A personal milestone and a new program!

It's been way too long since I last posted!

First of all, I'm pleased to be able to say that I've reached a big milestone - one year as a librarian!  September 10th was the anniversary of my first day on the job.  I love love love this job and career, and I'm so happy that I get to do this for a living!

Secondly, I wanted to talk about a new program that I put together.  It's called 1000 Books Before Kindergarten, and it's based off of programs that many other libraries are doing, with some tweaks to fit our needs.

Basically, the idea is that young children (below kindergarten-age) and their families keep track of the books that the child reads or listens to with the goal of reaching 1000 books before the child starts kindergarten.  Since we know that the more books a child reads/hears before starting school, the better he or she will be ready to learn in school, this is a great way to make that happen!  Any books, from anywhere, count for the program, and books read more than once can be counted more than once.

The way I set up our program is that there are 10 logs with 100 book symbols on each log.  Each time a book is read, the child colors in or crosses out a book symbol on the log.  Once 100 books are read and a log completed, the child turns in the log for a sticker and a new log to begin.  Each of the logs is a different color in a (sort of) rainbow order, so hopefully the kids get excited to see what color comes next.  After completing all 10 logs, the child gets a certificate of completion (a pretty cute one if I do say so myself!) and a free book!

We've had a decent number signed up so far, but hopefully that number just grows and grows.  This is an ongoing program, so we'll continue it and help more young children be ready to start kindergarten. :)

Summer Reading Prizes

We've been having some different discussions about the summer reading club prizes we give out.  Children who finish their summer reading goal of 50 books or 600 minutes of reading get a packet of coupons (pizza, ice cream, passes to the zoo, etc.), a little prize (a rubber ducky or eraser), and an entry to win one of the bigger, "grand" prizes.

One thing I always notice with the little prizes is the segregation between what are "girl" and what are "boy" prizes, according to that patron.  I've seen little boys pick out a princess ducky only to have their moms pull it out of their hands and pick something else that's "for boys."  I had one girl and her mom complain that there weren't enough "girl prizes" - because according to them, dinosaurs and trucks are only for boys.  I wish we wouldn't draw such hard-and-fast lines because I think sometimes it prevents kids from pursuing what they actually like, instead of what society says they're supposed to like.

We've also been talking about how many of our coupons are for chains owned by big corporations.  Do we really want the library to promote specific corporations?  Or promote any companies marketing to kids?

To go even further, why do we need prizes at all?  The point of summer reading club is to keep kids reading during the summer.  The point is not the prizes, and I wouldn't want kids to think it is.  The prizes may be an effective bribe in some cases, but I also wonder if the kids who do the reading club only for the prizes actually get anything out of it.  Maybe they just skim through a bunch of books they don't like until they reach the minimum and then stop reading by July 1st.  Maybe the prizes aren't necessary at all.

In any case, there are definitely a lot of things to think about when it comes to summer reading club prizes.

Summer Programs

I know, I know, it's been too long!  Summer is of course the busy season for a children's librarian in a public library.  Here are a couple programs that I've been in charge of this summer.


Food Under Our Feet: Dig Into Root Veggies

With this year's summer reading theme of Dig Into Reading, I thought a program on root vegetables would teach kids a bit about new foods that are good for them.  I set the room up in four stations and then set up a little area for kids to sit and listen to a couple of books.  The books I read were Carrot Soup by John Segal and Grandma Lena's Big Ol' Turnip by Denia Hester (one of many versions of this Russian folktale - I liked the diverse characters of this one).  Then the children were free to do the four stations.  One station was a "Veggie Petting Zoo" where I had some of the actual root vegetables available for kids to touch and pick up, along with some fun facts about them.  Another station was for a stamping craft, where I had carrots, potatoes, and radishes cut in half to stamp in ink pads and onto paper.  For the potatoes I had also pressed small cookie cutters into them and cut around the shapes, so I had a star, diamond, etc.  The third station was a tasting station, and I had veggie chips and tapioca pudding available.  Did you know tapioca is made from cassava?  The last station was the messiest - I had collected clear 2 liter bottles to make visible root planters so the kids could plant carrot seeds and take their planters home.  The potting soil was a bit messy, but we mostly kept it under control.







