Standard 4: Advocacy and Leadership
Candidates advocate for dynamic school library programs and positive learning environments that focus on student learning and achievement by collaborating and connecting with teachers, administrators, librarians, and the community. Candidates are committed to continuous learning and professional growth and lead professional development activities for other educators. Candidates provide leadership by articulating ways in which school libraries contribute to student achievement.
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Elements of Standard 4
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Reflection
The Media Center is vital to the life force of every school. It is where knowledge accumulates and dispersed out to students and staff. The traditional library gathered this knowledge in the forms of books, videos, and tapes. However, today's media center not only houses books, but digital videos, computers, iPads, and a plethora of other ways to connect to a knowledge base that spans the globe. However, without guidance and leadership, this pathway can be abused and misused, and never reach the potential it could have to transform a school. As a media specialist, it is our job to be the leader and advocate of this knowledge and tools. Over the course of my practicum and Georgia Southern coursework, I have had the opportunity to display leadership qualities in many areas. One such are I have excelled, is in delivering and sharing ways of using the technology and tools available in schools, and integrating them into the classroom and curriculum. Over the past few years I have delivered presentations at Armstrong Atlantic's Week of the Young Child in 2010 (podcasting), 2011 (Edmodo) & 2012 (Twitter and PLNs), Coastal Middle School's Ed Tech Conference in 2011 (creating wikis) & 2012 (Edmodo), and helped integrate Google Drive into the classroom at West Chatham Elementary and Gould Elementary in 2013. I have also had the opportunity to take students to Atlanta for Capital Tech in 2010 to show state legislatures the podcasts students had created in the classroom, and the impact funding for technology can have on students. While I have had many opportunities to share my experiences with others, I have not stopped my own growth. During the years I have attended the Georgia ETC Conference in Atlanta, as well as local workshops and conferences such as the first SCCPSS Ed-Tech Share Conference. I am also a member of the American Library Association (ALA) and the Georgia Library Association (GLA). Most recently, my focus has been on my web 2.0 presence, and the creation of iGould. The iGould website has become a staple for Gould Elementary students in the media center, and in the classroom. Students participate in various online activities such as the Reading March Madness and weekly writing prompts. Students also understand that iGould has a collection of educational games and resources they can use at home as well. Since the students have been able to gain so much from this website, it is my current goal to work on the backside, an area for teachers and parents, to also find resources and ways of using technology to support student learning both at school and at home. |