Librarian as Reading Teacher???

[Anne White]

I'm looking for a little insight. I have recently been informed by my principal that I will be teaching reading to a group of about 12 or 13 second graders for and hour and a half (!) EVERY day. I have my MLIS, and my school library endorsement is PK - 12 (all level), but my teaching certification is Secondary English (6 - 12). I feel very underqualified to do this, and I feel like it really might be doing these kids a disservice. It seems the principal feels that since I'm around books all day, I must know how to teach people to read them, but in truth, I've never taught elementary in that kind of capacity.
Is there anyone else in a similar situation who can give me information? I'm quite apprehensive about all this. Not to mention that I can't imagine how I'm going to find the time to get my "real" job done too! HELP!!

[Tiffany Whitehead]

WOW, an hour and a half every day...that's incredible. I have a similar background as you - I'm teaching in a 2nd/3rd grade elementary school with school library certification in K-12, but teaching certificate in middle school grades. I cannot imagine being asked to teach reading to a group, I would feel the same way that you do.

A lot of the problem that I run into with other projects being pushed on me (which happens constantly) is that others don't *really* understand what we do all day. Maybe you could make a list of all your duties to help show your principal that if you take on this task, other things will fall to the wayside. I would just go to your principal and have an honest conversation about how you're feeling about this.

Who is the person in your district that oversees library services? Perhaps if this can't be worked out in with your administration at school, you should seek their advice.

[Anne White]

I've been thinking I need to give her a more complete list of what I do. I give her a weekly "newsletter" about some of the highlights and extras that have been happening, but maybe she needs a "play by play". Our school has 900 kids, so you can imagine how busy I already am. I'm planning to speak to the director of library services, and a friend also suggested that I might check w/ the union to make sure she can actually ask me to "teach" a level I'm not technically ceritified in. I kind of hate to do that, but I might just ask to see what they say. It's not that I don't want to pitch in and help out where it's needed, but it's just SO much! Thanks for you response!

[Sandra]

others don't *really* understand what we do all day.

Completely, 100% agree with this statement! Then they all want to find work for you to do!

[teacherninja]

Since you're in the coolest classroom in the building with plenty of books, I would do a Reading Workshop model. And since you probably don't have the time to do a ton of research on this, I'd check out Joanne Hindley's "In the Company of Children." Half of it is on reading/half on writing. You may also want to look at Harvey Daniel's stuff on Lit. Circles if you have enough sets of books for that age. Nancy Atwell's The Reading Zone is inspiring and short, but meant for middle school; though the concepts apply. The main thing is to just read aloud a lot (which I'm sure you can do) and give them plenty of time to read on their own. You're in the perfect place for it, so just take a deep breath and try to have fun.

[Anne White]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try and track some of these down. Unfortunately, I think there's a curriculum I'm supposed to follow, and even give them grades. Yikes! But I'm sure doing some additional reading on the topic will help. Hopefully the "curriculum" might not take the whole time, and we can do lots of reading aloud, etc.
Thanks!!!

[Molly]

Even if there is a "curriculum", often the premise of Reading Workshop can be worked in (mini lessons, modeling, metor texts, etc.) - good luck to you! I hope all works out in your favor. So many people (especially admins) mistake being an English teacher and/or librarian (also both of my certs.) with being a reading teacher, when neither get the training that reading teachers do.

[Anne White]

Yes, and thanks! I'm trying to use some of these strategies, but part of my problem at the moment is these are 2nd graders - I've never taught kids that age, and am really not great at the discipline/keeping on track/classroom management part. Their attention span is SO short, and we're in a school that has lots of kids that come from less than ideal and supportive backgrounds. We're dealing with lots of behavior issues, etc. It's tough to really get into the lessons when the kids can hardly sit still!! ;-)

[Sandra]

You could try a behavior log. It is a chart with three requirements at the top, on task, working quietly, and completed work. Then the sides are divided into 30 minute intervals. A point is given for each task during each interval of time if the student is doing that task successfully. After a certain number of points is collected, the student gets a prize. This might help, if you can afford some prizes or you can get some donations for it.

[Sandra]

Hi,

I know the thought of teaching reading to little guys may seem overwhelming at the moment, but you have a wonderful opportunity to have a positive influence on these children in the most important educational area of their life! When will you start your classes? Will it be immediately, next school term, or next school year? I have found some free sites online that may be helpful to you. I found these while taking a graduate course in reading in preparation to addon a reading endorsement to my certification. Would you be interested in what I have found?

[Anne White]

Hi - and thanks for your response!
I'd definitely be interested if you'd like to send me the sites you think are good!
I've already started it - it suddenly happened w/o much time for prep. To be honest, one of the main problems is behavior management. These kids know they're not in their regular classroom w/ their regular teacher, and motivating them to pay attention and work hard is the most difficult. I have several kiddos that are known for being a challenge (6 boys) within a 17-student group. I've tried whole-class activities, small group, you name it. Even talked w/ the assistant principals to try to get some strategies, but none of it seems to have a whole lot of effect. Their classroom teachers and "specials" teachers experience the same issues... Oh well....

[Sandra]

Hi,

You may already know about these sites, but here they are with a very brief comments. They were the ones that the student I worked with for my class seemed to like the most or that helped me to assess his strengths and weaknesses best. We had to have a kid to practice on.

http://www.test4free.com/

http://www.mindplay.com/free.html

http://www.mindplay.com/talk.html

Mindplay: good site with a free reading online reading test. The results it gives are great! It tells exactly where a child is, (ie. Below average, average, above average), what their problems are both phonetically and with comprehension. It gives an instructional reading level and independent reading level based on the test. Finally, it includes a chart. It also has some free resources. The free “read like you talk” lessons are supposed to be able to improve comprehension skills in less than 4 hours!

http://www.studydog.com/sample1.asp

http://www.studydog.com/angels.asp

This site is cute and helps with sounds. They also have a program for low-income students where you can register those students and get books to lend to them.

http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/phonics/student.cfm#grade5

This site has lots of games to help with sounds and comprehension from pre-K to 6th grade. The games are cute.

http://www.softschools.com/language_arts/phonics/

This site has lots of games to practice skills that often get to be boring for kids as they get older.

http://genkienglish.net/phonics.htm

This site would be great for kids that are bored by learning the sounds of the letters of the alphabet and blends, but still haven’t mastered them.

Hope this helps!

[Sandra]

P.S.

Try the behavior log.