Read, Teach, Bake

  Media Specialist: Nicole Scott AASL Standards Shared Foundation: Collaborate AASL Standards Domains: Think, Create, Share, Grow The third librarian I interviewed was Mrs. Nicole Scott at Fairforest Middle School. I chose the shared foundation COLLABORATE because Mrs. Scott has built a culture of shared learning and exploration through her well-stocked and always open MakerSpace. This was the first MakerSpace I have seen in action. Through carefully selected resources and a willingness to open the library before school and allow students to come throughout the day with teacher permission, the MakerSpace at FMS is a hub of communication and collaboration.  As simple as it seems, the first thing I noticed about the MakerSpace is that many of the activities are collaboration group tasks that are available all day. In one station, there is a jigsaw puzzle that students and teachers can work on whenever they have a chance. This encourages every person in the building to contribute...

  Media Specialist: Katie Hughey AASL Standards Shared Foundation: Curate AASL Standards Domains: Think, Create, Share, Grow My second librarian interview was with Mrs. Katie Hughey at Mayo Elementary School. Mayo is a small, rural school that serves students in grades K4 - 5th grade. Mrs. Hughey sees every class in the school twice a week. She plans experiences that allow students to think critically about their book choices, reading habits, and personal learning. Storytime focuses on themes relevant to the grade level while reader's advisory time is focused on helping students choose relevant, interesting resources.  Sharing resources with students through story time is quite possibly the part of librarianship that I am most excited about. Collaboration with classroom teachers is part of the process to ensure story times are relevant for students. Taking the time to design storytime that introduces students to new materials while reinforcing classroom learning is the best of...

   Media Specialist: Carolyn Crosland AASL Standards Shared Foundation: Include AASL Standards Domains: Think, Create, Share, Grow  As part of my preparation to be a school media specialist, I was able to sit down and talk with four school media specialists about specific AASL Standards Shared Foundations and Domains. This blog post is the first of four entries sharing my thoughts and reflections on the wisdom and advice gained from the interviews. The first interviewee is Mrs. Carolyn Crosland at my home school, Boiling Springs Middle School in the upstate of South Carolina. We serve a diverse population with over 100 different nationalities represented in our thriving, growing community. Therefore, I chose to discuss the shared foundation INCLUDE with Mrs. Crosland.           When Mrs. Crosland started her role as librarian at BSMS, our population was not very diverse and neither was our library collection. Our library reflected our populat...

            So many of the past two week's reading/viewings spoke to me as an aspiring school librarian. I love the idea of collaboration between public and school libraries, diversity in programming and materials, reader's advisory that is guided by the reader's needs, and a world where the Library Bill of Rights applies to all libraries. As an idealist, this library world sounds like heaven. As a realist who has worked in public school for 17 years, I realize that my ideal library job doesn't exist. In public school, where I intend to work, collaboration, diversity, and censorship are often impacted by school board members, parents, and the surrounding community. I believe public school librarians are playing a vastly different sport than other librarians. I don't agree with that but I know from experience that it is true.      In the article "Developing a Curriculum in Intellectual Freedom: What Our Students Need to Know (2015)," Serof...

  Through this week’s readings and videos, I know without a show of a doubt my library career belongs in one of two places: middle school or special education. As a special education teacher at heart (I have a master’s degree in special education), my dream job is to work as a librarian at a special needs school or in a middle school with special education students (beyond learning disabilities). The article by Copeland and Gavigan inspired me and reminded my of my days in special education. Before becoming a certified teacher, I worked at the McCarthy-Teszler School, a self-contained for moderate to severely differently-abled students. Our library time was filled with joy and excitement. Fostering a love of reading in my students was incredible. So many of those students could not read or hold a book, but story time was a favorite part of their day. Programming for these students is not only fun, but also challenging, hopeful, and creative.       ...

  Between modules two and three, the article by Helen Benoit (2012) about the Family Language Kit Program was very relatable for me. My husband and I both teach at middle schools that serve very large populations of English language learners. Both schools have large Hispanic speaking populations and my school enrolled over 100 students from Russia and the Ukraine since December 2022. Our ELL teacher tried to arrange book sets for students along with information in multiple languages for parents. We offered an afterschool English class for parents as well. Having the kits used at the Hamilton Public Library available in our public and school library would be a game changer for many of our students. Something that I strongly disagree with can’t be linked to a specific reading/viewing. I honestly find it sad and frustrating that public libraries and school libraries must constantly struggle and advocate for funding. Many of the readings in this program (this course and others) empha...