Reflections on teaching...

I'm reading Mount Pleasant by Steve Poizner. I picked the book up because I taught math at that school from 1996-2002. I was connected to the school starting in 1964 because my father was a part of the original staff when the school opened until he retired in 2001. So, I admit to a certain bias and poignancy when I read someone else's opinion about the students and staff. To be fair, I haven't finished the book yet, so I don't know Mr. Poizner's ultimate summation of his one semester, one class teaching experience.

In reading the book so far, I appreciate his recognition that teachers in California's public schools work hard and have a lot of expectations placed upon them. The drive to highly traditional mathematics standards that stifled my creativity and ability to push students to think beyond rote memorization led me out of the math classroom. In my librarian capacity, I have much more freedom to be creative and interact with students where their interests are. I'm no longer burdened by a pile of papers to grade and 5 periods of students to keep engaged for 50+ minutes in a subject they may love or hate. One of my fellow librarians once described our job as the "hidden gem" of a school.

It may be a "hidden gem" but is it so "hidden" that no one understands that I still teach and touch lives? Does anyone know that the work I do one-on-one helping a student navigate our information rich world, finding just the right book, or helping them figure out the answer to a question provides me with the opportunity to help someone grow and learn? I don't work as hard outside of school as I did when I met with five classes a day and had 150-170 students that were "my kids". But inside school, I touch lives every moment...whether it be the 10 kids sitting in front of me now with an open first period, studying and socializing or it be the class of 30+ headed in for their research on the Middle East in a few minutes.

I look forward to finishing Poizner's book in the next couple of days. I will enjoy the conversation I have with Dad after he finishes it next. I wish I was able to join the group of former MP teachers & administrators tomorrow night for dinner to see if any of them have picked up yet, but I'm refereeing for our school "Olympics" event. It's interesting to see how others see you...

What do Teacher Librarians Do?

Saw this video posted on the Blue Skunk Blog. How often am I asked..."what do you do?" This shows the answer with real librarians and real students. Kudos to the United Teachers of Los Angeles and LAUSD staff for putting this together.