The Library Revisited
What does it look like to have a flexible library? - 8/29/16
What Is Flexible Scheduling?
Flexible scheduling is a type of scheduling that allows teachers to schedule their classes into the library at the time of greatest need for instructional purposes depending on the project or thematic unit.
It does not mean that there will be no classes in the library or that nothing is going on there. I hope that our library will be a bustling place full of activity and learning, but I will need your help to make it that way.
I am so excited that Spearman's library will be more accessible to you and your students' needs this year. A completely flexible schedule will allow you to sign up for as much time as you need in the library to work on research or conduct any number of projects. The most exciting part is that we will get to work together to teach the students. I look forward to collaborating with you, and I hope that our media center will be the hub of our school with students and teachers using the space as a learning commons.
Library Checkout (3rd-5th Grades)
Thank you to all who signed up for an initial library time to get books in the hands of your students last week. A few of us a finishing those first checkout times up this week, and then I think everyone will have made it through the library at least once so far.
My goal for our students is to help them to be self-sufficient in the library so that they can come to the library whenever they want or need a new book.
After some reflection and research, I've decided that I'd like to re-vamp (already) the way we use the library here at Spearman. I truly want the library to be the hub and the heart of the school - a learning commons - where students (and teachers and even parents) are welcome any time to study, read, collaborate, plan, research, and explore.
Having said that, I have come to realize that scheduling a checkout time for classes each week is not really being flexible at all. It's not terribly convenient for you as teachers, and it's not utilizing the library as well as it could be utilized.
What I envision instead is your sending students for checkout as their need arises whenever that may be. It may be that you send a reading group during independent reading or some other scenario like that. My only hope is that we not let any student fall between the cracks and not realize that there is someone who is not checking out frequently.
I hope to have a very busy library full of students whom I can help individually when I'm not teaching a class, and full of students who are self-sufficient enough to check out on their own if I am engaged with others.
If your class has not yet had their initial 30 minute library talk/checkout, I'll see you at our appointed time this week. For the rest of you (3rd-5th grades), let's give the individual/small group checkout a try. We can see how it goes this week and what we may need to re-vamp for the future. The book fair after Labor Day will shut down checkout for about a week and a day, and then we can continue with our truly flexible library plan.
Thank you all for being such wonderful co-workers. My goal is to make the library convenient for your schedules as well as opening up the library for all sorts of uses ... to be detailed below.
Please send your students (individuals or small groups) to the library to ...
- checkout
- read
- research
- work on group projects
- work on individual projects