Reading Log November First

As library media specialists, we want our media centers to be a quality place where students and teachers come to meet their learning needs.We can't make this happen if we don't promote the library and collaborate with teachers and administrators to make it the best that it can be. There are many wonderful suggestions in what librarians should be doing to promote the library which includes collaborating with the local library to receive any additional materials when teachers are having students doing various research projects, monitoring teacher projects for later collaboration, and promoting local library's age appropriate event. The con of working with the public library is that the public library may have different goals from what the school library needs, so looking carefully through the materials may be a necessity when working with the public library. At my placement, the librarian receives books from the public library that have been weeded out of the system. She goes through them and decides which ones she wants in the library and then lets the other teachers look at the rest of them. That sort of thing can be helpful, especially if you're on a tight budget.

Collaboration and monitoring teacher and student projects are especially important when considering implementing new technologies and creating workshops for teachers. We need to become comfortable with the technology and know how it works. Many teachers have little to no training in technology yet are expected to integrate it into the their lessons (Conducting Effective Staff Development Workshops). The other day, my cooperating librarian had to help a teacher put materials into Google Docs and retrieve it as well as connecting the laptop to the speakers and overhead. There's so much we can do for teachers and students that utilize 21st Century Skills and the Common Core, but we can't unless we're willing to promote ourselves and our media center.

This is what the authors explained in the article School Library Media Specialist-teacher Collaboration. In order to be seen as a valuable piece in the learning process, teacher librarians need to be a part of the curriculum, literacy, and technology development . This includes being on the committees, talking to the principal on a regular basis, and collaborating with teachers who are willing to work with the media specialist to implement technology, research, and other important learning based skills.