A Week Full of Visitors

A week in the Media Center is nothing short of crazy with a circus act. Always.

Monday morning we put the Media Center back together from Friday night's coffee house,  I had a book celebration/makerspace day with my favorite ESE kiddos (we celebrated 3 SSYRA books they've read, built whales and boats with Playdoh, made Popsicle bookmarks, and built tree houses), delivered Chickfila lunch to the winner of our campaign sign contest, and I had some pretty important visitors. Our Assistant Superintendent and my School Board Representative showed up at the end of the day to announce that I've been selected as a District Finalist for Teacher of the Year. There were six teachers chosen: one elementary and one secondary from the north part of our county, the central part of our county, and the south part of the county. I'm the secondary south area representative. Six chosen out of over 4,000. That's CRAZY!!! I can't even begin to fathom how I ended up on that list. There are so many incredible teachers here in our very large county. I'm so incredibly honored.

Tuesday I had Ms. Ross's classes scheduled for book check out and we were disguising gingerbread people as book characters. In the middle of the day, this group of professionals show up and sit down and get comfortable and our tech guy tells me the room is his from 12:30-3:00. Wait...what!?!?!?!
Yes, we had to relocate to her classroom and send kids two and three at a time to check-out books. Which means I had to tell those kids from memory where the books they wanted were and make suggestions for them off what I *thought* we had in. There was a South Area Tech Training scheduled in the Media Center that NO ONE told me about and was not on my calendar. It's was a misunderstanding and some miscommunication and everything is good, but it was definitely a curve ball. The worst part is that I have an autistic student that comes to see me everyday during his lunch and he couldn't find me and got really upset. I always warn him when I won't be there so he is prepared and knows but in the midst of all the crazy, I forgot to let him know. He had a meltdown and I felt really bad because that could have been avoided. I failed to take pictures of their gingerbread people but they are decorating the Christmas tree that's in the Media Center right now. Also, check out Ms. Ross's book log for this year. #readersgonnaread

Wednesday I had our amazing Tech Integrator and hosted Ms. Rich's Civics classes and we went on Google Expeditions to see all the places Alexander Hamilton was based on what they've been learning about. We traveled to Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. The kids LOVED it and thought they were so important that they were the very first group of students at our school to get to use this equipment this year. I was also able to get all of our administrators in there and participating throughout the day so they could see what a valuable educational experience it was. In the middle of the first group we also had to run an infrastructure trial for the testing platform. I was a little worried about a big group coming in for me to run a testing trial with them while the other group was doing Google Expeditions but it worked and it was smooth sailing.

Thursday was another infrastructure trial and set up for Career Day. I also got updates on the next steps for the Teacher of the Year process. Yikes.

Friday was the 31st Annual Career Day at The Great Southwest. We invite people into our school to speak to our students about their careers. We have so many guests that there is a speaker for every single classroom. All of our guests gather for breakfast and coffee and then a Keynote in the Media Center that is pumped out through video feed to all the classrooms. Once the Keynote is over, the speakers are escorted to their classroom location and the speak to the classes about their career, what they do, and what it takes to do that. We also treat them to lunch cooked by Chef Poole and Mr. Thorstensen and served by our students. I had a former NFL player, our School Board rep, a City Councilman, Police and Fire Rescue, Kona Ice, chefs, real estate agents, doctors, pilots, and all kinds of amazing people in my Media Center for our Keynote and then I got to host the Youth Pastor from my church and his intern, Dario. It was so cool for the kids to find out what kind of training you need to have a job like that and how he choose his career. It was so interesting!

So what's next?

Monday (!!!!!!!!!!!) a committee of people will come watch me teach for 45 minutes, interview me, three of my peers, and my principal to see if I'm what everyone says I am. I was told that there has never been a winner from my school and I don't think (but I might be wrong) that there has ever been a Media Specialist win. Someone came in and mentioned to me that I have one shot to show them everything I do. It's a lot of pressure. A lot. How on earth am I supposed to show them everything I do with kids and teachers in one 45 minute lesson and some interviews? I can't. That's the answer and I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to teach exactly how I normally would and answer their questions as honestly as I can. I've chosen three teachers that I think can show the collaboration that my position allows and that I'm a real teacher too. It will either be enough or it won't. I'm not here to prove I'm better or worse than anyone else. The only thing I care about them seeing is engaged learners. I want them to see what a Media Center really looks like. I want them to see the classes in there, the collaboration, the random stray students that come in for all kinds of things throughout the day, the teachers that stop by and need me on their planning. I want them to know that WE (not just me) work hard and are doing good things for kids. I want them to see I have the greatest job at my school and why Southwest is The Great Southwest and not just another middle school.

