Journal+Entries

~9/16/09~ I think I am done with week one and all that is due. At this point I am wondering how I will ever be able to do everything I read in our readings that Media Specialists are supposed to do. I am however grateful that there are lots of resources mentioned and I've put post-it notes all over to remind me where they are.

Thinking ahead to Assignment One and I am interested in doing a motivational bulletin board with the Twilight Series.

~9/23/09~ What a crazy week...lots of personal things going on that have caused me to be a little behind but will try to get everything done as planned.

Class last week was great. Loved that you made us do the personality tests. I thought for sure that all the students were going to be Guardians like myself thinking since we all aspire to be Librarians we must have simialar personalities. Was pleasantly surprised that this wasn't the case. What a fun exercise and an interesting look at ourselves as we continue our journey of becoming Librarians.

I really had fun with Assignment One making my bulletin board. Since I am a fan of the Twilight Series it wasn't hard to enjoy this project. I had a slight concern if motivating students to read the Twilight books was a good idea considering that the books were banned from some schools. If my research was correct though they were banned from elementary schools not high schools which is where I was gearing it for. I like the bulletin board and think high school students would too.

~9/30/09~ Spent most of my time this week going through articles online and reading. Finding the use of Bloglines that I set up last semester very helpful for the article searching this semester.

I am surprised to find that I am enjoying the text readings. I feel that they are practicle books. Both seem to be geared to what a librarians day to day experiences are going to be like. One of my biggest fears becoming a librarian is that I will have no clue what to do once I get there. Mostly that fear is because I have never worked in a library before. I am hoping that fear will lessen after I start working part-time in a local library. Only time will tell.

~10/7/09~ What do we need to be able to do to ensure the development of an exemplary library media program?

In Kearney she talks about creating opportunities to advocate for the media center. She tells a story about Bill Gates and how this Librarian years later realized how she had influenced this very famous person. It really drove home how Librarians can be so involved without even realizing it. Heart warming :) Ways to knowingly and actively create opportunties are to build relationships with parents, staff, administration, students, your buddy in the school you work at and the community. Form a community of supporters and they will be your cheering section.

~10/15/09~ I waited until after the online discussion to post my journal entry this week. I thought it would be fun to share my experience about the online class. It was great! I have taken part in a few online classes to date and this was my favorite, What I liked the most was that topics were given that we needed to provide feedback on. It made you think and kept you from going off on tangents that may or may not be library related. In the past some of my online classes felt like a complete waste of time and this did not. In fact, it's scary to me because I feel like I am not ready for the challenges of my first year as a Librarian especially in a school since I am coming from a corporate world. I deal with adults all day,mostly up tight and curse words here and there are completely acceptable. I'm hoping the school environment is going to be a breath of fresh air as oppposed to the some times stuffy corporate world.

~10/20/09~ I'm concerned about keeping my views in check once I become a School Librarian. I just did assignment three and wrote a letter to a parent regarding banning a book from the library. When composing a letter or email I can keep more level headed and think through exactly what I am going to say. If this parent addressed me in person though I am not sure I would have been able to stay as rational as I did in the letter. I know that is only human nature to feel strongly about something you are passionate about but it doesn't make it any easier. Working in a school though you have to worry about the students, parents, administration, co-workers and I'm sure the list goes on. Librarians should try as hard as they can to stay Switzerland as someone so eloquently stated in class at some point this semester.

~10/28/09~ I'm pretty relaxed when it comes to children doing things online. I strongly believe if you teach your children good values and ethics they will survive the world wide web. Perhaps I am more of the laissez-faire that the NY Times article I just posted for our assignment 4 articles is talking about. I also don't want to be naive to what can happen and does happen to innocent children. Knowing that in the near future I will be working in a school I wonder if I shouldn't reel in my non-chalant attitude and aire on the side of caution more now especially since these children I will be around are not my own. Yes, that seems like what I will have to do. Something that is no big deal to me may be a huge deal to a parent.

~11/5/09~ Today I had a wonderful day with a Librarian named Aileen Basuljevic at the Van Wyck Middle School. She is a former Palmer student and knows many of the professors and classes that I am involved in. She is high energy and makes what she does look fun. I am happy to have spent the day there and happy that I "had" to do it for school. As much as the class room core classes are essential to becoming a Librarian I truly feel the hands on experience is going to be what helps us bridge the gap between being a student and becoming a Librarian.

~11/14/09~ Oopps...a little late on my entry for the week. I wanted to write after our online discussion but was so wiped out by the hour I completely forgot.

The three questions this time seemed more intense. Almost like they had a sense of urgency. I could be picking up on that from the email about a casual, unclass related gathering this coming thursday. Is there a sense of Librarians being a thing of the past? Obviously for myself and my fellow students I hope not. Our goal is to be the best Library Media Specialists we can be and that will be difficult if we have barriers ahead of us. This all coming together with the class discussion question about whether Librarians are relevant or not. Crazy to think about having to justify this but it appears we have to.

~11/20/09~ Had a wonderful optional class last night with Professor Chapman and a select few students. The class was about the future of Media Specialists and more importantly how to make sure we become Media Specialists. We talked about CST and how important it is to ace this test. I will without a doubt be attending Bea's workshop regarding CST in January. As I mentioned in class it's all a little scary and overwhelming thinking about everything we as students need to accomplish to become Media Specialists. With the encouragement of Professor Chapman I feel confident I can do it.

~11/24/09~ Doing my journal entry early this week because of the holiday and also because I just spoke to what sounds like an amazing Librarian. Her name is Liz Krieger. She is the Elementary Librarian for all three Elementary Schools in the Carmel Central School District and she is also covering the Middle School until they hire someone new. I am scheduled to spend the day with her on 12/1 and it appears after speaking we are both looking forward to it. I am interested in seeing how she juggles everything and she is interested in hearing what's new in Library Sciences on the school front. Should be a wonderful day...hopefully great information for my next entry.

~12/1/09~ I met with Liz Krieger and I was right...she is an amazing Librarian but unfortunately she is stretched so thin. She is responsible for three Elementary Schools and covering the Middle School. She teaches in the Elementary Schools spending one week a month at each school. Although she spends a week at the Middle School, she does not teach because a week isn't enough time to see all the classes. So in the week she is there she is able to work on the collection and other day to day tasks. Hopefully the school district will hire someone soon because it is just such a shame to see someone who could really be helping these students be asked to do so much making her almost ineffective. One person can only do so much. Budget and politics strike again.