Nikki Carder
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Before I began the MLIS program the teaching experiences I’d had were with adults in a work setting. I developed and taught classes on forms design, and more recently I prepared and taught an informal web searching class for my coworkers. For a portfolio project, however, I didn’t want to repeat anything I’d already done. More importantly, I wanted to take on at least one project in a library – it was an area that was conspicuously missing from my experience. One other missing element was children. With the exception of answering questions from children through the Internet Public Library in LIS 520, I hadn’t dealt with them in a library context.
Luckily, I connected with Nancy Morton, the librarian and media specialist at Endeavor Intermediate School, a grade 2-5 school in Milton, Washington (Endeavor Intermediate School). She gave me the chance to work in the library and with her fourth and fifth grade multimedia classes as they were introduced to online safety. (During second and third grades, Endeavor students become familiar with computers through word processing, PowerPoint and drawing programs. They are not formally introduced to the Internet until fourth grade, though many of them have access to it at home.) In addition to helping in the library, checking books in and out, and helping kids find books, I taught several of the introductory classes using Mrs. Morton’s lesson plan.
The first step in Endeavor’s Internet instruction is a unit on online safety. Protecting children from the potential dangers of the Internet is a major concern for teachers and parents; in particular, protecting them from online predators. We used the Online Safety Quiz found at http://www.safekids.com/quiz/ as a starting point for the lesson and class discussion. During the class, the kids took the test online, and we discussed each question and the possible answers together.
During this experience, I encountered some challenges I had anticipated and some I hadn’t even imagined. The first challenge is in teaching students who have quite varied computer abilities. Some, who have computers at home and use them frequently, are already quite skilled at web searching, while others are barely competent with a mouse. The fortunate thing about computers is that once the lesson was over, those who are able to work independently did so, without becoming bored and disruptive. In fact, they remained busy and absorbed, while we were able to give the students who needed help personal attention.
The students are quite enthusiastic about working on computers, so discipline, which I had expected to be a challenge for me, really wasn’t. The room was noisy, but it was excitement and sharing that made it loud, not disruptive or unruly students. From the perspective of a novice teacher, this was a real plus.
Another challenge, which public school educators anticipate, but I hadn’t considered, is that budget has limited the available technology. In particular for Fife, the result is that their computers are older and don’t support flash or shockwave. For a teacher, this just means being prepared to address the limitations with the students, and ready with alternatives.
On a very localized level, some of the issues that Mrs. Morton encounters regularly, and I saw as well, involve absence of permission slips and gang websites. Fife school district requires parental permission before a student can access the Internet, and there are parents who will not grant that permission. For those children, alternative activities have to be available, so a teacher has to be prepared with additional, non-computer lesson plans. As for gang websites, Fife has a resident gang, the Lowriders, which has its own website. (It was interesting for me to learn that gangs actually create websites!) Since the older siblings or relatives of some children belong to gangs, the kids gravitate towards the gang site. Mrs. Morton has been diligent in monitoring and limiting access, and I had to be aware of it as well. Endeavor does maintain filters on their computers, but it’s still incumbent on the teacher to be watchful.
I found working with the children comfortable and quite fun. I was working with tools and topics that they are excited about, and their enthusiasm made my job easier. It also helped that I was familiar with the topic. New areas might be more of a stretch, but this experience gave me the overall confidence that with more practice in an elementary setting, I could tackle other topics and situations.
Beyond the online work, I have to express my admiration for Mrs. Morton and other elementary school librarians. Their knowledge of their collections is awesome – they can suggest just the right book, and know exactly where that book is. They coordinate their instruction with those of the building teachers, so that students get a really integrated experience. I would definitely need a lot more experience to reach their level of expertise.
As a postscript to this experience, I’m taking LIS567 this quarter with Chance Hunt. Again, I’m awed by the commitment of youth librarians. They seem to embody the best reasons for entering library work. I hadn’t considered working with children and young adults when I entered the MLIS program, but these experiences provide very positive reasons to rethink my options.
Online Safety Quiz (text)
Links to Elementary Technology Resources