Journal+Page

Hello, Linda,

Welcome!

This was quite a week with reading, writing, observing and reflecting. I used every available minute to squeeze in homework time: while my daughter was being tutored; while my son was at his golf lesson; in my car parked by their music lessons; and I even read and took notes for 622 while my daughter ran around Playland.

I read the chapter on "The School Librarian as an Advocacy Leader." I take a lot of notes because it helps me to retain the information. I know these are notes that I will refer to with that first job. Librarianship is not solitary: work with the administrators, the teachers, plan a meeting with the Parent/Teacher Association. The library's supporters can be anywhere.

In the handout, Dianne C. Dees, et.al., suggested giving fellow teachers a survival kit filled with a media center handbook, instructions on databases, collaboration planning sheet and a book marker, all helpful items to have, but the coffee mug?? What teacher needs another coffee mug?

On Tuesday, I observed at Davis elementary school in New Rochelle. It's a K-5 school. I saw every grade but 5th. There was a 3/4 special education class with nine children. I took pages of notes and will compile them for a report here. It was an eye-opening experience. Lauren, the librarian, had back to back classes which meant she had no time to get back to her desk to work on papers or ordering, etc. I have to say that the automated system made check out a breeze. At my children's school where I volunteer, we continue to hand stamp and look up books in the incomplete card catalog.

Standards for the 21st Century Learner Reflections Pam Buddy-D’Ambrosio Ethical behavior – “Gather and use information ethically”—not pirating movies, books or music, not trying to get things for free; giving credit to those who created the work. Recognize the need to reword information rather than copying it to avoid plagiarizing. Independent learners--Students must learn to be independent learners and not rely on a teacher or librarian when the answer is not directly in front of them. “Technology skills are crucial for future employment needs”—the technological world is changing not in years or even months, but in days and minutes. Students will need to keep up, but in my immediate world, I don’t see young people lacking in technological skills—my nine-year-old has to tell me how to work my iTouch. “Equitable access is a key component for education”—poorer schools deserve the same information as the wealthier schools. I visit a public elementary school every week for observation. I thought all public schools would have the latest and greatest things for children in their libraries. While they do have automation, the books are dated at my public school in New Rochelle. I am spoiled by the quality and the modernity of the books on the shelves at my children’s Students need to know to check sources, don’t rely on only one site. In my family tree research, the experts say to verify information one must find it in three different places. It’s funny what sleep can do…I read the homework one night at 9:30p.m. I thought the information was being repeated. After rest I could see clearer and realized that each step is valid on its own. I can see myself using this as a step-by-step guide to ensure that the students know and complete each stage.


 * ISTE and Standards for the 21st Century Learner **


 * “The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) ** is the premier membership association for educators and education leaders engaged in improving learning and teaching by advancing the effective use of technology in PK-12 and teacher education.”

The “Standards for the 21st Century Learner” are aimed at SMS while ISTE requires a responsibility from students and teachers. It is not simply what the teachers can do for you, but what you can do for the teachers. It is a true collaboration between students and teachers in helping everyone to learn. Since ISTE is technology based, it looks at learning in that mindset while “Standards” looks at technology as one part of the big picture of a well-rounded learning experience.

Differences between the 2005 ELA Core Curriculum and the Common Core Standards for Teachers for English

