Teaching

As a librarian working with children I know I am a teacher first. My mission, paraphrased from the mission of the American Association of School Librarians published in Information Power, is to ensure that my young patrons are effective users of ideas and information (1988, p.1) and I intend to do this in collaboration with the numerous other adults children have as teachers in their lives.

In my past experience teaching children I felt confident in my important role as an educator, however now that I am more formally trained I know my future instruction will be more beneficial to the children I work with. When I began working with children I had never taught before and had no formal training which would prepare me to teach. I helped to raise my brothers who were 10 and 12 years younger than I, worked as a babysitter, nanny, camp counselor and volunteer tutor, and I had a genuine love of children and a goal of life-long learning. This was enough to excel at my paraprofessional positions as a skills teacher and then a library assistant in an elementary school. However I know the training I received in many of my iSchool classes (560, 561, 565, 566, 585) will prove invaluable when planning lessons and taking advantage of “teachable moments” in my future professional career.

The most helpful class in furthering my knowledge on how to create lessons and be an effective teacher was LIS 560, Instructional and Training Strategies for Information Professionals. In this class I learned several teaching methods suitable for information settings such as Keller's ARCS model and Eisenberg and Berkowitz's Big6 model. The class culminated with a presentation of a lesson I planned using several of these models as guides.

Another class which helped prepare me to teach was LIS 561, Storytelling. I learned techniques which helped me to plan and present themed story lessons. I gained experience storytelling with my peers and then presented stories at two different elementary schools. I performed for 4 different audiences of varying ages, one of which was a classroom of children with special needs, so I adapted my lesson to fit each groups developmental needs.

As part of my directed fieldwork experience at the Eton School, I planned and implemented a lesson for the first, second, and third grade classes on searching the library collection using an online catalog. I first reviewed previous library lesson plans and observed how learning typically happens in the school so I could get to know the population I was serving. Then I began to work on my own lesson using the skills I gained in LIS 560. This work is still in progress, and I will post the lesson plan within the next couple weeks.

My previous directed fieldwork at the Capitol Hill Library also provided me opportunities to teach. When planning family storytimes throughout the summer I was challenged by the wide range of ages represented in the audience. Since it was summer vacation, older siblings often accompanied the toddlers and preschoolers. I had my work cut out for me in keeping the attention of 8-year-olds and 2-year-olds at the same time. I wanted all the children to be involved, so I chose themes which were relevant at all ages, adapted craft projects, and had older children volunteer to help lead the smaller children. This worked out very well, and parents complemented my lessons. The children weren’t my only audience. I enjoyed teaching parents and caregivers about favorite authors, new and underused library materials, and how to share books and activities with children to foster early literacy.

The teaching experience I gained at the iSchool will prove invaluable to me in my future as a children’s librarian. With the knowledge gained I feel confident presenting storytimes, library classes, and professional workshops. I continue to take advantage of opportunities to teach in new settings and look forward to presenting a program entitled "Booktalking the Best" at the Washington Library Association (WLA) conference this spring.