All posts by Abby

Etc., Spare time - Culture

Weekend update

2 Comments

It’s a short weekend for me this week, since my name came up in the Saturday work lottery (and I really can’t complain, when you think about how many Saturdays in a row Lisa had to work recently).  I worked at the library yesterday while Jim painted the house; he made a lot of progress, and we’re nearing the point of having two coats of finish everywhere.  Once we’ve got those two finish coats done, we’ll try to complete a third finish coat before winter sets in.

We actually dined out last night, and ate some great seafood, then rented Air Guitar Nation, an entertaining documentary about the 2003 World Air Guitar competition.  Good fun, and far more interesting than a Hollywood movie.  After watching the documentary, we went on one of our favorite weekend evening activities, a mystery ride.  This particular mystery ride turned into a drive-by revisitation of some of the houses that we had considered buying a few years ago when we were in the market.  General consensus: by sheer dumb luck we ended up owning the best house of the bunch.

Today’s plan is to drive down to Jim’s dad’s house to check out the ongoing renovations there, have lunch with Jim’s dad and stepmom, then head back up home in time for Jim to catch the Patriots game.  While Jim’s watching the game, I’ll be outside trying to move five languishing peony plants to a sunnier location.  (I’m a little intimidated by the process, but the plants aren’t blooming where they are now, so it’s gotta be done.)  Then a couple hours of study of Mother Goose on the Loose, and the weekend will be over and it will be time to gear up for another work week.

Etc., Librarianship

My cranky side

1 Comment

Here’s an example of my cranky side:

We have a large collection of Lauri puzzles at the library – great simple puzzles that are made out of foam rubber, so they’re easily cleaned and have bright colors. 

Mostly our library patrons just have fun playing with them, then put the puzzles back in the cubbies under the window seat.

But sometimes a library patron will take apart the hardest Lauri puzzle, the carousel horse, decide that it’s too difficult, and leave it in a jumble of pieces on the coloring table and strewn across the floor in front of the window.  This makes me cranky.  Very cranky.  I mean, really.  If you can’t do the puzzle, at least be gracious enough to bring it over to your lovely, very friendly children’s librarian, and say “Ooops!  Bit off more than we could chew here!  Got to run, can’t finish it!  Sorry!”  That librarian would smile and say thank you and take the opportunity to wash the puzzle pieces before reassembling it.

It’s a different matter when the charming children’s librarian has to crawl on her hands and knees, sometimes while wearing a short skirt (can you say “awkward”?), to search for the puzzle pieces.  Then the puzzle goes to live in the children’s librarian’s office for a day or two.  If you can’t play nicely with the toy and put it away when you’re done, then it will be taken away for a period of time. 

I’ve become my mother, haven’t I?

Storytime

Toddler storytime

5 Comments

Got a visit yesterday from a mom and a little girl who had attended my first two- and three-year-old storytime on Monday.  At the end of the storytime I handed out a “medal” to each child that said either “I’m a Big Boy!” or “I’m a Big Girl!”, and this mom said to me yesterday, “You have NO idea how much that meant.”  And then she went on to explain that her daughter had shown off her medal all day on Monday, to everyone she saw.  But more importantly, this little girl also told her mom on Monday that she didn’t want to wear diapers anymore.  It was the turning point in this one little girl’s life, and she hasn’t worn diapers since.  Wow.

I can’t really take credit for this, though.  I turned to a classic tome to get me going on this toddler storytime, Storytimes for Two-Year-Olds by Judy Nichols (the 1987 edition), and I used her “Babies” lesson plan to the letter.  I was afraid it would be a bit hokey, but obviously it was perfect.  Thanks, Ms. Nichols.  You know your stuff.

Children, Spare time - Culture, Teaching

Students

As of last night, I have now reunited with both of my tutoring students from last year.  I still see Z– twice a week, and J– once a week, and we’re still using the Wilson Reading System.

I’m delighted to say that neither student regressed at all over the summer, which shocks me no end.  Usually there is a certain amount of regression, and usually I have to reteach a variety of things, from keywords to spelling rules to syllable definitions.  Not so with these two students!  One review lesson each, mostly for my benefit, to reassure me that there was enough retention to continue on where we had left off.

Both students are very motivated and enjoy learning the structure of the language, which surely helps, but I also think that I’m seeing the tangible benefit of one-on-one after-school tutoring.  When I worked at the elementary school, I usually tutored students in small groups (still quite effective, mind you), and my lessons occurred in the midst of the school day.  My school students always experienced some regression each summer, not a terrible amount, but some.  But weekly one-on-one tutoring in the comfort of the student’s home clearly holds more weight.  I can focus my lessons to be specifically tailored to that one child’s needs, and the child is learning in a safe, distraction-free environment. 