The differences between the 2005 ELA Core Curriculum and the Common Core Standards for Teachers focus on opening up a student’s world. In the Common Core Standards for Teachers, every grade has a new reference to reading from and writing about “a wide spectrum of American and world cultures;” and “make cultural connections to text and self.” Also, students are encouraged to express themselves in a variety of ways, not only reading and writing, but print, non-print, artwork, performance, poem or narration. It’s a little late, I feel, for the Common Core Standard Initiative now that we’ve fallen behind so many countries in our education. When I read “These standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs,” entry-level sounds as if we’ve settled. US students lagging in the education world - Kevin Held, Dec. 7, 2010 The latest international report card shows U.S. students simply aren't making the grade. "The hard truth is that other high performing nations have passed us by during the past two decades," said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Every three years, the International Student Assessment Report compares the knowledge and problem solving skills of 15-year-olds around the world. "Where does the US stand? Average performer in reading, 14 out of 34 members of the OECD, in science in the middle, 17 out of 34, and U.S. drops below OECD in math 25 of 34," said Angel Gurria, the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development. Disturbing marks. "For a nation that used to be at the top of the education links historically I think coming out as average can't be satisfying," said Andreas Schleicher of the OECD. Especially in the wake of a decade of federal and local attempts at education reform. "American students are effectively losing ground," Duncan said. Losing ground to the Chinese province of Shanghi which ranked first in all three categories and countries like South Korea, Finland, and Singapore, all scoring well above the United States in the latest round of tests. Michelle Rhee with www.studentsfirst.org says "this is a matter of national prosperity and national security." Michelle Rhee, the former lead administrator in the Washington [|DC] school district, is now the head of a grassroots effort called "Students First." "We need to take a tough stand against ineffective teachers and that on the flip side of that I think it is important to recognize and reward our highest performing teachers," Rhee said. A starting point, many hope, to raising performance in U.S. classrooms. The U.S. finished in the middle of the pack despite spending more on education than almost every other country that took part in the testing. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">NBC
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">NBC **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> -- Some stunning numbers were released Tuesday, part of an international survey on education. That shows U.S. students are lagging behind classmates in other industrialized nations. A major setback for education in America and many say a desperate call for change.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reflection on the on-line class:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">One week after the on-line class, I have completed more readings for class 620 and 622, so I have more information in my brain, although, I wouldn't be sure if I could call on it as I needed it. I always marvel at people who can spout information and be so verbose without any time spent thinking about the topic. I say that I am not good at game show answers, that I need time to ruminate. I always wish that I had said something profound and often think of a better answer once I have thought a while. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The synchronous class moved faster than the in-person class due to the fact that we had to keep the conversation flowing and be right to the point. In a face-to-face class, there are chances to go off-topic or on a tangent. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I learned that it is vital to keep current on the readings for the class and to be able to think philosophically, but fast... <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I believe Linda chose topics that were directly related to our readings, and statements that were circuitous, but made us really think how we could relate library science to it. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I learned that in spreading myself too thin with kids and school and work and board of director work on a non-profit, I cannot give 100% to everything and I want to be able to give my all to everything. I will have to work harder and spend my time more wisely, then I should have the perfect answers to everything without having to sleep on it.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reflections on Assignment One

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I learned from this assignment what one needs to think about and act upon to save one's library. Also, what people outside of the library such as parents need to know and see in order for them to know that it is a valuable and necessary place for their children. With this assignment, I increased my limited knowledge of PowerPoint.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I found working out a focus to be easy. The difficult part was implementing it--making certain what I envisioned ended up on my PowerPoint slides and that nothing was lost in translation.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The next time, I would love to add "legal" audio that works flawlessly with the video.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Assignment One PowerPoint presentation is on Scribd.com, although I made it private as I didn't want the world to see it. Here is the location on Scribd.com: http://www.scribd.com/doc/69052785/Library-620-Power-Point?secret_password=1yk9rmsmiwyf3oflm4ia I'm working on embedding it to Wikispaces.

Reflections on Information Literacy

Carol C. Kuhlthau and Leslie K. Maniotes say that "learning through research is more than simply collecting information." The "Information Search Process" requires a school media specialist's expertise. This expert guides the student through the six stages of learning: "initiating, selecting, exploring, formulating, collecting and presenting." The article points out that the SMS needs to know when to intervene on behalf of a student--when that student becomes frustrated with his search method it's time to move to another portion of the project like reading. There are five kinds of learning in the Inquiry Process: curriculum content, information literacy, learning how to learn, literacy competency, social skills. Teams that include the subject teacher, the school media specialist and a second teacher or content teacher can see the students through the Inquiry Process. While the definition of information literacy seems elementary: the ability to find and use information, that is just the top of a multi-layered process that turns students into better researchers. Kuhlthau, C.C. and Maniotes, L. (2010). Building Guided Inquiry Teams for 21st Century Learners. School Library Monthly. vol. XXVI, number 5.

