Instructional Technology
School Library Media
University of Georgia
Clifford Garrett
E-Portfolio
| Resume | Program of Study |
|
|---|
History
I was born in a very small town called Maysville in Jackson County Georgia. I attended the same elementary school from kindergarten through eighth grade. In 1988 I began Jackson County High School. I participated in many different activities from marching band, various clubs, and showing cows in agriculture. Shortly after graduation my parents decided that the small town was not so small anymore and we packed up and moved farther out. I believe that I get my love of reading from a combination of always watching my father reading, and my Grandmother. When I was too young to stay at home by myself I would spend my summers at my grandparents house which was right across the street. My time was split between the library with my grandmother where I filled up on The Bobbsie Twins, Hardy Boys, and The Black Stallion series. After the weekly trip to the library my grandfather would take me and my books on daily trips to the mountains. I never saw much scenery because my nose was in the book until we reached our destination. I first realized that I was interested in becoming a media specialist in my second year of teaching when I was allowed to check in and out the books for my class on the weekly trips to the library. Soon I expanded our trips to information literacy and found myself trying to create every opportunity to share the media center experience with my students.
Autobiography: Educational Background
I started Gainesville College in 1992 with a degree in veterinary medicine. After realizing this degree was not for me I moved over to education and graduated Gainesville with an A. S. in Middle Grades science and social studies. I promptly took a year and a half off and than after much soul searching decided to return to college to finish my degree. I desperately needed a change and joined up with my sister and a friend to get an apartment in Marietta to attend Kennesaw State University. I received my undergrad from KSU in two and a half years being tired of the city life I quickly returned home after graduation along with my sister a brother-in-law and a nephew in the making. After teaching I began helping in the media center and doing more and more projects with my students. I realized that this could be an interesting change to being a classroom teacher. In January 2005 I began working on my master's degree in Early Childhood at Piedmont college. After completing one class I found I had been accepted to the University of Georgia in the Instructional Technology Dept.
Vision and Philosophy
I often tell my students that books are like brains they work better when they are open. The media center is the hub of learning and should collaboratively work with teachers to enhance state mandated curriculum while encouraging love of reading and life-long learning. The media center and teachers will participate with the faculty and offer open and flexible scheduling while providing an environment conducive to learning where parents are encouraged to checkout books with and for their children.
Work Experience
My work experience is very extensive as I have only been teaching for seven years. I began by teaching an eight grade science and Georgia history class at West Jackson Middle School. While I really enjoyed the subject matter I found myself lacking when it came to the age group of the students. It just seemed that I was not making a difference in their lives and I wanted to feel like I was having a direct impact on my students.
At the end of my first year of teaching the assistant principal asked me if I would like to try a younger grade. As it happened the school where the assistent principal was transferring to had a fifth grade position open and I transferred with her. So for two years I taught fifth grade at Benton Elementary in Jackson County. I really enjoyed my job and the people that I was working with.
After two years at Benton the school had outgrown its facilities and a new school was constructed and I was asked to go open the new school and continue teaching fifth grade there. So along with half of the teachers at Benton we packed up our materials and began teaching at East Jackson Elementary. After a year of teaching fifth grade at EJES I was asked to move down to fourth grade as all of the teachers had left and they needed an experienced teacher on the team. I am now completing my third year in fourth grade and enjoy the students immensely.
Life Goals/Future Professional Plans
My goals also connect with my future professional plans. I would like first and foremost to secure a position as a media specialist. I would like to take the position and try to add staff development classes in technology. I would love to encourage more use of technology in the classroom by helping to educate teachers and help them get over their reluctance.
Right now I need to take some time off and enjoy not being in school. I want to take my media center and concentrate on making it successful. I would like to try and encourage reading and have successful readers without having to rely on Accelerated Reader.
I have spent time in all levels of the media center elementary, middle and high schools. I found an interest in all of them. All levels have their values and I could see myself spending time working with the students of all ages.
Program Goals/Objectives
When I began the University of Georgia there were several things that I wanted to learn about in the media center. I genuinely believed that it would be simple to run a media center. I attacked it like a business, you have a budget, and an employee. There would be benefits like working with the kids and you still get your summers off.
My learning goals included
Goals Met/Preparedness for the Future
I believe that my goals have been more than met. I see that there is a little bit more to running a media center than a business. The media tech class I tok this summer was a big help and gave me exposure to many different types of media available in the schools. I also believe that the assignments that were given helped me to reach each of my goals. Such as the order project, and taking the catalouging class was helpful in my internship when I had to create MARC records for new books that had arrived. The information literacy and class was fun and taught me skills that I wish I had when I was writing research papers in high school. The information technology class was also very helpful as it showed that we are at the school to be of service to the teachers and it provided ways to collaborate better with the teachers and create resources that would be beneficial to them. While looking at the collaborative projects I was able to get different ideas on book promotion, and other topics. I do believe the best part of the program was the exposure to the media center. I have spent a lot of time in the media center in the last two years at all levels and it is completely different from behind the desk. I think that is the most beneficial part of the program.
The content and opinions expressed on this Web page do not necessarily reflect the views of nor are they endorsed by the University of Georgia or the University System of Georgia.