I Have Been Remiss

I have been remiss with my blog posts during September. As those of you know who work in schools, it is the busiest month of the school year. When you add that to a building project that falls behind schedule and my library that was the depository for multiple rooms of furniture and computers, it adds up to chaos. Throw in a late start to the school year and things just spin out of control.

Needless to say, amongst all that commotion, I quickly found out that taking two classes at S.U. this fall was not working for me. The decision was a hard one to make, but one that will make it easier on me to focus on one class (IST 605 - Reference and Information Literacy Services) and my 50-hour fieldwork that I will be doing with grades 3-5 in my school district.

Children's Movies from classic books

It's great to see several children's movies coming out based on classic children's stories. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs opened recently at the theaters, Where the Wild Things Are opens on October 16th, and Fantastic Mr. Fox opens on November 13th. Alice in Wonderland will hit theaters on March 5, 2010.

Today in my primary school library, I read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to several classes. It was surprising (or not) to see that many of the young students did not realize that this story was actually a book before it became a movie! It was a great "teachable moment" where I could show the students several of the library books that have been made into movies that they all know. Some of the examples I used were The Polar Express, Jumanji, Curious George, Horton Hears a Who, The Cat in the Hat, and Harry Potter. I also explained that the movies adapt material from the book and that the movie and the book will have some differences.

Fall Classes Underway!

I'm nearing the end of the first week of fall classes (IST 605 - Reference & Information Literacy Services with Dr. Megan Oakleaf, and IST 663 - Integrating Motivation & Information Literacy with Dr. Ruth Small) and so far, so good! The information is interesting and I've got a couple more days to finish first week assignments. School starts on Tuesday for me as well - in the elementary school where I work in the library. I've worked the last two mornings there getting things organized and ready for the first day of school. This will be a real test - the juggling of full time work with my graduate work requirements.

Next Friday, I will be heading to Syracuse once more for a weekend residency for IST 663. I will also be taking workshop tests that Friday afternoon to complete a NY State requirement for all teachers. My fieldwork of 50 hours in an elementary library also begins next week in the district where I work. I'll talk more about that in a future post as I'm still working out all the details. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I have also registered for the LAST exam for December - one of three exams required by New York State for all teachers. This should be a very busy semester filled with lots of learning experiences!

Fall 2009 classes start soon!

Time once again for overwhelming feelings of anxiousness and excitement for impending fall classes. This will be my second semester at S.U. working towards my MSLIS degree. This summer, I attended "boot camp" and took 3 classes on campus - IST 601 (Information and Information Environments), IST 511 (Introduction to the Library and Information Profession), and IST 612 (Youth Services in Libraries & Information Centers).

While the summer classes were an intensive on-campus 2 1/2-week session (with much work due before classes started), the fall classes are the more "traditional" 15-week semester online classes. So despite having taken online classes before, I have not taken any classes in this format for this program yet. This adds to my feelings of being overwhelmed as I peruse the syllabi for fall classes - IST 605 (Reference and Information Literacy Services), and IST 663 (Motivation and Information Literacy).

How will I be able to manage 2 classes, a 50-hour fieldwork requirement, and my full-time job? I need to keep reminding myself - How would I eat an elephant? By taking just one bite at a time, of course! This will be my philosophy as I embark on this next semester on Monday.

Check out this corn maze!

Stoughton Farms in Newark Valley, NY has a corn maze each year. This year's theme, I'm happy to say, is book related and based on the popular reading program from our New York State Senator Thomas Libous.

Check it out here: http://www.cornfieldmaze.com/sites.php?ID=&username=nynewarkvalley

Senator Libous' Books Program: http://www.booksprogram.com

Miss those hallowed halls

I have been home from S.U. summer residency for 2 days now and I must admit that I do miss being on campus. Syracuse is a beautiful campus with a rich history of scholars. I enjoyed the sharing with classmates, exchanging of ideas with peers, website suggestions, lunchtime conversations, and knowledge imparted from the professors.





Hinds Hall - Home of the iSchool










Bird Library - S.U.

IST 612 Reflections

I just completed IST 612 - Youth Services and Libraries and Information Centers at S.U. This was another 5 day residency in the M.S.L.I.S. Program. Although I am extremely tired, I did enjoy the class very much. Professor Wall, despite constant questions and requests for syllabus clarifications, was extremely patient and flexible. She wanted to ensure that everyone understood the assignments and had the information about libraries they wanted. Even though I have worked in elementary libraries for many years, I came away from this class with gained knowledge.

The 200 book annotations and core collection assignment was long, but I did enjoy creating my "own" library. Despite my typical nerves, the booktalking was fun to do. It was different doing them for my peers instead of the younger students that I am used to. I will be finishing my assignments in a few days and will be looking forward to a few weeks off before the fall semester begins.

Being a "newbie" (a first year student), I was glad that I was able to meet some second year students in this class. Their advice and support was invaluable - after all, many of them were experiencing this same overwhelming feeling that many of us newbies are feeling after an intense weekend and week of "boot camp." Knowing that they did indeed get through this, and seeing their wealth of knowledge, it gives me hope that I will also be able to persevere.