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Erin Colby


LI876


Fall 2010 Journal Entries




9/22/2010- 3.5 Hours


         With my first day of my practicum done, I can already tell that I will LOVE being a

librarian. Seeing children excited to read just makes my heart smile! Carol Mitchell showed me

around the library and how she organized her books. She has a “Everybody” section which are

mostly picture books, and “Easy Reader” section for beginning readers, a “story collection”,

there is also a “biography” and of course a “fiction” and “non-fiction” section. Carol seems to

have a great system in place with how she plans her lessons and the topics she covers during her

library. I need to get more in-depth look at her lessons, so I can get some ideas about how I could

structure my lessons when I have my own library. The Kindergarten, lesson I observed she read a

fiction and non-fiction books about pigs. I thought it was really cool how she incorporated things

like pointing to the call number, book care, genre etc.…during the lesson! The 3rd and 4th grade

lesson I observed dealt with teaching students how to use call numbers to search Destiny to for

books.


9/23/2010- 3.5 Hours


I was able to talk to Carol about how she plans her lessons. She said that she uses the states

library and the reading and language art standards to guide her when planning her lessons. She
also looks at the curriculum the school is using and picks out the skills, and topics she can cover

in the library. I also wanted to see an actual lesson plan, they were a lot simpler then I imagined.

She has the topic covered, state standards, vocabulary, materials needed, and a description of

what she was going to do. I feel that the hardest thing is deciding what to teach and when,

because you don’t have a reading book to guide you for each week of lessons. I also think it will

be a challenge to plan for multiple grade levels, I think librarians have to be so familiar with the

curriculum at each grade level to make sure they are leaning the skills they need to learn. We

also discussed the fact that I have to teach a lesson. We decided that I would teach a lesson on

Setting. In the next week, I will be doing a search for a “SmartBoard” lesson on setting so I will

be able to use that technology during the lesson.


9/28/2010- 3.5 hours


I was really curious how Carol made her book orders, and how she decided what she needs for

the library. First, she does an assessment of the library’s collection to see where she needs to add

to the collection. She also sends out an e mail to the teachers to ask if there are any types of

books that they need. Also, she sometimes meets with publisher rep. and they go through the

catalogue and discuss the new books that are out. The rep that I met only showed her books on

things that Carol said she needed. I did not realize there were so many things to consider when

ordering new books, but it makes sense considering in these economic times there is a limited

budget so you can only order so much. I was also intrigued with the fact that most of the books

she is considering to order are non-fiction. Carol made an interesting point when she said that

non-fiction books are used more now because teachers are concerned with teaching to the test,

and non-fiction books are better suited to teach students those skills. Another issue, I have been
thinking about was “classroom management” I have noticed during the lessons sometimes

students are just moving around the room, to sit next to their friends and being a disruption. I

wanted to step in and do something, but I am not sure how Carol would feel about it. I have been

thinking about what type of “rules” I will have in my library. I want my students to feel

comfortable in the library. I do not expect them to sit completely still, but I do expect them to

give me the same respect they give their teacher and any other adult in the school.


9/29/2010-3.5


        Since I have not had a lot of experience working with any library automated checkout

system I was really interested in how Destiny worked. Carol let me check out books to students,

and she showed me how she entered a new book into the system. She said that with this new

system she can input a new book in about 3 minutes compared to about 10 minutes it took before

she had this system! Checking in/out books is super simple; all you have to do is scan the

barcode. She also, help me input a new book into the Destiny system, I did not realize all of the

things that needed to be imputed before the book is ready to be checkout! I really feel now that,

once I have my own library that it will be easy for me to learn how to use whatever system they

have. We also discussed how the interlibrary loan system works. Carol said that if she does not

have a book in her library, she will check the other libraries in the district to see if they have it.

The librarians have a pretty simple policy, if someone has a book in their library that someone

else needs they will simple send the book(s) though the pony mail to the school, and they usually

can have the book for a week at a time. I think it is great that all of the librarians are open to

sharing their resources throughout the district, especially since the budget does not allow the

purchase of a lot of materials. As for general library book circulation, the kindergarteners get one
book at a time to check out for a week. 1st-4tfh graders get to check out 3 books at one time for a

week. I am not sure how many books I would let student’s check out at a time, but I do think that

Kindergarteners can only handle reading one book at a time, at least for the first semester. From

my observation students seem to be handling checking out 3 books fairly well.


10/6/2010-5.0 hours


       Today, I was at Timmerman in the afternoon so I could attend the staff meeting after

school, and also meet the other elementary school librarians for their monthly meeting. I learned

so much from them in just the short time I was with them. They discussed what they were doing

in their library for lessons. What books their students were reading, it was cool to see that at each

school different books were popular with the students! I feel that the most important thing

discussed during the meeting was what they were teaching in the library. To me deciding what to

teach and when will be the hardest thing because you don’t have a Basel to go off of to plan your

lesson. They all said that they are going off the school library standards, and they incorporate

reading/language arts into their lessons. Some even said they use social studies standards. I think

that this type of meeting is really useful because librarians don’t often get to meet and talk about

what they are doing in their libraries, and it is great way to get new lesson ideas to implement in

their libraries. It seemed to me that all the librarians are dealing with the same issues, which for

me is comforting to know that you are not alone in your library! To go back before the afternoon

meeting I have been thinking a lot lately about to effectively manage your library clerk.

Timmerman has a new library clerk; she is still learning the ropes, from where to shelve books,

to creating a system of shelving that works for her. The new clerk has seemed to have trouble

keeping up with the volume of books being check in and getting them put up in a timely manner.
When this happens, do you let your clerk find her own method of shelving that works for them or

do you step in and show her a method that had worked for the previous library clerk? I think I

would step in, and show her.


______________________________________________________________________________


10/7/2010-3.5 hours


       Recently, I have been preparing for my lesson that I am teaching next Wednesday. I am

very excited and ready to teach again. Carol has looked at my plan and approved my lesson on

Setting. We both feel it is important to reinforce these standards along with their homeroom

teachers, since this text feature will be tested on during state testing. When we had free time

between lessons, we discussed how I was feeling about the lesson, and how I envisioned it going.

I told her that before I introduce the lesson that I would discuss with the class my expectations

for their behavior. (ie: that they listen when I am talking, raise their hands to speak, and work

cooperatively in groups). This is important to me because, I have not taught them a lesson yet, so

they do not really know me as a teacher, so making sure they know my expectations is necessary.

However, I believe that I have been around this group of students long enough that they will

listen respectfully, and be fully engaged in the lesson. I will be posting my reflections in my next

entry, since I will be teaching the lesson next Wednesday.


        I thought I touched on how the library was set up and the guidelines for students in the

library. Since Emporia does not participate in Accelerated Readers or any other similar program

the library is does not level their books, however there are reading levels printed in each book. I

also know at the beginning of the school year Carol goes over the “5 Finger Rule.” The rule

states that when you pick up a book, go to a random page and start reading, and every time you
don’t know a word you hold up a finger and if you mess up five times on one page that books is

too hard. Each student, except the Kindergarteners, is responsible for making sure the book they

select is appropriate for them. In the first half of the school year the Kindergarteners select their

book from a predetermined book selection until they fully comprehend what it means to take

care of a book and bring it back when it is due. The rest of the students are able to check out tree

books at a time. From my observations a majority of the time students bring their books back

when they are due with no problem. If they happened to forget their book, they usually bring it

back the next day because they can’t check out as many books if they forgot one.( if they forget a

book, they can only check out two). I think this system works well, and I will most likely

implement a similar policy in my own library.


