Notes from the Field #1
Posted October 24, 2013 by Maya Bery
It’s now six weeks into the school year here in Massachusetts, and I am happy to say that I love my job. It’s wonderful. The community is supportive and values the library, my colleagues are welcoming and helpful, and I’m so lucky to have ended up in such a lovely place. I’m at an especially interesting vantage point, because many of the people who were in the GSLIS program with me when I began have now entered their second and third years of teaching, and they all seem to be thriving: enjoying their jobs, contributing to their school communities, and generally being exemplars of the graduates of the Simmons GSLIS SLTP program.
It’s also six weeks into the start of the Instructional Technology Licensure program (ITL), the two-year, entirely web-based course for post-master’s candidates pursuing additional licensure in instructional technology. We’ve discussed learning styles, how to foster collaboration, and are now moving into our study of Web 2.0 technologies and their applications in education. What I value about this course is that it encourages us to think critically about technology, to be adopters, but smart ones. Our instructor, immediate past president of the American Association of School Librarians, Susan Ballard, is always willing to listen to feedback, respond to questions, and engage with us in the comment threads, which can get quite lengthy. Apparently we have a lot to say!
Balancing work and school is a tricky thing – I know many of my GSLIS colleagues did so throughout their time, but it’s no easy feat, balancing a 7:30-4:00 job (those aren’t my official hours, but that’s what they work out to when all is said and done), having time for other pursuits in life and remembering to reply to comment threads, interact with and learn from my cohort, and do the assignments. The online format has taken some getting used to, but I’m very grateful for the opportunity to further my education in a convenient manner. If I had to juggle getting from the far suburbs to campus once or twice a week, I don’t think my participation in this program would be possible.
That’s it from me for now, but I’ll be posting again soon with another “dispatch from the field.”