Classes 1 & 2

Since I had not yet joined the class as of its first meeting, I listened to the audio and enjoyed hearing all the questions everyone had about what they wanted to learn from the class.  Some folks were interested in collaboration with school administration, some wanted to know about how best to work with library volunteers.  I myself am not specializing in School Library Media, but rather Library and Information Science.  I hope to work in teen services in a public library.  My question for this class is how best to collaborate with school librarians.  My hope is that this class will give me a basic understanding of the work of a school librarian, enabling me as a future public librarian to have a greater appreciation for the field, as well as a better idea of how to collaborate with school librarians.

I'm also excited for all our field trips to area school libraries!  This will help me envision the daily life of a school librarian, as well as observe how students make use of the school library.

In our second class, we talked about standards.  A problem we talked about was when we conform to state or national standards, what happens to those students that get left behind?  Measures must be taken to catch them up.  In a class semester, I thought it was curious that we talked about how there are all these enrichment programs now for smart kids, and discovery centers for struggling kids, yet what about those average kids?  We don't do anything special for them.  So the school library can become a place to which all students at various learning stages can go for additional learning.  I also think this can be an area in which school and public libraries can collaborate.  If students feel self-conscious seeing their peers in the library because it makes them feel too smart or dumb, then they can come to the public library to satisfy their curiosity.

As we talked about standards, in general I believe they are nice things to have, but I do not like standardized testing, since students not only learn differently but they also test differently.  I believe that testing is not always an accurate representation of what students have learned.  I wish that standards could be in place without the standardized testing, so that all schools would be striving to give students the same education without adding the pressure of testing on students or working to meet deadlines or gain benefits for their school.  This is how some students do get left behind, and ironically not all students receive the same education.