10/13/2010


       Today I taught my lesson, and in my opinion it went really well! The students listened to

my directions and were very engaged throughout the lesson. I began with explanation of my

expectations for their behavior and what we were going to do that day. I started the lesson by

asking them what setting was, and why it is an important story element. Next, I had several

concrete examples of setting, which they were able to figure out fairly easily. After I showed

them the examples, in their table groups they had different settings and they had to come up with

a book or movie that was set there (example: a book that takes place in the future). After they

were done with that they were able to share their answers with the rest of the class. We continued

with having them read a paragraph that describes a setting, and from that paragraph they had to

figure out the setting. At the end of the class, I had them complete a quiz to assess their

comprehension. No student missed more than one question on the quiz, and a majority did not

miss any. When I talked with Carol about how she thought the lesson when, she was very
positive, she said that she though the students were engaged throughout the lesson, and that I had

great pacing. The only negative was that I did sometimes feel they were a bit talkative, but that

class is normally fairly talkative so it seemed normal to me. I learned a lot with this lesson. It is

so much harder to establish authority with students that you don’t see every day. When I have

my own library, I will make a conscious effort to establish a relationship with students and

parents. I will do that by sending home newsletter, updating the libraries website regularly with

what is going on. In the library, like in the regular classroom, I will have to reinforce my

expectation of student behavior and follow through on what I say.


       10/14/2010-3.5


       When it comes to processing and cataloging procedures in the library, each class has a

cart with all of the student’s books on them that need to be returned or renewed. I think the

system works for the library, but the library clerk is now checking in hundreds of books all at

once. I am not sure how I will tackle this issue, but maybe if students were able return their

books when they were done, the clerk would have an easier time keeping up with shelving

books. She also does not have a lot of time to check the book for damage because she is trying to

keep up with the volume of books being returned. I however would not have students but the

books they would like to renew on the cart. The can bring those books with them to renew at the

checkout time.


       When new books come in, Carol has a very specific way of getting the books ready to be

put on the shelf. First, she tries to get a hardback book whenever possible, because they are

much more durable. Also, she says she always pays a bit extra to have the bar codes already

made and ready to go, so all she has to do is input the MARC records into the system. Destiny is
great because, it does a lot of the work for you. If she has to order a book that is not a hardback,

there is a long process of putting on book covers, which takes quite a bit of time. Another thing,

Carol does with books is that if they are associated with a certain genre (ie: Christmas,

Thanksgiving) she has labels for them on the books, so students can find the easily on the shelf.

There are so many things that have to be done to get a book ready to be put on the shelf; I would

rely heavily on my clerk to help me do this job.


10/20/2010-3.5


        In my time at the library I have not fully discussed the libraries policies with Carol. She

was able to provide me with policies for material selection, the libraries mission statement,

weeding policy, and gifting policy. The gift policy, in short states that gifts are welcome, but the

library reserves the right to decide to put the book on the shelf. If it is a monetary gift, the

librarian will select materials that are within the subject area of the donors specifications. The

weeding policy is pretty strait forward, it states that the librarian may remove materials,

equipment, and furniture that is no longer valuable to the library media program. The criteria for

selecting materials is a fairly long list, but it basically says that materials must support the

general education goals of the school, age appropriate ect. All of these policies are reasonable,

and I would look for a district that had similar policies. The library media mission statement, to

me sums up exactly what our job is. We are the core of the educational structure of the school.

We should meet the educational, curricular, and recreational needs of students, faculty, and staff.

And foster a life time of learning skills essential to become an informed citizen in out changing

society.
Upon further reflection of my lesson, as were able to discuss it even further. I feel that

the examples that were most helpful were the paragraph examples that were shown, because it

made the students use their prior knowledge to figure out the setting. I made sure the examples

used were something that could happen in everyday life. For example on the settings was a mom

giving her son a bath. Another one had to do with a boy not wanting to get up for school when

his alarm went off. I was able to incorporate both a reading and library objectives in to the

lesson. To be specific, I used Literature standard S2:B1:I2 Library Science standard 5:1:2.

Also, when I chose the lesson I used a lesson that was made for 4th graders; I looked over the

lesson and determined that it was appropriate for them in terms of reading level and examples

given. When checking for understanding I could tell they were getting it because they were able

to complete a group worksheet, and when answering questions I did not have to review what

setting was besides at the beginning, they were able to answer all questions posed to them

confidently.


10/26/2010-3.5


       Today, I interviewed the principal Kim Kirk. It was great to see how an administrator

views the library and the relationship he has with Carol. When I asked him how he viewed the

principal/librarian relationship he said that he likes to work closely with his librarian, in terms of

appraisal, and communication on any issues that come up. Also, he has to approve any purchase

of materials for the library, so making sure that they are both on the same page is important.

