The first observation my group made was a trip over to the Southfield Public Library. We were amazed to see the quality and expanse of this community development. There was a large area dedicated to children's literature and learning. The library has a wide range of books from Preschool to Adult. In addition, there were DVDs, Cd's, Audio Books, Chapter Books, Picture Books, and many more to suit all children's needs. We visited the library immediately after school, which didn't allow for us to see many students. There was a handful of parents and children that were reading and doing activities in the library. I spoke with one parent regarding some of the activities on the poster she was looking at in the main entrance of the library. She voiced to me that Southfield community is very involved with student literature development. There are activities after school and on the weekend designed by grade level. For instance, they have "Battle of the Books", "Reading Genre Month", and "Teen Read" that are promoted and encouraged by the community. The parent also told me that the community is split because some parents don't have the time to take their children to the library or do activities due to the fall of the economy. This brought some insight to me because I learned some information about the Southfield community that I can take back to the classroom. As Catherine Compton-Lilly wrote, "By listening to parents and children, we begin to conceptualize possibilities and solutions that recognize the strengths of families and the potential of children" (Compton-Lilly, 457). The library visit was important to my community research because I found the possibilities for my students. I know that I can attempt to involve my students in literacy activities in their community and encourage literacy at home.
In addition to the library, my group visited resources in our school. First, we visited the media center/library within Thompson-Schoenhals. The library is small, but accommodates K-8 students. The library is open 3 days a week when the librarian is present. The school librarian is wonderful and helpful with literature. She is willing to help students and staff when choosing books for pleasure or lessons. One surprising aspect about the library is that we still have not recieved our K-5 reading books due to the recent merge of the two schools. This alarms me because the students have library once a week, but have not had an opportunity to read or check out books. I spoke with the librarian about this matter and she voiced the same concern and told me they are expecting the materials this week. Despite the current situation, the library is a resource for the students to utilize. There are many literacy related materials that can be used by the students. Importantly, the students have access to laptops/computers. Technology have become a new literacy development that I feel educators need to respect and allow students to explore. Secondly, my group visited our own literacy room. This room is enclosed in the back of the school. The room is used for assessments, extra resources, and help from the literacy coach. Many of my second grade students are pulled from instruction time to seek individualized help in this room. The room is a wonderful place for students to receive the support they need and for teachers to seek help. The literacy coach is involved in all the K-5 classrooms and makes sure teachers have the resources they need. This room will be important and useful in my teaching because I can come here for ideas or to learn more about some of the students.
This exploration of the community and the school was a useful experience for my upcoming year of teaching. I learned about the community involvement and ways I can promote my students to utilize their community resources. In addition, this experience helped me think about my students as literacy users and learners. The students have a vast array of literacy in the community and school. There are individuals to help students with literacy and material resources for them to explore. I will be using all of these resources areas when planning my lessons and talking with my students about literacy. This community resource exploration has opened my eyes and connected me with the literacy component of the Southfield community.
No comments:
Post a Comment