All the Waze to Support School Improvement Goals from the Media Center

Purpose & objective

Other than achievement, school improvement goals now focus more on student engagement, agency, and wellness. Media specialists and school librarians can play a very important role in support these school improvement goals. Our students are under a lot of pressure nowadays. It is time to reignite the passion and curiosity within them to acquire new skills through "making, playing, and failing" under a non-stressful environment – the media center. If school librarians have not already reflected on ways to be a part of the solution, this session will get them started. Participants will learn how to create a school culture that focuses on collaborative teaching. Participants will learn how to design low-tech maker playground projects, co-plan, and coteach student-centered workshops with student mentors. Participants will receive information on digital citizenship lessons, academic integrity lessons, genre-fication, virtual book clubs, and Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. Participants will learn how Adobe Express should be used to infuse creativity and how students can practice the design thinking process with the MIT InvenTeam grant. The presenter will share all the resources and project ideas with the participants on a Padlet. The participants will also contribute their knowledge to these topics during the session on the same Padlet.

Outline

(5 mins) – The presenter will start the session by giving an overview of the session, use Mentimeter to gauge into participants’ engagement levels with their schools’ improvement goals, and address the important role a media specialist has towards supporting the school improvement goals.

(17 mins) – The presenter will first share how she creates and fosters a school culture of collaborative teaching with strong administrative support and staff buy-ins. The presenter will then discuss her vision for the maker playground and how she designs the playground with very limited budget and low-tech equipment such as Cricut Maker 3, Cricut Heat Press, and sewing machines. The presenter will also highlight the importance of working and empowering student mentors so that the workshops can be always student-driven and student-centered.

(8 mins) – By using the Padlet link, the presenter will ask the participants to reflect on what they have done at their schools relating to collaborative teaching and makerspace projects. On this Padlet, the participants can also review resources posted by the presenter that were just discussed.

(17 mins) – The presenter will first share how she supports digital literacy with school-wide digital citizenship and academic integrity lessons. The presenter will then share how she builds information literacy and love for books and research with ELA research projects, genre-fication, virtual book club, and the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. Last but not least, the presenter will share how she focuses the use of technology with Adobe Express to infuse creativity and introduces students to the design thinking process with the MIT InvenTeam grant.

(8 mins) – By using the Padlet link, the presenter will ask the participants to reflect on what they have done at their schools relating to digital literacy, information literacy, and technology integration. On this Padlet, the participants can also review resources posted by the presenter that were just discussed.

(5 mins) – The presenter will conclude the session by facilitating a Q&A discussion so that all the participants can have the opportunities to dive into deeper conversation about what else a media specialist can do to support school improvement goals.

Supporting research

Beglau, M., Hare, J. C., Foltos, L., Gann, K., James, J., Jobe, H., & Smith, B. (2011). Technology, coaching, and community. In ISTE, An ISTE White Paper, Special Conference Release.

Cooper, O., & Bray, M. (2011). School library media specialist-teacher collaboration: Characteristics, challenges, opportunities. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 55(4), 48-55. https://doi:10.1007/s11528-011-0511-y.

Hanover Research. (2014). Best practices for school improvement planning. Retrieved from https://www.hanoverresearch.com/media/Best-Practices-for-School-Improvement-Planning.pdf.

Loertscher, D. V., & Koechlin, C. (2015). Coteaching and the Learning Commons. Teacher Librarian, 43(2), 12–16.

Rawson, C. H. (2014). Every flower in the garden: Collaboration between school librarians and science teachers. School Libraries Worldwide, 20(1), 20-28. https://doi:10.14265.20.1.003.

Subramaniam, M. M., & Edwards, A. R. (2014). The collaboration conundrum between school librarians and mathematics teachers. Libri: International Journal of Libraries & Information Services, 64(2), 185-209. https://doi:10.1515/libri-2014-0015.