Jen Nails It

every morning is  another chance last night was last night it's right now time there's pollen now some of it smells like rough perfume there's the sound of the fountain relentless cleansing there's breeze  lazy, swaying branches pine needles shimmying  stillness and lonely-blanket quiet when the boys are gone there's love and potential and growth and understanding there's  LIFE still this morning there's another chance to take four steps back and just hold your heart and let out a breath and say THANK YOU

I just Tweeted this in response to the post from brilliant author/former teacher @LynMullalyHunt (NY Times Bestselling FISH IN A TREE, ONE FOR THE MURPHYS) that wished us a happy Teacher Appreciation Week: Feeling like a ghost school librarian. Like I am unsure of whether or not the students are getting anything out of what I am offering them remotely. I am really fed by the wonder and curiosity of students, and I know many teachers feel the same. Sometime it's hard to feel that through Zoom, especially from the students that I know are NOT readers, really (like me, honestly, until I was about 25. For real). Library in our school is a "Special," and while I am WILDLY grateful that our school finds the library a relevant component to K-12 education and even MORE wildly grateful that they employ a licensed librarian in their library, being a Special (in the world of remote learning) translates to being an Optional part of students' day (for me, anyway). I give no...