eJournal Entry 2

This past week I put a lot of thought into Design Analysis, Needs Assessment and Analyzing Context.  Many times I felt one area running into another so in order to correct this I research what other people had to say about the components of each section.  By Friday, I felt I understood what was needed and the project seem to have a natural flow.

Design Analysis - An instructional website to address the library skills needed of seventh and eighth grade junior high students.  This would include lessons using the card catalog system Destiny, locating books in the library and correctly using the research resources we have available.  

Needs Assessment - I was inspired to create this program after my own observations of a lack of knowledge about the Dewey System, the card catalog and a discussion with the District Librarian about the number of students who come to the high school and do not use the resources we have for research.  These are skills students the help they need to be successful in the junior high, in high school and later in college.  This training on Dewey, Destiny, the card catalog and the location of books in the library would be offered online at the beginning of the year by reading teachers and the Ebsco training could be offered later in the year before the English teachers begin research projects.  The lessons could be completed in the library on an individual basis or the computer lab as a class I would teach.  All of these students understand how to use a computers therefore setting up a tutorial they could use first as a lesson and later as a guide would be beneficial to all students.

Analyzing Context - Our library, built in 1996, is located in Mt. Pleasant, Tx.  The overall tone of the library is very inviting.  The colors used are aqua and purple with muted yellow walls for accent.  These colors were recommended for the entire building the school and are agreed upon by Margaret Bush in her journal article “Library Facilities for Children”.  She stated, “In general, the library media center should be a warm, welcoming color”.  Children tend to check out more books in these color tones unlike libraries that are painted bright reds and yellows.  There are two small reading sections for students to read quietly alone, internet accessed computers and tables for classes that visit.  The books are located around the walls of the library in well marked sections to help students.  Our district and school leaders believes that the library is a place where students can learn to love books and reading.  They want these students to have access to knowledge and information that will enrich their lives and the world around them.  This meets with the district's mission: Every child has every chance to learn.

Our school administrators are very concerned with the low reading levels of these students. The majority of our students are from homes that are economically disadvantaged, eighty-five percent, in addition to thirty-five percent that are limited English proficient. These  administrators also recognize the social factors from this area that play a role in these problems.  Many students come from families that suffer from unemployment, discrimination, poor skills, low income, single parent families and poor housing.  Even though the majority of these students were born in the United States many come from families that moved from Mexico in hopes of creating a better life for themselves.  However these life situations our students face still have an effect on their outlook of school.  So many do not think it will be relevant to their lives later or they do not know the services schools have that could help them.  The majority are factual or procedural learners who have difficulties making connections between concepts. To help students, extra programs and tutoring programs have been set up to give these students the help they need in reading comprehension and math to succeed in their classes.   

This Instructional Design would be a set of tutorials, videos and instructions that would benefit students using the resources in the library.  This would include needed skills to locate needed materials. This website would be available from any computer with an internet connection, however the best location would be to access the tutorial from the library. Students would probably be able to make better connections between the lesson taught and the materials in the library. I would also be able to answer any questions they may have as a soon to be certified librarian.

eJournal Entry 1

Courtesy of emergingreaders.com

The Instructional Design Project I have been considering involves making a tutorial for our campus library. This would include learning about the Dewey Decimal System, how our books are categorized, the card catalog system and the databases available. At the beginning of each year I use a short PowerPoint to explain about our library since it is a new campus for 7th grade. It also refreshes the memory of those returning 8th graders. However when I get to the part about the library using the Dewey Decimal System so many of the students look lost. And it gets even worse when I talk about Destiny the card catalog system.  Now I know the whole district uses this system, so they must be somewhat familiar with how this works. The next year I added a short section to the PowerPoint about the Dewey System and how to use Destiny, but that is really not enough. Students need to sit down and read about each resource our library has and practice using them including the Ebsco Databases. These students are in Middle School now and a big part of High School is research and writing papers.  My design project is being designed due to the fact no training of this type exists. The tutorial will be short lessons and activities that students can work through as part of their English class.  They will address using the Dewey Decimal System locating books in the library, using the Destiny Card Catalog and locating information using the Ebsco databases. These lessons will be new and I hope to have them available through the library webpage in order for students to always have access to them later after they have completed the lessons.

I believe this is occurring because no one has taken time over the years to explain small parts about the library or how it is arranged to students. Now I am relatively new at this job but I know many of them do not know who Mr. Dewey is or about his system.  They just know books are arranged. I have heard one school library in our district organizes their library much like a book store, according to categories. I have also explained about the card catalog system, but still so many hesitate to use it because they don’t understand how easy it is to use and that they can use it from home to look for books. The same reasoning applies to the databases, they have never been explained before or they do not have enough experience using them.  I see so many students heading straight for Google and the databases would make searching for what they need so much easier.

This could be happening because the campuses with younger students only have Library Aides.  They are not even teachers.  Without the proper training they are just not aware of educating students on the importance of the resources available in the library. These library assistants must give the students enough information to navigate their way through the library.  I have seen a couple of library aids at library workshops but I have heard others say their principal will not allow them to go. I guess they must just be responsible for checking out books and reshelving them in addition to helping teachers.

One other reason for the lack of knowledge about the library resources could be due to a language barrier. Even though many of them speak English, I can still see them struggle with the correct words or they may not understand how to ask for what they need.  Our campus receives each year so many students who suffer from low reading skills.

And a final reason which relates to the language barrier. Many of these children may come from homes where the parents have ever taken them to a public library.  The school library may be all they have ever known.  And when they arrive at the middle school our arrangement of resources and books may look like a whole new world to them.

This process was so helpful.  I now understand what I was not able to for so long; why students came to our campus with hardly any knowledge of basically how a library was run or any other the resources we have available.  Now I do have some students who seem very familiar with the library but for the most part the others are lost.  This will help me focus my project just on the needs of the 7th and 8th grade students, especially the ones the have poor reading skills or a language barrier.  I had never thought about that until I began to answer the questions.  I too often take for granted what I think they should know at this age.  I need to realize that many times if I will take a few steps back with students, they can catch them up to speed of the the others. My purpose is basically the same-to educate them on the use of the Dewey Decimal System, the organization of books in the library, the Destiny Card Catalog System and the Ebsco databases. But the textbook also brought out one good point, "Attitudes are important predictors not only of motivation towards learning, but also of how much is learned and the extent to which the material is transferred to other settings"(p.26). I understand now that it may have to start out very basic with simple applications but that will help students understand the basics and work from there. I need to set up the instruction in a way these students will understand the importance and how they can use these new skills later in life also. These resources are not difficult to use, it will just take practice and then putting the new skills to use.