Mary Hoover

LBSC 744
Initial Vision and Expectations Paper

As excitement builds for the first day of my internship experience, I have reflected
on my vision and expectations for this initial placement. Prior to this moment I had done
extensive research on schools with modified school years in hopes to find a school within
my region that would be possible. When I connected with Elizabeth Napier from Baltimore
City Public Schools and she informed me that a summer placement could be an option I was
ecstatic.
I will be working at Elmer A. Henderson this summer. It is a school that serves
kindergarten through eighth grade. I am thrilled about the grade levels of the school since I
will get to serve elementary and middle school students. This is a comfortable placement
for me because I currently teach in a prekindergarten through eighth grade building.
Despite this familiarity with the school type I have only taught fourth and fifth grade. I am
comfortable with the 5-8
th
grade ages but I have not had much exposure to the younger
grades. This will be an area where I can grow this summer.
As I envision the summer I hope to leave this experience understanding how to run
an effective library that fosters collaboration with the staff. While I have had some
classroom management experience I have never been in charge of a budget or managing
other adults. I am curious to see how the current librarian is able to manage her staff,
maintain her library space, and collaborate with teachers.
Additionally, I am looking forward to cataloging and weeding a collection. I do not
have much practical library experience and I plan on delving into this as much as possible
while completing my internship this summer. I hope to maintain a reflective practice
throughout my experience as I look to discover what will work best for my future library.
One strength that will be useful is my ability to identify and relate to the daily
struggles for educators. As a practicing teacher I understand the fast paced, data driven,
rigor filled school systems. I want to use this understanding as a way to make connections
and foster collaborations with teachers. I plan to listen to the teachers needs and partner
with teachers to meet the needs of their students.
However, I am worried about the crossover from teaching 4
th
grade and 5
th
grade
math to a library setting. I think many teachers may be skeptical that I have gone from one
field of study to another. It may make some hesitant to collaborate with me. It will be
imperative to make connections early on and be intentional about showing my curriculum
knowledge for all subjects so teachers begin to trust me. I hope to prove to the staff that I
am knowledgeable about the common core standards and how to infuse them into practice.
My second placement will be at a high school in the Montgomery County School
System. This placement is the one I am most nervous about. For the past 4 years I have
been living and teaching in Baltimore City. I thrive off the diversity in my school and I
understand the needs of my school community. Working in a new county with a different
population will be challenging. My first goal will be to take time to get to know the students,
staff, and community members. I hope my mentoring librarian is one who can foster this
understanding and give me insight in to the community.
Another limitation of my current experience is the age of students I am use to
working with. I have only worked with fourth and fifth graders during my time at
Hampstead Hill Academy. The last time I stepped foot into a high school was when I was in
high school over eight years ago. I am nervous about my ability to interact with older
students and I am not sure how I will feel about students in this phase of life. I also feel it
might be harder to collaborate with certain teachers who are outside of the humanities
subjects. I am hopeful that this experience will broaden my perspectives and increase my
confidence with working with older students.
Furthermore, I am not sure what a learning commons for a high school will look like
and sound like. I am interested to see what policies are in place for food, drink, electronics,
and talking. I am hopeful it will be an interactive and tolerant space for students to learn
and grow. It will be useful for me to see different policies so I can think about what may
work for my future library and me.
While both placements may be serving different student populations I am hopeful to
be the hands and feet of my mentoring librarians as much as possible. I want to learn from
them but also to help them. Throughout my experience I hope to be in tune with my
mentors needs so I can ensure I am being useful throughout the entire internship.
I am very excited to start my library internships. Three years ago when I started this
program I thought about this culminating experience but it seemed to be light years away
from reality. As my capstone experience nears fruition I have many idealistic hopes. I am
hopeful that at the end of my internships I am a librarian who understands and can foster
collaboration with staff members. Furthermore, I would like to be knowledgeable on staff
and materials management. Finally, I would like to emerge from this experience as a
librarian who is seen as an educational leader and community advocate.