At any rate, I’m thrilled to be working with both of these students again.  They’re both great kids, with great attitudes, and it’s an absolute joy to be working with them. 

Book groups, Children's literature, Teaching

The Diamond in the Window

3 Comments

(This won’t be my best blog entry, since I have a screaming horrible headache, so please do forgive…) 

The 5th grade book group met yesterday, and we had a fantastic meeting.  Nine kids were in attendance (a tenth had to miss the meeting due to soccer practice, and an eleventh joined the group as the group was meeting – he’ll attend next month).  As I’ve mentioned many times before, this month’s book was one of my personal favorites, The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton.

Based on past book group meetings, and on comments I’ve heard from the kids in the weeks leading up to this meeting, I was really, really afraid the kids would hate the book, and that they would have difficulties with the non-linear plot development.  I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon concocting ways to discuss the book and delve into its more philosophical elements.  So our group discussion was a very happy surprise for me.  The kids all loved the book, passionately and completely, except for one boy who had not finished it because he thought it was realistic fiction (hmmm – go figure on that one).

One girl had memorized a line from the book:  “Beware how you paint yourself!  Carve yourself well!”, which led to a wonderful discussion of the mirror dream and what it means.  Another girl opened her book and read aloud the lines that Uncle Freddy had cross-stitched for his family’s Christmas gifts:  Longfellow’s “Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime and, departing, leave behind us footprints in the sands of time,” Thoreau’s “Fish in the sky,” Emerson’s “Hitch your wagon to a star.”  The kids had not figured out that “H.D.T” stood for Henry David Thoreau, or that “R.W.E” for Ralph Waldo Emerson, but that’s of little consequence, since they each processed the meaning of these phrases and now these phrases are a part of each child’s subconscious.  That’s the beauty of this book, that it serves as a bridge from children’s literature to the literature of the Transcendentalists, and in so doing creates a foundation of knowledge that can be drawn upon later in life. 

Surprisingly, the kids did miss two things that I thought for sure were obvious: when I asked them a pointed question (the kind I usually try to avoid), no one knew that I was refering to the role of Louisa May Alcott in the story.  And when we were discussing the dream about the line of great men leaving footprints in the sand, I asked them “Who was the man who left the greatest, deepest footprints in the sand, and who passed on the brightest light to Mrs. Truth?”  Not one child in the group knew who that man was.  I had to tell them, “Ummmm, it was Jesus.”  Which prompted one child to cry out:  “It’s a RELIGIOUS book??!?!”  Which led us to discuss that no, it’s not a religious book, really, that this dream is about the impact one has on the world: that one person can be so full of truth and vision and goodness and intelligence that his or her impact on the world is lasting, and many other people walk in the virtual footprints left by that one person. 

We also talked a bit about literature in general, for the benefit of the two kids who joined the group yesterday and therefore had not read the book.  The general literature discussion quickly became a one-ups-man-ship contest – “I read way above my grade level” and “I have to read REALLY thick books because I read so fast – a skinny book like this doesn’t last me long enough!”  Cringing, I subtly put the brakes on this conversation, and we talked about the value of literature, as opposed to its size and speed and “level.”  I picked a random passage from TDITW and read it out loud to the group as fast as I possibly could.  Several kids giggled and said, “huh?  What did you say?”, to which I responded, “Exactly!  When you’re reading a book really quickly, that’s probably the speed at which you’re reading.  When you read that fast, you’re getting the plot line, but you’re not picking up on the beauty of the language and the deeper meaning of the words.”  And then I read the same passage again, slowly and thoughtfully, lingering on the longer, more delicious words, stopping to contemplate, out loud, the meaning of the phrases.  I saw a lot of virtual lightbulbs go off over the kids’ heads at that moment.

It was the best book group meeting ever.  We all had a fabulous time, and it was hard to pack up and leave.  And the one boy who hadn’t finished the book shyly asked me to renew it, since he thought he’d like to keep reading it, after all.

Blog administration, Etc.

Snarkiness

3 Comments

Warning: the word “snarky” will be overused in this entry.  I can’t help myself: the sound of the word snarky is just too delicious. 

********

While I gain a certain amount of satisfaction from writing this blog, I do feel quite constrained by the confines of political correctness.  A lot of snarky lies within my soul – a lot of snarky - and I long to release it upon this blog, yet my role as a public figure prevents me from unleashing the snark.  Had I thought more about this back at the beginning, perhaps I would have set up this blog [actually, asked my brother to set up this blog…] as an anonymous production.  Though, of course, this is a professional development tool for me, and anonymity would remove that practical element.  Those of you have been with this blog since the beginning will note that I have deleted any specific mention of the library for which I work or the town in which it is located; the closest to anonymity that I can come, seeing as my domain name is my name.

