Participants' Comments

What was the most meaningful and useful for you...

"I enjoyed meeting, sharing, and working with the professionals during this class. It was a very positive experience.The class has been a very good experience. It was helpful to meet and work with professionals from various parts of the country—to find out how we are alike, how we differ, and how we can help one another."
~ Library Media Specialist Grove City, Ohio

"The two most valuable things that I learned from this class are the strategies that others use to tackle situations in their districts, and I developed a deeper understanding of what collaboration all involves."
~ Library Media Specialist Amery, Wisconsin

"What I personally gained from this course is the communications with the instructor and my classmates.  I learned so much from hearing about other media specialists’ experiences and their viewpoints.  It’s a great opportunity to connect with others around the country and to get fresh ideas.

What I will continue to use in my collaborations with classroom teachers is the two main tools that we developed during the class: the pathfinder and the rubric.  It was useful to spend time learning effective ways to create these two tools and then to develop our own for practical purposes." 
~ Library Media Specialist Wayzata, Minnesota

"Since I’m being evaluated this year I think this course will help me with my portfolio and maybe get our new principal to realize just how much I do with the staff that she doesn’t see. 

After all these years I needed this class to remind me to work hard to keep teachers interested in collaboration." 
~ Library Media Specialist Monticello, Iowa

"This course has changed the way I will teach.  Next year I plan on creating pathfinders for students to use (preferably with teacher input,) do more collaborative lessons with teachers, and start using rubrics."
~ Library Media Specialist Brookfield, Wisconsin

"What I gained from the class is renewed energy to get out and make more of an effort to get some of the staff on board with collaboration. I already know which staff want to work with me, but I need to get the ones who resist to see the "big picture" of the benefits of collaboration both for themselves and
 their students."
~ Library Media Specialist, Franklin, Wisconsin

"The outstanding organization of the modules was very helpful in my learning.  I am very interested in spreading the word about research-based information about the connection between the library media center program and test scores."
~ Instructional Support Teacher, Pintado, New Mexico

"I'm glad I took this class because it has helped me evaluate my library program. It's easy to get stuck in the same routine and this class has made me re-focus. "
~ Librarian, Snow Hill, Maryland

"This has been a truly awesome first experience with an online course. I can't wait to share my unit with the third grade teacher. I'll be presenting a professional development session during the October staff meeting at one of my schools to introduce pathfinders to our staff."
~  Teacher-Librarian Cranston, Rhode Island

"Hasn't this been just outstanding!  The sharing on the discussion board has given me a lot of great ideas for the new year. This is one thing I was hesitant about an online class. The most valuable thing I learned was how important collaboration is to student achievement. I have always known it was a great way to enhance learning, but now I have research to support me. "
~ School Librarian, Charles City, Iowa
  

"What an incredible learning experience this class has been! I now plan to design pathfinders and ask classroom teachers if they would like me to create rubrics and collaboratively assess any research project they approach me about. "
~  School Librarian Washington, DC


"The idea of combining online and print materials will help me reach some of our more conventional teachers who believe that all research should be print-based, yet are willing to use the computers for publishing. "
~ Librarian, Butzbach, Germany

"I feel that my new skills will help me convince my staff to work with me, so that together we work smarter, not harder.  I can show them how this will benefit them and their grade level team.  I excited to put into practice all of the things I have learned and can't wait for school to start again in fall!"
~ Library Media and Technology, Waterloo, Wisconsin

"The projects were truly something that we could and would use in our classrooms! Use of the pathfinder is going to prove to be the most helpful because it lets me do a more formal and eye-catching resource list than I had been doing previously.

... courses with a readily visible classroom outcome are not always easy to find. This course stood out as one that does just that."
~ Media Specialist, Germany

"This has been my first online class, and the experience has been very positive. This experience enabled me to learn about collaboration, pathfinders, and rubrics.  These tools have already permitted me to make immediate improvements in my teaching practices.

The most valuable thing I’ve attained is a renewed excitement about teaching.  Creating research papers with a critical thinking skill component is a leap forward that will benefit the education of children.  This is empowerment and thus progress.

"We learned why collaboration is important, roadblocks we encounter, and what elements must be addressed to create successful, meaningful collaborations which are real learning experiences for students. "
~ Media Specialist, Shoreham, New York

"I liked the networking with other professionals and the interesting discussions we had. As a result of this class, I will be working with our staff development committee to design and implement a series of workshops that will teach staff how to work together and create collaborative projects."
~ Media Specialist, Marshfield, Wisconsin

"I liked the interaction with library media professionals around the world. Realizing that my struggles were not unique to my district or even my state makes me feel less alone and more supported in my efforts. I thought it was interesting that the discussion brought out some bad habits that were common among us. Sometimes we know what to do, but forget how to do it."
~ Media Specialist, Cross Plains, Wisconsin

"The coursework and pace were well designed, and instructions were clear. The activities were meaningful and applicable to everyday school librarian work. I learned that my frustrations and challenges are shared by my colleagues around the world, and that was a wonderful piece of information to realize. I have already created a collaboration planning form and am using it with faculty members as we plan research projects together."
~ Media Specialist, Cataumet, Massachusetts

"This course has helped me define what activities actually constitute collaboration, has shown research confirming what I always suspected about the important role the library media program could play in student achievement, and has given me selection of activities that I might use with my administration to build awareness of that importance. "
~ Media Specialist, Marshfield , Wisconsin

"I liked hearing from other people in my field and learning about their ideas and experiences. I have learned a great deal by just hearing about what goes on in other schools and what they have found to be successful. I actually couldn't sleep one night because of all the ideas I had floating around in my head!'
~ Media Specialist, Mora, Minnesota