Today I visited Godley Station K-8 School as my elementary site visit requirement. There were lots of activities going on and students were busy checking books in and out all day. Although the school does teach 6th through 8th grades, as does my middle school, the majority of students coming to the media center today were elementary students. It's quite a different experience helping elementary aged students than it is middle schoolers. The most noticeable difference was an incident with a kindergartner who started out whining about something to her teacher and ended up on a full crying jag. The teacher had to make a phone call to someone else in the building (I'm not sure of her title, maybe counselor?) and she had to come take the child out of the media center. Otherwise, students were busy returning their books by removing the date cards and placing the books in the book drop. It was amazing how such young children had learned the routine and so flawlessly followed procedures. My middle schoolers are not always as efficient! :)
Helping elementary students find books they are interested in is somewhat different as well. The youngest students did not search the shelves for books. Rather, the media specialist and clerk laid out picture books face up on several tables and the kindergartners and first graders simply chose books from the selection there. The older students who had more library experience could go to the shelves and generally knew where to find their favorite books.
The LMS is also responsible for teaching lessons to the various grade levels on several topics. This week, the lesson was on fairy tales and the students were in kindergarten. The students come in and sit on foam circles of varying colors that are laid out on the floor. Instead of asking for volunteers or choosing students, the LMS picks a color and asks the students sitting on that color circle to come up and help her. She then uses puppets to teach the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. She starts the lesson by asking the students if they know what a fairy tale is. After explaining the elements of a fairy tale, she tells the story as an example and the student 'volunteers' respond with correct answers or phrases at various points throughout the story. The students LOVE this type of storytelling and are anxious to come to the library to participate!
Because Godley is a new school, only in its second year of operation, I was also able to get lots of tips and pointers for our new school building that will be opening this fall. The LMS and I discussed the LMC purchases in particular, including everything from furniture to supplies to equipment and back again. We also discussed many library procedures that we both use and which would probably work best in my larger library facility.
Overall the day was a great learning experience and whet my appetite to one day try my hand at teaching elementary students....maybe.
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