Chapter 13 Wools-Assessing Learning Article
Assessing Learning: The Missing Piece in Instruction?
I found this article to be very interesting, on either side of the lesson plan examples. The beginning was informative and I found myself agreeing with a lot that was said. For example, in our district we follow the same kind of questions that are presented here; What have they been learning, how well have they been learning, and how can we verify they are learning? I’m sure that every district has some kind of format that follows this setup. What I always like to see, and it’s something I think most teachers forget about, is the performance task for students. As a teacher this is difficult for me because it requires you to just kind of walk away and let the student show their abilities. However, I think the results speak louder than any assessment given. Quite often when I do these things I’m surprised at what my kids are truly capable of. Another thing I think that is vital in a school community is some kind of assessment that allows you to see evidence in the improvement of instruction. We use a program called Acuity, which is similar to the MAP test, and do it 3 times a year. It allows the teacher and a group of collaborators to sit down and see what needs to be worked on. This year, after taking this class, I plan on asking my librarian for assistance in any information seeking GLE’s that we have problems on.
Since I didn’t care too much for the lesson plans I will only hit on them briefly. Ideally they were great and creative, theoretically they didn’t strive to assess a GLE (which is what leads instruction) or critical thinking. When we have our observations our principals are looking to see what level of DOK students are hitting, and I just don’t see the higher numbers here that I would like to. However, they can definitely be ‘tweaked’ to accomplish that.
The end of the article provided a couple of really great resources for assessments that I plan on checking out. We do a lot of creative hands on things in my classroom, (especially during centers/guided reading time) that I’m constantly thinking of a way to grade them without the 12/12 score. The University of Wisconsin-Stout looks very promising. I personally use one that I would highly recommend to any educator at that is, www.rubistar.com.
Chapter 13:
I love the line, “If you were arrested for contributing to the education of a student, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Talk about thought provoking! I like how this makes you think outside of the box, and really this question can be asking to ANYONE in the building. After reading this chapter I was surprised that some, if not most, libraries are judged on the amount of materials they have or check out versus the quality of those items. However, there was a line under the heading ‘Qualitative Measures’ that made me realize why this is so. It’s so much easier for people to look at numbers and think, ok they’re set they’ve got plenty of planet books for the 2nd grade science lesson. However, it’s much more difficult to siphon through those books and determine what year it was published and if the information is correct and up to date. Imagine, how confusing would it be to a student to talk about Pluto not being a planet any longer, that we have only 8 in our solar system, then they go to the library to find a book completely disagreeing with their teacher. Granted there are steps that could be taken to avoid this, or even a lesson on copy right dates, but how much of that is really going to sink in to a second grader? Instead, the library should take special care to weed out all of those nonfiction pieces that are no longer applicable, instead of worrying about how many books they have in their library. I was surprised to see in this chapter that they don’t expect the entire library to be analyzed each year. After reading about all of the responsibilities and expectations (especially the yearend report), I would have thought that it was expected each and every year. However, this does make sense to me. Why not take the time to really concentrate on a few areas a year instead of frantically scavenging the entire library for out of date books? This would be a lot more methodical and allow the librarian more time to really concentrate on the validity of the text.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Pappas Article, Updated Links
Management Matters
VOLUME XXI, NUMBER 5/JANUARY 2005
Virtual School Library Media Center Management Manual
by Marjorie L. Pappas
Marjorie L. Pappas, Ph. D., is an Associate Professor at the School Library and Information Technology Online Learning, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. E-mail: mpappas@mansfield.edu
School library media specialists often post messages on LM_NET and other state listservs I monitor, requesting examples of information that I used to maintain in a management manual when I was a school library media specialist. I started my manual when I was a student in the organization and administration course we all take in library science programs and I kept it current with information gleaned from conferences, workshops, and networking with other school library media specialists. Manuals are easier to maintain today because of networking through listservs and the Internet. In thinking about the requests for information related to policies, job descriptions, cataloging, resource acquisition, etc., I decided a virtual version of this traditional paper manual might be an interesting and useful concept.
Setting Up My Virtual Manual
My concept of virtual is paperless. Virtual manuals can be maintained without the challenge of adding pages and adjusting page numbers. Virtual manuals can include hyperlinks to information located on the Web. Before starting the development of my manual, I thought about who might access the manual besides the school library media specialist. Library assistants, volunteers, and, occasionally, substitutes should all be able to access this manual. Also, the library media specialist should be able to access the manual when working at home. The best way to achieve that flexibility is to post the manual on the library media center's website or on the school's network, assuming the network is Internet accessible. If a library media center website or network is not available, the concept is still feasible, but a little more challenging, because new versions would need to be loaded on separate computers. Once this decision has been made, the next step is to scan and/or key-in the existing information related to the specific library media center. Following are sections and weblinks to include.
Policies
Some policies need to be written to fit the unique needs of a specific library media center, for example, circulation policies that establish the time periods books circulate and the cost for replacing lost books. Other policies, like copyright, are based on federal legislation. Links to Web-based copyright information will be useful to supplement local policies.
Policy weblinks:
Complete Copyright. ALA. A collection of documents related to copyright issues and libraries on the American Library Association website.
Computer Network/Internet Use Agreement.
Carlisle Place Free Union School District; Carlisle Place, New York. An example of a comprehensive acceptable use policy for computer and Internet use by students and faculty.
Copyright Basics and the Internet.
Margaret Lincoln. Lakeview High School Library. A concise chart of copyright guidelines for schools.
Lost/Overdue Materials Guidelines.PDF.
The School Board of Broward County, Florida. School Libraries Policies and Procedures.
Mesa County Valley School District 51; Grand Junction, Colorado. A comprehensive collection of policies for school library media centers.
Personnel
The school library media specialist's job description should be posted, but it also would be useful to link to job descriptions for student and parent volunteers. The Web provides examples of job descriptions for this section.
Examples of job descriptions:
Certified School Librarians: Duties and Responsibilities.School District of Philadelphia, 1991. Includes administrative and educational functions.
Job Description: Library Clerk. Maine Education Center.
Job Description: Media Specialist . Wamego High School.
Librarian and Media Staff Job Descriptions. Chris Smith. Shambles. A collection of job descriptions for school library media center positions.
Media Assistant Interview Rubric. Mindy Doler. Lawrence High School; Lawrence, Kansas.
Collection Development and Acquisitions
The purchase of resources and technology for the library requires access to information about producers and jobbers.
Useful websites:
Acquisitions, Collection Maintenance and Electronic Access . Della Curtis. Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland. Includes sample policies, procedures, and resources.