Pet Rocks

This was a fun and pretty easy craft that also fit in with the Dig Into Reading theme.  I asked kids to bring their own rock, but some forgot so I had extras.  Really the best place to get rocks was the library parking lot!  The kids used googely eyes (a hit!), pipe cleaners, yarn and string, puffballs, feathers, mini popsicle sticks, and markers that showed up nicely on the rocks.  I set out scissors and glue, plus I also had packing tape if anyone wanted it.  Each kid also got a little paper plate to bring their pet rock home on, and some of them decorated their plate as well.  The kids were so creative, and the program required minimal setup!

It's hard to keep up with anything during the Summer Reading Club!

Whew!  The past few weeks since our Summer Reading Club started on May 20 have been a blur!  Even before that we were busy because we were promoting the club at the local schools.

Friday we had a big "passive program" where for several hours there were different stations set up right in our department, and families could drop by whenever and do the activities as they pleased.  It definitely took a lot of preparation by my coworker Theresa, but she did a great job!  The whole day was a sort of controlled chaos.  There were tons of people, and the craft tables did need to be restocked regularly, but nothing got out of control.

Everything went along with our theme of Dig Into Reading, whether it was mummies or Egypt or cave drawings.  It was great to look around the department and see kids happily dressing up in costumes, throwing bean bags through holes in board, doing crafts, adding to our scratch art mural, reading, etc!  I could see so many of the early literacy practices at work: reading, writing, playing, talking - and I'm sure at least someone in there was singing!  It was a great way for families to have fun - and learn things maybe without realizing it! - for free!

These kinds of "passive programs" (I use the quotes because they're not entirely passive and do require work) are a great idea for any library.

Booktalks for Juvenile Chapter Books

I've been working on some booktalks to do for local fourth grade classes, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites that I've written.  I won't be reading these word-for-word to the kids, but I like to write a paragraph to get my thoughts in an order that sounds good.

Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities

by Mike Jung

Vincent Wu is president of the Captain Stupendous Fan Club. It may not be the Official fan club - in fact, it may be the smallest fan club in history - but NOBODY knows more about the world's active superheroes and supervillains than Vincent, George, and Max. Like every kid in Copperplate City they show up every time they get a Stupendous Alert on their phones, hoping to see Stupendous take down a hostile space alien or giant radioactive spider. But Captain Stupendous has been acting strange lately, ever since he rescued Polly Winnicott-Lee (whom Vincent totally does NOT have a crush on, maybe) and failed to take down the giant robot creation of a brand new supervillian named Professor Mayhem. Can Vincent and his friends help Stupendous get his mojo back? And what does Polly have to do with all this? Find out in this high-powered adventure of friendship and kicking butt.

Dorko the Magnificent

by Andrea Beaty

Fifth grader Robbie Darko wants nothing more than to be a world-class magician.  Unfortunately, most of his previous tricks have either started a fire or sent an amphibian flying at the school principal’s face.  On top of these career setbacks, Robbie is being forced to share a room with the little brother he calls Ape Boy so that a crazy old lady he’s somehow related to can move in.  Grandma Melvyn never smiles, yells at the TV during Wheel of Fortune, calls everyone Trixie, and seems determined to make Robbie’s life miserable.  But Grandma Melvyn also has a secret, one that could change Robbie’s magic act – and his life – forever.

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story

by Linda Sue Park

Nya, an eleven-year-old girl living in southern Sudan in 2008, walks for hours each day to get water for her family to drink. Even then, the water they drink can be dirty and make them sick. But strangers have come to Nya's village with tools and trucks and a huge drill, ready to build something that will provide fresh, clean water right in the center of the village. Back in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva has fled from his school, also in southern Sudan. The war between the Sudanese government and the southern rebels has come to Salva's neighborhood, and people are scattering all over the country. Salva does not know what lies ahead of him - seemingly endless walking, near starvation, animal attacks, personal tragedy, packed refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, a foster family in the United States - he can only move forward one step at a time. Eventually, Nya and Salva will meet in a future that is brighter for the people of southern Sudan.

