. VDOE also will work with public libraries to raise awareness about the addition of Lexile measures to SOL reports and how teachers and parents can find out if a title has a Lexile measure. So what's the problem? WHERE ARE THE SCHOOL LIBRARIANS?!?!?!?!!? HOW COULD THEY NOT HAVE MENTIONED US>!>!!>?!>!>? I am so upset about this I can barely think straight. All I do every day, all day long, is encourage reading, improve critical thinking skills, and deliver instruction that is driven by student test data. Why should I be included? This is so ridiculous. Letters to everyone involved forthcoming...

Meetings

I have a confession. I like meetings!! I do not mind the occasional faculty meeting. Today we had our monthly librarian meeting, and it was so much fun. We laughed so hard at silly things that only librarians would find funny. Our meeting went from 5 pm until 6:40 pm, and the time just flew by. I got some great suggestions for lessons and books that are new to me, and those things alone made it worth it to me.

I Got the House All Smoky

A first grader told me just about the funniest story I've ever heard yesterday. Last weekend, he got his house "all smoky." When I asked him what happened, he told me he was making grits. My eyes got huge and I said that he shouldn't be using the stove. Well, he looked at me like I had two heads and said, "I'm not allowed to use the stove! I put them in the oven." Of course. He put grits in a pot, added some butter, and put them in the oven at 500. His brother (who is 8) turned down the oven to 200, but that wasn't hot enough, so he turned it back up. The grits got all stuck together "like a pancake" and the pot exploded, he told me. I reminded him that one doesn't make grits in the oven, and once again, he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "I've been watching my mother make them for years. I KNOW how to make grits." This was just about my favorite story ever.

Three Weeks

So tonight at my Reference & Bibliography class, we got to talking about my credentials. I realized that I had not shared my qualifications with the students. Someone asked me how long I'd been a teacher before becoming a librarian (8 years) and how long I've been a librarian (7 years), and then someone asked me how long I've been a professor, and I answered, "three weeks". They laughed pretty hard. It's true, okay maybe four weeks, but there's no way I can embellish that!

NBF 2008

Jon Scieszka

It was pouring down rain when we met Jon Scieszka. He was so great--thanking US for waiting for him in the rain. Wow. I wish all the 4:00 signings were as much fun. Kadir Nelson, not so much. Hence, no picture of the pouter. (However, his new Abraham Lincoln book with Doreen Rappaport is FABULOUS!!! It was available only at the book festival!)

Tiki Barber

OK, I didn't actually get anything signed by Tiki, and I am glad. His line was crazy-long and full of kids wanting to meet their hero. I was in the line next to his, so I still got a great picture.

Alexander McCall Smith

I didn't meet Alex Smith at this book festival, either. My sister and I had met him several years ago at a book store. He was signing in the tent next to where I was standing, so again, I got a good picture.

Judith Viorst

OMG! What a delight she is!! The man in front of me in line actually had a tatoo on his leg of Alexander. He was so excited to show her, and she was thrilled (and a little scared) to see it. She signed three books for me. Then I saw her crossing the street later and took her picture. Repeat after me, "I am not a stalker; I am not a stalker!"

Jan Brett

What a great day!!! The skies threatened, but the rain did not come down on us until 3:30, just as we lined up for the last authors of the day. We were not deterred!! We spent the whole day over in the author signing area, and it was definitely worth it. The biggest coup: JAN BRETT!!! We waited over two hours in line to meet her. It was so worth it. She was so kind and wonderful and signed for hours and hours.

That's all I can write about now. There were more. Marc Brown and Judy Sierra, Joseph Bruchac, Katherine Paterson, Steven Kellogg, Andrea Davis Pinkney. It was a great day.

Listserv Stupid

So this came across one of my listservs last night: When I signed up for the **** conference I specifically asked that my e-mail address NOT be used for anything other than conference information. I guess you've already sold or shared it, because not only is my mail flooded with library stuff, but tons of other solicitations. I am extremely annoyed by this invasion of unwanted e- mail and total disregard for my request. SIGH. I know I shouldn't have. But I did. I responded: Thank you for sending this to everyone on the list. Now we know how you feel getting unwanted messages. Slightly snarky, I know. I couldn't resist.

In the groove

We've had three good weeks of school. I've made many lists. I've crossed off many to-do's. There is always more to do. This year's schedule is pretty good. I have three full (really full) days of teaching each week, and two days of flexible time. So far, I've had a bunch of classes coming in for different kinds of things. It's been fun. My favorite first grade teacher's class is studying Audrey and Don Wood, so we went to their website, so cute. A fifth grade class is buddying up to read to a different first grade class, so we brainstormed how to make good choices of books. They had some ideas that I hadn't even thought of, so that was great! This week, I am going to a workshop learning how to use our state-funded databases. I am ashamed to admint that I don't even know how to access them. This is the year to learn! The National Book Festival is coming up on Saturday, and I am simply beside myself getting ready for it. Who to meet?!?!?! The class I am teaching for a state university went well the first week. There are 17 students, all elementary or middle school teachers. Tomorrow we discuss Dictionaries and Encyclopedias and basic evaluation of reference sources. I am ready. Another busy week begins. Yawn.

First Day!

Today was the first day of the school year, and I spent about 1 hour total in the library. How sad. Most of my day was spent in the hallway bathroom, going over expectations for bathroom behavior with 1/2 of our school. Guess who gets to repeat herself tomorrow for the other half of the school?!?!?!? I miss my library.