My entire lunch period in the library is teen boys yelling at each other about Roblox. It's pretty hilarious. I'm severely outnumbered gender wise. But that's okay!
I haven't wrote here since April, and I find myself thinking about what has happened since then. I know a lot has, but MY MIND IS BLANK. Okay. Let me think.
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Alright, I have this room behind my desk, some kids think it's magic. But really all there is, is classroom novels, all types of paper, old yearbooks, all my weeded books waiting to be sorted, and so on. Before January, the place was just ridiculous. There were stuff in there from years ago which basically all went in the garbage. I wen't on a huge cleaning spree. The custodian and I came up with designs for new shelving and now we have so much space and it's so clean and nice and wonderful!!! With leftover wood from the old shelves, the custodian (who is the most amazing person in the world) built me new adult section shelves. I weeded through those and now I have more room for current books in September! Yay!
Basically in one year, I've gotten new desktops, laptops, couches and chairs, tables and a new paper room. I've shortened my desk to create more room back here, moved more shelves against the walls to create more hangout space (cue the gender outnumbering- the high school boys love it in here!) Weeded the non-fiction section twice which created more wall space, drawn, crafted, copied, laminated all the free wall space (it's so colourful in here) and ordered so many books for the library.
Recently, I've weeded almost 200 old, crummy, sticky, ripped books from the Elementary section (k-4) and I'm saving most of those for the Book Swap next year. Surprisingly, it was really fun and easy. Not too many books out of place. Funny story: every year, the student council has a fundraiser called the Wake-a-thon. It's just like 30 hour famine except you can eat! This year we were raising money and food for the local food bank. It was about 2am, a group of grade 8 kids decided on a scary movie. They got REALLY scared, one kid kicked over one of my small elementary book shelves! The best part was one I just sorted and weeded the previous afternoon (grumble). Accidents happen!
I get to join the gr.8 camping trip next week, it's going to be interesting! A good interesting. We will be hiking to our campsite for 1 mile, which may seem like an eternity to them. My partner is the outdoor Ed teacher therefore we've been planning a bit of it together. I can't wait! Some of them are not so excited that I'm joining, since they are in the library quite frequently and we don't always see eye-to-eye.
I cannot believe there is only 18 days of school left. It's nuts. A bit more weeding to do, yearbook pages to finish and I'll be all set. Not as much work as last year, which is fine. I will feel a little less stress, therefore I can be an extra hand for teachers and other support staff. This summer I'm going to Churchill to kayak with beluga whales, visiting friends and family in Nova Scotia, working on my partners parents' farm, and hopefully growing pretty flowers, lots of veggies and maybe get a dog! I've also reached the time in my life when friends are getting married. I have 3 weddings to attend. Super fun.
I can't really think of much else to write about as of now! Everything is good.
Thursday 2 June 2016
Monday 25 April 2016
1 Year Mark = Finally Getting It
On April 6th, 2015, I began my adventure as a school librarian. I realize now that it is a few weeks past the 1 year mark, but holy cow. Time goes by. Most of my time is spent battling the fact that I'm still a kid, while trying to remain a responsible adult around the students. This job is so fun. Every day I walk into this building not knowing what could happen. Most of the time, the new experiences are positive, sometimes they are not. They are, however, still new experiences and I must take them as a way to learn. I'm happy to say that after 1 year, I'm finally getting the hang of things. This school year has been much more successful for me not only because I am building experience but it directly correlates with the fact that the support system within my workplace has gotten stronger. Last year, although I was only in place for 3 months, there was a member of staff who worked within the library, who basically never came to work. This year, that person is no longer in the school and we have two teachers who have taken their spot. It feels awesome knowing that if a student needs help, they can always speak with those two staff members. Those 3 final months of the last school year were very tough on me, considering I had never worked in a school before and there were some students who needed a lot of care. Many days I would cry out of nowhere in the middle of the day, or freak out on the way home. I'm happy to report that that hasn't happened this year!
The thing I'm most proud of during this year is the fact that I've gotten to know every students name, sibling, likes, dislikes, class schedules etc. On many occasions, staff members have come looking for names for information on students and I've been able to help every time. One thing I can work on would be approaching students quicker. At times, the library can get pretty busy, loud or crowded. I need to be on the look out for students who aren't in class, who may be sick, feeling low or lost. Although they may look as though they don't need anyone to talk to, I want to be able to approach them right away so they know someone does care about their well being.
