AASL Standards for Librarian: Literacy and Reading

Reading Promotion

Select 

Fundamentally, the efforts taken by institutions to digitalize education and reading materials are part of a larger or broader scope of reading promotion. As such, the selected artifact to further these efforts is a link to a blog on my library website.

Describe 

The intended or target audience of the blog includes faculty members, parents, as well as students. The blog is meant to provide a review of the book as well as specify the appropriate audience pertinent to age and gender. Moreover, each review of the book is accompanied by a call number that the students can use to locate the book on the shelf of the school’s physical library. Other than the review and synopsis of the books, the blog also includes personal thoughts regarding the reading materials under consideration. Furthermore, the blog is as well embedded with a feedback section where students or readers, in general, can give their comments and feedbacks to which I can provide my reactions.

Analyze 

The primary purpose for selecting the above-mentioned artifact is to provide adequate and fundamental information regarding books to inspire a reading culture among the various audiences regardless of gender or age. As such, this reading culture when constantly nurtured through the awareness created by the blog further promotes a lifelong love for not only learning but also reading thereby enhancing literacy. Moreover, the blog was created to ease the process of choosing the right reading material for the intended purposes of the reader whether it is for assignment, information or leisure. This concept is achieved through the reviews, personal thoughts, and synopsis provided in the blog. In addition, blogs are easy to access and use as opposed to websites that incorporate too many external links, tabs, as well as information. Dissemination of information is still a vital and lagging part of educational institutions, and though the internet has provided a platform where this gap could potentially be bridged, blogging has emerged as a salient frontier towards this bid.

Appraise 

Indeed, thanks to the comments and feedback section, I received an appraisal for the blog with the audience conceding that it is useful and relevant to them and their needs. Additionally, some of the school departments such as the social studies department have consulted me through the blog for a list of recommendations regarding the best books to use in the Texas History classes. This consultation came after the department saw my articulated post and discourse regarding a book called A Paradise Called Texas . However, a central drawback so far that has been pointed out by my audience is the time taken till the next posting. Another issue is the lack of a consolidated list of similar readings.

Transform 

A salient modification to the blog would be the addition of other genres of reading materials including both fiction and nonfiction. Moreover, a coherent list of relevant reading materials per every course needs to be added to bridge the gap of available literature as well as information regarding the same. Also, to reduce the waiting period till the next posting, I plan to do the weekly posting of various reading materials to keep motivation up among my audience. An additional plan for the future involves developing a system of coding in elements such as age range, genre, content areas, as well as other book suggestions meant to improve the credibility and reliability of the blog across all audiences. Ultimately, the only precept that needs elimination is unnecessary advertisements on the blog, which distract the audience from the central purpose of visiting the blog

Literature

Select 

Promoting literature among various audiences of varying age groups is not an easy thing. In this regard, the selected artifact towards this purpose is the use of video tutorials for differential literature materials.

Describe 

My artifact for promoting literature is video tutorials posted on the student website. The targeted audience includes individuals of all ages and gender, from children to adults regardless of their profession. The tutorials are short and presented based on the target audience. As such, tutorials meant for children will be different from those intended for adults or students. The tutorials are meant to address fundamental topics in different books and the core concepts therein. Also, the tutorials incorporate call numbers where the books could be found.

Analyze 

The tutorials have so far been salient in promoting literature as they include charts and diagrams. Tutorials are short (5-10 minutes) and precise to the concept at hand making them the best literature promotion tool. The intended audience is the students and educators of the institution.

Appraise

So far, students have put in a request for specific topics in different courses meant to aid them in their assignments as well as studies. Moreover, humanities department have also put in a request for short tutorials regarding subjects such as anthropology that they could use in their teaching. As such, the tutorials have been perfect and successful towards this endeavor.

Transform

A salient modification of the video tutorials is the use of simple language to cater for those students who take English as a second language. As such, I intend to add the diversity of the literature presented in the tutorials to provide my audience with a wide array of choice. I also plan to update the tutorials format to include not only video narration but also concepts relayed through displayed words on the screen.

Respect for Diversity

Select 

Diversity is an inescapable concept in a schooling institution, and as such, the preferred artifact for promoting this concept is a PowerPoint.

Describe

The PowerPoints incorporate slides with a reading time of between 10 to 15 minutes. They also integrate differential cultures and languages other than English thereby promoting diversity. The sole purpose of creating the PowerPoints was to come up with a platform where diversity would be appreciated and supported by all audiences.

Analyze 

The intended audiences of the PowerPoints include P-12 students and their communities. The advantage of the PowerPoints is that they can both be printed and saved as digital formats thereby making them easy to share. In addition, they can accommodate bulky information within the slides pertinent to cultural development, linguistic, and social needs. Moreover, they are easy to access and use.

Appraise

The PowerPoints have received positive reactions from both the community as well as the P-12 students. For instance, most of the Latino students have requested for PowerPoints that assimilate and acclimatize them into the English language through concepts of their first language. However, part of the community and students have complained of the biasness towards Latino culture and have requested their cultures to be represented as well.

Transform

A fundamental modification following my audience’s reaction would be the incorporation of all the cultures presented by the P-12 students to create parity and parallel appreciation of all cultures and students.

Literacy Strategies

Select

A lesson plan is the best artifact to proffer literacy strategies.

Describe 

The lesson plan, born out of a collaboration with other class teachers, incorporates lesson objectives, my teaching preferences, as well as the needs of the students to bolster learning. All these elements constitute literacy strategies that I will employ to enhance the love for learning and, therefore, literacy of the P-12 students. The lesson plan includes strategies such as independent reading time (IRT) as well as creating a relaxed environment for reading as an activity beyond the purposes of assignments.

Analyze 

The intended audience of the lesson plan is the P-12 students. The lesson plan was preferred since it consolidates the teaching preferences of the educator as well as the needs of the students thereby creating a middle ground on which both the teacher and student have a shared understanding necessary for imparting and implementing literacy strategies.

Appraise 

The P-12 students have greatly been appreciative of the strategies with most of them noting they cannot wait for the next lesson as it is fun. Likewise, CLD students have commended the lessons citing that the strategies have been salient in orienting them into English as a second language. Parents of the P-12 students have also given thumbs up to the strategies stating how their children have of late become elated and excited regarding the classes. In particular, inviting guest readers into the P-12 classes has been fruitful and salient in promoting literacy among the students. However, students have requested more teacher presence during IRT to help create the meaning of difficult concepts.

Transform 

As per the request of the students, a modification to the lesson plan would be to maintain a presence during IRT rather than give the students autonomy in their reading. However, this change will be undertaken through a minimalist approach whereby the teacher input will be minimal and only profound when requested by the student.