A Little Overwhelmed

I was quite honored actually to even be asked by my district to attend ISTE.  There are certain contradictions in the district.  Being told in March or April that the proposed budget will probably eliminate your position, surviving that but then being told your ed tech will not be rehired, but yes we'll spend thousands of dollars to send you and some other colleagues to ISTE.

Anyway, I came home yesterday a bit overwhelmed.  So many ideas, vendors, apps, websites and ideas buzzing.  Then of course there were dishes to do, bags to unpack, and bills to pay.  I have a teenage daughter - nuff said.  And it is summer...last summer I was taking two classes and had to weave into my collection at Willard (which had been 4-6) the collection of a grade 1-3 school that closed.  With no storage the only option was to try and get everything on the shelves.  My whole month of August was consumed.  Then I got sick - anaplasmosis (good short research project for you) which resulted in me rupturing my spleen, lifeflight, missing 6 weeks of school.  The whole rest of the year was spent playing catch up - weeding duplicate copies from the older school, weeding really outdated copies, etc.  So, yeah I need a break and I don;t want to spend my whole summer working on library stuff.  I am still taking a class - last one for my degree.  I am on the Maine Student Book Award Committee and need to be readinh 2014 titles for that.  I constantly struggle with my weight so exercise is important.  And I live on a pond - kayak, swim, lay out.  So yeah - overwhelmed.  Trying to balance it all...do one thing at a time....prioritize...

Anyone else feel the same way?

Why Peeps?

  

This blog is not about Easter candy.  For people unfamiliar with Spring Peepers they are small frogs that are found in the eastern US and Canada.  Peepers are quite small but are very loud when they all peep together.  So...I am blogging about frogs???  No, this blog is my reflections on being a school librarian actually.  As my students and friends know, I love frogs.  I have a frog laptop cover, my phone cover has a frog, there are frog decorations in my library and at home, and I have a few frogs at home as pets. What do frogs have to do with being a librarian?  I feel like I am small at times.  I fit the librarian stereotype in some ways as well...I tend to be introverted and quiet unless I get to know you and am really passionate about something.  And I am passionate about school libraries.  I love connecting students with books so I truly love that part of my job but I also love teaching students how to use new technology, information literacy skills, and assisting the teachers in my school with their instructional needs.  So a peeper...small but insistent, repetitive, noisy as a group.  I feel like I need to keep up my constant peeping about what I am about and what I am doing in my library. School librarians are well aware of the stereotypes and misunderstandings about what we do.  I hope my vocal peeps will help others know about what I am doing in my school library and that my other library peeps will spread the word as well.  Will you join the chorus of my library peeps and peep about what you are doing in your school library?