Week #2 - Bound for Xenia

My first week at Xenia HS is almost finished and I already feel right at home. Kay Gerspacher, the resident librarian extraordinaire, has done a fantastic job of making me feel welcome and getting me involved with students right away. Last week at Centerville was definitely a valuable experience, but it was also a little difficult to get really involved because I was there for such a short time. I'm at Xenia for the haul, all the way to the end of the school year, so I can stick my nose into everything. I've already met so many teachers that I have little hope of remembering their names, let alone students. As one would assume, Xenia is a very different environment from Centerville, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it thus far.

One thing that surprised me, right off the bat, is that Xenia as a district has a commitment to sustained silent reading (SSR). 5th period is typically reserved to provide the students with time to read for pleasure. With the pressure of testing requirements, I was pleasantly surprised to see such a visible and obvious commitment to encouraging reading (4.1.1, 4.1.2). The previous principal was very dedicated to SSR and the new principal has left it in place while he evaluates it. I can understand that many teachers might seek to get that time back for their subjects, but I hope the administration continues this commitment to SSR. Not only is it very beneficial for student literacy, but it certainly increases library use as students explore their reading preferences. Hard to argue with that.

In most districts that I've observed the school librarian often has to juggle a lot different responsibilities, and Xenia is no exception. Student interaction is, of course, the priority, and library administration has a lot of emphasis, but there are a lot of other, almost intangible responsibilities that butt into the day. You end up performing a lot of tech support for teachers (why are the IT staff always busy with something else?), A/V troubleshooting, problem solving, schedule resolving, etc. In it's own way, this is strangely reassuring because it not only reveals a need for the school librarian, but it emphasizes the large roles technological aptitude and social skills play in the job. These are the kinds of skills that we try to pass on to students, and who better to instill the three key literacies (information, media and technology) in students than someone who uses them constantly in their profession?

I have found the students at Xenia to be very receptive to my presence, and they have little hesitation in approaching me and asking for my help. Somehow I've stumbled into the role of PowerPoint guru, particularly with a round of biology classes. Helping them create effective Powerpoint presentations incorporates a surprising number of different standards (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2) and it's giving me a lot of opportunities to try and reinforce those standards. I'm getting some class time next week with the same classes to give them some research and citation tips, an opportunity I'm pretty excited about. Even if it means I have to spend my weekend brushing up on my MLA...

The district is in the process of evaluating a program called My Big Campus which is, essentially, a localized social network: Facebook for the school. I sat in on a webinar/open forum with Kay and another librarian, Rebecca Stroble, as well as the district IT director and the developers of the program. I'm goig to spend some time in the ensuing weeks testing the program to help them formulate questions, but what little I've seen of My Big Campus is pretty exciting because it's an instant tool for helping students learn to utilize social networks responsibly (4.1.7). I'll have a lot more to say in a few weeks when I get more time with it, but it's encouraging to see a step toward utilizing social networks. Most districts just block them entirely.

I have a lot to prepare for the next week, hopefully my first pseudo-lessons will go smoothly.