AcqWEB. Publisher and vendor information.
The Librarian's Yellow Pages. Publisher, periodical, jobber, and vendor links.
School Library Collection Development. Media Services @ your library. Department of Educational and Administrative Technology. Fayette County Public Schools; Lexington, Kentucky. Includes guidelines for selection and purchasing of resources, hardware, and technology.
Forms
Examples can help school library media specialists develop the forms for use in the library media center. This is a section that can be developed over time.
Examples of forms:
Audio Visual Review Committee Report. Learning Resources Department, Broward County Public Schools, Florida.
Collaborative Planning. Indiana Learns. Office of Learning Resources, Indiana Department of Education. A collection of forms to enable collaboration between classroom teachers and school library media specialists.
Elementary Library Services. Charlotte Lesser. Monadnack Regional School District, 2004. A collection of forms including supply order list, teacher request form, end-of-year library media center closing checklist, etc.
Full-length Feature Films to be Used for Classroom Instruction. Learning Resources Department, Broward County Public Schools, Florida.
Faculty Recommendation for Library Materials. Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland.
Library Monthly Update. PDF. Kevin Finkle. Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland. Form to gather information from teachers about future units and lessons.
Teacher/Librarian Collaborative Unit: Planning. PDF. School District of Philadelphia, 1999.
District Portal as Manuals
School library media services in larger school districts have developed excellent portal pages. These portals provide school library media specialists with both instructional and management resources and tools.
Disaster Preparedness. Marin County Schools Model Emergency Management Plan
Examples of portals:
Indiana Learns. Office of Learning Resources, Indiana Department of Education. This website was developed as a companion to the book Indiana Learns by David Loertscher with Connie Champlin (Stenhouse Publishers, 2002).
Maine School Libraries Facilities Handbook. Maine Association of School Libraries. Comprehensive guidelines for managing a school library media center.
These virtual manuals and portals enable parents, community members, and other school library professionals to view how school library media specialists manage media centers and teach students to gather and use information. Now all we need is a portal page to the portals.
VOLUME XXI, NUMBER 5/JANUARY 2005
Virtual School Library Media Center Management Manual
by Marjorie L. Pappas
Marjorie L. Pappas, Ph. D., is an Associate Professor at the School Library and Information Technology Online Learning, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. E-mail: mpappas@mansfield.edu
School library media specialists often post messages on LM_NET and other state listservs I monitor, requesting examples of information that I used to maintain in a management manual when I was a school library media specialist. I started my manual when I was a student in the organization and administration course we all take in library science programs and I kept it current with information gleaned from conferences, workshops, and networking with other school library media specialists. Manuals are easier to maintain today because of networking through listservs and the Internet. In thinking about the requests for information related to policies, job descriptions, cataloging, resource acquisition, etc., I decided a virtual version of this traditional paper manual might be an interesting and useful concept.
Setting Up My Virtual Manual
My concept of virtual is paperless. Virtual manuals can be maintained without the challenge of adding pages and adjusting page numbers. Virtual manuals can include hyperlinks to information located on the Web. Before starting the development of my manual, I thought about who might access the manual besides the school library media specialist. Library assistants, volunteers, and, occasionally, substitutes should all be able to access this manual. Also, the library media specialist should be able to access the manual when working at home. The best way to achieve that flexibility is to post the manual on the library media center's website or on the school's network, assuming the network is Internet accessible. If a library media center website or network is not available, the concept is still feasible, but a little more challenging, because new versions would need to be loaded on separate computers. Once this decision has been made, the next step is to scan and/or key-in the existing information related to the specific library media center. Following are sections and weblinks to include.
Policies
Some policies need to be written to fit the unique needs of a specific library media center, for example, circulation policies that establish the time periods books circulate and the cost for replacing lost books. Other policies, like copyright, are based on federal legislation. Links to Web-based copyright information will be useful to supplement local policies.
Policy weblinks:
Complete Copyright. ALA. A collection of documents related to copyright issues and libraries on the American Library Association website.
Computer Network/Internet Use Agreement.
Carlisle Place Free Union School District; Carlisle Place, New York. An example of a comprehensive acceptable use policy for computer and Internet use by students and faculty.
Copyright Basics and the Internet.
Margaret Lincoln. Lakeview High School Library. A concise chart of copyright guidelines for schools.
Lost/Overdue Materials Guidelines.PDF.
The School Board of Broward County, Florida. School Libraries Policies and Procedures.
Mesa County Valley School District 51; Grand Junction, Colorado. A comprehensive collection of policies for school library media centers.
Personnel
The school library media specialist's job description should be posted, but it also would be useful to link to job descriptions for student and parent volunteers. The Web provides examples of job descriptions for this section.
Examples of job descriptions:
Certified School Librarians: Duties and Responsibilities.School District of Philadelphia, 1991. Includes administrative and educational functions.
Job Description: Library Clerk. Maine Education Center.
Job Description: Media Specialist . Wamego High School.
Librarian and Media Staff Job Descriptions. Chris Smith. Shambles. A collection of job descriptions for school library media center positions.
Media Assistant Interview Rubric. Mindy Doler. Lawrence High School; Lawrence, Kansas.
Collection Development and Acquisitions
The purchase of resources and technology for the library requires access to information about producers and jobbers.
Useful websites:
Acquisitions, Collection Maintenance and Electronic Access . Della Curtis. Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland. Includes sample policies, procedures, and resources.
AcqWEB. Publisher and vendor information.
The Librarian's Yellow Pages. Publisher, periodical, jobber, and vendor links.
School Library Collection Development. Media Services @ your library. Department of Educational and Administrative Technology. Fayette County Public Schools; Lexington, Kentucky. Includes guidelines for selection and purchasing of resources, hardware, and technology.
Forms
Examples can help school library media specialists develop the forms for use in the library media center. This is a section that can be developed over time.
Examples of forms:
Audio Visual Review Committee Report. Learning Resources Department, Broward County Public Schools, Florida.
Collaborative Planning. Indiana Learns. Office of Learning Resources, Indiana Department of Education. A collection of forms to enable collaboration between classroom teachers and school library media specialists.
Elementary Library Services. Charlotte Lesser. Monadnack Regional School District, 2004. A collection of forms including supply order list, teacher request form, end-of-year library media center closing checklist, etc.
Full-length Feature Films to be Used for Classroom Instruction. Learning Resources Department, Broward County Public Schools, Florida.
Faculty Recommendation for Library Materials. Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland.
