Ready for the 2017-2018 School Year?

Totally not ready!

I just finished teaching summer school and the summer is almost half over and I haven’t even made a dent in my list.  You know the list of which I speak?  The list of things that if you finished you would achieve Nirvana!  At least that is what I assume, I have never actually finished the list before a new list was hatched.

One of my priorities is scheduling the library visits for the school year.  Although I work in a 6, 7, 8 building, I still try to schedule language arts/reading classes to come into the library on a regular basis.  Students are allowed to get passes and walk into the library but I love the chance to spend time teaching skills and talking to students.

Anyhow, last year I scheduled classes in but since I also am mandated by the district to teach/facilitate multiple research projects, it didn’t go as well as I had hoped (feel free to interpret that as total chaos and mutiny). 

I vowed that next year would be different! (Feel free to add the “bum bum buhhhhh” music in the background of that last sentence)

Our district is an Office 365 district so I decided to use that technology to help with my scheduling.  I got out all the notes that I had taken when speaking with the language arts/reading teachers and scheduled all of them on biweekly or monthly rotations depending on what they preferred.  I started out on a paper calendar with many, many rolls of washi tape to make it beautiful.  

So I Don’t Really Wear My Pajamas… at the Library

I am a librarian who works with 6th, 7th and 8th graders so it is really, really important that I am on my A-game all the time!  Middle-schoolers are merciless about mistakes.   So, I have made it one of my #lifegoals to only wear clothes that are as comfortable as my pajamas.  Really!  It is important that I am comfortable if I want to not freak out.

I mean, when I am at home, I work in my pajamas as much as possible–in fact, I am totally in my pajamas right now!  It is summer so…

Anyway, I wanted to share with you all that it is absolutely acceptable to want to be comfortable and is probably way better for your students and coworkers if you aren’t trapped in something that won’t let you squat down to the shelves without having to pick anything out of a spot it isn’t supposed to be.  (On a side note, my library has windows to the main hallway all the way down the side so there is no chance to do anything discretely).

The point is, we can do our jobs more effectively if we are ready to move at a moments notice.  I highly recommend Lularoe (perfect for a more casual place-also great because you can have theme leggings–I have origami ones for when I teach that unit to students!) and CAbi (here is a shameless plug for my good friend Susan) which is more workplace friendly although pricier but has the most luxurious soft pants and shirts.   My current favorite is the Playsuit, it is a one piece jumper that is so soft AND it has pockets!

Please share in your comments if you have some comfy clothes that make you supremely happy while in the library, classroom or at work.