Tuesday I'm on a field trip with our music students (yay!!!!!). Wednesday I finish and submit our Follett Challenge video and application. Thursday I have a SAC committee meeting and Lara's kids for checkout and makerspace. Friday I have the GAPP kids again for checkout and a Jason Reynolds story contest, and our front office luncheon. Oh, and District Communications is coming to video me teaching Friday. It's also my oldest daughter's #EpicEleventhBirthday next week which has nothing to do with school but definitely impacts my week.

I told you. It's a circus, always. But it's my circus and I love it!

Also, if you could be so kind as to let me know how one dresses super professionally but in a way that you can still crawl in the floor with robots and not have the kids ask why you are dressed so fancy, I'd love to know.

Author Visit, a Big Honor, & Daddy

This past week was actually pretty low-key for the Media Center.

Monday: double classes for book check-out
Tuesday: afternoon book celebration for our self-contained ESE students who just finished the 3-5 SSYRA book Wish. We watched a book trailer, had a discussion, and made lunchbox notes for each other because the main character always wanted to get a note in her lunchbox. It was pretty awesome!
Wednesday: I was supposed to have Girls PE but they rescheduled so I didn't have anyone and ended up covering for a teacher who had to leave early. I got all caught up on 20 Book Challenge responses and we were able to get the report run. I mean, look at these amazing numbers! We are almost 300 books ahead of where we were this time last year and we broke records last year.

Thursday: I got to take some of our students to Hoover Middle School to see author Pablo Cartaya who wrote our SSYRA book The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora and he also wrote Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish.  Mrs. Watkins teaches a Reading class that has all of our ESOL students in it and most of them primarily speak Spanish. She read Epic Fail with them which was really cool because it is a bilingual book. I got with our ESOL District contact and told her about the opportunity to take these kids to go see Pablo and why it was so important and she helped me find the funding to take them. You see, how often do these students get to see someone who looks like them, speaks like them, and writes characters just like them who is very successful in person? How often in our school system do they have the opportunity to ask questions in their native language and get answers in that same language? How often do they miss out on opportunities because of the language barrier? I knew it was important to take them but I didn't realize until we got there what a life-changing moment it was for some of these students. They were SO engaged! Pablo is really funny and a great storyteller. He switches back and forth between English and Spanish. Our students asked some really amazing questions and all of them made it a point to tell me how much they enjoyed the visit. A few of the girls told me their favorite part was when Pablo had me dance with him. Our book club kids also got to go with us and they had a blast too. It made me so happy to see how an author can deeply impact kids who are so different and come from different walks of life. It was a powerful day! I'm so thankful to Ana Woodbrey, Hoover's Media Specialist, for putting such an awesome day together!

Friday: My sweet GAPP kiddos were there for book check-out and it was such a relaxing day. Fridays are short days because of early release so we returned books, renewed books, checked out books and then the kids could either work on their 20 Book Challenge (logging or correcting responses) or they could sit and read. I got to sit with them and read too! I finished Lu by Jason Reynolds! It is SO good! Definitely my favorite one in the Track series. I always have such great conversations about books with these kids. I always walk away encouraged and with a full heart!

The other big thing that happened this week is that on Monday, my admin team and all the front office people came in with flowers and a balloon and made an announcement over the intercom that I had been voted (by our staff) as the Southwest Middle School 2018-2019 Teacher of the Year. It's a really, really big honor. So many teachers and so many students stopped by to congratulate me. I've never imagined what it would feel like to win but it is so surreal. I'm so very honored and at the same time, I feel a bit like I'm taking credit for everyone else's hard work. Everything I do is part of a team effort. I don't do anything alone. We do some cool things but we do it together. I work with the best people!

After finding out, on my way home from school I called my husband and then I called my mom. As I was talking to my mom, I got upset because it was such a punch in the gut that I couldn't also call my dad to tell him. I've always been super close to my dad. Always. Two years ago, right as I was starting out in the Media Center, my dad died of Cancer only 4 weeks after diagnosis. My dad is the one who convinced me to be a teacher. I didn't want to be a teacher. I wanted to be anything BUT a teacher. He is the one who sat me down and told me that I was made for this and that he would support me no matter what, but that teaching is what he thought I should do. When I graduated college, he was clapping the loudest and cheering his heart out as I walked across that stage as the first college graduate in my immediate family. When I got my first teaching job, my dad built me a bookshelf for my classroom, helped me move all my stuff in, and bought team bags for the Girls Basketball team I coached. He came to their County Championship game and was so proud. Both of my parents have always, always supported me and pushed me to do my very best. My dad was a really hard worker. If there was something to be done, he wouldn't rest until it was done. If a kid needed something, he didn't care what it took, he would make sure they had it. My dad grew up in extreme poverty in a single parent home and made sure I knew what it was like to live like some of the kids I teach everyday. He told me to make sure that I was their champion, to be the light for them; that I was there fighting for them every day because some of them wouldn't have anyone else that would do that for them. He is the reason I'm so driven. He is the reason I give everything I have to these kids. He is the one who told me that if anyone could make being a librarian cool and get kids to read, it would be me. It is bittersweet to be given such an incredible award and not be able to share it with him.

