Monday, November 17, 2014

Best of intentions

You know when you start a new project and you have this perfect vision of everything you're going to accomplish and all that you're going to do, but then reality sets in and you realize that you had the best of intentions, but you've kinda dropped the ball on some things?

Welcome to my reality . . .

I had the best of intentions in starting this blog. I really did. My intent was to chronicle my experiences as a first year Teacher Librarian. To document the ups and downs, the triumphs and tribulations. To share my progress with my fellow librarians who were embarking on a similar journey to define (or redefine) what it means to be a librarian and what a librarian's role should be in schools.

And then reality set in . . .

If you've read my previous post about striking balance, I'm admitting epic failure with this blog. But I've got a very good reason.

I've been given the most amazing opportunity to create my dream job. I shouldn't, but I feel almost guilty when I tell people this, especially other librarians. I mean how many people get to say that they were given the go-ahead to fulfill their vision? I am so blessed to have had this opportunity fall into my lap.  I am blessed to have an administration who got "it," who were visionary enough to understand that our school's library could be so much more than a room to house books and that the librarian could do so much more to support literacy and technology if given the opportunity to extend beyond the walls of the library. I'm so blessed that they saw the potential of rearranging the specials schedule to allow for collaboration and support of the classroom curriculum. I'm blessed that they truly value literacy and want students to have access to an abundance of literature and technology. And I'm blessed that they've entrusted me to make it all happen.

And my students and staff! How do I even begin to talk about how amazing they have been, especially the staff? Without them, my dream job would have faltered and failed. My staff has welcomed me into their classrooms and their lives with open arms, constantly giving me opportunities to prove my worth and to help support student learning. We've been working hard to develop lessons that integrate technology and allow students the opportunity to practice their literacy skills and see the value of reading (okay, I fully admit that last statement sounds like some sort of idealized mission statement, but I totally promise that it's true).

So, basically, I'm saying that I've been a little busy. And I dropped the ball.

And with that having been said, I want to recommit to myself (and to you) that I will reflect and document my journey with more regularity. I'd love to commit myself to something as ambitious as once a week, but the reality is . . . that may not happen. But you're busy too, so you'll understand! But just know, I truly do have the best of intentions!