June 4-11, '10 -- 5 hrs

Over the course of our final week at school, I offered my help to Diane in our library however and whenever I could for my remaining five hours. I assisted students using computers in the LMC; I helped Diane scan books for end of the year inventory (whenever Alex wasn't down :(... frustrating!); I helped track down overdue/missing books from students; I assisted with parents who came in to pay student fines.

I had to opportunity to meet with my principal to discuss a possible duty assignment in the library for me next year. He seemed open to this idea and told me he would consider this placement for me. Should I ever have the opportunity to become a teacher librarian in a WAWM school, this would be an excellent opportunity for me have regular contact with the daily happenings in the LMC at Hale.

MAY/JUNE 2010 -- 14 ELEMENTARY HOURS; 5 SECONDARY HOURS
RUNNING TOTAL -- 50 SECONDARY + 40 ELEMENTARY = 90 TOTAL HOURS

June 9 '10 -- 6 hrs

From 9:30 - 3:30, I spent the day with Mark Cohen, the LMS at Jefferson Elementary School. I jumped right in helping Mark work with students in the computer lab. They were using EduPlace and Think Math! which are great sites that I will probably introduce to my own children. Mark is the school's webmaster and very tech savvy. I also got to spend time with Mark Scheiber, the LMC from Walker Elementary who spends Wednesday mornings at Jefferson. This collaboration time is helpful, they both report, but the bouncing between schools is a challenge for Mark S.

Throughout my day at Jefferson, I helped with all classes in large group and individual student settings. I also pitched in with the weeding Mark C. was working on while completing inventory for the end of the year. It really was a full day, complete with a fire drill (very different at an elementary school versus my typical high school environment!) and a meeting of the safety cadets, whom Mark advises. We had a busy day that was great for me to experience the normal hustle and bustle of a day at Jefferson.

May 13 '10 -- 1 hr

Diane asked me to help her with a new organizational approach for the use of the laptop carts. They are in pretty sad shape and Diane wanted to change the way they were being signed out for student use to make kids more accountable for the way they used them. I developed several formats of Word table documents to use with each cart so that students have to sign out which exact computer they are using, rather than just signing the entire cart out to a teacher. We tried out a variety of styles until we settled on one Diane thought would work the best for the needed purpose.

May 6 '10 -- 8 hrs

I spent the entire work day with Mrs. Michele Gruenberg, the teacher librarian at Wilson Elementary School. After having spent three consecutive days in an elementary school outside of my district, I was excited to learn more and compare practices from a school in my own district. Michele was a gracious hostess and we spent much time talking as we worked throughout the day. She gave me a tour of the school and told me about reading initiatives at each grade and what she tried to achieve in the library to support these.

When I arrived in the morning, I helped check in the crates of books that came in from each class. I also checked out a group of books that a teacher had pulled for classroom use. I tried to help out with shelving to give Michele some extra time for other tasks she usually has to wait for outside of school for. We worked with five different classes (one class had to be split into two visits, so there were actually six class slots) at all levels. The variety of activity throughout the classes was impressive: state research projects using Kidspiration, nonfiction reading skills, younger student read alouds, and book checkout for all grades.

Students were enthusiatic and, for the most part, well behaved. They appeared to really enjoy coming to the library and have a good relationship with Mrs. Gruenberg. In terms of the library space itself, it was a sharp contrast to the environment at Elm Lawn where I visited over spring break. Wilson's library is in its own classroom space at the end of a hallway, whereas Elm Lawn's is really at the heart of the school. Elm Lawn's building is also much newer than Wilson's so it's obvious that a different architechtural approach was considered.

I hope to be able to go back for another day (or at least a part of a day) before the end of the school year.

April 30 '10 -- 1 hour

I spent an hour today coaching a teacher through the use of online resources and multimedia software she hopes to use for an upcoming project. We talked about copyright friendly internet use and the blending of online/print resources for her upcoming poetry project.

APRIL 2010 -- 26 ELEMENTARY HOURS / 3 SECONDARY HOURS
RUNNING TOTAL -- 45 SECONDARY + 26 ELEMENTARY = 71 TOTAL HOURS

April 21 '10 -- 30 minutes

I assisted with student check out while Diane was pulling a cart of books for a teacher. It was nice to allow her the ability to continue with her work without being interuppted and I was happy to have the working knowledge of Alex to help out.

I also updated the library's web page by adding the new acquisitions information for DVD.

April 19 '10 -- 30 min

I assisted with student check out while Diane was working with MAPS testing. It was a spontaneous practicum experience and I was happy to have the working knowledge of Alex to help out.

April 16 '10 -- 1 hour

In my school, I did a pull of literary anthologies for a teacher request. A wide variety was needed: nonfiction essays, poetry, short fiction. I was able to come up with a large group for the class request.

