Almost May

May arrives tomorrow, and there are only FOUR more weeks of school! In the meantime, it’s been busier in the library. Today I visited both Grade 8 English classes to tell them about library resources we have that will be useful for the research paper they are starting,and urging them to visit the library FIRST, rather than when they are desperately seeking information the day before their paper is due. I also gave their teacher copies of a a Bibliography Basics handout I created back in February for all classes to help them format their references. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to see their papers when they are completed to see what sort of resources they actually used!

Among “other related duties,” I have been designated the AP Coordinator. Luckily there are others who are experienced w/ the AP Exam process that have been guiding me, but now we’re down to the wire…AP Exams commence next week and run through May 14th. We have 23 students taking a total of 42 exams including Biology, Calculus, Computer Science, Englkish Literature, Psychology, World History and Studio Art. Wow…the next couple of weeks will be intense for these students!

Tomorrow is Worker’s Day, which is basically the equivalent of Labor Day in the US. So no school, although I will be traveling w/ the Grade 9 class (39 students) down to Abuja for an overnight class trip. It’s a 3+ hour bus ride each way…should be an adventure! We will leave @ 7:45am tomorrow and return Saturday afternoon.

And here are a couple of pix of the Grade 4 class from last week showing off the books they have selected to read. They have also been working on finding books in the library the past couple of weeks using a slips of paper that I print for them w/ the call number, author and title, and they have been doing a good job of it.

Grade 4

Grade 4

Mr. Library Guy

As I walk across the school campus, on my way to/from home and throughout the day, students are always greeting me. Usually it’s, “Hi, Mr. Payne,” or “Hi, Mr. P,” but this week one of the kindergarten kids greeted me with, “Hi, Mr. Library Guy,” which immediately made me laugh. I know I have trouble learning (and remembering) everyone’s name, so I’m (almost) certain that’s what was going on w/ him, but it’s been running around in my head all week, and makes me smile. And it reminds me of Bill Nye, “The Science Guy“…which is good company to be in, I think!

During the first couple of weeks, some Grade 4 boys asked if they could call me “Teacher Payne,” and us e “T.P.” for short (funny guys!), but I put the brakes on that one! It *is* a bit confusing if the kids call out “Hi, Mr. P,” and the HS principle is nearby, since his last name also starts w/ “P” (Mr. Personaire), but we manage.

The kids are definitely becoming more familiar and comfortable w/ me…this week has been a bit more challenging when it comes getting them to pay attention for story time and/or library instruction.

Busy in the Library

Grade 3

Grade 3 Goofy

Pink Day

HS Study Break

HS Study Break

Story time!

Every week I have story time w/ the Preschool, Kindergarten, and Grades 1, 2 and 3 classes when they come to the library. It’s definitely a highlight of my day! I read share picture books w/ the younger children, and have been reading through chapter books w/ Grades 2 and 3. Even if I pick books they have read/seen before, they always enjoy it one more time and want to check it out right after I read it. Since I usually read the same picture book to the younger kids, I hang onto it and set it out for them the following week, which also helps to head off arguments over who gets it! =;o)

This weeks books:

• The Librarian from the Black Lagoon (P/K/Gr 1)
• The Mouse & the motorcycle (Gr 2 continued…)
• How to eat fried worms (Gr 3 continued…)

I’ve been trying to find some gummy worms (or anything resembling worms) to share w/ the Grade 3 class when we finish the book, but haven’t had any success at either of the two stores that carry more “baturi” (white people) items. Now I’m hoping I can figure out an alternative….maybe we’ll have some spaghetti w/ food coloring!

On Monday this week, Kimberly and I provide relief care for the hostel parents w/ the younger kids (Grades 4-8). We have provided relief several times for the older (high school) kids hostel several times already (usually just Kimberly needs to be there, since they are all fairly independent), but we definitely both needed to be present w/ the younger crowd…they need LOTS of supervision to keep on task to get their homework done. Anyway, we read stories to the younger kids (Grades 405) when it was their bedtime…Kimberly read to the girls, and I read to 3 VERY energetic boys (since they are in separate wings of the building). Since I had trouble getting them ready for bedtime (an exercise in organized chaos!), we ran out of time to finish the book I started w/ them (Owen & Mzee), so (with Kimberly’s encouragment!) I returned last night (Wed) to finish it up w/ them. As I was headed into the room w/ the younger boys, one of the older boys commented that he misses listening to books, so I invited him to join us. He didn’t join us in the younger boys’ room, but now I’m thinking about heading over there more often for an evening story time in one of the main rooms, so perhaps the older kids would want to sit and listen, too!

The library serves not only the Hillcrest students, but also their families and others in the mission community, even if they live out of town. This weekend there is another track meet , so I am hoping to have the library open for awhile on Saturday so that Hillcrest families and others from the mission community can come use the library while they are on campus for the track meet, since it may be difficult for them to get here during the week.

Lunch @ the Suya Hut

Grade 1 Story Time

HS Staff Room

Kindergarten Story Time

Kindergarten Story Time

Kindergarten Story Time

Still more dust…

Harmatan has continued through this week. Most days it looks like it’s cloudy, but it’s all just the dust. The janitor comes in one morning a week to dust all the horizontal surfaces (shelf edges, tables, chairs, desks, computers), but it’s been so dusty that Toyin has been dusting every morning when she arrives. On Thursday morning when Kimberly and I were out for our morning run, she commented that it reminded her of the morning mist on Camano Island, but it sure wasn’t cool and refreshing like the morning mist! After running, I took out my contacts before going to work and wore my glasses, since by the end of the day on Wednesday my eyes felt like sandpaper! At home, Kimberly has dusted a couple of mornings, and by the afternoon, you can clearly see a big line if you run your finger across the table. We finally closed part of our windows to help a little bit, but we’d rather have the fresh(er) air and dust than a hot(ter) stuffy house!