I'm up to 18 hours in my observations. I started at New Rochelle High School last week. Four thousand kids in one building--amazing. About two hours after I started last Thursday, there was a fire drill on a drizzly day. I'll take that over 20 degrees. Getting all the students out of the building was not a quick task, but it happened. The fire trucks came and gave the all-clear, then we were back in the building. I had to use a bathroom that had no light. It was suggested that I keep the hallway door open. There was a stall wall, thank goodness! They said they've been waiting weeks for a new light bulb, how frustrating! I was able to sit in on a curriculum discussion between a woman who taught Political Science through Film and Caroline, the head librarian. The topic was the death penalty. It was an excellent collaboration as both listened to and took suggestions from one another. Caroline was a pre-law major and had talking points and had taken all the books on the death penalty from the shelves. Ms. Gunther picked from the pile the books that she will use.

I left the K-5 library on Tuesday witnessing a teacher and an aide trying to talk a boy out from under a long table. He was in trouble all day from what I understood from the teacher and his father had been called. This was the day after Halloween and as I read on Facebook, it's teachers' "favorite" day. I really wanted to stay to see how they would get the boy out, but I had to pick up my kids from school. It all started in the library when the boy wouldn't listen to the librarian and was throwing crayons, crayon boxes and papers. The librarian called the teacher to come into the library to help.

I've finished the 25 hours at the elementary school. I'll go in this week to finish up with questions for Lauren and to get her signature. It was an eye-opener to observe K-5 and to see the various personalities which with to deal. At the high school this past Thursday, the librarian was crying because a student swatted her hand away when she asked for his schedule to see if he was skipping class. The student will be suspended for striking a teacher. She feels as if there is no support due to the elimination of the guard position because of budget cuts. The librarians can't do their jobs because they are policewomen of the students who want to skip class. There are students who want to work in the library, but there are others who view it as a free time and feel that they can be loud. The librarians are constantly sshhusing them. It makes me not want to be in a high school library.

While reading the first paragraph of "Moving from Rote to Inquiry: Creating Learning That Counts," I couldn't help but think of my children's school: "the norm in many classrooms remains teaching practice that results in rote learning and regurgitated facts." While the school is coming around to idea of inquiry-based learning, there are a couple of teachers more ahead in the race than others. I wondered what good it was to the children that once they memorized the facts, were tested on them, the information seemed not to come up again. isn't there a way to involve the past learned facts with the present?

I summed up the "Inquiry and 21st-Century Learning," by saying that the information in the article sounds like a combination of many of the model/frameworks.

Again, I will reference my children's school in regard to differentiation. It wasn't until the new principal arrived three years ago that I had heard the term "differentiation". Now the school has advanced math for 6th, 7th and 8th graders. I don't think too much differentiation happens in the classroom, although some children are pulled out of class to attend reading specialist classes. I do know that a 3rd grader who has an IEP is able to complete tests with more time and has fewer math problems for homework.

What is the relationship between teaching information literacy/research skills and inquiry learning? The more the students know about how to go about researching a topic, the better they can attack all the information. With the abundance of information available to the students, they will need to know how to break down the pieces into useful, precise bits of "gold". The more they know, the more they will ask.

Now that the class has come to its conclusion, I can see how the elements that we've learned fit together. It was such an essential class in that you can't be a school librarian without knowing the pieces that we learned regarding curriculum units, lesson plans and involved ways to get the students to ask questions.