Why I like my job

What did I do this morning in the very first fifteen minutes of the school day?
I checked out three or four Maine Student Book Award Books
I stamped 2 or 3 Reading Road Trip logs and gave away a Souvenir or two
I helped a young lady figure out the name of the tallest mountain and largest lake in Africa
I helped a teacher find books about vegetables
I tuned my guitar so it would be ready at 8:50
I swapped out last week's old read-alouds for this week's new read-alouds on my story table
I checked in a huge pile of books and sorted them to be put away
Phew!

2011-2012 Maine Student Book Award

I've created a slide show of the Maine Student Book Award books that we have here at CRES. Our fourth graders will be introduced to these books next week. Students in Maine in 4th-8th grade may participate by reading the books. If they read at least three of the books, they can vote for their favorite in March. The winner is announced in the spring.

(You can move the slides along more quickly by using your right arrow key)

Here's a link to the Maine Student Book Award web page:
http://efolio.umeedu.maine.edu/~masl/msba/

Amythest Geode

Tony Sohns, "The Bug Man" was here visiting our fourth graders, and he asked if we would like to keep a huge geode in the library for a few weeks until he returns. Of course I said "yes!" Tony and his family own the Rock and Art Shop in Bangor. http://bangordailynews.com/2011/06/30/living/new-bangor-curiosity-store-specializes-in-unique-and-unusual-artifacts/

Tony said the geode is from Minas Gerais, Brazil and is 240 Million Years old! It has been a huge hit here in the library. Thank you, Mr. Sohns!

The power of a "Just Right" book

A class of fourth graders came in today, and I believe they were engaged in a standardized test before they came in, because some of them were rather out of sorts and crabby - not like their usual selves. One young man in particular was running around the room and not doing what he was supposed to be doing, which was finding something to read and sitting down to read it. I had to speak to him three times, and then he told me, "I've already read all the books I want to read in here last year. There's nothing left in here that I want to read." I asked him to sit quietly by himself and I gave him a few minutes to cool off, and then I just quietly handed him a Calvin and Hobbes comic book. No - he wasn't interested, but another student saw it and was very happy to take it off his hands. Then I handed him "The New The Way Things Work" and "Gadgets" and "Technology Mysteries Revealed." Not only did he instantly light up and become interested, he checked two of them out and then proudly showed them off to some boys at another table. "The Right Book at the Right Time." That made my day.

Perspective for the New School Year

Just saw this visual post about Teacher Librarians. If you hover over the "bubbles" they take you to even more links. Love it! Getting "pumped up" for the new school year!

Last Day of School

It's very hard to say goodbye to the fourth graders on that last day of school. I wish I could continue with them on their reading journeys. I would love to see what books they love in middle school and high school. I would love to help them with their research papers. I'll see some of them in the high school musicals - but that's at least five years from now, and of course, not all students participate in those - but it is the one contact I still make sure I have every year with some of my former students.

I hope their time with me in our library had an impact on their lives. I hope they get to know Mrs. Foss at the middle school and continue to read for pleasure. I hope they make good choices over the years and make it into adulthood better off because of something they've encountered in a library book. I hope they are life-long readers and life-long learners - always looking for the truth.

Happy summer, CRES students. Happy life, fourth graders! I'll miss you!

Storybird

I've been learning about Storybird. If you'd like to try Storybird, here is the link to their website: http://storybird.com/
Here is the first story I've made using this tool:

Every Weather Friends on Storybird