Here Where the Sunbeams Are Green

by Helen Phillips

Sisters Mad (Madeline) and Roo (Ruby) haven't heard from their dad - a famous ornithologist called the "Bird Guy" - in months. He's been in Central America, searching for an almost-extinct species of bird called the Lava-Throated Volcano trogon at the famous La Lava Resort and Spa. Mad is worried because their dad's last letter was strange, a part of a series of strange happenings that she calls The Weirdness. The mystery only deepens when the sisters arrive at La Lava and discover that everyone, from the workers at the spa to their own dad, seems to be hiding something. Their only hope is the teenage Spanish tutor and jungle guide, Kyle, and his family's ancient story about a volcano goddess and the magnificent bird that was once her true love...

Girls vs. Boys and "Teaching Time"

I recently read this article on NPR and found it extremely interesting.

It's about a study by professors in two Canadian universities that analyzed survey data from Canada, the US, and the UK about the amount of time parents spend with their children on certain activities.  The most surprising finding, and the focus of the article, is the fact that parents report spending more time on "teaching" type activities with girls than with boys.  These activities include reading to the child or practicing letters or numbers.

There are a number of possible causes for this, although nothing is known for certain.  Some of the theories mentioned in the article are that girls might be naturally more inclined toward teaching activities, that parents might unconsciously respond to cultural biases saying girls read and boys engage in active play, or that it may take more effort to get a boy to sit still and pay attention to teaching activities than with a girl.

Whatever the reason, it's clear that caregivers should be making a conscious effort to spend more "teaching time" with boys.  This article cites a trend towards higher reading and math test scores for girls than for boys, once children enter school.  There is a very real possibility that this discrepancy is due to girls' greater time spent on early learning activities in the home.

The good news is that teaching activities do NOT have to be quiet, sit-down activities, if that's not what the child in question prefers.  An active boy (or girl!) may be more comfortable with books that feature a lot of action, like those I use in Wee Dance! Party programs.  They may want to act out stories more often than they sit and listen to them.  Letters and numbers can also be practiced through active play, whether it's rearranging magnetic letters or counting numbered blocks as they build a tower.  There are also plenty of great songs for children that encourage dancing and movement while practicing basic academic skills.

And anyone spending time with children should always remember the 5 early literacy practices that we children's librarians recommend:  Read!  Write!  Sing!  Talk!  Play!  If a child has an adult to do these 5 things with, he or she is off to a great start in life!

A Day in the Life of a Librarian

Sometimes I get the feeling that many people don't know what we librarians do all day.  Surprisingly enough, we don't just sit at the desk and read or walk around shelving books.  Here's an example of a typical day for me from this past spring.

8:45 AM - Come in to work; help turn on all the lights and computers.

9-10 AM - Check email; work on reordering damaged books that were waiting for me on my desk; look through some of the new picture books in my online cart to possibly order.

10-10:45 AM - Prepare for Toddler Time by reading through books and practicing flannel stories and songs.

10:45-11 AM - Set up for Toddler Time by arranging a table of information and books to check out; line up all the books and props so the storytime will run smoothly; greet parents and kids who've come for Toddler Time.

11-11:45 AM - Toddler Time and playtime with the toys afterwards.

11:45 AM-12 PM - Clean up Toddler Time; record statistics; put away nametags.

12-1 PM - Lunch.

1-3 PM - Pull books from a weeding list to decide if we still need them in the collection; continue going through possible new books to order by reading reviews and checking our current collection; work on display of book covers from popular genres; begin planning storytime for a group visit.

3-5:15 PM - Sit at the reference desk and answer questions from patrons that range from helping find a book for a school project, to directing them to the bathroom or circulation desk, or demonstrating how to print from internet computers; continue to work on book covers display to make sure there is a variety of reading levels and diverse protagonists; check request pull list and locating the materials; freshen up displays with new books and other materials when they are checked out; answer phone calls and emails; record statistics; remind young patrons of acceptable library behavior and direct them towards books or puzzles or the craft table.

And things will only get more crazy with Summer Reading Club starting soon!

Wee Dance! Party - April

I had another Wee Dance! Party this morning, and it went very well.  They were a very well-behaved group, which was good because I was trying something new that could have gotten a little crazy with a bigger or wilder group.

Today's Wee Dance! was about bears, partially because my manager Abby gave me a new book called Tiptoe Joe by Ginger Foglesong Gibson.  This book worked great for Wee Dance!  It features animals moving and making noise in different ways: an owl goes "swish swish," a donkey goes "clop clop," etc.  I also chose bears because I wanted to try the famous action song, "We're Going on a Bear Hunt."



