[LM_NET] Hit: Switch to an elementary librarian

[Suzanne McRae <crlibrary@YAHOO.COM>]

Thank you everyone who shared their advice, opinions, and comments about switching 
to an elementary librarian. A few people asked me to post a hit so here it is...
 
 I just moved up to the high school from a K-8 and I wouldn't go back.  It will all 
depend on your district as to what your job will entail.  You need to talk with the 
elementary librarians in your district to know what all they do.  I know in our 
district they have to be teacher's release time for their planning period so the 
teacher's do not stay in the library with them.  You have 25 minutes to teach them 
a lesson and let them check out.  If you have no aids or other librarians in your 
building then you will be doing it all alone.  Also, ours are responsible for all 
the book ordering, maintaining their building budgets; all shelving/filing of 
books; and any other duties the principal of the building says they have to do.  My 
suggestions is to find out exactly what the job entails.
 
OMG. I wouldn't change for the world. I had to do half days in each library for 
three years. I hated it.
1. I could make 6 ft. senior boys jump, but 3rd grade boys were defiant.
2. Elementary kids are in your space, in your face, on your feet.
3. Elementary kids always have snotty noses.
4. You have to check in and shelve so many more books!
5. I hated scheduled classes. One teacher was always late to pick up her kids, the 
next always early with hers.
6. I had no prep time between classes.
7. Elementary teachers were bad to just help themselves to anything in the library 
when I was absent or during summer school.
8. I had to make up any class I missed, whether for illness or holiday.
 
 
I work in a Pre K-8 since the MLS, but before that I taught HS Social Studies for 5 
years.  
 
 For the Elementary kids you have to do story time, fill in as a sub, act as the 
conference period for teachers, study hall during lunch detention (or those too ill 
for PE) instruct topics that the teachers don't have time for (Social 
Studies),create a schedule that accomodates the teachers so the little ones can 
come in often and of course figure out how to get the books you want on a $2,000 
budget. Its a bit different for the Middle schoolers who only come in when a 
research project is due.
 
 Of course there's also the fun things like the book fair, dressing up for Dr. 
Seuss day, and other activities (like kiss a pig) to promote reading.  It really 
depends on the campus.
 
You'll probably hear from a lot of people wondering if you've lost your mind, as 
the pace of back to back elementary classes and the need to develop lessons can be 
daunting and exhausting. Maybe you will have a flexible schedule, but chances are 
you'll find yourself on a fixed schedule to provide planning time for the teachers. 
I was an elementary librarian before I took this position, and it was the best job 
I've ever had. Yes, it's tiring, but talk about a captive audience. You've never 
experienced storytelling until you've done it with primary students!! My days were 
filled with hugs and smiles and the joy of opening the world of literature to 
students. Because of my fixed schedule, I saw every single student in the building 
and watched them grow from my K's to my 5's and there's just a really special bond 
that comes from that. I was a constant in their elementary lives, and it was so 
rewarding. 
In my current position, I work with all the librarians in our district, and many of 
them spend years hoping for a middle or high opening to escape what they feel is 
the grind of the elementary life. But there are those that have the soul and heart 
of an elementary librarian, and when that happens, it's a match made in heaven. 
Good luck!
 
Read, Read, Read an elementary collection !
 
Be ready to sit on the floor.
 
spent 29 years as a HS LMS and moved and took a job last year as an elem. You need 
to know how to construct lesson plans including essential questions and 
assessments. Most elems. have scheduled classes that you have to teach. The ideal 
would be flex schedule, but without that, try and link what you are doing to the 
curriculum.
 
I was an elementary librarian for three years as well as high school (small school, 
split between two campuses).  If you are blessed with a library aide, your world 
will be much more manageable!  I LOVED loved loved storytime with the little ones 
and doing poetry with the older ones, but they are definitely more huggable and 
loveable....
The pulse and vibe of an elementary campus is different as well when it comes to 
faculty.  I found that high school was much more cliqueish while the elementary was 
more open and interdependent, but that's just my personal experience.
 
