Schools and salespeople

While I’m waiting to ring in the New Year, I thought I’d write an update about my search for an online Education program.  As I said in my last post, once I’m in the UK, I’ll be trying to get into teacher training there.  But that won’t start until Fall if I get in.  I won’t be able to be in the classroom working (for school or otherwise) until then.  I need to take online Education program classes to keep my teaching certificate in Florida up.  But without access to a classroom, I can’t take any kind of courses that require field work or a practicum.

I was going to go with GCU, but after Christmas break, they called me six times a day, trying to get me to sign something that was “urgent.”  Since I’d already read bad reviews from them where it was said that they hound you to get a hold of your Financial Aid money, then dash off, never answering the phone or helping you again.  I guess they wanted me to sign off that they’d enroll me in classes on the 30th and have me give them money (which I don’t have now to attend class anyway).  But a normal school would just leave it up to the student.  If you sign up, fine, if you don’t pay, you’re out of the class.  The fact that GCU hounded me so much like telemarketers and salespeople, I really knew it was best to steer clear of them.  Plus, there were problems with the program:  I needed to complete a practicum and I couldn’t take more than 60 days off a couple of times while I was attending.  Just not a good vibe about the whole thing, so I ditched out of it even though a “supervisor” called me and “needed to know either way.” Strange practices that school has.

So I still am thinking about Liberty University except for the problem, again, of having to take a practicum by the end of the program.  Now, if I do get into a teacher program and get into the classroom in the UK, that’s fine, I can so something for Liberty.  The problem there is though, they want 120 hours of practicum.  Not entirely sure I’ll be able to swing that but at least I have 5 years to complete the program in total.  By then I’ll be teaching somewhere I’m sure.

But my latest prospect is Tiffin University’s online MEd program.  Their classes are 100% online and I don’t need to be in the classroom to finish the program.  That’s a major plus right there.  Second of all, it’s set up to match Ohio state standards which makes it a credible program.  My other option I had looked into was staying at TWU for their MEd in Reading program.  It’s listed in the online degree programs and I filled out a new application for it because I’d like to just stay put at a school I know I like.  Trouble is, after digging deeper, I found that the program isn’t 100% online and about every class needed some kind of field work with it.  So I guess all I can do is wait until later to get my Reading Endorsement under my belt.  After talking to a Reading teacher on Twitter who really enjoyed her job, I think it would be really beneficial to have that kind of range in my capabilities as an educator.

While I’ve mentioned before that this did start out as a blog about librarianship, I find that I have to add in my teaching endeavours as well.  It’s all steps to my dream job as a School Librarian.  I have straight As for the Fall term and a GPA of 3.6.  I think I’m headed in the right direction.

Oh yeah – Happy New Year, everyone!  I should be across the pond in about 21 days now.  Hooray!  Steve and I plan on having the best Christmas-in-January ever.

Until Spring 2011…

I’ve finished my courses for the term, officially.  I just submitted a Pathfinder for Information Sources (Reference Librarian class) on American Southern Cooking.  It was really tricky since it had to include almanacs, yearbooks, handbooks, encyclopedias, directories, indexes and the like.  With cooking you basically have magazines, books, television programs and some websites.  But I dug through and found enough things to list so tonight I just added a few more sources, annotated what I had and submitted it.  I was only one day and 15 minutes late on it too – that’s not too bad. 

I ended up with a 950 out of 1000 in my Children’s and YA Literature class as well so my grades should be pretty good.  I want to apply for membership to Epsilon Omega Epsilon (EOE) in January.  I missed the deadline this term so I want to make sure to join before I graduate in May.  I’ll be able to use the insignia on my cover letters and mention my membership in my resume.  Not too shabby.

Knowing that I’ll be graduating in May next year makes me very relieved.  I honestly am not going to be interested in getting into another college program now that I’m a married woman with a life to live.  Before it was just me and trying to get whatever head knowledge and skills I could to get put into some kind of career that I could stay in.  Now that I’ll have my Professional Teaching Certificate in Florida and my MLS degree I will be armed with the tools I need to get into a School Librarian position, should one come up.  Granted, as I said last post, there are stipulations for becoming a teacher in the UK that differs vastly to the requirements from state to state.  That’s one thing I may have to get into – more teacher training.  But no more Master’s degree programs for me for a while at least, until I really have to get one.  I just hope I won’t end up needing an IT degree – I don’t know if I could deal with that much techy coursework.

Now, again, the thing I don’t love about the library degree is that it’s just a lot of fact-finding.  That’s the main reason why I’m glad it’ll be over.  The course work offers little for creativity.  Granted there is some when we have to create pretend events or new programs at the library.  But just talking about the surface of the book and not analyzes the contents and how we can use them is dull after a while.  Now, the Children’s and YA Lit class really gave me the room to read, analyze and discuss how I’d use the books in library or school situations.  That’s what made me really think I wanted to work at the School Library.  It also means there won’t just be a public service vibe to my job.  I understand that it’s more than that, but when I was volunteering I just felt like I was back at Winn-Dixie again, ringing up people’s groceries and giving them money for their returned items.  Plus, when it’s public domain you get the odd balls whom, yes, I sympathize with, but I don’t want to have situations again where I have to call the police because some random person stole some random item off the shelf.  I’ve done that way before I had an education and I’ve no interest in going back there.  (Even though I probably will when I have to gather up some experience at the public library next year.)

