Some more reflections

In thinking about yesterday's events and reading Shelley's post, I would need to expand on some things. I am new to the media center this year in a new district. My predecessor retired and the school district could have done what so many districts have done and not replaced him. However, the admin. in my new district is very supportive of the program, which is odd and here is why. My predecessor did nothing for the last several years. When asked to teach, he balked. I found a complete mess in the high school and weeded like a mad woman before school started. I took this positionl because the admin. assured me that they needed someone who would make the changes to the position to bring it up to speed. I am working K-12 and loving it. I am able to work mostly with elementary and high school teachers and students. Now, based on that background and what I heard yesterday, many people are still in situations in which their admin. may eliminate their positions. At the multi-assignment group meeting, it was a vent fest, which seems to be the case for all group meetings. This can really be a good thing and a safe place for people to share just how things are with others who can relate. Fortunately for me, I could not relate to many of the issues. What I learned from that is that I really have a unique admin. who values me even though my predecessor was not good. I can pretty much do any good thing and get wows. The others in the group are underappreciated by their admin. I guess my point is, admin. is key in order for the profession to stay and advance. My old school district did not value this position even though she was phenomenal. In changing districts I have been able to see exactly how valuable I am to the district. In some admin. eyes, no matter how much the SLMS is out there doing and working, if they do not value the position, they will eliminate it anyway. My own opinion here, but the admin. only see $$$, they don't think of the kids, the staff, etc. In my old district, where there isn't a certified SLMS any more, the teachers are working with me through email to get some help they need. I can't do it all, but I'm certainly going to try because they deserve that.

I guess I'm off on a tangent, but this comes from meeting with so many people who are in situations that can just be hard. What I learned in classes at WSU is that we just need to make ourselves present and do whatever we can to prove our necessity. We need to do that as teachers just as much as we need to do that as the SLMS. Mr. Hartzell made a good point yesterday (and this is a paraphrase) that the other teachers think we are not teachers or that we don't remember what it was like to be teachers when we step into the new shoes. Just because our classrooms are not assigned to the students, doesn't mean that we don't know what is going on. It's essential that no matter what we do, we do our best and we show case that however we can to the powers that be.

I hope that makes sense.
Carma