Technology Program Administrator

Marie Roberson FRIT 7739 Technology Program Administrator PART A: PROGRAM EVALUATION Executive Summary I conducted my evaluation of the Cleveland Elementary Media center in Fayetteville, Georgia. The media center is a central hub of Cleveland Elementary, and serves approximately 550 students. The school serves Pre-K through fifth grade, approximately 33% are African American, 37% are Caucasian, 19% are Hispanic, 5% are Asian, and 5% are two or more races. We are a 1:1 county, meaning Chromebooks go home with the students, however, approximately 20% of the students I interviewed did not have internet access at home. There is a full time media specialist as well as a paraprofessional in the media center each day. The media specialist houses not only a wealth of books, but also the laminator, printers, broadcast room, a copier, as well as various technology equipment. Groups meet for small group instruction as well mentors one on one time with students. Technology Organizational Chart

Methods Interviews. Observations, and checklists were used to collect information about the Cleveland Media Center. Interviews took place with teachers as well as the students, using the questions found in Appendix A and Appendix C. The teachers interviewed were a mix of grades Pre-K through fifth. Observations were done throughout the semester and notes appear in Appendix B. Students surveyed were fifth graders, and those results are in Appendix C. Center Context and Goals The Cleveland Media center is almost twenty years old. The current media specialist has been in that position for three years. The previous media specialist opened the school in 1999, and retired in 2016. In the summer of 2017 there was a half remodel done on the media center. Although no new furniture was no purchased, a large structure was moved from the middle of the room, bright paint was applied to the walls, and a small decorating budget allowed for new signage. Ms. Lee also received a large gift that was able to help in this area. The media center has 30 Chromebooks in a cart, 6 desktop computers for student use, 2 desktops at the circulation desk, and a computer lab that shares a door with the media center that has 28 desktop computers as well as a 30 Chromebook cart. There is a Promethean panel on wheels that can be used in multiple spots in the media center. The media center has tables for large group meetings, two round tables for small groups, as well as flexible seating throughout. County Mission Statement: The Fayette County school library media centers exist to support the educational goals of the school system and of the individual schools they serve. Their mission is to provide an environment that can foster learning and to assist students and staff in becoming effective, independent users of information as encouraged in the American Association of School Librarian’s guidebook. School Mission Statement ● Our library is also known as Curiosity Corner with a mission to develop students curiosity and a love of reading as well as creating lifelong learners. Goals: ● Operate on a flexible, open schedule, which means throughout the school day students can check out books on an as-needed basis. ● Provide library skill instruction, research and book checkout. ● Create a connection to classroom activities and be an extension of the classroom. ● Provide Makerspace/STEAM opportunities Stakeholders

We have almost 600 students, 60 staff members, and 2 administrators. Our parents, as well as our community partners serve as stakeholders. Personnel The media specialist, Ms. Lee, teaches exploratory classes every other week for grades K-5. She also teachers STEAM class each Wednesday, alternating going into the classroom and students coming into the media center. Ms. Lee maintains a Blackboard organizational website, creates the parents weekly newsletter, runs morning announcements, handles teacher technology concerns (often troubleshooting to try and get equipment up and running), as well as her other media specialist duties such as ordering/purchasing/cataloging books, as well as setting up Book Fairs each semester. The media specialist often works with the technology specialist to create lessons that integrate technology skills as well as media skills. Center Activities Throughout my time at the Cleveland Media center, no two days were ever the same. At 7:40 morning announcements begin in the media room. Our announcements are live, so Ms. Lee practices with her anchors and tech team beginning at 7:15. Each day it opens at 7:45 and students begin to come in and check out books. Every other week Ms. Lee is in the exploratory schedule and teaches classes all day except for her lunch break. Ms. Ogle the paraprofessional checks out books and parent volunteers shelve books or assist in checking out. There are parent volunteers each morning except Thursday. Since Ms. Lee is in the exploratory rotation this helps with many of the housekeeping items. Small groups often come to the front of the library where two small tables provide a nice workspace. Ms. Lee, even when she is teaching her classes, also has a steady stream of both teacher and students that need support with various technology programs. She is the administrator for all of our reading programs that they use online, so often when a password needs to be reset or something is not working correctly a student shows up with their computer in the library. Every other Wednesday there is a school wide STEAM initiative that takes place in the media center. Ms. Lee teaches all day and the paraprofessional maintains the other media center responsibilities. Throughout the semester there were times when the media center was closed, such as the Title I Stakeholders Meeting, Read Across America Breakfast, Parent-Teacher Conference day, and the Volunteer Breakfast. The media center closes each day at 2:00. Technology trainings as well as grade level meetings typically are held in the media center after school. In the weeks that she is not teaching classes she often caught up on work orders, or held individual teacher trainings as needed. Ms. Lee is also in charge of sending out the family newsletter for our school, which she works on in spurts throughout the week. She uses the tool Smore because she feels it is easy to use and the view is nice for the parents. Evaluation

