1.1 Knowledge of Learners and Learning 

Candidates support the learning of all students and other members of the learning community, including those with diverse learning styles, physical and intellectual abilities and needs. 
PictureChart showing student enrollment statistics at Monocacy Valley Montessori in 2014.
Description
In completing this school analysis, I learned a great deal about the importance of knowing your school community when developing the library's collection. I collected data to determine the diverse cultures, physical and intellectual abilities, and learning styles of the students in my school. 

​Analysis
To truly serve the students, I feel it is important to understand where they come from, what challenges they face, and to try to anticipate what they might be most interested in reading. I want my school library to be the heart of the school. The collection must reflect my students’ cultures and unique challenges. This assignment gave me the data I needed to convince my administrator that our school’s library was not meeting the needs of our student population. Upon seeing the results, she agreed that we could have a significant impact on our students’ learning by increasing the number of high/low books, math-centered books, and eBooks. 

​Reflection
The school analysis was a real eye-opener, and I am glad it was a requirement. It confirmed things I already knew about my school and showed me things I didn't. This year, when I started as a full-time media specialist in Howard County, one of the first things I did over the summer was gather data about my new school. I have used it several times in developing my book orders and feel strongly that I am doing the best I can to tailor our collection to the needs of our specific school population. I want to learn more about sources I can use for finding quality materials that reflect the diversity of my school. ​     ​

1.2 Effective & Knowledgeable Teacher

Candidates implement the principles of effective teaching and learning that contribute to an active, inquiry-based approach to learning.  Candidates make use of a variety of instructional strategies and assessment tools to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments in partnership with classroom teachers and other educators.  Candidates can document and communicate the impact of collaborative instruction on student achievement.
PictureChart created in Kidspiration
Description
I collaborated with a second-grade teacher to create this lesson which supports her social studies unit on goods and services. We incorporated a variety of instructional strategies and assessment tools to help reinforce vocabulary that the classroom teacher historically found difficult for her students. Using digital-age learning experiences and an inquiry-based approach, students were able to successfully grasp these concepts by the end of the lesson.​​

​Analysis
The best part of this lesson was the variety of ways in which we were able to engage the students in learning. They loved sorting the objects with Kidspiration, but they also equally enjoyed being able to pull the actual items out of the bag each time. Students had opportunities to work in groups, pairs, and alone throughout the 45-minute lesson. I was able to assess the degree of understanding at multiple points in the lesson through Every Person Responds, exit tickets, and student sorts. One weakness was that, for almost all the assessment components, students were able to either work with a team or with a partner, prohibiting me from accurately assessing individual student learning. I plan to incorporate at least one more assessment that will allow me to determine individual student learning more accurately.
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​Reflection
Working with Mrs. Follmer was a pivotal moment in my school librarianship journey. She is a master teacher with an endless supply of amazing teaching strategies. I learned so much about assessment and grouping strategies from her during this lesson and have been able to apply a lot of what we did together to other lessons I have taught. After 17 years of teaching in the classroom, I thought I pretty much knew everything there was to know about teaching. However, after spending some time with Mrs. Follmer, I realized there is never an end to the learning. I have had many opportunities to consult with her about other lessons I am working on in the library, and I am looking forward to collaborating with the other talented teachers in our building.

1.3 Instructional Partner

Candidates model, share, and promote effective principles of teaching and learning as collaborative partners with other educators. Candidates acknowledge the importance of participating in curriculum development, of engaging in school improvement processes, and of offering professional development to other educators as it relates to library and information use.
PictureSlide aligning media and science standards
​Description
I worked with two of my classmates to create this in-service on collaboration. Not only did we demonstrate effective collaboration skills in working together on this project, but we created a presentation that allowed us to model and promote effective principles of teaching and learning as collaborative partners in our schools.  ​

​Analysis
We effectively differentiated for the various teaching styles of our audience.  First, we included several points throughout our presentation where teacher participation was essential to steering the in-service content. Also, after introducing the database TrueFlix, we showed teachers that there are varying degrees of collaboration. They could each pick the type of collaboration with which they were most comfortable.  We encouraged teachers to brainstorm different ways that we could collaborate using TrueFlix as a resource. One of the weaknesses of our presentation was that, because we incorporated a lot of teacher participation, we needed much more than 30 minutes to cover it all. In the future, I will have to make sure we have more time so we can fit it all in.​

​Reflection
One important thing I learned in completing this assignment was that not everyone likes to work collaboratively. I found it harder to work with the members of my group who had different teaching styles than me. This is something a library media specialist must overcome – but also be aware of when trying to convince her colleagues to work with her. As a media specialist I need to make sure I am sensitive to those who prefer to work alone and have alternative ways to support them with their instruction. I believe I need to learn more about the different teaching styles and what strategies will be most helpful for me when collaborating.

1.4 Integration of 21st Century Skills & Learning

Candidates advocate for twenty-first century literacy skills to support the learning needs of the school community. Candidates demonstrate how to collaborate with other teachers to plan and implement instruction of the AASL Standards for the21st-Century Learner and state student curriculum standards. Candidates employ strategies to integrate multiple literacies with content curriculum. Candidates integrate the use of emerging technologies as a means for effective and creative teaching and to support P-12 students' conceptual understanding, critical thinking and creative processes.
PicturePage 1 of unit plan detailing both AASL standards and content standards
Description
I worked with a team of teachers at my school, including all the third-grade teachers and the technology teacher, to develop this unit to support the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem unit. Our goal was to incorporate state curriculum standards, AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, multiple teaching strategies, and multiple literacies. ​

​Analysis
This unit is an example of effective collaboration between classroom teachers, the technology teacher, and the media teacher. We managed to incorporate research skills, social studies skills, websites, books, note-taking, and Google Slides. Students used a wide variety of skills they have learned since the beginning of the year. One weakness I have discovered is that students are not proficient with the use of Google Slides. This will make the project portion of their research a bit more challenging for them.  After consulting with the technology teacher, we decided it would be appropriate to start training students in the use of Google Slides earlier in the year next year, so that they are more proficient with it by the time they reach this project in the fourth quarter.   

​Reflection
The first hurdle was our fixed schedule which makes co-teaching almost impossible. We had to figure out how we were going to bridge the gap between classroom and related arts, so I suggested a Canvas module that students could work on in all three spaces: classroom, technology, and media. The Canvas module would have each step explained in a screencast, with links to all the resources students needed to complete it. This would make it easy for the teachers to support the students in their classrooms. This Chesapeake Bay module is turning out to be an excellent tool for collaboration, and so I am currently planning another module with the fourth-grade teachers to support their energy unit.