Librarian in a Strange Land: Teaching a Freshman Orientation Course Available to Purchase

The opportunity to teach a three unit general educational freshman orientation class is a dream come true for any instruction librarian. In this article, Blakeslee discusses the chain of events that led to her teaching a general education course, as well as the planning and background of the course, course content, challenges of being a new teacher with little classroom experience, combining librarianship and teaching, and the benefits derived from the classroom teaching experience. Her better understanding of the students, she concludes, stems from having had extended opportunities to see what motivates them and interests them and how they approach their assignments and learning. This understanding has translated into better reference service.