Anyway, so Christmas break for me is here and I couldn’t feel less Christmassy.  There’s a slim chance I’ll get an approval email on my Visa next Monday or Tuesday but if not, that means I won’t be going over to be with Steve until after the holidays.  Complete bummer.  If this were April or something and there wasn’t much going on aside from Easter, I wouldn’t feel as bad but Christmas is a biggy and we still have not spent our first Christmas together as a married couple.  Again, major bummer but by going over after the holidays the flights and delays and crowds will be less of hassle to deal with so there is a bright side to this after all.

Flag Day and the beginning of Summer term

Happy Flag Day, everyone! My vacation is over and sadly Steve had to go back home. We had such a good time and I'm so thankful for our time together. I'll be going back over to be with him soon, so until then I have to occupy myself with all my library goings on.

Summer term started last week. I'm looking at the Public Library course retake with fresh eyes. I've decided to use a different library for my focus - the library I'll be volunteering at. That way I can get a better view of the library and write up my projects based on what I experience there for more than a couple of hours on my own. This means that, conveniently, the Practicum and Public Library courses for the term will work side by side. It's quite nice for a Summer term. I have to work 120 hours from now until August and I'll be starting my internship on Wednesday. There will be Storytime that day, so I can hang out with tiny kids for a change. (Not that I didn't get my fill at Disney for the last two weeks.)

For both classes I've had to write up my introductions and why I chose Public Librarianship over the others. It just worked out that way, honestly. True, I've been a teacher, but to get a School Librarianship you had to go through the rigmarole of a state teaching certificate, which I couldn't do as a distance student. Plus, aside from working with students, I'd like to work in the public holistically. I like chatting with people here and there, so working with people of all ages would be something I'd like. Not sure where I'll end up working in the long run, but for now, Public Librarianship is my main goal. So I'm excited for this Summer. I'll be getting some good hands-on experience and inching closer to going back to be with Steve soon. Happy days!

 

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Almost finished with Spring 2010

Collection Development class discussion

Short essay by school librarian - do you agree?

Bringelson , Carin. (2004). On intellectual freedom. School Libraries in Canada, 24(4), p.57-9

I really liked this passage in the article, "My job was not to take a position on the book, but simply to provide concrete information about the title and sometimes perspectives on the broader issue or issues involved. My work gave me the opportunity to think about the reasons why people challenge materials. While these reasons were many and varied, among the concerns that came up repeatedly (for many different titles) were objectionable language, sexuality, and violence.”

I would find it hard to not take a stance on a book, especially something I felt strongly against. I feel like a lawyer, trying to defend a client whom I thought shouldn’t walk the streets. I think this is probably the hardest part of our job, but I sort of see it from a parental sort of view to. (Granted, I have no children yet, so my views may change later when I do.) But, it seems like if you give kids the ability to be taught at home what is acceptable and what is not, then allow the kids to decide on their own if they think something is too much or inappropriate. Maybe it’s like drinking. If you tell them that it’s restricted and off limits and then on their 21^st birthday they put themselves into a stupor, it’s because the whole thing was so out of their underage reach.

What is the difference between selection and censorship?

How can librarians avoid self-censorship?

Can you provide an example of self-censorship? This one can be real or made-up. Just provide a "case" for us to talk about. If real, do not name the library's name or the librarian.    

I'm not sure if things are fairly similar in small towns in Texas as they are in Florida, but I live in a very conservative place.  The school where I use to teach had a very nice, Sunday school teaching librarian and he was totally against having the book Wicked in his library.  But, as he pointed out, the kids wanted to read it so he put it on the shelves.

I honestly would have a hard time with self censorship, I admit, especially if I were working in the Children's Library.  Our jobs as librarians are to allow children to read whatever book they want to on the public library level. That’s a hard pill to swallow. Now, as for school libraries, I think it’s going to be even more tricky. As we’ve discussed, there are plenty of parents who are against Harry Potter novels yet the school libraries have them. I’m glad to know that, as our Power Point notes state, “Children – Lesser, but substantial protection, Parental control, ‘Harmful to minors’ statutes, Not all minors are the treated the same -5 year-old vs. 16 year-old.” But, if there is a YA book that has something a parent doesn’t like, it doesn’t mean the book will be yanked off a school or public library shelf. Again, I think it’s the toughest part of our job, quite honestly, to keep our own personal beliefs and convictions out of the selection process.

Class work

I have to finish shining up my website for Web Development class.  I’ll add some library events and tweak the fonts some, but otherwise it’s a basic website and that’s all we need.  (Well, it has that dreaded CSS stuff in there too…)

I also have to write my final Reflection paper and turn that in for Collection Development.  Everything, for both classes, is due on Friday.

Personal stuff

I finished teaching my day class on Monday, and now I have to finish up grading their Lit. Criticism essays and Annotated Bibliographies as well as their Final Exams.  Tonight I go to school for the last night class to collect the same work from those students.  Then I’ll put the grades in by next Monday and be finished with everything and officially on break for a while.

I’ve been jogging and swimming at the gym, so that’s giving me something else to keep me busy each day.  I also started up my new project called Unfinished Book Reviews that I may or may not keep on blogspot.  It seems the easiest right now to use Blogger for this stuff since so many library, librarian and education blogs are products of Blogger.

23 days until Steve and I begin our vacation!

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