We have a new schedule this year and it makes my head spin just a little. We went from a 6-day cycle to a 4-day cycle. This means classes of students rotate into the library (or art, P.E. & music) every 4 days. Because they are rotating quicker my days are filled with 7 classes almost every day, leaving very little prep time or time to work on library projects like processing new books. The elementary school where I work has the most students in the district and to create balance I have two other librarians with smaller populations who come to my school for equity purposes; one teaches a solo class of kindergartners, the other teaches two afternoons of k, 1st, and 2nd grades, which does give me time to work independently sometimes.
Seeing students more frequently gives me the opportunity to explore new avenues with them. I’ve gone back to reading chapter books aloud. I’m reading The Map Trap by Andrew Clements to 3rd grade, Wish by Barbara O’Connor to 4th grade, Liberty by Kirby Larson to 5th grade, and Horizon by Scott Westerfeld to 6th grade. We have book discussions and still have time to do a short lesson on a skill plus check out books. I’m enjoying my time with students and implementing some of the ideas from my summer classes- a lot of which involves bringing more JOY to their day.
The great downfall is that we’ve built a fantastic set of readers at my school. They use the library when they finish a book, not waiting until their next library time, to find their next great read. I love that kids are pumped about reading. My first few days of school were filled with writing down recommendations from students of books they’d read over the summer and want to have here. You say “what’s the downfall in all that?” Well, it has two sides; I spend a good portion of my day helping students find books and checking them out in our system because I’ve raised readers! – usually, this is during times when I’m supposed to be planning or eating lunch so my day gets all mixed up and I miss those days when I’d only have 3-4 classes with breaks in between to get work done. I feel a little more rushed at certain parts of the day and more laid back while students in our library space. It’s an adjustment and I’m adjusting.
Peaceful Reader 