Running the yearbook committee has allowed me to get to know some students outside of school hours. This has helped me in the workplace because I've been able to bond with some students, and these students now respect and trust me. Although sometimes I lose some sleep from volunteering or even losing sleep over my mind running with ideas for the yearbook, I come to work knowing that I'm doing something great. It also helps that my partner coaches and is involved in a lot of school events, so we work as a team. Next year, I hope more students take yearbook seriously, so that they too can volunteer for events. I will be sad to miss out on some events though!! The book is almost finished as we only have 8 weeks left of school. It's been a wonderful learning experience. I'm starting to think of themes for next years book already!
I was lucky enough to order tons of new books for our classrooms and library over the past few months. The most popular books lately seem to be graphic novels. The library has all sorts of graphic novels that the students really seem to enjoy. Whether it's about teen troubles, war, or anime, it's flying off the shelves! During the day, I spend a lot of my free time researching, mostly through blogs or reading teacher resources on behavior etc. I also do a lot of crafts. The kids and some staff members now see me as an "artistic" person even though I've never been able to call myself that. It's awesome when people come asking for favors to draw certain things or think up different design options for projects and so on. My library is FULL of things I've drawn or remastered. I hate empty walls! My all time favourite activity in the library still remains reading to students. Today, my afternoon will be jam packed full of little ones waiting at the carpet for me to come and read a book with them. It's always cool when they come to me afterwards saying "I'm taking home the book you read to us today!"
As for my life outside the library- Back in September, I decided to apply for my masters degree in Library and Information Studies (yes, I do not have that yet I am still working here and doing a fine job!) and in March, I was not accepted for the program. It was a huge blow but I know that maybe it isn't for me. Maybe something else will come along that I will need to work towards. Who knows what is in the cards for me. (funny to say that, just before the bad news, a friend of mine read my tarot cards and negative news was in the cards!) On the plus side, my partner and I went on an awesome trip down to Arizona and back up through Colorado. We called ourselves "Spring Break Geological Tourists" because we were basically looking at mountain ranges and rocks the entire way. The most amazing part of the trip would have been how drastic the landscape changes through Arizona and New Mexico. It was breathtaking 100% of the way (even through Wyoming!) and it was always exciting not knowing what was around every turn. Those are my favourite types of trips. Our next trip is to Minneapolis to see the Jays vs. Twins on May Long! After that, CHURCHILL!!!
8 more weeks until 2 months without these kids. I'm going to miss them! I hope all school librarians out there are gearing up for a busy two months!
Jennie
The thing I'm most proud of during this year is the fact that I've gotten to know every students name, sibling, likes, dislikes, class schedules etc. On many occasions, staff members have come looking for names for information on students and I've been able to help every time. One thing I can work on would be approaching students quicker. At times, the library can get pretty busy, loud or crowded. I need to be on the look out for students who aren't in class, who may be sick, feeling low or lost. Although they may look as though they don't need anyone to talk to, I want to be able to approach them right away so they know someone does care about their well being.
Running the yearbook committee has allowed me to get to know some students outside of school hours. This has helped me in the workplace because I've been able to bond with some students, and these students now respect and trust me. Although sometimes I lose some sleep from volunteering or even losing sleep over my mind running with ideas for the yearbook, I come to work knowing that I'm doing something great. It also helps that my partner coaches and is involved in a lot of school events, so we work as a team. Next year, I hope more students take yearbook seriously, so that they too can volunteer for events. I will be sad to miss out on some events though!! The book is almost finished as we only have 8 weeks left of school. It's been a wonderful learning experience. I'm starting to think of themes for next years book already!
I was lucky enough to order tons of new books for our classrooms and library over the past few months. The most popular books lately seem to be graphic novels. The library has all sorts of graphic novels that the students really seem to enjoy. Whether it's about teen troubles, war, or anime, it's flying off the shelves! During the day, I spend a lot of my free time researching, mostly through blogs or reading teacher resources on behavior etc. I also do a lot of crafts. The kids and some staff members now see me as an "artistic" person even though I've never been able to call myself that. It's awesome when people come asking for favors to draw certain things or think up different design options for projects and so on. My library is FULL of things I've drawn or remastered. I hate empty walls! My all time favourite activity in the library still remains reading to students. Today, my afternoon will be jam packed full of little ones waiting at the carpet for me to come and read a book with them. It's always cool when they come to me afterwards saying "I'm taking home the book you read to us today!"
