Horne Street: Take Aways

There are many things to take away from this.  First of all is being a school librarian is very busy, but rewarding work.  I didn't even do half the work Mrs. Smart did and yet I would return home exhausted but full of fun stories.  I introduced several kids to new book series that they then continued to read.  I managed to remembered a book for one kindergartner who really wanted to check it out as his first book, but unfortunately it had disappeared within a week.  He got a book on pirates instead and was quite thrilled.  I scoured the library with two other 2nd graders for a "Bad Kitty" book but unfortunately they were all checked out.  And I brought a book and a Clifford stuffed animal to a scared kid who had an accident and was hiding in embarrassment under a table.

I also, on a more mundane note, weeded all the outer space books, checked in new books on faeries, created a display for Responsive Classroom at the request of the science teacher, and made sure Mrs. Smart ate relatively on time for lunch.  Overall I feel it was a great and full experience.  I really got a sense as to what working an elementary school classroom was like.  I know there is more to it of course, and time management plays heavily into it, but this was a great taste.

So, I believe I promised a list of take-aways?  Here they are:

• It's rewarding work
• You're always busy
• You do something slightly different every day
• Kids like to interrupt each other so be firm in telling them to wait
• ALWAYS remember to get back to a kid you told to wait
• Acknowledge their choices and they will react more positively to reading
• Band Aids magically fix any kind of pain
• Non Fiction is MUCH more interesting when you're reading at elementary school level
• Telling a kid "I don't know" doesn't cut it, you have to give them something
• Working with the other faculty and helping out with things like recess or waiting for kids to get picked up by parents helps create bonds
• Projectors are a pain
• Always be clear in your explanations

Thanks for reading!  Next I will be going more in depth with my practicum work!

This post was saved in my files but not actually posted.  I must be more aware when I write on my tablet.  This entry was actually made on the 29th.

Horne Street: Surprise Lesson!

If there is anything I will be taking away from this experience is that being an elementary school librarian leaves you extremely busy.  Especially if you are Mrs. Smart.  There have been several times today in which she has disappeared from the library mysteriously to go help someone.  I've been telling people that she is out being a super hero when they come looking for her.

Earlier however, a whole class came.  She went out to help a classroom with a projector issue and before I knew it, the next class was walking into the library.  So I began to remind the kids of how they are supposed to act in the library and where they are supposed to sit, just like Mrs. Smart did.  It flowed from there, I went through the whole lesson (Mrs. Smart DID return but she let me do the whole thing).  The kids were great, though they liked to ask questions and Mrs. Smart had to interject because they got too off topic.  We talked about Hopes and Dreams, made their wordle, and that was it.

I've been rather nervous about taking over the class, which makes me think maybe, just maybe she did it on purpose, which is fine.  It was a great experience, and it really helped my conference in being able to take over a class.

Later I'm going to write an entry summing up my take-aways from my time here, but until then, be well!

(This was on the 28th, unfortunately my computer failed to publish it on time and I never caught it until now!)

Horne Quick Update: How the Lesson Went

Overall the lesson went alright.  I read to them and guided them through the thought process of thinking of their own hopes and dreams for the library.  Though I must admit, reading to them about Jane Goodall and telling them about the work she's done kind of pales in comparison.  I remember one class the other day, two students were so excited by the story and about Jane that they decided to ask their parents if they could volunteer for the Humane Society.  Still, a lot of hopes and dreams for the library were about things they wanted to learn from books or series they wanted to complete, which was great.

The Wordle was a big hit too.  I had them call out what colors they wanted and layouts and text.  Some asked me if they could have a copy of their own but unfortunately we couldn't do that.  I still need to work on my classroom control.  There were three kids in the back who were acting up a bit and I don't think I handled it as well as I could.  I just tend to freeze up when I have to do something and they look like they are about to cry.  All the methods I've learned about just fill my head and I never know which one is right.  Do I go with my instinct?  What would the school want me to do?  What would the librarian want me to do?  And then after I just second guess myself and think well I shouldn't have done that for X, Y, Z reasons.  But the good news is overall everyone did enjoy the lesson, especially the YouTube video from the Jane Goodall Institute.

