Blessed to Teach and Read

It's not abnormal for me to only post twice a year, but this school year, I purposefully took a hiatus from this blog.  I took a step back from trying to maintain this piece of my library program along with my monthly, library newsletter, because I wasn't going to keep putting work before my family.  I took self-care seriously as we rolled into the 2021-2022 school year, and set some boundaries that I hope to maintain, should we ever get out of this pandemic.   First semester, I do have to share that I had the students make the most beautiful Dot Day display that we have ever made!  I bought and gave each student a small, round, paper plate.  The only instructions I gave were to choose a color family and be creative.  Thanks to the help of a couple of substitutes and several 5th grade helpers (Castle Apprentices), I was able to get the whole thing taped to the walls.  Several teachers begged me to leave the display up for after fall break, so I di...

Scrolling back through the photos on my phone - wow, what a full year it's already been, and it's only the beginning of November!  I'm just so grateful to work with the amazing students and staff at my wonderful school! Went back to an oldie, but goodie - Quiver Vision app to make our Dot Day come to life with virtual reality. I gave students the option to donate their dot to our display, if they didn't want to take it with them.  I've seen cute, color-coordinated Dot Day displays on Pinterest, but I LOVE letting the kids express themselves and make a dot that is uniquely theirs.   Last year's 5th Grade Class Legacy Project donated enough money to buy our library 2 sets of Cubetto and some new, non-fiction books!  Both kindergarten and first grade have already done coding in the library!  Students coded routines, and subroutines, to move Cubetto around the map.  The excitement in their voices is priceless!    I added a fun les...