Standard+3.2+Instructional+partner

//** Reflection - AASL Standard 3.2: Instructional partner **// Throughout our coursework there has been a constant emphasis about the media specialist being a leader and instructional partner in their school. One of the first assignments that we had to complete in our Educational Leadership and Technology Course ISTC 702 was a poster about what we thought it would take for a school to be successful. When designing this project, I selected a graphic that exemplified the idea of the media specialist as an instructional partner. The title and subtitles on the poster compliment the graphic and send a clear message that teamwork is an important component if a school is to be successful. In order for students to benefit the faculty and staff need to work together towards identified goals and objectives.

As a media specialist, technology leader and instructional partner I have assisted teachers, staff and students in a variety of ways within our school and county. While wearing the hat of a media specialist, I help teachers and students locate print and non-print resources that tie into the curricular content that is being taught in key subjects such as reading, math, science, language arts and social studies. In addition, I also co-plan and co-teach lessons to ensure that students succeed at the local, state and national levels. I am also a member of the reading and school improvement team. As a member of both of these teams, I work with other staff members to develop strategies and programs that support the advancement of reading skills and also encourage students to read by implementing reading incentives as well as holding book fairs.

When I put the technology leader hat on I provide teachers, staff members and students with technology instruction that will further their goals. At our school I have been involved in professional development that included the instruction on various Web 2.0 tools as well as training for the Promethean boards that we received 3 years ago. To assist teachers and staff members as we completed the various professional development sessions, I designed a wiki page for staff development. The wiki page that is located at http://ges-staff.wikispaces.com/ is a collaborative effort to provide an ongoing resource for the staff members and teachers at our school.

In addition to providing training at our school, I also am a member of the technology team in our county. As an instructional partner and member of this team, I provide Promethean Training for other teachers in our county. This training takes place during the summer in which I work with two other colleagues for a period of 4 days to provide detailed instruction on the Activinspire software for the Promethean boards. The artifact that is attached to this standard is a weekly agenda that I created in conjunction with the other instructors for the academy. Not only does this agenda reflect the level of instruction in regards to the software, but it also shows how other technology has been integrated such as the use of Kidspirations/ Inspirations, Easy Bib, and interactive websites.

When wearing the instructional partner hat which filters into all aspects of my job, I have come to realize the importance that communication plays. During our cohort experience we used email, wikipages, Blackboard and had face to face instruction that included discussions to promote collaboration. Also while completing my National Board Certification in 2009, I had to submit a communication log which served as an artifact for task IV which required you to reflect upon your accomplishments. This log shows that as an instructional partner how I communicated with other teachers, staff members, parents/grandparents, supervisors, board members and members of our greater library/learning community. By reflecting and writing about this log, I feel that I have become a more effective in regards to communication, and this in turn has strengthened my skills as an instructional partner.

As with the other roles of a media specialist, the role of instructional partner is constantly shifting and changing to keep pace with the educational transformations that are taking place in our society today. To ensure the importance of our position within our schools and learning communities it is vital that we keep up with these changes and strive to strengthen the skills that it takes to be an effective instructional partner and leader.