What I Did at School Today

My online reading today led me from Cup of Jo to this thoughtful video, the philosopher Alan Watts asking "What if money was no object?"  It made me realize (again) how fortunate I am that money has little to do with why I'm working now right now.  Being retired after a long career at the Library of Congress has left me able to work at something which is just fun, being the librarian in a small independent school working with preschool and middle students.

So what was so fun at work today? 

Well, the day started by finding this sweet note in my mailbox, a cute thank you from one of the preschoolers for the Christmas ornament that we had given out before the holiday.  That was heartwarming.  

During the day I team-taught three classes of 6th graders who doing research on composers. The teacher wanted me to do a short lesson on plagiarism, which I did, and then I helped out as needed as the kids took their notes from the encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries and other lbooks I had pulled for them.   Creating a little PowerPoint just for their grade level that gave them exactly the information their teacher wanted had been a fun challenge, I enjoyed teaching them, and I like working with this teacher in particular, so it had all been good. 

At recess I had a room full of 7th/8th graders for 25 minutes and then another room of 5th/6th graders for 25 minutes, all quietly reading, doing homework, or studying.  While the library doesn't always have to be quiet, I keep it open over recess just for students who need the a quiet space.  They all know what's expected, and while I occasionally I have to remind certain students that they need to take their socializing outside, I didn't today. 

I received a box of new books that I had ordered before Christmas, which is always exciting, and processed them off and on throughout the day.  Also off and on during the day I did some planning with other teachers for the upcoming 100 Days of Reading Celebration,  wrote a notice for the school's newsletter about baby photographs needed for the graduation slide show, and responded to a couple of media emergencies.  I also refiled a bunch of books, weeded a few books, renewed an online subscription, and read some reviews of books I was thinking about ordering.

What's missing from this little recital of the day's activities is the interactions with students and staff that are so hard to capture:

 The 8th grader who wanted a book about muscles and bones so he could see exactly which bone it was that the doctor said he broke.  

The 5th grader who came into the library for the fourth time today and said to herself "I'm home!"  

The student who gave me a big smile when I delivered a book to them during snack time that they had put on hold.  

The teacher who stopped dead in her tracks to admire the "snowman reading a book" display that my clever aide had created and  put up.  

The substitute teacher who needed a video to show when the real teacher was out unexpectedly (appendicitus!) and I handed her one I had just selected and purchased for this very class and for this very purpose.  

My big grin when I looked at an 8th grader's baby picture that I scanned for the graduation progam; oh, it was cute!  

Processing a new book just in time to hand it over to the student who asked, "Do you have any more books in this series?" 

Yes, most of my days at my job are full, but they are also satisfying and fun.