Day 2: Elizabeth Learning Center

Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Elizabeth Learning Center
7:15 am-4 pm (cumulative hours 17.75)
CCTC Standards: 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

Busy day! I am beginning to see that they are all busy, each in its own unique way.

I did a book talk/read aloud for Mr. Martinez' 5th grade class. I read a chapter of Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen. I think that I read well. My concern is that I am not yet attuned to the interests and developmental level of upper elementary students. This is an area I would really have to study should I ever work in an elementary school. I am so geared to high school, and my approach is often a bit angst-ridden to appeal to teens, that I am afraid the book I chose was a bit too depressing. (One of my juniors once walked in and cheerfully said, "So! What atrocity will be reading about today?")A few kids seemed really interested but not nearly all. They are finishing their fifth grade year and I think Soldier's Heart is commonly taught in middle school so I thought it would work. I will try to tweak it for another go Friday with a different fifth grade class. I think I had a good instinct to tie in a non-fiction book called The Boys' War which has lots of Civil War photos and passages from letters and diaries of boys who served in the war. My execution was not as good as the idea, however. The passages I chose to share were not particularly good for reading aloud. Perhaps I should show more of the photographs? I need to practice more.

I spent time working on the Summer reading list for parents, using Education World, the CDE list of recommended books, even some bookstore lists. I figured they would know what is flying off the shelves. I want the list to be FUN! I want to have titles, series and authors for K-2, 3-5, and middle school. I also want to include fun tips for parents to get their kids to read. This will be presented to the Community Reps. who, in turn, will present it to parents.

Mr. Completo and I realized that we had forgotten to include a lesson in my projects so we settled on a genre lesson for a 4th grade class. At Mr. Completo's suggestion I will have some materials ready Friday for "front-loading" information. I will do the lesson next week with Ms. Carillo's class. I spent some time today working on the lesson. I only have 25 minutes max so I can't get too complicated. I tend to drag things on a little too long.

I observed Mr. Completo read aloud to a kindergarten class (and helped him turn the pages on a big book). He made it look really easy. I was amazed how almost every page provided him with a teachable moment beyond the story itself. (The stories were great too!) He really involved the students in the process, eliciting comments, predictions, feelings...

I got a little time at the circulation desk today. Mr. Completo showed me the "quick check in" feature of Accent. I checked books in and out, with the help of a very nice senior student who was way faster than me and caught a couple of my errors almost before I made them. A teacher showed up with her class on the wrong day and Mr. Completo graciously accommodated her, letting her students check books in and out.

I read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton to a middle school special education class that included autistic students. Again, not sure it was an ideal choice. Lots of physical description and it is taking too long to get to the action. The class was awesome though. They said they liked it. When I go back tomorrow I will be prepared with a funny book in case they don't want me to continue with the novel. I will read to this class every day of my field work.

Interestingly, Mr. Completo and Ms. Garcia were talking about whether The Princess Diaries books should be in the elementary or secondary section. There is nothing objectionable in them but they are about teens and he decided to move them. Later in the day when I was looking for a book for a student I found some teen romances that my high school students love also shelved in the elementary section. I brought them to Mr. Completo's attention and he will check reviews to see if they should be moved.

I did a kindergarten read-aloud in the library! King Bidgood's in the Bathtub, Mean Soup and Can't You Sleep Little Bear? were the three titles. Boy those little ones can make you sweat. Mr. Completo sat with me with two classes of kindergarten students on the rug and he helped me turn the pages. He also cued me a couple of times when there was a teachable moment I was missing.I GOT APPLAUSE! It is amazing what the approval of 5-year-olds does for ones' confidence. I think it went really well. Those books get heavy though!!! While I was reading Mr. Completo's eyes landed on a lucite display stand and afterwards he said it might be a great tool to rest the book on when rreading alone and that it was bertter to sit to the right of the book.

After school I checked books in and out again and it got a little busy. A student was helping me. I also shelved books and was again reminded that it is a continuing task. Mr. Completo has a lot of student workers who shelve really well. I must ask him if/how he trains them.

Mr. Completo, Ms. Garcia and students helped me troubleshoot any problems that came up at the circulation desk.

I discovered the "repair shelf."

Everyone at this school seems to have been hit with a nice stick. People are pleasant, helpful and happy. It is nice to see what a well-functioning school looks like.