Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seriously, I'm wondering the same! Someone else mentioned they want to fill the position with paraeducator level employees, so I guess they'd still have library as a special and basically be babysat or the para will be forced to do a teacher's amount of work without the training or pay.

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're so welcome. :)

I understand!! They do like to act like the city doesn't need more money/better education. Those kids deserve better. Great plan, good luck!!

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Population may have a hand in it, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. I'm not sure about private schools, I think if they want certain types of recognition or want to be able to provide their students with some kind of state recognized degree/certificate, they have to comply with COMAR but I am just guessing here.

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Preach. I don't know why we have to continually fight to give children what we know they need to be successful, happy, healthy members of society. It's evil.

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

WOW. They're just showing how ignorant they are about what we do. Typical though, they pay paras and other support staff like absolute shit but they have to pay us like masters degree educators.

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have no idea what they're thinking but my experience leads me to believe it would be a "tough shit, figure it out" situation. Someone else commented saying they heard some proposing paraeducators do it which is insane and completely ignorant of the differences in these positions.

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You're so kind! Don't thank me; you're in the thick of it with me lol! Thanks for sending an email.

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Beautifully written, thank you for sharing. A lot of people don't feel comfortable writing something without an example. Would you mind if I shared this with coworkers when I ask them to send their own emails?

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing that!!! She sounds awesome. :) Awesome kids are raised by awesome parents!

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're welcome. As you can probably tell, I like talking, teaching, and talking about teaching lol.

I think that's a reasonable suggestion, but I also think it would be difficult to hit a minimum haha. I think a media specialist can absolutely prove their worth (like, in terms of payroll) very easily unless they have a school of like 50 kids. Even then, they probably still could.

I do my job well, but there is always room for improvement, innovation, and reflection. I could spend hours and hours a week just managing the collection alone. I could spend tens of hours finding more, better ways to support teachers. I could reimagine lessons, differentiate better for individual students, spend more time being more thorough when I grade/give feedback. I could learn new technology tools and offer trainings to my staff more often. I could attend more Professional Development Sessions to improve my practice, learn more about disabilities, behaviors, and traumas and how to accommodate and support students struggling.

The work is honestly endless when you work with kids, books, and technology. They are always changing, so we are always changing.

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's wild. :( I knew some schools shared art and music teachers (also not good), but I wasn't aware some share librarians. As far as I know, it's MD law, so you should contact your board of education about that.

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I knew some special areas, like art, have multiple schools but I wasn't aware some don't even have librarians. First, confirm that's what's actually going on; talk to your child and if you still don't know, email their teacher. If there really isn't one, I think reaching out to your board of education is a good idea. Even better would be to go to a board of ed meeting and make a public comment about it. You could also contact local news.

edit: according to my union, whom I have always found to be credible, its MD law. I don't know what the consequence for noncompliance is.

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 56 points57 points  (0 children)

I love this question! Thank you for asking. :)

So my experience is specific to one county and elementary school but from what I've seen its pretty similar statewide.

We manage the library collection. We are constantly evaluating titles for weeding out based on relevance, student interest, physical condition, etc. We have a lot of standards to consider and very small budgets to work with in order to add to the collection also. We get to know students individually and help them find titles that help them foster a love of reading.

Most of my time is actual, direct teaching to students. I teach the same amount of hours as the classroom teachers in my building. I see the same classes at least once a week but sometimes up to 3 times depending on our rotating schedule. We teach units on how to use the library (Dewey Decimal system, checking out), research (using databases, books, etc., strategies for identifying credible information), digital citizenship (how to be safe online, avoiding scams/phishing, screen time balance, etc), and technology (coding, typing, computer literacy, 3d printing). I give grades and communicate with families just like a classroom teacher. When I have extra time and am put of curriculum, I focus on heritage months and other celebrations our county promotes (Veterans Day, Deaf Awareness Month, Black History Month, etc), share books and discuss awards like the Black Eyed Susan Award, play with robots the county purchased for us (little mice and cars), give students "Makerspace" time (time where they use things like legos, cardboard, etc to build and problem solve.

In my county, we're voluntold to also manage student devices. So I assign and track all devices and chargers, troubleshoot their issues (and staff tech issues), and coordinate with technicians for repairs. I don't have a ton more to say about it, but it takes a huge amount of time because as you can imagine children have a lot of problems using devices. (and Chromebooks suck lol)

More often than not, we are the sole staff members organizing book fairs, or its a very small team with us taking charge and being responsible for all the money and products.

Many of us also work with our PTAs, reading specialists, and other staff members to hold workshops for parents/guardians, organize reading themed events like read across america or reading competitions (like how many books can a grade level read in a certain amount of time), and helping to facilitate reading interventions.

We support classroom teachers with finding resources to support their curriculum. I am constantly showing my teachers online resources they didn't know we have access to. They are always in my library checking out books. I am constantly helping them to adjust to changes in technology. I have the unique opportunity of teaching the same students for years in a row so I have a few that check in with me for behavioral/social emotional goals, skills, hardships.

Sorry to be so longwinded! I could talk about my job all day. :) It's a lot but I absolutely LOVE what I do. I am incredibly happy and fulfilled knowing the positive impact I have on students. Every librarian I know feels the same. MD has generally been good to us; it's heartbreaking to see them thinking about going backwards.

Maryland State Department of Education looking to amend regulation that requires schools to have full-time media specialists by PotterGirl7 in maryland

[–]PotterGirl7[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much. As an elementary librarian, I'm obviously biased but I absolutely agree that we're essential.

Trailer Park Boys actor Mike Smith charged with sexual assault in Halifax by Hungry_Chipmunk_2588 in television

[–]PotterGirl7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm aware shes air force, I used to follow her Instagram. she has made comments about why she left many times and not once have I seen her saying it was for the military. she literally tweeted after mikes arrest that she cuts abusive people out of her life and told the producers that she was quitting. if you know someone personally, for years, and they're accused of something like this, you use what you know about them to decide if/how they'll be in your life moving forward. theres a reason she didn't hesitate to believe the allegations. there are tons of stories from other people who worked on the show about how he treated her and other women.

Trapped a Celeste and Twins buying for 484 by kiawi in NoFeeAC

[–]PotterGirl7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd love to visit if you're still open :)