Keeping the school's classroom teachers familiar with the various types of Media Center resources and aware of their current status is an extremely important Media Specialist responsibility. An efficient response to this responsibility is usually difficult to achieve and I have used several approaches with varying degrees of success. The problem is usually getting the word out "in a meaningful way" to everyone concerned. "In a meaningful way" usually means "one-on-one" with the other teachers at the school, which is not feasible from a costs versus benefits standpoint.
Another important Media Specialist responsibility is participation in the school's curriculum development. This responsibility requires "hands-on" participation by the Media Specialist as well as familiarity with the specific curriculum elements in current use by the teachers.
Finally, the Media Specialist must remain aware that the Media Center is generally one of the most expensive classrooms in the school. Therefore, efficient use of the Media Center and its resources is a mandatory item.
An innovative technique for a partially simultaneous response to the above three responsibilities occurred during my recent consideration of them on a collective basis. The result has been Multimedia Day. Multimedia Day has been well received and considered effective here at Canby Lane. Several other Media Specialists have heard this news and requested specifics. This article is to provide those specifics on a wider basis. Here's how it was done at Canby Lane.
The Media Specialist meets with the teachers of each grade group or subject area to ensure familiarity with current themes and elements of their lesson plans.
The Media Specialist selects a date and a specific theme for Multimedia Day coincident with the lesson plans. The theme must be a current element, item, or subject for which a lot of information is available from a variety of Media Center resources. Potential examples include Earth Day, Martin Luther King Day, the rain-forest, Native Americans, Afro-Americans, Hispanic Americans, etc.
The Media Specialist selects an area of the Media Center to serve as the focus, or station, for each different resource involved. This may be easily done by visualizing the Media Center as a wheel with spokes radiating out to each Media Center resource involved. One spoke should end with books and magazines. Potential endings for other spokes include: computers with CD-ROM access, computers with Internet access, Laser Disc players, VCRs with monitors, filmstrip projectors, audio replay stations, etc.
After stations are selected, the Media Specialist collects a variety of material associated with the selected theme to be used at each station. Length of segment and grade level of the material at each station should be advertised. When the above has been accomplished, the Media Center is ready for Multimedia Day.
The individual teachers schedule time for their class participation in Multimedia Day. During that time both teacher and class actively participate in the activities involved. The teacher provides research assignments germane to the theme for the students on an individual and collective basis. Students rotate among the stations to complete the assignments involved..
This provides "hands-on" familiarity with the operation of the equipment involved to both student and teacher.
The variety of materials also provides the teacher with an accurate view of the current scope of the resources involved. The Media Specialist remains available to answer specific questions and demonstrate usage of the equipment to either student, or teacher, or both, on an as-needed basis.
After Multimedia Day, the Media Specialist solicits feedback from the teachers regarding potential for improvement.
That's how it was, and continues to be, done at Canby Lane.
Canby Lane has completed two Multimedia Days and another is scheduled in the near future. Results have been positive and feedback has indicated that both Multimedia Days were successful in increasing the teacher's awareness of both the operation of the equipment and the scope of the resources involved.
For those who initiate a similar approach:
Have a great Multimedia Day!
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