So, what does a school librarian teach, anyway?

[mangofandango]

So, Bob asked, and upon her asking I realized that a lot of people don't know what I teach as a school librarian. I don't know that school librarians have always had a major teaching role, but now that's a very strongly emphasized part of our education and our jobs. So I will paste my comment to her here, that you all may read it and know what the heck I'm talking about when I say I'm teaching. Cool? :)

My "teaching" in the very beginning will mostly be introducing things (myself, the library, the new organization I've done) and reading books to the kids. Once I get my feet wet, I'll start on INFORMATION SEEKING SKILLS, like the "neighborhoods" of a library, the difference between fiction and non-fiction, how to research (finding sources in various materials, extracting information from a source, evaluating a source, citing a source, etc.), and other stuff as it supports the classroom teacher's curriculum. That means that if, for example, the 2nd grade is learning about deserts, I could read a book to them that's about deserts or got some desert creature in it or whatever, highlight materials on deserts through displays and other fun stuff, and things like that. Sometimes, I'll also team-teach with a classroom teacher when their class is doing research of some kind and they need librarian support.

So that, in a nutshell, is what I get to teach. In among the reading fun books and stuff like that. :)

And now I am off to finish getting ready and go take on the 6th grade. Whoo hoo!

Comments

[alexabexis.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to hear that this is still going on in libraries somewhere. That's how it was when I was in school. There were certain grades where we went to the library once a week to learn how to use all the resources, or find stuff for projects we were working on. Now I work in a bookstore, and I'm kind of apalled by the way people come to our store either expecting it to be a library, or instead of going to a library. People say they need to do research for things, or need books for their kids' projects, and we don't carry stuff like that for the most part. It's a bookstore, we carry the books that sell, not old reference materials. And sometimes I do just tell people to go to the library, but they seem so reluctant! Another disturbing thing is that teachers will bring their classes in to the store, and it makes me wonder if these kids know anything about libraries.

[okb.livejournal.com]

That is so cool.

[angeldvsu.livejournal.com]

yaaaay I will hopefully have your job in about 2 1/2 years. I'll have my bacehlor's in early childhood education with a master's in library media science.

it will be glorious.