I did talk with our media specialist just to make sure, but I knew that we did not have any subscriptions to anything extra. We have a closed circuit video system but it is only used to show VHS or DVD’s throughout the classrooms. We only use it to play teacher selected DVD’s because there is not any DVD players in the classrooms. During “special” times of the year such as “Red Ribbon Week” our media specialist will show special videos at certain times of the day and the teachers can choose to watch them at the specified times. With the tough economic times, I don’t think that they would even have the money to pay for cable or broadcast programs. The SES morning news broadcast goes out to the whole school each morning.
Chattooga teachers do use the resources available from GPB. However there are many teachers that do not use the resources or even know that there is such thing a GPB. Many teachers know of the resources, but do not want to take the time to preview or download the videos or resources. There is so much great “free” stuff out there for teachers and I don’t understand why more teachers do not take advantage of the resources. We “as media specialist” need to help teachers with locating and using these resources in their classrooms. I am planning on doing my module 3 in-service in 7461 on using http://www.discoveryeducation.com/ in the classroom. It is a great supplement to many lessons and I feel that if more of the teachers at my school were fully aware of all of the resources that the site offered, they would more likely use the site.
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I agree that us media specialists it should be our job to educate our teachers on the wonderful resources out there for teachers to use. One of these being the GPB. I must admit that I do not know much about this tool either, but it will be my job to take time out play with it and find out all of the cool things we can do with this.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how the smaller and more rural counties in GA have fewer resources than the urban, larger ones. I know I take for granted the fact that in Cobb, most schools have access to cable and DVDs in most rooms, etc. Your media specialist seems to do a good job with what she has.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and Emily - our job is to seek out and leanr about those many free resources out there for teachers. Never having taught, I know very little, but collaboration through these course programs is opening my eyes to the world of free stuff online! It's amazing what you can find through government sites and non-profit ones, too, such as GPB.
Thanks for the insight into Chatooga county video distribution.
I've used the GPB site many times, but I didn't realize there was so much on it. Our school uses GPB (Georgia Public Broadcasting) resources mostly to download video and place segments on the server to support GPS and school wide events. For instance, this week our school is commemorating Veterans Day, so one of the teachers found a good videoclip and downloaded and copied it to the school server. I was able to put the video on my desktop for use during the week.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog and I agree that our job as media specialist should be to support teachers as they look for easy and free resources especially right now.
Like your school, our closed circuit systems is only for showing movies and things like that. We do have DVD players in our classrooms, but I don't think I have ever used it because I don't ever show movies to my class. If we are watching a movie, it is usually a school wide or grade level wide thing in which we use closed circuit.
ReplyDeleteI use the GPB resources very often, and I love it. You are right that a lot of teachers don't know all of the resources that are out there. I think an in-service on just the GPB resources would be a great thing for media specialist to do. The videos and things that you can find are really wonderful.
Amanda :)
I have to agree with Lisa. I am often shocked by posts from teachers in smaller more rural counties around Georgia in the lack or resources they have in comparison to Cobb County. Having a career in education makes you accustom to achieving more with less. Sometimes we get so caught up in what is being taken away from us that we lose sight of what we already have. It makes me realize what a great thing it is to be employed in Cobb County. It also makes me realize that my pursuit of a media specialist position may take me out of my current resource rich environment.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the tighter funding becomes for the realm of education, the more invaluable the role of the media specialist will become. Especially with many counties functioning on a shoestring budget and their teachers stretched thin on both time and resources. In these tough economic times, the media specialist can easily justify their position by seeking out free resources that can take the place of ones that were cut from the school’s budget. The truth of the matter is that media specialists are also going to be required to achieve less with more in order to guarantee their position.
Hi Leann,
ReplyDeleteI think you are right on target when you say that it is our job as media specialists to make sure teachers are aware of the vast amount of resources that are available to them. Many of these resources are easily accessible, user-friendly, and best of all, FREE! In this time of budget cuts and financial turmoil, free quality educational resources should be utilized to enhance instruction in the classroom. I feel that many teachers fail to use United Streaming and other Georgia Public Broadcasting resources simply because they are unaware of them. The fact is that media specialists need to make it their mission to educate teachers on the (free)resources that are available to them. By being informed, quality materials can be used and instruction enhanced. Both teachers and students can benefit from these great resources.