The Reality of Working from Home - COVID19

Dear Education Friends,

As I start my FOURTH week of virtual learning/teaching, I have questioned why I am struggling to maintain a work/home balance. After all, I worked at home for six and a half years. During that time, I had definitely mastered the working from home lifestyle. It's only been one year and nine months since I left that all behind, so why can't I get it together? And if I am having a hard time, I can only imagine how many of you feel like you are drowning. Being at home has given me plenty of time to be reflective, so I wanted to share with you my thoughts and maybe, hopefully, some tips for getting back your sanity -- at least as much as possible in today's world.

First, it's about kids, all day, every day. That makes it so much more difficult. When I was at NCDPI, I played a role in education, but I didn't have the daily interaction like I have now. That changes the ability to let go, and trust me, I get it. You are worried, but remember, that's what makes you an amazing educator. I don't have the answer for this one. These are uncertain times, and we want to give our students a sense of normalcy. That's just it. There is nothing normal about this. We have to accept it, and find a way to move forward for our sake and theirs. Know that you are doing everything you can to teach them what you can in whatever way that is made available to you. Let go of the guilt, because unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to change what is happening in education right now.

So what can you do? Think about your work patterns. Where are you working? Is it the same spot every day? If so, you need to switch it up. If not, you will dread working from that place. If it hasn't happened yet, it will. I love my office/craft room. It is one of my favorite places in our house with a large desk that lets me create all kinds of projects. This is where I am working. I don't want to do any craft projects. Um, I have plenty of things I could be doing, but creating in my office, feels like work. This was something I often struggled with working from home. I would stay in the same place to work for weeks, and then I figured out I was much happier if I moved rooms daily (sometimes even hourly). At the time, I could also leave home, so I found a great coffee shop locally. That isn't possible right now, so take a good look around you. Can you work on a porch or in the dining room? Trust me, you will be glad you made the change.

Also, put away those work items -- agendas, to-do lists, computer, whatever. Put it away. I used to think putting it all away was a waste of time, because I would just have to pull it out again tomorrow. Yet, this works. It took me three weeks into virtual learning to remind myself of this. As I walked to my desk Saturday to make cards, I looked at my stack of work and thought that is what I really should be doing. Initially, I tried to leave it in its place, but it haunted me. I picked up every bit of it and put it out of sight until Monday morning. Guess what? It worked. It didn't feel like it was staring at me, questioning my decision to do something for myself.

While educators put in lots of hours, we walk out the door at some point to go home and spend time with our families. You no longer have the opportunity to walk away, so set time limits for yourself. Establish what time you are going to stop working and stick to it. But Jennifer, you are saying, I have all these things to do. You have to prioritize. Start your day with the things that have to be finished for the next day, then move on to other tasks or getting a jump start on the day after that. As a task oriented person, I have the overwhelming desire to keep going and do this and that, but I learned quickly from working at home before that there will always be something else. You will never be caught up, so choose those things that have pressing deadlines and then those things that can be done quickly (this helps your to-do list shrink quickly making it less overwhelming), and then those that can make the biggest impact. This isn't easy to train yourself to do, and even if you do, it doesn't always work, but give it a try.

Through all of this, the most important piece of advice I can give you is to take care of yourself. Take a walk, participate in an online yoga class, cuddle your dog -- anything that makes you feel normal and helps you just appreciate life in general. I highly recommend a Netflix Party with friends. Of course, we added a Google Meet to the mix so we could also talk during our viewing of The Craft. It was just what I needed even if my husband told me it was cool, but maybe the geekiest thing he had ever heard. What does he know anyway?

Thinking of all you and being amazed by your strength and resilience. You got this!

The Power of Play

First, let me say I make no excuses for not posting, but as I opened up the blog tonight, I could not believe my eyes! How could it be that I have not posted on this blog since late September? Well, time to correct that for sure!

Much of the professional development I have done of late has focused on Makerspaces, STEM, etc. Those are such an important part of what should be taking place in school libraries today. In these sessions I am always sure to provide hands-on time. I know some may not be comfortable embracing the great "stuff" associated with these trends in libraries, so my goal is to provide a safe time to play.

Enjoy Legos with or without kids. You never know what YOU will create!

In theory this sounds like a great idea. However, in actuality it never turns out as I expect. I should add that these sessions offer a variety of activities from duct tape flowers to Spheros, as well as Snap Circuits and more. So what's the problem? The problem is that the vast majority of participants choose to do safe activities or sit back and let others take the driver's seat.

I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on this, and I think we, as adults, think of this too much as play. Is play a bad thing? I don't think so. For me, I know getting started was hard. I would sit in my living room floor and play with Magformers or Snap Circuits (gotta know how they work myself before I share with others), and I felt a little strange at first. Add one of my nieces to the equation though, and I don't think twice about it. Why is that? Why do adults feel guilty about play? Is it all the other things that we should be doing? Is it that those things are for kids? If I wasn't playing with Sphero, I would probably be sewing or making cards. Why are those activities more acceptable? To be honest, I don't know the answer to that. What I do know is that teacher librarians need to embrace these activities that can aid the learning of our students. Sit down with students and connect with them over Legos. Get to know them, build relationships, and help facilitate their learning.

