April is showers, poetry & spring flowers!

After two months of brown tones, it was time to add some color to the display. We're having a Poetry Contest this month, so along with April showers and spring flowers, this was a fun idea to quickly throw together. I used MS Word's wonderful letter panels to create the POETRY part of the sign. To make the umbrella-looking shapes, I grabbed some bulletin board paper and made big squares first-- no measuring-- just fold over to make a triangle, cut the leftover off, and keep folding like you would a fan. Cut the corners off, scallop or leave them smooth to make it look like an umbrella. I open them up and draped some of them over the bars, and others I tape opened up. The next part was where I literally threw the display together.

I raided the recycle bin in the paper room and pulled out all of the discarded bulletin board paper, tore them into pieces, wadded them up, and threw them on the floor. When one of my fellow teachers came through and asked me what I was doing with all that paper, I told him I was getting out my frustrations. He believed me, so then I told him they're supposed to look like wildflowers. I'm afraid some folks will only see wadded up paper.

I had fun with it, though. I scattered some baskets around filled with colored grass and added poetry books to the display, and it was done. So wadded up paper or wildflowers, it's April's display.





Remember the Alamo!



March always seems to slip in and slip out before I realize it, and especially Texas' Independence Day on March 2nd. This time I used the backdrop for February's display and hung a quickly drawn and cut-out cardboard Alamo from under the loftbed. I used the "stagecoach" font for the sign and tore the edges. To give it a burned look, run a black marker aroun the edge, and then a layer of brown color pencil. Pull books on the Alamo or Texas history and you're done! Sorry I didn't get this out before March was over.



Black History is American History is Our History



Several book boxes came with a ton of brown packing paper, which I used to weave in and out of the loft bed as a background for this month's display. I wasn't sure what I was going for, other than a consistent look, but after I finished wrapping the frame, it reminded me of tobacco leaves hanging to dry. Tobacco was a labor-intensive crop prevalent on many of the east and southeastern plantations during the slave years, so the look fits Black History month in that way. I haven't said that aloud, preferring to leave the interpretation to the viewer's imagination. I used pictures from the Library of Congress and hung them directly on the brown paper. I displayed books dealing with the time around Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation as well as key people in the early struggle for freedom and subsequent civil rights. It's sad to look back and see those parts of history where people erred in their treatment of human beings-- slavery, the holocaust, apartheid. We tell ourselves we wouldn't be a part of that, but seeing injustice and choosing to ignore it is no different than condoning it. I believe too many of us are asleep in the midst of a present day holocaust when it comes to the deaths of innocent unborn children, but that's not what this display is about so I'll share my thoughts in another post. It's encouraging, though, to see those individuals throughout history that recognized injustice and were courageous enough to do something about it. We especially celebrate them this month.



As I worked on the display, I realized I never thought about what I display each year as being a part of my history since it's Black History month. The title itself seems segregative, like it's set apart from the rest of American history. But I realized that black history is a part of our American history, so it's my history, too, and that's how I'm going to think about it from now on.

I assumed it began years ago because many of the history books failed to record events and contributions  involving blacks throughout our country's history, but I thought I'd better do some research on the origins of Black History month to confirm that. I learned about Carter G. Woodson, who is considered the Father of Negro History and in 1926 organized the first Negro History Week, which evolved into Black History month, although the Web site I retrieved the following photo calls it African American History month.

Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950)

Courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences Online, African American History Program

I found a quote of Woodson's that really resonated with my epiphany that Black History is a part of my history, too. On the founding of Negro History Week he said, "We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice." YES, Dr. Woodson!! Otherwise, we're continuing to set ourselves apart, even with good intentions.

Oh, for the day when Americans are categorized by citizenship, character, & contributions to mankind;

when colors refer to our flag instead of a label to brandish as a crutch or bully stick;

when our history is one history, undivided , & with liberty & justice for all. --Donna Van Cleve



A Good Book Brings Great Joy

It's December already! How did that happen? I recycled snowflakes made by the art classes three years ago and created a winter wonderland display for this month. I wrapped the loft bed with blue bulletin board paper. The snowman was made from styrofoam equipment packing-- this is his second year to be used.

The snowman is leaning up against an easel, and the knit cap covers the top part of the easel and keeps him upright. I cut out some black tree trunks and used shredded paper from our office to make the icy-looking leaves for the trees. 

I even piled some on the mattress grid above the trees as well as hung a few snowflakes from the grid to make it look like it was snowing.

I pulled Christmas books and scattered more snowflakes on the ground, and sat the snowman on top of a star-shaped crocheted tablecloth I found in someone's trash. I have used it in so many displays.

At the end of the loft bed I put the theme "A Good Book Brings Great Joy," and also added a table with a red Christmas tree skirt and more Christmas books after I took the picture. I also outlined the big picture windows with snowflakes in the front of the library. On the snowman, I used things I found in the office drawers: binder clips for the mouth, Percy Jackson pins for the eyes and buttons, and half of a plastic fork for the nose.

Here are some more quick displays:

Cost for these displays? Only a little time,
and with helpers, it didn't take long at all.
Have a wonderful holiday!



Be Thankful!

November was such a busy month with Book Fair and the Thanksgiving holiday, so I just modified the previous month's display by adding red, yellow, and orange leaves on the twisted vine-looking brown paper and strung "Be Thankful" across the front. This is the third year I've used the same leaves in a number of different ways. We cut the looped tape on the back and flattened it, so the tape doesn't tear the leaves. From then on we put the piece of looped tape on top of the tape from the first year so it's easy to remove. Sure saves time not to have to cut out leaves every year.

A colorful fall banner was hung from the end to create a different look.

Throw in a turkey and scatter a few fall leaves on the floor, and the new display is done.



Carve Out Time to Read!

The lack of time is our biggest challenge for most anything these days... including reading for enjoyment and knowledge. We're all given the same amount of time each day-- 24 hours, but it's up to each of us to determine how we can best use that time. How often do we flitter away valuable time due to lack of planning (What in the world am I supposed to be doing?), lack of organization (Now where did I put my planner?), lack of a clear vision or mission (Where am I going and what do I want to accomplish?), and the lack of discipline to get the job done (Where do I start?).

We make time for what's important to us, so one of my October displays addresses making time for reading in the midst of our busy schedules. I bought a pumpkin and carved a quick face on it with plans to find a battery operated light for it.

Ways for students to carve out time to read include: standing in line,after you finished your assignment in class, in between band or athletic events, waiting for the bus, while you're on the bus,  right when you get up, in the car, waiting for a ride, waiting for an appointment, and right before you go to bed.

Include books with pumpkins or about Halloween, red, yellow, and orange leaves, and a scarecrow watching over the display. I'm sorry to say that the carved pumpkin didn't last but a few days-- after the weekend it was black and fuzzy with mold coming out the openings and already sinking into a puddle on the table. Next time I'll just paint a face on the pumpkin so it will last longer.

I pulled more pumpkin and Halloween books to take its place.
RIP, punkin face.



Caught You Reading



Nothing original here. Just happy to work in a school district where so many of the students love to read. I've enjoyed walking around catching students reading after their school work is done. I'm making mini-posters and putting them all around school with the title Caught You Reading! and Teen Read Week October 17-23 as captions. The students love to have their photo taken, but if you put them up on a Web site, make sure the parents have given permission for their child to have their picture online.