Final Week @Brandon Public Library

I am finished at Brandon.  Yesterday was my last day.  On Monday we had two Baby and Me storytimes.  For the second one I read the books.  We read, sang and danced, and then had play time for 15 minutes.  Most of the children were dressed in their Halloween costumes.  They were so sweet.

Yesterday, I led the preschool storytime all by myself.  The theme was pumpkins. We read 3 pumpkin themed books, sang and danced, and had cupcakes, cookies, and punch.  The children were also dressed in their costume.  We had a princess, Spiderman, a police officer with big muscles, and a pirate.  They were so sweet.

I am sad that my time at Brandon is over.  Just when I was getting to know the other workers there it was time to leave.  I feel like a learned a lot there.  I got lots of ideas for storytimes and crafts.  I also watched Rachel do a book order from Baker and Taylor.  On Monday I went with Ms. Jessica to the HQ office to use the Ellison machine to cut out pumpkin shapes for storytime.  I also really enjoyed getting to know the people that I was working with.

Overall, this was a great experience and I am so glad I got to do it!!!

Brandon Public Library Week of 10/18

This week I came to the library on Monday and Friday.  On Monday we had 2 Baby and Me storytimes. One at 10:00 am and one at 11:00 am.  Both had really large crowds.  The theme for storytimewas bats.  Everyone really enjoyed it.
Friday was a pretty relaxed day.  Everyone just kind of got caught up on their work for the week.  I continued putting labels on the easy reader books denoting them counting books or abc books.
My time here is almost up and I'm pretty sad about it!!

Wednesday, October 13 at Brandon Public Library

This week I only went to Brandon one day.  On Monday I went to the USM Teacher Fair and on Friday all CMRLS libraries were closed for staff development.  
Wednesday was Preschool Storytime.  Mrs. Jessica let me read the first book.  It was called I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll.  It was so cute.  It was about a little boy who could not fall asleep without his monster, Gabe, under his bed.  It was a little long but the kids were all really good and sat and listened.  After we read that one we did some singing and dancing and read two more books.  All with monsters as the main character.  Can you figure out what the theme for this week was?!  The craft to go along with the theme was...you guessed it.   A monster mask!!  We took a paper plate, cut it in half, and had strips of construction paper cut for hair, wiggly eyes, and construction paper noses for the kids to decorate their own monster.  They loved it.  It was so much fun!!

Brandon Public Library Week 3

Yikes!  Been so busy I almost forgot to post.
This past week I was at Brandon on Wednesday and Friday.  On Wednesday I observed Mrs. Jessica do the preschool storytime.  The theme was Owls.  They read 3 owl books, sang and danced, and then made a puppet with a brown paper bag and a cutout of the owl.  It was very cute.  After that we finished decorating.  I made my very own display in the young adult section.  I was quite proud of it and some of my books have already been checked out!!
On Friday Rachel did some work on upcoming programs and even got some things going for summer reading 2011!!  She is a planner!!  And I got to see the Cricut machine work.  I think that was the highlight of my week.  Now I want my very own Cricut!!  This week i will only be there on Wednesday because today I went to the teacher fair on campus and Friday all CMRLS libraries will be closed for staff development.

Brandon Public Library Week #2

This past week was a great week at the Brandon Public Library.  On Monday they had 2 Baby and Me programs.  The first one had 8 kids and 5 adults.  I observed during this one.  But, I did get up and do the dances to the songs!  They sang and danced, read 2 books on counting, and then had playtime for 15 minutes.  The next Baby and Me program I read the books and led the singing and dancing.  For this one there was 4 kids and 3 adults.  The program was exactly the same as the first one.  After we did this we began taking down the displays from last month.
On Wednesday they had one preschool program.  I didn't read the books, but I participated in the singing and dancing and helped with the craft.  The theme for this program was space.  Mrs. Jessica read books about space and the craft was a space rocket.  For this we took a small rocket pattern that the children had colored, taped it on the front of a cone shaped water cup (the kind that are at the water cooler), and then used small strips of red crepe paper for the fire.  It was a very simple craft and the kids seemed to enjoy it.  There were 15 kids and 7 adults for this program, I believe.
After we got cleaned up from the program we started decorating for Halloween.  The children's department is now covered in pumpkins and scarecrows.  Pics to come later!!!

Week 1-Brandon Public Library

I hung out at the Brandon Public Library on Wednesday and Friday of this week.  It is an awesome library.  I stayed in the children's department with Rachel Nowell and Jessica Bilbo.  On Wednesday I watched Jessica do preschool storytime.  She had around 20 kids and about 6-8 adults.  The theme was "My Favorite Books."  Jessica read her books and they sang and danced.  After they got done with that each child made a bookmark that they could take home and put in their favorite book.  The children seemed to love it and most were very well behaved. On Friday they usually don't schedule any programming.  Jessica was off so Rachel showed me many interesting things.  She actually has storytime planned for the next 3 years!!  She is the most organized person that I know.  I will be back there tomorrow and I believe that tomorrow there will be 2 "Baby and Me" storytimes.  I'm excited to see the little ones and see how they react!!

Final Week @Mize Attendance Center

This week I completed my final hours at Mize.  It was a very good experience overall and I can see myself in that type of job position. It's amazing how fast the last 4 weeks went by.  I am so excited to begin the last 75 hours at the Brandon Public Library!!!

