Week 3 Website Abstract - The Partnership for 21st Century Skills

http://www.p21.org/

The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills website is a great resource for school library media specialists and teachers alike. The organization has a mission to build collaboration between not only educators but also between businesses, community members, and government leaders in order to make sure children are receiving an education that will prepare them to be active and effective citizens.

The website has an online toolkit for educators to use as a resource. The toolkit includes the MILE Guide which gives educators tangible ways in which to incorporate the 21st Century and Information literacy skills in the classroom. A list of the states that use the P21 standards to create their education standards and assessments is available along with links to their state websites.

Overall, I think this is a great resource when trying to keep the 21^st Century Standards and Information Literacy in mind while collaborating with other educators.

Week 3 Pre-Planning Reflection

I am working with Andrea to create a unit on Michigan History with a focus on economics. I will be working as the library media specialist, and I am slightly hesitant in my role since I have not worked in a school library setting before. Furthermore, I did not witness any collaboration between the library media specialist and the teachers in the school where I did my teacher assisting and student teaching. My hope is that the unit plan we create will be effective and will truly provide students with a memorable learning experience.

After meeting with Andrea, I do feel better about my role. We are creating a unit that she will be able to use in her actual classroom, and I am excited to truly be collaborating on a project that will reach students and not just a “pretend or hypothetical classroom”. I think this will be excellent experience for me and will help me to understand what is needed for successful collaboration.

Through this unit I am hoping to utilize some of the technology available in Andrea’s media center. She has 8 Mac computers, a full computer lab, and a classroom set of iPad’s and iPod Touch’s that she says are rarely used and a wasted resource. It is my goal to find activities that will be relevant and meaningful to students while integrating the available technology as well.

Website Abstract - The Wired Librarian

http://wlteam.blogspot.com/

The wired librarian is an informative blog written by an elementary library media specialist. The majority of the author’s posts revolve around her views on technology and how it is used in the library. However, she also writes about the different roles of the Library Media Specialist and speaks to topics such as advocacy, literacy, collaboration, and the 21^st Century Standards. This blog would be a great tool for school library media specialists looking for ideas on how to use different technologies as well as understanding what the current issues and topics of debate are in the media centers across the nation. A light tone and a sense of humor from the author make this a pleasant and educational read.

Week 2 Reading Response – The Role of the School Librarian

Callison, D. and Preddy, L. (2006). Foundations of the Library Media Specialist’s Role. The blue book on information age inquiry, instruction, and literacy (pp. 135-150). Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited.

After working in a sales position outside of education for the past few years, I have come to realize that the sales skills I have acquired will be important to my role as a Library Media Specialist. Since the role of the Library Media Specialist is changing from a more passive role as a “resource manager” to a more active role as “teacher-librarian” it is important for the Library Media Specialist to convince their principal, teachers, and students that their services are not only beneficial but essential for student achievement.

Carol-Ann Haycock believes that those educating the Library Media Specialists should be advocating to future librarians on their potential impact. She writes that

What we are selling is potential; we must sell a vision of what could or what should be…Second, we must realize that people don’t usually buy or learn on the basis of their first exposure…we need to demonstrate, to the best of our ability the potential of the role we want others to understand and support (Callison 2006).

Unfortunately, many school librarians are not realizing the potential of their library media specialists. Many schools in the Grand Rapids area only staff their media center with part time aids due to budget and staffing constraints leaving the media center an under used and wasted educational tool and resource. In order for the remainder of the trained and certified Library Media Specialist’s to remain in their positions and run successful programs, they must advocate for their media center and work with the teachers and students to make the most out of their library program.

Not only do I need to learn and catch the vision of a successful Library Media Specialist (someone who collaborates with teachers and students and is willing to change and adapt the program to fit the needs of my users), but I also need to learn how to market and sell my services to my end users once I am holding a position in a school. Educators in the school of library and information science are not the only ones who should be selling this vision. Library Media Specialists need to follow Haycock’s reminders that we should be selling potential and vision and that we need to be patient. Change does not happen overnight and it is easy to get frustrated after failed attempts and slow beginnings. With perseverance and passion, my hope is that the school media center will begin to change for the better and more people in the community will see the media center as a vital part of the student’s educational success.

Achterman, Doug. (2006). Another School of Thought. School Library Journal, 52, (1), 41.

Doug Achterman, a doctoral student, makes the case that school library degree programs should be taught in schools of education instead of schools of library science. He reasons that “if school library degree programs were run out of schools of education, the focus would be where it belongs – on the learner” (Achterman 2006). He goes on to discuss that instead of learning how to organize and manage information, future school librarians need to learn how to work with teachers and use different teaching methods. He also believes that moving the degree program to the school of education would bring awareness to the school librarian and their programs.

While I believe that Achterman makes a good argument, I am not sure that I agree with him. In the state of Michigan, in order to be certified as a school library media specialist, you must already hold a valid teaching certificate. This means that any school library media specialist most likely already has teaching experience and understands how to work with other teachers and has used different teaching methods to teach students.

I seem to be a rarity in the school library certification program at Wayne State, as I have not taught in a classroom beyond my student teaching. While I can appreciate that our focus does need to be on the learner, the school librarian does also need to have a handle on the basics of library science so that they can manage their media center and know how to balance the many roles required in order to be successful.

Furthermore, upon completion of my degree in Library and Information Science, I will be certified to work in a school library but I will also be certified to work in public and private libraries as well. I find this valuable in the uncertain world we live in. While I would love to work as a school librarian, I would definitely take a position in a public or private library if no school library positions were available. Maybe this is not the right attitude to hold, but I would rather be practicing my craft somewhere instead of waiting for my dream job to come along.