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.
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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.