Learning through Books, Media and Technology

ARTICLES THIS ISSUE:

Chico High School: Uning the library media center and its tools to push out the walls of the classroom

What do you do with 4,000 students? A Great library media center helps!

Library as learning laboratory — for students and teachers

From local access systems to global dialog

Helping students and staff connect

Restructuring: getting to the heart of the learning process

Making the most of learning resources, from human to technological

Winning combinations — kids, technologies, teaching partnership

A "logical place" for applications of information technology

The "Dream Team" at work: changing ideas of how we prepare students for the future

From library to "Discovery Center" — a marriage of tradition and technology

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A "logical place" for applications of information technology

Miramonte elementary School
Clovis

Here is an elementary school library that operates on the basis of full collaborative partnerships between the library media teacher, the classroom teacher, and educational technology. Within one and one-half years, library media teacher Karen r Green has successfully developed partnerships with 28 of the 30 teachers! Scheduling is flexible, depending on need.

In presenting a unit on the Revolutionary War, preplanning with the fifth grade teacher resulted in the establishment of five student groups, assigned to work at the following stations:

• a laser disk information center, incorporating a paragraph-writing activity;
• an art center, utilizing encyclopedias to design a flag;
• a map center, providing historical atlases to help students label major battles;
• a listening center, with a relevant filmstrip, cassette, and book;
• a computer center, featuring selected programs for data gathering and timelines.

From left: Josh Martinez, Michael Lorta, and library media teacher Karen Green.

Karen and her collaborations agree that two teachers are better than one; the load is shared, preparation time can be more focused, assessment is applied to specific tasks, and the ratio of students, to teachers is cut in half. The library media center has become the information center of the school, making it the logical place for applications of information technology. In Karen's opinion, "A computer room isolates computers. Having them in the library media center demonstrates to students the necessary Integration."

What is available in this media center? Students may use a laser disk player, Macintosh computers, a CD-ROM player, and a myriad of learning resources, both print and non-print. But the most important single thing available here is the essential connection among the curriculum, technology, and the classroom.

• Miramonte Elementary School
  1590 Bellaire, Clovis 93612; (2109) 291-0279
  Virginia (Ginger) Thomas, Principal
  Karen Green, Library Media Teacher
  Grades K-6, enrollment 860 (including Hispanic, southeast Asian, and new immigrant families from Israel and Russia)
  Clovis Unified School District