reflecting so far

my role as teacher with library responsibilities has been changing as i learn the ropes of practical, everyday tasks - dealing with different age groups and different classes - working out what they like to do and read in the library - how they would like to develop information skills. This course has been helping me go into the role in more depth - looking at all the elements of my role as future trained librarian ( if i can pass the enormous mountain of work and high expectations of our beloved academics). Speaking to an IT advisor on Oasis today said it all - most librarians don't have time for all this collection evaluation - us csu students are giving them more work in demanding certain reports to help with our evaluation. No wonder librarians value their qualifications when they finally get it - it's blood, sweat and tears to pass! Anyway - am still trying finish 503 assignment - so must go!

neglected blogs

Thought I had better do a blog to keep up with the expectations of my co-ordinators. Have been working very hard on my Collection Development Policy assignment - as trying to make up for the poor result i got for the first assignment. It has been incredibly time consuming - at work and at home. Just collecting some policies from some schools has not been as easy as collecting them from public libraries. Am wondering why schools are so possessive about them - they are supposed to be public policies and it would be wonderful if a central format was to be developed by the department then the schools would just need to individualise them and make them relevant to their school environment. Policy writing can be very tedious and technical - they need not be so difficult to write if schools were more willing to share rather than invent the wheel over and over again. Anyway - i am now trying to get this out of the way so i can go onto the other assignment for TL - am tired and looking forward to a good sleep. Should really be planning for my classes but have not had time. Looking forward to the light at the end of this academic tunnel!!

my reading recovery students

I have been very worried about my reading recovery students as i need to be reading up on strategies to help them move forward and progress but have put it on the backburner due to the demands of this course. So was glad to spend a night reading on this area and meeting my tutor to find out that i'm on the right track and can move them forward. Now i am back to the collection development policy - frantically looking through internet sites and wondering if i should pay a visit to a nearby school tomorrow to look at theirs. Surprised to find some schools very possessive of their policies - they are supposed to be public policies so i can't understand the reticence in allowing others to read them. Some TLs have expressed the painstaking effort they have put into them and suggested that I need to be doing the same thing or have expressed a concern that their policies will be copied. I am in the process of doing a survey with some of my classes to determine their needs and wants in relation to the collection of our library. However, I want to get back to the basic enjoyment of books with my students and i am worried that all this academic stuff is stressing me out and rubbing off onto my students. I love reading with the younger children and i need to work out ways to enjoy reading with the older students - too much emphasise on research, computers, non fiction books to support classroom units of work can be too prescriptive.

assignments looming

Struggling to keep up with the demands of two subjects and my reading recovery course readings. A little overwhelmed by all these learning curves at my age! Arrived at school this morning to form a Collection Development Policy committee - we perused Oasis to seek out information on collection issues - areas of Oasis none of us have been to before - interesting! Now what to do with the information - make a collection map or graph or table? It was suggested that I do a survey to assess the popular reading areas of my users. The idea of having an independent body to analyse a collection seems very appealing at this stage as learning to access the data is one thing - but then analysing it is another. Wondering when I will find more time as my reading recovery tutor is coming on Thursday and this is another area of my learning that requires immediate attention. Then there is the TL subject - and preparing lessons for my library classes! When it feels like overload I switch off as any appliance would do - to stop from burn out!