Things are wrapping up at my Elementary site. Today I finished my lesson with the first grade students, and as a whole it was MUCH better than last week. There was one student who just could not seem to behave, but as a whole, things went smoothly. I'd still rather do check out at the end of the time, but it seems the teachers suggested trying it this way, so my supervisor is doing that (which means I will, too).
One class did come in a bit rowdy, and one student did a cartwheel in the library!!! We had them go back outside and practice coming in following the library rules (be safe, be respectful, be responsible). Because we spent a bit of time on that, we did not get to finish reading their picture book. In the long run, I know the investment in behavior is worth the loss of that picture book.
I also got to go with my supervisor to her pre-evaluation conference. Although she has been a teacher in this district for decades and has been the Teacher Librarian for 5 years, she just recently finished her credential. In her district, you can't be tenured until you have your credential, so she is finishing the process of becoming tenured (again).
It was really interesting to see how her district approaches evaluation of elementary TLs. The principal observes lessons, the same as she would for any other teacher. My supervisor also took the principal a rubric for evaluating school library programs as a whole (which would be a more appropriate way to evaluate her in my opinion, since teaching is an extremely important part of what she does but not ALL of what she does). In the course of their conference, I asked the principal whether her entire evaluation would be based on observed lessons or if library administration/the program as a whole was part of it. It seemed as if the principal hadn't thought of that before (she is relatively new to the district and since most other districts do not have TLs in elementary schools this is probably new to her as well). She may well substitute one of the three observations with observations of the TL presenting to PTA, teachers, principals, etc. It was really interesting to observe their discussion since obviously I'd like to keep my job and be evaluated well in the future! I would like to find out how the TL at my secondary site will be evaluated.
I have also spent some time at my secondary site and am excited to dive in there. The current TL is in her first year but is really outstanding at technology and staff development, so I'm looking forward to learning a lot from her on that front. There currently isn't much in the way of a collection development policy, and the collection, particularly the nonfiction collection, is in need of updating. I pulled a book about medical procedures from the shelves, and its copyright date was 1968!! Not only do I have no idea what curriculum need that book supports, but 1968??? Updating is required! However, I feel that the policy should be defined before books are removed, so that will be my first order of business.
Based on preliminary observations, it looks as if most research takes place using databases (or Google). I hope that I can leave the site with a good start in refreshing the library's print materials so that they also begin to be useful. I'd also like to see more nonfiction that students might read for pleasure since Common Core requires more nonfiction reading. There is also some upcoming construction that will require some shifting of books, and a lot could be done to make the collection better and make better use of the physical space in the library. It's very exciting, but I also feel like there is a lot to get done and not much time to do it.
Tomorrow I will return to my elementary site for an author visit. I am really excited to see how the author interacts with the students, how they respond to her (after 3 weeks of preparation for her visit), and how my site supervisor handles the event as a whole. Book orders were piling up today, and she had organized them by class so she could put post-its on books for the author to sign.
I really feel I have learned a lot about how to set up and run an effective school library program, but I obviously have a lot more to learn. I am excited about the contributions I have made and will continue to make at my fieldwork schools, but am also excited at the prospect of having my "own" library!
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