I also appreciate how smoothly some things seemed to "click" during this course. I was fortunate in that my mentor gave me opportunities to take the lead because I had the ability to immediately try out or apply some of the concepts we were learning in class. There are also a few things that I tried out, like my top reads poster, that couldn't have the full impact unless I was working full time with the same students over an extended period of time. I'm looking forward to trying those things out!

I am savoring this moment a bit because this is the point in time that I can look back and think about who I was six months ago, a year ago, two years ago. There has been a lot of growth, and so many things that seem natural now from having done them regularly over the past three months seemed foreign not too long ago. Small things from how to support students in self-check out to how to set up an efficient library that limits opportunities for students behavior to deteriorate, how to find your first few educators to hook into the library, to growing relationships into deeper collaboration that has the potential to expand and grow.

I'm so excited that many of you are off onto your next adventure. I'm in my final slog and hope you all are done for a reunion celebration in August when I am done :)

I found our weekly discussions to be the most valuable part of this course. My fieldwork position only showed me a small sliver of "what is" and “what could be.” Reading everyone else’s experiences cued me in on the many possibilities of school culture, media center set ups, and district priorities. Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences this semester, I have learned so much from all of you! 

I also found our projects to be incredibly useful and authentic. The community scan and board presentation are all activities I can see myself participating in when working in a school. I am a big fan of sandboxes to play around in and try out techniques, and the projects in this class were just that. I was able to try new tools and techniques with low stakes. Our projects also provided me with the opportunity to get to know my fieldwork placement district at a deeper level. My experience there was so impactful because of these additional projects.

Finally, I am so thankful for my field experience position. There is only so much one can understand from books about behavioral management, lesson planning, and multitasking.  My fieldwork position gave me the opportunity to experience all that goes into school librarianship in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere. I do not think I would have been as prepared as I feel now without the fieldwork experience. The cooperating librarian reflection and self-reflection also allowed me to really reflect on my strengths and weaknesses and discuss authentically with my mentor.

Thank you so much for a great semester, and a great three years (for me!). I can't wait to see what you all get up to! Congrats!

Entering my first library job while completing this course has been an absolute godsend as I don't know that I would have survived these first few whirlwind months without the timely modules that have directly influenced my practice. It feels difficult to pinpoint a single "best" takeaway as my needs (and my school community's) are always shifting.  At any given moment this semester, I had a new "aha!" such as when I was working on selecting furniture for the library and we learned about the primordial learning metaphors or when I read about elevator pitches and then had the opportunity to pitch a new learning management system to the superintendent when we ran into each other in the hall.  

When I try to predict what from this course will resonate with me into my future, I hope it will be the sound of Dr. V's endless encouragement and contagious optimism that we will change the future playing on loop in my mind, an antidote to the anxiety and imposter syndrome that sometimes rears its head. I hope it echoes louder than my self doubt; I hope it becomes the soundtrack of my library life. How lucky are we to have had her (and each other) to cheer us on through all of this? 

I used to think I would never want to work in a school library. Then I thought I would never want to work with anyone but high schoolers—especially not elementary school kids. I have a 3-year-old and (almost) 7-year-old at home and that was quite enough for me, thanks, plus I thought that all the really fun stuff we get to teach is limited to older kids. But now, after working at a K-4 school and reading about the truly exciting experiences you all have had at every age level, I see that there is joy and meaningful teaching to do with every age group. Having this openness feels like a real blessing as I approach the next phase. 

I was low-key terrified in January—what if I did all this work over 2.5 years and...didn't actually like it?! I now I feel like I genuinely know what school library practice looks like, and I'm confident that the school library is a place I want to be. In our last office hours Dr. V mentioned that she wants our assessments to be valuable in the real world, and I found them so helpful in this way. I really appreciated how the community assessment feeds into the strategic plan, and in fact the materials I made for assignment 3 led to a job offer last week! So there you go; they’re not only valuable for the real world, but job search tools. Overall, I am so grateful for the ways in which this course in tandem with 592 made me feel prepared for the real world, and so grateful for all of you!

We talk a lot about how this job can be a lonely one, but I think we all are leaving here with close connections and people we can reach out to when we feel like we’re on an island. I’m grateful for the knowledge I gained in this program, but more importantly the friendships I’ve found during it. I’ve learned so much from each and every one of my peers and feel lucky to have had Dr. V on the sidelines cheering me on the entire way. In times of doubt, she was the calm in the storm guiding me back to safety. I can’t wait to see where we all land in the coming months and look forward to hearing all about the strong programs you’ve created.

As I mentioned in my Flip for this week, I've recognized that enacting change is not something that is done in a day, a week, or even a year. It requires focus, determination, and long term planning. I hope to hold this thought with my close. When I go into work and don't see my vision of an ideal library, it doesn't mean I've failed. It just means that I am not there yet. Real change takes real time, and I need to ensure that I don't let despair take over when I don't see the fruit of my labor grow overnight.

Like some of you, I went into this program with a specific age group in mind. I had worked with teenagers for year prior to the program and did my FE/PT work in a high school library. While I know I would be successful and happy in a high school library, I've also learned through this program that I am drawn to the energy, play, creativity, and excitement that elementary and middle school students bring into the library. When I think about my own personal values, these are certainly more aligned with who I am. I also have many of you to thank for allowing me to discover that. In so many of our classes together, I've seen the work you've done with that audience in mind and I am constantly inspired and excited.