During my observations, it was clear that the media center sees a great deal foot traffic for various reasons. It is easy to see that the county’s mission statement, “​to provide an environment that can foster learning and to assist students and staff in becoming effective, independent users of information” is being upheld through all the lessons Ms. Lee is asked to teach as an exploratory teacher. Ms. Lee has worked hard to make the library environment a welcoming place for students and teachers alike. Students often come into the media center to check out books, but spend time chatting with the staff, and in turn building some amazing connections. It was impressive to see the new items being ordered for STEAM for the media center as well. Ms. Lee uses every dime of her budget and tries to get big ticket items and relies on smaller donations and support to catch the little items. She just ordered 12 robots for the media center, 2 3D pens, as well as Play-Away books. Being a Title I school has afforded Cleveland the benefit of purchasing up to date technology that will help student achievement. It was clear during my observation that the media specialist would have benefited from support from another person in the middle of the day. The media paraprofessional has other duties during lunch and Ms. Lee is the only person in the media center during that time. If she has a class it is incredibly hard to ask students to wait, whether it’s the class she is teaching, or the student that needs assistance in the media center. This becomes increasingly difficult if there is a country technician that needs to discuss items with her. Recommendations The Cleveland Elementary Media center is working hard to support its mission and meet their established goals. One of the goals is, ​Operate on a flexible, open schedule, and for the most part this is occuring, however, there could be some improvements. Often the media specialist does not have personnel help when her paraprofessional is at lunch duty. The media specialist could either adjust her volunteer schedule, seek out an additional volunteer that could come during that lunch time rush, or the principal could provide extra staff coverage in the media center during that time. I have seen that teachers usually allow students to come because they often have a few spare minutes before or after lunch. If the students are coming and are not able to get the assistance they need it could turn them away, thus possible turning students away, which could have an impact on their love of reading. Another suggestion I would have is to have a work order system for teachers and parents and stick to it. As a classroom teacher it is often hard to find time to fill out forms, however, if a teacher just pops in the media center there is no think time for the media specialist. Often times when someone presents a problem, it can take a few minutes to devise a plan. If there was a Google Form that teachers could fill out, the media specialist could read the form and possibly research troubleshooting before even going to the teacher’s room. On the same note, I think students need to sign in and create some type of work order as well. When they come to the media center and there are classes, that student has wasted instructional time. If there was a help ticket, the media specialist to call them when she was able to work with that student.

