I teach in a public elementary school in a rural city. The area is low socio-economic with a city population of approximately 3,221. The enrollment for the entire school (PK-12) is 1,809 with several students traveling from four surrounding smaller cities. My building is PreK-2nd grade with about 483 students in 23 classrooms. Approximately 12.6% of our student population is minority and 54% receive free and reduced meals. I am the library media specialist for students whose ages range from 4-8 years old. I teach a forty minute library class for each classroom once a week.
I divide each 40 minute library class time into approximately twenty minute sections.
The first twenty minutes are used for teaching a collaboration of American Association of School Librarians and state library media standards that also align with Common Core Standards. The last twenty minutes of class time is reserved for checking out books and participating in centers that I created. These centers are free choice and include four makerspace stations, three coding stations, six student computers, two iPads, and two tablets. Students also have access to a class set of Chromebooks with internet access.
My Project
Ebooks, apps, and the web are now a part of your student’s daily lives. So how do you determine the best way to turn your library space into a learning center that’s right for today’s rapidly changing digital world?
Learning models are changing, and school libraries need to take the lead.
In many schools, collaborative and project-based learning are popular, as well as peer-to-peer tutoring and one-on-one learning. Classrooms are moving away from a “front of the room” mentality and adapting to students’ learning styles. Libraries need to embrace the same logic and change to reflect the way student prefer to learn. Flexibility is vital; traditional library furniture can be cumbersome and make multiple configurations impossible.
I would like to provide flexible seating (stackable stools) to meet students' individual learning needs and to allow for peer discussions. For example, I currently have stand up tables for students who tend to think better when on their feet but would like to provide stools that students can easily use for longer projects or if needed.
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