When he comes in to the library, he wants to see the students engaged in book and literacy

activities that will enhance the general education curriculum. With that said he believes, like I do

that the library will progress to a heavier use of technology that will enhance library skill

instruction. I also asked him if he were hiring a school librarian what skills would you like them
to have. He said he looked for someone who is responsible, organized, creative, quick thinking,

and able to collaborate with others on a regular basis. Which seems to me a reasonable

expectations, I feel these are all characteristics that librarians should have. When I asked him

how he evaluated job performance, he said that is was just like a regular education teacher. If

they are new, they are evaluated twice a year, and once they are tenured, it is once every 3 years.

They also have to have SMART goals and look at and discuss when getting evaluated.


       There was one thing that Mr. Kirk said when I asked him if he was aware of the libraries

policies, and he said he was not fully aware of the policies that are in place. I would think that as

an administrator he would be aware of all school policies.


       I feel that Mr. Kirk is very supportive of the library, and will do everything in his power

to help it succeed. He allocates a generous budget ($6,000 for books/ $3,000 for technology) to

purchase books and technology equipment, because he feels that the library is the educational

center of the school and wants to make sure students and teachers have the best materials

available to them


10/27/2010-3.5


       I have been thinking a lot of how I want to involve parents and keep them informed of

what is going on in the library. I think the most important resource is the libraries website.

Which I would have links to what we are doing in each grade level this month, a link to library

curriculum standards, our online card catalogue; which will have information about the book

including what reading level it is so they know if it is appropriate or not, and some information

about me. I would also have homework resources and whatever else I deemed important. I
would also make sure that parents knew if that had any questions they are encouraged to call, e

mail or stop in to talk with me.


       I was helping students pick out books today, and I find it so much fun to help them find

books that they will enjoy. I love asking them what kind of books they like, what authors they

like etc…I think it is a great way to get to know the students, and really develop my skills in

picking out the “perfect” book for a student. I think making sure you develop that “connection,”

which is so important especially because you only see the students twice during the week. I also

can see that the older students are getting used to using the online card catalogue, which is great

because Carol has spent a lot of time showing them how to use the system when they are trying

to find a book.