I think the access could also be helped if there was a day, maybe two, that the media center was open before and after school. Being a Title I school, we have families that might not have access to the internet. Since we are a 1:1 school, they have a Chromebook, but are not able to get on it once they are home. Teachers could sign up for the spots to man the library if the media specialist was not able to this. I think it would give access to a much needed group of students. While I know the teachers work hard to accommodate these situations, I think could be an easy adjustment and it would possibly bring in parents that do not typically come to school events. One last suggestion would be to invest in at least six iPads for the library. There were many times that students wanted to do something on a Chromebook, however, either they did not know how to do it, or it was much more complicated. One time in particular was when I was watching the morning announcements. The students created a video at home using an iPad and when they tried on the school Chromebook, it took much longer and the student did not like the finished project as much. These could be placed on the Makerspace table and students could use them for projects, or apps that are not available on the Chromebook. Part B: Monthly Report Please click the link below to see the Smore Brag Sheet https://www.smore.com/b9dah

Appendix A: Interview Questions Media Specialist Interview Questions What is the mission of the center?

County Mission Statement: The Fayette County school library media centers exist to support the educational goals of the school system and of the individual schools they serve. Their mission is to provide an environment that can foster learning and to assist students and staff in becoming effective, independent users of information as encouraged in the American Association of School Librarian’s guidebook.

School Mission Statement ● Our library is also known as Curiosity Corner with a mission to develop students curiosity and a love of reading as well as creating lifelong learners. What are the goals of the media center?

Goals: ● Operate on a flexible, open schedule, which means throughout the school day students can check out books on an as-needed basis. ● Provide library skill instruction, research and book checkout. ● Create a connection to classroom activities and be an extension of the classroom. ● Provide Makerspace/STEAM opportunities

Who are the stakeholders?

Anyone that is invested in the media center, our parents,teachers, students, and community partners.

What are the job titles and duties of Media Center personnel?

Media Specialist (next question) Media Paraprofessional ​County Level Job Description

What are the media specialist responsibilities? Family Newsletter through Smore; Book fairs 2 per year that includes teacher preview and family night, recruiting volunteers-volunteer breakfast and scheduling; checking books in/out to students; keep up with the collection (purchasing, weeds, selection of books); morning broadcast-selecting, scheduling, and training of students; creating a digital commons space for space

What does a typical day look like for you?

I start the day with morning announcements each day. The first three weeks our principal does the announcements, but then we have students that run the equipment and take over anchor positions. I check students in/out each day, laminate, teachers sign up for classes, help students locate books, Swamp Stomp, STEAM, reshelving books, Storytime, lessons for orientation, run reports for Destiny (books that are overdue-send the teachers letters), Bookit, Schedule office visits

Can you give me a brief history of the Cleveland Media center?

I know the media center opened almost 20 years ago. The person who retired before me, she was the one that opened this library and she did not like to get rid of anything. Last summer we went through a partial remodel, I was able to pick paint choice, we moved the dock from in front of the windows so more light gets in, and we got new accessories. I actually had a parent that donated a large sum of money and it went to making this place look more alive and inviting.

Teacher Interview Questions In a week, typically, how many students go to the media center? Do you visit the media center often? What do you think is the most important job for the media specialist? Is there anything that the media specialist could do to make your job easier? What is one thing you would change about the media center? Appendix B: Observation Checklist Checking in/out books

Daily

Using Chromebooks

Chart with numbers (attached)

Completing STEAM activities

6 days, total of 18 lessons

Literacy Lesson

6 weeks in exploratory schedule

Technology Integration

Each observation of lessons, some form of tech was used

Small Group Tables

Daily; 3rd grade uses it the most

No one at Circulation Desk

Every other week from 11:30-12:30

Updating technology

68 devices,

Technology Troubleshooting

179 issues from students and teachers

Exploratory Classes

132, K-5

Special Events

Title I Stakeholders Meeting, Read Across America Breakfast, Parent-Teacher Conference day, and the Volunteer Breakfast

Appendix C: Student Survey Do you like coming to the media center? What is the best part of the media center? Do you use the computers in the media center? How often? What is one thing you would change about the media center? What has been your favorite STEAM activity with Ms. Lee? Do you use your Chromebook at home? If so, what kinds of things do you do on it?