Thank You!!!

I would like to thank you all for the great discussions during class. I learned so much from this class. It was great to be around people that understand all the obstacles we face in the school library. I am walking away with some great resources. Most of all I am walking away with the knowledge that it is going to take lots of time and effort to get others to collaborate. I will have to remind myself that small steps will eventually lead to some positive changes. Again, thank you and I hope to see all of you soon.

Libraian's job

Last week was just another reminder of all that our job calls for us to do. The task of finding information on brain-based research was something we librarians are faced with everyday in our jobs. How well we respond determines how others see you. It reminded me of when I first started working in the library. Students and teachers would come in looking for books on a certain subject. At the time the nonfiction section was dated and very limited. They would leave very disappointed. However, I learned to listen to them and ask the right questions. It was not the book they wanted it was the information. I learned about other sources that I could lead them to and they became satisfied customers.

RTI Thoughts

I just wanted to say a few things about RTI. CPS has not fully gotten on board with this initiative so my school is not on board. I think RTI is great on paper, but I have a few problems with it. For one, like many things in education, the government lets things work out. We are demanded to do one thing and just when we think we are comfortable doing that they go and demand something different from us. I'm not complaining because of the work but this really affects students.

One thing I like about RTI is that it has the learner in the center of everything. Students should not have to adapt to our teacher. We should adapt our teaching to the learners. Another thing that I got from the video we watched in class, is that we have to have more than one person, the classroom teacher, assisting our students. I was happy to see the success that this particular school was having with RTI. However, they had many extra people involved. What happens to this program once the extra people leave? I'm afraid that funding from RACE TO THE TOP will be used to support programs that will bring more demands for educators without giving up on others and not offer the appropriate support. I would love to see this money be used to make class sizes smaller and add personal that works directly with students.