I want to thank everyone for their prompt responses. After reading all of
these responses and hearing about other schedules, I can fully understand the
significance of this situation. The only reason for this is a planning time
for teachers so I am going to schedule some time to discuss the issue with the
resource teacher. All of your responses and library experience really
clarified this issue. I have included some highlights from my responses. If you
are
new to libraries, please read.
Mary Yerby
LMS
Dumbarton Elementary School
chq4@cs.com
This my second year as a librarian in an elementary school with about 850
preK-4th grade students. I have a semi-fixed schedule. I see every class once
every two weeks (it is impossible every week) for 30 minutes and then I build
in times that are FLEX times. Teachers may sign up for a FLEX time and I will
help students with research, read a story relevant to their classroom studies,
assist with other activities or assignments that require media center
resources, etc. This has worked very well at my school. The teachers seem to be
pleased that they have a fixed time for the media center, but also have
flexibility for other times. Just an addl. note...our open circulation times are
from
8:00-9:00, 12:00-1:00 and 2:00-3:00. I hope this helps. Let me know how
things turn out for you. Thanks and God Bless You!
Julie Gurganus
Media Coordinator
Pines Elementary School
Plymouth, NC
I don't have time right now to answer this as fully as I should. This is NOT
a good idea. I am on a fixed schedule with 6 classes a day, plus an open
library all day long. There is no time to do any administrative jobs. You end
up doing crowd control and babysitting, You get maybe 20-25 minutes a week with
each class and while we pack a lot into those minutes, I can't schedule any
kind of integrated curriculum activities with any class because my time is so
fixed. I will think of more reasons to NOT do this today, and get back to you
tonight.
Ruie
Ruie Chehak, Library Media Specialist
Sallie Jones Elementary School
Hi! I am very close to you---I am an elementary librarian in Goochland
County. This is also my first year. Previously, I taught high school in Henrico.
I have a fixed schedule for k-5, but would much prefer your fixed/flex
schedule. I often do not have time to teach the lessons I want to teach to the
older students in the 30 minutes I am allotted for classes. The older students
rarely have the opportunity to check out books during their "library time" which
means they have to come in the morning or after school to get a book since I
do not have an assistant and am pretty packed with classes throughout the day.
I am also in charge of technology in my school, so I am busy with that. I am
working hard on proposing a schedule for next year where the 3-5th grades are
completely on a flex schedule. I feel I will be of much more assistance to
them and will be able to help them cover SOL objectives more effectively if I
am able to schedule a time where they can come in and work for longer than 30
minutes. I don't like the fact that library is looked upon as a planning
period for teachers (although I know time is precious when you are a teacher). I
hope to convince my principal and staff that I have a lot to offer if given
the opportunity to change my schedule.
Deb Cross
LMS
Randolph Elementary School
I'd try and head this off at the passs real quick!!!
Why does the resource teacher want you to have a fixed
schedule? Do you have clerical assistance.? Fixed
schedules mean kids come to the library once a week -
or whatever the rotation - whether they need to or
not. Disclipline often becomes an issue because the
kids don't see the need to be there. It is difficult
to collaborate with teachers, and unless you have
additional staff, the library a becomes just another
classroom, not a true library.
Doug Johnson, a fellow
LM_NETter was one of the presenters. He made a good point. If left up
to the teachers, some students may not get to come to the library.
"You can't teach students you don't see." On the other hand, the
flexible schedule allows teachers to utilize the media center during
"teachable moments."
AASL offers many helpful resources for you to use in your argument to
maintain your current flexible schedule and extend it to grades K-2.
You'll find the AASL Position Statement on Flexible Scheduling,
bibliographies, as well as links to many articles here:
http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/resourceguides/flexiblescheduling.
htm
I would suggest a fixed checkout schedule to ensure that all classes and all
students come regularly. 15 minutes is plenty for this. No elementary
librarian is going to tell you a longer time is good for fixed.
After years in this field, I have to say that I am less convinced that
"flexible scheduling" is the way to go for the lower grades. For upper
grades, yes, so that you can see them more when they have research projects,
etc. However, I believe that for my little guys, regular library visits
that expose them to great books are more important (even though I know this
flies in the face of current "best practice.")
The Pro's:
You see every student regularly so you can track skills as you teach them
The Cons':
You never have time to plan with teachers unles it's after school
You must have an aide with you for check out, shelving, etc (the teachers
will not stay)
There's never enough time for "research". You'll have a class when another
teacher would like to bring her students.
The skills you teach will be in isolation until you get enough time under
your belt at the school and you know what they teach and when.
You'll be creating lessons with no input from the classroom teachers.
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