Water over the dam

Lots has happened since my last blog post. Lots of different things, tying up loose ends and "information gathering" for year-end reports. Robin has been tracking down details of the technology inventory, Maddie has been working on the collection and compiling information into report formats. I've tried to make myself useful where I could.

There has been more proctoring. There was another day of EOGs when I got back from NCLOR training. There has been makeup testing for the students that missed. There was a horrible glitch in the scoring software that left children in tears over low scores that really weren't. Students with low scores are currently in "remediation". Students with good scores are currently in "enrichment". Low scorers will be retested next week. Lots of substitutes in the building while teachers are pulled for remediation. Lots of boxed sets leaving the library and groups doing reports while teachers organize post-EOG enrichment activities. Maddie says when she was in the classroom, she lived for this post-EOG time when she was finally free to do the units she loved that didn't relate specifially to state testing. This year she says teachers have been so stressed with demands throughout the year (I'm presuming because of state shortfalls for materials and staff) that she doesn't see a lot of the "enrichment" she would wish for. Lots more videos scheduled than she'd prefer.

Part of what I have been able to help with is organizing in the collection. Lots of shelf reading and relocating materials. Maddie is moving biography to make room for a "popular" series collection on prime real estate near the library entrance. Lufkin Road, where I interned last, did much the same thing. It helped promote reading by encouraging the popular series books, and once it got readers hooked, helped keep students on track with where they were in the series. She also has a professional development section for teachers, in the back room near the copier. She'd never really had the time to organize it. So after I finished moving and cleaning up the biogrpahy section, this second picture is my version of how the professional development materials work best. The post-its indicate where topic labels need to be made. I do think it will help teachers locate materials for themselves easier. And we found a spare displace unit she's putting right next to the copier to display and promote different resources to pique teacher interest.

Then there was more fun with the bar code reader. I spent much of yesterday on the 6th grade hall during 6th grade prep time trying to locate library materials in empty classrooms--AV materials, library books, maps, and LOTS of dictionaries. Robin says the dictionary buying binge happened the summer her now 24 year old daughter took driver's ed. Someone wanted a hardbound dictionary for each student in the school. Robin spent that summer cataloging and barcoding them. And there's still a stash in each classroom, and several hundred still in the library. I inventoried what I could before planning period was over and students returned to their classrooms. Then the job was walking the halls with a cart asking teachers if their students had library books to return. Maddie says she loses about $2000 worth of library books a year. I felt bad interrupting class to ask for stray books, but only one very tired looking teacher seemed miffed by the request. And I got a lot of books back.

I asked Maddie if she felt I was accomplishing the intent of my internship. Her reply was, "You been immersed into the functioning of the school. This is it." This is it.