Learning through Books, Media and Technology

ARTICLES THIS ISSUE:

Information literate? These Students have information power!

"We're learning, but we don't mind!"

Lots of little kids --- lots of things going on!

Building a collaborative network --- from university to local community

Shared vision, shared teaching

Budget crunch? Teamwork makes resources do double duty

Collaboration, participation, and technology

Partners for change

Redefining the library media center

Happy collaborations based on research as a process

Success through independence, integration, and interruptions

A Good Ideas encore!

Good Ideas! Home Page

Good Ideas! is published by CSLA

1499 Old Bayshore Hwy.

Burlingame

California

94010

(415) 692-2350

Lakeside Middle School

Information literate? These students have information power!

Teachers Michelle Lincoln (left) and Barbara Cummings (right) planning with Laura Bokesch, library media teacher.

Seventh and eighth grade students at Lakeside are preparing for high school and for life in the information age by participating in a dynamic program that includes information skills instruction, thorough integration of communication technologies, an emphasis on writing and literature, and personal and group advisement. Teachers work actively and collaboratively with the library media teacher, who translates curriculum needs into library media activities, or into classroom activities that fully integrate a range of materials and delivery systems.

The point to he stressed, says Laura Bokesch, library media teacher, is that "I am a teacher. This is my life." Metacognition, she asserts, requires the teacher to acknowledge the many ways of doing and learning. Included with her catalog of learning resources, in addition to the usual list of print and non-print materials and technological tools, is the recognition that students also learn by talking to each other and by being actively responsible for their own learning. Thus, seventh graders use a game format for learning information skills, and computer-based alternatives are suggested for presenting the results of data- gathering projects. Laura and her fellow teachers are learners, too, participating together in critical thinking training sessions, in curriculum development, and in problem solving.

The stated mission of the library media program for the Irvine Unified School District is "to teach the skills necessary for the effective use of ideas and information, provide a rich variety of materials to support curriculum and promote a lifelong love of reading." There is no set pattern for carrying out such a comprehensive mission. At Lakeside Middle School, goals are discussed and established annually - or daily - as needed. Based on the levels of competency demonstrated by the students, classroom and library media schedules are coordinated and instructional strategies are determined. Parents are informed through letters and conferences. Everyone involved appears to know why the library media center exists, what learning activities are possible there, and how to get the best use out of all available resources.

• Lakeside Middle School (Grades 7-8,. ennrollment 730)
  3 Lemongrass, Irvine 92714; (714) 559-1601
  Don Erger, Principal
  Laura Bokesch, Library Media Teacher
  Irvine Unified School District