New School Year Resolutions

Photo credit: https://www.theloophk.com/keep-your-new-years-resolutions/

I’m back! Took some time off this summer to focus on me and now it’s almost time to start the 2021-2022 school year. As I sat down to write my goals I started thinking about another time of year when we as a society make goals, plans, promises for the upcoming year and that is the dreaded, but usually required in the U.S., New Year’s Resolutions. It’s when the entire world reflects on the previous year and makes new goals for the upcoming 365 days. Teachers get to do this twice a year instead of once. I don’t think any other profession in the world makes resolutions two times a year other than those in education. In the field of teaching we are constantly growing, changing, reflecting on what worked and what didn’t from our previous school year. Last year was anything but normal for teachers. We had to adapt more than we ever had before in order to teach students remotely, in a hybrid model or face-to-face. COVID restrictions made it almost impossible to teach at the level we are used to and with the same norms and consistency we always had. However, almost every educator I know took this summer and at some point began thinking on what they want to do differently for the next year.

Some educators write their goals/resolutions down, others make it a part of their professional evaluation system for their evaluator to monitor throughout the year, some have them mentally while others jump in head first and start implementing change immediately. I’m a list maker. I have post its on the side of my computer at work, on my desk, on the Stickies app on my desktop, reminders in my calendar on my phone, etc. constantly nudging and prompting me of the goals I have set for myself. Some are whole year goals while others are ideas, lessons, clubs, library actions, etc. of what I want to do at some point in the year.

One goal I did not meet last year was to finish my Diversity Audit. With almost 10,000 titles in fiction alone it was a daunting task to try and complete, during this past year especially. However, I am only three genre sections away from completion (Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Fantasy) and while they are my biggest sections, I am going to make it my number one goal to finish that this year. I also got new shelving for my graphic novels so I plan on genrefying that section in itself such as: manga/anime, general graphic novels, nonfiction, superhero, etc. I am so excited to do this because when I got to this library six years ago there weren’t many graphic novels. Now I have tripled that section. Other goals I have: present more at the state and national level, be more active on Snapchat for my brand, continue with TikTok, IG and Twitter for my brand and PLN connections, bring my clubs back on campus, earn more #edtech badges, continue to blog, and above all else: connect with my students more now that restrictions won’t be so tight in the library.

What are your New School Year Resolutions?

I’m Ready For A Return To Normalcy

We are coming up on the one year anniversary of COVID-19 effecting our lives, at least for us in Texas. We left school on Friday, March 6, 2020 and didn’t return until the following school year, August 24, for the first day of school. For many school districts around the country, teachers and students have been working from home for almost a year. In New Braunfels, TX, where I live and work, we returned in person this past August and haven’t had to shut down since then. We have had outbreaks and followed procedures for them. To say it’s been a different year would be an understatement. We have kids who have the option to be remote learners, as well as in-person or quarantined, if exposed, for 14 days. We have procedures we’ve never had before such as wearing masks (unless at lunch or athletics), hand sanitize as much as you can, bathroom breaks as a whole class to prevent mixing of kids, A/B block scheduling to prevent too many passing periods of possible exposure. The library has also never been so different. Students aren’t allowed to browse the shelves, we do hold deliveries to classrooms instead of students coming on their own to look and pick out books, we have to sanitize the check out and student tables in between classes and all my fun things in the library are in quarantine for the year such as our couches, big comfy chairs, our Read & Ride exercise bikes, etc. We can’t do book studies because we don’t have enough copies for every student. I can’t have my clubs like Robotics, Makerspace, etc. because of students touching the items.

But we had adapted. It’s been almost 3/4 of the year like this—you can get used to a lot in that amount of time. However, on February 12 we left again, thinking it was going to be a three-day weekend for President’s Day, only to be out over a week due to Snowpocalypse 2021. In Texas it has been really bad. Busted pipes, ceilings caved in, water damage, power outages, low food supplies, and overall coldness for weather we don’t see ever in Texas. We were not prepared. I worried about my students throughout this entire time, as well as not having power off and on for three days. It was scary and another unprecedented event in an already unprecedented year. It just had me thinking: I’m ready for a return to normalcy. And it’s odd because it’s getting harder and harder for me to remember what that looks like. I can’t imagine walking around with naked faces, hugging and being close to other people again without fear. I’m hoping the spread of more vaccines helps lessen our COVID cases in the U.S. so that we can begin to move in the direction of normalcy, or at least a new normal that’s better than this.

I have a Book Fair scheduled next week—my first in-person one in over a year. We will have protocols in place to keep everyone safe, but again, it will be another example of change in what we are used to. Only 10 students will be allowed in the fair at once, hand sanitizing after payment occurs, no adults allowed on campus as per our rules in place already, etc. I want a normal year, with a normal Book Fair, with normal interactions with my students. This job has been incredibly hard this year. The only bright spot has been being able to spend it with the students. My library aides are the highlight of my day, my why. My library aides have kept me sane in this year of insanity. They’ve kept me connected to why I love this job so much. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to connect with the rest of the students as much due to lack of time they’re in the library for lessons, not being able to see their faces and recognize them, not being able to host clubs and get to know them on that level. I’ve done more on social media because it’s kind of the only way I’m able to connect with the other students on campus. I miss connecting and reaching more students like I have in the past.

Can the crazy weather & COVID-19 times be over now? I’m ready for a return to normalcy.