I felt this course was extremely well-scaffolded. I loved coming into it and being able to apply the "jargon", conceptual frameworks, awards etc that we had been introduced to in prior coursework. There were few topics that I felt I was going into blind but I felt I had the opportunity to dive deeper into many of them, especially budgeting and advocacy.

Thank you to all of you for making this program feel so incredibly human from behind a screen. And thank you, Dr. V for the love and support you've offered now and throughout the program.

I feel lucky to have had such a supportive community throughout my time here.

📕 💗

However, each week that passed, I had this feeling that continued to build that what I was learning in these courses was so unbelievably nonnegotiable to my pursuit of a career in librarianship. EVERY.SINGLE.THING applies to what I am doing, what I have done and what I aspire to do. The validation and inspiration I have received from this last year of school is unparalleled. Though I do not think I will be a school librarian for long, what I have learned in the last year and in this course has changed how I view my role and has left me feeling empowered. 

Undeniably, the biggest lesson I have learned is patience. Change does not happen overnight and it also doesn’t happen in just a year of hard work. It takes time, it takes collaboration, it takes communication, it takes a growth mindset, and it takes commitment. It is a process that is thoughtfully broken down into attainable baby steps. When taking these steps, accountability is paramount. We have to hold ourselves accountable and responsible for what we do to actualize our vision.

I am bubbling with so many ideas and am so looking forward to having the summer to truly process and reflect on how it all fits together. This year of graduate school was like lighting a match. Next year when I am able to put all I have learned and processed into practice will be the time to see what kind and how much light can truly exude from this spark. I am quite restless with anticipation and wish I could look into a crystal ball to catch a glimpse.

The value of a strong PLN, in its many forms, was made so clear in this class. I was thrilled to be able to attend NJASL with classmates, professors and other professionals in the field. It was truly an amazing experience to be with so many people of the same mindset working toward similar goals. The bus tour was also such a wonderful opportunity to connect to librarians in the field and see the amazing work they are doing. Time and again, online and in person, I have been shown that the nature of our profession really draws selfless and caring people who are eager to share the merits of their programs.

 I count myself fortunate to have such knowledgeable and caring people surrounding me as I take my next steps into the professional field of librarianship. I know I can rely on them for ideas, quick answers, a sounding board, or just a sympathetic ear, and I hope they know they can expect the same from me. The road to graduation often challenged me and at times took me way out of my comfort zone, but the people I met along the way lightened my load a little and made it that much more enjoyable to get here. I'm grateful for the supportive community at Rutgers and the opportunities it has provided me to grow both personally and professionally.

I used to think school librarians were the coolest people in the world. But now I think they are the most proactive, creative, and inspiring people in the universe. Growing up, some of my biggest role models were school librarians. During middle school, for a moment I thought I could be a librarian! Unfortunately, my grades were not ideal. I disliked being in school, and I would always rather be somewhere else. (Other than the school library, of course!) Back then, I knew I had to get a master's degree if I ever wanted to pursue this profession. I stopped thinking further because I knew going to graduate school wouldn’t be for me. So, fast forward to today, I never thought I would be where I am now (a.k.a. finishing my last semester of grad school!) 

Throughout this course, the most valuable thing I learned was how the school librarian works beyond the school. One of the major projects we undertook this semester, the community and school scan, informed me how large our world is as school librarians. For school librarians there is no stopping point or drawn-out line which states, you must obtain information only between point A to point B or you cannot pass “GO!” and collect $200. Throughout this project, I became more aware and familiar with how the community affects the surrounding schools. During the corequisite course (592), I discovered how connected we are as librarians. In one of the townships, the teen librarian was related to my current supervisor at the public library. Through this connection and conversing with my mentor, I discuss various topics between the public and the school library. In my future career, I plan on making new connections in the school district and township to ensure a stable relationship and collaboration! 

Another thing that I learned throughout this course was to plan for the plans that need to be planned. In other words, start early and plan everything (including the unexpected). When I worked as an art specialist at a summer camp, there were several times when there was unexpected bad weather or one of the rooms was unavailable for the day. Due to this sporadic and spontaneous nature, I became more vigilant in having backup plans and plans for those backup plans. Similar to the community and school scan, the professional workshop project is something that I took a lot of pride and joy in making. I wanted to create a workshop dedicated to helping others plan for the future and see what was available. I want to make sure those plans are available when I need them the most!

Outside of projects and assignments, I also valued reading about everyone’s weekly experiences from their field experience. One of my favorite sayings is "Teamwork makes the dream work!" What better way to learn than from each other?

I am a strong advocate for gamification and collaboration in education. When we feed information to and from each other, we can see a new perspective than one we might not have seen initially. I hope to continue our classmate relationships into professional ones as we slowly make our way into our future or current career paths. Let's start to grow our PLNs here and now!

Overall, this course has prepared me more than I ever anticipated. From the detailed projects to the engaging online class discussions, I am ready to open the door to the next chapter in my life. Even outside of class and in the final semester, I learned many tips, tricks, techniques, styles, strategies, lesson planning options, infographic designs, AI software, and everything else that will guide me to become the best version of a school librarian. Of course, this wouldn't have been possible without Dr. V's thorough curation and encouraging feedback! Thank you everyone for a wonderful semester!

I actually think that I have almost run out of reflections to share! So much of this experience was inherently reflective, so I feel as though I have shared most of my learnings in other locations already.

Overall, this program has taught me how to identify and communicate my values to the team at my school. It has seen me through finishing my last years as a math teacher and into my new career as a school librarian. Aspects of librarianship that used to feel overwhelming, like collection development and strategic planning are now routine parts of my job. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had over the last few years to learn alongside you all!

Angela