I can always tell when a major project is due for our intermediate students. The library, usually quite crowded during their open recess periods, becomes jam-packed, and there are plenty of requests by groups to come in during lunch or stay after school. On Friday, March 25, 2011, there were groups of grade 7&8s working on their geography music mash-ups, history monologues, cultural dances, and volleyball team secret scrapbook project for their coaches. It was quite a challenge to get it quiet enough for people to record while others danced, talked, planned, and chatted. School ends at 3:30 p.m. and at 5:00 p.m. the last group started to pack up when a single student asked me if I was leaving too. He had hung out, reading, waiting until everyone had left, so that he could do his recording with no witnesses. He also wanted my assistance, because he said he was very computer-illiterate. I tried not to sigh as I put my coat away and went to check Twitter at the circulation computer so he could have some privacy. He chose to sing along to an instrumental version of his song, and even though I promised not to listen, it was hard not to notice that he had a great voice. He got stuck when he had to send the file, so I showed him how to convert the Garageband file to a MP3 and how to email that file to the teacher. He wasn't aware that he had a school-given email address of his own, so I told him how to log on. He said I was going a bit too fast, so I wrote it down and showed him on the screen. He said it out loud to himself and reviewed my notes so that he'd remember. Finally, at about 5:30 p.m., after deciding he'd do the final recording at home on his father's iMac, he got ready to leave.
"Hey, Mz Molly? Thanks for spending all that time helping me. You were really patient."
That made the extra 30 minutes at school on a Friday afternoon worthwhile.
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