District Administration - October 2008 - (Page 60)

School Libraries Renewed attitudes and given guidance on how to push past the difficulties to find the next level of answers. This example also provides self-assessment strategies, because the students are monitoring their own information-seeking processes and adapting as necessary. The AASL’s “Standards for the 21st Century Learner” recognize the complexity of learning and the necessity for students to become skilled at acquiring knowledge. The dispositions in action and self-assessment strategies enable the learner to adapt these skills to any context for academic and personal use. Strengthening New Literacies Critical to all students is the need to build skills using technology. The current use of technology in schools can trivialize its comprehension, but library media specialists can teach students to understand the power behind technology when it is used to answer questions and organize knowledge. School librar- Students at James River High School in Midlothian, Va., discuss the book A Lesson Before Dying as part of a One City One Book program throughout the Richmond metropolitan area. discussion from any computer and learn more information about the topics on which the comics were based. The responsibility of a school library Libraries can create engaging and innovative lessons to expand on students’ tech-savvy skills and reading literacy. ies can create engaging and innovative lessons to expand on students’ techsavvy skills and basic reading literacy. For instance, high school library media specialist Hattie Smart, in my district of Henrico County (Va.) Public Schools, recently brought storytelling into the digital age by using Web 2.0 resources. She had students create their own online comic books and post them in a blog. Students could contribute to the blog media specialist is to teach all students to inquire and think critically, draw conclusions, make informed decisions, share knowledge, participate ethically, and pursue aesthetic growth. To reinforce this message, Henrico County recently created a film entitled Today’s Library, which explains the role of school libraries in 21st-century learning. The video affirms how school libraries have changed over the years and has been used by some states for teacher and administrator training, since it names as obsolete many of the 20th-century functions of a school library. Administrators now have an opportunity to continue the library media program success story for the students and teachers in their school communities. Key decision-makers who support best practices for school libraries, including curriculum integration, teacher collaboration, information rich resources, and certified library staff, enable libraries to bridge learning by connecting the curriculum and information skills. School libraries—not simply stacked with books—need to be acknowledged as major players in student academic achievement. Transformative school leaders can provide a school environment that both fosters a lifelong love of learning and places school libraries at a fixed line item at budget time. DA Ann M. Martin is the president of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). She is currently the educational specialist for library information services at Henrico County (Va.) Public Schools and author of Seven Steps to an Award-Winning School Library Program (Libraries Unlimited, 2005). District Administration RESOURCES AASL Awards, Grants and Scholarships www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslawards/aaslawards.cfm AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm Henrico County’s Today’s Library henrico.k12.va.us/hcpstv/vv_library.html 60 October 2008 http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslawards/aaslawards.cfm http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm http://henrico.k12.va.us/hcpstv/vv_library.html

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - October 2008

District Administration - October 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Technology
Facilities & Construction
Inside the Law
District Profile: Englewood (N.J.) School District
Choose to Stay
A Cure for Monolingualism
Virtual Worlds for Educators
DA Web Seminar Leadership Series
School Libraries Renewed
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Curriculum Books
Professional Opinion
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration - October 2008