I grew up in the '80s and '90s (and some days feel like I am still growing up...Smile!). My K-12 schooling took place in the '80s and now as a "seasoned educator", I continue to reflect on how much has changed in the areas of teaching and learning. As a part of my role as Chief Academic Officer, I get to work closely with our Library Media Specialists (LMS). In the '80s, we used to call this position, the librarian. From my student perspective, our librarian role was to manage the library. Management meant, checking in and checking out books, assisting students with finding resources, answering the phone and taking messages, teaching the Dewey Decimal System and Card Cataloging (each book had its own card - sometimes handwritten- the author, date published and other pertinent information), and of course, keeping all of us quiet. This was probably the most difficult part of the job, yet our library was always quiet. For some of us, it was the "dreaded" part of the day, maybe that is why I did not truly enjoy reading until later in life. Or maybe I didn't enjoy the library because that is where I received my first and only detention. It was my freshmen year and I was hungry so I decided I would eat something healthy like Starbursts. It must have been the noise of the wrapper that got me in trouble. Needless to say, I had to miss softball practice because I spent an hour that evening in the library dusting off books.
How times have changed...
In Worthington Schools, our libraries are the "hub of learning". The school libraries are a place where students want to go to interact with the LMS and their classmates. Our libraries have spaces for collaborative learning with comfortable modular furniture, read aloud, Maker Spaces, robotics team, author presentations, athletic and academic signings, book fairs, and student presentations.
Our LMS is responsible for teaching our students argumentative and research writing, plagiarism awareness, digital safety and citizenship (online bullying, cyber privacy, evaluating the reliability of news sources, and of course cultivating a healthy online profile), appropriate book selections, and various online technology tools and resources. As a team, we are also working to better understand and implement the framework for Future Ready Librarians. Our librarians in Worthington work hard for our students and staff. They care about student growth and achievement and are an integral part of their success.
As a former principal, I found myself leaning on our LMS a lot. She would help me to see the big picture of an idea, assist with technology, plan instruction for student learning, and even organized a student news team to deliver live morning announcements on televisions in the classrooms. This was a big deal in the early 2000s and our LMS made it all happen.
As we are all living in this new world of COVID-19 and Social Distancing, our Worthington School LMS Team continues to amaze me. Just last week, we engaged in a Zoom Meeting to connect and share best practices. Holy Cow! I was taken back by the amount of work and collaboration that is happening between them and with their classroom teachers. Just like the classroom teacher, our LMS team is continuing to work with their students remotely through read-alouds, virtual book clubs, Google Classroom, Google Meet, Zoom, phone conversations, instructional videos, and links that provide free audio and eBooks. It was so difficult for me to keep up with their sharing that one of the LMSs created a spreadsheet for me. Here are just a few of their newly created websites, activities, and resources they are engaging in with their students;
I am grateful that I get to work with our LMS Team and cannot thank them enough for the job that they do each and every day in our library and classrooms within the Worthington Schools District, especially during this national pandemic of COVID-19 and Social Distancing.