Everyone loves a good monkey.

Kindergarten is Like Herding Cats: More on Horne Street Elementary Fieldwork

My current moto for kindergarten is that they are like "herding cats."  They are adorable, playful, want to get into everything and are pretty hard to wrangle.  We teach one kindergarten class a day amongst the other grades.  This week is very special for them: they get to check out their first school library books!  It's a pretty exciting time.  Last week we taught them proper page turning, and I never thought in my life I would say "That's good page turning!" but I did and the smile I received in return was fantastic.  This week we read them a wonderful tale of five little monkeys who mistreated their books and a librarian bear who would gently reminded them what they were supposed to do.  Then we had them say a library pledge to take care of the books, and then let them loose!  I found myself surrounded by kids asking me where to find books about this or that or wanting me to read to them the title of the book they had chosen.  It felt a bit overwhelming but also fun and challenging.  I cannot wait for today's kindergarteners.

The Library Monkeys. By Pat Miller. Illustrated by Virginia Allyn

Mrs. Smart has been doing a wonderful job of sneaking me into lessons, often on the spot which has been fantastic practice for me.  Thus far I have read out loud to several classes two books:  Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell and Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story From Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter, and talked about what the student's hopes and dreams are for the library.  We then make a wordle for their whole class, which Mrs. Smart is going to hand up somewhere in the library once every class has one.  Last week we looked at "hurt books" which are books that have been damaged and talked about proper book handling.  I got to lead a few exercises for the class, showing them the books, letting them handle them and then asking them what they thought happened to the book.

Unfortunately regardless of these lessons accidents happen and three books have been returned to us in poor shape by very sorry looking children.  One had wine spilt all over it from someone's dad, and another was torn when someone's friend ripped it out of his hands.  I don't know what happened to the third but Mrs. Smart is a little upset by this.  Still, the kids who returned them understand what they did and are admitting to it responsibly.  I believe this is progress.

I need to work on my classroom control.  It is something I am by far not used to and here they use something called "responsive classroom" which is a manner of discipline that I have yet to get used to.  In a little bit Mrs. Smart is going to allow me to take over a whole class while she stays nearby.  I'm more worried about keeping their attention and silence when I am reading.  I'm a good reader, but when kids want to move and ask questions I find it hard to get them to settle down again.  But this class is apparently a regularly easy class to deal with so my hopes are high.

I shall post again by the end of the week to wrap up my fieldwork experience.  It's been only two weeks but I have learned a lot, and I feel I have had a good taste for how the elementary school atmosphere is meant to be.

Day 1 At Horne Street Elementary Library (Fieldwork)

The advantage of making sure you are working at the same school that your niece and nephew are attending is that on your first day, you get to see them and then all worries or nervousness just melt away.  This was the start of my day.  I had forgotten to pack a lunch, and halfway to school the gas light in my car went off, which I ignored in favor of being on time.  But as I walked over to the front doors which were crowded with kids and parents, I saw two familiar faces ride over on their little skooters and greet me with a smile.  They had not known I was coming (I left it as a surprise) but they adapted quick and were excited that I would be working in their library for the next few weeks.  This gave me confidence.

The librarian I was to work with, Ms. Smart, was indeed a fantastic.  I was able to observe her teaching 4 classes, each of which were the same lesson (the beginning of the year is as such) and she showed me around the library and the school and even bought me lunch.  For most of the day I helped kids check books out (the 4th and 5th graders knew how to do it themselves but sometimes needed help) and checked books back in.  She also showed me her library budget and explained to me some helpful tips in balancing buying books, technology, and repairing things within the library.  She has also shared with me many great resources for browsing popular books and replenishing the collection. 

I have several projects I get to do while I am here.  I am to weed through the books on space and books on dinosaurs and check whether they are outdated or not (such as books stating Pluto is still a planet).  Simultaneously I get to look at books to replace them and possibly even purchase them.  I will also be able to give a few book talks.

