Some of my favorites

...in absolutely no particular order. This is a less than complete list, but all I could do for one post. Maybe I'll do a "Favorites Part Deux."

1. Not your typical book reports!

2. The Library Internet Safety Video Trailer

3. The Library Internet Safety Rap

4. The First Graders' version of The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg



5. My kindergarten ABC Book

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Digital Publishing with YUDU

These are some of the things I do in the library that I'm really going to miss. As I look back at my weebly site and review some of what we did these past two years, I know that I didn't do (or include in the website!) anywhere near everything I wanted to, but I am proud of what I did and the dreams I had for that job. When I came in to that position, it was more of a stereotypical school library like what I remember from when I was a kid. I quickly realized that I couldn't help but move us out of that box. I knew nothing about anything techy (my husband still runs the remotes and sets anything to record in our house), but I joined the tech cadre and became completely energized by all the possibilities. I borrowed a seriously heavy old laptop from a teacher who wasn't using it and hooked it up to a temperamental projector I scrounged off a teacher who had gotten a new one. I used my puzzle solving skills to figure out how to get them both balanced on an overhead cart squished in between two tables and told the kids they weren't allowed to move or it would all fall... and that's how our library went high tech. We have better products now, but I think I will always feel pushed by how much more the kids could do "if..." That world of what could be pushes me; it makes me excited, it keeps me from falling asleep, and it makes me want to do. I don't know how or what for sure yet, but I know I'm not done.

I know that my job has to be cut. I actually think, given the choices, it is the right cut to make. All the cuts are unwanted and will be a loss. I feel completely discouraged when I look at the state of our economy and our poverty stricken, top-of-all-the-bad-charts little community (my son saw the newspaper headline saying our county is #1 in child abuse, and he said "aren't we #1 in alcoholism and drugs too?"...just makes you proud). Our schools are facing cuts that make education a really unappealing field to stay in and school a really hard place to send my fifth grader and seventh grader. However, each time that I get to that point of feeling so frustrated by reality, I still can't stop seeing the possibilities. And, that's why I don't think I can stay away.

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