I used to think that winning Teacher of the Year was an award you win and then that is it. I'm learning there is so much more to it than that. I had an application due early this week to be considered for Brevard County Teacher of the Year. I had to give a description of my job responsibilities, list all the awards and recognition I've received in the last 5 years, explain how I demonstrate all 14 traits of an excellent teacher in 250 words or less (they were serious! Have they met me? I don't say anything in under 250 words), and I had to write what I love the most about teaching. That was my favorite part. Not this coming week, but the following week I'll have to go sit in front of a big committee and interview. I also have to schedule to go have my photo taken. I've heard some teachers complain about everything it involves, but I'd like to share my thoughts with you. I don't have expectations of winning anything, BUT if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do the very best I possibly can because that is who I was raised to be. I want to represent my family well. I want to serve my school well--they choose me for this and I plan to give it my best. I want to represent my profession well. It is a job that is always on the chopping block by politicians and board members because they seem to think that all we do all day is check out books and anyone can do that. My job is so much more than that and I want to do it justice.

This coming week is going to be a really big week! I'm doing something so cool I couldn't have ever even dreamed it was possible. Stay tuned for details!

Dead Author: Murder Mystery in the Media Center

DISCLAIMER: No authors were actually harmed in this activity. 😂 They weren't really at our school.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday was one of our Gifted seminar days and I'm so thankful our GAPP team lets me be part of these seminar days. They are SO much fun!

Many of the rotations were CSI-type activities. I didn't feel very confident in my ability to do something like that successfully but I started poking around the internet and found several murder/mysteries for schools or Language Arts classes.

My Scholastic Book Fair got delivered Thursday and I wanted to go ahead and have it set up so it would be ready for next week and so I wouldn't need to spend the weekend at school preparing. How do you do a murder/mystery in the Media Center in the middle of a Book Fair?

You make your own story around the Book Fair!

Our students are really into books and love when I talk to them about the authors so this was perfect.

On Tuesday, I was doing the Emoji story starter activity with Amanda Ross's classes (which is super fun and hilarious and teaches great writing skills if you set the activity up right) and I was telling her what I was planning for the GAPP day but I had to work out the details of the story. She got so excited and grabbed it and started working. I taught her classes and she wrote our murder/mystery. I helped her with details and specifics about the authors and their personalities. She did such a great job! After we finished, I took it to our School Resource Officer and told him what I was doing. I had him look at it and he loved it! I went around to our other staff members who were written in as suspects to make sure they knew about it. Our Head Custodian (who is TOO good to me!) gave me some supplies to use in my crime scene. Our Digital Arts teacher, Chris Young, volunteered to be my dead body and let me tape off his shape on the floor near the Book Fair. I'm so thankful for all the people who constantly help me! Team work really does make the dream work! Just setting it up was exciting!

Because we had 27-29 kids in each rotation, I put them into 11 groups. Each group represented a character in the plot. They had just the information they needed about who they were. They had to go around to the other groups and ask/answer questions and fill in their handout to help them keep track of all the information. Once they had everything they needed to know, they had to get together as a group and decide who the killer was based on the facts. Each group had to tell us which character they were, present their claim of who they thought did it and why, and then I told them who the real killer was. It was SO interesting to see their thought process, watch them work through the clues, argue with each other, and use the evidence and clues. Out of all the kids all day, only one group thought it was me. I kept asking all day why no one thought I did it and they all said that I'd never kill an author because I like them too much. That clearly, I was framed. 💗 I love that they have my back, even if it is a fake murder.

I've put our script below. If you are really loving this activity, that's awesome! I'm glad to share to help inspire you but PLEASE create your own or ask permission before you just take this. I didn't write most of it, my wonderful friend and Reading teacher did. I'm sharing the details so you can see how we did it and how it worked.

