Thursday, January 29, 2009

Back from ALA

I had a wonderful time at ALA, met some fabulous people, got to work with some committees, AND got free books! That is what I call a win-win situation! I was there for the awards ceremony, nothing like it! Have already ordered "The Graveyard" and "House in the Night" from Amazon.
Because we have had 2 snow days, I have had time to think about all the cutting edge ideas I heard and ways to implement some of them. I will add more later after I have processed this.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Long weekend in the cold and snow!

Well, Mother Nature saw fit to give us an especially long weekend and I am using it to catch up on reading by the fireplace in my jammies! I've tried to read, or at least skim, books that have been mentioned as a possible Newbery contender -- so far Savvy and A Curse as Dark as Gold are at the top of my list. As for Caldecott, I'm at a real loss. Maybe Kevin Henkes' Old Bear or The Black Book of Colors. Needless to say I can't wait for next Monday to find out! I am also reading the newest Stephanie Plum novel, just for fun.
Are any of these things on my to do list, not really; so now I am back at the computer trying to update my webpage and prepare for when school does start again.
Hope to see lots of folks at ALA Midwinter!

Saturday, January 03, 2009

A new year, new items on to do list!

No, these are not new year resolutions, these are TO DO! Hopefully, this semantic ploy will nudge me towards completion of these plans.
1. Organize myself - a neverending task! But, I finally got a Palm, and am putting all my dates from all my calendars into it. Will this keep me from missing meetings? Time will tell. (To get all my contacts entered, I enlisted the help of my best teenage friend who makes these techno things look so easy!)
2. Find me time! This time, found when I become organized, will be spent reading new books, and writing whatever suites my fancy!
3. Create some authentic goals. What do I want to be involved with by next year, five years from now, ten even?
4. Immerse myself in a new technology, find out what it can really do, and share that with at least one other person. (Like my SmartBoard!)

OK, I am tired now, just thinking about all of this. But I will work toward these goals, and maybe share how well I am succeeding or not!