Overwhelmed

I'm feeling very overwhelmed today.

Last week I decided to drop 503 and concentrate on 401. It's a decision that I didn't take lightly but in the face of the real world committments I have, it seemed like an option I really needed to consider. I felt a huge weight lifted once I made the choice.

Today I've started to think about how to actually plan my first assignment for 401 and again, I'm churning!

There have been so many readings and notes and podcasts, vodcasts, youtube videos, forums, chats and phonecalls - my head is swimming! I can barely recall what an ILSC is, let alone write 2000 words on the subject.

I hope in a few months I'll look back on this post and decide it was 'First Assignment jitters' and be able to laugh at myself.

My call to the library

Really, how stupid do I feel?! I have spent probably a couple of hours all up trying to find a particular journal article that my module link hasn't been working for.

I've tried so many combinations of searches and keywords and repeatedly came up with nothing.

Enter the CSU library staff - specifically a really nice sounding guy (James??) What a man!! He lead me through the library catalogue quickly, efficiently and BINGO, there before my eyes was the journal article I've been looking for for three day.

Thank you CSU Library staff!

The message in this post .... When all else fails .... ask for help :)

The sad decline of print formats

My recent trip to a school library was actually a bit of a shock and disappointment. I guess I should clarify that the school I visited has actually quite recently removed the library in it's physical sense. For the past few years the school has been undergoing major renovations and extensions and the library was shifted several times until finally it was decided to divide the physical resources to the appropriate areas of the school. In the leadership committees opinion, this seemed to be the way that libraries were shifting - and maybe so....time will tell.

What was sad though, was seeing rooms full of books that are just never looked at. And - I would have thought the next thing I'm about to say to be blasphemous in front of a TL - the children are free to take books from an open shelf at various points (often building entry /exit points) around the school without 'zapping' them!! My instant reaction was "How do you know if they come back? How do you track what you have-or now don't have - as the case will probably be?"

Is the print format of diminishing significance, in my most recent experience (admittedly just from the one school) the answer is unfortunately, yes.

Looking back....and forward

In my second year of classroom teaching I got a job at St Kieran's PS in Moe. I was happy to have been offered the job and I loved working for the school. What made it so good, really, came down to having a fantastic principal. She was revolutionary - ahead of her time. Well researched, forward thinking, high expectations and a great leader and role model to the staff who worked for the school.

I didn't actually realise that she posessed all of these qualities though, until this week's readings about Principal suport in an Information Literate school. Everything I read made my mind wander to her and if I had a checklist beside me at the time, every point would have been ticked off.

I also noticed this week that from my (very limited) recent experience of school libraries, there seems to be a tragic waste of library collections and relevant IT resources. How sad that from the outside a school can appear to be growing, developing, changing and making advances in every direction but upon closer investigation, the soul of the school (ie. the library and it's many facets) barely exists.

Scarier still, is the opinion by some that this is a good thing. That libraries are becoming a thing of the past, outdated in our modern, digital world. What about collection management? What about responsibility for technology? What about the undeniable benefits of collaborative teaching and planning? What about the children? Perhaps they are right and the 'Library' as we often see in a traditional school setting is not an ideal setup but it seems to me, that in this particular example, they've thrown the proverbial baby out with the bath water.

I wish I had my qualification so that I could state my case for a state of the art 'Resource Centre'.

My thoughts so far....

Well I'm about to embark on my second week of MEdTL and I'm ashamed to admit I'm a little bit in love!! I love the readings and the way my brain is thinking in ways it hasn't thought for years.

In saying that though, I'm finding it difficult already to find the time to study around Jamie and the boys. It seems like I'm always fobbing someone off with the words "I'll just finish this off" coming out of my mouth a couple of times a day. I need to find the balance of study and home and get into a routine that works for everyone - inlcuding me!!

Already, after just one short week and a few readings I've had some 'revelations' about librarianship....and I must say that they're a litte bit frightening. I've always loved librarianship, it has been my 'dream job' for that far off time (ie. after kids and back to part time work) What I'm coming to realise is that the libraries of the future aren't really very conducive to my idea of the 'dream job' :D

What I thought to be perfection was to have my own 'space' within a school, one where I could work with children from across all year levels and plan that work 'in my own time'. This would mean I wouldn't let anyone down if I couldn't make a planning meeting and I wouldn't have to 'share' my grade with another teacher and best of all, hopefully no reports!! Yes, I am a little ashamed to admit that I thought being TL would be the 'easy' way of being a teacher while keeping my young family at the top of my priority list.

It would seem from what I'm reading and the librarians I've chatted with already that this idea of library isn't the futuristic (and even current) reality. What we're seeing more and more is less library 'space' and ideally, less teacher release time being provided by the school librarian.

Scary when this reality is actually what I loved about becoming a TL......what then does this mean for me?

At first I had a sick OMG moment but after thinking about it for the last few days, it's sitting a little better. Home life is only going to get easier (I hope!!!) and as the boys get older, I'll be able to afford the time and effort required of a great TL. At the base of it all is my love of books and information and the love of the quest for just the right resource. I love planning and organising and I can still do all of that even if it means it's done differently to the way I envisaged.

I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead. I've made a time to go back to the school I'm currently on leave from to see how their library has changed and evolved in the last 5 years. I cant wait to see how they're working and to glean as much information as possible in the short amount of time I'll have.

I'll keep you posted.

I'm a busy person on a new mission :D

So this is my very first post on my very first blog. Who would've thought I'd ever have a blog??! Who would've thought I'd ever go back to study??!

This is going to be fantastic! I love that I've learned so much just in the few weeks that I've started the Online Learning StudyLink course...imagine what I will have learned by the end of this two years?

I'm really looking forward to everything starting and hope I haven't taken on something waaaaay beyond what I can really do with all of the other demands that come with being a wife and mum of a young, busy family.

As someone pointed out to me just the other day....If you want a job done, ask a busy person. That I am, so here goes! :D