The kids got the background information, their character info, and the tracking sheet. That's it. They did go examine the crime scene, but honestly, there wasn't anything there that wasn't in their information they were given. It was fun to have one though. The kids spent a lot of time really studying the scene and the evidence there. I was impressed.

I've deleted the solution because I want to know who YOU think did it! Drop it in the comments below or comment on my social media post. I want to know what you think!

Background Information:

During the setup for the Book Fair Grand Opening a scream was heard coming from the media center. It’s 8:30 am. A few minutes later the dead body of Jason Reynolds, the award winning author of Long Way Down, All American Boys  and Ghost, was found under a fallen bookshelf. Also found were a number of items that may lead us to the killer, a sharpie for signing books with the initials K.A. on them,  a copy of Dear Martin by Nic Stone autographed for Mrs. Friday, a photo of Jason with Mrs. Friday. At the moment these are the main suspects but everyone who was at Southwest to help with the book fair and saw or spoke to Jason Reynolds needs to be questioned.

Solution:

Jason Reynolds and Nic Stone have known each other from various authors conferences. Nic was a little jealous that Jason’s books always seem to be apart of the book fair, and Ghost was chosen as a SSYRA book this year, and her books were not apart of the book fair that came to Southwest. She knew the kids at The Great Southwest liked her book, but it was apparent that Jason’s books and Kwame’s books were checked out more recently.

Your name is: Nic Stone - Author of Dear Martin & Odd One Out Your role and feelings about the book fair: You are excited to be at Southwest for this book fair to talk to kids that have read your book. You are especially happy that your BFF Tiffany Jackson is here with you. You are sporting your favorite green lip stick, even though you are a little upset that your book is not being sold at this year’s book fair (WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT IS TOO MATURE?!?!?! IT ISN'T!) and that all of the other authors here have books at the book fair. You kept looking at all the books, when the custodian turned off the lights in the media center. You tried to conjure your patronus but it obviously didn’t work.   Last time you saw Jason: You passed by him as he was walking into the media center, alone, and you were on your way out to do an interview with Summer Sanders.

Your name is: Kwame Alexander - Author of Swing, The Crossover & many others Your role and feelings about the book fair: This is now your second visit to Southwest and you can’t wait to see how many kids have finished reading your book Swing. You were just here recently and feel like a VIP. You know all these students love your books and you are glad to be here to help Mrs. Friday out. You’ve known Jason for a long time and you are really proud to call him a friend. You talk to each other often and even had him on one of your episodes of Bookish. Last time you saw Jason: Mrs. Friday had just asked you to come and sign a few more copies of Swing, as you wondered around the school to find your favorite sharpie, you walked past Jason as he just finished up an interview with Summer Sanders.

Your name is: Brendan Kiely - co author of All American Boys; author of Tradition Your role and feelings about the book fair: You are a little tired because you have been going around the country doing book talks with Jason about All American Boys, you like Jason’s company for the most part but after so many cities and so many airplanes it is starting to get to you and you wish you could take a break, but Jason is so eager to visit as many schools as possible and your publisher is really pushing you to go along with his ideas. Last time you saw Jason: You arrived at the school together, but you went to the nurse’s clinic, that is attached to the media center, alone, to lay down on one of the cotts to catch up on some sleep. You told everyone you woke up to the sound of Jason’s scream and a loud thud and came running to the dark media center and bumped into some of the bookcases that began to topple.

Your name is: Mrs. Friday - Media specialist Your role and feelings about the book fair: You are beyond excited and super stressed. It is amazing that you got so many awesome authors to agree to come to Southwest for the book fair, but it causes stress because you have so much to manage. Some of the authors have picky taste and tight schedules to work with. You are worried the kids will say something they shouldn’t. Teachers are cranky the kids are missing class again for your events. There are so many things for you to keep up with that you are stressed to the breaking point. You are managing to get all of the authors to sign a few copies of books to auction off at the book fair and to get a picture with each of the authors for your wall. You haven’t seen Brendan Kiely since he arrived at school, and he missed his scheduled book signing and interview with Jason. Last time you saw Jason: He was in the cafeteria doing a book signing and you saw him walk over to get interviewed with Summer, you then left the cafeteria to find Kwame for his book signing

Your name is: Ally Carter - Author of Not if I Save you First & Embassy Row series Your role and feelings about the book fair: This book fair is very exciting for you to be invited to. You are just so thrilled that you are going to get to meet kids who have read your books and help promote your newest book Not if I Save you First, a very suspenseful novel. You are a little shy and keep to yourself, making it to all of your scheduled events on time, you really like Mrs. Friday’s energy and are trying to help this day go as smoothly as possible. As you walked through the book fair set up you noticed some of the book cases were not as stable as others, but you didn't want to worry Mrs. Friday with this, so you kept it to yourself. Last time you saw Jason: Most of these authors publish books about social injustices and your books tend to deal with lighter-hearted subjects. You are thrilled to be here but feel a little out of place. You think that you may have seen Jason walking over to the media center, where you think you saw the shadow of another person, but then you were taken by surprise when Kwame bumped into you looking for his sharpie.

