Middle School Monday: Mondays that Don’t Sparkle

When I was driving into school this morning, I was thinking about how lucky I was to work as a librarian at my school where because we are gifted with such a small student body, I’m able to build real relationships with my students. I was excited about what I was going to be teaching. I was looking forward to seeing my students.

Have you had morning drives like that? Where everything is just working? The sun was shining. I was listening to Hamilton. [I was even feeling strong enough to listen to the end of Side 2, people. Clearly, I was feeling fairly strong emotionally.] My coffee tasted great. I was flying.

Gah, I had A DAY. Things weren’t working like I wanted them to. Technology issues. Too busy of a [self-made] schedule. Some space issues. Some, ah, personnel issues. Burnt popcorn. Blah. Blah. Blah. We’ve all had days like this.

During my last class, my students were fairly WIRED. Normally, I just dive into that emotion and use it with whatever I’m teaching. I’m going to be honest. I was too tired to dive in today. I was stuck in the sand and discovered that I HATE NOT DIVING IN. [This is strictly an extended metaphor. I am deathly afraid of sharks and do not go above my knees in the ocean. Even writing about diving in via a metaphor made me a little nervous.]

You may be wondering why I’m telling you this. Here’s why: being a school librarian is hard. We’re educators at the same time that we’re running our own companies. And, typically there is no one else in our school who is doing the same thing. It’s awesome! But, it’s hard. For each of us for different reasons. [If it’s not hard, I’m not sure we’re doing it right!]

Online presences that only tout the shiny and close-up ready moments are a lie. I didn’t have one of those days today. And, that’s okay.

I’m Julie Stivers at @BespokeLib—and I’m going to have a good day tomorrow!

Filed under: Middle School Monday