Day 20

My last day at HSES is bittersweet.  I have enjoyed learning with my mentor this semester and also working with the students and teachers.  I feel that I have grown in so many ways and added new tools to my librarian toolbox.  Thanks to Mrs. E I have mastered book talks.  This was an area that I felt really uncomfortable with, but I learned not to make it harder than it is.  Read the books, and talk about them.  It's that simple.  If I enjoy something about the book, it is easy to "sell" it to the students.  I have also learned a great deal about collection development and budgeting.  Weeding is hard, but necessary and adding to a collection requires much careful consideration.  Not only do you consider students' interests, but also the needs of teachers and curriculum support.  Once you have that information, you must find and review materials to make sure that the items you purchase are appropriate and beneficial.  Through my work with my mentor, I also have a plan for managing next year's budget.  Keeping a file for each account with copies of invoices and purchase orders will help with future orders and ensure that I spend all of the money by the deadline.  This has been an absolutely wonderful experience, and I am so thankful to my principal, my mentor, and her principal for supporting me in this process.

Day 19

Today was a busy day.  We had several technology issues to help with as well as the filming of a Mystery Skype.  I am very excited to try this with students from my own school.  What a great way to have them connect with others while learning at the same time.  While the activity did not go as planned, the classroom teacher was able to give an overview for other classes and teachers.  What I learned from this is that it is always good to do a trial run before you have a whole room full of students and teachers.

Also today, I learned that the issues in this school are quite similar to those in my own school.  People don't always follow rules/directions.  People also have high expectations for their school media specialist.  My hope is to be the most supportive person that I can be while also holding to rules and procedures.

Day 18

Today we looked to the end of my internship as we discussed evaluation of the library program as well as collecting data regarding collaboration and student programming.  This is not something that is widely used in this school district.  WHile we complete a yearly survey for the state department of education, rarely do we conduct evaluations of our particular programs.  For the purposes of my internship requirements, we discussed ways to do this.  One easy way seems to be through a survey...specifically through Survey Monkey.  These can be easily shared, and information is collected and tallied for you.  Then analyzing results is easy.  As for evaluating collaborations and/or student projects, we decided that use of a rubric would be beneficial.  Both teachers and students can quickly evaluate the lesson upon completion.  The only drawback here is that data will have to be manually collected and calculated.  In the future, I plan to develop an online survey geared specifically toward my library program to be administered yearly.  Feedback from users is critical in developing a program that best benefits a community.

Day 17

Budgets...I think I have mentioned this before, but now that I am right in the middle of a spending deadline, let's revisit.  Each year I am given funds for books, supplies, technology, and periodicals.  This money has to be spent each year by the end of March...yes, I procrastinate.  I guess I don't want to spend all of my money early, just in case something comes up that I need.  However, having significant funds to spend in an ethical and practical manner at the last minute is tough.  My plan for next year is to do a better job of ordering early the things I know we need.  I also plan to have a folder for each account and a running record of what is spent on the outside with copies of receipts, POs, etc. inside.  This way I can easily see how funds were spent in previous years.  I hope to save precious time and alleviate stress with this process.  Thanks so much to my mentor for this tip!

Day 16

Collaboration with Classroom Teachers...

This can be tricky business as teachers are so busy and overwhelmed by day-to-day requirements.  From lesson plans, to team meetings and parent communication, teachers have very little time to meet and talk with the media specialist about possible collaborations.  What I have learned is to make it as painless as I can while still encouraging communication.  One thing I do is email a group or an individual with an idea of how I can support learning.  This allows teachers to repond in their own time, and I have found it useful.  Another strategy that works is to pop in on meetings that are already scheduled.  Since teachers have to be there anyway, taking 5-10 minutes maybe once a month is not too much.  For example, teachers at my school already meet with the reading coach every Wednesday, so I can easily ask for a few minutes once a month.  This can open up dialogue with a whole team about ways I can support what they are already doing.  One final thing I have tried this year is to develop lessons for those required things that come up during the year such as Constitution Day, Black History Month, etc.  I can plan lessons that the teachers can write into their plans without doing anything extra.  They love this!  My goal is to be a support for teachers and students.  Collaboration is one of my main responsibilities, so I want to use it as a help rather thatn "one more thing to do."

Day 15

Teacher Web Pages...another necessary evil.  We have been working some each visit on helping teachers get their webpages updated and shared correctly.  This is not only a school requirement, but also a district requirement.  What I have learned is that some teachers are really eager and excited to work on a web page while others are completely evasive.  We have been trying for at least two weeks to get together with one teacher to help get her site up.  We have a quick cheat sheet and have promised to have her finished in fifteen minutes, but the teacher always has an excuse when it is time to meet.  I am unsure how to handle this situation as it is the media specialist's job to make sure everyone has an up-to-date site.  On one hand, you want to help get it done, but n the other hand you have offered several opportunities for assistance, and the site is not even started.  At this point, I feel that it is an administrative issue. I am sure that I will face similar situations in my own library, and I want to try to be a support for teachers while ensuring that tasks are complete.  I think the key is to be helpful but firm.  This won't be easy for a passive person like myself.

Day 14

Substitute Plans...not fun but necessary.  Today we discussed the need for detailed substitute plans as my mentor plans for the SCASL conference in a few weeks.  As we reviewed her standard lesson plans together, I thought about my own sub plans.  At my school we are required to have at least three days of emergency plans plus schedule, class lists, procedures, etc.  I have a sub notebook on my desk ready to go.  Feeling pretty good about them, I wasn't expecting to learn anything new.  However, I had not thought about what would happen if neither my assistant nor myself were in the library.  This changes plans, especially if the sub is someone completely new, as was the case with my mentor.  Directions and explanations have to be very clear and detailed for someone who has never been in your school or library.  After our work together today, I revised my own sub plans to be more detailed and clear.