One of the things I really liked about working in higher education was teaching our library and research skills programme. You might think that school librarianship doesn't utilise these skills, but you'd be wrong. Our school enables pupils in the Lower Sixth (Year 12) to undertake an Independent Research Project (IRP) - as such, the Library teaches them how to research a subject effectively, how to avoid plagiarism and how to reference their source material. So far, so familiar. This is all a preparation exercise for the skills they will need at university, and based on my experience in Higher Education, they desperately need to know these skills before they arrive on campus - it makes things so much easier.
So tomorrow I will be teaching a class of 11 Sixth Formers how to be honest in their academic work, by citing their sources and avoiding literary theft.
This is in contrast to the library skills sessions I taught last week with Year 7, where we covered research skills. They are starting to study Shakespeare and they had to answer eight questions on Shakespeare, Elizabethan history and the plays. The catch was that in their pairs one had to use a book, the other the internet to find the answer: a cunning ruse that shows them that the internet is not always quicker than a book in finding answers to very specific questions.
These lessons have all been taught before so the question sheets and resources were available ready for use... until we were informed that while one group was going to do Twelfth Night, as in previous years, the other would be studying A Midsummer Night's Dream... for which we had no questions.
So, quick look through the questions, two specifically Twelfth Night questions needed replacing. Now, I haven't read A Midsummer Night's Dream since I was a fairy in an outdoor production at the University of Leicester's Botanical Gardens (it rained - I had to miss the last performance and was ill for a week afterwards) and have only seen an amateur performance since (also outdoors; also wet) so my knowledge of the play was sketchy, at best.
Putting on my researcher's hat, I duly read the Connell Guide to A Midsummer Night's Dream and wrote two questions, found appropriate sources which Year 7 could use to find the answer, created new question sheets and a teaching sheet with all the answers for me, and duly waited for myvictims class to arrive,
The thing I love about Year 7 is that they are enthusiastic, but also competitive. They soak up knowledge like sponges and always want to contribute vocally to lessons - there is never a shortage of raised hands from eager pupils desperate to give the answer.
Feedback from the English teachers was very positive:
"Thank you so much for this morning - a really useful and enjoyable exercise!" - Head of English
I led a fun, interesting skills session and I got to show off my Shakespeare knowledge.
Who says school librarianship is dull?
So tomorrow I will be teaching a class of 11 Sixth Formers how to be honest in their academic work, by citing their sources and avoiding literary theft.
This is in contrast to the library skills sessions I taught last week with Year 7, where we covered research skills. They are starting to study Shakespeare and they had to answer eight questions on Shakespeare, Elizabethan history and the plays. The catch was that in their pairs one had to use a book, the other the internet to find the answer: a cunning ruse that shows them that the internet is not always quicker than a book in finding answers to very specific questions.
These lessons have all been taught before so the question sheets and resources were available ready for use... until we were informed that while one group was going to do Twelfth Night, as in previous years, the other would be studying A Midsummer Night's Dream... for which we had no questions.
So, quick look through the questions, two specifically Twelfth Night questions needed replacing. Now, I haven't read A Midsummer Night's Dream since I was a fairy in an outdoor production at the University of Leicester's Botanical Gardens (it rained - I had to miss the last performance and was ill for a week afterwards) and have only seen an amateur performance since (also outdoors; also wet) so my knowledge of the play was sketchy, at best.
Putting on my researcher's hat, I duly read the Connell Guide to A Midsummer Night's Dream and wrote two questions, found appropriate sources which Year 7 could use to find the answer, created new question sheets and a teaching sheet with all the answers for me, and duly waited for my
The thing I love about Year 7 is that they are enthusiastic, but also competitive. They soak up knowledge like sponges and always want to contribute vocally to lessons - there is never a shortage of raised hands from eager pupils desperate to give the answer.
Feedback from the English teachers was very positive:
"Thank you so much for this morning - a really useful and enjoyable exercise!" - Head of English
I led a fun, interesting skills session and I got to show off my Shakespeare knowledge.
Who says school librarianship is dull?
