Creating a Global Learning Environment

 

This blog is the second in a series of blogs that discuss a variety of the shared foundations that SC librarians find are important in their school libraries.  

This librarian is Jennifer.  She is the librarian at a 600 student elementary school.  The school has a very diverse population.  One of those populations is bilingual Spanish students.  The shared foundation of include is very important to her in creating a library collection and environment of diversity and inclusion for all students.  Finding resources for these students are important and constant.  The limited selections of fiction and nonfiction books that would appeal to those ESOL students, but also reflect their culture in the characters is important. 

Some of the resources that she has included in her collection allow for Spanish translation to benefit the students and parents of the students.  Recently the community of Jackson Elementary, Jennifer’s school, and Camden Elementary to meet with ESOL parents.  The event was called Elevate and it provided read a-louds for the students and resources for parents. 

Challenges in the library program are establish opportunities for students to excel while learning a new language.  As this group of our community continues to grow, so should this part of the library collection.  Online resources have also been chosen so that they can have translation options.  The Google technology platform used by the school district allows for translation of documents by teachers and students. 

The library is committed to sharing resources with teachers.  Grade levels that collaborate on a regular basis is first and fourth grades.  Weekly, Jennifer will curate resources designed around themes being covered in the classrooms.  Teachers will use these print resources and website recommendations in the classroom.  The use of the library is still limited due to social distancing restrictions, but Jennifer coordinated these requests whenever the need arises.  By understanding and empathizing with the needs of the classroom teacher and students, Jennifer creates the environment of a global learning community in the school.