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Li876 journal entries

  • 1. Erin Colby LI876 Fall 2010 Journal Entries 9/22/2010- 3.5 Hours With my first day of my practicum done, I can already tell that I will LOVE being a librarian. Seeing children excited to read just makes my heart smile! Carol Mitchell showed me around the library and how she organized her books. She has a “Everybody” section which are mostly picture books, and “Easy Reader” section for beginning readers, a “story collection”, there is also a “biography” and of course a “fiction” and “non-fiction” section. Carol seems to have a great system in place with how she plans her lessons and the topics she covers during her library. I need to get more in-depth look at her lessons, so I can get some ideas about how I could structure my lessons when I have my own library. The Kindergarten, lesson I observed she read a fiction and non-fiction books about pigs. I thought it was really cool how she incorporated things like pointing to the call number, book care, genre etc.…during the lesson! The 3rd and 4th grade lesson I observed dealt with teaching students how to use call numbers to search Destiny to for books. 9/23/2010- 3.5 Hours I was able to talk to Carol about how she plans her lessons. She said that she uses the states library and the reading and language art standards to guide her when planning her lessons. She
  • 2. also looks at the curriculum the school is using and picks out the skills, and topics she can cover in the library. I also wanted to see an actual lesson plan, they were a lot simpler then I imagined. She has the topic covered, state standards, vocabulary, materials needed, and a description of what she was going to do. I feel that the hardest thing is deciding what to teach and when, because you don’t have a reading book to guide you for each week of lessons. I also think it will be a challenge to plan for multiple grade levels, I think librarians have to be so familiar with the curriculum at each grade level to make sure they are leaning the skills they need to learn. We also discussed the fact that I have to teach a lesson. We decided that I would teach a lesson on Setting. In the next week, I will be doing a search for a “SmartBoard” lesson on setting so I will be able to use that technology during the lesson. 9/28/2010- 3.5 hours I was really curious how Carol made her book orders, and how she decided what she needs for the library. First, she does an assessment of the library’s collection to see where she needs to add to the collection. She also sends out an e mail to the teachers to ask if there are any types of books that they need. Also, she sometimes meets with publisher rep. and they go through the catalogue and discuss the new books that are out. The rep that I met only showed her books on things that Carol said she needed. I did not realize there were so many things to consider when ordering new books, but it makes sense considering in these economic times there is a limited budget so you can only order so much. I was also intrigued with the fact that most of the books she is considering to order are non-fiction. Carol made an interesting point when she said that non-fiction books are used more now because teachers are concerned with teaching to the test, and non-fiction books are better suited to teach students those skills. Another issue, I have been
  • 3. thinking about was “classroom management” I have noticed during the lessons sometimes students are just moving around the room, to sit next to their friends and being a disruption. I wanted to step in and do something, but I am not sure how Carol would feel about it. I have been thinking about what type of “rules” I will have in my library. I want my students to feel comfortable in the library. I do not expect them to sit completely still, but I do expect them to give me the same respect they give their teacher and any other adult in the school. 9/29/2010-3.5 Since I have not had a lot of experience working with any library automated checkout system I was really interested in how Destiny worked. Carol let me check out books to students, and she showed me how she entered a new book into the system. She said that with this new system she can input a new book in about 3 minutes compared to about 10 minutes it took before she had this system! Checking in/out books is super simple; all you have to do is scan the barcode. She also, help me input a new book into the Destiny system, I did not realize all of the things that needed to be imputed before the book is ready to be checkout! I really feel now that, once I have my own library that it will be easy for me to learn how to use whatever system they have. We also discussed how the interlibrary loan system works. Carol said that if she does not have a book in her library, she will check the other libraries in the district to see if they have it. The librarians have a pretty simple policy, if someone has a book in their library that someone else needs they will simple send the book(s) though the pony mail to the school, and they usually can have the book for a week at a time. I think it is great that all of the librarians are open to sharing their resources throughout the district, especially since the budget does not allow the purchase of a lot of materials. As for general library book circulation, the kindergarteners get one
  • 4. book at a time to check out for a week. 1st-4tfh graders get to check out 3 books at one time for a week. I am not sure how many books I would let student’s check out at a time, but I do think that Kindergarteners can only handle reading one book at a time, at least for the first semester. From my observation students seem to be handling checking out 3 books fairly well. 10/6/2010-5.0 hours Today, I was at Timmerman in the afternoon so I could attend the staff meeting after school, and also meet the other elementary school librarians for their monthly meeting. I learned so much from them in just the short time I was with them. They discussed what they were doing in their library for lessons. What books their students were reading, it was cool to see that at each school different books were popular with the students! I feel that the most important thing discussed during the meeting was what they were teaching in the library. To me deciding what to teach and when will be the hardest thing because you don’t have a Basel to go off of to plan your lesson. They all said that they are going off the school library standards, and they incorporate reading/language arts into their lessons. Some even said they use social studies standards. I think that this type of meeting is really useful because librarians don’t often get to meet and talk about what they are doing in their libraries, and it is great way to get new lesson ideas to implement in their libraries. It seemed to me that all the librarians are dealing with the same issues, which for me is comforting to know that you are not alone in your library! To go back before the afternoon meeting I have been thinking a lot lately about to effectively manage your library clerk. Timmerman has a new library clerk; she is still learning the ropes, from where to shelve books, to creating a system of shelving that works for her. The new clerk has seemed to have trouble keeping up with the volume of books being check in and getting them put up in a timely manner.
