Please repeat after me ...

Here is my pledge for this school year.  I will read and repeat this out loud whenever needed throughout the year be be sure my space is always the best place for teaching and learning and I can possibly be.

Like it or not, the school year is upon us.  It is up to us to make it what it is.  It can be an awesome time or a complete drag.  I don’t know about you, but my plan is to create a space that students fight to get into.  That means it will look inviting, with comfortable seating, zones for different kind of learning, even pleasing music.  I just received some new bean bag chairs that I know will be moved all over the library as students find the “just right” spot to work.  They will sit their with what ever device supports their leaning, their own or one of my laptops or ipads.  They will relax into working with the background music that will be playing on the sound system I put in.  They will cluster around the charging centers I have in several sections of the library.  Some will even hang over the circulation desk enjoying the conversation that often occurs there when my assistant and I get together! I will be sure there are books and resources that reflect what students want and need. 

I will be sure that my attitude is always one of interest enthusiasm and openness so that any student will feel as though they can ask for help or even conversation. I will always remember that the child in front of me may need a supportive adult much more than the correct answer and that this time in the library will be the bright spot in an otherwise every bad day.  I will approach my faculty with collegial pleasure and find tools and resources that will make their teaching more enriching and engaging for students.  In return, they will easily approach me to ask for collaborative teaching opportunities and even play in the media center.

In short, I will make sure that this is the worst best school year ever!  I hope that you feel the same way, too.

Try and make sure you find the joy in every single day.

 

Happily yours,

Liz

 

It’s back! Cathy Mere’s annual 10 on the 10^th picture book blogs.  This year I am doing a shameless plug, by using books that can be found in my book I co-wrote with Dr. Christina Dorr, “Linking Picture Book Biographies with National Content Standards: 200+ Lives to Explore”, which will be published this fall by Libraries Unlimited.

 All of the books I have chosen are 2014 publications, with the exception of 2 with 2015 copyrights.  They are all picture book biographies about women, those who followed their passions and didn't let gender bias or other issues keep them from their goal.

   

Taking Flight by Michaela DePrince & Elaine DePrince

Sally Ride: Life on a Mission by Sue Macy

3  Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America

4   

                                                                                                 

The Scraps Book: Notes From a Colorful Life

5     

Stand There! She Shouted: The Invincible Photographer Julia Margaret Cameron

                                                                          

6 Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees by Franck Prevot(2015)

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   How I Discovered Poetry (Marilyn Nelson)

   

         Mahalia Jackson: Walking with Kings and Queens (2015)

Florence Nightingale by Demi

    

Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America by by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (2015)

II   I loved that each of these women, in following their passion, also found their joy.  I consciously search for joy in my life everyday!!

     Enjoy these books and all the rest suggested today!!

       Liz