Service Overview: Menu of LMC Attractions

Overview: The media specialist at George Washington Carver fulfills five major roles; teacher, instructional partner, information specialist, program administrator, leader. The following is a description of how she has competently satisfied all of those roles. Media Specialist as Program Administrator:

The media Center is open from 7:45 am to 3:30 pm. Students are allowed come to the media center independently during the day to check in and out books. There is no limit to the number of books they or their parents can check out. Students, Parents and teachers can also reserve books online with destiny, which is a brand new online catalog. Books that are reserved through destiny are placed on a shelf and students/parents and teachers are notified by email that the books are on the reserves shelf and ready to be checked out.

Letters are sent home to parents periodically for overdue books. If the book is lost or damage the parent must pay to replace the book based on the catalogs listed cost or bring in the same book as a replacement.

In addition to the stacks the teachers can also check out DVDs, the class set of ipads, turning point remotes and unit materials located in the resource room. This room contains less resource than in past years because of the changes in technology makes it easier to find resources located online. The media specialist found that Discovery and youtube were more up to date than most of the VHS tapes that were available so the school decided to purchase new TV for the school than invest in DVD’s.

The library is also the area that is used for small group/pull­out instruction for special education. The special ed. teachers pull out the students to assist with projects and assignments and use the tables in the media center as mini­classrooms. The small groups also have a set of computers in the lab located in the media center. These computers are reserved for these groups and are available by sign up.

Carver Media Center also runs the School Store that is open daily from

8 am ­ 3:10 pm. Students are given token by teachers or they can purchase tokens to spend at the school store. Students typically visit the school store during their recess time or after completing their work. Media Specialist as Information Technology Specialist

In addition to the on­site print collections and eBooks, the media center subscribes

to online resources to support staff and student research. Links to these resources can be

accessed via the county website. (Also see SMP3 for a full list of online and computer lab

resources available) The media specialist maintain this list and coordinates with the

technology specialist.

Instruction Software Resources

Classworks: K-8; Creation of Individual Learning Paths SLDS: PK-12; State Longitudinal Data System Study Island: 2-5; Individual lessons correlated to CCGPS Moby Max: K-12; Individualized instructional prescription based lesson Sum Dog: 1-5; Multiplayer games designed to improve math fact fluency Prezi: 2-12; Innovative presentation tool Edmodo: 3-12; Teacher led interactive learning environment Google Apps: 3-12; Apps and resources centered on educational objectives Galileo: 4-12; Georgia online library research database

Online Assessments

OAS: Online Assessment System from the State MAP: NWEA Measures of Academic Progress Schoolnet: School-based online test creation and tracking GRASP: Progress Monitoring System

In an effort to use technology effectively and efficiently the school made the ebooks

and print media collections available online through the use of Destiny Online Public

Access Catalog (OPAC), a Web­based union catalog and inventory system for K­12 library

collections.

Media Specialist as Teacher, Leader and Instructional Partner

Whole classes visit the media center on a fixed schedule once a week for 30

minute mini­lessons. Teachers can sign up for extra times that are available during the

week by sending the media specialist an email. The weekly schedule is posted on the

school calendar and is accessible on the shares drive. During these weekly visits the

media specialist delivers a mini­lesson on a topic the teachers have requested. These

lesson are usually based on a unit being introduced or currently being addressed by the

classroom teachers. A fixed schedule works best because each grade level teaches the

same units at the same time so the same lesson is used for each class in that grade level

for that weeks media center lesson.

Classes also have a fixed schedule for the grade level computer labs. Each class

visits the lab, located on their hallway, once a week for a 1 hour block. Teacher can also

request extra time in the computer lab located in the media center or their hallway when it is

not in use by adding their name to the calendar on the shares drive.

