SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

June 19, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Summer Reflections: Thinking about teachers as a public librarian

June 19, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS   4 comments

Karen as a Freshman

Before I can tell you about the best teacher I ever had, I have to tell you about the worst. I started a new school in a new state in the 9th grade, my first year of high school. My English teacher that year had just returned from teaching English in Japan. She really loved Japan. I know this because that year she taught us so very much about the Japanese culture, but so very little about English. So when I started English in the 10th grade, I was lost. Utterly and tragically lost. I couldn’t diagram a sentence. I couldn’t label the parts of speech. I could not fix your clause or identify your dangling participle. So 10th grade was also a nightmare, but it wasn’t that teacher’s fault.

Karen as a Senior

But in the 11th grade, the curtain of fog lifted thanks to one Mrs. Harris. I loved her. She taught me all of the things I was supposed to learn in 9th and 10th grade. But most importantly, she made me read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. That book changed my life. That year changed me. Seeing myself turn around and be successful at a subject that I had struggled with helped me gain confidence not only in myself, but in my future, which begins to really loom heavily over you in the 11th grade.


Sometimes all it takes is one teacher.


When I first started working as a librarian, I was invited by a teacher to visit her classroom and do booktalks. I booktalked to her students once a month every year for 6 years. Here’s what I learned about being a teacher in that time:

1. It is Exhausting

Standing in front of a classroom and doing the same lesson for 6 to 8 periods in a row is exhausting. It’s physically exhausting. It’s emotionally exhausting. It just drains you. Without fail I would announce to my husband that I was going on that morning to do booktalks and we both knew it meant I was coming home at the end of the day to take a nap. Teachers have to be constantly “on” in ways that many people don’t in their jobs because you can step into the bathroom when you need to, or get a quick drink. Standing in front of a classroom is kind of like being on stage for multiple shows in one day.

2. It is More Than Just Teaching 

Teachers enter the building before they will even teach a moment in their class and do things like facilitate drop off, pass out breakfast, monitor recess and lunch, and more. Every day when I run the drop off and pick-up gauntlet at my Tween’s school I am always impressed to see a teacher standing in the rain with cars moving on both sides of her while she holds a slow/stop sign to help make sure students get inside the building safely during this heavy traffic period. They signed up to teach a subject in a classroom and end up doing so much more, including being mentors, guidance counselors, safety officers, peace keepers and more. And then after they have spent the day navigating through the issues of students, they have to navigate through the professional and administrative portions of their jobs.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

3. It is Valued

It was clear each and every time how much these students appreciated their teacher. She worked hard to teach them. They learned things. They participated. And when I came, they also valued that as well. I was impressed each and every time to see these teens in the classroom environment and honored to get to know them and get to share this time with them. When you show genuine interest and respect to teens, they often return the sentiment in kind.

4. It is Constantly Changing

What we know about development, the human brain, about science and history . . . these things are always changing. And as our knowledge of the world we live in changes so to must teachers. Teachers are required more so than many other professions to continually participate in continuing education and professional development. And because we are so invested in our children, there are incredible outside demands made on teachers, often by individuals who have no real practical or theoretical knowledge of education or what happens in the classroom. Today more than ever teachers are trying to be heard over a variety of outside influences, many of whom have more of a financial interest in education than any real concern about the individual needs and personalities of the kids and teens actually sitting in a classroom.

5. It is Important 

Teachers have important jobs and they go through specific education and training to become accredited to teach. Teachers learn about development, learning styles, building curriculum and more. Plus, they have to learn the content matter of the grade level or subject areas that they are teaching. We all have moments in our lives where we teach – we teach our children to tie their shoes or we teach a patron to set up an e-mail account – but that does not in any way encompass all that it means to be a licensed teacher in today’s school setting. Being a good teacher is a not only a skill, but I believe it is a gift and a calling. 


