Randon Question

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Librarians/Media Science Chatboard

Randon Question

by A. Price

Jul 17, 2009

I was a 4th grade teacher for two years back in 2002-2004, but I burned out really quickly. Now that I have had some time away from the school setting I really miss it and am in school to obtain my MLS. However, I am very worried that since I hated being in a classroom, working in a school is not for me. Or if I do decide I do want to work in a school, how will I explain the huge lapse between teaching and being a media specialist. I have just started my MLS program so I have not gotten far enough in that I will backtrack any by changing to the public library track...any advice on how the media center is better/worse/different than a classroom? Thanks!

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Mary Well, you don't have the same students all day. Different age groups are in and out for 45 min. class periods and you do what you want to do and it's over. :) I teach computers and love the movement. It also helps me that students have a computer in front of them. I would never go into a regular classroom again. I taught 5th for 1 year, computers f...See More

Jul 25, 2009

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Two-Year Plus Retiree You might want to think about becoming a secondary school librarian instead of elementary. The library is not in the rotation in secondary school. At least, that is how it was in my district where I was an elementary school librarian first and then became a high school librarian. In middle and high schools, we would have classes sign up to come in ...See MoreYou might want to think about becoming a secondary school librarian instead of elementary. The library is not in the rotation in secondary school. At least, that is how it was in my district where I was an elementary school librarian first and then became a high school librarian. In middle and high schools, we would have classes sign up to come in with their teachers as needed to support what they were doing in the classroom. I would teach the library usage part of the class while the teacher collaborated with me to teach the subject part of it. Of course, we had a large number of students come in all day long on passes to independently use computers and library materials that also kept me very busy. I was much happier in high school (but I had also been a high school teacher before becoming a librarian.) There are lots of advantages in staying in a school district. Your schedule is better with no nights or weekends on a work schedule (like public libraries.) You have the summers off. School librarians are paid quite a bit more than public librarians in my city, because school librarian are on the teacher or administrative pay scales (depending on the district.) You are also paying into a State pension system in schools and will have that at retirement. It is still a stressful job, but I found it to be much better than staying in the classroom. Running the library was very much like running a business.

I wouldn't worry about the gap between leaving your elementary position and coming back with the MLS. It is very common for many new teachers to leave the field according to statistics. I think it is great that you are considering going back. I really don't think a prinicpal will hold that against you especially since you were working on your Masters while you were away from education.

Good luck with everything!

On 7/17/09, A. Price wrote: > I was a 4th grade teacher for two years back in 2002-2004, > but I burned out really quickly. Now that I have had some > time away from the school setting I really miss it and am in > school to obtain my MLS. However, I am very worried that > since I hated being in a classroom, working in a school is > not for me. Or if I do decide I do want to work in a > school, how will I explain the huge lapse between teaching > and being a media specialist. I have just started my MLS > program so I have not gotten far enough in that I will > backtrack any by changing to the public library track...any > advice on how the media center is better/worse/different > than a classroom? Thanks!

Jul 25, 2009

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