Randi-Marie Gonsalves

Perhaps one of the best ways to learn something about yourself or the significance of your progress towards a goal is to do a reflection paper. I believe this SLO speaks in part about reflecting on your practices and goals and taking an account of how far you are in obtaining them. The first artifact included under this SLO is that of a paper I wrote for my LIS 600 class about the values and practices of Library and Information Services. 

 

The glimpses I got into a world relatively unknown to me from the inside was enlightening. From the traditional practices of librarians to using today's social media to reach out to an audience that would otherwise be untouchable was incredible. Librarians still need to be access points for books and other materials, but they also must be advocates, teachers, budget makers, diversifiers, technology gurus. The list is endless. But in writing this paper, I was able to see the inside workings of a library and what the librarian must be willing and able to perform. 

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Before my MLIS journey began, I was not someone with too much technology behind them. I was quickly seeing that this was a mistake on my part. I broke the self-created barrier and began to immerse myself into the technology world. It was with this paper that I could truly see the benefits of technology, social media, and the such. Technology was here to stay and I best get on board the train before I was left at the station. 

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This SLO also speaks about the way we present ourselves and what we are teaching to our audience. How can we best reach the audience we are targeting? How can we best serve the public? We have to take a look at our teaching methods and be sure they are methods that will reach the youth of today or the patrons of today. We cannot use the same teaching methods we did 15 years ago and expect to get students and people excited about what we are teaching. This is a digital world we live in where many people want instant gratification and to be involved every step of the way. We must use teaching methods that hold their attention and get them involved. 

 

 My second artifact is a makerspace lesson completed with a small group of students and help from the Makerspace Guru at UNCG. This was an exciting project to involve myself in as this focused on something I had little experience with, but something so valuable to our libraries (and classrooms) today. Makerspaces do not have to be huge or cost a lot of money. They can start small and be added to as the librarian gains more funding and experience. 

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Makerspaces are great ways to reach students that might not otherwise come into the library. It is a way of enticing students into the library to "see what's going on now" in the media center. They are a great way for students to develop working relationships and teamwork with other students. This was an important concept for me to see take place as so many times, I see students who do not know how to interact with each other unless its with a cell phone. The makerspace, while it can include technology, gets the students a different view into a world they might not otherwise know was out there. 

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Makerspaces can also be a great way for teachers and librarians to collaborate. This happened recently when the librarian at the school I work at decided to put out a Google Doc to teachers to find out what they were doing for Dr. Seuss week. She has scheduled my class to create their own Wockets in their Pockets during their library time and I will follow up with a writing assignment about their makerspace experiences (what worked best, what was fun about it, what would they change). 

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Also as a result of this assignment, I am proud  to say that I have employed STEM and STEAM activities into my kindergarten classroom and hope to do the same when I am employed in a library. 

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