Elementary School Observation

I had the opportunity to visit an Elementary School media center this past week. Since my main observation site is a high school, I wanted the opportunity to see what a teacher-librarian’s roles were in these younger grade levels. It was an entirely different atmosphere: I noticed the layout of the media center placed the most emphasis on helping students access the resources the facility had to offer.  There were large signs indicating popular authors on the shelves, the computers were located in a separate, spacious area, and the nonfiction section had signs on each shelf listing the Dewey Decimal numbers and the subjects students could find within each range of numbers.  Students seemed to have no trouble navigating the collection, and I was impressed with the students’ ability to research independently and use the computers for different educational activities.  In some ways, these younger students appeared to have stronger research skills than many of the high school students with whom I’ve interacted this semester.

The librarian, Mrs. Frost, was energetic and enthusiastic about her job.  She explained that she viewed herself not only as a librarian, but a valuable member of the school’s support staff.  Mrs. Frost explained the importance of volunteering for school functions and ensuring the school understood the importance of the media center and its specialist.  Her schedule, to my surprise, was quite flexible for an Elementary School librarian –– she had a flexible schedule for the first half of every day and worked on a fixed schedule the last half of the day.  Every week, this schedule would alternate.  I found it to be confusing, and Mrs. Frost admitted that it could be difficult to get used to. Because of this, she emphasized the importance of planning ahead and always being prepared to adapt to each day’s requirements.

Although the media center was small, I thought it was quite welcoming.  Mrs. Frost explained that they had renovated recently, and the space was much larger than what she had to work with before.  During my observations, I helped check books in and out, learned about budgeting and the demographics of the school and community, and aided Mrs. Frost in planning the school’s upcoming Farm Day event.  I felt as if I was very “hands-on” in this observation, which is something that I haven’t had the opportunity to do in even my main field experience site.  Mrs. Frost was helpful and supportive, and she invited me to come back to volunteer whenever I had the opportunity.  I think I’ll take her up on the offer.

 

School Improvement Plans

 

 

One of the many responsibilities of my supervisor is leading the School Improvement Team, where they create the School Improvement Plan (SIP).  The team meets quite frequently to discuss the school’s vision and mission, and then they create a document, the actual SIP, to present to the rest of the school system by the end of the year.  My supervisor works on the plan quite a bit, so I have had the opportunity to see how the team really works, as well as the results of the SIT’s many meetings.

According to the rough draft of the SIP, the school’s vision for the next year is to incorporate more technology into each classroom, helping students become well-informed 21st Century learners.  The initial plan is to implement the many functions of Google Drive within the school, including Docs, Presentations, Forms, and more.  Using this concept, my supervisor came up with an extremely creative way to present this plan, which I believe will be an effective way to inform the School System of what they plan to do.

First, my supervisor will request that PCs are available for all those attending the presentation event.  Then, the presentation will include the faculty and staff following along through Google Drive, discovering the SIP while learning how to utilize these useful tools.  The idea is that if educators are comfortable using the tools, they will be more likely to include them in class lessons.  Plus, educators will be able to serve the students and teach them about these technological resources more effectively. My supervisor believes this presentation style will not only convey their information effectively, but it will also provide an educational experience for all involved.

 

Update: MLA Instruction

For my goals project, I am conducting a short MLA instruction.  I have designed this lesson to encourage students to research and access information independently, which is something collaborating teachers have told me is a huge area for improvement. Finally, I have been able to meet with the collaborating teacher to place the finishing touches on the Goals Project.

The Junior-level students are required to write a research paper on a career of interest to them. This research paper acts as the first component of their Senior Project, and before now, they have never been instructed on educational research and have only touched on writing in MLA format.  When I met with Mrs. Young, she was highly concerned about these research papers.  The essays she’d assigned previously this semester were written poorly, and she assessed that all three of her classes were behind regarding writing in MLA.  In the process of planning my goals project, I knew I would be teaching MLA, basic research skills, and information access, but meeting with Mrs. Young allowed me to highlight areas where there was additional need.

To the instructional lesson we added evaluating resources, choosing appropriate websites, and quoting/paraphrasing. I curated materials on Pinterest, naming the board [School] Resources, and also included my assessment survey for the students to complete at the end of the lesson.  Finally, Mrs. Young added the board to her class website, where the students could access it at anytime throughout the project process.  We hope this will encourage students to access information on their own, use technology tools, and become independent researchers.

I’m still waiting on the results of the survey. The students have until the end of May to complete their projects, and they can access the Pinterest Board as often as needed. Hopefully, I will understand the overall effectiveness and impact of my goal’s project by the close of the semester.

 

Overcoming Challenges

Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that my supervisor faces many different challenges each day.  These difficulties ranges from a simple paper jam in the printer to working around full schedules to meet the needs of the school.  My conclusions? School Librarians must be prepared for anything to happen.  They must be adaptable, diplomatic, and level-headed to face the challenges of the day.  While I have yet to deal with overly trying situations in the library, I would like to share a small portion of what I’ve experienced.