What I'm getting here is some much needed practical librarian experience as well as experience working with kids directly.  I don't know why I've been so nervous about it, but thus far the kids have been wonderful and I've had no problem communicating with them, even the shy ones.  I look forward to the next few weeks.  It's going to be fun!

Trailblazers Internet Reliability Chat

So Monday I got to talk to a couple of classes about how to tell if a web site on the internet is a reliable source of information or not.  The kids asked a lot of questions, especially about the use of Wikipedia.  According to the teacher they loved to go there to start their searches or to find a source to cite when they forgot where they got a piece of information.  So I thought I would tell them why Wikipedia wasn't the best reliable source, and how they should be using it.

The teacher had already showed them how you could edit content and make it inaccurate in Wikipedia, so when I told them it is best not to risk it they seemed to agree.  But then I told them about the cited sources at the bottom.  They were thrilled to learn they could go to their favorite information web site and still use it to a degree.  I made sure to emphasize that they still need to check those sources for credibility.  A lot can be outdated, purely for commercial use, or heavily biased.

I know a lot of people have issues with using Wikipedia and frankly, kids love it.  Adults love it.  Even if we give them better sites they will still flock there.  We might as well show them how to use it in a safe and proper manner while getting the best information and not just settling for less.  So that is what I did, as well as show them several information databases for kids.

Unfortunately I didn't get to the other classes because the internet over there cut out, and then Skype was not working properly.  However, next Monday we will inform the other two classes, and I may get to introduce more useful websites.

Trailblazers Academy - Science Box!

(This is a double post, be sure to read the one before about e-books!)

My fieldwork has been a sort of strange experience thus far.  Mostly it comes from inexperience.  I've never had an internship or had to do fieldwork, and the wonderful people at Trailblazers Academy had never had a grad student popping in to help out with school related library science.  Timing was a bit confusing, as was what to do.  I found myself at first just throwing out suggestions and useful Web 2.0 technologies at Chris, the co-director of the school, hoping something would spark.  And it did.

Chris kept sending out my e-mails to his other staff until finally someone answered.  Her name was Katie and she was working with several 8th grade classes, starting their year long science projects.  She was curious about Museum Box and wanted to use it to help the kids organize their sources and information.

For those who are unfamiliar with Museum Box, look here:  Museum Box

It's a great program, when it works right.  You can add pictures, sound, video, files, links, and text to digital cubes which are all organized into a box.  This would give the kids plenty of opportunity to compile anything and everything they need for their projects both for data purposes and for visual references.

I had a project due in one of my classes that was all about introducing a new Web 2.0 Technology into a classroom.  It was a perfect match, and Katie and I got along great.  I got to talk with the kids through Skype and the experience overall was very new and exciting for me.  I had never addressed a class of kids before, but Katie helped out by silencing them when they became too loud and offered useful comments of her own.  I felt like I was a part of the class.

Did I mention Museum Box was a great program...WHEN IT WORKED RIGHT?

After my Skype chat Katie informed me that I did well, and that the kids were really excited about the program.  She did a few surveys for me and we found that most of the kids really liked using Museum Box rather than a pen and paper.  It made things much easier for them.

The only complaint was how often something wouldn't work, which was often.

The unfortunate thing about Museum box is that it breaks frequently.  A quick e-mail to the site supervisors usually fixed everything but it got a bit frustrating to deal with.  Still, the kids were learning and having fun and that was important.  Website bugs or no.

The projects are still going on.  The kids are not done with their research phase, and wont be done until mid February.  I have been sending reliable web sources to help them with their research, and next Monday I shall talk with the class again about how to tell what a reliable internet source is.

After that they will make their projects.  I will continue to help in any way I can until the end of the school year where they will present their projects to each other.  I'll be posting about this again soon.  It's my first time really working with a class.  I still feel nervous about it, like I'm not doing enough.  I plan on sending Chris an e-mail asking if there are other teachers who would like some aid as well.  I want to help as much as I can.

Or maybe I am just worrying.  I tend to do that.  Still it can never hurt to ask!

To be Continued!