Reflection 1.1
1.1 Efficient and ethical information-seeking behavior
Candidates model strategies to locate, evaluate and use information for specific purposes. Candidates identify and address student interests and motivations. Candidates interact with the learning community to access, communicate and interpret intellectual content. Candidates adhere to and communicate legal and ethical policies.
Standard 1.1 focuses on the media specialist being able to model and direct students in how to use information for a specific purpose. The student needs to be able to locate and evaluate information for a precise use. As my students are young, kindergarten through grade 2, they need assistance and direction in finding and extracting information. As an example, I made a webquest in ISTC 689 (Multimedia in the Classroom) using Google Sites when our school studied South Africa. This online research module specified what resources were going to be used. In this case, the students were going to use specific nonfiction books and two reliable websites: National Geographic and the San Diego Zoo. Another example of research took place with my grade 2 teachers during ISTC 667 (Instructional Design) using the Pebbles in the Pond method and in ISTC 651 (Information Literacy and Access) with the Super 3. Both of these modules aligned with the second grade’s science curriculum. It was important to remind each student when recording information to use their own words instead of the author’s. With the increasing complexity of the internet, students today are faced with abundant information choices; therefore it is vital to lay a clear and controlled foundation to lead them in the beginning stages of their lifelong quest for learning.
As a summary for the South African animal project, ten kindergarteners helped me to make a podcast, using Audacity software, in which they summarized one special fact they learned about each animal studied. My second graders were able to follow clear directions on how to glean information, using all 3 formats (books, magazines, databases), and to simply record those facts to use in a report. It is amazing to me how not only capable these children were, but their eagerness to learn facts and information on a topic of interest.
It is also important that the media specialist has effective policies in place to ensure smooth operation of the media center. Having a comprehensive policy handbook is the best way to accomplish this goal. Not only does it help communicate to patrons the roles and responsibilities of the media specialist, it also provides guidelines for the day-to-day operations of the media center.
A school library should provide a balanced, relevant, and updated collection of instructional, informational, and entertaining resources for the school population. Its collection should reflect the distinctive cultural, developmental, and learning needs of the school community. The Library Selection Policy and Procedures Manual (LSPPM) was developed for Willards Elementary School (WES) during ISTC 653 (Collection Development) to meet the goals of providing high quality resources for the media center, a plan for its continued development, and a guide for its daily operation. The foundation of this policy is based on the Wicomico County’s Public Schools Library/Media Philosophy and the Library Bill of Rights. As an active document, it is one that can be updated or reassessed yearly, in order to be responsive to the unique needs of WES. Currently our school of approximately 300 students serves a rural, close-knit, farming community situated halfway between two expanding towns…Salisbury and Ocean City, Maryland. As school demographics change, this manual gives the librarian the structure, as well as the freedom to assess, select, and evaluate its collection of media to constantly meet the changing needs of students, teachers, and curriculum. In the event of a challenged book in this library, there is a pathway in place, where a book can be reviewed by a committee appointed by the principal.
The criteria for selecting media materials cited in the LSPPM will provide the basis for a selection procedure. The services of Follett’s Titlewise collection analysis tool will give the quality and quantity documentation needed to update and manage the nonfiction area of the media center.
1.1 Efficient and ethical information-seeking behavior
Candidates model strategies to locate, evaluate and use information for specific purposes. Candidates identify and address student interests and motivations. Candidates interact with the learning community to access, communicate and interpret intellectual content. Candidates adhere to and communicate legal and ethical policies.
Standard 1.1 focuses on the media specialist being able to model and direct students in how to use information for a specific purpose. The student needs to be able to locate and evaluate information for a precise use. As my students are young, kindergarten through grade 2, they need assistance and direction in finding and extracting information. As an example, I made a webquest in ISTC 689 (Multimedia in the Classroom) using Google Sites when our school studied South Africa. This online research module specified what resources were going to be used. In this case, the students were going to use specific nonfiction books and two reliable websites: National Geographic and the San Diego Zoo. Another example of research took place with my grade 2 teachers during ISTC 667 (Instructional Design) using the Pebbles in the Pond method and in ISTC 651 (Information Literacy and Access) with the Super 3. Both of these modules aligned with the second grade’s science curriculum. It was important to remind each student when recording information to use their own words instead of the author’s. With the increasing complexity of the internet, students today are faced with abundant information choices; therefore it is vital to lay a clear and controlled foundation to lead them in the beginning stages of their lifelong quest for learning.
As a summary for the South African animal project, ten kindergarteners helped me to make a podcast, using Audacity software, in which they summarized one special fact they learned about each animal studied. My second graders were able to follow clear directions on how to glean information, using all 3 formats (books, magazines, databases), and to simply record those facts to use in a report. It is amazing to me how not only capable these children were, but their eagerness to learn facts and information on a topic of interest.
It is also important that the media specialist has effective policies in place to ensure smooth operation of the media center. Having a comprehensive policy handbook is the best way to accomplish this goal. Not only does it help communicate to patrons the roles and responsibilities of the media specialist, it also provides guidelines for the day-to-day operations of the media center.
A school library should provide a balanced, relevant, and updated collection of instructional, informational, and entertaining resources for the school population. Its collection should reflect the distinctive cultural, developmental, and learning needs of the school community. The Library Selection Policy and Procedures Manual (LSPPM) was developed for Willards Elementary School (WES) during ISTC 653 (Collection Development) to meet the goals of providing high quality resources for the media center, a plan for its continued development, and a guide for its daily operation. The foundation of this policy is based on the Wicomico County’s Public Schools Library/Media Philosophy and the Library Bill of Rights. As an active document, it is one that can be updated or reassessed yearly, in order to be responsive to the unique needs of WES. Currently our school of approximately 300 students serves a rural, close-knit, farming community situated halfway between two expanding towns…Salisbury and Ocean City, Maryland. As school demographics change, this manual gives the librarian the structure, as well as the freedom to assess, select, and evaluate its collection of media to constantly meet the changing needs of students, teachers, and curriculum. In the event of a challenged book in this library, there is a pathway in place, where a book can be reviewed by a committee appointed by the principal.
The criteria for selecting media materials cited in the LSPPM will provide the basis for a selection procedure. The services of Follett’s Titlewise collection analysis tool will give the quality and quantity documentation needed to update and manage the nonfiction area of the media center.