Hoarders: Library Edition

In my current position, I get to visit school libraries on a regular basis. This is one of the best and worst parts of my job. There really are a lot of great things happening in school libraries now. I wish everyone had the opportunity to see the research, makerspaces, collaboration space, and so much more that is happening in school libraries. If they could see this, there would be no doubt to the value of school media programs and the knowledgeable teacher librarians that run them. Then there are those programs, the libraries that I worry endanger the future of school libraries and all they stand for. While there are many issues in some of these school libraries, this post is going to focus just on hoarding.

Basically, there are two types of hoarders out there. The first is the "you never know when" librarian. You know what I mean, "you never know when you are going to need that laserdisc player" mentality and excuse for not throwing something away. My first library position I walked into a school library where there was a lot of stuff. Things I would never use, but I held onto for quite awhile anyway. As a new librarian, I could not help but think that someone held onto it because it was used for something. I hesitated because I thought someone must need it for it to be there. In hindsight, I should have gotten rid of that stuff right off the bat. It took up valuable real estate. Space that could be used for student centered space, and that's what it is really all about. Once I started getting rid of things, I can only think of one instance where I wished I had kept something that I had thrown out (and now I don't even remember what that was).

The second type of hoarder is "the protector of the knowledge". The protector wants to ensure that books stay pristine, that parts don't go missing, or they worry that students will break this or that. What this amounts to is a space with lots of great items, but sadly it does not get any use by students. While these librarians may have good intentions, I think it is important to be reflective and ask yourself where your priorities reside. Yes, things are going to vanish, get broken, etc., and ultimately it is the price of doing business and doing it well. Keeping items behind lock and key only serves to inhibit student learning and send a negative impression about the library program.

School libraries are at a crossroads, and it is critical that school librarians show the world that they are a key factor in student learning. It's time to make our spaces student-centered and share all that we have to offer.

The Power to Create

Have you ever had a plan for kids that just did not go the way you expected? The real question is how did you handle it? Sometimes we have a natural inclination to direct kids to complete a task in the way that we expect, but instead we need to give them the freedom to create on their own.

Back in March, my 7 year old niece was with me when I purchased my new sewing machine. At the time, I was so surprised at her interest in using the sewing machine. In fact, I thought it was a fascination that would wane. That night we went out to dinner, and I asked what she wanted to do when we got back. She said to me, "I thought we were going to go home and use the sewing machine." So that is just what we did. Her first project was creating a small pillow that would match the quilt that I was making my mom. She even did the hand-stitching to close the pillow. After this, we made a plan to make a quilt for her American Girl doll the next time she came to visit.

Well, last week she came to visit. We selected some fabric, and we looked at making half-square triangles. After talking about all of our different pattern options, she decided she wanted to make pinwheels. We started sewing the basic pieces together, but her attention was fleeting during the cutting and measuring. For those of you who don't know, quilting requires a lot of measuring, as well as squaring up of quilting blocks. Since I was using a rotary cutter, I did not let my niece help with this step. This, of course, meant that she quickly lost focus during these in-between stages. So what happened?

Basically, she started working with fabric while she waited on me. She did some practice sewing, then on her own she created a pocket for me. As I watched her create this pocket, it was interesting how my thoughts emerged. To be honest, my first instinct was to redirect her back to our original project. In fact the words were right on the tip of my tongue, and I had to catch myself from uttering those words. What was really important here? Was it important that she make this quilt? No, that definitely shouldn't be the objective for our day. What mattered was that she wanted to explore and create! Instead, I just let her design and develop her own project.

Next time you are faced with a similar dilemma with your students, really think about what your objective is for your students? Do you want a cookie cutter product or something that students had to problem solve to create? Just sit back and let students explore the endless possibilities.

#2jennsbookclub Come Chat with Us!

The great thing about Voxer is it allows me to talk with my good friend, Jennifer LaGarde, on a fairly regular basis. Now that we no longer work together it allows me to hear her voice with the touch of a button. What makes this even better is when the mention of an idea can lead to something that I can only describe as awesome.

One day, as I walked the dog, I was listening to a Vox from Jennifer. I remember that I was walking the dog simply because I was climbing a particularly challenging hill in my neighborhood. That was the exact moment that Jennifer mentioned that she would really like to read for pleasure more, and she really wanted to start a virtual book club. I replied back (a message that probably had a lot of huffing and puffing as I tried to breathe and walk up the hill), and emphatically declared that I was all in on this idea.

Like Jennifer mentioned in her blog post on the #2jennsbookclub, leaving the library often means you don't read like you used to. I have been out of the library for 2.5 years now, and while I still read for pleasure, it is rare. There is no one asking for book suggestions, there is no need to keep abreast of the latest trends, so basically I just stopped. This is truly a travesty, because I love to read YA literature, not only because of students, but simply because I truly enjoy it.

Jennifer started us off on a list of newly published YA books. As I looked at this list, I was devastated to realize that I had heard of none of these. How did this happen? Reading the newest titles used to be something I truly embraced. I would go to the book store and scan for new titles that I wanted to read, and titles I wanted to recommend to my students. To be honest, it was disheartening to learn that I had lost a part of myself. Now I am excited about reading, but more than anything I get to talk about books with others that care about reading as much as I do. I hope you will check out the schedule and join in. We can't wait to chat with you!

