March 4, 2016

1. What needs to be done to set up book fair?

2. Pros and Cons to book fair?

3. How much do you usually make off book fair?

1. After scholastic drops off book fair the next thing that has to be done is that the chairs have to be moved out of the way and the tables have to be rearranged. In addition the library needs 3-4 folding tables in order to have enough tables. The next thing that has to be done is that the extra boxes have to be unpacked and displayed along with moving the big displays into place and getting them set up. Its an all day process even with help and most of the time Mrs. Ayers doesn't have help while setting it up, but she usually has parent volunteers to work the actual fair. 

2. The pros are of course the money that the library gets and that the students always seem to enjoy it. The cons are the work you have to put into it to get it set up and ready as well as having parent night. Since I am writing this after book fair is over I would say the biggest con I have with book fair is by far having to complete the wish lists. They are time consuming and most of the time the students put books on their that their parents are not going to give them that much money for them.

3. The book fair usually makes around one to two thousand during the scholastic book fair. Sometimes is can be a little bit more. The best seller by far for the book fair is the junk table and the posters. 

Overall I found book fair set up to be an interesting process. Mrs. Ayers has a system that works for her but while I saw things that I would have done differently her system works for her and how she runs her library. The only problem I had with the whole book fair process as a whole was the parent volunteers. I'm sure it is like this in every school but they were PTO parents and they seemed to continually gossip about someone or another. To be completely honest they about drove me crazy. 

March 3, 2016

1. Do you feel the students enjoyed the lessons?

2. Does the attitude make a difference in how the students respond to you?

3. How could I have made my lessons work better for me?

1. I feel like the classes I though enjoyed my lessons. I had three different classes a kindergarten, fourth grade, and fifth grade. The classes I got the most response to was kindergarten and fourth grade, but fifth grade seemed to enjoy their lesson as much as the other two. I do wish I would have had the chance to talk to the students and to get their feedback on the lesson like I did with the fourth graders. I asked them before their teacher for there to get them what they thought and if I should have done something different. Other than some of the boys wanting me to read them a book that wasn't school or age appropriate (Steven King) they all seemed to enjoy the lesson and the activity. 

2. I belive your attitude toward the students makes a huge difference in how they respond to you. If you treat your students with respect then they are going to respect you in return. I didn't have any discipline problems and all the students stayed on task and completed their activity. 

3. The one thing I wish I would have done differently was to in addition to talking to the teacher about the lesson was to talk to the students before hand. Knowing that they were in a library program where they did not have these type of lessons on a regular basis and I think they would have been better prepared. Another thing I wish I would have done especially with the older students was to give them a survey to see what they liked and what they didn't.

Overall I think my teaching day went great. I was so excited about getting to teach that I'm sure that came across to the students. I think that even though we did things differently than they were used to that the students did a great job. They were respectful and they followed directions well. So even though we did something out of the ordinary they went with the flow. 

March 2, 2016

1. Why is nonfiction closed?

2. Is the time slots with an "x" extra planning time for you?

3. During bookfair do students get to come in at times other than their scheduled library time?

1. Non fiction is closed due to reorganizing the non fiction section. We are putting the books back in order and putting new books out for the students. 

2. Any time slot on the schedule with an "x" is a time when there is not a class scheduled. This is time I use to get things done that I normally would not be able to finish because I do not have the time. Usually its a time when I check on overdue books if we have been out or I meet with those I can't meet with at other times of the day.

3. The first day of bookfair students do not get to come in unless they are scheduled with a class. After the first day then I have open bookfair in the afternoons and students are able to come. This is usually during their recess. They can also come out of class as long as they have their teachers permission. They are not allowed to come from another related arts class to the library for bookfair. 

Overall this day went as well as the other two. The one thing I found out about my supervising librarian is that she doesn't like to give up control and she doesn't really want my help. I have spent most of my time observing how she does things and sometimes running errands for her. I also noticed she has a lot of extra planning times even though she says she doesn't ever get planning. 

