Diverse Special Needs

After reading the blog on “Ashley” it further confirmed our duty as educators to find the special need in all students. Often we look to cater to the need of the child whose special need is recognizable by color, height, weight, physical abnormality or mental capabilities. We often label children that act out or cause class disruptions as the “bad student” rather than a student that has an undiagnosed, unrecognizable “special need”. I would challenge all of us to look for the special need in all our students. Seek to find the activity or lesson that will spark the interest of that student, helping to build their self esteem and creativity. From that alone as witnessed with “Ashley” we can turn that student’s life around by showing them that we care. Caring can be contagious. Once students witness that there teacher cares; students will follow in action. Finally, my suggestion is that we all keep an open mind whether we are in the classroom, media center or boardroom. We all have hidden talents waiting to be discovered and nurtured by someone who cares. As teachers we have an obligation to students, to pay special attention to all students, so that we can enhance who they are.

As far as my personal experiences in the media center, I have not witnessed  any known special needs being addressed. I have not observed any special accomodations being made for anyone with special needs in the media centers that I have had the opportunity to observe. However, I will make a conscious effort in the future to be aware of the diverse needs that should be addressed; giving all students the opportunity to learn and enjoy all that the media center has to offer.

Playing Fair with Fair Use

What is copyright?

To put in the basic terms, "copyright is a legal device that provides the creator of a work of

art or literature, or a work that conveys information or ideas, the right to control how the

work is used" (Fishman, 2008, p. 6).The intent of copyright is to advance the progress of

knowledge by giving an author of a work an economic incentive to create new works (Loren,

2000).

What is fair use?

Each type of medium: print, video, music, images, and online, all have specific

requirements regarding fair and acceptable use. Each month of this professional

development on the copyright laws, we will explore what is acceptable for each medium

and ways you can use the material of others while still maintaining academic integrity.

http://www.newtrier.k12.il.us/media/files/content/New_Trier_Web_Site/Administration/Technology/Copyright_9-23-08.pdf

Eduators can use the following chart to record the sources they use to determine whether or not they are following fair use policies.

Material		Copyright Status (original material, permission granted, or public domain)	Rationale or Basis
Photos
Article
Drawing
Song
Video
Books

Myth about Fair Use

"I don't need fair use--educators have special privileges."

Educators still have to follow fair use guidelines in the classroom.  Many materials provided by outside companies state that teachers can duplicate materials for CLASSROOM USE ONLY while others are strickly for reference and to help the teacher who PURCHASED the material, which means that if another teacher wants access, he or she would have to purchase a copy of the resource.  Teachers are also not to post publicly materials they purchased for classroom use because oncce posted publicly, the resource can be used in any format and situation.

Cobb County School District and Fair Use

Copyright Laws:

        a. Adherence to fair use guidelines and other relevant copyright stipulations shall be

            assured. In no instance shall library media materials and/or equipment be used in

            such a manner as to violate Board Policy, District Administrative Rules or state and

            federal law.  

        b. The library media specialist shall be responsible for ensuring the availability of

            copyright information, dealing with copyright and clearance questions
            (Administrative Rule EGAD [Intellectual Property] and Administrative Rule IJNDB
            [Use of Technology Resources in Instruction]). Provisions for copyright clearance
            are outlined on Form IJNDB-2 (Permission to Use a Third Party Work Copyright
            Permission Request).

http://www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice/adminrules/I_Rules/Rule%20IJK.htm

Will Disney sue me if I show this movie? Copyright and Fair Use in the classroom

Copyright and Fair Use are topics that affect teachers and media specialists on a daily basis.  By its definition, fair use is flexible.  It is often up to the user to determine what is fair use and what is not.  Here are some basic rules for fair use:

 There are no explicit, predefined, legal specifications of how much and when one can copy, but there are guidelines for fair use. Each case of copying must be evaluated according to four factors:

1. The purpose and nature of the use.

If the copy is used for teaching at a non-profit institution, distributed without charge, and made by a teacher or students acting individually, then the copy is more likely to be considered as fair use. In addition, an interpretation of fair use is more likely if the copy was made spontaneously, for temporary use, not as part of an "anthology" and not as an institutional requirement or suggestion.

2. The nature of the copyrighted work.

For example, an article from a newspaper would be considered differently than a workbook made for instruction. With multimedia material there are different standards and permissions for different media: a digitized photo from a National Geographic, a video clip from Jaws, and an audio selection from Peter Gabriel's CD would be treated differently--the selections are not treated as a equivalent chunks of digital data.

3. The nature and substantiality of the material used.

In general, when other criteria are met, the copying of extracts that are "not substantial in length" when compared to the whole of which they are part may be considered fair use.

4. The effect of use on the potential market for or value of the work.

In general, a work that supplants the normal market is considered an infringement, but a work does not have to have an effect on the market to be an infringement.

http://www-sul.stanford.edu/cpyright.html

When I first started researching copyright and fair use, the first thing that came to mind is the urban legend (or is it true) about Disney suing teachers for showing their movies in the classroom.  I have heard many times from other teachers “don’t show Disney movies, they will sue you.”  I always wondered to myself, why a company who was so family and child oriented would sue a teacher for showing a movie in the classroom.  I also had never actually heard of a lawsuit from Disney toward a teacher or a school district.   I have come to conclusion that this must be an urban legend; however, I still avoid Disney movies in the classroom. 

One thing I have always made sure of was any time I did show a movie in the classroom, it was for educational purposes and not just for reward.  As a high school teacher, we do not often have “reward” time for students so this is usually not too much of an issue.  I can see in elementary schools where showing movies for rewards would be a more prevalent.  When reading the myths about fair use, I came across this one:

MYTH: FAIR USE COULD GET ME SUED.

