Tuesday Slice: Ain't no tired...

 

Educator types, say it with me:  there ain't no tired like standardized testing tired.

I wasn't even administering a test today, and I'm tired.  At my usual morning duty station, I talked down the nerves of two students who were testing for the first time.  After turning in my phone, getting the relief schedule, and gathering up a rolling chair, Kleenex, and my water jug, I monitored hallways, relieved teachers for breaks, delivered issues notices to the coordinator, replaced headphones, walked kids to the nurse, and watched classes while teachers turned in their materials.  I put in five thousand steps before nine this morning, sang "American Pie" in my head twice, and discussed cool stress balls with a counselor who also had duty in the hallways.

I've got ibuprofen on board and an eye on an early bedtime tonight.  I get a reprieve from testing next week, when I'll be "Speed Dating the Bluebonnets" at the annual Texas Library Association Conference.  But the week after that...we get to do it all again.    

Tuesday Slice: Getting back in the game, with different rules

 

Slicing instead of scrolling this morning

My words, instead of someone else's thoughts.

Oh, but there's doubt

(Do I have anything new to contribute?

Can I keep this space

from becoming a continual rant?)

I'm too old to fake it--

happiness ebbs and flows

that's just a fact.

I'm just now learning 

to be comfortable with "and"

happy and frustrated

joyful and sad

motivated and lazy

sure and confused

willing and stubborn

blessed and lacking

hopeful and cynical.

There's no more singularity of emotions;

you get both sides, now.

The game of life

has different rules

after half-time.

SOLSC '24 Day Thirty-one: A glimmer of hope

 

This Easter, for us, isn't very traditional.  The kids are too old for Easter baskets (though we do have a gift or two).  I wasn't up to sending cards, print or digital.  I did finally remove the Christmas tablecloth to reveal the spring-y green gingham oilcloth underneath, and there is a fresh bouquet of pink and purple carnations on the table.  We will have a dinner of ham steaks, sweet potatoes, and green-beans-in-mushroom-soup in a few hours.  In the meantime, there's laundry to be done, some cleaning-up, and planning for the week.

But that's it.  No church service--we haven't been in years.  No Bible reading for me today, either; I've got a well-used, highlighted edition that is evidence of having been there, done that.  I'm feeling a bit cynical these days about church-goers who celebrate Easter big-time, but have a harder time following Jesus' example of Love as the greatest law the rest of the year.  Yes, the Resurrection story is the basis of Christianity, but wasn't the whole point to pay attention to what he was teaching before that?  If folks had paid attention, would the crucifixion have been necessary?  I know, I know-- much more educated and wiser people have spent years rationalizing the reasons why things happened the way they did.  But it always, always comes back to Love.  And Hope.

I've been bereft of hope in the general sense for awhile, so this weekend, I did some things to move my gaze forward and upward. This coming week I'll be spending some time in nature, paying attention to the ways it perseveres and continues its cycles despite our interference and lack of Love.  Maybe there'll be a bit of Hope in those quiet moments to carry back home.  

SOLSC '24 Day Thirty: Weekend brain fuzzies

 

This cartoon from Dinosaur Couch on Instagram popped up in my Facebook feed this week--and I felt seen, as the kids say these days.

I always think I'm going to magically manifest a ton of energy to get things done on the weekend.  And then I end up sleeping in, taking naps, puttering around, and scrolling way too much.  I can say that I don't spend the whole weekend in bed...but I have been known to wear pajamas all day.  (And I seem to get more done when I do...go figure.)  

I have a couple of tasks that are time-bound and need to get done before I go to bed tonight...and here I am Slicing, instead.  Here's to productive procrastination!

SOLSC '24 Day Twenty-nine: Scholar's memory lane

 

Digging through old files

and piles on my desk

I find my graduate work tote

(yep, it's all in one tote)

covered in a dozen years'

worth of dust

(has it really been that long?)

and there's a group project pamphlet

that looks pretty darn good

and a paper written--

with multisyllabic words, even!

and transcripts

another envelope with a certificate

for mentoring a teacher

(I had almost forgotten I did that)

another with more certificates

more learning, more achievements

written evidence

that at one time,

I was

I felt

kinda smart.

SOLSC '24 Day Twenty-eight: Eight things

Inspired by Alice's post on Nerds Beget Nerds!

Eight things people don't understand:

Elementary school children really need two recesses a day.  I mean, REALLY need them.  They only get one a day now, and it is evident in the way they bounce off my soft bleachers in the library and can't keep from moving the furniture around.

People who tend to be given the authority to make major decisions in education often don't have the hands-on experience in the very settings they decide to change.

There is a LOT more work to being a librarian than checking books in and out and doing read-alouds with children.  A whole Masters Degree worth of work and ongoing professional development.  If you give your librarian time and latitude to exercise their skills, your whole school will benefit.  If you don't, well, you're wasting a great resource.

Children need less screen time, and more time learning how to tie their shoes, ask politely for needs to be met (and have them met, when they ask), and clean up after themselves.  If they come to school knowing these things, there can be quite a bit more time spent on academic skills.

If children are misbehaving, it behooves the parent to pause and consider where this behavior is coming from.  If it's not stemming from an unmet basic need--food, water, rest, comfort--then maybe it's time to consider who's been modeling the behavior for them.  Total transparency:  my children taught me a LOT about my own dysregulation.

Being an educator is like being a Broadway performer, with eight-hour shows five days a week.  Is it any wonder, then, that breaks are needed for rest and rejuvenation?

Public education needs everyone's support, whether you currently have children in your care or not.  Think about all the people you come into contact with in your daily life--other people in cars on the road, cashiers, hairdressers, medical office personnel, clerks in government offices, the barista making your coffee order.  Aren't you glad they're literate and were capable of learning how to do their jobs?  How do you think that happened?

The best wine, song, book, artwork, vacation spot, outfit, makeup look, hairstyle, meal-- is the one you like, makes you happy, brings you joy.

SOLSC '24 Day Twenty-seven: Three affirmations

 

These three things happened today:

For this round of library lessons, I am having students respond to sentence stems about the library in honor of National Library Month starting next week.  They get to choose from a list of five stems, and write two to three sentences to complete their thoughts.  Their answers were as simple as loving the books to as complex as becoming more intelligent through reading.  Some praise was given to the "kind library workers", which filled my heart with happiness.

******

In a phone conversation about an unrelated topic, my supervisor (who is not my evaluator) let me know that I was doing a great job.  I didn't realize just how much I needed to hear that until she said it, and it almost made me cry.  

******

A parent was part of our focus team meeting today.  When I introduced myself, she looked at my nametag and said that her child enjoys coming to the library.  I told her that it made my heart happy to hear it; that is the baseline for everything else good that happens in our space.

It has been a challenging work year for me, and writing about the good things that happen in my job is part of my ongoing mental health journey that helps me to keep doing the work I love.  I hope that in this often hectic fourth quarter of the school year, you have the time--and energy, and mental space--to do the same.