Why anonymity?  Children’s librarians are often perceived as being sweet and non-confrontational, and snarkiness does not fall into the usual children’s librarian’s job description.  Writing as myself, I am well aware of the eyes that see this blog, and am loathe to offend those eyes or cause any sort of controversy: I feel obligated to support the image of me as sweet and kind and unexceptionable.

Yet I long to push the envelope.  On Thursday, Roger Sutton published this entry on his blog, Read Roger:

 http://www.hbook.com/blog/2007/09/kathy-griffin-isnt-only-one-to-drag.html#links   Controversial?  Yes.  Funny?  Yes.  Did it incite discussion?  Yes.  I’m not saying that I’d publish an entry along those lines, exactly, but merely that I’d love to air the snarky without worries.  Sutton’s reputation stands on firm enough ground that not only can he publish such an entry, but he can also link his blog to the website of the Horn Book Magazine.  What grand freedom.  My reputation, on the other hand, is in its infancy, and given my age upon beginning this profession, it probably won’t mature much past toddler-hood before it’s time for me to retire.  (Not that I’ll be able to retire, ever, in this financial climate…oops, was that a bit of snark creeping in???)

Pushing the envelope doesn’t always have to mean being snarky, though, I’ll admit.  On Friday, my clever brother posted this video to his blog: http://www.danielharper.org/blog/?p=1016#comment-4477   Dang!  Wicked creative.  I’d love to think that the only thing standing between me and such creativity is my lack of a video camera and video editing software and gobs of time, but truth is that Dan’s mind works on levels that I can only dream of. 

So I guess I’ll just have to continue to muddle along with non-controversial entries, while my soul longs to be snarky.  How did you like that book you just read, Abby?  Oh, my, I LOVED it [not!  can’t think of a more boring book! – says the inner snark]  How was your day at work, my dear?  Wonderful, as always!  [hmmm, well, actually, it wasn’t a banner day – I was cranky and the air conditioning gave me a stiff neck]  And that performer who came last month?  Oh, my, such a wonderful job!  [dang – I was bored to TEARS!!]

You get the idea.  You’ll just have to read between the lines.  Just remember that the snarky is there, somewhere.

Blog administration, Etc., Spare time - Culture

The continuing saga

It’s raining, so I’m working on posting back entries again.  Just a quick note about this:  it’s proving to be more tedious than I ever thought to reinstate these old entries to my blog, so I’ve made the executive decision to no longer reinstate the comments that accompanied each entry.  It’s not that I don’t love and appreciate the comments, because I do, but I just want this process to be over.

In other news, my poor husband just suffered yet another injury: while walking out the door to powerwash the house (what better time to powerwash than in the rain?), he slipped on the steps and crashed down on his back and arm.  Quite some bruises have already appeared on his forearm, and his back is definitely very painful.  But he’s still out powerwashing, bless him, since we’re running out of painting time for the exterior of the house.  Note to self: stay in this house for many years, in order to better appreciate all the hard work that we’ve poured into it.

Upcoming blog entries will discuss reuniting with my tutoring students, the after school crunch, the 5th grade book group’s opinions on The Diamond in the Window, and the fifth quarter report on how my first toddler storytime went…

Children, Storytime

Burning question

3 Comments

I’ve been doing lots of studying up on storytimes, and have discovered many great ideas and program plans.  Let me just say that up front: the three books that I’m using to educate myself have a wealth of great information and tips and suggestions, and I have learned an enormous amount.

But these books have also re-raised an issue that has bothered me in the past: the dependence on die-cut machines for library programs.  [I’m bound to offend a large number of people here, but it’s time for me to expose my snarky side…]  As the daughter of an educator who excelled at creative projects, I take issue with the use of pre-cut shapes in storytimes, which the child participants decorate and take home.  Several things bother me: the requirement to take something tangible home after a storytime, which by nature is an intangible event; the importance being placed on the end product at an age (two, three, four years old) when the child’s natural end product is not going to be pleasing to adult eyes; and the removal of exploration from the child’s artistic experience.

Mom used to talk to me about her educational theory.  I specifically remember one conversation with her when we talked about how everything is new to a young child, and that even holding an ice cube and watching it begin to melt is a fascinating educational moment for an infant or toddler.  She also advocated the use of water tables, sand boxes, and other mediums in which a child can become absorbed in the moment, make discoveries, and also mellow out by virtue of water therapy or sand therapy. 

