This article is written by a very proud teacher librarian who is told by her students that the best part of school is the school library. Throughout this artcile we hear a lot about Killeen's goals. It got me thinking as I am about to start a new position as teacher librarian, what my own goals for the library are.
She says, "first, let me share why I think the kids like coming to our library-notice I said our library and not my library. I think that is step one!" Killeen brings up a good point; that although it may feel like your library, it does in fact belong to the whole school community. She seems to highlight this as the main reason for why students love the library so much. By trying to involve the students in making the library a place of their own, she has instilled a sense of ownership and pride.
Killeen believes in doing "whatever it takes to get those kids to read and learn". She hopes that much of what she teaches them becomes part of their self -talk. Some of the words of wisdom she mentions are "Research is hard work." "Learning is what we do every day." "The best thing in the world is to learn something new." "I have really high expectations from you because I know you can do it." and "Reading can take you anywhere and teach you anything."
An important point in this article is where Keileen ponders what the students need most? The answer she comes up with is, "a way to learn, a place to collaborate, an attitude of acceptance and help, a chance to risk and fail, and a safe environment to create will do more for their futures than anything else." I was pleasantly surprised to read this response, as it seems almost exactly what I have written down as my teaching philosophy. I realize that it is not about the end goal of being the best and brightest student on Earth, but instead it is about the journey of getting there, and what life skills you learn along the way.
Move Over Gym Class! By: Killeen, Erlene, Teacher Librarian, 14811782, Dec2010, Vol. 38, Issue 2
No comments:
Post a Comment