As for my life outside the library- Back in September, I decided to apply for my masters degree in Library and Information Studies (yes, I do not have that yet I am still working here and doing a fine job!) and in March, I was not accepted for the program. It was a huge blow but I know that maybe it isn't for me. Maybe something else will come along that I will need to work towards. Who knows what is in the cards for me. (funny to say that, just before the bad news, a friend of mine read my tarot cards and negative news was in the cards!) On the plus side, my partner and I went on an awesome trip down to Arizona and back up through Colorado. We called ourselves "Spring Break Geological Tourists" because we were basically looking at mountain ranges and rocks the entire way. The most amazing part of the trip would have been how drastic the landscape changes through Arizona and New Mexico. It was breathtaking 100% of the way (even through Wyoming!) and it was always exciting not knowing what was around every turn. Those are my favourite types of trips. Our next trip is to Minneapolis to see the Jays vs. Twins on May Long! After that, CHURCHILL!!!
8 more weeks until 2 months without these kids. I'm going to miss them! I hope all school librarians out there are gearing up for a busy two months!
Jennie
Tuesday 1 March 2016
A New Leaf
There is not a soul in this library right now and it is very eerie. I both enjoy and loathe when there is nobody in here to talk to!
As I was typing that, someone came in. Now to deal with writers block. Who am I kidding, am I a writer? Nope. Moving on.
February was bonkers. As many librarians know, it is time to celebrate what we deal with most. Reading! I Love to Read Month was a great time. A big group of staff members collaborated on different activities, reading challenges, guest readers, celebrations and so on. I was in charge of three things:
As I was typing that, someone came in. Now to deal with writers block. Who am I kidding, am I a writer? Nope. Moving on.
February was bonkers. As many librarians know, it is time to celebrate what we deal with most. Reading! I Love to Read Month was a great time. A big group of staff members collaborated on different activities, reading challenges, guest readers, celebrations and so on. I was in charge of three things:
- Book Swap! Any students or staff could bring in books from home and swap them for other books that other students or staff brought in. It was a great success, at the end of the swapping, I had an announcement made that all the leftover books were FREE! All I could hear was a stampede of tiny feet come crashing through the door. They were grabbing at the books like wild animals. It was the coolest thing I've seen on this job so far. The rest of the books were donated.
- Scholastic Book Fair: This was very fun but also very stressful. The toughest part was organizing each class to come in and choose a book for the classroom on behalf of the school board (270 books!) and then another 270 chosen by each student to take home on behalf of our school. The kids' eyes were so bright all week as they browsed through the selection. Of course, the most popular was the boutique items and the school tools. We made a bit of money and got tons of new books for the classrooms and for home. I'm not sure I would do it again next year, as they did not send enough selection or copies of each. What ended up happening was I had to order 20 copies of the Minecraft Combat handbook when the kids didn't choose some of the other books that were part of the book fair. I'm now waiting on another shipment from Scholastic even though they haven't come to pick up the leftovers from last week yet. Quite the hassle.
- PICTURES! Lots of photo taking all month long. I had basketball photos, rugby, I Love to Read Month celebrations, Valentines Day and Dress Up Fridays to cover. A lot of late nights and weekend afternoons spent here at work. It's all for an amazing cause however, the yearbook is looking amazing so far, in my opinion!
Now that all of that is all said and done. I have to sort and hand out the rest of the new Scholastic shipment, hopefully arriving this week. Tomorrow is a half day of PD and it doesn't seem to apply to me, since the meetings will be in the library, I will plunk myself in the staff room and get a few yearbook pages finished. Only 17 days until March Break..yes I know, the month just began. It's crazy to think a year ago I was taking days off from my old job to come here for my interview. Life has been a crazy awesome happy emotional roller coaster since! I wouldn't change this job for anything. Okay, too sappy.
As for life, slacking a bit on the gym but eating healthier than ever, does that help? A few weeks ago my partner and a few of his friends won this crazy trip up north to Churchill this summer. I get to tag along! 2 days on the train each way, kayaking with belugas and tundra buggying around. It will be an amazing way to kick off summer. Hopefully going to get a dog after that!!!! Starting an indoor seed starter garden in the house in the next coming weeks, went to a pottery class, book club meetings, tax returns $$$ woo! All is well. You wouldn't think I'm 23 years old eh?