  • 5. When this happens, do you let your clerk find her own method of shelving that works for them or do you step in and show her a method that had worked for the previous library clerk? I think I would step in, and show her. ______________________________________________________________________________ 10/7/2010-3.5 hours Recently, I have been preparing for my lesson that I am teaching next Wednesday. I am very excited and ready to teach again. Carol has looked at my plan and approved my lesson on Setting. We both feel it is important to reinforce these standards along with their homeroom teachers, since this text feature will be tested on during state testing. When we had free time between lessons, we discussed how I was feeling about the lesson, and how I envisioned it going. I told her that before I introduce the lesson that I would discuss with the class my expectations for their behavior. (ie: that they listen when I am talking, raise their hands to speak, and work cooperatively in groups). This is important to me because, I have not taught them a lesson yet, so they do not really know me as a teacher, so making sure they know my expectations is necessary. However, I believe that I have been around this group of students long enough that they will listen respectfully, and be fully engaged in the lesson. I will be posting my reflections in my next entry, since I will be teaching the lesson next Wednesday. I thought I touched on how the library was set up and the guidelines for students in the library. Since Emporia does not participate in Accelerated Readers or any other similar program the library is does not level their books, however there are reading levels printed in each book. I also know at the beginning of the school year Carol goes over the “5 Finger Rule.” The rule states that when you pick up a book, go to a random page and start reading, and every time you
  • 6. don’t know a word you hold up a finger and if you mess up five times on one page that books is too hard. Each student, except the Kindergarteners, is responsible for making sure the book they select is appropriate for them. In the first half of the school year the Kindergarteners select their book from a predetermined book selection until they fully comprehend what it means to take care of a book and bring it back when it is due. The rest of the students are able to check out tree books at a time. From my observations a majority of the time students bring their books back when they are due with no problem. If they happened to forget their book, they usually bring it back the next day because they can’t check out as many books if they forgot one.( if they forget a book, they can only check out two). I think this system works well, and I will most likely implement a similar policy in my own library. 10/13/2010 Today I taught my lesson, and in my opinion it went really well! The students listened to my directions and were very engaged throughout the lesson. I began with explanation of my expectations for their behavior and what we were going to do that day. I started the lesson by asking them what setting was, and why it is an important story element. Next, I had several concrete examples of setting, which they were able to figure out fairly easily. After I showed them the examples, in their table groups they had different settings and they had to come up with a book or movie that was set there (example: a book that takes place in the future). After they were done with that they were able to share their answers with the rest of the class. We continued with having them read a paragraph that describes a setting, and from that paragraph they had to figure out the setting. At the end of the class, I had them complete a quiz to assess their comprehension. No student missed more than one question on the quiz, and a majority did not miss any. When I talked with Carol about how she thought the lesson when, she was very
  • 7. positive, she said that she though the students were engaged throughout the lesson, and that I had great pacing. The only negative was that I did sometimes feel they were a bit talkative, but that class is normally fairly talkative so it seemed normal to me. I learned a lot with this lesson. It is so much harder to establish authority with students that you don’t see every day. When I have my own library, I will make a conscious effort to establish a relationship with students and parents. I will do that by sending home newsletter, updating the libraries website regularly with what is going on. In the library, like in the regular classroom, I will have to reinforce my expectation of student behavior and follow through on what I say. 10/14/2010-3.5 When it comes to processing and cataloging procedures in the library, each class has a cart with all of the student’s books on them that need to be returned or renewed. I think the system works for the library, but the library clerk is now checking in hundreds of books all at once. I am not sure how I will tackle this issue, but maybe if students were able return their books when they were done, the clerk would have an easier time keeping up with shelving books. She also does not have a lot of time to check the book for damage because she is trying to keep up with the volume of books being returned. I however would not have students but the books they would like to renew on the cart. The can bring those books with them to renew at the checkout time. When new books come in, Carol has a very specific way of getting the books ready to be put on the shelf. First, she tries to get a hardback book whenever possible, because they are much more durable. Also, she says she always pays a bit extra to have the bar codes already made and ready to go, so all she has to do is input the MARC records into the system. Destiny is
