Learn from Experts in the Field

Blog Interaction with Nancy McGriff
- Thurs. Sept. 22 to Sat. Sept. 24, 2005

(quoted from the class blog)

“Nancy McGriff is a school library media specialist with lots of experience and a proven "track record." Her programs at two different school locations were given the Esther V. Burring award for the Exemplary Indiana Media Program (1992 and 1999). And she has reached outside her work location to lead in professional organizations, publish articles, and collaborate with and mentor colleagues.”

(http://eduscapes.com/sms/mcgriff.html)

I asked Ms. McGriff about reading motivation programs she’s used in the past. The programs she designed all used an acronym that stood for some phrase about reading. The rest of each program consisted of getting the students to read, usually for certain number of minutes per month (300 min. for elementary school, 400 for middle school students). They were funded by grants. Here’s Nancy’s tips on what a reading motivation program should be:

1. all inclusive, roll everything and everyone into the program (all grades, all students, all other programs including Book It, etc.)
2. easy to do
3. cheap
4. honors all reading, not just books with tests or books at your reading level or just books, but includes any reading that the student enjoys and doesn't violate a school rule
5. get teachers, principal, parents, students on a committee and listen to them
6. know the research

She doesn’t believe in making lexiles, Reading Counts or Accelerated Reader the whole program. She says these things are tools, and the main part of a reading motivation program is getting kids excited to read. She promotes the reading programs with assemblies at the beginning and end of the school year to celebrate. I agree with her. You can still have a competitive spirit without lots of external motivations. Sometimes it’s just nice for a student to individually meet a set reading goal.

Back to Top

Blog Interaction with John McDonald
- Mon. Sept. 26 to Wed. Sept 28, 2005

(quoted from the class blog)

"John McDonald, Connersville Middle School, is an active school library media specialist with seemingly endless energy and ideas. A few years ago as a beginning teacher librarian, he proactively initiated changes that truly impact students, his school and community. John has been successful in collaborating with administration, teachers and students."

(http://eduscapes.com/sms/mcdonald.html)

I asked Mr. McDonald about the type of inquiry model he used with his students and helpers. I asked about learning logs and how he collected evidence on his teaching.

John said that his school adopted Big6 in their school improvement plan, and the faculty felt most comfortable with that model. He mentioned Leslie Preddy from Perry Middle School as a personal hero and David Loertscher as a notable person in this field. He says the journey to get the teachers to focus on process instead of product is slow and sometimes frustrating. He’s also trying to get the students to do more learning journals and effective questioning. As far as evidence goes, he says he uses a combination of several things:

• Student learning logs,
• teacher anectdotes,
• follow-up evaluation meetings with teachers,
• rubrics

I think that John is not alone when he says teachers are slow to change from product to process. Teachers want to grade the final “thing” instead of all the steps that make up that final product. I think it’s probably hard to get students to think about the way they think too.

Back to Top

Blog Interaction with Elizabeth Winningham
– Thurs. Sept. 29 to Sat. Oct. 1, 2005

(quoted from the class blog)

"Elizabeth Winningham began her school library career opening the media center at Avon Intermediate School (Now designated as East). More recently, she was centrally involved in the planning, development, and opening of the media center for a new school, Avon Intermediate School West (Her new work location)."

(http://eduscapes.com/sms/winningham.html)

I asked Elizabeth ways that she has effectively collaborated with teachers in the building. I also asked how she has collected evidence from the collaborations.

Elizabeth said that she communicates with the teachers daily. Through time she has learned about they are teaching and their curriculum. She says that she offers support materials and eats lunch with in the staff lounge. The teachers fill out a curriculum calendar at the beginning of the year. Elizabeth uses that calendar to help her ask the teachers for help.

I think what Elizabeth says sounds like the normal scenario for most SMS’s. You have to be outgoing and talk to people to find out how you can help the teachers. I think they need to know you are interested in what you are doing before they’re going to work with you.

Back to Top

Blog Interaction with Jane Kokotkiewicz
- Mon. Oct. 10 to Wed. Oct. 12, 2005

(quoted from the class blog)

“Jane Kokotkiewicz is a school library media specialist in a highly acclaimed private school. She is department chair for the library media services with three library media centers; one serving the Hilbert Early Education Center and Lower School, another serving the Middle School, and a third serving the Upper School.”

