Previous by Date | Next by Date | Date Index
Previous by Thread | Next by Thread
| Thread Index
| LM_NET
Archive
| |
Dear friends, I just wanted to share a strange experience I had at school this week. Has this ever happened in your library? A new (very new!) 2nd grade teacher was finishing her class's first library visit of the year. That period, we had a very successful treasure hunt. I made different color shelf markers with construction paper - with library sections written on them (purple is non-fiction, blue is fairy tales, pink is picture books, yellow is fiction). Kids in pairs traveled through the library with these shelf markers, re-learning where everything is located. They found a picture book, used the shelf marker to hold their place, and brought it back to me to show me what they found. Very active, enthusiatic bunch. Loud, jumping up and down -- happy to learn. Then they browsed for awhile and lined up to check out their books. Excited, yes. Noisy, of course. I reminded the children to use their quiet library voices and that would lower the level of noise for a while. Then... "BE QUIET!" the new teacher yelled. "You're embarrassing me!" When that didn't work, she told them, "Okay, you are NOT coming back to the library next time!" What? I wondered. What kind of nutty punishment is that? She is not feeling in control and is lashing out with ineffectual remedies. I plan to speak with her quietly on Monday and see if we can work this out. The children have library only every other week, so if they miss next time - that's a month! I would like to help her be able to gracefully retract her threat. Maybe I can suggest visiting the classroom and talking with the kids about library behavior (they really weren't that bad). Thanks for letting me vent. REBECCA REITZ Librarian PS 87 160 West 78th Street New York, NY 10024 212-280-6204 Rebreitz@aol.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html --------------------------------------------------------------------