ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIO

Linda DixonMEDT 6487July 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction and Resume Statement of Purpose Role of the Media Specialist Key Projects and Standards Portfolio Matrix Media Center Orientation

INTRODUCTION AND RESUME

This portfolio contains work I completed as a part of the Master’s Program in School Library Media.

The work in this portfolio is evidence of the curriculum standards set by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and the College of Education at State University of West Georgia (CoE).

To view my current resume, please click the link which includes all contact information:

Linda Dixon resume here

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The purpose of this Portfolio is to display the projects that have been completed as a part of the Master’s of Education program at State University of West Georgia. This work is a reflection of all facets of the program: field experience work, class projects, personal reflections about school media programs, and my own ideas about implementing these programs and activities in future work.

ROLE OF THE 21ST CENTURY MEDIA SPECIALIST

This presentation was created for MEDT 6487 and communicates my vision of the roles of an effective school media specialist.

View the PowerPoint presentation: Role of the 21st Century Media Specialist here.

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KEY PROJECTS AND STANDARDS

Student Instruction Project AASL Standard 1.1 Media Log AASL Standard 1.2 Position Paper on Flexible Scheduling AASL Standard 1.3 Two Year Plan AASL Standard 1.4

School Wide Program AASL Standard 2.1 In-Service Project AASL Standard 2.2 Dewey Decimal PowerPoint AASL Standard 2.3

KEY PROJECTS AND STANDARDS

Policy and Procedures Handbook AASL Standard 3.1 Media Committee Newsletter AASL Standard 3.2 Position Paper on Internet Filtering AASL Standard 3.3

Facilities Floor Plan Project AASL Standard 4.1 Budget Project AASL Standard 4.2 Position Paper on Authority Control AASL Standard 4.3

STUDENT INSTRUCTION PROJECT AASL Standard 1.1 Efficient and Ethical Information Seeking

Behavior

This project with students involved teaching research skills and paraphrasing information when creating a report about a chosen planet. Students visited the media center to discover the various kinds of reference tools that can be used for research purposes and how to use them responsibly by learning to paraphrase the information. They also viewed a power point presentation of finished projects to find practical ways to comply with copyright rules and ethical practices when researching and reporting.

CoE8 Knowledgeable This project was an effective way to teach students to use various resources both electronically and traditionally to access information needed for research purposes. It built on student interest by using models of completed work as examples and a finished product that allowed for synthesis of content and creativity of expression.

CoE9 Proactive

Students and teachers need to model ethical practices when researching and reporting. Learning how to paraphrase gathered information at a young age (elementary school years) is a way to get into the habit of using resources correctly in future years as well.Table of Content

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MEDIA LOG AASL Standard 1.2 Literacy and reading

This media log displays major trends in reading material for children and youth. I selected materials in multiple formats to address the needs and interests of diverse young readers and learners. I also used a variety of strategies to promote leisure reading by creating lists of books by genre and theme and providing these lists on my class Wiki and in emails to parents throughout the school year.

CoE3 Life Long Learners This log was just the beginning of my work in developing a list of effective and diverse resources for student and teacher use. I continually expanded upon this log by creating power points and lists of integrated reading materials for students based on content areas addressed by various elementary GPS standards.

CoE8 Proactive

Students and parents often need help when it comes to finding resources and literature to support learning and literacy. Finding and promoting such examples motivated my students to read from genres, themes, and authors that they had not encountered before. Using my online Wiki to post the lists made it easy for parents to use the public library to assist their children in finding excellent materials as well.

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POSITION PAPER ON FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING

AASL Standard 1.3 Access to Information

In order to provide equitable access to the media center, a flexible schedule must be offered to stakeholders. This position paper is the result of my experiences in the media center and the impressions that I have formed as I have spoken to media specialists and researched this issue. I also participated in a mock debate and created a Jeopardy power point to illustrate the need for flexible and open access to the media center.

CoE1 Decision Makers

As a media specialist, it will be my responsibility to make informed decisions about the proper facilitation of the media program. Maintaining flexible access will ensure that the program meets the needs of all patrons consistently and fairly.

CoE8 Knowledgeable

Maintaining a flexible schedule involves more than a flexible calendar of events. Utilizing an online Wiki as a communication tool allows for continued access for teachers, students, and parents even after the media center has physically closed for the day. Teaching students and parents how to use online resources is an outcome of my experiences in the media program.

