Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow ...

Ahhh ... the end is near! For those of us in upstate New York, we have only about a week left of school. As another school year draws to a close, I can't help but reflect on what a wonderful job that we school librarians have! As summer begins, we can throw out our alarm clocks, sip our coffee for a few extra minutes, hang out with a pile of books on our deck ... oh, but I digress.

Yes, summer is one of my favorite perks about my job, but we educators have such a unique opportunity.  We get the chance to end one chapter and begin another - EVERY ten months! There is something supremely satisfying about wrapping up a school year. I love seeing all of my books find there way back to my shelves. I love packing away my lesson plan book ... all marked up and sticky noted with ideas on how to improve certain lessons and projects. I love the boxes of new books in my office that are just begging to be unwrapped for next year. What a feeling! There isn't another job on Earth that allows you such closure.

I AM looking forward to summer ... dipping my toes in the pool, digging around in my flower beds, paddling my kayak ... oops, digressing again! But even more importantly, I am looking forward to next year, a brand new start!

I have three summer goals.

First, I want to read more intermediate fiction books than ever. I am on a mission to get a few chapter books on my top ten circulation list for next year! So, I am brewing on strategies that I can use to encourage my kids to read something other than Babymouse and Stone Rabbit. Do you all have any suggestions for me as "must reads" that I can add to my summer reading list?

Second, I am preparing some research projects that will tie directly to the Common Core. I want to tie in more web 2.0 tools as final project ideas. I have my work cut out for me, because my poor teachers are feeling the crunch of all the state assessments. I am hoping that some newly created projects will help them meet both Core and some of the assessment skills as well.

Finally, I want to spend some time networking with other school librarians ... virtually! I am a relatively new blogger over at The Library Patch and have been excited to "meet" some fellow librarian bloggers. There is so much to learn from everyone and I am looking forward to having some time to blogstalk and connect with others. A big "thank you" to Jo for creating this collaborative blog ... I definitely plan on hanging out here and hope to meet some new friends.

Summer Camp with a Techy Twist

Cari over at The Centered School Library blog is hosting a S'More Tech Summer Camp.  So much fun! 

S'More Tech Summer Camp

Each day of summer camp will have an assignment and by the end of camp, you will have a neat little PowerPoint  scrapbook.  Love it!  Day One's assignment was super easy and so much fun.  Here's what I made:

Looks interesting, right?  So if I've gotten your curiosity piqued, why not hop on over to Cari's blog and join in the fun?  Just click here to go to Day 1.