 
It's so great!  I focus on:
1. Instilling a love of literature: read-a-louds for the young ones, highlighting 
significant authors and popular books.
2. Being a self directed learner: teaching students how to help themselves through 
the stacks.
3. Digital Citizenship: using tech to enhance their learning and teaching safety 
and netiquette along the way.
4. Making the library a fun, welcoming, nurturing place to be before, during, and 
after school.  Banishing the grumpy librarian stereotype!

Good luck,
 
I was a jr and sr high science teacher before getting my MLS.  It is a totally 
different world.  Here are some of the things that would have made the transition 
easier:
 
1) Read.  Spend a lot of time in the childrens section at the local library and 
book stores.  Find out who the cool authors are, whats hot, whats on the ALA lists 
and the state lists.  Its very hard for me to recommend books that I haven't read, 
so I spend a lot of time reading.
 
2) Make a list of 'read alouds' and what grades they are good for, and ways 
you could use them, and maybe followup activities.  I have an excell sheet that is 
getting pretty long, but its really helpful.  
 
3) Spend some time watching people who deal with groups of K-2.  There is a lot of 
direct instruction that I didn't expect to have to do.  Getting them to sit down 
can be an accomplishment.
 
4) Figure out how much time you have with a class (each week, each month, etc) and 
how it is usually portioned through the district.  For example, I have 30 minute 
classes, but half of that time is checkout.  So, I have a 15 minute lesson each 
week, and usually read a book and discuss it a little bit.  I'm kind of on the 
literature exposure side of things right now.  Chunk your lessons and lesson plans 
into those 15 minutes.  "learning to listen to a story" is an actual academic goal 
for a K student.
 
I switched from secondary/jh to elementary 20 years ago and have not regretted it 
one day.
 
My best piece of advice would be to start lurking in bookstores and in other 
libraries.  Get familiar with the picture books and authors again.  Get familiar 
with all the series the older elem. kids love to read.  Spend time with another 
elem. person and see how her days go.  See how different people do AR.  It will be 
a very different world!
OK--I made the change 5 years ago after spending about 10 years in a professional 
libary setting and then 10 years as a high school one.
      The main thing that I had to do was simply sit in the children's section of 
the library and get caught up on all the "new" books. I had no idea who Henry and 
Mudge were or even the Pigeon books. I had to remind myself about Dr. Seuss and 
Curious George. Part of that was that I have no kids--part of it was that I just 
didn't keep up with what was out there and I was quite pleased in seeing how much 
better children's book are today than they have been in years past.
       The other thing I needed to do is get my mind wrapped around teaching 
"simply" and for that I used books like Judy Freeman's "Books Kids will sit still 
for" and also the Internet. I personally found many of the library lesson books out 
there as not very good and preffered to just use lesson plans that I find on the 
Internet or through LM-NET but you may want to check out a few in the library.
        Observing a very talented children's librarian in my former school also 
helped me immensely when I changed schools and transferred to elementary. I was 
blessed to be able to see how she handled things and she gave me so many great 
ideas on how to maintain control from the beginning with little things like "Yellow 
cards and Red Cards" (ala soccer) for discipline. When the kids misbehaves--he gets 
a yellow card with no words, they know what they have done! 2nd and 3rd time, same 
thing. If they misbehave a 4th time in that 45 minute period, they get a red card 
which means they go to the corner of the room and write me an apology letter which 
then has to be signed by their teacher and parent. Very Effective!
         Good luck! It's a different world, but for me it was the right choice!
 
Read tons of picture books.  Involve the students in story time.  Be animated.  A 
lot of elementary schools use AR, so brush up on that if you aren't already 
familiar.  Check reading lists for Elementary


 
Suzanne McRae 
School Librarian
Soundview Campus, Bronx, NY
crlibrary@yahoo.com 


      

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
  You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
  by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, you send a message 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

 * LM_NET Help & Information: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/
 * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
 * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/join.html
 * LM_NET Supporters: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/category/links/el-announce/
 * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/

--------------------------------------------------------------------