Solving Student Check-Out Problem

Mrs. Deep has had a very serious problem with a 3rd grade boy, we'll call him Robert, and his AR books. He is a very irresponsible boy and does not take care of his books. Currently, 3rd grade teachers are allowing students to check out 3 books at a time. Robert has lost 2 of these books and destroyed the other. Mrs. Deep can't just not allow him to not check out books because AR is part of his Reading grade. Therefore, she was stumped and wanted me to come throw out a few ideas to her.

My initial idea, allow his older brother to hold on to the books and watch him closely when he read them at home, was shut down. Placing more responsibility on the brother is not fair. Also, the brother doesn't have the greatest track record either. My second idea was to allow Robert to check out just one book at a time. The book would not be able to go home with him. He would need to check the book out and leave it in his Reading teacher's room at all times. Robert can read this book during AR time in class as well as in the morning before intervention time. After he takes a test on the book, he will be able to go to the library and return it and get himself another book to keep in the classroom. Mrs. Deep thought that this was a great idea. The Reading teacher agreed to keep the book on the front board in her classroom.

Explanation of K-2 Literacy

Today, Mrs. Deep explained and showed me the K-2 Literacy Program. For the previous meetings, she was only able to give me the deminsions and the scores from the prior year's students. However, this week she has been testing the students on the K-2 Literacy Program. I came while she was testing a first grade student. Mrs. Deep and her parapro sit at the table with the students while they take a test. This means that only two students can take a test at a time, which makes this process very time consuming. The students wear head phones and listen to the questions and prompt. Then, they point at the answer choice that they want to select, and Mrs. Deep or Mrs. Dickerson, the parapro, select the answer choice for them. This ensures that the test shows accurate responses and that the test is not just a reflection of their computer or technology skills. Most students in K-2 do not have much access to technology at the school. Therefore, allowing them to test by themselves would create underlying issues that would reflect on their performance.

The test consists of 27 questions. The rabbit in the top right hand corner of the screen read the questions to them. When the ears are up, the rabbit is reading and talking. When the ears are down, he is not talking. If the student wants to listen to the rabbit again, they would point to the rabbit and Mrs. Deep or Mrs. Dickerson would click on the rabbit. Kindergarten takes the K-2 literacy test 2 times each year. Once in September and again in April. Both 1st and 2nd grade only take the K-2 Literacy test once a year in October. The teachers use the data produced, dimensions that the students are weak and strong in, to help modify their lessons and help identify areas each student needs to work on during intervention. Also, any second graders that still score BR (Beginning Reader) are identified and are given reading fluency building tasks within the program.



I assisted a student in taking her test. It took a LONG time! I learned that a media specialist must set aside more time for younger students compared to older students. I also noticed that the younger students are a lot more dependent on you as a media specialist to take care of any issues. During the test, the rabbit apparently was not talking when I clicked on him. The student looked at me as if to say "FIX IT!!!". While re-positioning in her seat, she accidentally pulled on her ear phones and they came loose. I fixed it and she looked at me with a huge grin and a gave me a nod. She was too cute!

Task 2: Collaborative Lesson

Preceding the discussion I had with Mrs. Hinson, I created and developed a 3 day lesson plan about fossils, past organisms, and using information ethically. On the first day, we discussed what a fossil is and how they are formed. I created a flow chart that shows the process of how fossils are made (attached below). I then helped them to create "dinosaur fossils" using plaster and toy dinosaurs. The students responded to a discussion post on Storybird and reflected on how fossils are made (also shown below).

On the second day, the focus of the lesson was how to use information ethically. We watched a video on the ethical use of information, did a copyright activity, and then students reflected on how to use information responsibly on Storybird (pictures provided below).

Lastly, on the third day, we combined the information that we learned about fossils and ethical use of information to help expand on the knowledge of fossils. We watched a short video and then the students were paired into groups to reflect on how fossils can help us to understand past organisms. Due to the fact that Storybird only allows so many characters, students worked in groups and wrote their response in their classroom journal.

This assignment was a very education experience and I really enjoyed working with Mrs. Hinson and her students. After the last lesson, Mrs. Hinson and I sat down to discuss the data gained from the activities and assessments within the unit. We were both very pleased with the students' progress and believed that the unit was a success. Through this activity, I learned how to effectively collaborate and design a lesson with a teacher in order to help increase students' understanding of skills. When I become a school media specialist, I will make sure to reach out to my teachers to offer collaboration and help ensure the success of the students.


Fossils Flow Chart

AR Display for Teachers

Today I helped create an AR display for teachers to use with the AR program. This display will be used to record students who earn points for AR. The theme this year for AR is "Achiever in Me" which is geared towards red carpet. Once a student has earned 25 points in AR, and has a test average of at least 80, they get their name put on a smaller star, and they get to place it on the display. They move up after each 25 points they earn. At the end of the year, the top 8 students with the highest amount of points, and an average of at least 80, get to go on a bowling trip.

Cut-out for teachers

Mrs. Deep had a few teachers that asked her to use the Eddison Cut-Out to cut out letters and numbers for a display in their classroom. I asked Mrs. Deep if she minded if I did it, since the circulation in the Media Center that day was a little slow, and she allowed me to work on them. There are two Cut-Outs. The smaller one, which actually works better, is from the old elementary school. The newer one, that I think is a little worn out, was purchased when the new elementary school opened.

