Final thoughts...

It’s funny to look back at the journey…but great to see how far I have travelled!

When I read through my prior blog posts, one of my first comments was how I thought this course would be the most challenging, as I do not work in a library yet. I think that this “challenge” allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone and connect with a few people in the district that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I was able to develop a great working relationship with the Teacher Librarian at my daughter’s elementary school, I made some good connections with the District Librarian, I was able to learn quite a bit from the other TL’s taking this course, and I was able to connect with other Teacher Librarian’s in this district who are taking a few online courses as well.

The lessons on Digital Media were a stretch for me, but now that I am at the end of the course, I feel way more prepared for that aspect of the TL’s responsibilities. I found that as my five courses progressed through this semester, there was some overlap of information, which was great for me to say to myself, “Hey! I know that now!” For one of the assignments in another course, we were asked to assist a teacher in changing their view of using some kind of innovation with their class. I was able to use the knowledge that I gained from this course in terms of Google searches, and databases to provide her with some information to use with her class. I felt like a “real” Teacher Librarian – it was great! I think that my biases against digital media have subsided (I have to laugh a little bit as I read my post for Lesson 2), I have become more comfortable with “screens”, but I still will argue for the use of print media in certain instances.

Cataloguing… that was a huge learning curve for me! I entered this course with very little idea of how this took place. CIP, MARK, ISBN, ISBD, LOC, SEARS (not the store, as I quickly learned!) – these are all terms that were completely foreign to me, but now familiar. The hours spent learning and producing MARC records were certainly a challenge, but now I have a much deeper understanding of books, and how they are catalogued.

As this course progressed, the activities we were involved in sparked my excitement and anticipation even more of getting a position in a school library. Being able to sit in a teacher librarian’s chair and go through the OPAC was an exciting and informative learning experience. I think having the opportunity to just “play around” with the system will be the best way to become familiar with all it has to offer. It sounds like Destiny is one that is used by many districts, so I am glad our district uses it. Learning about library homepages and looking at some of the pages that other librarian’s have put together was a practical learning experience as well. This is one of the top things that I would like to incorporate into my own library when I get a position in one. I think the information that can be gathered and presented in one accessible area can be hugely beneficial to promote the role of the TL in the school. Having the experience now of creating a Weebly for one of the assignments for this course has given me the confidence to take on this kind of a project – whether it is a Weebly, Blog, or other form. The last lesson was also a practical lesson in making me reflect on the types of things I would like to implement in my own library – the aspect of physical space, traffic flow, signage, inventory, overdues and other important aspects of the library, were all areas that I will need to be aware of, and continue to monitor on a regular basis to make the library a central, effective, learning environment for the school community.

Thirteen weeks ago, I began my blog for this course (I had never blogged before) and my first title was “The Adventure Begins…”  This may be the end of this course, but I feel that "My Adventure Continues…"

Many thanks to Keith, the instructor for this course.