Week 11- Technology Lesson- Student Email

One of the requirements of the Portfolio is a video-taped lesson in the library. After consulting with my LMS supervisor, I decided to train the 8th graders on how to use state-supplied email through Office Outlook. It is an expectation of Bullitt County Public Schools that all students 3rd through 12th grade are trained to use email for school purposes. My principal allowed me to take two PD days in which I trained 8 classes of students to use email.

The first two classes, I observed a district technology specialist teach the lesson so that I would teach the rest of the students using district strategies and expectations. We led the students through the process of changing their user name and passwords, how to log in to Outlook, and the basic outlines of sending emails. Many of my own students are also trained and they have been sending me emails with attachments of their homework, or links to videos. I allowed the 8th graders to practice sending a silly email to a teacher. We did discuss the appropriate use of professional email. So far this year, we have had only one or two minor incidents of inappropriate use.

While this lesson did not incorporate literacy, this was an important component to digital citizenship and College & Career Readiness. I loved being in the library media center for two full days, observing all that goes on as well as instructing several classes. It was a great experience and further prepared me for my future career as an LMS.

Week 10- Technology Troubleshooting

Many Library Media Specialists are also the School Technology Coordinators for their schools. This involves some basic technology knowledge and skills beyond Microsoft Office and using web 2.0 tools. I gained many of my outside hours during this Practicum troubleshooting various issues around the school. I learned a lot about basic software, intelligent classroom equipment, processing of new technology purchases, and how to escalate issues that I couldn't solve.

The first step in the technology troubleshooting is gaining access to the Bullitt County online work order system. Every teacher in each school can submit a work order to the system. It will automatically email the STC or LMS. I was able to gain access for my Practicum. As each work order is submitted, I can try to solve the problem or escalate what I don't know how to solve. It's a brilliant system put into place several years ago in my district.

So what kinds of issues do I solve? I worked MANY hours on processing new mini laptops for student use. Teachers can now check out 2 full class size of mobile labs. I had to install all software from the network 6 computers at a time using extra ethernet cables. Then, each laptop had to be entered into the catalog and issued barcodes and other labels. Finally, they were put into carts for teacher portability. 

I also deal with a lot of SmartBoard issues, projector bulbs, and other intelligent software equipment. This is one example of an issue in a Special Education classroom. The projector was emitting a yellow tone to the image. I had to readjust the color settings on the projector. I still wasn't able to fix it so I did have to escalate the work order to the district technology department at the Board. Usually, the guys will come fix any issues in a few days. 

I am so glad I gained the experience of technology troubleshooting as a temporary STC!

Week 9- Collaboration of Literacy lessons

Spring Break for Bullitt County this week! And unfortunately, I had no travel plans so I used the opportunity to work on Practicum. My new principal was in the building this week, allowing me to come in and work on various things.

One idea I had to meet my Portfolio requirements is to collaborate with two classroom teachers on literacy integrated lessons. I chose a 6th grade language arts teacher and a 7th grade social studies teacher to develop a lesson with. Due to Spring Break, we collaborated via email and texting as well as Google Drive. In both collaboration efforts, they were the content experts while I provided literacy resources.

The 6th grade language arts teacher is working on identifying stages of plot with her students. Together, we decided to use a familiar story, The Three Little Pigs using two versions of the story. Working in small groups, students use one of the two stories to illustrate in a comic strip the stages of the plot. The assessment was co-created using an exit slip and a Friday quiz. Here is the lesson plan:

My other collaborative partner is a 7th grade social studies teacher. She is teaching a unit on Ancient Greece but wants to include some sort of literacy strategy. I considered how important the development of plays and drama were to this culture. I found a Reader's Theater on the founding of Athens. courtesy of World Book Online teacher resources. Students each took a character role in this Reader's Theater. The assessment was done in a form of an exit slip on identifying cultural elements of Greece within this play. 

I really enjoyed the true sense of collaboration in developing these two lessons. We worked well together and developed lessons that allowed students to use a variety of literacy strategies and resources. Librarians should consistently collaborate with other school professionals, creating a sense of necessity of their positions in a learning climate. In my future position as a LMS, I hope to collaborate with a wider variety of teachers and lessons.