Library Monthly Update. PDF. Kevin Finkle. Baltimore County Public Schools, Maryland. Form to gather information from teachers about future units and lessons.
Teacher/Librarian Collaborative Unit: Planning. PDF. School District of Philadelphia, 1999.
District Portal as Manuals
School library media services in larger school districts have developed excellent portal pages. These portals provide school library media specialists with both instructional and management resources and tools.
Disaster Preparedness. Marin County Schools Model Emergency Management Plan
Examples of portals:
Indiana Learns. Office of Learning Resources, Indiana Department of Education. This website was developed as a companion to the book Indiana Learns by David Loertscher with Connie Champlin (Stenhouse Publishers, 2002).
Maine School Libraries Facilities Handbook. Maine Association of School Libraries. Comprehensive guidelines for managing a school library media center.
These virtual manuals and portals enable parents, community members, and other school library professionals to view how school library media specialists manage media centers and teach students to gather and use information. Now all we need is a portal page to the portals.
How does my school measure up to 21st Century Standards?
How does my school measure up to 21st Century Standards?
As much as I would like to answer this question about our high school students, I’m not very familiar with the way that it is run any longer. On top of that, we have a wonderful librarian that was moved from the Middle School to the High School this year, of which, I think will bring much needed improvements. Therefore, I will be talking about our Elementary Library for this assignment. Looking at the first standard, Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge, I have to remind myself we are talking about the library and not within my classroom. Overall, as a school I think we excel at implementing critical thinking, however, upon looking at specifics, I see some gaps. For example, students (even at a 5th grade level) are unaware of the term copyright (1.3.1). I did a small activity with students this summer and had to do a mini lesson on what that meant. I think it’s important that they’re aware that even though it’s on the web, there is still an ‘author’ to it and you can’t steal their words. Along the same frame of mind, students also have problems understanding what a reliable source looks like (1.2.4). I can see some of our students searching for ‘Egyptian Myths’ and being linked to a site with zero evidence to support it, and not understand why that’s irresponsible to use. On a lighter note, I think our library is doing a great job on many other skills; searching for new understanding (1.1.3), demonstrate mastery of technology tools available (1.1.8), and to use information technology responsible (1.3.5). Each child has to sign an AUP at the beginning of the school year stating the expectations and the consequences if those are broken.
Standard 2 I think can be used mostly in the upper grades for leading learning, but there are a few that I see to be very important in younger grades as well. For example, our students are good about using technology and other tools to organize information (2.1.4), but they’re not great about how to act on the information, whether to accept, reject, or modify it (2.4.1). I see a lot of these sub-standards in the use of writing papers or creating projects, and that’s why the standard 2.1.5 really jumps out to me at something we excel at. The ability to collaborate is important, not only among students, but with staff as well, and that’s why this standard is so important.
One thing that I think our school struggles with as a whole is the ability to link our learning with events outside of the classroom. For example standard 3.1.5, suggests that learning is connected with community issues. Every once in awhile will something come up that we see is important enough to form a lesson around. However, personally, I struggle with the ability to fit this into my already tight schedule, and the fact that most of the time these events are politically natured or controversial. This leads us to the standard of 3.3.1, respecting people’s opinions. Adults struggle with this quite a bit themselves, and often times their ideas or prejudices will rub off on children. I find it hard (or really impossible) to say to a student, “Well, what you’ve been told isn’t completely true,” or “You’ve been given the wrong information.” I think the best way to teach this standard is through example, or larger, worldlier ideas instead of something local.
If there is one standard that our library excels at it’s the 4th one! Students are always encouraged to look for and check out books that appeal to them or pursue further knowledge (4.1.1, 4.1.2). Our students have 6 years within the same library, so by the second or third year they look at it as a second home within school. This makes them feel comfortable enough to come ask questions, and how to use the library when looking for appropriate resources. One thing I think we can work on as a school with this standard is the safe practice of ethical and personal electronic communications and interactions (4.3.4). So many of these students don’t realize that what you do online can leave a mark forever, and can usually be traced back, even if it’s deleted. They don’t understand how to change their settings to ‘private’ or who to trust on the web and who not to. Part of me wants to say that some of these things are the responsibility of the parent, but the other part of me knows that information will never be given out or dealt with correctly.
As much as I would like to answer this question about our high school students, I’m not very familiar with the way that it is run any longer. On top of that, we have a wonderful librarian that was moved from the Middle School to the High School this year, of which, I think will bring much needed improvements. Therefore, I will be talking about our Elementary Library for this assignment. Looking at the first standard, Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge, I have to remind myself we are talking about the library and not within my classroom. Overall, as a school I think we excel at implementing critical thinking, however, upon looking at specifics, I see some gaps. For example, students (even at a 5th grade level) are unaware of the term copyright (1.3.1). I did a small activity with students this summer and had to do a mini lesson on what that meant. I think it’s important that they’re aware that even though it’s on the web, there is still an ‘author’ to it and you can’t steal their words. Along the same frame of mind, students also have problems understanding what a reliable source looks like (1.2.4). I can see some of our students searching for ‘Egyptian Myths’ and being linked to a site with zero evidence to support it, and not understand why that’s irresponsible to use. On a lighter note, I think our library is doing a great job on many other skills; searching for new understanding (1.1.3), demonstrate mastery of technology tools available (1.1.8), and to use information technology responsible (1.3.5). Each child has to sign an AUP at the beginning of the school year stating the expectations and the consequences if those are broken.
Standard 2 I think can be used mostly in the upper grades for leading learning, but there are a few that I see to be very important in younger grades as well. For example, our students are good about using technology and other tools to organize information (2.1.4), but they’re not great about how to act on the information, whether to accept, reject, or modify it (2.4.1). I see a lot of these sub-standards in the use of writing papers or creating projects, and that’s why the standard 2.1.5 really jumps out to me at something we excel at. The ability to collaborate is important, not only among students, but with staff as well, and that’s why this standard is so important.
One thing that I think our school struggles with as a whole is the ability to link our learning with events outside of the classroom. For example standard 3.1.5, suggests that learning is connected with community issues. Every once in awhile will something come up that we see is important enough to form a lesson around. However, personally, I struggle with the ability to fit this into my already tight schedule, and the fact that most of the time these events are politically natured or controversial. This leads us to the standard of 3.3.1, respecting people’s opinions. Adults struggle with this quite a bit themselves, and often times their ideas or prejudices will rub off on children. I find it hard (or really impossible) to say to a student, “Well, what you’ve been told isn’t completely true,” or “You’ve been given the wrong information.” I think the best way to teach this standard is through example, or larger, worldlier ideas instead of something local.
