Deep Thinking

Today was a traumatic day. As I parked my car in the driveway, my German Shepherd Marshall Teddy Bear (T) Rex and my little Lucy mix came running to the gate to greet me. They were barking happily and running to the backdoor for the boys to let them in when suddenly my neighbor’s pit bull went through the fence, grabbed my Shepherd under the throat, threw him to the ground and bit his head with that pit bull deathgrip. I didn’t know what was happening until I looked up and the neighbor on the other side was screaming, “That dog is going to kill that dog.” The owner had let the pit bull off the chain to play and then stepped into his garage for a moment. The owner came running, screaming. I came running and saw my dog on the ground being mauled. The owner was able to get the pit bull to let go and my dogs ran for safety to my van. The owner was eventually able to convince his dog to go back under the fence and connected him to the chain. When we examined Marshall, he had a deep cut on top of his head exposing his skull, plus puncture wounds along his face that dripped blood into the nasal cavities and resulted in bleeding from mouth, saliva, and the nose. I took off for the vet. Hubby answers his cell phone to a desperate call and wants me to call police. At that point I’m nearly in shock and can only deal with my poor puppy!

Hubby shows up at the vet’s, takes one look, and calls the police to file a report. The owner of that pit bull had a different pit bull 4 years ago that came through the fence and attacked one of my 8th graders (at that time) while he was mowing. The neighbor who witnessed this today was hysterical also and wants the pit bulls removed from next door! So do I!
The vet has kept Marshall T-Rex overnight to stitch and staple him under sedation, put the IV in to watch for shock, and watch the facial injuries to be sure they don’t swell up with trapped air. Unfortunately I leave for Seattle tomorrow before my poor 9.5 year old puppy comes home. Little Lucy and I are still traumatized. I have on three layers of pajamas & robes, a heated throw and a blanket. I don’t understand pit bulls and the owners that dare put a pit bull on a chain. My hubby posted about this on the Democratic Underground and received lots of flack from people who object to our dissin’ an entire breed based upon this one neighbor. I’m not buying what they’re selling.

If you were a classroom teacher and sent a group of students to the school library for only 5 minutes, what would you expect them to do? Probably choose a book, right? A classroom teacher sent half her class by themselves right after lunch to quickly* grab a book . I was not in the room because I was escorting a visitor to our new art mini-lab. Unbeknownst to me, the teacher had also instructed them to stay OFF the computers. What were they doing?

Browsing the OPAC
Taking AR tests
Designing pictures with Kidspiration
Looking up ideas on Grolier Online
Printing pictures
Chatting with friends

The teacher was upset even though the students checked out before leaving. The students were quite upset because the majority of them said they weren’t “on” the computer, they were simply using the computer to find information. It’s a difficult position to be in as the “keeper of the room”. To compound matters, the students didn’t leave immediately when the teacher sent a runner down to tell everyone who had touched the computer to return to the room immediately. This was the situation as I returned to the library.

Eighteen years ago as a LIS student, one of the very first student guidelines for my students was to know what they were seeking and doing in the library. I don’t think this has changed. We still want to teach them to be productive. We encourage all students to be on task. Yet we ask them to be life-long learners and information users. Should we differentiate more “using the computer” as separate from “choosing a book?”

* Quickly is a separate issue since they had already come with their reading teachers in the morning. Four out of 5 reading classes at that grade had already come to browse, chat about their books, and make selections. Were the students totally honest with the teacher when they insisted they “needed” to come to the library? Is their need to satisfy their “incidental curiosity” as reasonable as their need to have a good book to read?