So... what exactly do I do?
In August of this year, I was hired as the sole K-12 librarian in Eastpointe Community Schools after the position had been eliminated for over a decade. In essence, I get to rebuild the entire library program, which is awesome; but it certainly comes with some challenges.
Let’s start with the basics. Every morning, I teach second grade, kindergarten, and first grade (in that order) as part of the specials rotations at one of the lower elementary schools in the district. On Wednesday afternoons, I teach a single first grade computers class at the other lower elementary school (sounds kind of random, but our district has a late start on Wednesdays and my colleague who primarily teaches K-2 computers would be without a lunch and planning period that day were he tasked with this section). As I add to the blog, I’ll share my lessons and reflections from the year up to this point as well as moving forward.
The fixed teaching schedule is only about 50% of the job (including planning time, about 60%). The rest of my work falls in the afternoons. There are six schools in my district; so in addition to the K-2 building I spend each morning at, I travel to one of the remaining five buildings each day (including the other lower elementary building on Wednesday. And this, my presumed friends, is when then magic happens (or at least I like to think so). This is my time to develop programming, work on collection development, research grants and funding sources (that will be a whole other post), and offer myself as a resource to classroom teachers. And let’s be honest - sometimes my whole afternoon is spent catching up on emails.
I also work closely with my assistant superintendent, director of technology, and curriculum coordinator to ensure that the process is smooth and in the best interest of servicing our school district. We have a lot working against us - a lack of adequate funding, high rates of student poverty/transiency/housing insecurity, and a historically stigmatized and mismanaged community - but we are working hard to turn these circumstances around.
I am thrilled at this opportunity and am proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish so far this year!
Next up: starting the school year and my reflecting on what worked and didn’t. I’m very transparent in what I do and I understand that some things - especially coming from an exclusively secondary background - simply just do not work. And I think that’s OKAY! So long as you recognize and reflect, those mistakes will only make you a better teacher and librarian, right?
Let’s start with the basics. Every morning, I teach second grade, kindergarten, and first grade (in that order) as part of the specials rotations at one of the lower elementary schools in the district. On Wednesday afternoons, I teach a single first grade computers class at the other lower elementary school (sounds kind of random, but our district has a late start on Wednesdays and my colleague who primarily teaches K-2 computers would be without a lunch and planning period that day were he tasked with this section). As I add to the blog, I’ll share my lessons and reflections from the year up to this point as well as moving forward.
The fixed teaching schedule is only about 50% of the job (including planning time, about 60%). The rest of my work falls in the afternoons. There are six schools in my district; so in addition to the K-2 building I spend each morning at, I travel to one of the remaining five buildings each day (including the other lower elementary building on Wednesday. And this, my presumed friends, is when then magic happens (or at least I like to think so). This is my time to develop programming, work on collection development, research grants and funding sources (that will be a whole other post), and offer myself as a resource to classroom teachers. And let’s be honest - sometimes my whole afternoon is spent catching up on emails.
I also work closely with my assistant superintendent, director of technology, and curriculum coordinator to ensure that the process is smooth and in the best interest of servicing our school district. We have a lot working against us - a lack of adequate funding, high rates of student poverty/transiency/housing insecurity, and a historically stigmatized and mismanaged community - but we are working hard to turn these circumstances around.
I am thrilled at this opportunity and am proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish so far this year!
Next up: starting the school year and my reflecting on what worked and didn’t. I’m very transparent in what I do and I understand that some things - especially coming from an exclusively secondary background - simply just do not work. And I think that’s OKAY! So long as you recognize and reflect, those mistakes will only make you a better teacher and librarian, right?
Comments
Post a Comment