My best of 2018

Hi there! Welcome to my brain's newest archive of all things library & education. I've been out of the blogging game for a little while, so forgive me if this is awkward-- I need to shake off the dust a little.

You know what people like? People like lists. They also like to reflect on the past and make plans for the future. And you're really in luck, because this blog post is going to be all those things and more!

Let's do this backwards, though, and start with the future plans: this blog. I'm going to attempt to start posting regularly about my life in the trenches-- er, I mean library. Some questions I'll try to answer (ooh look, a list!):

• What does it look like to be a high school library media specialist nearly a fifth of the way through the 21st Century? 
• What cool new things have I tried? 
• How do I get kids to pick up books and stop talking about Fortnite? 
• Why do we even need libraries anymore anyway? 
• What do I think about #EdTech? (And how do I feel about hashtags?)

There will be more, I'm sure, but we'll tackle them as they come. For now, let's fast forward to that reflection on the past (apparently we're time traveling... hold on to your hats!) Now, what you've all been waiting for...

My Best of 2018 (another list! in no particular order)

Best PD attended

A 1-hour session on using Station Rotation in secondary classes, which inspired me to think differently about the way I approach research instruction

Best new lesson attempted

A collaboration with two courageous Biology teachers in which students used Makey Makeys and Scratch to create interactive posters of cell structures

Best funny student moment

When I walked past a student who had just spent 60 minutes engaged in a Breakout I had created for library orientation and overheard him tell his friend, "At least we didn't have to learn anything today."

Best serious student moment

Finding out that an incredibly dedicated library student got accepted to the college of her dreams, and earned a huge scholarship from said college

Best new extra-curricular activity 

Our Haunted Library puzzle room using boxes from BreakoutEDU. This was so successful that we're doing a Deserted Island puzzle room second semester- stay tuned!

Best book(s) I read

A tie between two books of poetry: 

-The Princess Saves Herself in This One (Amanda Lovelace), which shook me in the way it spoke so plainly about a woman losing and then finding herself again, and

-For Everyone (Jason Reynolds), which made my heart sing with love and hope and possibility, and which I wish I could put into the hands of every single one of my students

Best job

This one! I threw this in here because I love what I do, and that is ultimately why I'm starting this blog. I hope that through these posts, you'll be able to feel the love too. 

#librarylife #librarylove