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TWO YEAR PLAN AASL Standard 1.4 Stimulating Learning Environment

Keeping patrons excited about the media center involves establishing a positive climate where there are many activities in which to participate. The activities in my two year plan represent fun ways to motivate literacy skills and improve reading ability. The plan shows the progressions of programs that can be implemented as part of the media program.

CoE4, 6 Adaptive and Culturally Sensitive

This plan contains a variety of activities that encourage lifelong literacy, reading for pleasure, and reading to understand new material. One of the activities, Accelerated Reader, allows teachers to dovetail the particular program to specific needs, levels, and interests of students and to provide an incentive to continued reading growth.

CoE7 Empathetic

Part of this plan describes Favorite Story Character Day in which students promote reading through modeling their favorite story characters. This is a way for students to share, value, and display enthusiasm for specific characters, authors, and books, and for the process of reading in general.

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SCHOOL WIDE PROGRAM AASL Standard 2.1 Knowledge of Learners and Learning

The School Wide Program was developed to match student interest with literacy skills that are needed at various grade levels. One of the activities, “Performing Arts Students”, fosters leadership skills (student performers) and appreciation and enjoyment (viewers). This activity allows students with different learning styles and abilities to participate actively and is an excellent extension of Social Studies GPS standards.

CoE4, 6 Adaptive and Culturally Sensitive

This program provides activities for a wide variety of learners. One of the activities involves high school students who speak more than one language and can create posters and read books to promote Children’s Choice Books to Non-English speaking students in the media center.

CoE7 Empathetic

Bridging language groups by sharing noteworthy books in English and other languages is a way for students to share what they enjoy with others in their school, family and community. Posters that promote such books also promote the media center and its programs.

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IN-SERVICE PROJECT AASL Standard 2.2 Effective and Knowledgeable Teacher

The In-Service Project that I created was based on the need to monitor progress of students on an ongoing basis. This formative assessment is a part of the data that teachers must keep for students and it is crucial to collaborate efforts to be able to find tools to make this job easier and faster. The in-service is a training aid that can stand alone so that teachers can find tools both online and on the computer desktop that enable them to monitor student progress efficiently.

CoE5, 8 Collaborative and Knowledgeable

This in-service project is a positive approach to collaborating as a staff to find creative solutions to documenting student achievement. The project contains research evidence about progress monitoring that can be used as the foundation of implementing this training aid.

CoE10 Reflective

This project has enabled me to find resources and techniques that provide collaboration benefits for my school, co-workers, and students. Now that I have developed these techniques, I can apply them when presented with future school needs.

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DEWEY DECIMALPOWER POINT

AASL Standard 2.3 Information Literacy Curriculum

The Dewey Decimal Power Point that I created is a way to use technology to present information that students and teachers need when locating information and resources in the media center. Early in the school year, this power point will be an important part of orienting students to the media center, giving them the tools to be able to find items needed to explore content standards, research particular topics and read for pleasure.

CoE1, 8 Decision Makers and Knowledgeable

This power point displays the efficient way that I am able to use technology and equipment to create colorful and effective communications of information. I have expanded on my technology abilities by creating tip sheets and power points to explain the use of web sites and media center equipment. During the past year I have modeled the use of these tip sheets to show my students and mentor teachers how to access the class online page and use it as a platform to locate further Internet resources and activities that extend student learning. Parents have expressed appreciation for online class pages, because they are able to stay connected with the learning process.

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POLICY AND PROCEDURESHANDBOOK

AASL Standard 3.1 Connection with Library Community

Now more than ever it is essential to create partnerships with connecting libraries in order to use and share resources effectively to meet the needs of the many patrons of the school library media center. Creating and finding commonality in the established policies and procedures of these libraries has precipitated the need to create my own policy and procedures handbook. This handbook will guide me as I handle requests and select materials for the library media center. The foundation for all policies and procedures has been to provide all patrons with intellectual access to information.

CoE5, 9 Collaborative and Proactive

It is essential to be able to collaborate with many people when managing the media program. My handbook includes tip sheets for parents and students, paraprofessional job responsibility handout, sample volunteer letters, an in-service training module and a media committee sample newsletter, and collaboration worksheets for use with teachers. Involving stakeholders is one way to ensure that there is access for all.

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MEDIA COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER

AASL Standard 3.2 Instructional Partner

The media program must be directed by a specialist who understands legal and ethical practices and communicates them well with others. This will need to be done in collaborative settings such as in-services, faculty meetings, and school committees. I created a media committee newsletter as a way to delineate media committee roles and responsibilities which guide important decisions and events in the media center.

