Media Mavens

As a student, have you ever been sitting in a classroom and feel "totally lost" while the student sitting beside you seems to understand everything??? Or maybe you have a friend who can recite every word from a poem or song that he/she just heard. There is a reason for this--diversity! Diversity means that we are all different—none of us are exactly the same. Some of us are blonde, others brunette. Some of us speak with a strong southern drawl, and others with a more northern accent. Some of us are visual learners, while others are more auditory learners. We are all special and unique--that's what makes us who we are. If we were all the same the world would be a very boring place! This is true of technology and the media center. The media needs to be a place full of an assortment of materials and technology to fit all needs, interests, and learning styles. For example, I absolutely LOVE reading books on history and politics. I find the topics fascinating and exciting. However, I would venture to guess that there are many of you who are thinking right at this moment “how boring!!” and would rather have the flu than sit down with a history book in hand. Let’s ponder for a moment--what if you went into a media center and all it seemed that was on the shelves were books on history and political science—would you be interested? Would you consider there to be a lot of variety? The answer is obviously a resounding NO! As media specialists we need to include materials on all subjects and interests. We also need to make certain that materials are available in different reading levels and formats. Due to different learning styles and varying languages spoken, materials should be accessible in audio format and video format, when at all possible. Media specialist need to encourage diversity through purchasing and providing materials that will meet the needs of ALL students, not just a select few. Bilingual students and students with special needs should be able to come into the media center knowing that they will find materials that will help and interest them. It is our responsibility as media specialists to make certain our collections are as diverse as the patrons who use them. Encouraging an open-mind and knowledge on different cultures, religions, faiths, and traditions are all part of supporting diversity in the media center. Materials should reflect the uniqueness of us all.

Technology is also a great tool in helping support diversity in media centers. There are many software programs and websites that can be used to help ESL and multilingual students with reading and spelling, as well as math and science. During my field experience, I observed ESL students using a website called Starfall.com. This site provided reading instruction by using reading games to help the students learn. Also, I watched as students with learning disabilities used a website called Raz-kids.com to help them learn to read. Other sites being used included BrainPop and WordBuilder, among many others. There is so many different websites and technologies to choose from to meet the DIVERSE needs of our students. As media specialists, we need to embrace our differences and make certain that we use a variety of software programs, websites, and materials to meet the needs and interests of all.

Diversity is one of those words that can – and should – have many definitions. At the very least, the word should have many interpretations. Limiting diversity to culture or race is a stereotype in itself.

Diversity is culture and race. It is gender, socioeconomic status, special needs, intelligence, language, and anything that makes us different. The thing is, diversity is all of these things and what is important is that we embrace them all.

I don’t mean this in a politically correct, “We Must Embrace Diversity,” kumbaya kind of way (although I’m not opposed to that). That is what the word has come to mean, I fear. But what I’m saying is we are all diverse. None of us is exactly alike and we should remember that when we are planning activities or lessons. My mom is an identical twin; and trust me the opinions and interests of my mom and my aunt couldn’t be more diverse.

What I have been learning over the last few semesters is that all students are diverse. Yes, they have different skin colors and some speak different languages; but they are all diverse learners and have different levels of intelligence and means of processing information. I have to write things down to absorb them into my memory. My friend Megan can hear a song one time on the radio and be able to sing it back to you a week later. Theresa and my brother both have amazing abilities to recall everything they read. This is diversity, just not the way we are told to think about it.

What has really made me think about diversity the last few weeks are the projects I’ve done for my other class – Media Programming. I’ve been working on my school-wide project and my two-year plan; both of which ask for activities for many groups around the school. This, I think, helps us think about diversity in programming. But Dr. Goldberg doesn’t limit us to thinking about certain cultures or races in either project. She wants us to think of activities for a wide range of groups within the school – all diverse and all important.

For the school-wide program especially, I tried to think of activities that fit within the theme – Adventures in Dewey – and worked with both state standards and a variety of different students. For example, I wanted art students working on Halloween masks that represented different cultures and religions. I had music students learning holiday songs in different languages. Special needs students read jokes and poetry, while at-risk students created a Valentine podcast for a loved one; and gifted first graders created a weather station. Different grade levels were included, different learning styles were embraced, and different ages did different levels of activities. But all of the lessons were aimed at celebrating the interests and ability levels of students.

And that is what I think we have to remember as media specialists especially. Because we are in the unique situation of teaching all of the students; we must encourage and support diversity through our ideas and actions. Everyone is diverse and each person has strengths and weaknesses. If we take a student’s diversity and use the strength of it, we will help that student achieve so much more.

So how do I define diversity, or diverse? The same way I do unique – something everyone is and should strive to be.

As a special education teacher, when I think of the media center and diversity I quickly think of students who read at very low levels, but who want age appropriate materials. The media specialist must make sure that she has some of these books or at least, books with cds, so that these students can enjoy books appropriate to their age group. My husband use to read books for an organization called Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB &D). When one goes to the RFB & D website, a search can be made for almost any book or textbook that is used in school today. What is costly is that the playback machines are around $350 to $400. Of course, if a student has an Individualized Education Plan, the Special Education Department may purchase the equipment he needs. If not, the media specialist may want to talk to the special education teacher to see if funds exist in her budget for one of these devices if they do not exist in your budget.

Accessibility to the media center is the other topic that I think about. Is your library one that will allow a student who is in a wheelchair to comfortably come in and sit at a computer and do research? Is there a wheelchair ramp if your media center has stairs? How will this student access books on the third, fourth, and fifth shelves of your library? There are usually simple answers to these questions; however, one does have to think about them so she is not caught off guard when the occasion arises.

Of course, diversity extends way beyond the realm of special education. There are so many good books out today on multiculturalism and the different races that exist in the schools. Now that some schools are teaching languages other than Spanish, the media specialist can include books about those languages, too. And because children come from such blended backgrounds, I think we will be fascinated by the number of different students who will be interested in checking these books out.