National Library Week, Texas Library Association Conference, and Eagle's Nest Oh My!

 It might be the middle of March, but I am already looking at my calendar and thinking about ALL the different things that are on my to-do list for the next two and a half months.

Like many of us, I have lots on that list!

First Up:

National Library Week

Working in a High School I am always looking for different ways to engage the students and staff. I am doing some repeats from the last couple of years, but I also have a few new things up my sleeve. You can find lots of ideas and information from the ALA Website I took some of their days and created my own.

You can find the CANVA TEMPLATE HERE--------->

Library Week 2024 by akbusybee

Since the 8th the theme is Right to Read and also Total Solar Eclipse- I am going to have an easy bookmark for students to make.  Our area is in the path of totality.

Materials Needed:

-Bookmark

-Glue

-Foil

-Yellow Paper

-I used Avery 5523 Labels for the sticker- you can see my template here

Tuesday- National Library Worker Day- The Cardwell Library is stuck on our staff and students so I will have free water bottle stickers for people that stop by.

Wednesday- Library Outreach- I will be passing out free books and bookmarks

Thursday- Take Action for Libraries- I am going to invite people to write something they are thankful for on Post it Notes

Friday- I am going to do a Bookface Friday

Now- I hope that people participate, but I also know it is a hit or miss.  Most importantly- I have discovered that the more consistent that I am the more participation there is. 

With the end of National Library Week I have a Destination ImagiNation team going to state.. and then I roll into the Texas Library Association Conference

Texas Library Association Conference

I have already planned out a tentative schedule ready to go, but there are SO many amazing sessions!

I am pretty excited that I also get to share on Tuesday morning for Beyond the Books: Community-Driven Secondary Library Programming.  I am also working on setting up a modified Book Basket Exchange.  I know when we go to conferences we get a ton of new books, but the idea behind the book exchange is each person brings their favorite read from the last year, a bookmark that goes with it along with a small trinket.  Are you going to TLA and interested in participating?  Fill out the form here---> https://bit.ly/txla24bookexchange

Are you attending TLA? What sessions are you looking forward to? One of my favorite part of any conference is learning from others, meeting people that you have connected with through social media, and recharging yourself.

Right after TLA is the North Texas Teen Book Festival.  Another favorite day of mine! If you have not heard of NTTBF- be sure to check out this free event.

The Eagle's Nest

One of the things I love about being a librarian is working with all different students.  As the years have gone by the students have changed along with their needs.  In my current role, I have a handful of students that are either parents or soon to be parents.  Reading is such an important skill and we all know that reading starts young and at home.  I have created The Eagle's Nest as a monthly story time for these new parents. 

During this time I have stuffed animals that we use as the children.  We talk about how to interact with your child, how to pick out books, and how to read to your child.  I also share the resources that our district has along with the resources that Irving Public Library has.  During this time we also do a practice story time.  The last one we had was all about spring.  During the story time we did a song, read a book, practiced reading a book and also a hand print craft.  I sent home with each student a kit for their own handprint craft, a book and also a print out of the song and how to choose books.

I held the first two during the school day, but plan to hold the next one after school so the students can bring their kiddos with them.  I am also so happy that I did the practice handprint craft, because I forget that we need to teach all the things.  The next week I had one of the students share a video of her doing the handprint craft with her 8 month old. 

I can't wait to see this program grow!

What are some of your favorite programs?  What are you most excited about this spring semester?

I know this blog was chock full of information, and my days are going to continue to stay long!  Did I mention that this is only April?

September and October in the Library

Well, here it is November.. and I realize I hadn't taken the time to catch up what is going on in Libraryland! There are LOTS of pictures in this post.. but I wanted to share! I have had some awesome volunteers that come in once a week, Dot Day, bulletin boards, pumpkin contests, book fair, book fairies and MORE!
Good news... I PASSED my certification test! I find out tomorrow if  I passed my portfolio.. after that it is just to finish up my practicum and one more large assignment for my public library class!

I first wanted to share what my awesome 18+3C kiddos have been doing! I have a group of 3 young adults that come in once a week.  They are students in a work based type program that have high functioning abilities. I LOVE THEM! They have taken over this cubby.  During the month of September they made an I spy board by cutting out pieces of magazines for students to find the different items.  During October they made this awesome word search.. and right now it is a bubble map of Thanksgiving items (I will try to post pictures later)

 These kiddos made the decorations for the specials trunk or treat car! It was There is a Frog in my Throat.  They made the teeth and tongue.. and my awesome art teacher made the frog!

 I try to have very organized tasks to be done.  This is a GREAT one!  I printed off letters and lay them out.  I then have the students sort the books by alphabetical order.  This is my green dot (easy reader books) but I also got super overwhelmed with my fiction books.. so they sorted those too!  They are so good at shelving these easy readers too!