The Power of a Librarian

Today's post is a guest post from my colleague Kathy Parker. Kathy is the School Library Media Consultant for the NC Department of Public Instruction, as well as a former English teacher and school librarian. Kathy shared this amazing story with our team last month at a meeting, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. I asked Kathy to write a guest blog post for Memorial Day. I cannot think of a better time to share this story. Wishing you all a wonderful Memorial Day. Please don't forget to remember those that have given their lives and to thank those that have served.


When I meet people for the first time, invariably the conversation turns to our work. After learning that I’m a school library consultant, they ask some variation of the same question, “What do librarians do now that there’s Google?” I typically embark on an impassioned, verbal treatise about librarians closing achievement gaps, bridging the digital divide, leading others to information, and I watch as their eyes glaze over. I imagine they hear my voice as Charlie Brown’s teacher, “Wah-Wah Wah-Wah.” So the next time someone asks me that question, I’m going to share this personal story instead…

Usually after work, I’m welcomed home by the sight of my neighbor, Harry, sitting on his stoop. I make my way over and plop myself on his steps, scaring away Meow-Meow, the stray cat that’s taken up residence by his side. When it’s chilly, I caution him that he’s going to catch a cold from the nippy air. He scoffs, dismissively waves his hand, and insists, “I got enough shots in the war to kill anything. That’s why I’m so old.” Then he reminds me that he survived Wisconsin winters and did it without electric heat! Point taken. Harry’s such a fixture of my neighborhood that I sometimes forget he hasn’t spent all of his 93 years across the street.

My Two Favorite Veterans: Harry with my husband, David, on Memorial Day 2012. 

This past April, as we were sitting on his stoop enjoying the sunshine, Harry mentioned the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Okinawa. He rarely talks about World War II, but the anniversary had him reflecting on his service. He mentioned to me that he had buried a buddy of his on the island in 1945. They had become fast friends in the war, and Harry wondered aloud if his body was ever recovered and returned to his family. He said that at the time, when a soldier was killed, “you put his dog tags between his teeth, buried him quick, and moved on.” But of course, Harry couldn’t really move on. For 70 years, the whereabouts of his friend’s body weighed on Harry’s mind. Harry half jokingly insisted that the Okinawan jungle grew up so fast that you’d carve a path, turn around, and find that the trail was already overgrown. He feared that his friend’s grave had never been found.

So being the “information warrior” that I am, my mind immediately began brainstorming resources to investigate. And guess what, I couldn’t find the answer Harry needed just by searching Google! Although my Google search located casualty lists and memorial records that referred to his friend and directed me to some fee for service sites with possible leads, I did not initially find anything confirming a burial location. When I reached out to my network of fellow librarians, one from Wisconsin struck gold! The information that Harry needed was “buried” in a Minnesota university’s digitized newspaper database. After 70 years, I had an answer for Harry.

The next time I plopped on Harry’s stoop, I said, “Look what I came across on the computer. Do you see any interesting articles in this old paper?” It took him a minute as he was initially drawn to the ads for familiar products from back in his day. I eagerly waited as his eyes wandered across the page, then my heart flip-flopped as his face lit up when he recognized his friend’s name in the headline: Alden Synstad Reburial Rites Set For Friday. Reading the article from April 13, 1949, Harry finally learned that his buddy’s remains had indeed made their way home.


After 70 years, librarians gave peace of mind to a World War II veteran. That’s what librarians do!

Entry into the Edcamp World

After returning my niece to her family following the Thanksgiving holiday, I got home to see tweets from tonight's #nctlchat. The topic for tonight was edcamps. This made me think about my own edcamp experiences.

For quite awhile now, I have watched edcamp tweets from afar. Timing and distance have always presented a barrier when it came to actually attending an edcamp. Finally a couple of weeks ago #edcampwnc was held in Cullowhee. I was so lucky that I got to socialize and learn with some of the awesome members of my PLN. It was also great to meet some new educators. 

To be honest, I did not know what to expect from my edcamp experience. I am such a planner and organizer that the lack of an agenda made me uncomfortable. Oh, how I hate to admit that, but it is the truth. However, the development of the agenda went incredibly smoothly. The organizers used Google Moderator. This was my first time seeing Google Moderator in use. Participants were able to provide possible topic ideas and then vote on those of interest. The top 16 were used to form the agenda. Each time slot featured a topic of interest for me. The ability to just have a conversation with a group of educators was wonderful. It is so rare that educators have the opportunity to do that. 

The implication of edcamps for professional development have yet to be realized in my opinion. I hope we will eventually see administrators embrace similar styles to meet professional development needs. Imagine the day when teachers have the opportunity to share ideas about topics that interest them and have true implications for their work. No more would we be sitting in professional development that either isn't applicable or something we have already mastered.

After experiencing my first edcamp, I encourage you to find an edcamp near you. You will not only learn a lot, but you will also make connections that will extend learning beyond just that day.