I had the whole afternoon free from subbing so I was able to finish up my secondary hours. I worked in the middle school and continued on with the inventory project. I entered a bunch of books on baseball and gymnastics. I have only put a small dent in the project, but I know I helped out some. I also was there for the sixth grade homeroom and seventh grade homeroom, both which were very busy with students coming in. I was busy trying find books for students, checking in, checking out, and renewing books. I also was creating temporary items for books that are not in the system that have not been detected by the inventory project yet. I also processed some new magazines and put the older ones out into circulation.

middle school hours today: 3
total middle school hours: 26
total high school hours: 23

Total Secondary hours, Final: 49

First thing this morning I was in the high school library doing all the usual daily tasks. I checked in and out books and then reshelved them. I also processed new magazines and put the older ones out into circulation. I also attempted creating an overdue library materials list with Alexandria. I wanted to make a list that didn't show student names, only their bar code number, so we could post the lists without infringing on privacy. However, in the time I was there, I could not get it to work just right. I then resumed my regular substitute teaching duties for a couple classes.

Toward the end of the day I worked in the middle school library, continuing with the inventory project. I entered a bunch of books and also worked with the 7th grade homeroom students that came in. They needed help finding books and I also renewed books for them, and checked in and out their books. After the homeroom I met with Deb for a while and she showed me the primary ways she orders books and discussed her annual budget. South Milwaukee's common school fund was trimmed by about $11,000 from last year to this year, so Deb had to make a few adjustments as the school year is winding down. For ordering materials, Deb is a big fan of Follett because they provide such a wide variety of services and make ordering so simple. I am yet to see a flaw with Follett myself and plan to use them as much as I can when I work at my school next year.

high school hours today: 1.5
total high school hours: 23
middle school hours today: 1.5
total middle school hours: 23

Total secondary hours: 46

During my prep periods today I was able to observe/participate in a meeting at the middle school with Deb, my practicum LMS and Matt Follett of Follett Library Resources, who is a regional sales rep and his region includes South Milwaukee. We discussed my future employment in Spring Green and who my contact for Follett will be. The majority of the meeting focussed on TumbleBooks, which Follett now distributes, and also includes TumbleTalkingBooks, and TumbleReadables. We compared it with Overdrive also, and one major difference is that Overdrive needs to be downloaded where the Tumbles are viewed online by logging in. Follett is also distributing new playaways which have double the old battery life and now have two slower reading speeds (5 total, up from 3). Matt said those were the two biggest complaints about the old playaways. We also discussed how Follett is coming out with TitleEasy to compete with Junior Library Guild.

middle school hours today: 1.5
total middle school hours: 21.5
total high school hours: 21.5

total secondary hours: 43

I had some spare time this afternoon after proctoring an AP test this morning so I was able to work in the middle school library. There was a homeroom period while I was there, so I helped the students find and check out books. Then, I continued adding books into Alexandria as part of the inventory project. MARC records make a lot more sense now that I've been seeing them in action in the catalog. I know what everything means that I enter for the added items into the system. There also was a lock-in drill, followed by a lock-down drill while I was in the library. At that moment there were four students in the library that are part of a gifted and talented independent study class, so we had to shut off all the lights and get to a part of library that was away from doors and windows.

middle school hours today: 2
Total middle school hours: 20
Total high school hours: 21.5

Total Secondary hours: 41.5

It was a pretty slow day today for subbing, so I was able to get some library work in. The students who I worked with yesterday on the CultureGrams were in the library and the library's computer lab working on their research paper. I helped them out when I could throughout the day with any questions they had either about the CultureGram site or general research questions they may have had. For the most part, the students did a great job. They must have been listening and paying attention yesterday when I was in their class. I also helped other students check out books, find books, and reserve books while they were in the library.

At the middle school, I helped out the library aide with her ongoing inventory project. She is going through the entire collection, scanning every item, and pulling the books that are not in the system. Then the items are entered into Alexandria and put back onto the shelves. I entered books into the system myself using some of the skills I have learned in my cataloging class. I entered the title, author, publisher, copyright date, a summary (if listed), Dewey number, physical description, and subject headings; all which make up the MARC record of an item and I got all the information from the physical book.

High school hours today: 2
Total high school hours: 21.5
Middle school hours today: 1
Total middle school hours: 18

Total Secondary hours: 39.5

Day 4

Yesterday, I spent the whole day in the high school, bouncing back and forth between freshman English classes and the library media center. When I was with the classes I focused on showing them two different resources for getting information on their cultures research paper. I started my lesson by just asking the question, "What does culture mean, and what words come to mind when you think of culture?" Next, I went over a couple key items from their research paper handout and explained to them where I will be helping them today. I then went on to show them how to use Alexandria's Researcher to find materials in the media center. Once I found some decent items, I went on to explain the Dewey numbering system with the 900s meaning Geography and History, and then the 940s, 950s, and so on each being a different continent, followed by then next digit representing a country or group of countries. I then showed students the culture gram binders that they could use for class, followed by a short two minute video introducing the CultureGram website. Next I passed out the handout I created about how to get to and use the CultureGram website and demonstrated how to use the website with the class. I also brought to the room all the hardware and software needed for the lesson and set it up and took it down. I brought an LCD projector, a laptop, a power strip, extension cord, and all the connecting cords needed between them. The students were very attentive during the class and asked some good questions. Today they are in the computer lab working with the CultureGrams themselves. I'm going to check in on them when I can to see how everything is going.

In between my lessons I worked in the library checking out laptops to students and helping them troubleshoot their technology problems. I also helped students find materials they needed, checked in and out books, and re-shelved books. I also supervised students that were sent to the library from their classes to find various bits of information along with the student aides who were present. I also pulled some of the books that the students from the freshman English classes will be using for the culture research assignment. We have a large collection of books on countries and cultures set aside for easy access for the students. Today was a good taste of a variety of library media specialist responsibities.

On a totally different note. I was offered and accepted a job in Spring Green, Wisconsin for the Library Media Specialist position as River Valley Middle School. I am very much looking forward to starting that position come the end of August.

high school hours today: 7.5
total high school hours: 19.5
total middle school hours: 17
total secondary hours: 36.5