Final Reflection

This course has been very interesting for me.  I have had to work extremely hard this semester, and I feel that I have definitely learning a lot.  As I read through my blog posts, I was reminded of the same sense of being an outsider that I have at the beginning of every course I take toward this diploma.  I am not currently working in a school library, and so I do not always feel that my opinions and beliefs are as relevant as those who are working in the library and so are actually practicing what we are learning.  Also, some of the material and discussions can feel very abstract to me at times.  When I read through my blog posts, though, I was really pleased with what I wrote.  I may not be working with this material at the moment, but I am drawing from the knowledge I have gained from my other courses as well as rich conversations that I have had with Teacher-Librarians in my district.

I feel that I have participated in a consistent and respectful manner throughout this course.  I have posted to the discussion forums each week in a timely manner so that my insights and comments were relevant to what the other students in the class were working on.  I have commented on other students’ posts and tried to provide insightful and thought-provoking observations about what they have written.  I have devoted a lot of time toward this course, but I know that there is always more I could have done.  I read each post in the discussion forum, but I only replied to one or two for each week of discussions.  I chose the posts that were the most thought provoking for me, or where I felt that my thoughts would be helpful.  I feel that I could have participated in more discussions each week.

I found that this course had a very steep learning curve.  I came in knowing a bit about library procedures, but my knowledge was not on the technical side of things.  I had not done much with the OPAC system beyond checking out materials to my students or myself.  I had never heard of a MARC record, nor had I thought about how I would communicate the Dewey Decimal System to my students.  I had always had favourite libraries due to their layout and organization, but I had never thought about what in particular it was that made those libraries preferable to me.  This course really made me become a meta-cognitive learner, and I am very happy with the skills that I now have to take with me to my first job in a library.

I thought it was appropriate that this course began with an introduction of the Dewey Decimal System in the first lesson, and then came full circle near the end of the course to revisit this topic.  I think the lesson that will be the most useful for me was when my fellow classmates were posting about their ideas for how to teach the Dewey Decimal System to different ages of students.  The lesson that was the most frustrating for me was when we first had to create MARC records.  I spent so much time on that lesson, and felt like the work that I was producing was substandard, but I think that the process of trying to create a MARC record was extremely important.  I now know how to use a MARC record, how to update one and add to it, and that in my practice I will want to find jobbers that include MARC records in the price of their resources.

I think that the most important concept that I can take away from this course is that a Teacher-Librarian cannot underestimate the importance of access.  The library must be organized in such a way that students can easily find and access the books that they want.  In order to improve access, we must be able to teach them the important skills that any library patron should know.  These skills include, but are not limited to, using the OPAC, navigating the school library website, using the online research tools that are available to them, understanding how library books are organized (DDS) so they can locate books for particular topics, and

As Teacher-Librarians, we must work to provide access to resources for students and teachers.  In order to do this, we must have a welcoming and well-organized library.  The signage needs to be purposeful and informative.  One of the most important tools for access that a Teacher-Librarian can have is a library website that is well organized and up to date.  It is our job to make the library a central hub of the school; a place where staff, students, and parents feel that they can spend time, collaborate, and learn together.

This course has helped to make me feel more prepared to work in a school library.  I learned a lot from the specific lessons, and engaging in discussions with other members of the class enhanced this knowledge.  I feel that I provided insightful and meaningful additions to the discussions that I was a part of, and adding posts to my blog gave me an outlet to work through my own learning and understanding of course material.