I spent more than five years as an elementary school librarian, and during that time, I became a teacher's assistant for several teachers with reading and writing lessons. I love the light in a child's eyes when they discover new ideas or explore new worlds through reading. It's important to encourage both creativity and critical thinking, both of which begin with stories.
I helped students in second through fourth grade during their reading lessons, demonstrating patience and care, often...
I spent more than five years as an elementary school librarian, and during that time, I became a teacher's assistant for several teachers with reading and writing lessons. I love the light in a child's eyes when they discover new ideas or explore new worlds through reading. It's important to encourage both creativity and critical thinking, both of which begin with stories.
I helped students in second through fourth grade during their reading lessons, demonstrating patience and care, often reinforcing comprehension and inviting extrapolation by asking questions about what the students just read. Basic reading skills required immersion and repetition, while I urged more advanced students to pursue what interested them, and branched into related topics. While writing at that level tends to emphasize grammar and structure, I ensured they were also recognized for their imagination or sound logic.
Some of the most rewarding work I've done has been with special needs students, including one-on-one work with a boy who had severe Autism. Social skills, focusing, and interpersonal relationships were challenges for him, but we loved working together and marking his progress. In the special needs classroom with eight students, we worked on basic writing skills, question-and-answer sessions, and story time — my favorite part of the day as I'd use accents and different speech mannerisms to represent the characters.
And in my work as the librarian for this pre-K through fifth-grade school, I opened the library up to all students, adding a Head Start time slot plus story time for any class who wanted to attend, regardless of level. I was always happy to help students find books that interested them or locate references for research projects. I also helped the teachers develop their own classroom libraries to supplement what was available and encourage reading during free time in their class.
