Who Moved My Cheese?!

Wow, where did the summer go?!  I had this glorious goal to write blog posts throughout the summer.  I wanted to blog "Tuesday Tech Tips," books I've read (children's literature, young adult literature, professional), and anything else that inspires me relating to topics on education, school library, technology, and much more.  Unfortunately, I did not meet that goal.  It is called "life as a mommy with 2 busy sons" (ages 3 and 5).  My sons and I had our fill of sun, swimming, fun, and fond memories!  Our highlights were going to Lost Island Waterpark (Waterloo, Iowa), Adventureland (Des Moines, Iowa), and Iowa State Fair (Des Moines, Iowa).

Thankfully, goal(s) allow us to re-evaluate and try it again.  So, here I am, back to blogging!

This is a wonderful time of the year with fresh beginnings and new starts!  It is the start of a new school year, new weather season, fall sports, and the list goes on!  I saw this picture quote on Facebook the other day, and can't resist sharing the beautiful fall leaves, in addition to the words stated, that I am striving to be and do this year, particularly in my new job role as a teacher-librarian in THREE different buildings!

Yes, you read correctly, this year I am serving three different buildings as a teacher-librarian!  Last spring, I faced the unknown of what my job would entail this year.  I received an administrative transfer letter in May and didn't find out until June what I will be doing this year.  At that time, I predicted I would either be moved to a general education classroom teacher position or be shared as a teacher-librarian among multiple buildings in the district.  Sure enough, my administrative transfer letter indicated I would be shared among multiple buildings.  So, instead of serving one building, like I did last year at Harding Elementary, this year I am now assigned to be shared among three buildings.  Two days I am at Harding Elementary, two days I am at Jefferson Elementary, and one day I am at Lincoln Intermediate.

I am not a stranger to being shared among buildings.  During the 1st five years of my career as a teacher-librarian for Mason City Community School District, I served both Harding Elementary and Jefferson Elementary (2008-2013).  While I am proud of the work I did during that time I served both Harding and Jefferson, I fully believe I accomplished more last year, being in one building, than I did during the combined five years among two buildings.  Unfortunately, the reality is budget cuts got the best of our school district, and resulted in many changes.  I won't go into details about the budget cuts in our district, but I can tell you that our entire district has had to face CHANGE.

In fact, I think the book that best defines this time in our district is "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson.

My mom and dad gave me this book to read when I was in high school, and I am forever thankful they gave it to me!  It is definitely worth the time to read this book!

They even have a kids version of this book!

On Tuesday, September 23, 2014, I attended TI 12 (Technology Integration K-12) at AEA 267 Clear Lake office (more details to come about that awesome day of ed. tech. learning), and we came across this YouTube video of "Who Moved My Cheese?" that is also well-worth your time to view!

So, why am I making such a huge deal about this particular book?!  It is because it deals with change, and I have certainly had to deal with lots of changes for this new school year.  While I LOVED serving one building last year, I admit that the start of this school year, so far, serving three buildings has been crazy, busy, but completely awesome!

I could be completely negative, whine, and complain about my new job role as a teacher-librarian for this year, but I choose to be positive and EMBRACE THIS CHANGE!

I believe so much positive will result from being shared among three buildings!

• I get to form positive student relationships with half of the district's elementary population, and then eventually, the entire district at Lincoln Intermediate!
• Our district library program moved away from a fixed schedule to a flexible schedule.
• I have more opportunities to create, connect, and collaborate with staff and students!
• Students will be able to make a deeper connection between classroom learning, information literacy skills, and technology skills!
• Skills will be remembered, transferred, and applied in many, different situations.
• I have the opportunity to inspire and share my love of reading and technology!
• I will be able to share and impact many more teachers, who will then make a great impact on students, with my knowledge and learning of new technologies!

Truly, it is all about how a person deals with change!  Thanks to the book "Who Moved My Cheese?" and my parents, I choose to embrace and thrive on change!  Clearly, I am "Sniff and Scurry"!

I am going to leave you with these thought-provoking questions to ponder...

• How do you deal with change?
• Which character are you in the book "Who Moved My Cheese?"  Are you Sniff, Scurry, Hem, or Haw?
• Who do you wish you could be?
• What could you do to change the way you view change?