School Library Media Centers
INFO 233

Dr. Mary Ann Harlan
E-mail
Office Hours: Office hours will be held bi-monthly in collaboration with the other section and will be announced on the first day of class.

A seminar course designed to explore the role of the school library media teacher and the school library media program in the educational community. Emphasis will be on the creation of effective learning environments, involvement in the curriculum and teaching process, as well as philosophies of service and management.

Expectations

Students are expected to participate fully in all class activities. It is expected that students will be open-minded and participate fully in discussions in class and debate in a mature and respectful manner. Use of derogatory, condescending, or offensive language including profanity is prohibited. Disagreement is healthy and perfectly acceptable. Expressing disagreement should always include an explanation of your reasoning and, whenever possible, evidence to support your position. In accordance with San José State University's Policies, the Student Code of Conduct, and applicable state and federal laws, discrimination based on gender, gender identity, gender expression, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability is prohibited in any form.

Course Workload

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes) Supported

INFO 233 supports the following core competencies:

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Articulate a vision for a school library.
2. Articulate the mission of a school library and the policies and procedures that support that mission.
3. Gain awareness of the current legal and ethical codes of the profession.
4. Develop an understanding of advocacy, and the ability to articulate the needs of an effective school library program that relies on the use of existing research, and site data collection.

Textbooks

No Textbooks For This Course.

Readings will be available through Open Source or King Library databases. 

Readings may be added during the semester. 

The intent of this course is to provide both theoretical knowledge while engaging in practice that can be applied.  In keeping with the needs of students currently working in school libraries students can make decisions on the order they complete assignments with exceptions as outlined below.  If completing an assignment related to Module 3 makes practical sense in Week 2 of the class instead of Week 9 they may do so.  The exception is the final module Envisioning My School Library of the Future is required to completed last in the final 3 weeks of the course. 

Modules

 There are five modules in this course:

1. School Librarianship, Professional Organizations, and Standards 
   • In this module, students will explore a variety of standards that guide school library practice and the roles of school librarians.
2. School Library Programs in Practice 
   • In this module, students will consider an array of school library programs designed to engage students as readers, researchers, creators, and community members.
3. School Librarians and Educational Partners
   • In this module, students will investigate the range of beneficial partnerships that best serve the library patron needs of students and teachers.
4. School Librarians as Leaders and Advocates 
   • In this module, students will study ways to engage as teacher leaders and library advocates at the school and district levels.
5. Envisioning My School Library of the Future
   • In this module, students will draw on their growing understandings of dynamic school librarianship practices by designing their ideal school library program.

Assignments:

Required assignments for all students:

• Introduction Discussion Post
• Pre- Self-assessment of confidence and knowledge in professional standards related to this course. Instructor will provide a link to a survey. 
• Course Questions. Students will submit a question related to course content to the Instructor each of the first two weeks in the 3-week modules.  The instructor will choose 3-5 questions to address. The instructor may poll the class on which questions the class would like addressed. This is a credit/no credit assignment related to content.
  • Note: Late work will never be accepted for this assignment
• Post-Self Assessment: Students will turn in a written statement highlighting what they learned and what questions they want to continue to explore professionally. This is a credit/no credit assignment.

Students will have a choice of assignments to submit for each module.  Students will submit both the assignment and a self-reflection that explains what grade they think they have earned for the project and highlights what they have learned in bullet points. The guiding question of the self-reflection is I think this project demonstrates I have learned [X] principles, and I would give myself an (A, B, or C).  Students will include how learning is matched to CLOs and/or Core Competencies. The instructor will determine the final grade but take into account the student's reflection. Each student reflection included is 5 points of the assignment in credit/no credit format. 

• • Module 1: Assignment 1-   School Librarianship, Professional Orgs, and Standards (CLO 1 & 2)
    • Students will develop a mission statement and write a reflection on how the mission statement is aligned to a chosen set of standards and the school and district mission statements. Or
    • Students develop a set of carefully curated school library movers and shakers to follow, using social media, blogs, websites, listservs, journals, magazines, etc. Or
    • Student proposed project with Instructor approval.
  • Module 2: Assignment 2 -  School Librarians and Educational Partners (CLO 1 & 4)
    • Students will interview one person from 2  educational partners (choose between students, teachers, administration, or parents) and write a reflection about developing partnerships. Or
    • Students will develop an asset map of educational partners and support for library programs. Or 
    • Students interview a school librarian about a successful educational partnership experience that led to student engagement and learning and write a reflection identifying best practices. Or
    • Student proposed project with Instructor approval.

• • Module 3: Assignment 3 - School Library Programs in Practice (CLO 2 & 3)
    • Students may write a budget proposal  Or
    • Students may develop a policy manual. Or 
    • Or
    • Student proposed project with Instructor approval.
  • Module 4: Assignment 4 - School Librarians as Leaders and Advocates (CLO 4)
    • Students may develop a professional development presentation for teachers or conference presentation Or 
    • Students may develop an advocacy plan Or
    • Students may develop an action research proposal following the guidelines of evidence based practice Or
    • Student proposed project with Instructor approval.
  • Module 5: Assignment 5 - Envisioning My School Library of the Future (CLO 1, 2 3, & 4)
    • Students may complete a school board presentation detailing their vision for a school library. Or
    • Student proposed project with Instructor approval.

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA) level work;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, or BS-ISDA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class if you wish to stay in the program. If - on the second attempt - you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

Per University Policy S16-9 (PDF), relevant university policy concerning all courses, such as student responsibilities, academic integrity, accommodations, dropping and adding, consent for recording of class, etc. and available student services (e.g. learning assistance, counseling, and other resources) are listed on the Syllabus Information web page. Make sure to visit this page to review and be aware of these university policies and resources.

Students will complete the final assignment at the same time in the last three weeks of the course. Modules1-4 will be completed in the order of student choice. Assignment submission dates are set and students can submit the assignment of choice for whichever module they completed in the interval of time between submission dates. For example Student #1 has gone in order of the listed module and will submit Assignment 2 on the second submission date.  Student #2 may submit Assignment 4 on the second submission date.

• Introduction Discussion Post- Credit/No Credit due Aug 23
• Pre Self Assessment due Aug 23
• Course Questions Beginning  Aug 28 
• Peer Review Beginning Aug 30

Module Submission Dates

• Submission 1 - Sept 4
• Submission 2 - Sept 25
• Submission 3 - Oct 16
• Submission 4 - Nov 6
• Submission 5 (Envisioning My School Library of the Future) - Dec 4
• Post Self Assessment - Dec 6

Grading

• • • Introduction Discussion Post- Credit/No Credit - 5 points
    • Pre Self Assessment Credit/No Credit -5 points
    • Weekly Discussion Board Credit/No Credit 1 point per submission 
    • Submission 1 - 20 points
    • Submission 2 - 20 points
    • Submission 3 - 20 points
    • Submission 4 - 20 points
    • Submission 5 - Envisioning the Future 20 points
    • Post Self Assessment Credit/No Credit 10 points

Other Relevant Information:

• Course readings may be added throughout the semester. Students are expected to engage with and respond to course materials throughout their work.
• Course lectures will be added on a weekly basis based on student information needs.
• Extra credit may be made available