Week 5: Teaching, Planning, the Usual

Hello again!

This week has been slightly chaotic for me, so I apologize if this is a little more haphazardly done than my usual narrative.

I finished my job application packet last week(I'm still trying to find a way to post that comfortably), but I am still awaiting official feedback. The feedback that I did receive in a brief conversation was not good, and I know why. I decided to apply to a university near by, but I can say that I'm not too excited about that job which potentially showed up in my cover letter for it. I have a difficult time hiding my emotions when it comes to those types of things. I suppose if it's a job I actually care about I would put more effort, but because this felt like more of an assignment and not something I genuinely feel would be good for me, I don't think I put as much effort as I should or could have. So I'm going to be working on that more in the future.

I observed two classes this week, one with the children's literature librarian and the other with the business librarian. Both so vastly different, but I did learn a lot from each! The CL lecture was so interesting, as the class was for an American Sign Language 300 level class, which isn't part of the librarian's subjects, but she was asked to teach this course anyways because the assignment the students received was to translate a picture book into ASL. Observing this class was so cool because it was done primarily in ASL with the students were speaking in ASL, the librarian and I were speaking and using an interpreter.

The business class so fascinating as well! To preface, the business librarian was hired out of library school I believe about 3-5 years ago? She focused her class primarily on using AI to assist with research, as she is probably the most familiar with it. She is the only librarian I've observed who has gone in depth with this tool, and I was definitely in awe. I know this is a topic we have discussed extensively in multiple classes, but to see how to teach it (and teach it well!) was definitely inspiring.

I also had the opportunity to teach this week, and it went much better than the first time! It was an English 100 class, and I believe I'll be doing two more of those in the future. I did spend more time preparing what I wanted to do, plus I was able to have some communication with the professors beforehand, which really helped me to understand their mindsets when it came to creating a plan. I think my issue the last time teaching was not having that communication with the professors, so I felt ill prepared. Also, I'm amazed at the fact that in a class of about 18 people, none of them had used the library? INSANE. So yes, I felt more prepared, more structured, and more at ease this time around. It was a great time!

Apart from that, I am working on my projects. I have my first workshop next week, and I am a little nervous for that. I am prepared to have no one show up, but also there's still that dread of, "But what if 30 people show up?!" A lot of emotions. All around, a fairly exciting week for me, some major highs, some major lows. It's a good thing I love rollercoasters!