Dedra Van Gelder's Digital Portfolio
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Standard 1 Standard 2 Standard 3 Standard 4

Standard #3:  Collaboration & Leadership

Objective:  Instructional Partner

Indicator: Candidates acknowledge the importance of participating on school and district committees and in faculty staff development opportunities. 

 

A strong media specialist is more than just aware of the many facets of school life; she recognizes that it is important to be involved and does just that. If an opportunity to better the school knocks, a quality librarian opens the door without hesitation. Being an active participant on school and district committees and in staff development opportunities are key parts of being a successful and respected media specialist. As a member of the Technology Committee, I have had the chance to discuss important issues and institute some great ideas in my school.

Early in the year we created and conducted a brief survey of the staff's technology needs. Based on the results, it was evident that more training was desperately wanted. I came up with the idea to incorporate technology inservices as a part of our regularly scheduled interdepartmental (ID) meetings. Since the school year had already begun, and the ID meetings were for the most part already planned out, I suggested that we ease in to things by offering one technology "ID" meeting per semester. Next year, I hope to increase these training/informational sessions to one per month. Among the artifacts I've included is the "menu" of training sessions that teachers had to to choose from. Each session included handouts or notes sheets for the faculty members to take with them and refer to in the future. In the laptop training session, I even provided a handout that teachers could reproduce and give to their students. The sessions were a hit, and I wager it is safe to say that both the Technology Committee and our colleagues are excited for round two.

Because of my involvement in both the Technology Committee and department meetings for media specialists, I have had the opportunity to really network with other teachers and librarians across the county. This spring, I was asked to be our school coordinator for Computer Mania Day. Computer Mania Day is a technology fun-filled free event at University of Maryland Baltimore County targeted towards exposing girls (although boys are welcome to come) to careers in the technology field and to the fun of using technology. This was one of the issues that I brought up during a Technology Committee meeting, and when my principal heard about the event, she immediately thought I might be a good fit for the role. Taking an active role in my school community, and recognizing the importance of this involvement, has really opened up some amazing doors for me professionally. And, as I walk through those doors, I am faced with the opportunity to do the same for those around me.

 

 

Staff survey

Technology inservice menu

Student handout on laptop use

Computer Mania

 

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