Now, traditionally, the participants go on a bear hunt in order to "catch a big one," and when the bear is finally spotted in a cave, the participants scream and run (in place) back the way they came.  I wanted to attempt the bear hunt for its action elements and review of prepositions, but I had to tweak it for two reasons.  First, I wanted to actually move around the room instead of just doing actions in place, and second, I didn't want kids to scream and freak out and start running everywhere.  So in my version, we were looking for my friend, Benny the Bear (a black bear puppet), and we encountered a "bump in the road" (rolled up tablecloth) to go over, a "tall forest" (two stand-up signs) to go through, and a "big hill" (large table) to go under.  This worked great!  And everyone got to hug Benny when we found him.

The other elements I used were the books Make a Wish, Bear (by Greg Foley) and This is My Dance: A Move-to-It Book (by Susan James - a board book), and the songs "Dance with Your Teddy Bear" (from Jumpin' and Jammin' by Greg and Steve) and "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" (from Wee Sing 25th Anniversary Collection by Pamela Beall).





One thing that really helped control the kids this time was that I made a line on the floor with blue painter's tape, and with me on one side, they had to stay on the other.  Normally, I get a crowd of kids who creep closer and closer to me as we go, and it gets harder to hold a book for them to see or demonstrate a dance move.  I will definitely be using the painter's tape again!

ILF District 6 Conference

This past Friday I was at the annual conference for District 6 of the Indiana Library Federation.  It was a great time!  The library in North Vernon, IN was really spacious and lovely.  The keynote speaker at the conference was Michael Cart, a writer and former library director in Beverly Hills, CA.  He had some great stories about celebrities and some interesting insights on the current status and future of young adult literature.  Even though it was a small event compared to the larger library conferences that I've been to in the past, there was also still a great variety of breakout sessions.

I went to one session put on by Baker & Taylor (our book vendor) where they described their new platform for ebooks and e-audio.  It seems like a really cool program, so I'll be interested to see if we decide our library should have it.  My next session was about the Common Core standards being implemented in Indiana schools.  It was mostly intended for school librarians, but they did give a lot of resources for meeting the new standards that could be useful for us.

My third breakout session, about storytimes incorporating dance and music, was probably the most useful to me.  I got a lot of ideas for Wee Dance! Parties.  I've already been thinking about doing a "Going on a Bear Hunt" activity, and one of the ideas presented was to tape out a path on the floor for a similar game.  I also can't wait to try out some adult music (like the Beatles or Motown), play "keep the beach ball in the air," use our beanbags and rhythm sticks more, try freeze dancing, do the limbo, and cut out pretend steering wheels from paper plates to use with some sort of car song.  It'll be so fun!

The final session I went to was about using an online system for a summer reading program.  Like the library the speakers were from, we will be using Evanced.  I think it will make things really streamlined to use Evanced for registering and recording patron's reading, so I'm looking forward to it.  I haven't experienced a summer reading program at this library before, though, so I'm not quite sure what to expect!

Little ones and screentime

I just finished reading this article in The Atlantic called "The Touch-Screen Generation," and it's really making me think about the relationship children today have with technology and what their caregivers and other adults should do about it.  As a children's librarian, anything about kids and media immediately has my attention and concern.  In grad school we talked a lot about the recommendation by the American Society of Pediatrics that children under age two have NO passive screentime.  And then after age two, we want them to be doing really educational things, right?

Maybe.  I love the argument that this article made for the concept of play.  I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't see the value of play for children, but I haven't often heard that value be ascribed to technological play as well.  And why not?  If an app that allows a toddler to build virtual towers out of virtual blocks follows the laws of physics, is that not reinforcing these physics concepts?  And if the app intentionally disregards physics and allows blocks to fly through the air, does that not stimulate imagination?  I'd never heard of some of the open-ended apps the article mentions (such as those from Toca Boca), but they sound like a great example of exploratory play.  Just learning to navigate with a tablet or other technology may also be invaluable for whatever field of study or career the child might one day begin.

Is there such a thing as too much tech time?  Of course.  I still think life is about balance, and just as kids of yesteryear were told they shouldn't read books ALL day everyday and should go outside and run around for a while, so I think it's smart for today's parents to say, "That's enough iPad time for right now; go play catch with your sister and you can come back to it later."  As the article points out, though, kids probably know this for themselves already or can learn it.  As awesome as the iPad is, eventually a kid will get sick of it just as he or she gets sick of any other toy.