I remember playing school as a little kid and wanting to be a teacher when I grew up. The truth is, I believe I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing as a YA librarian, and it lets me do a lot of the things I wanted to do when I dreamed of being a teacher, mainly helping teens.
As a mom, I have had my issues with my kid’s teachers: I have questioned assignments, I have been disappointed in the way that individual issues have been handled, and I am deeply dissatisfied with the amount of time spent showing movies at my child’s school. But I have also had many moments as a librarian where I have been inside the schools on the other side, and that is a unique and challenging experience. I am thankful every time a teacher invites me into their classroom because I know that their time is precious, as are their students.

Filed under: Booktalking, Education, Public Education, Teachers, Teaching, Teends

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

August 2011

Bootalk It! Developing a Booktalk Program to Network with Area Schools

by Karen Jensen, MLS

April 2018

Striking Teachers Deserve Our Support

by Karen Jensen, MLS

October 2014

Sunday Reflections: What Malala means to me as a woman and a librarian, a reflection on women's issues in the news

by Karen Jensen, MLS

July 2014

Sunday Reflections: Not All Educations are Created Equal

by Karen Jensen, MLS

June 2014

Booktalking

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

2023 Caldecott Jump

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Ben Mortara and the Thieves of the Golden Table | This Week’s Comics

by Lori Henderson

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Don’t Ban Them. Don’t Silence Them. The Importance of Writing About the “Tough Stuff” in Teen Fiction, a guest post by Lila Riesen

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Newbery Medalist Amina Luqman-Dawson visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

13 Hard-Hitting Nonfiction, Immersive Poetry, and Magnetic Thrillers for Teens | We Are Kid Lit Collective

Four Novels for Young Sleuths Watching 'The Mysterious Benedict Society' on Disney+ | Read-Alikes

A Peek at the SLJTeen Live! Books

17 Magical and Mind-Bending Sci-Fi & Fantasy Titles for Teens | Summer Reading 2020

Three Creepy and Kooky Books for 'Wednesday' Fans | Read-Alikes

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. KP says

    June 19, 2014 at 12:50 pm

    Thank you for posting this lovely homage to teachers. In this day and time when no one says anything good and testing is ALL, it is refreshing to hear that a teacher invited you in — amazing that she valued your contribution enough to have you return again and again — and even more encouraging that you saw her side of the work. It is a hard job – teaching – and it deserves the best people we have to offer our children. Thank you for your part in it all.

  2. Brytani says

    June 19, 2014 at 3:11 pm

    A couple weeks ago, I went to an elementary school and did 6 back-to-back 40 minute presentations about summer reading, the library, and fun books to read. I was so exhausted at the end of the day and then the school librarian said, “I do this every day.” I would have a meltdown. That little taste of school life was enough for me, but I'm so very grateful for all the wonderful teachers and school librarians in my communities.

  3. Julie Kinney says

    June 21, 2014 at 4:01 pm

    As a former high school teacher turned YA librarian, I agree with all those things. What many outside of education don't understand is how hard you actually work: Grading papers is the least of your concerns sometimes. Unfortunately, I had a series of bad principals and I live in Wisconsin…when Act 10 here and Common Core both came on line at about the right time, I saw that doing my best was never going to be good enough for my kids. I still needed to work and I still believed passionately the literacy is the way out of the cycle of poverty and violence. Teachers can't do it alone–I only saw my kids for 45 minutes a day. Parents, neighborhoods and society as a whole have to step up and help out. Librarians and libraries are part of that–all kids need a safe place with an adult who isn't their parent or teacher. If I can make that place the library, I'm doing my job correctly. Thanks for recognizing all the hard work teachers put into their jobs.

  4. James Morgan says

    June 23, 2014 at 7:34 pm

    Redundancy is at accurate documentation levels practically in most nations around the world having many people jobless along with buying a new vocation. If you want job search engine, find jobs, it is advisable to indicate many effort along with imagine outside the container to uncover organizations who are seeking to seek the services of further staff.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023