Individual Student Growth Reports

Today I assisted Mrs. Deep in printing and organizing the STAR Reading Growth Reports that were collected from Renaissance. Students take the STAR Reading test three times each year. One in October, one in December, and one in May. Mrs. Deep prints and sends a classroom copy of the Growth Report to the Reading teachers, and a copy to go home for the parents. These Growth Reports allow teachers to analyze the scores and identify what students are struggling readers and to identify their lexile range. This report also shows teacher what they scored at the beginning of the prior year as well as what they scored at the end. This shows how much their lexile score grew over the course of the year. Although our school does not use it, the report also shows the grade equivalent. When Mrs. Deep prints the individual scores to go home to parents, she instructs the teachers to make comments on the individual scores to further explain the lexile scores for students. Printing the Growth Reports did not take very long, but sorting them took quiet a while! The reports were printed based off of the homeroom they were in last year. Therefore, we had to sort them and organize them ourselves for each of the grades. I'm thankful for this opportunity though. I was able to prepare and help teachers and parents to further understand their student's lexile scores.

Grant Application

Mrs. Deep and I discussed the need for grants yesterday. The K-2 Literacy Program has been a huge success with the Kindergarten and 1st grade students and teachers. The program helps to build the students' literacy and supplements their learning. The program targets their weaknesses and helps to build upon their learning to help them to become more successful learners. Mrs. Deep expressed that 2nd grade wished to try the program with their students as well. However, they lacked the technology to be able to allow students time on the program. The Media Center no longer has a set of Chromebooks that can be checked out. I told Mrs. Deep about the Grant Application activity that we must do, and I stated that I would like to create the grant for the Chromebooks. The next day I came back with this grant, linked below, to request funds for the Chromebook cart. Mrs. Deep approved of the Grant Application and stated that it was done very well. This was a great learning experience for me as I have not had a lot of experience with grants. I have learned that patience and determination is a necessary characteristic that a school media specialists must have. Finding funding to obtain new resources and programs in the school library is very difficult. However, after this practicum experience, I have found many different organizations that offer grants. While completing this project, I have grasped how important it is to provide detailed information about the school's library media program in order to receive funding from a program. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LF5ps-oh3wXaPXdIqlVZwYk34xmrKG3y/view?usp=sharing

Collaborative Lesson Planning

I collaborated with a classroom teacher, Mrs. Hinson, to discuss a unit topic that I could help supplement. Mrs. Hinson and I discussed the topics and decided to do a mini-unit on fossils, past organisms, and using information ethically. We identified the Georgia Performance Standards that this covered. We developed a learner analysis that would help me to identify student needs and accommodations that I may need to include in my unit. I have identified the students who I will need to assign seating as well as repeat directions individually. Additionally, we discussed possible activities and assessments that would be beneficial to learning and reaching the identified learning goals. The learning goals are: 1. Explain how fossils are formed. 2. Use technology ethically to promote learning and share knowledge with others. 3. Determine what fossils can tell us about past organisms.

PLC with Grade-Levels for Lexile

Mrs. Deep conducted a PLC meeting with each grade level during their planning times. During this PLC, Mrs. Deep discussed lamination procedures, updates about Lexile levels, new student procedures, and Google Classroom Staff Development dates and times. The lamination procedures are listed below: • Place items on back counter next to the lamination machine • Place the sticky note with the first number on the sticky note (First person puts the “1” sticky note on their items, second person places the “2” sticky note on their item, etc.). • Visit the workroom after school or the next day to see if your items have been laminated. The new updates about Lexile were fairly similar to the information given at the end of the year. Students take a STAR test on Renaissance at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. This STAR test measures their grade level equivalence and their Lexile. The STAR test seems to score the students around 100 points higher than that of the Georgia Milestones. This helps the teachers to more accurately identify how well their students will perform on the Georgia Milestones. New student procedures are listed below: • Wait until the new student is added into PowerSchool • Email Deep (Media Specialist), Connell (Front Office Secretary), and White (Technology Director) with the students name and ask for them to be added into the school programs Lastly, Mrs. Deep invited all of the teachers in each PLC to come to the Google Classroom Staff Development. The K-2 Google Classroom development will take place on September 10th. The 3-5 Google Classroom development will take place on September 18th. If they attend the staff development, they will receive one PLU for their attendance. Additionally, if they would rather work one-on-one with Mrs. Deep or I on their Google Classroom, we will do so and they will still earn their PLU. I will be teaching both the K-2 and 3-5 staff development.

Checklist Item #1: Cataloging

Through many days of practice and observation, I learned how to catalog books using Follett. Mrs. Deep claimed that she likes to use Titlewave.com, also known as Follett, when she wants to purchase and catalog books to add to the library's collection. When Mrs. Deep wants to purchase a book, she adds the book that she wants to the list on Titlewave. When you add the book to your list on the website, it will ask you if you want it to catalog and process using MARC Records. Mrs. Deep said always, ALWAYS say yes! Here, you can add your personal touches and organization methods to match the needs of your library. For example, you can tell it the section of the library you want it to be placed (Fiction, Nonfiction, Novels, etc.), quantity, include the ISBN number, and the call number. After purchasing, I'll discuss the method for this in a later post, you need to import the titlewave records and MARC Records into Destiny. Then, type in the title of the book and check to see that the information is correct. When it has been imported, you need to write down the information (call number, Lexile, grade equivalent, and section) and put it on/in the book. Each grade has a color that represents their Lexile level (the chart is shown below). Mrs. Deep takes colored tape that matches the level of the Lexile on the book, and puts the tape on the top of the spine of each of the books. Mrs. Deep then checks the ISBN number and call number again before adding to the library's collection. All of the books that I have cataloged were books that needed to be replaced in the Media Center's collection. These books were either lost or damaged beyond repair. Mrs. Deep looked at the circulation record and determined that they were valuable to the libraries collection and would benefit the patron's of the library.