If there is one standard that our library excels at it’s the 4th one! Students are always encouraged to look for and check out books that appeal to them or pursue further knowledge (4.1.1, 4.1.2). Our students have 6 years within the same library, so by the second or third year they look at it as a second home within school. This makes them feel comfortable enough to come ask questions, and how to use the library when looking for appropriate resources. One thing I think we can work on as a school with this standard is the safe practice of ethical and personal electronic communications and interactions (4.3.4). So many of these students don’t realize that what you do online can leave a mark forever, and can usually be traced back, even if it’s deleted. They don’t understand how to change their settings to ‘private’ or who to trust on the web and who not to. Part of me wants to say that some of these things are the responsibility of the parent, but the other part of me knows that information will never be given out or dealt with correctly.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Blog Reviews
Larry Ferlazzo- I followed the TV show, ‘The Story of Us’ when it was first released, and kept thinking how amazing it would be to use the videos in class. It basically takes you through the entire development of America, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I was very surprised at the detail that these shows had in them and the stories they chose to tell. That’s why I was so excited to see that Ferlazzo chose the link to this site for his site of the day. It’s been probably around a year since the show was released, and since then I’ve forgotten how amazing they are. Thank s Larry for bringing back this cinematic great to the attention of teachers AND providing a link to view for free!
Free Technology for Teachers- For awhile now, I’ve wanted to check out Google Docs and how to use them in my classroom. (The only reason I haven’t done that yet is because of pure business.) So when I saw free technology for teachers had not only an article, but also a short video, I decided to check it out. They gave an update on all the new elements that Google has recently come out with, and make recommendations about which ones might be most beneficial in the classroom (Circles, is suggested). For me, it’s so much easier to have these things laid out in an article written by someone who I know is seeing these things the same way I need to, versus exploring them myself.
Free Technology for Teachers (again)- Has a small article on a game called ‘Turn-O-Phase’, and a link to play as well. So, of course, I had to try it out for myself. Byrne says this is a game that would benefit ELL students because it has them match colloquial phrases with pictures. However, I think that this game is great for any student because the further along it goes the tougher it gets. I wouldn’t have this as a lesson, but it would be neat to have as a type of individual center for word work. The only downside is that in order for you to play, you have to be signed up through FB or Twitter, which would make it impossible to use in the classroom. It does give you the option to create your own, which leaves me wondering, “Is this something that could be saved to the desktop?” If not, Byrnes suggests creating your own game using the same strategy with pictures cut out from magazines.
Library History Buff- This blog caught my eye this week because it had information about the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, which as Missourians, all know the importance. What’s neat about this article is that the author, Larry Nix, recently purchased an envelope addressed to a motel in St. Louis during that time period. Not thinking any correlation to libraries at the time, when he opened it he received quite the surprise. As it turns out the ALA was having their convention at that particular time in conjunction with the Fair. The letter inside contained information about the rooms, their construction, and even a few ‘famous’ guests including the all important Melvil Dewey.
Larry Ferlazzo (again)- Assessments are a necessary part of education, and there are an unlimitless possibilities to make sure that your students are ‘getting it’. Each school has their own way of assessing, which may include the old pencil to paper routine, or like our school we’ve invested in several technology based options. Currently my favorite assessment option on the computer is a program called Study Island; however, I know it’s expensive for the district. So what do you do when you don’t have that option or worse yet, you come to like and use it only to find out it’s going to be taken away? Look no further, turn to Larry Ferlazzo for the answer. On his blog he has an article that he’s written that gives you several different options for online test creating, and he updates it frequently to make sure the information is current. There are several different types of tests that are provided here, including matching, crosswords, maps, or closed question responses. You only have to figure out what type of assessment will be appropriate for your students.
Free Technology for Teachers- For awhile now, I’ve wanted to check out Google Docs and how to use them in my classroom. (The only reason I haven’t done that yet is because of pure business.) So when I saw free technology for teachers had not only an article, but also a short video, I decided to check it out. They gave an update on all the new elements that Google has recently come out with, and make recommendations about which ones might be most beneficial in the classroom (Circles, is suggested). For me, it’s so much easier to have these things laid out in an article written by someone who I know is seeing these things the same way I need to, versus exploring them myself.
Free Technology for Teachers (again)- Has a small article on a game called ‘Turn-O-Phase’, and a link to play as well. So, of course, I had to try it out for myself. Byrne says this is a game that would benefit ELL students because it has them match colloquial phrases with pictures. However, I think that this game is great for any student because the further along it goes the tougher it gets. I wouldn’t have this as a lesson, but it would be neat to have as a type of individual center for word work. The only downside is that in order for you to play, you have to be signed up through FB or Twitter, which would make it impossible to use in the classroom. It does give you the option to create your own, which leaves me wondering, “Is this something that could be saved to the desktop?” If not, Byrnes suggests creating your own game using the same strategy with pictures cut out from magazines.
Library History Buff- This blog caught my eye this week because it had information about the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, which as Missourians, all know the importance. What’s neat about this article is that the author, Larry Nix, recently purchased an envelope addressed to a motel in St. Louis during that time period. Not thinking any correlation to libraries at the time, when he opened it he received quite the surprise. As it turns out the ALA was having their convention at that particular time in conjunction with the Fair. The letter inside contained information about the rooms, their construction, and even a few ‘famous’ guests including the all important Melvil Dewey.
Larry Ferlazzo (again)- Assessments are a necessary part of education, and there are an unlimitless possibilities to make sure that your students are ‘getting it’. Each school has their own way of assessing, which may include the old pencil to paper routine, or like our school we’ve invested in several technology based options. Currently my favorite assessment option on the computer is a program called Study Island; however, I know it’s expensive for the district. So what do you do when you don’t have that option or worse yet, you come to like and use it only to find out it’s going to be taken away? Look no further, turn to Larry Ferlazzo for the answer. On his blog he has an article that he’s written that gives you several different options for online test creating, and he updates it frequently to make sure the information is current. There are several different types of tests that are provided here, including matching, crosswords, maps, or closed question responses. You only have to figure out what type of assessment will be appropriate for your students.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Week 5 Articles
What is the Future of Teaching?