Jennie
Monday 18 January 2016
Blue Monday..Apparently
According to the radio station on my way in to work today, the third Monday of January is in fact, the most depressing day of the year. I won't let that get in my way today however! After a particular grizzly day on Friday (more on that soon) I'm ready to take this week by storm. I will admit that I could have used another half hour of sleep this morning, but that is now behind me.
Happy New Year! My holidays were awesome. Very relaxing and friend-oriented. The second last day of school was cancelled which meant so was the Christmas Banquet. I had lots of time off from yearbook stuffs. I brought everything home over the break but who was I kidding? I got nothing done. Christmas was amazing, my partner's family got us kayaks to share among the family. I felt very special. Lots of bad-for-you food was eaten, but I stayed on top of my gym visits for the most part. We also did a lot of snowshoeing which was great for the ol' thighs. I missed my family back home but I got to talk on the phone a lot!
We are now two weeks back into the swing of things and a lot has and is happening. The first week back I spent most of my time on yearbook pages. I managed to perfectly upload all the school pictures and get their grade pages sorted out. Still waiting on some surveys but they will come in eventually (I hope) I started a journal on what we need to do, what we need from people, and what we still need to design. It isn't so bad. My least favourite pages as of now are the sports. I'm not a sporty person so writing about them is really tough. My biggest hope is that when all of this is over, I won't dread starting from scratch again next year. So far, it's been quite stressful, but I often over-stress on everything. Last week, I focused more on library things. I find when I am doing yearbook pages, I zone out of what is happening around me. So I will try to do yearbook things every second week.
Now that all of the happenings are cleared up, I can talk about my crazy Friday. On Thursday, we finally had the Christmas Banquet. I came to school for 8:30am, worked until 3:30, had a staff meeting until 5, went for supper, and then the dance was held from 7 until 11. It was tons of fun, my partner and I (he is a teacher here) supervised and laughed and danced in our seats until it was time to leave. I also had the responsibility of taking the photos for the yearbook. When I got home, I tossed and turned until about 1:30am. When I woke up on Friday, I went to work on my own and was extremely groggy. I had some coffee and made a plan of what I was going to do during the day. I was going to be a fun day. I started by chitchatting with the kids and emptying the camera on to the computer. I sorted the grades 6-8 sports pictures and put the SD card back into the camera. I thought "oh I'm all done!" and deleted everything...the dance pictures disappeared too. I immediately send out about 6 e-mails of cries for help. I freaked out a bit, had to stop drinking coffee and eat some real food and calm down. Lots of people attempted to help. That one event sent my day into a downward spiral. At lunch, I completely forgot to set up an assembly for an air-force troop to come in and discuss futures in the military with kids. The rest of the day I had zero patience and appetite.
Once I finally made it home, with the SD card in hand, I started to feel funny. I still did not want to eat anything, and I felt glued to the kitchen chair. My partner and I were discussing whether I would like to go see his hockey game or if I wanted to go to the gym, I couldn't decide what I wanted. I just wanted to sit on a chair. I finally made it to the couch, where my legs began to seize up and my heart was literally thumping. I remember saying "I think I'm having a panic attack" I began to focus on some trees in the backyard, and I began to speak about what was clouding my mind (lack of money and work stresses mostly) All of a sudden, the trees became black (it had gotten dark out) and I began to cry. I couldn't breathe, my hands were as heavy as lead, and my legs could not move whatsoever. This went on for about 15 minutes. Huge shout out to my partner for being super awesome and consoling during this time.
Now I don't want to just be another one of those people who post constantly about anxiety disorders and depression but I do feel as though what happened on Friday was an overload of emotions and fear. It was not an isolated event as I often worry about a lot of factors in my life. This panic attack has brought me to reading a lot about what it means to have one and the signs that an attack is coming. You can find out about what happened and what could happen to you or someone close to you here. When everything was said and done, I felt really tired. I watched some tv, took a shower and decided to journal. My way of journaling is probably not therapeutic but I like to make lists. I decided to make a list of who I am. I wrote about 80 facts about myself, mostly positive, and then I fell into a peaceful sleep. The rest of the weekend was great, I had almost forgotten what had happened. And guess what, I got all the pictures back that I had deleted (shoutout to the previous yearbook advisor and DiskDigger)
Now I can focus on the week and making this "Blue Monday" a not so depressing blue!