Children have very different artistic sensibilities than adults – they’re freer, less inhibited by cultural standards – and it’s from these differences that new directions in art can be born.  For my first Create a Valentine program, I had an assortment of artistic goodies laid out for the kids, along with a huge stack of pre-cut felt hearts, with the intention that the kids would take the supplies and glue them on to pieces of construction paper and make traditional cards.  It was a shock to me, in a good way, when one girl took a funky lumpy pipe cleaner and strung several of the felt hearts on it, then looped the two ends of the pipe cleaner together to make a circular, three-dimensional, totally non-traditional Valentine. 

The storytime books that I’m reading talk a lot about how librarians running storytimes have a golden opportunity to teach parents and caregivers to present books and reading to their children in a developmentally appropriate way.  We’ve obviously made huge strides in the literacy end of things, and our storytimes have changed to reflect that, depending less upon a weekly theme and more upon stories that encourage and develop pre-reading skills in children.  In my two youngest storytimes, if I choose to include an artistic element, I’d like to make that portion of the storytime be equally appropriate for the attendees.  Why not blow bubbles, or play with clay (no end product needed or intended), or experience water play?  If and when my storytimes have a craft portion, I want it to be experiential, not judgemental.  I don’t want to burden any child at a very early age with the sense that he or she “couldn’t do” the assigned project correctly. 

I’d love to hear other opinions on this matter, maybe even get a discussion going.  Comments, anyone?

Book groups, Etc.

This week

4 Comments

It’s only Monday, but it feels like Friday.  It’s just one of those weeks.  Busy today, no time to think today, first storytime tomorrow, first tutoring of the school year tomorrow, regular work on Wednesday, second storytime on Thursday, 3 Apples Storytelling Thursday night, regular work on Friday, family reunion for Jim’s family in New Hampshire on Saturday.

The book groups start next week, and I came up with a great idea today.  I always send each book group member a reminder postcard a week or so before the meeting.  Since our book groups are called “Bagels n’ Books,” I’ve created a cute postcard that I use each time that has a photo of bagels, an ampersand, and a pile of books.  Very cute, the kids love it, and it’s a good reminder.  BUT this month I did something a little different.  Since we’re discussing The Diamond in the Window, Jim and I drove to Concord yesterday and took some photos of the house.  I had planned on printing a large copy of the best photo for display on my desk, so the kids could see what the house looks like, but I had an “Ah-a!” moment this afternoon.  I took the best photo of the house and used it as the graphic for the reminder postcard, along with a caption that reads:  “The Diamond in the Window House, Concord, MA.”  On the back of the postcard I typed a note to the kids saying “I look forward to discussing one of my favorite books with you!”  I love the finished product, and am proud of myself for coming up with this idea in the midst of a crazy day.  Yay me.

Hopefully there will be other creative moments this week…

Book groups

Upcoming book group titles

I’ve been working on the book group titles for the next two months, and here they are:

The 5th and 6th grade book groups will be reading the same book in September, one of my personal favorites from my own childhood, The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton.  Unfortunately, it has just gone out of print (I had bought a new paperback copy for the library a year ago, but there are no copies to be found now), so many of the copies that I sent home with the book group kids were pretty gross, and it has definitely prejudiced them against the book.  I hope they give it a chance, and read the whole book before they judge it.  And I’m toying with the idea of trying to contact Jane Langton, a local author who often shopped in the Toy Shop in my managerial days.  At the very least, I’ll make a field trip to Concord to take a photo of the recently repainted house, so the kids can see that it actually exists.

The October book for the 7th to 9th grade Teen Book Group is Geraldine McCaughrean’s The White Darkness.  As mentioned in previous posts, I LOVED this book, and can’t wait to hear what the teens think of it.  I’m planning to bring my laptop to that book group meeting, so that the group can write a post for this blog about the book and their thoughts on it.

In October I’m also hoping to start a 4th grade group, if I can drum up enough group members.  The book choice for that group will depend partly on who joins, but I’ve pulled several potential titles, including Fergus Crane.

I chose the October books for the 5th and 6th grade groups based on  how well I know the groups and what they like to read.  The 5th grade October book will be Crispin: Cross of Lead by Avi; we’ve been a little fantasy-heavy lately, and a good piece of historical fiction will be welcome.  As for the 6th grade group, I chose Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce, which promises to be funny and engaging.

Lots of reading ahead – as soon as I’ve finished The Lightning Thief I’ll get started on some of these great book group titles!