I found this article to be very informative, but I also found holes in it as well. It’s interesting to read the fact that student who take online courses are testing higher than those in the traditional classrooms. Catone goes on to say that it doesn’t mean that it’s a more effective way of teaching (online), which I have to agree with him. My first thought when reading the results was that generally students who take online classes are more capable because they have to have that dedication to get the assignments done, the ability to understand without a face to face meeting, and the drive to keep at it. Catone then reiterates that it’s combination of things that lead to the higher test scores. I think a better study would be to have the same professor teach the same class with the same assignments and use the same assessment at the end of the course. This way all of the variables are the same, with the exception being in a traditional classroom versus an online one. I like how later in the article it breaks down learners into 3 different categories. I’ve always agreed that people don’t learn the same way, and that’s why I’m a big fan of Gardner. The chart was a great visual because you could see how each learner benefited from taking classes online, which I would have thought difficult to do with the interactive learner.
It’s Broken; Let’s Fix it: The Traditional Model of School Librarianship:
I’ve read this article once before, but have become a pretty big fan of The Unquiet Librarian, so I thought it interesting to read again and pick up on all those things I missed before. (Kind of like watching a movie for the second time!) Her Media 21 Project is inspiring, and would really make anyone second guessing the library and its importance to revaluate their opinion. Basically, she’s calling for a change, to let go of the traditional library as we know it and instead turn our sights onto ideas that are bolder in scope and practice. However, she doesn’t expect the librarian to do this without any support, whether that be financially or through other staff helping. She makes a good point when she says that libraries are understaffed, for example one librarian and a para for 1,000 students, or one librarian to run several different libraries. So the question is where to start for the librarian? Well, if your lucky enough to still be one of those that’s in one building servicing the right number of students, then integrating yourself into interdisciplinary teams is what Buffy suggests. Librarians should no longer be seen as support personnel! One more thing I’d like to hit on in this article is the political aspect in the beginning. I always find it interesting that so much is expected from our schools and teachers in this country, but then they yank things that are proven to be beneficiary, and ask ‘what now’ or better yet ‘what happened’? It’s basically like taking away the Bill of Rights from them and then asking for them to do their job properly.
Tell me, what do you teach?
I had never heard of the radio show that put librarians on the spot and asked them to defend their jobs. Just reading about it irritated me to a point of no end, let alone hearing it. Even if I was not going into this profession, I would wonder who has a right to ask those kinds of things of another person. I feel as though they were bullied and that the questions they were asked (attendance?) were ridiculous! Valenza goes on to make good points, often times quoting from different sources. My favorite argument was from Charles Simic when he asked how many book lovers has the internet produced? I’m sure it’s far less the number of libraries. However, this I could see as subject to argument on the radio show as well, citing the age old question of ‘So what?’. A librarian has to put himself out there, in the classroom, making the lesson plans, as Grobin puts it, not guarding dead paper. The movie poster that Valenza created I think says it best. It breaks it down into 4 easy topics and then gives a broad description of each. There is nothing specific about the topics, leaving it up to the teacher/librarian to cover the information as they see fit. I think this poster would be beneficial to see in every librarians office.
Reframing the Library Media Specialist as a Learning Specialist:
After reading this article I feel once again overwhelmed with the profession I’ve decided to be part of! However, it leads me to believe how important it is that if a librarian is going to have this much say in the way things are taught, classroom experience is vital. We’ve all gotten advice from someone who has been out of the classroom (or never in it) for far too long, and your thinking to yourself, this is NOT possible. However, what this article does is also encourages the librarian to be an ever present person in the classroom, which is vital if you help plan. If you are constantly in the classrooms, you know how each year new things are tried out, old things are thrown out, and how each teacher has their own teaching style. I found an interesting line in this article when it was talking about co-teaching. It says that it’s not about what the teacher or library media specialist prefers, but what the learner requires. This is where it’s vital that the librarian is in the classroom. They have the knowhow, the lessons, the training, and the ability to teach these informational skills that students need so badly today. However, this once again wraps around to what Valenza was talking about in her article. In our school how is our one librarian suppose to get around to all 38 classrooms to teach these things? Staffing is what’s holding it back. But, I also think that the scheduling could be rethought as well, instead of every single class having a weekly visit, why not have a different system for students to visit the media center? I know it’s vital for the young ones to visit often, and truthfully I really enjoy it, but isn’t co teaching even more vital? I was excited to see a KWL chart in our reading, I often use these with my students, so to see it in a professional article was interesting. I got the most from the ‘What did I learn section’. I thought it was important that they did address the fact that some teachers are doing the things that need to be done, they’re not all incompetent (as I sometimes feel that’s the opinions of the authors). Also, you are what staff observes you doing. This is one of the few jobs that you can mold and make it what you want to! So if you’re constantly behind the desk sorting and repairing books, of course the library is going to be one of the first places nixed when it comes to budgets. However, if you’re placing yourself in those classrooms, getting out and making it a point to be vital, everyone will look other places when it comes to short change.
I found this article to be very informative, but I also found holes in it as well. It’s interesting to read the fact that student who take online courses are testing higher than those in the traditional classrooms. Catone goes on to say that it doesn’t mean that it’s a more effective way of teaching (online), which I have to agree with him. My first thought when reading the results was that generally students who take online classes are more capable because they have to have that dedication to get the assignments done, the ability to understand without a face to face meeting, and the drive to keep at it. Catone then reiterates that it’s combination of things that lead to the higher test scores. I think a better study would be to have the same professor teach the same class with the same assignments and use the same assessment at the end of the course. This way all of the variables are the same, with the exception being in a traditional classroom versus an online one. I like how later in the article it breaks down learners into 3 different categories. I’ve always agreed that people don’t learn the same way, and that’s why I’m a big fan of Gardner. The chart was a great visual because you could see how each learner benefited from taking classes online, which I would have thought difficult to do with the interactive learner.
It’s Broken; Let’s Fix it: The Traditional Model of School Librarianship:
I’ve read this article once before, but have become a pretty big fan of The Unquiet Librarian, so I thought it interesting to read again and pick up on all those things I missed before. (Kind of like watching a movie for the second time!) Her Media 21 Project is inspiring, and would really make anyone second guessing the library and its importance to revaluate their opinion. Basically, she’s calling for a change, to let go of the traditional library as we know it and instead turn our sights onto ideas that are bolder in scope and practice. However, she doesn’t expect the librarian to do this without any support, whether that be financially or through other staff helping. She makes a good point when she says that libraries are understaffed, for example one librarian and a para for 1,000 students, or one librarian to run several different libraries. So the question is where to start for the librarian? Well, if your lucky enough to still be one of those that’s in one building servicing the right number of students, then integrating yourself into interdisciplinary teams is what Buffy suggests. Librarians should no longer be seen as support personnel! One more thing I’d like to hit on in this article is the political aspect in the beginning. I always find it interesting that so much is expected from our schools and teachers in this country, but then they yank things that are proven to be beneficiary, and ask ‘what now’ or better yet ‘what happened’? It’s basically like taking away the Bill of Rights from them and then asking for them to do their job properly.
