Sunday, September 13, 2015

A little bit about me

Hello
My name is Nadene and I am a mother, a wife, a student, and an educator.  I have three children.  They have always been the center of my life.
Michael is my youngest and he is going into his senior year in high school so this fall I will be very busy with helping him in his college process.  I became a mother at a young age and began my teaching career at age 30.  I earned my BA at NJCU and began teaching in Jersey City 16 years ago.  My specialty is in Early Childhood education and I taught kindergarten for 14 years before getting the position of the Library Media specialist for my school.  This is my third year in the position and I'm just about half way through to getting my masters in Educational Technology with the certification in Library Media.  I loved teaching kindergarten but was looking for a change of direction.  I enjoy having the opportunity to be a leader in my school.  Eventually I would like to work at a public library.  This is a picture of my library.  This is just one side of the room.  Our collection is just over 15,000 items.
                 
I am so excited (and a little nervous) for this year because I will have more classes coming to the library.    I have grades kindergarten, first, and second for Library classes and then I have grades three, four, and five for computer classes.  My role as the Library Media Specialist has developed and changed over the last two years.  The first thing I was charged to do was to reorganize the entire collection.  After that I took on PARCC prep classes for grades three, four, and five using a web-based curriculum.  In addition to those classes, I also ran two book fairs a year and made myself available to generate and gather resources for teachers.  I am also in charge of maintaining the collection and ordering new books for the library.  I'm not sure how I will fit all that in with the classes I have in the library this year but I will do the best I can.  I will be very busy this year!  I have created a website and will be updating it shortly as we begin a new school year. http://msmecka.weebly.com/
I am looking forward to this class because I'm interested in learning more about selecting children's literature for our students.  
Some things I like to do in my spare time are reading, scrap booking, DIY projects, and attending live music concerts.  This is a picture from a Phish festival I recently attended.  That's Michael under the hat! 
Another thing I'd like to share with you is my favorite vacation place.  Chincoteague, VA is a town that is known for its annual pony swim but it's not very well known and that's a good thing because it's still quiet and quaint.  
Enough about me for now...I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and learning more about children's literature!
Posted by at

10 comments:

  1. Michelle RosenSeptember 11, 2015 at 11:13 AM

    I am so glad to hear about the work you have to do as a media specialist. It's much better than hearing about all of the schools that are eliminating that position:(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownSeptember 12, 2015 at 6:51 AM

      Thank you for commenting. It's so true for some districts but in Jersey City, they are hiring more and they've even given us a temporary supervisor which has helped us to connect with each other and we now share resources and troubleshoot issues with the Library Management system. Additionally, the supervisor has worked on getting us membership to NJASL. Being new to the position, this has helped me tremendously.

      Delete
    2. UnknownSeptember 12, 2015 at 9:10 AM

      Hearing about positions being eliminated makes me cringe. I lost my old job and decided to change careers. Media Specialist is a sorely needed position in schools and when I hear about eliminations it makes me second guess my choice for change. I really love what I'm learning and look forward to working with students but, sadly, it's a position that is easier to let go of than being a teacher.

      Delete
    3. UnknownSeptember 12, 2015 at 9:11 AM

      By the way, what school are you in? I'll be interning in JC at PS #17 under Renee LoBue.

      Delete
    4. UnknownSeptember 13, 2015 at 1:19 PM

      That's awesome! Renee is a terrific LMS. Very cutting edge and she has a variety of job duties as the LMS there so you'll be exposed to many aspects of the position. Good luck!

      Delete
    5. UnknownSeptember 13, 2015 at 4:12 PM

      Sorry I forgot to add that I'm at P.S. 6 school.

      Delete
  2. UnknownSeptember 12, 2015 at 9:07 AM

    Good to see I'm not the only Media Specialist in training, though you seem to have more of the advantage. Like you, I returned to school after a very long break, 17 years, so it's been an interesting ride. Good luck with your classes, and your job. I start my internship as soon as my paperwork is in so I'll be entering my first library in the SLMS capacity. Going to be very crazy this semester.

    Funny you mentioned working in a public library. I actually applied to a few in NY and NJ myself. However, my real dream would be to work in a museum.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownSeptember 17, 2015 at 6:47 PM

    Love your pictures I have not been in this field as long as you. I actually started this year, but I have come a long way. Since, my library was closed for three years I do not even have a scanner to sign out student’s books so I use paper and pencil, the old way. I like how you work along with the upper grade levels and involve media. I too, am responsible of ordering books, I do not have any training on PARCC, but I am responsible of giving the assessments in the library. I am working with K, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade this year, which I am happy with. Also my library is not set up nice and neat like yours. I am still trying to get it together because for it being shut for so long people had turned it into a storage room. I hope I get everything arranged and going as soon as possible. Just like you I will be very busy this year, with work, 3 college classes, house chores, 2 kids, and a husband, it seems I will not get “me time” for a while. My goal is to successfully fill all the requirements with my best effort.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownSeptember 20, 2015 at 7:56 PM

    I was very fortunate that they have me time to organize the Library. It was a disaster Asante books for out of order and over 3,000 had to be scanned out of the system due to age. It sounds like you're very busy with students. I'm sure it will come together with time. Thanks for your reply!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)