  • 8. great because, it does a lot of the work for you. If she has to order a book that is not a hardback, there is a long process of putting on book covers, which takes quite a bit of time. Another thing, Carol does with books is that if they are associated with a certain genre (ie: Christmas, Thanksgiving) she has labels for them on the books, so students can find the easily on the shelf. There are so many things that have to be done to get a book ready to be put on the shelf; I would rely heavily on my clerk to help me do this job. 10/20/2010-3.5 In my time at the library I have not fully discussed the libraries policies with Carol. She was able to provide me with policies for material selection, the libraries mission statement, weeding policy, and gifting policy. The gift policy, in short states that gifts are welcome, but the library reserves the right to decide to put the book on the shelf. If it is a monetary gift, the librarian will select materials that are within the subject area of the donors specifications. The weeding policy is pretty strait forward, it states that the librarian may remove materials, equipment, and furniture that is no longer valuable to the library media program. The criteria for selecting materials is a fairly long list, but it basically says that materials must support the general education goals of the school, age appropriate ect. All of these policies are reasonable, and I would look for a district that had similar policies. The library media mission statement, to me sums up exactly what our job is. We are the core of the educational structure of the school. We should meet the educational, curricular, and recreational needs of students, faculty, and staff. And foster a life time of learning skills essential to become an informed citizen in out changing society.
  • 9. Upon further reflection of my lesson, as were able to discuss it even further. I feel that the examples that were most helpful were the paragraph examples that were shown, because it made the students use their prior knowledge to figure out the setting. I made sure the examples used were something that could happen in everyday life. For example on the settings was a mom giving her son a bath. Another one had to do with a boy not wanting to get up for school when his alarm went off. I was able to incorporate both a reading and library objectives in to the lesson. To be specific, I used Literature standard S2:B1:I2 Library Science standard 5:1:2. Also, when I chose the lesson I used a lesson that was made for 4th graders; I looked over the lesson and determined that it was appropriate for them in terms of reading level and examples given. When checking for understanding I could tell they were getting it because they were able to complete a group worksheet, and when answering questions I did not have to review what setting was besides at the beginning, they were able to answer all questions posed to them confidently. 10/26/2010-3.5 Today, I interviewed the principal Kim Kirk. It was great to see how an administrator views the library and the relationship he has with Carol. When I asked him how he viewed the principal/librarian relationship he said that he likes to work closely with his librarian, in terms of appraisal, and communication on any issues that come up. Also, he has to approve any purchase of materials for the library, so making sure that they are both on the same page is important. When he comes in to the library, he wants to see the students engaged in book and literacy activities that will enhance the general education curriculum. With that said he believes, like I do that the library will progress to a heavier use of technology that will enhance library skill instruction. I also asked him if he were hiring a school librarian what skills would you like them
  • 10. to have. He said he looked for someone who is responsible, organized, creative, quick thinking, and able to collaborate with others on a regular basis. Which seems to me a reasonable expectations, I feel these are all characteristics that librarians should have. When I asked him how he evaluated job performance, he said that is was just like a regular education teacher. If they are new, they are evaluated twice a year, and once they are tenured, it is once every 3 years. They also have to have SMART goals and look at and discuss when getting evaluated. There was one thing that Mr. Kirk said when I asked him if he was aware of the libraries policies, and he said he was not fully aware of the policies that are in place. I would think that as an administrator he would be aware of all school policies. I feel that Mr. Kirk is very supportive of the library, and will do everything in his power to help it succeed. He allocates a generous budget ($6,000 for books/ $3,000 for technology) to purchase books and technology equipment, because he feels that the library is the educational center of the school and wants to make sure students and teachers have the best materials available to them 10/27/2010-3.5 I have been thinking a lot of how I want to involve parents and keep them informed of what is going on in the library. I think the most important resource is the libraries website. Which I would have links to what we are doing in each grade level this month, a link to library curriculum standards, our online card catalogue; which will have information about the book including what reading level it is so they know if it is appropriate or not, and some information about me. I would also have homework resources and whatever else I deemed important. I
  • 11. would also make sure that parents knew if that had any questions they are encouraged to call, e mail or stop in to talk with me. I was helping students pick out books today, and I find it so much fun to help them find books that they will enjoy. I love asking them what kind of books they like, what authors they like etc…I think it is a great way to get to know the students, and really develop my skills in picking out the “perfect” book for a student. I think making sure you develop that “connection,” which is so important especially because you only see the students twice during the week. I also can see that the older students are getting used to using the online card catalogue, which is great because Carol has spent a lot of time showing them how to use the system when they are trying to find a book.