(http://eduscapes.com/sms/kokotkiewicz.html)

I asked Jane what the differences between working in a private vs. public school library. I also inquired which one had a bigger library budget.

My question being very general, Jane gave me information about the specific schools where she has worked. She says they have 3 full-time MS, 1 full-time AV coordinator, 2 ½ support staff and many parent and student volunteers. She says her budget is adequate for her school’s needs. However, she said that she is expecting a 10% cut in all areas next year.

She also said in general Midwest private schools have smaller school libraries and collections, where East coast private schools tend to have large collections. However, she says the size of the collection doesn’t necessarily determine the quality of the library program. She also says SMS salaries are usually higher than academic or public library MLS salaries.

My thoughts on this discussion is that I think you need to be happy where you work and hope you have enough salary to live within your means. I don’t think I’d have a problem working in a private school as long as I had resources available for me to grow adequately as a professional.

Back to Top

Blog Interaction with Carl Harvey II
– Mon. Oct. 24 to Wed. Oct. 26, 2005

(quoted from class blog)

“Carl Harvey II is the library media specialist at North Elementary School, Noblesville, IN.”

(http://eduscapes.com/sms/harvey.html)

I asked Carl how he decides what to write and present on. I asked how he collects his information and what topics he’s taught for professional staff training.

Carl said that his articles have all come from experiences he’s had or projects he’s done. He said he first started writing articles because his student teaching advisor encouraged him.

I know this is true from my limited experience with people and technology. You have to take initiative to show people a program or how it is useful to them. Sometimes my own family has been resistant to trying a new program, even if I say it will make things so much easier. I think it takes patience and persistence and teamwork.

Back to Top

Blog Interaction with Robyn Young
– Mon. Nov. 14 to Wed. Nov. 16, 2005

(quoted from the class blog)

“Robyn Young is director of school media at Avon High School.”

(http://eduscapes.com/sms/young.html)

I asked Robyn how she learned to plan her library budget when she first started out as a professional.

Robyn said that budget planning was hard when she first started, but she started with the principles she uses when paying her personal bills. She says be VERY careful with the money. The first year, she didn’t try to plan anything. Instead she observed to see what might be needed in the future. The second year, she planned more long term with the spending that needed to be done. She also looked for support from the other SMS’s in the district.

I hope that when it’s my turn, I’ll have nice professional peers in the district to help me as well. I have heard in other places that your first year isn’t a good time to make radical changes, so what Robyn said makes sense.

Back to Top

Blog Interaction with Dana Hochstedler & Rob Cox
– Thurs. Nov. 17 to Sat. Nov. 19, 2005

(quoted from the class blog)

“Dana Hochstedler and Rob Cox are both elementary media specialists in the same school system. This is Rob’s first year.”

(http://eduscapes.com/sms/hochstedler.html)

I asked Rob specifically about insights he has learned in his first year opposed to the theories we learn in university.

Rob said that we learned the theory so we could know how it could be done if we were in a perfect world. He said it helps us know what we’re shooting for. He has he has only been able to do a small part of what he’s learned so far. He has not found the time to do the following things all at once:

• teach all of the information literacy standards,
• and help the teachers teach reading,
• and help the teachers teach writing,
• and teach the teachers how to use technology effectively,
• and develop my collections, etc

Rob said he just hopes he spends his time wisely and where it will do the most good. He also said “in theory I’m in charge, in reality, I am responsible but have very little power.”

I hope that I’ll be able to keep my head straight when I’m trying to attain this list of SMS requirements when it’s my turn! I’ve always thought that the books and professors wants us to be super librarian heroes, and I feel overwhelmed with the idea. I hope that I’ll be able to spend my time wisely, as Rob tries to do.

