EDMD+7100-+Selection+and+Use+of+Media+for+Youth

Semester: Fall 2010

 * Summary:** This course required students to conduct critical evaluation of student reading materials from a variety of genres and formats. It also encouraged students to read ancient and modern stories from a plethora of cultures and perspectives to encourage diversity in their future collections. An overview of intellectual freedom was also provided.

Roles of the Library Media Specialist

 * Program Administrator:** This course required me to operate in the capacity of program administrator because I was required to consider policies and procedures regarding collection development and intellectual freedom as well as take into account how I can support the //Library Bill of Rights// in my future library media center. In evaluating existing collection development policies in Alabama school districts, I came to see that strong policies clearly outline how materials are acquired via the use of selection tools and a media specialist's careful research into the various literary awards. The stronger policies also outline their procedures for accepting gifts and reconsideration of challenged materials. This class allowed me to see how as a program administrator I should try to see things from the public's point of view. This means writing library documents not so much for myself and my staff, but to educate community members as well. The final project in this course also gave me real world experience in conducting a needs assessment. We worked with a local elementary school media specialist to update her math and sciences collection. My group members and I designed a PowerPoint survey to assess students' personal interests regarding reading materials and subject areas. Our partner librarian then used clickers with her third grade classes to conduct the surveys. We then used this data to select items in the designated subject areas to meet students' interests.


 * Leader:** As a leader, I will be required to promote further professional training for not only myself, but the faculty as well. This class gave me experience with various professional materials in my career field and also gave me the chance to evaluate and select professional materials to include in the library for the general faculty. For example, during the collection development project I researched and selected journals produced by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). By providing a subscription to both the print and electronic materials from these associations, I can encourage faculty members to stay current on instructional strategies and issues regarding these subject areas.


 * Instructional Partner:** This course required me to operate in the role of instructional partner because I had to consider the needs of students and faculty in regards to their curriculum. While this course primarily focused on fictional reading materials, I was also required to evaluate non-fiction materials. During our unit on poetry, a guest speaker discussed with us how we could use poems to support various subjects rather than use them for just a poetry unit. We also evaluated non-fiction materials and discussed award winning authors in the field and decorations such as the Odden Picus award. In this role, I will need to collaborate with teachers to ensure that the library's collection supports their curriculum as well as help them find ways to integrate both fiction and non-fiction materials into their lessons.


 * Information Specialist:** As an information specialist, it will be my duty to help students and teachers access both print and electronic information to meet their needs for personal inquiry and curriculum based research. This course caused me to think about what print and electronic resources I must provide for my patrons to meet these needs while also building a collection that represents a diverse society with diverging perspectives and ideas. I was also required to reflect on the First Amendment rights of students and the issue of censorship and how that contradicts the //Library Bill of Rights// by limiting a student's access to information.


 * Teacher:** This course constantly had me evaluating my role as a teacher. As we read and evaluated our chosen books, I found myself continuously thinking about how it could be implemented in the classroom to support instruction and engage students. I especially found my mind wandering towards lesson ideas while evaluating such novels as Gennifer Choldenko's historical fiction //Al Capone Does my Shirts// and Jeanne Duprua's symbolically rich science fiction novel //The City of Ember//. Both of these novels could be used to support core subject areas, such as history and science, in addition to reading. As a media specialist, I could collaborate with a teacher to create research projects that support student use of information skills and technology.

Work Samples


This annotated bibliography demonstrates my ability to select literary works based on personal evaluation and awards research. //The Magic Horse of Han Gan// is the legend based on Han Gan, a painter who served Chinese royalty more than 1200 years ago. This annotation demonstrates my ability to not only evaluate the quality of a text, but the illustrations as well. The illustrator for this novel utilized painting on a silk screen, the technique that would have been used by Han Gan.

http://smith-station-collection-development.wikispaces.com/

For our collection development project, we collaborated with Mrs. Christy Blythe at Smiths Station Elementary. This project challenged us to operate in several roles. As a program administrator, I was required to analyze the current collection, collect data regarding the interest of students, and work within the parameters of a given budget. As a teacher, instructional partner, and information specialist, I took into consideration the ALCOS standards for mathematics, science, and information skills for the targeted grade levels. Each item selected was chosen with the standards in mind, as well as the interests of the students, and needs of the teachers. Since no formal science textbook curriculum has been adopted by the school and mathematics has currently been targeted for improvement to increase standardized test scores, professional materials were also selected to meet these needs. Lastly, we created an ecology lesson for Mrs. Blythe to teach that would incorporate the science materials she asked us to recommend (plants and animals), incorporate use of professional materials (lesson chosen from U.C. Berkeley GEMS guide), and target some of the math standards that require improvement.