February 29, 2016

1. Why do you not use the computer system?

2. Do you ever offer open checkout?

3. What are book policies and do you use a special checkout system/method for certain grade levels?

1. "I don't use the computer system because it's not up to date. The reason it is not up to date is because I can't update it myself. The technology department has to come and update the information on the computer. If they would then I would consider using it." (Mrs. Ayers)

             I personally don't think that Mrs. Ayers would use the computer system even if it was up to date. She doesn't use technology, she even went as far as to tell me she only really uses it to check her email. With that information and the fact that she is going into her 43rd year I just don't think she is going to change her ways.  

2. Mrs. Ayers doesn't offer open checkout. The reason is because she says the students have an assigned spot to come in every week and its to much to allow them to come in whenever they want. 

3. Mrs. Ayers does have a special checkout for all grade levels but its slightly different for kindergarten. The method she uses for all grade levels is after the students come in and are sitting at their tables she then calls their names to line up where she is sitting. Once all the names are called she starts putting the cards back in the books the students have. If a student forgets their book she makes them go sit back down at their seat after she fusses at the students that forgot their book. After they have the card back in their book she has them stand at the shelf where it belongs until she gets over there to shelve the book for them. Then they are allowed to go check out another book. With kindergarten, they turn their book in one week and check out the next. On their checkout weeks they are only allowed to be from the shelf where she puts the student. 

Overall, my second day in the library went well and I learned a lot about her policies and procedures. I was kind of thrown with how she did check out especially in kindergarten, but I understand that it is what she has found to work in her library. I was very disappointed by the lack of technology and the fact that she has it and is choosing not to use it. She has a smart board but it isn't hooked up and it doesn't have a projector. That would be the first thing I did if she choose to retire and I got her position. One thing I learned from her procedures is a better idea of what I really want to do in my library. 

January 14, 2016

1. How do you run your day to day operations in your library?

2. What would most like to change in the library that you can't?

3. Computers and their use in the library?

1. The library schedule varies day to day. Most days the librarian sees anywhere from 6-8 classes a day. On Thursdays she only sees 3 classes, but has 5 on the schedule. The other two classes on the schedule are preschool and they do not use their time slot. The basic overview of each group is the same. The librarian starts with books and then teaches a short lesson and then lines the students up. One thing I noticed with the kindergarten class is that she lines them up 4-5 minutes early while the two older classes lines up only a minute or two early. 

2. Since the schedule was so lite the day I visited we discussed what she liked and disliked about her library and what she would change if she could. One of her biggest complaints was the lack of storage and office space in her library. When the school was built almost 6 years ago it was not built with space for the extra people who would be using the school and because of that they have taken over the rooms in the library. For example the room labeled AV/Storage is used by one of the speech therapists. The book room is used for books for were for reading recovery and the other storage room is used for someone's office. The office area and book repair area are used for storage and for this reason Mrs. Ayers has no where to work and no storage for the library. 

3. One of the questions I discussed with Mrs. Ayers had to do with the computers in the library and how they are used. She informed me that only a couple of the computers in the library work and that the students don't use them. This makes it difficult for students to use the library for research and projects. The reason she doesn't have the computers is because they are not up to date and personally I feel like she doesn't care for the technology because while she has the card catalog on the computer and the software to use destiny she doesn't take advantage of them. 

Overall I feel that my first day was productive and especially since I was learning a new library. I was lucky enough to know the library going in and to know a lot of the staff but its still an interesting process when you starting a new placement. By starting on a day when there was not many classes I got a little more time to truly find out how she runs her library and to see different grade levels without being overwhelmed with an entire day of kids. She uses the afternoon time on Thursdays when she doesn't have classes to get work done that she would not normally have a chance to complete like book repairs and straightening shelves. Overall the experience was positive. A couple of negatives I encountered was that she doesn't teach lessons like I'm used to seeing them taught. She has the students always at tables and while the lessons she taught were good, they could have been better. For example the fourth and fifth grade students watched a video on the almanac that had to be at least 10-15 years old. I believe it would have been better to have almanacs on hand and to show them to the students and to have them use them to find information. They would have learned more and gotten more out of the assignment. I believe that I am going to enjoy the experience and I can't wait until I get to teach my lessons.