I LOVE having this group of students come in and help me out!  They also help me set up for Destination ImagiNation and help me pull books for seasons.  They just pulled almost all of my Thanksgiving books.

We celebrated Dot Day during meet the teacher this year.  I am so thankful for my art teacher... because she is always up for an adventure!  For our sign in, we had students and parents make their own dot on a paper.  We only had 2 stations this year, but we had over 150 people come through!
One station we used a compass and a paint brush and the other used a different type of compass and pencils.  We had cardstock set out.. and the pieces of artwork turned out awesome!

We had new books come in, but I wanted to make sure to have a teacher preview first! This year the theme was Reading Takes Us Places. Last year I did a New Bookstache party.  I had a check in station where teachers wrote their name down and I did a drawing for Scholastic Book Fair gift certificates.  I also had In Flight Snacks-it had drinks, cookies and pretzels. I then put all the new books out for staff to peruse.  I really try to get all the staff in because I want them to be invested as well.

Had to share my October bulletin boards. We also had book character pumpkin contest.  I divide it by k/1/2, 3/4/5 and a family group.  It was hard for the judges to choose the winners, so we had several ties.  In October we also had Camp Read A Lot and book fair. This is a HUGE event!  During Camp Read A Lot the school sets up tents in the gym that are different genres.  We also have the book fair.  This year we added Trunk or Treat.. so the Instructional Leadership Team became book fairies!

The Instructional Leadership Team Book Fairies.. minus one.

OMG! I also got a ukulele!! I LOVE using it in kindergarten library time.. and I am currently working on a grant to get some ukes in the library! More info to come after I finish the grant process.

One more picture for good measure! Last year my husband came and read to the 1st graders for Halloween.  This year, however, it just wasn't going to work out.  However.. he DID make it to my Girl Scout meeting! I do believe the girls loved it!

A Texas Librarian Association Convention Adventure- Part 1 Tech Camp

As I sit in the hotel room with the bag of ice on my ankle that is propped up and uploading the 60 pictures from 2 days, I realize that the blog for #TXLA17 needs to be at least 2 parts!

This year TXLA17 took place in San Antonio, and I was SO excited!  I was going to be able to mark off one of my items on my #40by40 list (attending a ghost tour), hang out with some amazing people, meet some amazing librarian friends face to face.. and LEARN a ton! Last year was my first time to attend TXLA, but I was an instructional technology specialist, so learned through a different lens. Being a "baby" librarian this year, I knew I was going to have a whole new outlook!

The Sunday before TXLA (Easter Sunday), I was bringing some items down the stairs and missed the last 2 steps.  Yes, we have lived in this house for over 12 years.. and I guess I forgot about those last 2 steps! After a visit to the ER, I was  now a proud owner of a beautiful boot, extremely sprained ankle, and knee scooter.

So, this week started off a little tougher.. and as a Busy Bee, I became more of a turtle.  It didn't stop the learning! Now, I could not have even made it to the convention center without this girl right here! Skye Bryant is one amazing librarian that has mentored me from afar, but during TXLA became the "donkey" to help get me around!

Skye Bryant one amazing and talented librarian!

 The first day of the conference I had a chance to attend TXLA Tech Camp (go check out the #TXLA17tc hashtag, OMG.. the learning was amazing!)  I was so excited to finally meet some librarians that I have known online for a couple of years face to face! I also do love a selfie.. and these are only part of the pictures! I do believe that I will be making a movie of all the pictures.

Sherry Gick is a Mover and a Shaker!

Nikki D. Robertson is another INSPIRING Librarian!

Renee Newry is my official mentor librarian.. and I don't know what I would do without her!

Amy Mayer is that crazy cool kid that I met several years ago, and am continually mind blown when I hear her speak! Not only that.. she is a ROCKSTAR!

 I was able to attend the Keynote that morning with Hadi Partovi the founder of Code.org and then 3 sessions.  I had to miss the last one to get ready for my poster session! Here are my "sketchnotes" of the day.

Although I learned a ton (and my brain is still swimming!) I wanted to share my top five take aways!

1. I have done CODE.org with students and the curriculum (which.. is amazing), but I need to collaborate with my ITS to get this started again!
2. Make more interactive displays! What a great idea for a makerspace that can be done with just some butcher paper!
3. Have students sign up for displays in the library (I think that I am going to do something like this next year to go along with sponsoring a shelf in the library)
4. Begin to help students understand the importance of having a digital portfolio and not just a resume. A transcript only shows letters and numbers, but a portfolio shows what and who a student (or person) is.
5. Using Google Classroom to do a "flipped" style learning for the library (and for bookfair too!)

Of course there are so many other things that I learned.  From every session I heard.. the library is the place to give a student voice and choice.  As librarians, we have an important job of making sure that every student or patron has the opportunity to create, be heard, and be welcomed.

Did you attend TXLA17tc or TXLA17?  What were your take aways? My next few blogs will be over my LIFE Lessons in the Library Poster Session and other take ideas from the conference.

