Besides the incredible classes that I took and the new insights gained, sabbatical has been a great time to reflect on my job as a library media specialist in a big, busy high school. There are the obvious pros and cons to the job in general, and when one is immersed in the day-to-day routine it is sometimes difficult to lift your head above the wave of requests, schedules, events, etc. to see what is truly happening around you. One of the things that has appeared more clearly is that one librarian as hard working and good-intentioned as she may be, is often unable to meet the demands of all of the groups and individuals requesting her attention at the same time. Our PSLA group has carefully set staffing guidelines to ensure that libraries run efficiently but unfortunately staffing falls too short in many schools as it does in mine. But we all soldier on through our devotion to our students and staff and the passion we have to make our digital natives more aware of good information sources and what to do with them once they find them. As I plan for the school year beginning in September I know I will want to make some thoughtful and serious changes in the way the program is delivered. My most important goal is to educate my students in finding and interpreting the best information they can find from the best sources I provide for them and the skills to find information on their own as they grow from high school to college to career. Also important is to learn to be aware of the world around them and the effects that their personal information has on others. To do this I must work closely with my wonderful staff to incorporate digital literacy throughout the entire curriculum so that at the end of the day I know that I did the best that I could to prepare my students for their constantly evolving future. There isn't a minute to waste!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Starting to reflect...
Besides the incredible classes that I took and the new insights gained, sabbatical has been a great time to reflect on my job as a library media specialist in a big, busy high school. There are the obvious pros and cons to the job in general, and when one is immersed in the day-to-day routine it is sometimes difficult to lift your head above the wave of requests, schedules, events, etc. to see what is truly happening around you. One of the things that has appeared more clearly is that one librarian as hard working and good-intentioned as she may be, is often unable to meet the demands of all of the groups and individuals requesting her attention at the same time. Our PSLA group has carefully set staffing guidelines to ensure that libraries run efficiently but unfortunately staffing falls too short in many schools as it does in mine. But we all soldier on through our devotion to our students and staff and the passion we have to make our digital natives more aware of good information sources and what to do with them once they find them. As I plan for the school year beginning in September I know I will want to make some thoughtful and serious changes in the way the program is delivered. My most important goal is to educate my students in finding and interpreting the best information they can find from the best sources I provide for them and the skills to find information on their own as they grow from high school to college to career. Also important is to learn to be aware of the world around them and the effects that their personal information has on others. To do this I must work closely with my wonderful staff to incorporate digital literacy throughout the entire curriculum so that at the end of the day I know that I did the best that I could to prepare my students for their constantly evolving future. There isn't a minute to waste!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment