Starting the week on a positive note

This (unsolicited) e-mail came from an elementary classroom teacher in our district. I am sure she speaks for many teachers. I am very glad there are people in the world who stop and take the time to say "thanks."

Hi Doug,

I wanted to share how my media specialist had a direct impact on the teaching and learning within my classroom. I was invited by my media specialist to pick a topic or project to serve as the basis of a slide show presentation consisting of 5-8 slides. Each 5th grade teacher was allowed to select their own topic. One teacher chose important historical events while the other chose to report on a state. I chose "Favorite Picture Book".  My media specialist took the time to create a sample presentation based upon topics we both felt were important to share. THIS MEANT THREE SEPARATE SLIDE SHOW PRESENTATIONS to use a an example for students to model.

Students from my classroom reread and researched their book, author/illustrator on line. Students then created a slide show storyboard which I edited. The students then continued the process of creating a slide show with the Media Specialist. Students were taught how to insert pictures (with citation). They then gave these presentations to their classmates.

BECAUSE OF THE WORK OF MY MEDIA SPECIALIST TO ENSURE PROPER LEARNING TOOK PLACE, my students LEARNED how to create a good slide show. I selected 4 students, based upon work ethic, to EACH create their own slide show representing a portion of Chapter 13 or 14 from their social studies text book. These 4 students spent 2-3 days reading both of these chapters. They then discussed and divided up what they wished to share with the class.

These four students were given class time to use laptop computers. At times, the media specialist provided supervision while the students worked. These slide show presentations were fantastic! They were shared with a second classroom. The students did all the work themselves and they knew how to run the projection device as well (which I admit--I do not!).

Both types of presentations are being shared at conferences. Parents are amazed at what their children know how to do.

Thank you to your staff for helping us educate our students.

Sincerely,
A Mankato Elementary teacher

One needs to have faith that one's work is appreciated whether that appreciation is ever articulated or not.