We started school this week. I don’t know about you, but I always forget how exhausting it is and always sleep extra-long on the first weekend back!
This year is different for several reasons for me:
- I’m only technically a school librarian in the mornings. In the afternoon, I become “staff development facilitator,” meeting with teachers to integrate 21st-century learning strategies into their teaching and planning/leading after-school profesional development. In other words, aren’t I still a librarian in the afternoons, too? :) It’s a one-year-only job, but offers lots of opportunities to really put my thinking to the test in a larger arena.
- Luckily, my district still supports full-time elementary librarians, so I’m now job-sharing, which is another new adventure.
- I’m also starting the year with a fantastic new student teacher, which continuously has me reflecting on why I do what I do. But as can happen with a fantastic student teacher, I’m also learning like mad!
So I’m multitasking in new ways, with more time spent planning with adults than working with kids, which is an unusual new dance.
I’m wondering what instructional trends you’re seeing in your building or district. Our district seems to be exploding with a new sense of energy/urgency:
- Lots of lower elementary teachers interested in The Daily Five approach to reading and writing.
- Lots of K-5 teachers doing district-sponsored work with Lucy Calkins’ writing program.
- Lots of interest in tech tools like Moodle and wikis as our district’s Ignite program expands.
- Renewed district interest in developing Professional Learning Communities.
- Deepened energy invested by district media specialists in going deeper with K-5 learning, primarily with inquiry.
- Big administrative interest in Classroom Instruction That Works and the “Marzano 9″ strategies.
- Continued work in deepening classroom culture with our building book club with The Morning Meeting Book.
This is the first time in my five years with the district that there are so many initiatives that correlate to books. Warms my li-berrian heart.
What’s the buzz in your district?
