Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Let me know what you think of my philosophy of education

Teaching elementary school children is a job with special responsibilities. School librarians who work with small children should be always kind, patient, and helpful. I take my duties as an elementary school librarian seriously. I love reading, especially out loud, and I place the highest value on inspiring our students to also love reading. When I plan lessons, I encourage my students’ creativity and employ games, active play, music and technology to make learning fun for students of all learning styles.

It is my belief that reading is the key to help all children succeed in school. I believe when children learn to read, there is always some subject that can capture their interest and inspire them to become avid readers. Avid readers will become, in turn, students who can understand their class and homework assignments better. School librarians should purchase books that their students are interested in, and the students need to be given quiet time in school and at home to explore and read them. I can help by selecting and maintaining an extensive library collection and by providing active reader’s advisory help to students. As school librarian, I should be on the floor to answer questions, teach children to work out disputes, and help in any way needed.

As much as I love the books in our school library, books are never as important as the children whom I teach. Our library has a rule that states that a child who forgets his or her library books can not take out more books until the old books are returned. I understand the reason for that rule, but I do not like to enforce it. I do not think that children should be punished with lack of free-choice reading material because their parents are disorganized. If the book is missing for two or more weeks, we send home an overdue notice with cost of replacement, and allow the child to check out new book.

When I was a child, I was never as happy as when I was in the library. Although everyone can love books, some children have difficult home lives that make the wonderful world of books seem all the more special. That was the case with me as I child. I became good friends with my librarian. She modeled for me a teacher/librarian, and always provided me with enough fantasy to keep me reading and coming back for more.

I believe that students given research assignments should have some degree of choice either in the topic of research or in the way that they present their findings. I collaborate with teachers and our curriculum specialist to plan future research projects and to better supply our library with new research materials. I am the school’s reference source for all information needs, and I am equally excited to provide help to students with projects, parents, teachers, administrators or the custodial staff.

The intelligent and equitable use of technology for research is more complex than students or even teachers understand. My education and experience with web-based technologies will be constructive for training students to become efficient and ethical technology users. I look forward to having our students and teachers use wikis and blogs, and create podcasts to share with the world.