April 9 '10 -- 8 hrs

On my third day at Elm Lawn, I began by shelving yesterday's after school returns. Then, Joan gave me a new assignment. A student teacher in the second grade had requested a collection of poetry about animals. I started with a keyword catalog search and then basically parked myself on the floor in front of the 811s. After I found a sizable group, I checked the books out to her cooperating teacher and delivered them to her classroom during the second graders recess time. I talked with the student teacher about how I selected what I did and was happy to discover I exceeded her expectations.

I had a fun visit to the cafeteria where the first graders were having their Beatrix Potter tea party in conjunction with the unit Joan had been support with her first grade library lesson. It was quite adorable and I found it lovely that Joan was included in the final outcome of the unit she coordinated two weekly library lessons to support. Today's classes included a fourth grade, two third grades, one kindergarten, and one second grade. I helped with check out for all of these classes.

Joan and I talked about her district's allocation of Common School funds, her collaboration with teachers and how she fosters relationships with the teaching staff, and her weeding process. We then actually weeded a small section of fiction for early readers.

Another teacher needed a gathering of books that focused on sounds which I took care of. Since I don't have the expertise and knowledge of Elm Lawn's collection that Joan does, I first did an internet search for possible titles/authors that fit this need and then cross referenced it against the patron catalog. I was able to pull a decent group that hopefully will suit this teacher's needs.


APRIL 2010 -- 26 ELEMENTARY HOURS
RUNNING TOTAL -- 42 SECONDARY + 26 ELEMENTARY = 68 TOTAL HOURS

April 8 '10 -- 8 hrs

During my second day at Elm Lawn Elementary, I felt like a part of the "library team." Classes today included two fifth grades, a third grade, a second grade, and a first grade. I had the opportunity to accompany Joan into another fifth grade class as she delivered a book talk on science fiction novels.

Joan showed me her binder of policies and procedures. (Note from yesterday: she also showed me her lesson plan binder for all grades which was very helpful to see the sequence of skills she presents.) I also worked on relabeling the spines of a few books in a manner that was more patron friendly for her youngest students. I did a small amount of editing of records in Destiny to suit Joan's local procedures.

I helped with a lot of circulation (both with classes and for students/teachers who dropped in on their own) and shelved whenever I could. I am trying to be as useful as I can in the three days I'm here, given how thankful I am to be able to spend three full days in one place!

April 7 '10 -- 10 hrs

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to spend an entire day with Mrs. Joan Anderson, the library media specialist at Elm Lawn Elementary School in the Middleton-Cross Plains School District. Her son, Ben, is a coworker of mine at Hale, and he suggested I contact his mother when I was considering possibilities for my elementary practicum hours.

I arrived before the school day began and Joan gave me a tour of her library and the school itself. The LMC is located in the center of the building in an open concept format. While it is not "walled off" from other areas of the school, it does manage to be its own space. The school serves 475 students in grades K - 5. Joan sees every class once a week as well as special requests for classroom projects.

Today, I observed and assisted with fourth grade, fifth grade, kindergarten, second grade, and first grade library classes. Joan worked on OPAC searching skills with the 4/5 grades, read aloud to the kindergartners, supported a classroom Beatrix Potter unit for the 1st grade, and practiced subject searches with 2nd grade. Each class' library time is 30-40 minutes with the final 10 minutes of each visit reserved for individual book selection and check out.

I helped monitor and assisted as needed with all classes as well as working with Destiny during check out time. Between class visits, Joan showed me MCP's district interlibrary loan practice and we process books for shipping to other school's libraries. I checked in and shelved a pile of books. Joan showed me her system for new book processing and I prepped new paperbacks for circulation. I also helped repair some damaged books.

I was absolutely enthralled with the pace and the energy of the day. I have never spent an entire day in an elementary school before (save for my student years :) and this was an incredibly eye-opening experience. I was very impressed with Joan's ability to shift from one level to another seamlessly. She works with an aide who shares time between the library, recess duty, and kindergarten support.

After school, Joan invited me to the district LMS meeting. We drove to Middleton High School and joined ten other librarian's who discussed many issues: technical issues with Destiny, the 3-yr technology plan, and the severe budget crisis the district is facing as it relates to library services. I was very grateful for the opportunity to eavesdrop on the district interworkings.

My day was exhausting, but so incredibly informative. Since my goal is to work in an elementary library, I learned more from this one long day than I can even describe.

March 25 '10 -- 1 hr

Diane received a new order from Baker & Taylor and, since I'm currently in 572 learning about cataloging, she walked me through her downloading and "tweaking" process for MARC records. It was rewarding to see the theory in practice.

MARCH 2010 -- 1.5 SECONDARY HOURS
RUNNING TOTAL -- 42 SECONDARY HOURS

March 18 '10 -- 30 min

I updated the website I created for the library with the spring AV acquisitions. It was nice to see on the hit counter that the site is being used by a fair number of people.