Back to Top

Defend Your Program

Philosophy

I believe that all students benefit from the school library media center. The school library is no longer a passive place where the librarian is the “keeper of the books” off in a cave, never interacting with the rest of the school community. As a school media specialist, I am an essential supporter of collaboration, leadership and technology within the building. A school media specialist works with the rest of the school faculty to teach, support and provide resources in an active fashion. The school media specialist is a leader in the school community by serving on committees, training faculty in new teaching techniques, and advocating for a quality library. Finally, the school media specialist pioneers the use of quality technology to enhance student learning. (Information Power 49).

I fulfill the roles of teacher, instructional partner, information specialist and program administrator. As a teacher, I access the learning needs of the student body, locate resources to meet those needs and then communicate the information that the resources provide. As an instruction partner, I work with other teachers to make connections across curriculum, library resources, student information needs and products. As an information specialist, I provide my expertise in finding and judging the quality of information resources inside and outside of the physical school library building. I model these strategies to the students and faculty. As a program administrator, I create the policies that guide the library program and all of the other activities related to it. I am the manager of the library budget, equipment and facilities. I plan, act upon and evaluate the library programs so it continues to improve. (Information Power 4).

Strategies

Based on the study of over 13,000 Ohio school students “Student Learning through Ohio School Libraries” led by Ross Todd and Carol Kuhlthau of Rutgers University's Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries, I have based my library program strategies around eight qualities that make a successful library, emphasizing instruction and student learning, which will ultimately lead to better student achievement (Whelan).

Resource Agents. – I provide current and relevant resources from multiple points-of-view to meet the school curriculum’s information needs. I guide the students to make good information choices by helping them learn how to locate, use and evaluate resources.

Literacy Development Agents. I model and guide students through the information searching process. I help them through each step of the research model. I help them understand how to become life-long learners by giving them the skills to seek out and use information independently.

Knowledge Construction Agents. I create helpful tools to help students connect with information in their zone of proximal development. I take them from what they know to new knowledge so learning can take place.

Academic Achievement Agents. I help students achieve better grades, particularly in research related assignments. This is a skill students will need for the rest of their school career and onward. I am a qualified and certified educator and librarian, which gives me the adequate training to teach information literacy.

Independent Reading and Personal Development Agents. I motivate and encourage independent reading. In the school library, I provide reading materials for pleasure, personal knowledge and for academic knowledge. Research has proven that the more students read, the better test scores they will achieve.

Technological Literacy Agents. I model and teach the use of current and relevant technology to enhance student learning across the curriculum. Students learn critical thinking skills as they learn to solve problems and evaluation of resources via the Internet and online databases.

Rescue Agents. I have made myself available to students and faculty who have immediate information needs regarding print, electronic and audio/visual resources. I offer technical support to equipment and software as I am knowledgeable.

Individualized Learning Agents. By my personal attention with students and faculty, I add another component to the learning process. By teaching one-on-one and in small group sizes, the school benefits from having a trained school media specialist in the building.

Evidence collected

The number one priority of our school is student achievement. It is even more important since “No Child Left Behind” passed. Since I have been here in the school media specialist position, I have been gathering evidence. I have collected the ISTEP, NWEA and CAT achievement test scores of the students. I have also started to test the students for their reading levels. As I have collaborated with teachers in the building, we have evaluated the success of our teaching and the student learning during and after the unit was over. I had the students also reflect on their learning with learning journals and library surveys. I have documented on video several of my lessons to show how I am connecting the Indiana Academic Standards with the Information Literacy Standards for Students.

Support from professional literature / research

According to the latest findings through 3 state-wide studies from Colorado State Library’s Library Research Service and the University of Denver’s Library and Information Services Department, it is quantitatively evident that a strong library media center does improve students’ standardized achievement test scores. It was true in every grade level and in every school tested by the study (Hamilton-Pennell et al).

Bibliography

Hamilton-Pennell, Christine … [Et al]. “Dick and Jane Go to the Head Of the Class” School Library Journal. (4/1/2000) http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleId=CA153041

Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. American Library Association, 1998.

Lamb, Annette and Larry Johnson. “Library Media Program Data Sources.” (viewed 11/29/05) http://eduscapes.com/sms/data.html

Whelan, Debra Lau. “13,000 Kids Can't Be Wrong” School Library Journal. (2/1/2004) http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA377858.html