Tell me, what do you teach?
I had never heard of the radio show that put librarians on the spot and asked them to defend their jobs. Just reading about it irritated me to a point of no end, let alone hearing it. Even if I was not going into this profession, I would wonder who has a right to ask those kinds of things of another person. I feel as though they were bullied and that the questions they were asked (attendance?) were ridiculous! Valenza goes on to make good points, often times quoting from different sources. My favorite argument was from Charles Simic when he asked how many book lovers has the internet produced? I’m sure it’s far less the number of libraries. However, this I could see as subject to argument on the radio show as well, citing the age old question of ‘So what?’. A librarian has to put himself out there, in the classroom, making the lesson plans, as Grobin puts it, not guarding dead paper. The movie poster that Valenza created I think says it best. It breaks it down into 4 easy topics and then gives a broad description of each. There is nothing specific about the topics, leaving it up to the teacher/librarian to cover the information as they see fit. I think this poster would be beneficial to see in every librarians office.
Reframing the Library Media Specialist as a Learning Specialist:
After reading this article I feel once again overwhelmed with the profession I’ve decided to be part of! However, it leads me to believe how important it is that if a librarian is going to have this much say in the way things are taught, classroom experience is vital. We’ve all gotten advice from someone who has been out of the classroom (or never in it) for far too long, and your thinking to yourself, this is NOT possible. However, what this article does is also encourages the librarian to be an ever present person in the classroom, which is vital if you help plan. If you are constantly in the classrooms, you know how each year new things are tried out, old things are thrown out, and how each teacher has their own teaching style. I found an interesting line in this article when it was talking about co-teaching. It says that it’s not about what the teacher or library media specialist prefers, but what the learner requires. This is where it’s vital that the librarian is in the classroom. They have the knowhow, the lessons, the training, and the ability to teach these informational skills that students need so badly today. However, this once again wraps around to what Valenza was talking about in her article. In our school how is our one librarian suppose to get around to all 38 classrooms to teach these things? Staffing is what’s holding it back. But, I also think that the scheduling could be rethought as well, instead of every single class having a weekly visit, why not have a different system for students to visit the media center? I know it’s vital for the young ones to visit often, and truthfully I really enjoy it, but isn’t co teaching even more vital? I was excited to see a KWL chart in our reading, I often use these with my students, so to see it in a professional article was interesting. I got the most from the ‘What did I learn section’. I thought it was important that they did address the fact that some teachers are doing the things that need to be done, they’re not all incompetent (as I sometimes feel that’s the opinions of the authors). Also, you are what staff observes you doing. This is one of the few jobs that you can mold and make it what you want to! So if you’re constantly behind the desk sorting and repairing books, of course the library is going to be one of the first places nixed when it comes to budgets. However, if you’re placing yourself in those classrooms, getting out and making it a point to be vital, everyone will look other places when it comes to short change.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
School Library Web Presence Webinar
School Library Web Presence Webinar:
I think the first speaker was probably the most informative for me. However, I did miss her name. What I liked about her was the fact that she showed only the sites she found most important, listed a few reasons why, then moved on. Her explanations were easy to follow and I could see myself implementing a few of them in my classroom the soonest. We’ve heard about Google Docs before, and I want to say it was in the last webinar we watched. Each time I see all the possibilities it makes me want to jump on there at that exact moment and start lesson planning! I really need to look up that map we saw last time. I jotted down a few of her personal websites that I plan on start following, like her FB and blog, Book, Bits, and Bytes. Livebinder is a site that I plan on checking out for both my class and personal use. It seems like my information is in several different places, and it’s never the place I’m working at at that point in time. If I’m at home, then the sites I need are saved to my desktop at school.
Carolyn Swift made a statement at the beginning of her presentation that stuck with me, “You have to believe you have a reason to be on the web, or it’s not going to make a difference.” She then went on to prove she believes in her web presence. I like the fact that she changed her website into a blog. Hers was very nice and clean looking, something that I would like to one day do with my own. I’m taking it one step at a time right now, and changed my newsletter into a blog form, we’ll see how the administration and parents respond to that before I change everything! I missed the title of the article she wrote, and I’d like to have it because of the list of widgets she provides. I love widgets, I think they add fun to webpages! One thing left me wondering about what she said though, is a professional FB page really a good idea?
About half way through Barb Jansen’s presentation I wrote a note to myself asking, “Does this woman have a life?” I think what prompted me to ask this was the fact of how available she makes herself to her students. Don’t get me wrong as a student, being able to go online and ask the librarian a question about homework sounds fabulous! However, as of now I dedicate so much of myself and time to my job, that extra little bit might not be for me. Instead I would like to offer the sites and resource for the students to be able to find themselves. She also does this, after teaching the lesson to the students she puts the lesson on her page with everything available to them. Jansen said this was in case a student was absent that day, but more importantly if a student felt a little overwhelmed, and needed to look at the information later or when it applies to an actual assignment.
Out of all the people I was most excited to hear from it was Buffy, the Unquiet Librarian. However, her presentation left me a little like feeling I just watched an infomercial advertising the use of LibGuides. Like she said though, a lot of the things she was planning on talking about had already been covered, so I’m hoping that’s why she didn’t have many other things to talk about.
I think the first speaker was probably the most informative for me. However, I did miss her name. What I liked about her was the fact that she showed only the sites she found most important, listed a few reasons why, then moved on. Her explanations were easy to follow and I could see myself implementing a few of them in my classroom the soonest. We’ve heard about Google Docs before, and I want to say it was in the last webinar we watched. Each time I see all the possibilities it makes me want to jump on there at that exact moment and start lesson planning! I really need to look up that map we saw last time. I jotted down a few of her personal websites that I plan on start following, like her FB and blog, Book, Bits, and Bytes. Livebinder is a site that I plan on checking out for both my class and personal use. It seems like my information is in several different places, and it’s never the place I’m working at at that point in time. If I’m at home, then the sites I need are saved to my desktop at school.
Carolyn Swift made a statement at the beginning of her presentation that stuck with me, “You have to believe you have a reason to be on the web, or it’s not going to make a difference.” She then went on to prove she believes in her web presence. I like the fact that she changed her website into a blog. Hers was very nice and clean looking, something that I would like to one day do with my own. I’m taking it one step at a time right now, and changed my newsletter into a blog form, we’ll see how the administration and parents respond to that before I change everything! I missed the title of the article she wrote, and I’d like to have it because of the list of widgets she provides. I love widgets, I think they add fun to webpages! One thing left me wondering about what she said though, is a professional FB page really a good idea?