Oh.. and even though I was on a knee scooter.. with the help of the amazing Skye and other people on the tour.. I was able to "walk" on the walking Ghost Tour.  If you are ever in  San Antonio.. I would HIGHLY Recommend Sisters Grimm Ghost Tour! They shared great history.. great stories.. and were as accommodating as could be. Now.. on a knee scooter.. it was pretty tough (unless you have the all-terrain one) love that San Antonio is original and beautiful..but cobblestone is not the greatest when it comes to the knee scooter.

The crew on the Ghost Tour!

I Do So Love LibraryLand a Librarian I am!

Did you like my little play on Dr. Seuss? I need to get better at blogging more than once a month! Of course this busy bee has been busy with everything! Destination ImagiNation season just ended. I had the 3rd grade team.. we stayed busy and I hope they had a good time (I know I did!)
This being my first year I haven't done the greatest at displays.. so I am trying to change that! I am very thankful for Teachers Pay Teachers right now. (I am not getting paid anything to promote these items, but I wanted to share what I used and where I found it)

Here was my Black History Month bulletin board for February.

Loved these posters that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers

For March, I found some great resources for posters on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Loved this set of printable posters from Teachers Pay Teachers

I found several great sets on Teachers Pay Teachers and put them into a book that is next to the display.  You can find them here and here.

During the month of February I wasn't able to schedule a Late Night in the Library, but I did have a modified Late Night in the Library during Open House.  Even better it was Read Across America Day. I purchased all of my library helpers a shirt that said Elliott Librarian Helper I Am.  They practice reading to students and each had a classroom to read to.  We had to reschedule our reading time to this week (they were really bummed.. but I think they will live)

During Open House I had a photo booth station set up with the theme Oh The Places You Will Go and of course I had a STEM challenge set up.  I loved this idea of Cat in the Hat Cup Stacking.  Easy peasy set up and clean up! Now, I have to admit I think the parents had more fun doing this than the kids (and I might admit.. there was some standing on tables and chairs.. and some parents put their kids on their back) I LOVED IT!! They measured and recorded how tall their tower was.  I love seeing the parents work with their kids.  It is my favorite part of Late Night in the Library

Easy set up 

A small tower

Photo Booth set up

Display outside my door

Newest bulletin board put up by our awesome parent liaison.  The pictures are photos of the new 2x2 and Bluebonnet books.

How did you celebrate Read Across America?  What do you do for displays and how often do you change them out?  I will blog again soon about the different lessons that have been going on in the library (4th and 5th grade Drama, LIFE text features, 2nd grade Nouns and so much more!)

Late Night in the Library-January

What the What! I made it through the first semester of library land! If only I could write down all the stories (because.. man there have been some funny ones.. and some are not for the faint of heart!)
One of the first days back.. I was feeling pretty cute (wearing all my new LuLaRoe) I said good morning to a kiddo in the hallway.  She replied back with a good morning and then a compliment of I look like a librarian! I asked her if that was good or bad.. and she responded.. good you just look like an elementary librarian with all the layering.  My wondering.. what did I look like before?

On the first week back we hosted our Late Night in the Library to get ready for the upcoming science fair.  I forgot to snap pictures of my awesome counterparts Madden and Poe (which I can't believe.. I mean.. I love a selfie!) We set out resources for science fair projects, logged computers on to Science Buddies.org

I only had 2 stations up and running this time.. I blame it on the fact that I actually took the whole break off! The two stations were uber easy to set up as they only required index cards, tapes and scissors.

Index Tower

Can you fit inside a index card

The first station was Index Tower.  Patrons were asked to build a tower as tall as they could be using only 3 index cards.  These towers had to stand for 30 seconds before they could get measured.  Once measured we added the height on our dry erase board.  I LOVED watching parents work with their students.  It makes my heart SO HAPPY!!!

So.. the second station was a flop.  I am going to chalk it up to me not being completely prepared.  On stations like these.. I don't make samples as I want the students and parents to work it out. I usually still try to make one so I can then help as needed.  This one.. I should have made but didn't.  The object is to cut an index card so you can wear it.  See the website here for more ideas. I did have one family cut it so it was a headband.  I also had a couple of other students create hats :)

There were 29 people that came to this cold Late Night in the Library!

All of the measurements

An awesome cap a student made

Measuring their tower

At the end of this month I am working with our art teacher and we are going to have extended hours on a Friday to celebrate Chinese New Year.  Bluebonnet voting is this month. I am also attending my first librarian conference as a LIBRARIAN! I will be going to Lite up Conference on the 19th. I am even co-presenting with another amazing librarian!

This semester is going to be a busy one with more Late Nights, Destination ImagiNation, TXLA.. and of course 2 more classes at TWU (omg.. classes start next week!)

Here are the station signs I used (Have I mentioned I love Canva)