The media specialist also provides staff development to teachers monthly by

offering classes on the effective use and integration of 21st century technologies and

digital tools such as podcasting, Web 2.0 tools, digital content, cloud databases, and

virtual resources, and video production. The media specialist started the year giving

teachers the option of doing development classes on a few topics and told them to send

her an email of any other topic they would like to learn more about but don’t have the time

to research themselves. Then the media specialist prepared the lessons and offers that

lesson and an idea of implementation during the monthly lessons.

Assessment:

The ALA listed the of characteristics of highly effective school libraries. (www.ala.org)

After reviewing that list five characteristic stood out. This assessment focuses on those

five main areas: effectiveness, organization, relevance, availability, collaboration.

The first of these areas, effectiveness, can be answered by looking at student

achievement. The media center is effective in promoting information literacy and in

reading literacy both in the students and the teachers. The evidence of this is seen in the

lesson the teachers and the media specialist give during the once weekly visit to the

media center and in the computer labs. All of these lessons center around teaching the

students 21st century skills coupled with the thematic unit for that week. With the addition

of the class set of ipads and the open device policy, the school anticipates increasing the

number of lessons that can incorporate mobile devices. Effectiveness can also be

measured by the literacy scores on standardized testing. The school has consistently

tested in the 90th and above percentile on standardized testing (CRCT and GAPS).

The second area of assessment is organization of media center resources and

time. The media specialist has effectively scheduled times to encourage all the students in

the school to have lessons and activities that encompass the media center. Once a week

students can familiarize themselves with the location and layout of the books and material.

They are also able to interact with the media specialist and begin to see her as a resource

for learning. The stacks are also organized and labeled in a way that is easy for students

to navigate.

While the the media specialist has consistently been updating the stacks it still

contain many books that may not be relevant for the current curriculum. She is lacking an

assistant and the weeding process is secondary to her duties as a collaborator with the

teachers. She hopes to have as assistant by the end of the year. In an effort to combat this

problem she has purchased ebooks and resources online to supplement the curriculum.

She stated that 23% of her book budget goes to ebooks. The technology in use in the

school is up to date and relevant for the age of the students. Although the addition of a flat

screen TV for the weekly lessons would be helpful but not necessary.

The availability of the media center is measured in the number of students who are

able and willing to access the resource online and in person. George Washington Carver

Elementary’s students all visit the library and computer lab at least once a week. The

media specialist has ensured the teachers and student know that she is available to them

to offer help and support. This also speaks to the collaboration aspect of the assessment.

The teacher and the media specialist have developed a respect for each others strength

and use them to create the best units possible. The availability of resources is good when

compared to other schools in the area. The website needs to be expanded to include

more community and school projects. The addition of Destiny this year has made ebooks

an available resource for learning, but the media center is still lacking in a real creative

commons space for teachers and/or students to collaborate online. The teachers have a

folder on the network shares drive, but it has limited space and is only available on site.

This is an area that needs improvement in the future.

Overall, the media center is successfully supporting the mission of George

Washington Carver Elementary School’s media center to promote a love of reading and a

thirst for knowledge. The services and sessions promote an atmosphere of exploration of

new ideas. The teachers and students are encouraged to constantly learn and grow by

reading and exploring the world using technology and print media. The availability of

ebooks, Destiny, and the ipad broadens the students scope of learning and encourage a

love of reading and a thirst for knowledge.

References: Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults. (2014) [The 21st Century

Media Literacy Learning Commons Model Graphic]. Retrieved from http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2012/04/media­literacy­and­learning­commons­in­the­digital­age­toward­a­knowledge­model­for­successful­integration­into­the­21st­century­school­library/ Katie Saratonokle, Media Specialist George Washington Carver, March 24, 2014 David Shultz, Assistant Principal, George Washington Carver, March 24, 2014 George Washington Carver School. (2014) [instructional resources and online assessments ] Retreived from http://gwces.bryan.k12.ga.us/?PageName=%27Library%27 ALA Highly Effective School LIbraries. Retrieved on March 24,2014. http://www.ala.org/research/librariesmatter/node/314