Reflection
Advocacy is a long-term, deliberate plan that is
designed to build stakeholder support.
Advocating for students and student learning is a meaningful, effective,
and necessary piece of the advocacy puzzle. The advocacy plan was created specifically for my
mentor’s school which serves grades 3 -5.
The plan focuses on developing media appreciation in the incoming
third graders, especially the struggling readers. These students need to be taught how to find
books that interest them and that they can read independently. Third
grade students will be selected to attend a recess book club that will meet
once a cycle for 30 minutes. Students will be introduced to a new genre each
month. They will discuss the
characteristics of each genre and read excerpts from different books. The library media specialist will provide quality
instruction and teach students how to find books at their appropriate reading
level. The library media specialist will
conduct book talks and author studies to generate interest in the various
genres throughout the school year. She
will also teach 3rd grade students to use Lexiles and alpha levels
to find books at their appropriate reading level.
The strength of the plan is that students will be in a focused small group designed to help improve their reading skills, which will affect all content areas. Students will be chosen based on their SRI scores and teacher recommendation. The weakness is that the small group occurs during recess time. This is the time of day that students cherish, so getting students focused and on task is a must. A couple of ways to remedy this is to take 30 minutes from reading or science to help students improve their reading or may be form an after school reading club. Students will be filling out a genre journal recording the characteristics of each genre, a book summary and their evaluation of the book. The library media specialist will be able to evaluate student learning and their feelings about a book in the current genre. I have revised the book talk brochure by adding my school information and making them available in our school office. I would revise the genre journal to get students’ first reaction to the genre characteristics and then after reading a book from the genre, I would have students record if their feelings have changed.
I think this plan will be beneficial at any grade level. Students need direct instruction in reading to improve their skills. Guiding students early to find the books they are interested in reading will establish a foundation for a life-long love of reading. Creating an advocacy plan regularly will not only support student growth but will also help me grow as a media specialist as I promote programs and services I can provide to support school improvement. Executing this plan successfully will go a long way to advocating for the media center and how it supports student improvement.
The strength of the plan is that students will be in a focused small group designed to help improve their reading skills, which will affect all content areas. Students will be chosen based on their SRI scores and teacher recommendation. The weakness is that the small group occurs during recess time. This is the time of day that students cherish, so getting students focused and on task is a must. A couple of ways to remedy this is to take 30 minutes from reading or science to help students improve their reading or may be form an after school reading club. Students will be filling out a genre journal recording the characteristics of each genre, a book summary and their evaluation of the book. The library media specialist will be able to evaluate student learning and their feelings about a book in the current genre. I have revised the book talk brochure by adding my school information and making them available in our school office. I would revise the genre journal to get students’ first reaction to the genre characteristics and then after reading a book from the genre, I would have students record if their feelings have changed.
I think this plan will be beneficial at any grade level. Students need direct instruction in reading to improve their skills. Guiding students early to find the books they are interested in reading will establish a foundation for a life-long love of reading. Creating an advocacy plan regularly will not only support student growth but will also help me grow as a media specialist as I promote programs and services I can provide to support school improvement. Executing this plan successfully will go a long way to advocating for the media center and how it supports student improvement.
This website was designed by Gina Deal. Comments can sent to [email protected].This page was last updated May 2015.
The images on these pages were photographed by Gina Deal unless otherwise cited. Word clouds created at wordle.net or tagxedo.com.
The images on these pages were photographed by Gina Deal unless otherwise cited. Word clouds created at wordle.net or tagxedo.com.