Diversity in the media center

Differentiated Instruction means delivering instruction that maximizes learning for ALL students—regardless of skill level or background. It's based on the fact that in a typical classroom, students vary in their academic abilities, learning styles, personalities, interests, background knowledge and experiences, and levels of motivation for learning. But what we must remember is that the media center is an extension of the classroom and is not exempt from making sure that material and equipment is available for ALL students.
Visually-impaired students need to have special equipment available while in the media center. Large print books should also be a part of the collection.
Listening centers should be accessible in the media center for young readers and struggling readers. Licensures such as Tumble Books are a good idea to purchase.
If a school has a population of Spanish-speaking students, there should be items in the collection in Spanish.
Different computer software packages and licenses should be available to help tie in the technological components of lessons and activities.

Diversity in The Media Center

Many schools today consist of a diverse group of students. Students come from diverse background and have different developmental levels. The Media specialist is responsible for reaching all stakeholders in the school’s population. I have had the privilege to volunteer at many media centers. A couple of schools that I have visited have a section of books that are in Spanish for their Spanish population. I think this is important for those students who may not have develop a strong command of the English language, in addition parents would be able to read with their children. One of the schools I volunteered at had a massive amount of early reader picture books for kindergarten students. During, their library time the students were able to actually pick out books that they could read. I think this is important in helping them develop their reading skills. One media center had a listening station set up for students so they could come to the media center throughout to the day and listen to books on tape. The media specialists that I have worked with try their best to meet the needs of all of the stake holders in the school’s community.

Technology and Diversity in the Media Center

Where I am volunteering, the school is very much diverse, and everyone has access to technology resources. All grade levels, cultural backgrounds, regular education, special needs, and ethnicity groups make use of the media center daily. The media specialists introduces many programs to the students and staff, such as ebooks, Windows Movie Maker, Destiny, Net Tracker, etc. The entire faculty and students takes advantage of the technology programs offered when working on projects or reports or research assignments. All programs are beneficial and are catered to all cultural backgrounds. In Destiny, there are materials for Spanish speaking students on videos, DVD's, and online resources. No one is deprived from anything. It is the media specialist responsibility to serve everybody's needs. There are picture books provide for resource and special needs children. These books are accessible to the disable. The entire collection and online resources in the media center is diverse and it meets the needs of the entire school. This makes everyone happy and; therefore, they continue to visit the media center.

Digital story telling

This was my first time using the digital storytelling software. The software program was very easy to use and I enjoyed retelling a historical story. I research a topic that I really knew little about. I learned a lot through this process. I found my self wanting to find out more information. I’ve even thought of adding additional information once the assignment is finished. For students this would be an excellent resource to use when creating a video of information pertaining to the curriculum. I believe they would retain the information better and would become excited about learning the information. They would also feel a tremendous amount of pride at creating their own video.

I’ve only seen movie maker used at one school that I subbed at. The media specialist created a digital video of her favorite author and was in the process of teaching the students how to make their own video. She had already found the websites that the students needed to use. The process seemed very intimidating to me because of the individual attention that it took to guide all twenty students in the right direction. She was excellent with the students and very excited to walk them through this process.