The one thing about technology is that I hope it doesn't become a way for parents to spend less time with their kids than they already do.  I wouldn't want a parent to think that handing the kid an iPad with "educational" games is the equivalent of spending quality time with them.  Now, I'm not a parent, but I'm sure there are times when parents need a break and some high-quality apps can provide that for them.  But there's a difference between taking a break for a little bit and relying on technology to teach and interact with your children.

I hope that tablets and their apps become just one more aspect of children's lives, alongside and with approximately equal weight to books, music, movies, dramatic play, sports and games, nature, puzzles, conversation, and art.  Nothing more and nothing less.

Wee Dance! Party

Well, my New Year's resolution to write in this blog regularly lasted all of a week, but I'm going to try again. A lot has happened in the last few months.  Today I wanted to write about a program I've been doing once a month.  I call it Wee Dance! Party.

Wee Dance! is a nontraditional storytime that involves a lot of action and movement.  I do use 2-4 books in each program, but the books are specially chosen to encourage moving along with the story.  We might stretch up high to the sky, bend over and touch our toes, slither like a snake, or jump for joy!  I also incorporate a lot of music: singing, playing instruments, and listening to CDs from our collection.  Really any activity that keeps the kids up and moving is welcome in Wee Dance!  We warm up at the beginning and cool down at the end, with some combination of stretching, shaking out our body parts, or assuming some kid-friendly yoga poses.

There are a few props/activities that I've used repeatedly in Wee Dance!  One of them is our "song cube" that Miss T made for our department.  It's a cardboard cube that acts as a giant die with pictures on each face that relate to a common children's song.  For example, one face has a picture of a spider for "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," and one has a boat for "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."  I also bring out the scarves for dancing with, throwing, or just twirling around.  Finally, everyone's favorite part seems to be the jingle bells that we shake along to uptempo music or use with an activity.

The theme for my first Wee Dance! was animals.  This is an easy one because every kid loves to run/crawl/wiggle/waddle like their favorite animal.  The books I used were Dancing Feet! by Lindsey Craig, Rattlesnake Dance by Jim Arnosky, and You Are a Lion! And Other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo.  I also played a couple of the songs from the book/CD Rhinoceros Tap.









My second Wee Dance! Party fell on Valentine's Day, so my theme was "I Love You."  My favorite thing that we did for this was to listen to the song "L-O-V-E" by Nat King Cole and spell out the letters in "love" with our bodies, YMCA-style.  I also passed out heart-shaped pieces of felt and asked the kids to put their heart on their head/arm/belly/nose/etc.  Since we always have to bring out the bells (they love them!), I also asked them to ring their bells if they love cookies/their family/cleaning up their toys/getting sick/etc.

The one song that we sang was "Skinnamarinky Dinky Dink":

Skinnamarinky dinky dink, skinnamarinky doo, I love you!
Skinnamarinky dinky dink, skinnamarinky doo, I love you!
I love you in the morning and in the afternoon,
I love you in the evening and underneath the moon!
Oh, skinnamarinky dinky dink, skinnamarinky doo, I love you!

The three books I read were Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, And I Love You by Ruth Krauss, and I Love You Because You're You by Liza Baker.  I had also pulled My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall because I thought we could act like each of the animals, but we didn't get to it.









Finally, my most recent Wee Dance! Party was on body parts, which turned out to be a GREAT theme.  The activities we did worked with lots of different ages, from toddlers to elementary schoolers.  I brought out the scarves as usual and we used them to throw and catch them on different body parts (hand/head/knee/back) and to pass them around our heads, between our legs, etc.  This way we were practicing prepositions as well as the names of body parts.

I found a few songs on CDs on our collection that really guide you through a movement activity, whether it's shaking different body parts or touching different body parts to each other.  We grooved along to "Move Your Body" and "Head and Shoulders" from the CD Jump and Sing: Binyah's Favorite Songs, "The Body Part Game" from the Greg & Steve CD Shake, Rattle, and Rock, and "Body Talk" and "The Body Rock" from Greg & Steve's Kids in Motion.

