Getting Back into the Swing of Things

The holidays are coming to a close and it's time to start fresh with new energy and enthusiasm for the New Year. Despite the current political climate I'm looking forward to seeing the kids and hearing about their holidays. Many of them will have some pretty silly stories to tell and I will share a little of my holiday with them. It will be good to touch base again and see them smile as they walk through the library door. That's one good thing about all this. We adults will get caught up in the money and the politics, the kids will stay kids regardless. The reality is they just want to have fun and learn. I plan on focusing on that. What else can you do?

So what exactly did I do with my holidays? Well......

1.  I took a bunch of days and just had fun with my own kids. (They don't call it holidays for nothing)
2. I hosted Christmas dinner for 28 family members. ;))
3. Just before the holidays we purchased several apps for our iPads. I brought home one of the iPads and spent several days teaching myself how to use the apps. Using resources from YouTube, the web and of course my own kids. I taught myself how to use Garage Band, Book Creator, and I movie. It was a lot of fun. We created some pretty silly books, movies and music. 
4. I created a schedule and sent emails to colleagues about scheduling classes into the library space for their introduction to the Forest of Reading.
5. I read several blogs on technology and teaching. Just hoping to stay up to date. 
6. Enrolled in a photography course and set up a photo website.
7. Sketched out my photo ideas for an upcoming cover I'm going to shoot for the Library Association's Teacher/Librarian magazine. 
8. I read three books for our upcoming Forest of Reading program.

To date I have finished....
 The Tiffin - a story set in Bombay, India which chronicles the quest of one young man to find his mother and his family.











All Good Children  - is a dystopia story about a boy living in New Middleton with his mother and sister. In this story kids are being given drugs that make them behave. No nagging, whining, etc. kids are perfect. It's a parents utopia, no more disobeying. (Sounds good right!!)







This Dark Endeavour - is a remake of the Frankenstein story, sort of. This novel tells the story of Victor Frankenstein as a young man. In essence it's a prequel to Mary Shelley's story.








I really tried to balance school work with pleasure. Yes the books were for work but I do love reading so it's a double whammy of sorts. Several other teachers also took home books from the Forest of Reading. These teachers will be available throughout the next few months to talk to kids about the different books, to hear their opinions about the various books. It will be a lot of fun and kids really do enjoy talking to us on a sort of social level.
Playing around with the various apps was also a lot of fun. We made some pretty silly movies with the app and I'm tempted to post the movie here but it really is just absolute nonsense and I'm not sure that everyone will enjoy watching as much as we did making the movies.


Hopefully, everyone has a had a great holiday and enjoyed their time at home. I look forward to a lot of great experiences here in 2013. :)))