Lovell Elementary media specialist creates evolving library that keeps students excited
A+ Teacher Kathryn Gunter has created an evolving, student-centered space at Lovell Elementary School in Apopka that is inviting and helps students feel connected not only to their school but to each other.
When Spectrum News 13 recently visited Lovell Elementary School, media specialist Kathryn Gunter was teaching students how to use a 3D printer.
She says it’s important to put the students’ needs first. She explains how they decide what to offer here, “So then it just became what do the kids want? What do the kids need? What is the data telling us?”
That’s the thinking that’s led to hands-on learning inside the library and students find it fascinating.
Gunter has created a space where students can feel free to create a poem from story titles, record data from a jellybean bottle flip, or even produce a puppet show. There is just one goal in mind and that is to make sure the students are having fun while they’re learning.
“Sometimes it’s about getting that quick fun engagement,” she said. “I think that one of the things that people misunderstand about the library is that it’s just for checking out books and that libraries are still quiet places where you come, and you don’t talk. You just sit and read.”
Gunter says creating a love of reading and checking out books is a part of it, but not all of it. “When the kids come to the Wildcat library, one of the things that I want them to feel is excitement. I want them to feel…I want them to feel curious.”
She collaborates with teachers to make sure what is inside the library reinforces and expands on what students are learning in the classroom. “But it’s also a place to explore anything you want. The only thing stopping you is your imagination,” she said.
The person who nominated Gunter as an A+ Teacher says she has created a place where students want to learn, explore, and create. Her innovative ideas led her to pursue and win the Florida Power Library School Award, which recognizes outstanding school library programs.