Reflecting on 2020 and Looking at 2021

 

Every new year I like to reflect on the year that has passed, looking at everything I've experienced, accomplished and learned, and set goals for the year ahead. I was about to start this article off saying something like "Well, it's time for my usual new year's post...." when I realized that there was nothing "usual" about it this year. Before I write my annual post, I look at the one from the previous year to see how I did on meeting my goals, and as I read it I found myself thinking, "oh, you poor naïve thing, you have NO idea what is coming for you!" 2020 was a disaster of a year, bringing hardships, challenges, and changes that turned our world upside down, and will continue to have ramifications into 2021.

Early Literacy To Go - December

As I explained in my last post, since the digital divide is very evident in the community where I now work and many lack computers and/or internet access at home, I decided to first focus my early literacy programming on a monthly grab & go kit with suggested activities categorized under the ECRR2 five early literacy practices.

Early Literacy To Go! - November

While this is of course a very difficult and challenging time for everyone, as children's librarians we face the formidable task of finding a way to provide early literacy programming - a concept which is rooted in personal interaction, forming relationships with kids and adults, modeling behaviors, providing a place for kids and caregivers to socialize - without physically being in the same space together. It's very counter-intuitive, but unfortunately necessary to protect our own health, as well as that of our patrons and the community. And in addition to being a professional and logistical challenge, it is an emotional and personal one as well, since most of us thrive on the interactions with our patrons and without that we've lost much of the joy we normally find in our job.

New Picture Book Mini-Reviews

 

Now that I am done with library school, finished with job hunting, and have a general idea of what I what direction I want to go in with programming for now, I am working on trying to catch up on the new books that have come out this year that I've missed. Yesterday I looked through all the newer picture books my branch had gotten in the last 6 months that were on the shelf (though some may have been published earlier), and there were a few that really stood out:

Change Is Not Easy - New Job, New Place, New Reality

 

The tree in Marty Kelley's Fall Is Not Easy was right; change is HARD! 

Like that tree, I've had to make a lot of big changes this fall, and it has not been easy. It has been, in a word, overwhelming! I've been at my new job for two weeks, and it has been a huge adjustment on many levels.

A New Beginning! Plus Job-Hunting Tips for New MLS Grads

I am very happy to say that beginning October 19th I will be employed once again, and as a full-time professional librarian! So hopefully I will have more meaningful content for the blog, and more time and energy to put into it, once I get settled.

It wasn't easy, and required a lot of compromise, sacrifice, and unconventional life choices, but it is a HUGE relief.

Adventures In Storytime Has Gone Virtual!

After the Covid-19 pandemic hit I was suddenly and unexpectedly unemployed and faced with the dilemma of how to stay connected to the field, not get stale, come up with new content for the blog, and show potential employers I can adapt to virtual programming. While in library school I found I liked putting together presentations, so I recycled slides from previous in-person training sessions I'd done on literacy topics and recorded voice-over to them to turn them into webinars, but there hasn't been any interest (I think everyone's webinar-ed out by now) so I haven't pursued making any others yet, though I do plan to do some shorter tutorials..

Now that it is apparent to almost everyone that it will be quite some time before we are back to in-person programming, and virtual programming and other alternatives are here to stay, I needed to figure out a way to get experience and demonstrate that I could do virtual programs. But, there was one catch. While publishers have extended permissions to teachers and librarians, since I am not currently attached to a school or library, they don't really apply to me. One might argue "fair use", but I'd rather play it safe. So after thinking it over for a while I decided instead of doing storytimes, I would do short videos with a few songs, rhymes, and/or fingerplays around a given theme, and then give some book suggestions at the end.

I've set up a YouTube channel, and I will also be posting them on the Facebook page. I'm trying to make them serve a dual purpose, to be suitable for kids to watch and sing and play along with, as well as to be a resource for parents, educators, and other youth librarians. I'm also going to do occasional crafts, STEM, and booktalk/trailer videos as well. I'm trying to keep them around 10-15 minutes or less, but a couple have creeped up closer to 20. So far I've only uploaded a few videos, plus a video I made last year from my library butterfly project, but my goal is to add one every week for a while. I don't know if anybody will watch them, but at least it will be good practice for me.

If you have any feedback or suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it! I'm still not 100% comfortable in front of the camera, but getting better. It's just so much harder without a live audience in front of you, plus the only place in my house with decent lighting is very cramped.

I've added a menu with links under the "Videos" tab above, but you can also subscribe to the YouTube channel and follow the Facebook page.

Shark Week! - Flannel Friday

So today's Flannel Friday post isn't exactly a flannel board set, but it is based on the one below I made previously, and did make use of felt.

I previously made this flannel board set to do a couple of different "Five Little Fishies" rhymes, including one where they were teasing Mr. Shark. But then last summer a co-worker showed me how she did it using our shark puppet and finger-puppet fish, and I thought that was a much more fun way of doing it! So this year I bought myself a shark puppet and make some little fish finger-puppets from felt.

I couldn't find a Folkmanis puppet like the library has that I could get as soon as I wanted, and ended up buying a different one that I don't like it quite as much because I think the color and shape are more suggestive of a dolphin, but it does clearly have shark teeth and works well.

To make the little fishy finger-puppets I just found a piece of clip-art to use as a pattern and sized it to what I thought was the appropriate size. Then I cut out two pieces from each of five different colors, added a little detail with colored sharpies and googly-eyes, then glued them together, leaving a finger-sized opening at the bottom. Mine turned out to be just a little on the small side, so I would advise making them just a bit bigger so that the pocket for your finger is a little deeper. Mine work, but I have to be careful or they will fall off my fingers easily.

Here is the rhyme I use them with:

Five Little Fishies & Mr. Shark

Five little fishies, swimming in the sea.

Teasing Mr. Shark, "You can't catch me!"

Along comes Mr. Shark, as quiet as can be,

And SNAPPED that fishy right out of the sea!

(grab one fish with shark puppet)

Four little fishies..... (continue counting down to zero)

No little fishies, swimming in the sea.

Just Mr. Shark, as full as can be!

And if you'd like to see it in action, it's the second activity in my Shark Week-themed video below:

For more felt & flannel ideas and tips, check out the Flannel Friday Facebook group and Pinterest Boards! To share your flannel, submit via the Flannel Friday Tumblr. For complete information and all the details, visit the main Flannel Friday website.