Twas the night before the night before

If I only looked at the mercury, I would not believe that it was time to go back to school in upstate New York.  My son just informed me it was going to be 89 tomorrow.  This is not a typical September. But what is typical is that kids will be back in my library on Thursday.  I can hardly contain my excitement!

Today was our first official day back.  I knocked on doors to collaborate.  I got philosophical. "Kids need to be given choices in what they read." And I already cried. "Why aren't things going the way I hoped they would go?"  All in all it was a good day and I can't wait to take a million leaps on Thursday.

I made it onto our faculty meeting agenda tomorrow.  It says, "School Year Theme--Stacey Rattner" but really I have more in store than the theme.  And, for the first time I am giving everyone a little goody bag with the following:

• Fun Pen--So they can "Make Their Mark" for Dot Day to be celebrated for the first time school wide on September 14.
• Chocolate--Self explanatory but also a reminder that I have a chocolate dish in my library always full for those days you need to reap the benefits of cocoa.
• A K-Cup (Donut shop brand)--Because some days you need a pick me up and I love all things donuts.
• Tea--Sweet Dreams flavor.  Some of us are not coffee drinkers (what?!) and prefer tea.  Or, maybe a nice cup at home is just what the doctor ordered after a long day at school. And mindfulness is a big push this year so what better flavor than "sweet dreams."
• Free Prep Pass-I found this idea on Future Ready Librarians Facebook page and when I mentioned it to my friend, she thought it was the greatest idea ever.  She was already ready to redeem hers! With an expiration date of June 26, 2019 (yes, could our last day of school BE any later?), teachers can redeem this coupon for a free 30 minutes.  It's really a win-win.  I get to be with the kids and they can take a break.  I'm so fortunate to have a flexible schedule that allows me the ability to offer this opportunity to my colleagues.

I also made up postcards using Canva (also thanks to Future Ready Librarians and Shannon Miller)  that have my extension (it's seven digits long), the link for the library webpage and the link for Overdrive.  I put the database logins and passwords on the back.  Unfortunately, they haven't arrived yet from Overnightprints (the name is deceiving) so I will have to hand those out at a later date.  Ha! Maybe mail them! I already have my daughter on call that if they are delivered in the morning, she needs to rush them over to me at school. 

TA Bag

The teaching assistants are getting bags, too, minus the prep pass.  I couldn't leave them out and I wanted to make sure they knew that I appreciated them. There's a QR code on their card that links them directly to Overdrive.  I want to take away as many obstacles to finding books as possible.

"Come for Chocolate. Stay to Collaborate." Honestly, I fill my calendar without the bribery.  I just wanted to remind them all that I couldn't do any of this or be successful without them. 

And now to go set my alarm and have some "sweet dreams."