Reflecting on the first trimester...
The curriculum plan is, as I suspected, overly optimistic but it did at least give me a direction to go in. The first trimester was primarily given over to rules, procedures, bibliographies and the Dewey Decimal system. The third and fourth graders had dictionary days tossed in as well. On the whole, things are going much more smoothly and I'm confident that the kids ability to use the library has increased. It's so interesting to see how difficult it is for them to make connections with knowledge, though. A great example of brain development. Many of them are able to understand that the library is organized and that it uses a particular system to do it. They know it's called Dewey Decimal and they even know something about the history of it and what books are located in particular sections (sports in 796, for instance). But when they find a sports book in the online catalog that says it's in 796, they don't get that it's the same thing. Fascinating.
I haven't done as much on the literature side as I had hoped to. Somehow, in the times that I introduce a book, there just doesn't seem to be time to do much other than read it to them and have a VERY brief discussion about how they connect to it. Forty minutes once a week just isn't much time to build knowledge, have them absorb it and then use it in some way. I think I need to accept that the things I'm able to accomplish with them will need to be either introduction to ideas or reinforcement of what they learn in the classroom. On the other hand, most of the second trimester will be focused on literature so it will just be in a little different order.
Getting time to collaborate with teachers to tie lessons together is tough.... particularly since I'm not on campus Thursday. I am giving them feedback sheets with the lesson of the day recapped and many have thanked me for them... both for the information about the lesson and also for behavior feedback that they're able to use along with their own systems.
I think it might be a good idea to put together a "test" to see how much they've actually learned. This would give me an opportunity to emphasize the things I think they really need to know and also lend importance to their time in the library. It's difficult to hold them accountable since what we do isn't graded or otherwise accounted for. Something to think about.
Another thing I feel pretty good about is the way I've been able to incorporate some technology into the lessons. Besides the "whiz bang" part of it for attention grabbing, I think it also accustoms them to thinking in terms of technology. I'd like to continue working this way and figure out a way to get them into the computer lab to have them do some hands on work.
The next trimester will be focused on the CYRM books and some testing subjects. I'll be working on continuing to use technology in lessons and keeping students actively engaged. 4th and 5th will focus on picture books for older readers while 3rd and lower will do picture books. Teresa will handle the younger kids. This needs to be mapped out to make sure we can complete the study in time to do a vote and get the school vote in by April 1. This makes it coincide nicely with Track B.
I still need to put together a more structured set of lesson plans to go with the curriculum plan but at this stage, I'm still doing trial and error to understand what works and what doesn't with various classes. I was surprised, for instance, when I told the classes this week that we would be using a new procedure. They didn't know what the word meant. I did a quick vocab lesson on it, comparing a checkout to procedure to the procedure they use when they get up in the morning, but if I'd realized they didn't know the word, I would have put together a brief lesson to better explain the concept.
Live and learn.
posted by Bookworm @ 7:16 PM
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