March Madness is about to happen, and ???

It seems hard to believe that 2 months have passed since my last post. Being a library media specialist is akin to walking the Schuylkill Expressway during rush hour traffic in Philly. Always something to do, learn, ponder, research, and more. Speaking of Philly (my home town region), I'm watching a center city Philly piece on HGTV which makes me a wee bit homesick. I so miss my museums and the huge Philadelphia Library in center city.

Meanwhile, back in Beaufort I'm getting ready to spring March Madness at the Media Center upon my school community. I can hardly wait! Books are ready for the Read Across America book give-away. One of my two costumes is on hand. I'll be the chick with the blue hair at some point during the week. Friday, March 6th will be our Books, Blankets, Jammies and Reading Stuffies Day. Everyone, YES, EVERYONE puts on their jammies, stretches out on a blanket and reads. This will be an all morning event and Thing 1 will be on the loose, and maybe the Cat in the Hat, too! Kids will be challenged to read as many books as they can in March. Logs will be kept and the ones who reach their goals will be rewarded!

Next on the to do list will be the SCASL conference in Greenville, SC. I'm looking forward to this one as Doug Johnson will be there. Author Angela Johnson [The First Part Last] and others will be on site as well.

Now that I've told you where I'm going, I need to tell you where I've been. January and February have been busy months - like what month isn't, right? Many books to read and share, poets to introduce and more. This week was a classic example. To cap Black history month, I focused on Langston Hughes who was, in my estimation, a very compelling author. I shared two of his short poems with the kids: Dreams and Children's Rhymes. I read a newspaper article about St. Luke's AME Church in Lawrence, Kansas - the church Hughes attended as a child. It is in need of restoration and was added to the National Historic Register in 2006. Hughes stated that his church influenced his writings. Then I used Google Maps and the Google Dude to take them to Kansas and stand in front of the church. WOW! The kids were spellbound! After that we "flew" via Google Maps to visit President and Mrs. Obama. The only problem was we did not make a reservation and the Secret Service would not allow the Google Dude to stand on the White House grounds. UGH! Not to disappoint my young travelers, we used our Google Map "jetpack" and went a few blocks west to visit the Lincoln Memorial. One class visited Arlington National Cemetery. After that we sent the Google Dude to our Principal's office at our school.

Like I told the kids, you have to hang on to your dreams as dreams can and will take you just about anywhere. Without a dream, you have no hope. I shared what my 2 dreams were. #1 was to become a teacher when I grew up, and I did. #2 was to become a library media specialist, and I am living that dream now!

I do believe that this is the best of times to be an educator, and the greatest of times to be a library media specialist. I am indeed very fortunate.

So what if I miss center city Philly, the Franklin Institute Science Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Free Philadelphia Public Library, Independence Hall, and others. I may miss them, BUT with Google Maps and the Google Dude, I can stand in front of them whenever I want!

Til my next great adventure, read, read, read and dream!