About half way through Barb Jansen’s presentation I wrote a note to myself asking, “Does this woman have a life?” I think what prompted me to ask this was the fact of how available she makes herself to her students. Don’t get me wrong as a student, being able to go online and ask the librarian a question about homework sounds fabulous! However, as of now I dedicate so much of myself and time to my job, that extra little bit might not be for me. Instead I would like to offer the sites and resource for the students to be able to find themselves. She also does this, after teaching the lesson to the students she puts the lesson on her page with everything available to them. Jansen said this was in case a student was absent that day, but more importantly if a student felt a little overwhelmed, and needed to look at the information later or when it applies to an actual assignment.
Out of all the people I was most excited to hear from it was Buffy, the Unquiet Librarian. However, her presentation left me a little like feeling I just watched an infomercial advertising the use of LibGuides. Like she said though, a lot of the things she was planning on talking about had already been covered, so I’m hoping that’s why she didn’t have many other things to talk about.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Week 5 Wools and Empowering
Empowering Learners:
Chapter 2:
Often times in our community, students don’t plan on going to college, and instead work in the family business or go into a trade. This is their excuse for grades in the classroom. Regardless of what it is the child wants to be, the response should always be the same. Learning these things, like creating checklists, portfolios, journals, will one day help you move up in the job you have decided to do. If it doesn’t help you in your career, then personal life also benefits from having those skills. Also if a teacher/librarian uses effective practices for inquiry, like they list on page 25, they are given invaluable skills that will apply to life in general, like critical thinking strategies. What I found interesting and refreshing was the idea that students should be able to choose their own project at the end of a curricular unit. I can remember doing these things in school and always appreciated it much more because whatever projects I chose to do appealed to me much more than the others. Students have to have ownership of their learning in order for it to mean anything to them. Something that I found alarming, but not really all that surprising, is the fact that it’s truly the librarians responsibility to remain abreast of all new technologies. It’s important to be able to relay this information to educators, so not only do you have to be aware of it, but well rehearsed with it as well. This makes me extremely nervous, because I’m not a big fan of doing things I’m not familiar with. Often times when I learn a new program I’m very stressed at first! In this situation as a librarian you have to remain calm and professional , making sure you’ve worked out all the kinks, and trouble shoot as problems arise. This is something that I’m not all too familiar with. Usually if I have a problem, I send a quick email or pick up the phone after trying some pretty basic things.
The Learning Space: This subject has been quite popular in our class, however, it always amazes me the new information that everyone has to bring to the table. A lot of the actions to me seemed to be obvious, especially the part that says sufficient and appropriate shelving and storage of resources. Anyone who has been in a library knows this, let alone someone take Master’s Classes on the subject. There might always be the odd duck out when it comes to a few other things, like making sure the area is aesthetically pleasing, well-lit, and comfortable. This is especially true if the librarian comes from an age where these things weren’t seen as necessary. These days though running a library is almost like running a small business, making sure that there is flexible scheduling hours, encourages users to come in by providing nice seating, and ensures that there will be someone there to help a ‘customer’ if they need it. I like how the library was split into two different sections; virtual and physical space. Going into this field, and taking a few courses, I’ve learned how vitally important it is to think of both. As a classroom teacher, I think it would be handy to be able to get online and see what resources are available in our school library for certain projects.
Wools:
Chapter 8: I found this chapter interesting, because there were parts in it that I had not thought about before. For example, having it very clearly laid out about the confidentiality of a patron was nice. I’m reassured as a library user that my information will not be spread to anyone who asks unless they have authority to be looking at it. I’ve experienced very invasive parents who will stop at nothing to get any kind of information they can just because their child is in your class. I’ve had them make up fake FB pages trying to get me to accept them as a friend, so I have no doubt that the idea of looking at what books I’ve checked out has come into their mind. As a librarian it is their responsibility to keep correct and clear records on their patrons, which I see has many good reasons, as long as it’s not taken advantage of. Some might ask, “Why the big worry about what you’re checking out, are you doing something you shouldn’t be?” Obviously, the answer is no, it’s just knowing that you have that right of privacy that keeps you feeling safe.
All the different library systems and their capabilities were good information, however, I don’t see this making a giant difference for me today. The reason I say this, is because I have to have specific examples right in front of me, I need to be able to look at the information, read reviews on it, see the benefits, and if possible take it for a trial.
I think having a selection policy is a good idea for a school, as long as it broad, and doesn’t expect much censorship. For example, if a policy said anything about ‘offensive’ books, I would immediately question it, because what one person finds offensive the next might not. I can see the selection policy making a big difference when it comes to what books to accept to the library. There are always those people that mean to do good, and by cleaning out their basement and donating books from the 1970’s with torn covers, they think they are accomplishing that. As much as I want to say that staring a gift horse in the mouth is not a wise decision, I think it’s pretty obvious in this case the books wouldn’t be acceptable. Also, hasn’t anyone thought of the idea of going ahead and accepting these gifts, but not putting them up in the collection? I know this invites lots of ‘what ifs’, but maybe this would also offense a lot less people when you tell them, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Chapter 10: While getting my hair done today I was asked, “How can you take so many classes in library? There aren’t that many things involved.” This is because there are really only 4 components that the average patron sees when going into a library- personnel, materials, equipment, and facility. Just like teachers, there is so much more behind the job that people don’t understand. There were a lot of good ideas in this chapter that I would like to see implemented in our school, that I believe would help with curriculum development across grade levels. The first one is having all the text books from the grades available in the library. Ideally it would be nice to have a to have a teachers book in there as well. However, if that is not possible due to funding (teachers books are pretty expensive I’ve been told),a curriculum map of each grade level in some sort of professional resource area would be ideal as well.
In this chapter I was really overwhelmed with the amount of responsibilities expected from the school librarian. Basically, it’s their responsibility to know the entire school’s curriculum. I understand if this librarian has been in the same place for going on 10 years or so, but to expect this out of a new one is asking a lot. I’m going on my 3rd year of teaching, and find myself still exploring just the curriculum of my grade! I think the classroom teachers would be able to help a lot if they could send a simple map of the different areas they will be teaching each quarter this way the librarian can have the resources pulled and even do some kind of display. It also says in the book it’s the librarians responsibility to know how each teacher teaches. I assume this could be done by classroom visits, but I know of teachers who say ‘Yeah, I’m doing this and this and this’, when in all honesty, they are still sticking to the lecture and worksheet format. So this is where I disagree with the book, the librarian can try to give the teacher all the resources possible, but unless there is another administrator backing up the use of these things, it’s not going to go anywhere. What I have find works best for me as a teacher, is to email our librarian about a week before a lesson and ask if there are any books that would help, or if I’m doing a unit multiple books for research purposes. Not a single time have I been ignored or denied books when asked! I think each teacher finds how the media center works best for them, but if the librarian sees that it’s not being used at all, I feel it’s their responsibility to find out why and see what they can do to fix it.