My goals project, which I will discuss in greater detail in an upcoming post, involves providing students with available resources they can consult when writing papers and conducting research.  My product is one I wish to leave with the school, but I am meeting with a Junior English class to measure the project’s overall effectiveness and impact on learning.  During this project, I have tried multiple times to communicate with the collaborating teacher, but my attempts have received limited response.  It seems I’m getting to a point now where we are reaching a mutual plan (it’s only taken three months). However, this experience has allowed me to understand what to expect when working on some collaborative activities.  I’ve learned it takes much communication, persistence, and time to ensure both the teacher and librarian are on the same page as far as instruction and purpose of the activity, and often, these three keys to success are not always easily attainable.  I’m interested to see how this project concludes, as it’s taken many changes to my original plan to get to this point.

 

A Middle School Media Center

What a day it was visiting a middle school Media Center!  I just happened to visit on a day when there were multiple functions going on in the library.  First of all, the Book Fair was that week, so students were in and out throughout the day.  It was nice to see students coming into the library excited to look through the Book Fair merchandise and purchase new books for pleasure reading. I was impressed by the amount of traffic the Book Fair received.  Second, some Counselors from the high school came to talk to the eighth graders (rising freshmen!) about registering for high school classes.  Each eighth grade English teacher brought their group of students to the Media Center where, on their computers, they followed the School Counselor through the process of registering for classes, and they listened to a presentation on different courses of study and class requirements.

During these activities, the librarian, Ms. S, wasted no time jumping between working with me, teachers, the counselors, and students.  I noticed she had excellent multitasking skills, and she was attentive and supportive to her patrons and me.  She gave me an overview and specific examples about budgeting, explained to me what it was like to be new in the library field, gave me advice on managing time and a “new” library, and told me about technology, technology repair, circulation, new books, cataloging and much more.

Another especially meaningful conversation I had with Ms. S dealt with the Principal’s support of the Media Center.  Ms. S explained how lucky she was to have a Principal who valued the Media Center and understood its invaluable role in the school.  I felt I learned so much during the few hours I spent at the middle school, and I hope to volunteer there in the future if possible!

 

An In-Depth Reflection of My Lesson

 

After reviewing the video on my introductory lesson about Old Man and the Sea, I have learned much about my own style, collaborating with teachers, and working with high school students.  The day a gave my lesson was the first day the students met with us; the video makes it evident that they were slowly getting adjusted to the instructional environment in the Media Center.  Reviewing the lesson, I made notes about my strengths and weaknesses when teaching and reflected on the effectiveness of introductory assessment strategies.  The video, for the most part, informs the viewer of instructional activities, the process of events, and minor assessments involved in the lesson, and I feel as if I followed my lesson plan well.

Even though the students did not know me, I feel that one of my strengths during the lesson was interacting with individual students and making efforts to make them comfortable with me as an instructor.  I walked around, asked questions, tried to give words of encouragement, and practiced empathy when working with our small group.  It is evident the students were not entirely comfortable in their environment, but I felt this behavior was to be expected since our session was not part of their regular daily schedule.  Also, I have noticed that the more they meet with us, the more willing they are to talk and participate freely in our instructional activities (since my lesson was the introduction to an ongoing collaborative effort).  Some areas for improvement in my lesson would be to speak more loudly and clearly, but I felt limited by the multiple functions being conducted in the library.  During my lesson, teachers were doing Lock Down training on the other side of the library, so I was trying my best to teach well and also not be disruptive.  The video reveals that I was quite formal in my presentation of the material.  If I had the opportunity to reteach this lesson, I would maintain a more casual tone that I believe the students would find more engaging. 

I felt the minor assessment methods used during this session were appropriate for an introductory lesson.  After I presented a certain amount of information, I would ask questions related to the material.  For the most part, the students demonstrated an understanding and insightful perception of the information; it was evident they were listening closely and absorbing the material.  I did notice that they seemed hesitant to answer, but I believe that was the result of insecurities associated with starting something new in a different environment.  We will use more in-depth, quantitative and qualitative assessment methods as our group continues to meet with us, but I felt these simple questions worked well as introductory assessments.  Some of our upcoming assessment methods include blog writing, discussion responses, an Old Man and the Sea game, a graphic novel project, and a final short essay test.

I learned so much about my own teaching methods and working with students through teaching this lesson and reviewing the video, and I have noticed even more progress in my interaction with students since then.  Next time I teach, I feel as if I will have much more confidence in interacting with students and a stronger grasp on what assessment methods are most effective for each unique collaborative effort.

 

 

 

 

Teaching in the Media Center

I want to start out by saying that I could not have imagined a better opportunity to teach my first lesson in the Media Center.  I got to experience so many aspects of the job: collaborating with another teacher, incorporated technology into the classroom, working in a small group setting, and adapting to the multiple needs of the School Media Center.