I will be writing a post in the next week or so about our school's plan for I Love To Read Month!
TAKE CARE!
Happy New Year! My holidays were awesome. Very relaxing and friend-oriented. The second last day of school was cancelled which meant so was the Christmas Banquet. I had lots of time off from yearbook stuffs. I brought everything home over the break but who was I kidding? I got nothing done. Christmas was amazing, my partner's family got us kayaks to share among the family. I felt very special. Lots of bad-for-you food was eaten, but I stayed on top of my gym visits for the most part. We also did a lot of snowshoeing which was great for the ol' thighs. I missed my family back home but I got to talk on the phone a lot!
We are now two weeks back into the swing of things and a lot has and is happening. The first week back I spent most of my time on yearbook pages. I managed to perfectly upload all the school pictures and get their grade pages sorted out. Still waiting on some surveys but they will come in eventually (I hope) I started a journal on what we need to do, what we need from people, and what we still need to design. It isn't so bad. My least favourite pages as of now are the sports. I'm not a sporty person so writing about them is really tough. My biggest hope is that when all of this is over, I won't dread starting from scratch again next year. So far, it's been quite stressful, but I often over-stress on everything. Last week, I focused more on library things. I find when I am doing yearbook pages, I zone out of what is happening around me. So I will try to do yearbook things every second week.
Now that all of the happenings are cleared up, I can talk about my crazy Friday. On Thursday, we finally had the Christmas Banquet. I came to school for 8:30am, worked until 3:30, had a staff meeting until 5, went for supper, and then the dance was held from 7 until 11. It was tons of fun, my partner and I (he is a teacher here) supervised and laughed and danced in our seats until it was time to leave. I also had the responsibility of taking the photos for the yearbook. When I got home, I tossed and turned until about 1:30am. When I woke up on Friday, I went to work on my own and was extremely groggy. I had some coffee and made a plan of what I was going to do during the day. I was going to be a fun day. I started by chitchatting with the kids and emptying the camera on to the computer. I sorted the grades 6-8 sports pictures and put the SD card back into the camera. I thought "oh I'm all done!" and deleted everything...the dance pictures disappeared too. I immediately send out about 6 e-mails of cries for help. I freaked out a bit, had to stop drinking coffee and eat some real food and calm down. Lots of people attempted to help. That one event sent my day into a downward spiral. At lunch, I completely forgot to set up an assembly for an air-force troop to come in and discuss futures in the military with kids. The rest of the day I had zero patience and appetite.
Once I finally made it home, with the SD card in hand, I started to feel funny. I still did not want to eat anything, and I felt glued to the kitchen chair. My partner and I were discussing whether I would like to go see his hockey game or if I wanted to go to the gym, I couldn't decide what I wanted. I just wanted to sit on a chair. I finally made it to the couch, where my legs began to seize up and my heart was literally thumping. I remember saying "I think I'm having a panic attack" I began to focus on some trees in the backyard, and I began to speak about what was clouding my mind (lack of money and work stresses mostly) All of a sudden, the trees became black (it had gotten dark out) and I began to cry. I couldn't breathe, my hands were as heavy as lead, and my legs could not move whatsoever. This went on for about 15 minutes. Huge shout out to my partner for being super awesome and consoling during this time.
Now I don't want to just be another one of those people who post constantly about anxiety disorders and depression but I do feel as though what happened on Friday was an overload of emotions and fear. It was not an isolated event as I often worry about a lot of factors in my life. This panic attack has brought me to reading a lot about what it means to have one and the signs that an attack is coming. You can find out about what happened and what could happen to you or someone close to you here. When everything was said and done, I felt really tired. I watched some tv, took a shower and decided to journal. My way of journaling is probably not therapeutic but I like to make lists. I decided to make a list of who I am. I wrote about 80 facts about myself, mostly positive, and then I fell into a peaceful sleep. The rest of the weekend was great, I had almost forgotten what had happened. And guess what, I got all the pictures back that I had deleted (shoutout to the previous yearbook advisor and DiskDigger)
Now I can focus on the week and making this "Blue Monday" a not so depressing blue!
I will be writing a post in the next week or so about our school's plan for I Love To Read Month!
TAKE CARE!
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