Week Four Reading

Hughes-Hassell, S., & Harada, V.H. (2007) Librarian as change agent. In School reform and the school library media specialist. S. Hughes-Hassell & V.H. Harada, ed. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

I agree, I agree! I must be the change I want to see. Sounds like that will be my mantra. I've got the skills- I just worry about obtaining the knowledge to back it up. How will I have time for all of this? Especially when I will most likely only have one hour of planning per day- if I'm lucky- to take care of everything? It IS going to take lots of extra time and lots of extra energy, which are not always available to me at the same time. Seems like it is time for me to "clearly articulate my vision", something I haven't done in awhile as I just try to make it through life, week by week, assignment by assignment, and bedtime story by bedtime story.

I do worry- as will be evident by the following posts- that I won't have the time (in the short span of my future career) to clock the experience to earn the respect of my peers to be the change agent; the trusted innovator. Yes, I have resiliency, commitment and interpersonal skills, but I am definitely not the whole package, yet. That will take time.

Does anybody, (teachers and administrators) get us? Will it be a constant battle to assert ourselves (in the positive manner possible) to be the change? I sure would like to talk with succesful collaborating librarians and hear what they have had to do to be an effective teacher.

Ballard, S. (2009) Developing the vision: An L4L job description for the 21^stcentury. Knowledge quest 38(2), Nov-Dec, pp 78-82.

Ballard lists the 5 roles of of the Emerging Leader (the new media specialist) as Instructional Partner, Information Specialist, Teacher, Program Administrator, Advocate and Professional Member of the Learning Community. This is a lot for one person to be and the sample job description is incredibly thorough, descriptive and all-encompassing. Even so, when I look at the individual components of the sample job description, I can say to myself, “Well, I can do that, and that, and that, and...that.” There’s just a lot of “that” to do. I would like to present the sample job description to media specialists at different buildings and have them discern what duties they perform from the list to get a feel for the practicality of doing it all.

Zmuda, A., & Harada, V.H.. (2008). “Reframing the library media specialist as a learning specialist.” School library media activities monthly 24(8).

"The media specialist must insist that every learning experience aligns with both the classroom curriculum and the curriculum of the media center", Zmuda and Harada state, or the media specialist is just wasting time. That is a very strong statement. But, it is a statement that reinforces the need to continually focus on learner needs, so that the media center does not become the daycare center. Every lesson in the media center needs to be "challenging and worthy of attempt" while focusing on curriculum. This is a tall order, unless the media specialist is well trained, focused and experienced to be seen as a collaborative learning specialist. Honestly, this article makes me a little bit nervous, where and when am I going to receive all of this training and experience to garner the respect and cooperation of my peers with all the skills necessary to be an effective teacher? It seems that other media specialists have these concerns as well. What kind of professional training will be available to me after I graduate and hold a position as a media specialist? Will I be able to take advantage of these training opportunities while teaching? I hope so, I'm going to need it- and fast.

Fontichiaro, K., Moreillon, J., & Abilock, A. School librarian’s bill of responsibilities. Knowledge quest 38(2), Nov-Dec, 63. Available through mel.org.

Throughout the learning community the 21st-century school librarian will collaborate with other educators to:

1. Foster the free exchange of ideas.

2. Provide open access to unrestricted resources for intellectual growth and personal enrichment.

3. Support multiple paths to understanding for individual learning styles.

4. Design student-centered learning experiences.

5. Nurture students as they grapple ethically with challenging ideas and concepts.

6. Cultivate creative and critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making.

7. Promote questioning and curiosity.

8. Value experimentation and risk-taking.

9. Learn through inquiry and self-reflection.

10. Learn from students, peers, and other professionals.

This sounds great, and relatively simple, IF the media specialist has the cooperation of the school administration and staff to collaboratively and effectively reach these goals. I guess this is my biggest worry. Will I be given the power and responsibility to act on these “rights” for my students? I suppose I will have to constantly prove my worth to earn the rights of power and responsibility over time.

Harvey, Carl. (2005). “what should a teacher expect a school library media specialist to be?” Library media connection 25:5, 23.

I was specifically interested in reading this document because of my concern over teachers’ expectations of what the media specialist is to be. In my limited experience, it is my concern that teachers do not see the media specialist in all of these positions. I would like to be a fly on the wall in a room of classroom educators as they read and respond to these statements. I’d like to know what other school media specialists’ (pre-service and in service) sense of these responsibilities are. I would love to be all this for my students and teachers at my school.