Fall Festival and Book Preview for Teachers

I love being involved and on the go, and this last week was one busy week.. and one where I had a booked calendar. Along with all the after school things there was still regular library schedule.
October 26th- Set up the book fair
October 27th- I participated in the North Texas Library Expo. It was a great day of learning! I shared 2 presentations.  U is for Uke...Beyond the Book Club and co-presented Keeping It All Together.
October 29th- Girl Scout Meeting.  This meeting we learned about the Teal Pumpkin Project
October 31st- Destination ImagiNation meeting
November 1st- Uke Can Do It Club Meeting and our schools fall festival
November 2nd- took down the book fair and had goodies for teachers.. and then met my Girl Scout troop for an overnight at ATT Stadium in Arlington.  (I did finally win a workweek fitbit challenge this week!)
This weekend I have slept!

I do love to stay busy, but I also like to be successful.  In order for me to be successful I am a planner!
Fall Festival
The idea behind the fall festival was to create an event where parents and students could learn about the different content areas, learn about what our school has to offer, do activities, shop the book fair, and earn a free dress day in the process.  Each content area was asked to create a tri-fold board that showcased their content (guys.. these boards that the content teams created looked AWESOME!) Each content area was also asked to host a game.  Now.. remember.. I am in a middle school now.  I like things that are easy set up.. easy clean up.. and also fun for students and teachers.  I created this editable Google spreadsheet for departments to sign up for station and then disperse the duties.  There were some GREAT treats for staff that helped.

I know how busy teachers are.. so I tried to have everything together and ready to go for them. I created another Google Spreadsheet that included the time, area, needs, materials, set up and clean up. I also printed this off and taped to the back of the station signs I created. 

A program that I use a ton is Canva.  All my materials for the Fall Festival were created in Canva and used the free features. I also created all of the flyers and images in Canva to use for promotions.

One of the station signs

Punch card for students to turn in

Book Fair promotion. Using Canva and Bitmoji

Student council station

Overall I feel like the Fall Festival was a success. It was my first one to work on in a new school. One thing I know about myself... I LOVE planning these things.. but man.. I get so overwhelmed! I cried at least 4 times on Thursday.  I also am always worried about what people will think and if they will still like me when I come up with these crazy ideas.  I know I can't do things on my own.. and I know I need help.  I had lots of nightmares leading up to this event (almost like the first day of school)
Things for next year:
-Training Student volunteers better
-Having people to help direct traffic better
-Stagger which way people are going. Some places got super packed super fast!
-Promote more for parents to come

This is the back of a sign that includes the station breakdown

The Public Library even had a station!

On Friday we had a PLC day.  I also just finished receiving all my new books to add to the library this year.  So, I decided that on Friday, I would have goodies for the teachers! I used Piktochart (my other favorite product!) to create these.  I put notes in teachers boxes and invited them to come at any point during Friday for a cup of coffee (or hot chocolate) and teacake cookies and to take a look at all of the new books that are about to be added!

I loved that I even saw some educators that don't always make it up to the library!
I ended the week spending the night with my Girl Scout troop at ATT Stadium.

I am forever grateful the people that go along with my crazy ideas and let me be me.  I love what I do.. and I am a super happy person, but real talk guys.. I am one that has a ton of self doubt and anxiety.  I know I am quirky.. but I am always afraid I am too quirky and too needy.  I love programming and planning because I feel as it is a way to prove to myself and others that I am successful.

What whole school programming have you done in middle school? I am always looking for ideas!

Who I Am

I know that TLA ended last Saturday.. but the thoughts have been swirling in my head.

I recently had a friend post that what happened to 90's country music? I grew up in a small town (Canyon, Texas) and lived out in the country.  I had the same thought and my Spotify playlist became 90's country.  I digress.. this post really is about TLA.. but this song came up in my feed today, and it reminded me that no matter where I am.. I am lucky enough to have people that surround me to push me to be Who I Am (check out the lyrics here) (really.. this song does tie in with the blog!)

Thursday started a little later, because I was being more of a turtle than the rest of the time!  I went to a FANTASTIC session over Sribblers: Creative Writing in the Community.  These 2 ladies had a fantastic idea about creating spaces for creative writing outside of the library.. and using the community.  I will be incorporating this into Late Night in the Library next year!

I also attended the session where the Irving Public Librarians shared how they started working together using Pixar's ideas.  I even won the book Creativity Inc.  I am super lucky to work in a district that collaborates with public libraries and community members.  I ended the day with a lovely group of women with Scholastic Trueflix..so many great resources!

Friday I was up and moving a little bit faster!  Oh my goodness.. each day was amazing and  I learned so much.. but guys.. Friday was AMAZING!!!!!
It started with a session from Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell over Building Blocks of Language Learning.  I can't wait to check their books out of my own library and use them!

Of course the next session I had to make it to was with Peter Reynolds.. and an amazing panel that included Melissa Sweet, Bob Shea, Peter Reynolds, Isabel Quintero, and Patrick McDonnell.  Such great books to share with students.

My brain sort of exploded with Tiffany Whitehead (aka.. Mighty Little Librarian.. and I can't believe that I failed to get a selfie with her!)  Although I LOVE technology.. and it is my first masters, this is an area that I struggle with in my own library.

The end of the day came with a keynote that had me laughing.. and then crying.. and then laughing again.  I could sit and listen to a good storyteller, and Carmen Agra Deedy was just that.  She spoke of her own journey and her library experience.  Now, the video here is not her exact speech.. because I was able to listen to her amazing storytelling for almost an hour.

During this keynote, I looked around at all the librarians that are changing the world.  I looked around and saw that the people in this room are making a difference.  Every educator whether in a private or public school has a hard job.. but guys.. being a Librarian is one of the toughest and most amazing jobs I have ever had.  As she said "Did you know the moment you were born, somewhere in a dusty corner of the world a book was written just for you."  As a librarian I have the chance to touch lives of hundreds of students every day... help them find stories and adventures in the pages of a book.  The library is a place where all are welcome no matter the background, social status or beliefs.

I am thankful for each adventure I have had to get me to library land.  I know that I have so much to learn.. and so much to do.  But.. I am a spitting image of my father and my mom is my biggest fan.. and I have friends that love me for Who I Am.

I do have one more TLA blog coming up over Life Lessons in the Library!

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!)