Your name is: Leo - Head custodian of Southwest Your role and feelings about the book fair: You are very busy helping Mrs. Friday set up all of the book fair cases. As you put them together you noticed that a few had loose parts, but you have too much to do so you are not worried about it. You know this is a big deal for the school but you had to be here early and stay late on Thursday to help with the set up, and now you are here extra early again, so your attention to detail isn’t the best. Last time you saw Jason: There is so much to be done you have no idea who has walked past you or not. When you left the media center last, you turned off all the lights when you noticed there was a nice looking lady with green lipstick thumbing through all of the books on the shelf.

Your name is: Veronica Roth - Author of the Divergent series and Carve the Mark Your role and feelings about the book fair: This is a nice quaint book fair that you are attending as a favor to your publisher, in order to help promote your new book: THE END AND OTHER BEGINNINGS: Stories from the Future. You know you are the only one here that has had your books turned into a movie but you don’t understand why everyone assumes you are so snobby. Your books have been out for so long that  you don’t seem to be as excited as some of these other authors who have books that have recently jumped on the NYT Best-Seller list. Last time you saw Jason: This morning all the authors met in the cafeteria for introductions and to get their itenary for the day. That was the first and the last time you saw Jason, because you were too busy touring the school campus with the principal.

Your name is: Tiffany Jackson - Author of Allegedly & Monday’s Not Coming Your role and feelings about the book fair: This is a very exciting event for you. You are here with your BFF Nic Stone celebrating books and kids and kids reading books! You have had to talk to Nic about not being so upset about her book not being sold at the book fair this year (Your books aren’t either--they keep insisting your books are too mature for middle school. Whatever! Mrs. Friday knows what's up and has your books even if the book fair company didn't send any). You encourage her that she will have her time. You are excited to get acquainted with Jason and his co-author Brendan though you are a little worried that they don’t seem to be as in-synced as they usually are, and then Brendan disappears. Sounds like something out of one of your books! Last time you saw Jason: You were talking with Jason on his way out of the cafeteria, asking about where Nic and Brendan were. Brendan missed his interview and Nic was next but nowhere in sight.

Your name is: Gordon Korman - Author of Restart and many others Your role and feelings about the book fair: You are feeling a little intimidated by all these new young and hip authors. You can tell that the kids at Southwest definitely have a liking for Kwame and Jason because the lines at their book signing tables are way longer than the line at yours. You try to use the fact that both you and Jason have SSYRA books this year to try and start a conversation with him. You are a best-selling author of lots of books too! You can tell he seems like a nice person but he brushes you off and it seems like he has a lot on his mind or is looking for someone. Last time you saw Jason: exiting the cafeteria with Tiffany Jackson chatting his ear off.

Your name is: Mr. Shaw - Principal of Southwest Your role and feelings about the book fair: You know Mrs. Friday is so excited for this, you are just worried about making sure all the kids stay safe and nothing bad happens. You are caught off guard when Veronica Roth asks you to give her a tour of the school. You don’t want to seem rude and want you show off your school so you abandon your post outside the Media center to walk with her and show her the other parts of the school. People constantly say you have a serious look on your face so Mrs. Friday put you in front of the doors greeting people to help you practice smiling. You are worried you just look mad. Last time you saw Jason: You met him this morning, but then you had to stand guard outside of the media center to keep track of who was going in and out, talk to the Media, and to make sure no books were stolen.

Your name is: Summer Sanders - News interviewer Your role and feelings about the book fair: You are so thrilled to get to interview so many big name authors all at once. You have read all of their books in preparation, as a news anchor who sees a lot of crazy stories, you really liked Tiffany Jackson and her thriller/suspense type books. But you were extremely excited to interview Nic Stone because you heard she was such an electric person but she never showed up to her interview before all the mayhem began. Last time you saw Jason: He was the last person you interviewed, in the cafeteria, you could tell he was upset because Brendan never showed up.

Name	Motive	Alibi	Clue
Nic Stone
Kwame Alexander
Brendan Kieley
Mrs. Friday
Veronica Roth
Leo Rangel
Ally Carter
Tiffany Jackson
Gordon Korman
Mr. Shaw
Summer Sanders