I have been quite busy over the past two weeks. Our school celebrated Black History Month with a guest speaker, a traditional dinner, and activities. I served on that committee in addition to my regular duties as educator. Although I had a few opportunities to meet with our media specialist, Ms. Erwin, I would have liked more time to discuss upcoming projects. During our meetings, we discussed the upcoming needs assessment of our center. We discussed technological tools that I have recently discovered. We discussed the radio broadcast used for morning announcements. I also worked with my co-teacher Ms. Simmons who is admittedly uncomfortable with technology. We worked on creating activities and assessments in Lumio. I will continue to share and collaborate with her throughout the remainder of the school year.
I had the absolute pleasure to visit and meet with Mrs. Norfleet, the media specialist at Rutland High School She was a wealth of information. I learned about the charging bricks and charging cabinets they use. They are built differently than those at the elementary and middle school levels. During my visit, I participated in the literacy event entitled the "Book Tasting, " Students who frequently check out books were invited to attend a first view of new books. Snacks and drinks were provided, and it was a resounding success. It was interesting to find out about current genres that high school students desire. Many students were interested to learn the number of books they have checked out since the beginning of the school year. I learned how that information is retrieved. I toured the school and met many teachers that were using digital tools to deliver their instruction.
Additionally, over these past two weeks, I had the pleasure of interviewing three media specialists. I learned about digital media and their outlook on education via their digital lenses. Below, I included pictures from some of the sites I visited.
I had the opportunity to work with one of the county instructional technologists in our school district. The visit included assignments in three different schools. The instructional technologists stated that he generally visits four per day unless he has collaborations or consultations previously scheduled. Mr. Lewis' support of educators is invaluable. I learned about his schedule which is updated weekly. I was able to view the county ticketing system used to document his daily responsibilities and tasks. I met additional media specialists. One in particular, was a very pleasant and brand-new media specialist. She only began working in this capacity in February. She shared with me her view of her new job duties and although she is still learning, she is excited about her position. At our first school, we met with the teacher and students in grade three. The students were using "Book Creator" as a part of their ELA instruction. I met a student who was not engaged and bordering on defiance. He absolutely had no interest in participating. I I sat next to the student and conversed with him. I was able to learn that although he had some behavioral challenges, he was a bright young man. I learned that he absolutely had no interest in the writing prompt. The prompt was, "Which is better, cats or dogs?" This young man told me that he didn't like either of them. He absolutely refused to complete the assignment. Challenged, I decided to find out what some of his interests were. I discovered that he loved Mathematics. He shared with me that he won the Math competition at his school. We discussed briefly his reasons for loving math. Next, we revisited the assignment. His teacher made it clear that completing the assignment was required. I reframed the prompt for him. I asked him to tell me what type of pet he would like. He told me that he would like a goldfish. We talked about how a goldfish was better (in his view) than cats or dogs. I challenged him. I asked him to consider a scenario where he had to choose a cat or dog. Which would choose and why? I talked with him about the book design capabilities. I suggested to him that future books might have more interesting prompts. He began to work. He asked if I would continue to sit with him while he worked. Unfortunately, I had to leave for the next class assignment when he was about half-finished. I hope that the bit of encouragement that I provided helped. Next, I visited a 5th grade Science class. The instructor used SMART technologies to deliver her lesson on Weatherization and Erosion. Post instruction, the students were prompted to create digital books in Book Creator. They were required to research and find facts and pictorial information about their topic. Using that information, they created books. I was able to assist students with navigating the Book Creator tool. Next, we visited a huge elementary school. I even had a chance meeting with a former student! Here, we met with a fifth-grade class and introduced, "Book Creator." I worked with a student who had some challenges. I encouraged him as he created his cover and began his introduction to his digital book. I am in love with the Book Creator tool and I am excited to use it with my own students. Our last visit was another elementary school. We visited a third-grade class and introduced the same. Mr. Lewis, the county instructional technologist graciously answered my barrage of questions about the position. As technology continues to evolve, the librarian duties can easily become shunted to one-side. It is important to marry tehnology with instruction and literacy to meet the needs of our learners.
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