Pictures of Mize Attendance Center Media Center

Practicum-Week 3

I had a short week at Mize this week because of the Labor Day holiday.  I was there on Wednesday and Friday.  On Wednesday it was library day for one class of kindergarten, one class of first grade, one class of second grade, two classes of third grade, and one class of fourth grade.  I read the book Inch by Inch to kindergarten and first grade.  I read Officer Gloria and Buckle to second grade, and I read Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears to third and fourth grade.  They all seemed to enjoy the books.  After each class left there was a lot of straightening to be done!  Mrs. Hughes discussed budget issues with me.  She said that the budget comes from the central office and that she has usually received it by now, but that she hasn't yet.  She wants to order new books and things for the library but until she gets the budget she can't do that.
Friday was Jr. High day.  Sixth and seventh graders were in and out all day.  They were all very rowdy and most did not care about checking out a book.  They seemed more excited about the upcoming pep rally and football game than anything else.  They seem to be messier and louder than the lower grades, so once again the afternoon was filled with more shelving and straightening!!

Week 2

Week 2 at Mize Attendance Center is over.  This was a long week!!  I stayed a total of 20 hours this week.  On Monday I stayed until 12:30 and Wednesday and Friday I stayed the whole school day.  When the kindergarten class came on Monday I read them the book Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten.  After we read the book I had them each a sheet of paper with their name typed on it.  I told them they could practice their name or draw an animal from the book.  They seemed to love this.  Some of the kids were excellent artists!  After they got done drawing we watched a short video based on the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  The children really seemed to like all of these activities.  For 4th and 5th grade Mrs. Hughes read a book called Once Upon a Motorcycle Man.  It was sort of a fractured fairy tale and the classes discussed the different elements that make up a fairy tale.  On Wednesday I did the same activity with the other kindergarten class and Mrs. Hughes did the fairy tale activity with the 3rd and 4th grade classes that came.  The 1st and 2nd graders watched a movie.  Friday is jr. high and high school but their teacher only brings them every other week and she had brought them the week before, so Friday was a pretty quiet day.  One class of 6th graders and one class of 7th graders came in to check out books for book reports.  They were super rowdy!  I think they were excited for the 3 day weekend.  I know I was.  So Friday was spent straightening shelves and straightening the library and helping the 6th and 7th graders find appropriate books for their book reports.  Overall, I had another great week at Mize Attendance Center. 

Week 1-Complete!

My first week of the practicum is complete.  YaY!  And I survived.  I stayed a total of 20 hours this week.  I stayed the whole school day on Monday and Wednesday and until 12:30 on Friday.
Monday is the short day in the library, but Wednesdays are pretty busy.  And Fridays are Jr. High and High School day.  Each of these classes only stay for 15 minutes and only check-out books in they choose to.  Of course most don't want to.  I've had a good experience so far.  And for next week I have a few activities planned for Kindergarten and First grade.  Hopefully they will go well.  I plan on uploading some pictures this week.  I forgot my camera last week!!!  

August 23, 2010- First day of practicum!

Today was the first day of my 75 hour practicum at Mize Attendance Center.  The day started off with me observing my supervisor, media specialist, Mrs. Alicia Hughes.  Before the beginning bell rang 5th grade students who are in band where able to come to the library and return their books and get new ones.  They do not get to come to the library with their class because that is their band time.  The first class to come to the library after the first bell rang was the 5th grade students who are not enrolled in band.  There was only a handful of these students.  Apparently the band is pretty popular!  The students had to sit at round tables with four students per table.  One table at a time was allowed to get up and browse the shelves and then check their books out.  One student asked to check out the Twilight book, but Mrs. Hughes instructed the student that Twilight was a high school book and she would have to get her parent to bring her to the library to check out the book.  I'm pretty sure this student wasn't too happy about this.  After observing Mrs. Hughes for a few minutes with the check-in/out system she let me try it out.  The scanner is harder to work than it looks!  After a few books I got the hang of it.  The fifth grade got their books and sat "quietly" at their tables while waiting for their teacher to come and get them.  The teacher does not accompany them to the library and I felt that was kind of odd.
The second group to come to the library was a class of kindergarten students.  They were sweet as pie.  They are learning about dinosaurs this week so Mrs. Hughes showed a short dvd on dinosaurs.  They all seemed to enjoy the movie once they got settled and quiet.  Their library time is only 30 minutes and they do not get to check out books.  However, they do have a reading room in their building where they can take books out to look out.  I'm not sure if they can take them home or not.
The last group for the day was a class of 4th graders.  This was the largest group of the day and the most rowdy.  They watched the dinosaur movie but were totally uninterested.  While the movie played one table at a time was able to choose their books and get them checked-out.  After they left I straightened the shelves, shelved the books that have been returned, and spent some time trying to familiarize myself with my new surroundings.
Mondays are the least busy day at the library, but the remainder of the week classes up to the tenth grade will visit the library once a week.  They are allowed two books per check-out and are reminded to take care of the books and not to lose them because there is no money to buy new ones.
Overall I enjoyed my first day in the library at my alma mater!!!  I look forward to my remaining 67.5 hours.

Pre-Practicum Jitters

This is my first ever blog posting.  
On Monday, August 23rd I will start my practicum at Mize Attendance Center.  I am very nervous about it; mainly because I'm not sure what to expect.  After I complete 75 hours at Mize then I'm going to the Brandon Public Library in Brandon, MS.  I think I want be quite as nervous starting there because I have worked in a public library setting before.  However, I have never been in a school setting.  Well not since I was a student anyway.  I think I just need to stay positive and it should turn out to be a great experience!!  I am definitely looking forward to the fall semester.