Chapter 2:
Often times in our community, students don’t plan on going to college, and instead work in the family business or go into a trade. This is their excuse for grades in the classroom. Regardless of what it is the child wants to be, the response should always be the same. Learning these things, like creating checklists, portfolios, journals, will one day help you move up in the job you have decided to do. If it doesn’t help you in your career, then personal life also benefits from having those skills. Also if a teacher/librarian uses effective practices for inquiry, like they list on page 25, they are given invaluable skills that will apply to life in general, like critical thinking strategies. What I found interesting and refreshing was the idea that students should be able to choose their own project at the end of a curricular unit. I can remember doing these things in school and always appreciated it much more because whatever projects I chose to do appealed to me much more than the others. Students have to have ownership of their learning in order for it to mean anything to them. Something that I found alarming, but not really all that surprising, is the fact that it’s truly the librarians responsibility to remain abreast of all new technologies. It’s important to be able to relay this information to educators, so not only do you have to be aware of it, but well rehearsed with it as well. This makes me extremely nervous, because I’m not a big fan of doing things I’m not familiar with. Often times when I learn a new program I’m very stressed at first! In this situation as a librarian you have to remain calm and professional , making sure you’ve worked out all the kinks, and trouble shoot as problems arise. This is something that I’m not all too familiar with. Usually if I have a problem, I send a quick email or pick up the phone after trying some pretty basic things.
The Learning Space: This subject has been quite popular in our class, however, it always amazes me the new information that everyone has to bring to the table. A lot of the actions to me seemed to be obvious, especially the part that says sufficient and appropriate shelving and storage of resources. Anyone who has been in a library knows this, let alone someone take Master’s Classes on the subject. There might always be the odd duck out when it comes to a few other things, like making sure the area is aesthetically pleasing, well-lit, and comfortable. This is especially true if the librarian comes from an age where these things weren’t seen as necessary. These days though running a library is almost like running a small business, making sure that there is flexible scheduling hours, encourages users to come in by providing nice seating, and ensures that there will be someone there to help a ‘customer’ if they need it. I like how the library was split into two different sections; virtual and physical space. Going into this field, and taking a few courses, I’ve learned how vitally important it is to think of both. As a classroom teacher, I think it would be handy to be able to get online and see what resources are available in our school library for certain projects.
Wools:
Chapter 8: I found this chapter interesting, because there were parts in it that I had not thought about before. For example, having it very clearly laid out about the confidentiality of a patron was nice. I’m reassured as a library user that my information will not be spread to anyone who asks unless they have authority to be looking at it. I’ve experienced very invasive parents who will stop at nothing to get any kind of information they can just because their child is in your class. I’ve had them make up fake FB pages trying to get me to accept them as a friend, so I have no doubt that the idea of looking at what books I’ve checked out has come into their mind. As a librarian it is their responsibility to keep correct and clear records on their patrons, which I see has many good reasons, as long as it’s not taken advantage of. Some might ask, “Why the big worry about what you’re checking out, are you doing something you shouldn’t be?” Obviously, the answer is no, it’s just knowing that you have that right of privacy that keeps you feeling safe.
All the different library systems and their capabilities were good information, however, I don’t see this making a giant difference for me today. The reason I say this, is because I have to have specific examples right in front of me, I need to be able to look at the information, read reviews on it, see the benefits, and if possible take it for a trial.
I think having a selection policy is a good idea for a school, as long as it broad, and doesn’t expect much censorship. For example, if a policy said anything about ‘offensive’ books, I would immediately question it, because what one person finds offensive the next might not. I can see the selection policy making a big difference when it comes to what books to accept to the library. There are always those people that mean to do good, and by cleaning out their basement and donating books from the 1970’s with torn covers, they think they are accomplishing that. As much as I want to say that staring a gift horse in the mouth is not a wise decision, I think it’s pretty obvious in this case the books wouldn’t be acceptable. Also, hasn’t anyone thought of the idea of going ahead and accepting these gifts, but not putting them up in the collection? I know this invites lots of ‘what ifs’, but maybe this would also offense a lot less people when you tell them, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Chapter 10: While getting my hair done today I was asked, “How can you take so many classes in library? There aren’t that many things involved.” This is because there are really only 4 components that the average patron sees when going into a library- personnel, materials, equipment, and facility. Just like teachers, there is so much more behind the job that people don’t understand. There were a lot of good ideas in this chapter that I would like to see implemented in our school, that I believe would help with curriculum development across grade levels. The first one is having all the text books from the grades available in the library. Ideally it would be nice to have a to have a teachers book in there as well. However, if that is not possible due to funding (teachers books are pretty expensive I’ve been told),a curriculum map of each grade level in some sort of professional resource area would be ideal as well.
In this chapter I was really overwhelmed with the amount of responsibilities expected from the school librarian. Basically, it’s their responsibility to know the entire school’s curriculum. I understand if this librarian has been in the same place for going on 10 years or so, but to expect this out of a new one is asking a lot. I’m going on my 3rd year of teaching, and find myself still exploring just the curriculum of my grade! I think the classroom teachers would be able to help a lot if they could send a simple map of the different areas they will be teaching each quarter this way the librarian can have the resources pulled and even do some kind of display. It also says in the book it’s the librarians responsibility to know how each teacher teaches. I assume this could be done by classroom visits, but I know of teachers who say ‘Yeah, I’m doing this and this and this’, when in all honesty, they are still sticking to the lecture and worksheet format. So this is where I disagree with the book, the librarian can try to give the teacher all the resources possible, but unless there is another administrator backing up the use of these things, it’s not going to go anywhere. What I have find works best for me as a teacher, is to email our librarian about a week before a lesson and ask if there are any books that would help, or if I’m doing a unit multiple books for research purposes. Not a single time have I been ignored or denied books when asked! I think each teacher finds how the media center works best for them, but if the librarian sees that it’s not being used at all, I feel it’s their responsibility to find out why and see what they can do to fix it.
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