I wrote here in the blog recently about theme of stakeholders in the May/June School Library Monthly, and the article that first drew my eye was Alyssa Johnson’s piece about first-year teachers.  Johnson writes from the perspective of a current graduate student and prospective new teacher for the Fall of 2013.

In thinking about the potential to build relationships between the school librarian and new teachers and even student teachers, I tend to get really excited.  I envision assembling this cadre of collaborators and eventual advocates for the school library.  I see new opportunities for student learning in the library.  I see people who bring new ideas and enthusiasm, people who just need someone (as in, the librarian) to help them flesh it all out with technology tools, books, and strategies for instruction.

Johnson’s words gave me one of those moments when you remember something that you used to know.  She writes,

“School librarians, however, should be careful not to inundate first-year teachers with too many resources or too many tools. Instead, they should pick a couple of favorite examples and introduce more as teachers settle in.”

I forgot that I used to know what it was like to be a first-year teacher.  Amidst the relief of getting a job, the thrill of finally having my own classroom, and the anticipation of that first paycheck was the general feeling of being overwhelmed.  All the time.  I envied the veteran teachers who could say things like, “well, last year when we did this,” or knew the parents of kids in my class.  They had lessons to tweak and switch up; I had lessons to create.  In the weeks before the school year started, I was so busy making labels for everything, buying pencil boxes, and trying to make the room look presentable that I wasn’t organized enough or ready to accept help or think about teaching a lesson that was a month away.  Getting my first graders through the morning and through the cafeteria line in one piece were my foremost thoughts.  Alyssa Johnson took me back to that mindset.

She concurs that it’s important for school librarians to reach out to new teachers, and offers suggestions for helping out with those things that are priorities for new teachers “right-this-second” – like getting to know the kids’ interests through favorite library materials.  This is the new teacher side of the equation; I can fill in the librarian’s side and translate this to, “it’s ok to wait to show her all the reference databases and new e-books and explain how I reorganized the fiction over the summer.”

My lesson from this article is that the cadre will come together in time.  New teachers will probably want to ask questions, seek resources, and chat about collaboration opportunities.  It’s just a good idea to let the new teachers get those kids to the cafeteria first.

–Rebecca Morris

Reference: Johnson, Alyssa.  “Meeting Needs: First-Year Teachers.” School Library Monthly 29, no. 8 (May/June 2013): 37.

Image: New York teachers at City Park, New Orleans 02.23.11 069, by lsgcp on Flickr. Used with a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

I had the chance to listen, learn, and share some ideas about the Common Core State Standards, public libraries, and nonfiction at the Massachusetts Library Association Annual Conference last week in Cambridge, MA.

I was honored to meet and join these great people at the panel discussion, The Common Core and Nonfiction:  How Does It All Fit Together? –

- Author Deborah Kops (among her books: The Great Molasses Flood)

- Author Kristine Carlson Asselin (among her books: The Real Story on the Weapons and Battlegrounds of North America)

- Lou Pingatore (of independent booksellers Pingi Bookstore).

Each of us brought our perspectives on what the Common Core may hold for kids and nonfiction.  Kops shared some insights on her writing and research process (and the requisite and valuable trips to her local library), and reflected on the potential for a heightened interest in literary nonfiction.  Asselin explained some things I never knew about work-for-hire nonfiction writing with school library market publishers (read more here), and compared the research behind writing a book about Jennifer Lopez (many transcribed TV/online interviews) and one about Martin Luther King, Jr. (many archival newspapers).  Pingatore described some new nonfiction coming from publishers, including one I’m curious to read about using and contributing to Creative Commons.  I talked about how school librarians are embracing the CCSS as an opportunity to collaborate and lead in the teaching of 21st century skills, inquiry, and reading of complex texts.

The questions and comments from the audience were challenging and well-considered, including concerns about the cost of nonfiction books, the potential to build partnerships across small public library systems to offer more titles for kids, and the need to collaborate with school librarians or classroom teachers, especially in school systems without elementary school libraries (which many librarians in attendance reported were common in their communities).

It was a pleasure to meet the dynamic leaders of the MLA Youth Services Section (YSS) Noelle Boc, Sharon Colvin, and Erin Daly (who lived tweeted the day’s events @mla_yss).

What connections can school librarians foster with public librarians?  Here are a few ideas and resources in this developing Listly.  Please share your ideas in the comments!

Image: Children’s Room public PCs, by Newburyport Public Library on Flickr. Used with a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

–Rebecca Morris