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Hello all!

Just to chime in my two cents about this issue....

I was hired as a SLMS without completing my degree...and I was not coming
from a prior position as a classroom teacher. As a matter of fact, it was my
first real "adult" job ever! When I was hired as a K-5 LMS for two buildings
(my situation has thankfully since changed) I was done with my degree except
for the "student teaching" or practicum experience...My mentor was at the
high school, I had no mentor "in-building" and I was walking into a
situation where previously, there had only been TAs, and not an actual LMS,
so no existing curriculum to fall back on. Talk about jumping in headfirst!

While my first year was completely terrifying...(we're talking
hyperventilating into a paper bag as my first class of my first day walked
in--Kindergarten no less!) I wouldn't trade the experience for the world. I
was exhausted, and overwhelmed, and didn't know how to handle a LOT that was
thrown my way...but I *did* learn (and quickly!) that every student is
different, that it's OK to make mistakes as long as you do the best you can
to fix them, and that even the teachers who had been there forever still had
days where they questioned if they did something the right way. I also
learned one of the best skills (I think) a teacher can have--to think on my
toes and to roll with the punches...and to be flexible!

Generally speaking, I that I think it's different for every type of
person--some people, like myself, have no problem flinging themselves
headlong into the unknown, while others benefit from the step-by-step
approach...that's not to say that either approach is "better" than the
other. The things I learned my first year on the job were invaluable,
amazing, and nothing like the classroom lectures or even the school library
visits and observations, and I think in the end, it made me REALLY
appreciate my second year as a SLMSs! :)

Do I think I'm a *better* librarian for having not finished my degree? No,
but I survived, and I think, from the feedback I get from teachers, that I'm
even doing well. Did I learn a TON about the realities of being a SLMS at a
breakneck pace? Yep, and I liked it that way. Do I *love* the fact that I
was being paid to work before my degree was finished instead of facing the
daunting idea of a semester-long practicum where working another job would
have been a nightmare and I had to support myself financially? Absolutely.
Would I do it again? Without a doubt.

Hope that helps!
*
Nicole Waskie*
K-3 Library Media Specialist
Chenango Forks CSD
1 Patch Road
Binghamton, NY 13901
607-648-7853
waskien@cforks.org <acuseo@bkhs.org>
http://www.cforks.org/k3Library





Date:    Thu, 7 May 2009 14:14:11 -0400
> From:    "Dr. Allan O'Grady Cuseo" <acuseo@BKHS.ORG>
> Subject: Re: TAR: Librarians hired before degree complete?
>
> Let me be the heretic here -- and I speak as a former Instructor at 2
> Gradua=
> te Library Schools. I have a BLS, a MLS=C2=A0 and a PhD - all in library -
> a=
> nd most of what I know I learned on the job.
>
> True - I learned from the best librarians - both on the job and at
> SUNY/Gene=
> seo and Columbia University School of Library Service. But, it was my
> practi=
> cum experience (in those days we went out for a full semester) where I
> learn=
> ed the most. Library schools are great to learn the philosophy of service,
> t=
> he history of the profession, etc. BUT, it was the practicum experience and
> =
> my first years (1963-1965 probably) where i learned the practical stuff -
> ho=
> w to run a reference desk, how to run a circulation desk, how to interact
> wi=
> th the problem patron, and how to adapt a lesson to meet all the needs of
> th=
> e students.
>
> I was just discussing this matter with one of our counselors today and also
> =
> with our social worker - how does the teacher learn how to work with the
> bip=
> olar student, the student who refuses to work in groups as he/she has no
> soc=
> ial skills, the student who is drunk or stoned, the student who has
> experien=
> ced abuse, etc.
>
> There is nothing like on-the-job training - but it should be with a
> dedicate=
> d, passionate, and service-oriented librarian (who is also a fantastic
> teach=
> er).
>
> I am not sure I would have made it if I had been thrown into a position
> wher=
> e I was the only librarian -=C2=A0 and I had the BLS. and was working on my
> =
> MLS. That is not to say it can't happen but I  am glad it didn't happen to
> m=
> e.
>
> Allan
>
>
> Dr. Allan O'Grady Cuseo, MGC
> Director of Library Services
> Bishop Kearney High School | A Golisano Education Partner
> 125 Kings Highway South
> Rochester, New York 14617
> 585.342.4000 x231
> 585.342.4694 (fax)
> acuseo@bkhs.org
>
> www.bkhs.org
> College Prep. Plus.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "ELLINGSON, ALISSA 1" [aellingson1@KLEINISD.NET]
> Date: 05/07/2009 10:32 AM
> To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Re: [LM_NET] TAR: Librarians hired before degree complete?
>
> Hello All:
>  =
>
>  I am wondering how many of you were hired as librarians before you had
>  finished your MLS degree.  I just interviewed and this seemed to be one
>  of her worries.  Any thoughts or suggestions as to how to help her with
>  her decision?  How many of you started off this way?  What challenges
>  did you face?  How did you overcome them? =
>
>  =
>
>  Happy Thursday!
>  =
>
>  Miss Alissa Ellingson
>  =
>
>  Krimmel Intermediate =
>
>  6th Grade ELA
>  Klein, TX
>  aellingson1@kleinisd.net
>  =
>
>  "Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most
>  accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers."
>  >  =
>
>  > Charles W. Eliot
>  > =
>
>  > =
>
>  > =
>
>  =
>
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