Weekly Reflections

Reflection on Week 3 ~ July 26-July 30, 2021

During this week, I have realized how much I enjoy teaching. It has been exhilirating and inspiring to share information with teachers who are excited and happy to learn about your subject, which was our museum. It was a blessing to share this organization and how it can benefit students with educators. I realized the really great thing about teaching at a museum is people (adults and students) are usually pretty eager to learn more about what your museum represents. It is so different from teaching in a school, in which not everyone wants to be there or cares about the subjects taught. I do recognize that not everyone truly cares about our offerings, especially students who happen upon us via a field trip, but for the most part they are agreeable because the museum is a change of scenery from the classroom.

As I reflected on this week, I also realized that I am well suited for this environment because I am a planner and extremely organized. These are important assets in museum work because we had to plan and ensure we had items in place prior to the actual in-service.

Reflection on Week 2 ~ July 19-July 23, 2021

What a whirlwind of a week! I feel like I am part of the team. I am learning so much about the museum in general and how to market to and educate diverse age groups. I am convinced each department within the museum represents an organ in the body and each one must work together to help the museum thrive. Every person makes a difference and no role is more important than another because at the end of the day what matters is whether the museum is serving its purpose of serving the community and educating the world about The 1927 Bristol Sessions and why Bristol is the birthplace of country music.

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to work with a sixth grade transition group of middle schoolers. I had to quickly learn the facts of the special exhibit "Our Living Past" the night before to present to two groups and prepare to play Banjo Bingo. It was so much fun to work with these students without the worries of discipline. I did have to be cognizant of how I reacted to not only the students but to the adults with them as well. It was really refreshing because many of the adults were just as interested in what we were doing as the students. The students were engaged and learning became fun. There was no testing involved and they were able to enjoy their visit and learn without even realizing it. Museums can actually make learning fun, which in today's society that is a novel concept regarding public education.

On Thursday, I provided an in-service practice for some of our volunteers--mostly retired individuals. They came to preview the middle school and high school lesson we have created. This opportunity gave me a chance to check the timing of the presentation and to get critical feedback on what needs to be changed, the resources, ect. It was a vastly differe4nt demographic than the group of school childen who visited the day before, but it really made me realize how versatile a museum educator must be. This really reminded me of my current role as a school librarian. I have to be ready to greet any person (from four years old to age 95+) on any given day. It is challenging but also invigorating to continuous be meeting diverse personalities with different needs and intellects. I was able to lead this instruction, which enhanced my confidence.

This has also been a week of proofing and providing feedback on the lessons that need to be completed by the marketing agency and then uploaded to our site. Further, I began gathering and ordering materials for the acutal teacher in-service. The final details are being worked out and then we will be ready to present next week. It is exciting to see our hard work finally coming to fruition. Unlike a regular lesson plan that a teacher may craft, so this one has to be as perfect as possible because it is an extension of the museum, a public relations type campaign. It is vital we do this right the first time. We must make a great impression because we want these teachers to use this resource and return with their students to our museum. The only way the museum is going to survive is if the next generation cares about this history. Further, it is vital the schools in the area can value what we have. Much of the ongoing success of the museum is based on our relationships with the schools in our area.

Other revelations: copyright matters, a lot, when we are using images in our lessons. Each image that the museum doesn't own has to receive written permission. This takes a lot of time and research. Further, the quality of the digital images we upload is important.

Reflection on Week 1 ~ July 12-July 16, 2021

During my first week of this internship this internship has provided me with a greater understanding of what working as an educator in a museum means. For me, that has been an invaluable impact on my professional development From just my brief time at the museum this week, I already understand that the needs of the education world and that of the museum diverge and converge. The museum's primary goal has to be the education it provides through its collecction, whle also providing additional services for the schools. It's also important for museums to target all educational entities and not just K-12 schools, including after-school programs at the YWCA, private, homeschool, camps, etc. Being a school librarian, I quickly realized the similarities between the library and the museum.

One similarity and a facet that is invaluable to both these entities is community outreach . The museum must constantly come up with ideas to target all demographics. It's important to target students because the next generation needs to appreciate the past in order to keep it alive and to appreciate it. Further, it's important that people representing other ages, socioeconomic classes, and diverse cultures feel included because these individuals are important for fundraising and some of the museum collectio (Community members have provided some materials for the museum; however the BCM is affiliated with the Smithsonian Museum, and staff also have to be cognizant of protocols from them and exhibits they loan to us. This is just another relationshp that museum staff must preserve.)

Another lesson I learned this week is that research and writing are integral parts of museum educational work. There is a lot of proofing also. This facet reminded me of the public relations field, as you also have to always be aware of how the museum is being represented.

From the business side, private museums need grants and donations to survive. I also have begun to see there is a difference between private and public museums and their funding. Because of this, relationships are pivotal for the survival of most private museums. Relationship building is important for fundraising and museum curation. At the BCM, many of pieces from the museum come to us from community members.

Staffs are small and they wear multiple hats. There are several departments including marketing, development, operations, curation, and education, but the lines blur and everyone works for the common goal of keeping the museum going and successful. My supervisor is the director of curation but she does a little bit of everything.

There are a lot of meetings, and they have professional learning teams (PLTs) like we have in education. The different departments are their own PLTs. The curatorial department is comprised of three members and they meet every Monday.

Most importantly, it's important to be passionate about what the museum curates, etc.