Final "Reflection"

As I look back on the total collaborative planning process as an LMS partner, I have realized the integral part that a library media specialist has in a school setting. My previous practice has been as a teacher in the classroom. My assumed LMS role in this project gave me an in-depth experience of what a classroom teacher and an LMS can produce as a team. Christina and I accomplished a phenomenal task. Neither of us could have done alone what both of us did as collaborative partners. Some reasons for our positive success is that we are compatible, flexible, and creative. We focused on what was essential for our third graders to learn. We tailored materials to make the teaching and learning age appropriate. One of the target areas we focused on was the use of technology which we have not mentioned in our previous blogs. We directed our students to appropriate websites to retrieve information about multiculturalism, countries, cultures, etc.. Students typed many of their responses on the computer. We realized a few weeks into the project that we had not included “Use of Technology” as an element of our rubric. Some students mentioned that they used e-mail to contact a relative or family friend who had first hand experience of world cultures and customs. Time constraints wand grade level restrictions did not allow us to do powerpoint, spreadsheets, etc.. I learned that as an LMS partner, I have a responsibility to keep up with technology, keep the library up-dated and offer the classroom teachers help and direction with projects. LMS and teachers need to become collaborative partners in order to keep our students motivated and prepared to do twenty-first century jobs. An LMS must use every means possible to allure the classroom teacher and her students to spend learning time in the library. The time and effort are worth the results. The future leaders and dreamers in our global society will be productive if they are rooted and grounded in learning by receiving the tools to research and gain knowledge in our technological centered libraries.