First Classroom Observation

Today, I had the opportunity to complete my first classroom observation for the semester.  The teacher a observed, Mrs. Johnson, teaches one Freshman English class and two AP Language classes.  I observed the Freshman English class, which was beginning a new unit on short stories today.

This was, by far, the best observation experience I ever had.  Mrs. Johnson was enthusiastic and engaging, and she showed compassion for each of her students.  The first thing I noticed was the way she treated all her students as individuals; it was evident that she has gotten to know each unique personality.  She adapted her lesson to many different learning styles, and  the students seemed interested in the lesson. I observed the following activities:

• Students took a quiz on mysteries (closing the unit on this genre)
• Students played a “Sherlock” game in order to relax after working diligently on the quiz
• Mrs. Johnson and the students reviewed literary terms together using study cards and a presentation
• Instructor gave a unique introduction to short stories that caught students’ interest
• Instructor passed out copies of a story and read it aloud. Students followed along on their handouts
• The story was a cliffhanger, which was a word they added to their vocabulary list
• Students participated in a poll to determine what they thought the ending would be
• Students used leftover class time to read books they chose

This class and instructor were simply amazing! I was only there for two hours, but I felt as if I learned so much from Mrs. Johnson. After class, I stayed and spoke to her about a few things I learned in my Reading and Literacy class, for I noticed Mrs. Johnson implemented much of what I’ve learned into her classroom.  If I have time, I hope to visit Mrs. Johnson’s Freshman English class again.

 

More With Collaboration

Last week, my supervisor gave me another opportunity to collaborate with a teacher on a class assignment.  A Health Occupations teacher needed to be out of class for a conference, but she wanted her students to complete an assignment that needed the aid of a librarian.  She came to the Media Center and asked what materials we had available on a list of topics.  Once we had the list, I searched the catalog (once again, working to familiarize myself with the collection), for print materials.  Surprisingly, we only had five books on the long list of Health Care Professionals the teacher gave us.  I knew five sources to thirty students wouldn’t go far at all, so I searched for several online sources.

Unfortunately, the Media Center was not going to have enough computers for the students to search for online materials, so I compiled a list of the most relevant articles (found via NC LIVE) and printed them.  It took quite a bit of time, but I was satisfied with the materials I had collected to offer to the students.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to stay to observe the students evaluating and writing about the materials, but this week, my supervisor told me it went very well and that she was thankful for my work on this exercise.

 

Library Collaboration and MORE SNOW!

While I do enjoy the beauty and peace that come with a snow storm, I’m getting rather concerned with the effect it’s having on my field experience.  This past week, I was only able to visit the Media Center for six hours…Now, I’m planning ways to make up the lost time on Thursday and Friday!

The lost time is discouraging, but we ended our three-day week on an extremely good note.  I got to help out with a collaboration activity with one of the High School’s English IV teachers.  The program was called a “book tasting.” The Media Coordinator and I pulled several books from the shelves that fit the following genres: realistic fiction, mystery/suspense, historical fiction, science fiction, nonfiction, adventure, and fantasy. Once the books were pulled, the English teacher pulled books from her personal collection and sent them to the Media Center as well.  We set up tables with the books displays on top of checkered table cloths and waited for the class to arrive.

Before the class attended the “book tasting,” they took a quiz that was designed to help them decide which genres they might find the most interesting.  I’m hoping to include a page later on that displays this quiz and the activity worksheet.  Once the students entered the media center, they could choose which tables they wanted to visit.  Each student was required to “taste” books at four tables total and write down the titles of the books they found intriguing.  At the end of the activity, the students would choose one book to either check out from the library or to check out from the English teacher’s personal collection.

Observing this activity, I noticed the students seemed hesitant at first; however, once they sat down at their first chosen tables, it appeared as if they began enjoying looking through the different books and became more comfortable in their environment.  Not only was this activity a great way to help students pursue their particular reading interests, but it also helped them become more aware of the library’s materials and what it has to offer.  It would be nice if all teachers would bring their students to the library for a similar activity. Who know, it could happen!

 

The First Visits/Impressions

On the first day, I walked into the school with mixed feelings: excitement, curiosity, maybe a few nerves…

The staff gave me a friendly welcome.  They seemed genuinely happy I was there, excited for a chance to help me learn about my future career.  My first couple of days proved to catch me quite off-guard.  The new semester had just begun, we were expecting bad weather, the students were busy getting used to the new schedules fresh in their minds…but it seemed as if the last thing on their minds was the media center.

For obvious reasons, I was concerned. I felt discouraged that no one cared to visit the media center or use its resources.  My supervisor, much to her disdain, explained to me an ongoing issue with which she’d been dealing: she was fairly new to the school and had much to offer it, but the previous media coordinator left the school with few updated resources, a facility that needed improvements, and teachers who felt her services were unhelpful to their students.

Now, the Media Center is making improvements.  They have a brand new facility and are slowly expanding their resources and collection.  My supervisor explained she has many duties outside the media center.  She’s in charge of the Yearbook, leads the Quiz Bowl team, and does much work with school leadership within the faculty.  But it is clear to both of us the media center still needs help.

The first week, school was cancelled because of bad weather.  We left early that Tuesday morning, and I felt discouraged with the media center’s situation.

The second week, I began getting to know the students and faculty better.  We discussed why I was there and discussed ideas to gain more traffic in the media center.  My supervisor, for the sake of this blog we will call Ms. Thomas, let me brainstorm ideas to get more teachers and students involved, and she told me of some interesting upcoming events.

That brings me into my third week.  To be honest, I still felt discouraged, but I knew there was hope.  This week, I’m helping Ms. Thomas plan and organize and event for one of the senior English classes.  As the week progresses, I will give better insight into the upcoming plans.  This semester will be much different from what I initially anticipated, but I do not doubt it will provide a valuable experience in the reality of today’s school media centers and the issues they face.