The books I read for this one were Hop, Hop, Jump! by Lauren Thompson, All of Me!: A Book of Thanks by Molly Bang, a pop-up book called If You're Happy and You Know It by David A. Carter, and Little Yoga by Rebecca Whitford and Martina Selway.









I'm excited to continue doing this program!  It's tons of fun and good to get the kids (and me!) moving and exercising.  It takes a little time to come up with the right books and activities, but there are also parts that we repeat each time, so the planning becomes less and less time-consuming.  I would definitely recommend for any library to add this to occasional programming - I think once a month works well, but you may even be able to do it weekly!  I hope this helps someone!

Storytelling! I forgot

I forgot to reflect on my storytelling program last week, so I'm doing that now.

There were around 10 people who attended, including two adults and one teenage chaperone.  I told the stories, "The Simple Saame Man" (Finland, retold by Jamila Gavin in Our Favorite Stories), "The Mitten" (Ukraine, retold by Jan Brett in The Mitten), and "How Loon Outsmarted Winter" (native North America, retold by Linda Raczek in Stories from Native North America).  I did use the felt mitten and laminated animals for "The Mitten" but only to briefly hold up each one.

For the most part, the kids were quiet while I told the stories, but it was hard to gauge their reaction from their faces.  One girl was sort of frowning the whole time, but it may have been a concentration sort of frown.  The highlight was definitely "The Mitten," which several of the kids said that they knew.  At the end, they said that this was their favorite story, although the one teenager said that she liked, "The Simple Saame Man" for its lesson about courage.

One younger boy definitely enjoyed "The Mitten" and did react during "How Loon Outsmarted Winter," when Loon is trapped under the ice, by looking at his mom with surprise!  That was definitely the highlight for me because I got him to become invested in a story (without pictures or props) that he hadn't heard before.

Many of the books that I had displayed were taken at the end of the program, especially compared to how few are normally taken after Toddler Time, for example.  I also set out a basket with packets of hot chocolate, which was also popular.

One mother stayed behind to tell me that she really appreciated the program, and that she was trying to get her son to begin enjoying stories without pictures.

Overall, I think the program was a success.  It definitely got some of our folktale books circulating, and I think everyone found the storytelling enjoyable.  I wonder if I would get more reaction on the future if I told more energetic stories, if I told stories meant for younger children, or if I used more props of some kind.

Should I try it again?

Just read, read, read

I've noticed a couple of things that parent/caregiver patrons do that make me sad.

I overheard a child asking his grandma what books she would be checking out to read, and she said, "Oh, no, I have things to read for work, and I'll just read with you."  Now, it's up to the adult if he or she wants to read in his/her spare time (although I would personally encourage it!), but I do think it's important for kids to see adults reading for pleasure.  Reading isn't something you do only as a kid because you're told to - it should be something you do your whole life because it's enjoyable and enriching!

It also makes me sad when adults limit what their children can read.  "Oh, he has to read Level 1 books."  (As if every book fit into a well-defined Level.)  "Don't take out more than five picture books."  (I understand it's hard to keep track of them sometimes, but reading is so important for your child - can't you make it work?)  "That one is too easy.  Put it back.  That one is too easy too."  (I know you want your child to be challenged, but you're close to turning reading into a chore instead of a pleasure.  Sometimes we read below our reading levels and that's okay!)

Just some thoughts from this week.  :)

New Years Resolution

Well, it's been over three months since I last posted anything, and I've decided that writing on this blog regularly is going to be one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2013.

How have the past few months been?  Great, actually.  I'm feeling so much more comfortable with many of the aspects of my job, and I really feel like a good, contributing member of the children's services team.  I even went to my first professional conference as an actual librarian, which was pretty darn cool.  Sometimes I still can't believe that I really succeeded in making this my career, but on the other hand, I feel like I'm definitely in the right place.

My worry currently is about a storytelling program that I'm doing this week.  I'm telling three folktales that have to do with winter, and the children (ages 5-10) who are attending are encouraged to bring their own stories to share.  I hope that I know the stories well enough.  At this point, I feel like I know them but am not telling them very fluidly.  As long as I don't freeze up with nervousness, I'll be fine, but I'm going to keep working on it because I want it to be better than fine.

I don't know how long my entries are going to be here, but just writing something will be good for me in order to reflect and absorb what I learn.  Thanks for reading, if anyone is!  :)