knitting librarian

Christmas today was amazing. AJ has really gotten into the joy and excitement of Christmas and was beside himself this morning. We told him that we were going to wait for Nonna and Pop to come before we opened presents. They went to see Ryan open his presents at 8am and got here by 10am. Last night, AJ got some gifts from my cousins and aunt and uncle. One was a game where you try to collect the fewest monkeys from a tree while pulling picks out of the tree. The monkeys remind me of miniature cocktail monkeys. We played the game this morning in bed until about 9:45 when we got up to get ready for the grandparents arrival. I won the first time and lost the second game. AJ won the second and then gave me the requisite “I won! You lost! HA HA!”

Despite planning to do very little for Christmas this year in the spirit of staying on budget, our tree was bursting with gifts. I got some lovely earrings from John and another set from the kids. John got a DVD he’s been requesting for years, in addition to a few other requested gifts. At least the movie was a surprise. AJ got the Green Ranger he was hoping for and a hat that I knit for him and embroidered with a Spider-man spider. He also got a long note from Santa which he was very excited about hearing.

We’re so fortunate to have all that we need and more. I count my blessings every day for my wonderful husband, children, and our extended families. Thank you Lord for the blessings you’ve bestowed on me and for the greatest gift of all, Your Son. Merry Christmas everyone.

Tonight we went to Applebee’s because AJ hadn’t been to see Santa anywhere yet and it was a way to get it done. He was resistant on the way, insisting that he wanted a happy meal so he could get a new bionicle. (He’s such a consumer!)

When we got into the vestibule, we could see Santa sitting there on a chair inside the door. AJ’s eyes got so big and he was so excited! We went inside and he immediately said “Hi Santa!” Santa did a good job of talking to AJ and making it clear that he remembered him and that he’d grown so much and was a big brother now—Santa is excellent at deductive reasoning! Somewhere in the course of the conversation, AJ said, “Santa, do you remember my name?” and Santa said, “Do I remember your name? How could I forget a good boy like you! AJ, what is your name? It’s AJ right?”

Santa also talked about how much he’d grown since last year and as he wandered through the restaurant, he checked in to see that AJ was eating all of his food and told him he’d be watching him. One of the times past, AJ asked how did the elves feed the reindeer and Santa had an answer about corn and hay and that they were getting strong and rested for the busy night next week. He was by far the best Santa we’ve seen (as far as amount of interaction and effort) in the 5 Christmases we’ve done. I was pleased and I know AJ was too.

He never told Santa what he wanted but told us at the table that Santa would know just what he wanted. I asked, “Does that mean that whatever Santa chooses you’ll be happy with?” and he said yes! Maybe I can avoid another trip to the store to find a Power Ranger after all!

The other adorable thing AJ said tonight was “Santa has two beards, a real one on his chin and a fake one under his nose, but that’s okay.” I explained that the beard under Santa’s nose was a mustache.

Three Steps to Eliminating Teacher Technophobia | 21st Century Connections

This article really got me thinking about what else I can do to help my faculty meet student needs in their classrooms. There was a time when I did collect weblinks and dutifully put them on webpages divided by subject area. Recently I’ve been in the habit of cutting and pasting useful links to the appropriate teachers and discarding my list. Perhaps I need to revise/revisit that thinking.

I’m trying to figure out if there’s a way we can work this into the library grant proposal we’re working on. We missed a meeting last week because of a snow day—but at this point I think it’s a good thing. I’ve been a brainstorming fool since that missed meeting: thinking of all of the things I’d do with that money if I were the king queen of the grant budget!

Some of the things I’ve sent off to be added to the list:

I personally would love to see adoption of and training district-wide on the Big6 problem solving (and research) model. There is a Little3 version for elementary level. Many districts and states have adopted the Big6 and connected it to their information literacy and technology curriculum. (from the Big6 website)
” What is the Big6™?
Developed by educators Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, the Big6 is the most widely-known and widely-used approach to teaching information and technology skills in the world. The Big6 is an information and technology literacy model and curriculum, implemented in thousands of schools – K through higher education. Some people call the Big6 an information problem-solving strategy because with the Big6, students are able to handle any problem, assignment, decision or task.”

I’d also like to see an integrated information literacy curriculum and standards adopted by the Board so that teachers are compelled to work with librarians rather than using only the computer lab for research. West Chester School District was recognized by the state recently for their program. There may be other programs closer that are exemplary as well, but this is one I read about this fall.

Reading Renaissance training for any teacher where Accelerated Reader is used would probably be beneficial so that the program is implemented uniformly across the district.

Toni Buzzeo does workshops on Collaborating to Meet Standards and has written books for both primary and secondary level teachers.

For me personally, I’d like more detailed training on how I can assist with assessments and help to identify skills that I can work with teachers and students to ensure that students are meeting assessment anchors and achieving. PSLA (PA School Librarians Association) has developed a multi-year training on assessment and the librarian’s role in assessment. I’ve attended two presentations and I expect this topic will be addressed at the PSLA conference in the spring.

One of our language arts teachers has been requesting that all teachers in our building learn about the various resources in PowerLibrary (already on the list below) so that they know what is available to them to support the curriculum and to their students. In the middle of typing this email, I spent 20 minutes with a student who was having problems finding high-quality photos for a project for music class. We used the AP Multimedia Photo Archive and he was really pleased with the resulting photos. “Man, that is awesome! What was the name of that site again? I’m gonna keep using it.” It’s great when kids realize that the Deep Web is better than the free web!

Those are my thoughts at this point. I’ll keep thinking.

“That’s disgusting!” Those four words were uttered with great feeling by AJ a few minutes ago in response to a commercial on TV (maybe for cold medicine, maybe for Kleenex, I’m not sure!)

I asked, “What’s disgusting?”

“He wiped his nose on his shirt!”

“Oh. Eww! What do you wipe your nose on?”

“Tissues.”

“That’s good. What if you can’t find a tissue? Then do you use your shirt?”

“Sometimes. Or my mouth.”

“Your MOUTH? THAT’S disgusting!”

“But it tastes good.”

Who can argue with that logic?