Reflection 5:

The reading for this week forced me to evaluate what in fact it is I really want to do in reference to my professional focus.   My professional intentions are to continue working in secondary education as a librarian for the next five years pending budget cuts.  However, after receiving my MLIS degree I intend to work extensively in adult education by way of program development.  For this week’s assignment there were two concepts in particular that really stimulated my thinking and allowed me to see what area I aligned with.

Higher Ed. In Middle School?

Having taught courses in Higher Ed., I like the way college and university departments are structured and maintained.  Although there are different interests, teaching styles and personalities, there is still a one common core. Student performance via effective teaching is crucial in higher education.  Allow me to explain.  Each department has at its head a Dean, followed closely by a chair. This allows the Dean to be informed at all times of the department’s student retention rate.  The chair is made aware of the needs of the faculty and staff members in relationship to teaching, instruction and student performance.   Enter the instructional designer. Instructional designers in the higher ed. arena must be aware of not only the needs of the department, but the students as well from a “foundational knowledge standpoint.”  They must make sure that all learning components align from course one through course four, etc.  Designers in this area must make sure they have a solid command of what is to be instructed. They must get a good understanding before creating anything. They must collaborate with a myriad of educators from teaching faculty to IT persons.  This was a concept I had never given much thought prior to reading the chapter. However, it is an exact representation of how librarians work on secondary campuses. I was able to demonstrate this week’s reading assignment first hand.

As a middle school librarian, there are certain components I must instruct both teacher and student. My first responsibility is to make sure I get a good understanding of what not only the student needs by way of technology or projects, but if in fact the teacher has the knowledge he or she needs to carry the lesson from the standpoint of campus and grade level learning goals.  For example, a  7^th grade Social Studies teacher asked for assistance teaching the Alamo. I asked for a list of her learning goals and the length of and amount of time to be spent on the unit. I then developed a lesson that complimented hers.  This included an-online poster-maker for a creative approach for visual learners as well as a Pre-study Prezi to spark interest that incorporated similar battles from around the world and the US prior to the Constitution.  I also spoke with the other Core teachers on her team and during their teaming time, showed them how to make online tests quizzes, etc.  that complimented the Alamo.  While it was their responsibility to instruct in the classroom, I was given the liberty to work with students in the library. This unit was so successful until it is now a 7^th grade staple.  It was similar to a designer in higher ed. in that I had to overcome different personalities and aversions to the use of technology. I basically had to sell the idea and be there to ensure that I did in fact have a product that could maximize student learning.  I also had to make sure I understood every concept presented by each teacher.  Although this was a lot of work on my part, each lesson reinforced the other.  It also complimented the lesson of the 8^th grade teacher as well. Students gained an understanding of the magnitude of a war, verses a battle, fight, etc.  So that when the American Revolution is taught in 8^th grade, they will fully understand the importance of militias, minutemen, etc.

Health Education: Medical School as a Training Ground 

Medical school has always fascinated me. I like how medical students are assigned, not necessarily based on grades, as they all have been accepted so initially this is not a primary concern.  However, they are then organized based on exposure and a system of rotations. Although, they have different interests, they are placed in a system where they must learn  supervising physician.  Although the lead physician knows the answer, he or she allows the group to theorize, hypothesize and simply guess at many diagnoses.  Each person presenting a theory must justify their choice or decision based on knowledge and deductive reasoning. 

Sadly, it appears to be the focus on the elementary school level because of cooperative group learning, but a complete opposite in middle.  This triggered my thinking. Perhaps instead of the teacher simply providing answers, why not place the students as if in medical school?  I worked with the 6^th and 7^th grade Resource classes on a novel they were reading.  The teacher informed me that she was having a hard time getting them to understand many of the literary elements. After reading the assignments, I asked different higher order thinking questions of each group and then allowed the groups to present their findings to the class as a whole. Questions were based from the standpoint of the outcome as opposed to the immediate.  When given the responsibility of looking at the novel or the character from the end result, students understood more than what the teacher was giving them credit for and was excited because they in fact taught the class.  Their teacher simply facilitated.

I chose Higher Ed. and the Medical School/Health Education because Higher Ed. is not there to teach you how to think, but what in fact to think about as it relates to the person as an individual. The student must take ownership for their learning. While medical school teaches you to draw upon your personal/academic knowledge while using deductive reasoning from within a group setting.  This I believe is true preparation for learning.