Feb 24 '10 -- 1 hr

Today will be my last day on "magazine patrol" as I'm nearing the end of my secondary practicum hours. I am leaving a few hours available to work with Diane on some tasks that I haven't been exposed to yet. I really appreciate having the opportunity to have one job turned over to me for a semester (and then some) as it gave me regular exposure to not just my intake/processing job for periodicals, but kept me in the library (both at the circulation desk and in the office) several times a week.

February 2010 total -- 5.5 secondary hours
RUNNING TOTAL -- 40.5 SECONDARY HOURS

Feb 17 '10 -- 1 hr

I took care of the weekly magazine intake (about 10 titles today) and, while processing, had a very enlightening conversation with Diane about the management of technology peripherals among staff members. She recently needed to barcode each of the 11 LCD projectors our library maintains because people were disappearing with them without properly signing them. Then, teachers who needed one and did follow procedure had been stuck without one. Further, we discussed maintenance contracts with vendors.

Feb 9 '10 - 1.5 hr

I processed a pile of magazines and worked on the library's website. I'm proud that the site I created is being used by classes with Diane's encouragement. Today, I took care of some requests that she had regarding the addition of a few links. I created duplicates of several resource links so that they were easily accessible for both students and teachers.

Feb 5 '10 -- 2 hrs

In separate blocks of time, I took care of my magazine responsibilities and updated/organized Joyce's "flip folder" for periodical intake. I pulled the entire folder apart, weeded cards for titles the library no longer receives, and reorganized those that are current titles. It needed to be done and Joyce was grateful for my initiative. It was another on those satisfying jobs that the results were obvious.

Jan 26 '10 - 1 hr

The new semester has started so my regular time in the library will be limited. I am proud that I got many hours in first semester and I feel like just being in the LMC as much as I was (while my student teacher had my classes) made many of things we discuss in class come to life.

Today, I processed about 10 magazines and had a discussion with Diane regarding vendor relationships as she had to field an unsolicited sales call about preview boxes. She took that "teachable moment" to give me some advice about how to deal with these situation and, in particular, go over what district policy is.

January 2010 total -- 10 secondary hours
RUNNING TOTAL -- 35 SECONDARY HOURS

Jan 21 '10 - 1 hr

During the fourth hour exam block today, I tended to magazines. Especially after working on the year end weeding of periodicals, I feel like I really know this aspect of our collection well. I can only imagine how long it takes to really know the collection of a library as a new LMS. Maybe I'll find out in a year or two...

Jan 15 '10 -- 1 hr

I took care of processing five magazines and ran updated reports. Also, some periodical recorder cards needed to be remade for the new year (I actually used a typewriter! Haven't had my hands on one of those in a very long time.) and updated in the flip file that Joyce keeps.

Jan 14 '10 - 30 min

I processed today's magazines and updated reports. It was great to see how organized the storage area is when I went to file back issues.

Jan 12 '10 -- 3 hrs

Today, Diane introduced me to a big job -- end of the year weeding of the periodical room. We accomplished many things:

• removed all 2005 magazines (except Time & Newsweek) from storage
• pulled any titles that had been discontinued
• weeded Time & Newsweek to those published in Jan 2000 or later (this meant removing 10 years of earlier issues!)
• reorganized the entire storage room
• began removing barcoded items from Alex

I can't even guess how many magazines were pulled from the room... it's fair to guess thousands, especially with the 20 collective years ('89 - '99) of Time and Newsweek. It was a satisfying job, though. Much of what I do as an English teacher is very ambiguous: multiple interpretations, subjective grading, never ending reformulation of lesson plans. I liked a job like this because there was a distinct beginning and end and the effort was visibly noticeable.

Jan 6 '10 -- 1.5 hr

One of my duties today was undoing the mistake I made yesterday. I assigned incorrect barcodes for the 2010 periodicals and needed to go into Alexandria and edit about 17 of them. Oh, well. Whenever I need to nose around in Alex, I begin to learn the program better, so that's the bright side. I also went down to the main office and sort mail for the LMC. I usually only see the magazines, so I was stunned to discover how much "junk" mail comes into the library on just a typical day. Following the sort, I processed four new magazines.

I also did a bit of book check out. I'm starting to get to recognize the "regular" students... the ones who come in every few days to return and check out a pile of new titles. Reminds me of me when I was younger :).

Jan 5 '10 -- 2 hrs

I returned after Christmas break to a pile of magazines that was nearly knee deep. I also faced the challenge of shifting barcodes to reflect the change in the calendar year. Joyce is back from her medical (yeah!) so she was able to help me out. I apparently didn't make too many mistakes while she was gone, so I'm proud of that.

I also spent part of a class period helping Diane working with a student using the library scanner. For once, I didn't feel like a complete rookie! I'm very comfortable with the technology side of the librarian's responsibilities. Hopefully, the rest will earn similar confidence soon.