Reflection 2.3
2.3 Information literacy curriculum
Candidates employ strategies to integrate the information literacy curriculum with content curriculum. Candidates incorporate technology to promote efficient and equitable access to information beyond print resources. Candidates assist students to use technology to access, analyze, and present information.
The focus of standard 2.3 is on information literacy. It emphasizes how we as media specialists need to be knowledgeable about information literacy and its integration throughout the curriculum. Information Power and AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners were mentioned throughout many of my classes and describe what an information literate student should be able to do as he/she progresses through school. This person must be able to recognize when information is needed and be able to locate, evaluate, and use efficiently and accurately the needed information. It is important that media specialists collaborate with classroom teachers in order to plan lessons using information (print and nonprint) literacy skills with the curriculum.
As I work at a pre kindergarten – grade 2 school, my students are at the beginning levels of information literacy. It is my job to access, evaluate and provide use of digital information for them to choose from. Differentiating between the internet (and to them all things ‘google’ which our county discourages use of at this age) and private databases is an instructional area I work on frequently.
In ISTC 702 (Educational Leadership and Technology), I looked at our school’s reading deficiencies (through benchmarks) and developed a plan to present to our SIT team as to why we should purchase a subscription to Brainpop Jr. to help remedy the situation. My reasoning was that if the school used this resource in collaboration with content area curriculum, student achievement on standardized testing (Benchmarks and MSA) may improve. Brainpop had been unfamiliar software to me but by the end of my proposal, I sold myself on what a wonderful program it actually was. I now use this resource often in my own classes which I access through the Wicomico County Public Library’s website.
Using technology as a platform to synthesize and display information is one of my favorite jobs as a librarian. This year our school studied the state of Maryland (in place of our normal country study) and the arts team and administration decided to have a National Anthem Day assembly. My 2nd graders were already being exposed to some famous Marylanders in our biography unit, including Francis Scott Key. In collaboration with the music teacher and our school, I chose a group of six students to help me plan and execute a presentation on how our national anthem came to be written. Legos were used to build a British ship and Fort McHenry, pictures were taken in rapid succession in order to show movement (slowmation), a storyboard was written and narration was recorded using Audacity. This Movie Maker production was shown on a big screen during our assembly and the students loved it! We also decided to enter it in the Wicomico County Media Festival, in which it won first place this year (2011).
Last year our school was studying the country of India. A group of 2nd graders worked with me in retelling a folktale called, The Big Lion and the Little Rabbit. It also won the Wicomico County Media Festival in 2010.
Technology, collaborating with teachers when possible, and information literacy are challenges that I need to keep abreast of as I do my job as a media specialist. As a lifelong learner myself, I know that the key to knowledge is the ability to locate and use reliable information in various formats to be able to model this for my students.
2.3 Information literacy curriculum
Candidates employ strategies to integrate the information literacy curriculum with content curriculum. Candidates incorporate technology to promote efficient and equitable access to information beyond print resources. Candidates assist students to use technology to access, analyze, and present information.
The focus of standard 2.3 is on information literacy. It emphasizes how we as media specialists need to be knowledgeable about information literacy and its integration throughout the curriculum. Information Power and AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners were mentioned throughout many of my classes and describe what an information literate student should be able to do as he/she progresses through school. This person must be able to recognize when information is needed and be able to locate, evaluate, and use efficiently and accurately the needed information. It is important that media specialists collaborate with classroom teachers in order to plan lessons using information (print and nonprint) literacy skills with the curriculum.
As I work at a pre kindergarten – grade 2 school, my students are at the beginning levels of information literacy. It is my job to access, evaluate and provide use of digital information for them to choose from. Differentiating between the internet (and to them all things ‘google’ which our county discourages use of at this age) and private databases is an instructional area I work on frequently.
In ISTC 702 (Educational Leadership and Technology), I looked at our school’s reading deficiencies (through benchmarks) and developed a plan to present to our SIT team as to why we should purchase a subscription to Brainpop Jr. to help remedy the situation. My reasoning was that if the school used this resource in collaboration with content area curriculum, student achievement on standardized testing (Benchmarks and MSA) may improve. Brainpop had been unfamiliar software to me but by the end of my proposal, I sold myself on what a wonderful program it actually was. I now use this resource often in my own classes which I access through the Wicomico County Public Library’s website.
Using technology as a platform to synthesize and display information is one of my favorite jobs as a librarian. This year our school studied the state of Maryland (in place of our normal country study) and the arts team and administration decided to have a National Anthem Day assembly. My 2nd graders were already being exposed to some famous Marylanders in our biography unit, including Francis Scott Key. In collaboration with the music teacher and our school, I chose a group of six students to help me plan and execute a presentation on how our national anthem came to be written. Legos were used to build a British ship and Fort McHenry, pictures were taken in rapid succession in order to show movement (slowmation), a storyboard was written and narration was recorded using Audacity. This Movie Maker production was shown on a big screen during our assembly and the students loved it! We also decided to enter it in the Wicomico County Media Festival, in which it won first place this year (2011).
Last year our school was studying the country of India. A group of 2nd graders worked with me in retelling a folktale called, The Big Lion and the Little Rabbit. It also won the Wicomico County Media Festival in 2010.
Technology, collaborating with teachers when possible, and information literacy are challenges that I need to keep abreast of as I do my job as a media specialist. As a lifelong learner myself, I know that the key to knowledge is the ability to locate and use reliable information in various formats to be able to model this for my students.