My lesson was an introduction to Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. My group of seven freshman students separated from the rest of the class (who will be reading Young Man and the Sea) and will be reading through the book with me and my supervisor.  To introduce them to the text, we started out with an activity, presented basic information about the novel, watched a YouTube video illustrating the book, and did a read-aloud session until the class was over.  The students will continue to meet with us during second period (9:30 – 11:05) over the next two to three weeks.

Overall, I felt my lesson went well.  I was discouraged by the students’ lack of enthusiasm, but my supervisor reassured me that I did an excellent job.  We have met with the students once more since my lesson, and it comforts me to observe they are slowly getting used to working with us and seem to be “opening up” more.  I think the more we meet with the students the more they will participate in our lessons.  There will be more updates to come on our progress!

 

Instructional Activities

Now that we’ve “warmed up” to the semester a bit more, I’ve noticed that more teachers are taking advantage of the library for instructional lessons.  A couple days ago, my supervisor taught a lesson to a Home Economics class about child development.  I had the opportunity to observe Mrs. W pulling children’s books from her personal collection and arranging them in a way that corresponds to different developmental stages.  The books ranged from boardbooks to short chapter books such as Charlotte’s Web.

Mrs. W set up a display so the students would be able to see the different children’s materials. The class, which had background information on childhood development, listened to ways the books were designed specifically for different levels of development.  For example, Mrs. W talked about how boardbooks with bright colors and different materials could help young readers with motor skills, and thick pages were easy for young children to grip and turn.  She started with the simplest books and worked her way to the more difficult books, talking about how they were helpful to readers at each stage of development.

By the end of the lesson, the students were assigned an activity.  They were supposed to choose a book, examine it, and present to the rest of the class what age of reader would benefit from it the most.  While the students seemed hesitant at first, their discussions made it clear that they followed the lesson and grasped the major concepts Mrs. W presented.

For this upcoming week, my supervisor will be teaching classes about online tools such as SMORE.  The students will use this tool to create projects they will later present to the class.  Seeing the process Mrs. W goes through to create these instructional lessons has helped prepare me to create my own lesson, and she has helped me work through a solid lesson plan along the way.  It is nice to see my supervisor model these activities, for it gives me a better idea of what I would like to implement in my own lessons.

 

Cataloging and Book Maintenance

Over the past few weeks, I have gradually learned different ways School Librarians work with their collection.  One of my ongoing projects is cataloging the large stack of new books the school’s Media Center received this semester.  My supervisor has taught me about locating items in the catalog, assigning barcodes, printing the barcodes and spine labels, and wrapping the books to increase their longevity. Since I work in a public library, I was already quite familiar with this process, but many times we divide these tasks between staff members. In the Media Center, my supervisor normal tackles this project solo.

It has taken quite some time to get through the stack of new books, but we are making our way through them.  Even with two people working instead of one, it still seems to be a long process, especially if the library gets a large shipment of books in at one time.  I was thinking how helpful it would be to have volunteers or assistants to aid in dealing with new materials.  This would save much time for the librarian, and if students volunteered to help, it could help perk their interest in some new books available.  After all, it only helps if students are familiar with the collection and what the library has to offer.

Another idea that came to mind was spacing out orders.  Instead of a librarian ordering twenty to thirty books at one time, one might order them in increments of ten.  This way when the books come in, there will be plenty of time to add them into the system and make them available for circulation.  Do any of you other librarians out there have any tips or techniques you’d like to share related to dealing with new materials? It would be interesting to hear the way others manage their time and organize this task.

 

Middle School Art Class

This past week was yet another week of weather interruptions.  Two of the three days I could have visited my school, I was unable to go because of snow or ice.  Hopefully, this new week will bring many opportunities for observation with my supervisor!

On a positive note, I was able to complete another classroom observation.  I visited a middle school art classroom and was given the opportunity to view classroom sessions with all the grade levels (sixth, seventh, and eighth grades).  I noticed immediately that the teacher, Mrs. Shelton, had excellent rapport with her students. Over the years, I have heard many horror stories about working with middle schoolers, but Mrs. Shelton has a talent for it.  The lesson and activity dealt with the recent “Doodle for Google” scholarship opportunity.  Students in each class took a virtual field trip to Google where they learned about the inspiration, daily activities, and creative musings of the Google’s Doodle Team, or the team that modifies the Google logo.  Mrs. Shelton then informed her classes of the scholarship opportunity, introduced the requirements for the scholarship, and helped her students brainstorm ideas for their own “Google Doodle.”

The students were well-behaved, involved, and motivated.  I was impressed by their creativity and the way Mrs. Shelton made a point to work with each student individually.  She walked around the room, making herself available to all of her students, during the entire class sessions, and her classroom management strategies were excellent.  If the students began raising their voices or procrastinated doing their assignment, Mrs. Shelton addressed the problem firmly and respectfully.  Her students respected her in return.

I feel this experience taught me much about classroom management and what it is like to work with middle schoolers.  So far, I have only worked with high school students, so this was an interesting change of pace.  I’m delighted I was able to observe Mrs. Shelton; it was also nice to get to know a new group of students, even if it was just for a day.