Happy New Year! I think we could almost all agree that 2022 went by so fast. The days and months just flew by I am not entirely sure if I've had a chance to catch my breath. I wanted to begin this year's first blog post by being intentional. I was speaking to my dear friend Rachael Fryman the other day and we were talking about burnout and the "get things done" mentality. It's easy to write a to-do list, but what happens when the list begins to grow so much to the point that you don't get anything done? What's that feeling like? It's awful. You end up feeling unproductive and anxious about everything you need to do. It's a vicious cycle that can suck you into a spiral of self-doubt. Rachael told me about a method she uses that she saw on TikTok and now swears by it. I wanted to share it with you today. Instead of creating a "To-Do" list what if we reframed it and called it a "To-Done" list? Writing down everything that we did during the day rather than the things that we feel we need to add to an ever growing to-do list. Genius! Simple, but effective! The great thing about this trick is that you can begin documenting all the things you do and provide it as evidence at the end of a marking period, cycle, or term and share with your colleagues and administrators. I mean, how many times have we heard that "librarians read all day" or "sit behind the desk all day"? A to-done list can be a wonderful tool to help you begin owning and sharing the work that you do. Not to mention you can begin analyzing how you're spending most of your time and prioritize tasks as needed. To help you get your 2023 started I created some to-done post-it templates. Simply place post-its on the template and print. You can post these on a board or stick them in a planner. I also have a Google Doc that you can print, collect in a documentation binder, or save them to a Drive folder. Does it have to be written on any of these things? No, absolutely not. Choose a method that works best for you. Whether it's documenting it on a Google Doc, Google Keep, Sheets, in a journal or something else is entirely up to you. So, what do you think? Is this something you'd like to try? I know I will. Thank you, Rachael for sharing this tip with me. I can't wait for a more intentional and productive 2023! 

• To-Done List Post-It Template
• To-Done List Google Doc
• TikTok Reference
• Follow Rachael Fryman on Instagram!

Did a little dark academia project today. Organizing my office and redid my Sterilite 3 Drawer storage I use for my stationery. I created these drawer labels on Canva. Feel free to edit and use for yours if you like. If you want to create some scratch I would recommend using the dimensions 9.5 inches x 2.4 inches. Bonus in this post is the super rad and dark playlist I jammed out to for inspiration!
Canva Template: www.canva.com/design/DAFUevRVFDY/YKW9sSGvXRVPgcTEJvtASg/view?utm_content=DAFUevRVFDY&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink&mode=preview

So while we were using these dueling decks from First Book, it was later announced that AASL was partnering with Pokémon to provide resources to start a club. Our library applied and received some fun items! I believe you can still apply by accessing this form — School Library Pokémon Club Application | American Association of School Librarians (AASL) You'll get an email that kind of looks like this when your application is received and accepted. ​

One of our goals for this year is to host a Pokémon tournament! Our plan is to invite students to sign up, form brackets, and provide prizes for the winners. 

I’m more of a Magic: The Gathering player, but I’ve had a student help me learn a little bit more about the game. I hope to follow up this post with some basic game play information in the future. 

I also want to quickly mention that November is International Games Month! What a fun way to kick off your club! If you are looking to start more gaming in the library, I highly recommend checking out ALA's Games & Gaming Round Table blog for resources and information. Check out what my library has in store for this month! ​

Had an amazing opportunity to present about manga in middle grades with some of my favorite people! If you missed the session you can check out the slides below.