Truth: That’s very, very unlikely. We don’t know of any lawsuit actually brought

by an American media company against an educator over the use of media in the

educational process. Before even considering a lawsuit, a copyright owner typically

will take the cheap and easy step of sending a “cease and desist” letter, sometimes

leading the recipient to think that she is being sued rather than just threatened. An

aggressive tone does not necessarily mean that the claims are legitimate or that a

lawsuit will be filed.

This seems to back up my theory of Disney never actually suing over their movies being shown in the classroom.  Further, the wording of “media in the educational process” also points towards the use of media for educational reasons and not rewards.  At my school, all media that is not currently in the media center must go through an approval process (see form below).  Lesson plans, along with recommendations by a community member (usually a parent), teacher, administrator, and media specialist must be sought before the media can be shown in the classroom; once again pushing for media to be used in an educational way and not any other way. 

Request for Video Approval
Teacher Name:
Grade Level:
Title of Video:
Video Rating:
Date and Time of Airing:
Objectives Covered:
Follow-up Activities:
Evaluation of Activities/Students:

As part of the video approval team, please view the accompanying video in its entirety.  After viewing the video, please fill out the appropriate portion below stating whether or not you feel the video will fulfill the needs as stated on the previous page.  After completing your portion, please send the video and form to the next person on the list.
Requesting Teacher’s Review
Principal’s Review:
Media Specialist’s Review:
Community Member’s Review:

TV News Broadcasts

My school, Dowell Elementary in Cobb County, has a daily news broadcast. It is broadcast each morning live.  It includes the pledge, patriotic song, moment of silence and any announcements for the day.  The media specialist produces the program, but the 5th grade student anchors are encouraged to add some personality to the morning.  This is seen through creative hats and props, and fun sayings to end each broadcast, such as "have a wacky Wednesday!"  The 5th grade students that participate in the daily news broadcast are on a 9 weeks rotation.  They are chosen by their teachers.  The only requirement that the media specialist has for the children chosen is that they are not severe behavior problems.  The biggest problem that my media specialist has experienced is that she was never trained in producing a daily broadcast and had very little experience when she transferred to elementary school. She has been able to do very well and has learned a lot, but she still feels like there is a lot more for her to learn.

 I am pleased that my media specialist produces a daily news broadcast, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Even simple things like improving the lighting and backdrops in the room that the broadcast is filmed in would make a big difference. This is especially evident after seeing what great things are being done on other school news broadcasts.

  
The Tiger Newscast is a very professional looking news broadcast that can be seen at http://hs.scasd.us/ms/kelchner/tigernews/index.html .  Watching just a few segments will motivate you to find ways to improve your news broadcast. What I found the most valuable from these clips was how this would make a student want to watch the news each day.  The SEA Idol segments are a great example of really hooking your audience.  I think if you can find something that the kids are your school are really interested in, pull that into the broadcast and you will have students listening and looking forward to each day's broadcast.  Investing the time in something that the kids will really enjoy will pay off because they will be paying more attention to the less intriguing information as well.  In my classroom, very few students are actually listening carefully to the news each morning. That means they are missing some daily announcements.  If we can't get our students to want to watch the daily news, it's hard to invest the time and resources to create them.  Making news broadcasts that are interactive and involving is one way to insure that students are getting something out of them.

Social Networking in Media Centers

Social Networking in Media Centers

Social networking has become a huge part of our lives, especially the lives of teenagers.  The amount of students with Facebook pages is astounding.  Therefore, it should be no surprise that social networking has found its way into the classroom and the media centers.   Although many school systems are quick to shut down access to social networking sites, some schools are embracing them.  I think it is imperative to look toward incorporating social networking into schools in order to keep up with the ever changing world.  Below is a list of activities from webtools4u2ues. 

• set up a site on MySpace or Facebook for their school library media center for students and parents to access library media center resources and information
• see what topics students are discussing
• keep students focused on work
• share information about school library media services
• share information and ideas with other professionals
• request help from professional colleagues
• learn from professional colleagues
• share what they are reading with colleagues, parents and students
• host videos, photos and discussions with colleagues, teachers, and/or students
• learn about social networking
• keep in touch with friends, family and library media specialists in other schools and districts
• work on professional association committees
• teach students about social networks
• teach students about Internet safety
• teach parents about social networking and safety issues
• teach teachers about social networking and how they can use them
• provide a collaborative workspace for students' multimedia projects
• provide a collaborative workspace for teacher/lms work
• communicate with students
• provide a virtual meeting and sharing place for book clubs
• catalog books
• find new things for students to read based on what they like to read
• find new things for professional reading and personal reading
• collaborate with colleagues who have similar interests worldwide
• store related things together: videos, photos, articles, RSS feeds, etc. by curriculum area, teacher, or research topic

Many websites that were not traditionally used for schools are now finding new uses in schools.  To begin with, a website like Flickr used to share and post photos can be used in the classroom and media center to organize common themes by picture.  Other websites like Facebook, which allow for communication between various people, have spun Facebook like websites such as Edmodo.com.  Edmodo is specifically used in an educational setting.  What sets apart edmodo from Facebook is the security that is allowed by Edmodo.  One of the biggest concerns parents and educators have with social networking is security and protecting children.  Edmodo can only be accessed by students once they have been given a code by their teacher.  This way, not everyone has access to the students.   

It is no surprise that security is a main issues that administrators, teachers, and parents share.  Protecting students has often led to shutting down the use of social networking sites.  As we move forward and using social networking becomes a standard in the classroom, we must reeducate students on the correct usage of the Internet.