Scheduling+and+Library+Access


 * I am a K-12 Library Media specialist with 3 buildings. We do have fixed classes for library at our elementary but I don’t teach all the classes. My aide does the classes for 4K-2 (under my supervision). My aide does where she reads to the kids and either plays a game with them or an art project to go with the books. I teach the 3-5 library classes. All k-4 classes are 30 minutes and 5th grade is 40 minutes and 4k is 20 minutes. I currently have an aide at each school all day except at lunch times. I am not sure how that will look next year. I am at each building a little over a day and a half each. I teach my 3rd and 4th graders on Monday and Tuesday. I have 5th grade first hour every day. I have a set schedule for being at each building but I don’t think I have followed that schedule yet this year.


 * I currently have 3 elementary schools, and an aide who works at each of the 5 elementary schools one morning a week. Next year I will have all 8 of our schools K-12. I have schedule fixed classes. It's a three week rotating schedule. It's very confusing, but I see every class at least once every three weeks. I don't know if I recommend it. If you have support in each library, which I currently do not, perhaps you can flex yourself to where and when you are needed.

> > I have FIVE libraries in my district for which I am responsible. Welcome to the dirty little secret of the library world that people don't want to discuss other than to say "We are exploring the many different forms that our communities take to provide library services to their students." > > It is not comfortable, but trust me it is doable. You will simply have to evaluate what is most practical to you. It is to your benefit that now you start doing regular professional development with the many different teaching staffs so that they may deliver some of what you used to deliver
 * · My answer is not popular but is well researched. According to the law, library skills can be taught by your para IF the lesson is designed by you and the teacher from the class is in the library with your para. We do have fixed library time and after a couple of years of not teaching lessons because of our "downsizing" we had to do a scope and sequence and develop lessons for each of the grades for the para to teach.


 * If you are serving 1,800 students I would think it would be almost impossible to hold regular classes. If you had 48 elementary classes in a week you literally wouldn't have time to do anything else. I would recommend that the students have book check-out with support staff each week, and you can work with teachers to integrate library/technology skills into their curriculum.


 * I have a colleague who got a new job this year managing 5 buildings in their K-12 district, and she finds it a challenge as well. I’d say to try and keep whatever teaching experiences that you can. Since you’re not likely to serve as a preparatory period, you could say you are going to work with only certain grade levels on Information and Technology skills integration, instruction, and assessment and then choose whatever grade levels make the most sense. Maybe you will only manage the K-5 level and will devote your instructional energy to the 6-8 building?


 * Take a survey of the teachers, principal, and parents this year. Start with the teachers and principal. List all the things you do or could do and put approximate time commitments next to them. Have them rank the tasks as to what is most desirable for them. Go over the findings with the principals one-to-one. Then survey the parents using only the top ten items from the teacher survey. Don't bother with time on that. Then figure out your schedule based on priorities and give the schedule to the three principals. Make sure to put conference time with the aides in each building and your lunch minutes and bathroom breaks. Put it all in there. See where you end up then do the schedule and don't back down next year. You may want to include X number of hours for reading reviews and reading new literature at home at night on your schedule too--anything you carry home with you so that you are similar to most teachers who plan lessons or do grading at home


 * · The aides can do a fixed checkin/out schedule. If you don't have to meet every class every week all the better. Aides can do lessons at any level under HS. Not ideal, but you plan or outline or whatever and they execute.

> Classes sign up for a weekly check out time. That is a half hour time slot for kids to check out books. The classroom teacher stays with them the entire time and the aide runs the check out. I am not involved and they are typically scheduled for days I am not in that building if possible. Any library skills or computer skills classes (to be honest, I do WAY more computer and online research classes than library skills) are flexibly scheduled with me, dependant on my schedule, the teacher's schedule, and the availability of the library/lab. > This year I got changed to three schools, the two big and one of the smalls. Everything is still scheduled as in the paragraph above. There is no possible way I could do a fixed class schedule and fit in servicing three buildings. There would be no time left for collaborating with teachers, developing programs for the kids, library admin things like ordering, weeding, etc. I hope you can find a way to have your schools switch to flexible scheduling. I can't imagine with your higher population numbers that it is even possible for you to fit that many classes into a schedule! My suggestion to you would be to advocate for your position by putting the kids and the teachers first. Even though our library tasks are important as well, it will resonate more with your principals and admin if you focus on curriculum development for kids, resource support for teachers, etc. Also, I would make a schedule for yourself. Monday/Tuesday - building A, Wednesday/Thursday - building B, etc. Of course you can still be flexible in your movement but set a schedule both so people know where to find you and so you can show that you need to service all three buildings and this will be the impact if admin chooses to spread you so thin.
 * In my district, there was fixed scheduling up until three years ago. That is when I started working here. The year I was hired, fixed library skills time was taken away as a prep time. I was hired to work in four elementary buildings, (all have one FT library aide who also does other duties like lunch, recess, etc.). At that time the buildings were K-5, two bigger around 330 students, 2 smaller around 175 students.


 * The library is always open for use and when I am not in the library, students and teachers leave me notes/emails about books they took & I check it out to them, if there is a problem with their title/overdue items I send a note to them to return the materials.


 * We have a combo of the two: At one building I see the entire student body for 45 minute classes one week and the counselor sees them the next week so during their “counselor week” classes just come in for a check-out, at my other building I see half of the student body every week for 45 minute classes.

My afternoons are split between the 5-8 building and 9-12. I opted to be at the middle school on Monday and Friday afternoons, and the High School on Tues. and Thurs. During those times, there is no aide (just me), but there is an aide when I am not there. On Wed. afternoons, I have an aide in each building which allows me time to move around and teach them processing, help with weeding, etc.

have 3 elem. buildings- K-6th I have an aide in each building. Total of 1100 kids.My schedule is that I spent 5 days in each building and rotate. My aides stay in their own buildings. We fullfill the teacher's prep time, so they do not attend with their kids. ( yes, my aides are responsible for the kids and no, they are not certified or even have a college degree ). Not a great situation, but they have done it this way for 50 some years...

One building is fixed and the other two are both fixed and flex, because they are smaller.

Combination, A week at each school. My lessons need to be a one shot deal, for 2 weeks later, it is gone....My aides cannot teach or instruct so any follow through is not effective. This is the area that I really feel bad about. I do collaborate with many teachers and we do have a good relationship, which has taken many years to build.