CoE5, 8 Collaborative and Knowledgeable

It behooves the media specialist to be able to work well with many individuals who are united in purpose through a desire to see the media program strong and effective. The newsletter that I created was designed to be attractive and positive at first glance to illustrate the importance that this committee represents as a steering mechanism for the media program. This newsletter should serve to inform others of special events and priorities and it should also be a way to document the important decisions that are made by the committee that impact the media program for the school and community.

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POSITION PAPER ONINTERNET FILTERING

AASL Standard 3.3 Educational Leader

Ensuring the safety of students while providing them with access to information is a very delicate balance to achieve. The decisions of the media specialist are not always so simple as might be thought when seeking to maintain the principles of intellectual freedom for the school population. By researching the topic of Internet filtering, I have broadened my understanding of this issue and tried to find an acceptable balance in order to better meet the needs of the stakeholders of the school library.

CoE2, 3 Leaders and Life Long Learners

The most important facet of the media program is that its patrons should be able to locate the information that they seek. My role as the media specialist is to match the patron with the desired information in the most effective manner possible. That is why I must be able to make informed decisions about the kind of Internet filtering that will best accomplish this important task. My role as a district representative and committee member will require me to be an advocate for establishing procedures regarding this controversial topic that are fair and equitable.

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FACILITIES FLOOR PLANPROJECT

AASL Standard 4.1

Managing Information Resources: Selecting, Organizing, Using

What a pleasure it was to visit different school libraries and file away all the wonderful ways in which media specialists manage the resources and facilities to efficiently meet the needs of their patrons! One of the important ways to manage the media center is through the organization of the facilities. The reason that this floor plan is so vital lies in the function of each key component. The arrangement of the media center must allow for all visitors to comfortably move about and locate the information that they seek.

CoE1, 4 Decision Makers and Adaptive

It will be important for me as a media specialist to be able to adapt my library to suit the needs of the many patrons that will be visiting on a regular basis. I will be able to anticipate their needs by ongoing assessment being willing to restructure the facilities of the media center or secure equipment and resources needed in it on behalf of these patrons. Some specific examples might be to allow enough space around tables and shelves to accommodate wheelchair use and to make sure that visually impaired students have the equipment to read materials in the collection.

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BUDGET PROJECT AASL Standard 4.2 Managing Program Resources

An important duty of the media specialist will be to manage the program resources so that the media program will be efficient and materials will be abundant. Now more than ever, an accounting of moneys that are allowed for the media center is an integral component of effective management. With this in mind, I have created a budget with a justification of expenditures. Careful allocation of the budget money will result from establishing priorities for materials and programs and also from establishing a network of community partnerships that makes full use of interlibrary loans.

CoE1, 4 Decision Makers and Adaptive

The budget that I created is based on the needs and priorities of Fairbanks Elementary School during the 2008 school year. Much has changed since then and that is really the point of having an expert manager as one of the many roles of the media specialist. As a media specialist, it will be my first priority to determine what the needs of my patrons will be before I set and create a budget. However, now that I have the skills needed to ably create a budget, I have the ability to appropriately design one with my school media program in mind.

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POSITION PAPER ONAUTHORITY CONTROL

AASL Standard 4.3

Comprehensive and Collaborative Strategic Planning and Assessment

Authority control is a way to consistently catalog the materials in the school library media collection. This consistency is truly important as the media specialist seeks to make materials and resources in the media center easy to quickly locate. During my field experience and my courses, I found many ways to make MARC records as uniform as possible so that the patron can connect the need for information to the acquisition of that important resource that I worked hard to select, purchase, label, enter, and shelve. The excited connection of a patron with the sought item is the reason this issue is so important to my media program.

CoE5, 9, 10 Collaborative, Proactive, and Reflective

Volunteers, paraprofessionals and vendors and I will be teaming together to find ways to consistently catalog and process the vast resources of the media center. Working together with clear specifications and effective programs, such as MARC Magician, we will be able to ensure that patrons don’t feel frustrated and leave the media center without the valuable piece of information that is needed for a research paper or book that they’ve always wanted to read.

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PORTFOLIO MATRIX

The portfolio matrix is a display of all the AASL Standards and College of Education Standards and how they connect to the projects I have completed during this course of study.

View the Portfolio Matrix here.

MEDIA CENTER ORIENTATION

During the Technology in Media Services course I created a media center orientation. This tour of the media center is perfect for students, parents, teachers, and administrators to appreciate the many resources to be enjoyed in their media center. I will design one specifically for use in my media center in future.

View the Media Center Orientation here.