Beginnings

What is that expression?.... No good deed goes unpunished.  This morning -- March 9, 2009 -- I had intended to arrive a bit early in order to start taking stock of the classroom books.  Full of energy and fresh off of a beautiful spring weekend (temperatures in the 60s), I was committed to doing a little each day in the hopes that the reorganization would be ready within the next 4 weeks.However, what greeted me on this fine Monday morning in New England was a barrage of ice pellets hitting the house followed by a late spring snowstorm.... you know the kind of snow: heavy and wet, clinging to the branches like so much confectionary sugar.  Add to the mix (pardon the expression) is the quaint little tradition of turning the clocks forward for daylight savings.  Meaning - I drove to school in some of the slickest driving of the winter... in the dark.  The commute itself - normally about 10 minutes, took much longer as even the Interstate was snow covered. So much for my plan of doing a little every day.I have, however, made a list of some of the unleveled books in the classroom genre library.  Tonight, while watching some benign television, I will look these titles up either in Fountas Pinnell or some other database and begin assigning levels to the books.I've been pleasantly surprised at the range of books in one of my lower level book baskets -- fiction and nonfiction titles, plays (!), poetry.... all of these genres are fairly well-represented.  And I even have found some multiple copies of titles -- something I can put together in a Buddy Readers' basket for students who would like to read the same text with a partner.While the surprise of the snow this morning put a crimp in my well-laid plans and schedule for getting the reorganization of books underway, I suppose I should not be surprised.  New England weather is probably the least obnoxious of the impediments to getting things done in the morning.  There's always something.