September/October in the Library

 I was halfway through October before realizing I never blogged for September so I decided to combine the two. We have had several first days of school this year and welcome back students almost daily so it has all just become a blur. I am loving having readers back in the library as our year starts to feel a little more normal, if possible. 

We celebrated Dot Day for several weeks in PLC time. Here are some first graders coloring their 3D Quaver Dots. They loved seeing them come to life!

Fourth graders created amazing 3D dots as well. 

The Tweet Fairy has been busy since our staff has been sharing all the wonderful things going on in their classrooms and around the school. 

Our students rocked myON during September and I cannot wait to check the October report.

This year, students are trying to earn levels by reading minutes in myON...we will see who becomes a Jedi Master!

My best buddy at work flew the nest as she works towards her future. I will miss our prek aide Ms. Aquilera so much!

With so many things we cannot do this year, I was excited that we can continue the Braum's Book Buddy program.

I finally got around to cataloging some of the books I got in Louisville at the AASL Conference. They had been at home in a bag while school was all virtual.

I participated in our district's #GISDChat Big Share event and curated the tweets into a Wakelet for the staff. I also attended several Canvas trainings and an i3 kickoff. It has been a techy year so far, but all great for our students and the opportunities they have!

The library is decked out for fall and we displayed many of our Halloween and horror books.

One of the best days of the year occurred when our big book delivery happened. We had 10 boxes of awesome new books to enjoy!

I unpacked the boxes and sorted them so I could get them on the shelves as soon as possible. 

I was so happy to get this grant from the Garland Education Foundation so that we can do a story walk that will benefit our face to face and virtual learners who live nearby. It will be a socially distanced way to enjoy a great story!

We had dress up days for Bullying Prevention Week and I used PLC time this month to discuss being nice to each other despite our differences.

A sweet, random surprise from a coworker always brightens a day!

This series on myON made our Live storytimes even more spooky!

I read this one pretty quickly...keeps you on the edge of your seat!

I loved being able to connect with students during these storytimes!

Red Ribbon Week brought dress up days and a pumpkin decorating contest. It was so fun to create the voting form and see the results!

Our new library aide Ms. Plote started this week and we are so excited to have her!

Even though the weather thinks it is January...November is on the way and always goes so quickly!

July/August 2020 in the Library

 The blog is back! So, during the spring, I took a blog hiatus because...well, life and a pandemic happened. I am glad to be able to share the awesome library things happening so far this school year. 

I attended a two day training about myON in July. I learned tons about projects and reports. I am looking forward to sharing this information with students and staff. 

I also attended our yearly webmaster training to get a refresher on how the website should work.

Our district switched to Canvas so I spent a little of my summer learning about Canvas so I could have my virtual library ready. 

It was fun to blend the real library and the virtual Bitmoji one together. Sadly, all of this furniture and the displays are packed away for this year. 

This became a very important place to look as I supported librarians and teachers through the transition to Canvas. I am so proud of how everyone has stepped up to the challenge of learning a new way to teach in a short amount of time. 

I presented at the Region 10 Library EdCampMashUp about virtual visits. This is going to be such strange year and it will be tricky to find ways to connect, but virtual visits are a great way to do that.

The staff started back in person in early August with a review of our mission and vision statements. Through the tough days we have to remember why we are here. 

My beautiful library is a little less beautiful this year, but still full of books for the students to check out.

The view is different, but this too shall pass. The library is OPEN!

Our remote learners have been requesting books and doing curbside check out. It has been fun to be a personal shopper for books. 

Our students were all virtual learners in August so our Canvas library course became a focus. We have weekly read alouds posted for students to enjoy.

There is a discussion area for students to share about what they are reading.

Our virtual library is open 24/7 for students and staff to find resources and reading materials.

GISD librarians are aiming to be R2V2 this year. That may include a lot of "non-library" jobs, but we are all in to help however we can.

When the world changed, so did how we teach. Being an i3 is going to be a much more important role this year and I am excited to see what the future holds. I always learn so much and am eager to share it with our campus. 

Some of the students are coming back in September and I cannot wait to see them. I am excited to continue sharing literacy with both our remote learners and the face to face ones.

February in the Library 2020

February was here and then it was gone! It felt super fast even though it had an extra day this year. We celebrated Black History Month, Spread the Love Week, Donuts with Dad, and Perot Science Night. Check out some of the other events for this month below!

I added more grade levels to our Book Bites lunch book clubs. I had 8 groups on 4 different days. It was a little crazy at times, but we loved reading biographies and about that crazy Classroom 13.

Our counselor even joined us for one of the club meetings for Book Bites.

We had a bookmark contest to celebrate Love Your Library Month. They entries were all so great and promoted reading. 

Leading up to MAP testing, we have been reading books that motivate us and show how we can overcome challenges. World Read Aloud Day on February 5th was a great time to read this book about how mistakes can be made into beautiful things. 

I got to share what I learned at the American Association of School Librarians conference in Louisville with my fellow librarians at our PD day. I shared about Making Connections for our secondary librarians and about picture book lessons with the elementary librarians.

The Harry Potter template got lots of compliments...thanks Slidesmania!

Even though we had two long days of Mock STAAR testing, I was able to still find time to do a lesson with my novel study group for Digital Learning Day. The students followed along on a paper map of the United States as each student took turns helping to create a class Google MyMaps about the places the characters traveled in our story The Lightning Thief. I cannot wait to get a few Chromebooks for the library so that more of these lessons can happen. 

I accepted a position doing a Success Academy on some Saturdays for 3rd graders at a different school to give the some extra help in reading. It has been a great experience to put myself back in the shoes of a classroom teacher for a few hours here and there. 

I love that the curriculum for Success Academy includes time for a read aloud. My first pick was a simple one...one of my faves! Of course, we had to finish off the class period with a rock, paper, scissors tournament! 

March is definitely traditionally my busiest month and so far it has been super swamped. I was honored to be nominated for our campus Teacher of the Year and I am so proud of my aide for being nominated as well. We love our jobs, even on the crazy days!

January in the library 2020

January is a shorter month because of days off, but it always feels forever long. This time it was no exception. I am glad to move into February even though there is just so much to do!

My aide Mrs. Lopez and I had "snow" much fun creating this snowman. We used sticks and acorns from outside along with buttons from our makerspace area. I love when an idea in my head actually works out!

My fifth grade novel study group made these butterflies when we were finishing Number the Stars. Butterflies were a symbol of hope during the Holocaust. I hung them up for Holocaust Remembrance Week so that other could learn about them. 

You cannot win if you do not try...I have been entering this contest on Twitter for a while now and I finally won! This whole stack of books has been a welcome addition to our library. 

We had 5 students complete the Bluebonnet Challenge of reading at least 5. They got to come to a voting party with a buddy.

My novel study group has been reading The Lightning Thief and they love illustrating what they are hearing as we read. 

To support the students taking the MAP test, I have been reading books about goals and hard work. Students could really relate to this one about being scared to try something and then just doing it!

They also loved this one about a penguin who wants to fly and gets some support to achieve his goals.

I was so excited to get my Garland Education Foundation grant check. We are going to get four new Chromebooks so that we have some technology in the library finally!

We finished out the month by celebrating the 100th day of school and doing our annual 100 book giveaway. 

February is going to be all about preparation...preparing for book fair, Little Cowboys program, Read Across America, etc.