Lauren Caslen

Interview #1

I interviewed Heather Ogden from Long County High School. Mrs. Ogden
has been more than willing to allow me to shadow her, as well as guide me through
all the many questions I have. Therefore, it was an easy decision to begin my three
interviews with her.

Mrs. Ogden has been a media specialist for nine years at the high school
level, and she also spent one year in combination four through twelve. She was a
classroom teacher for seven years and then she was an academic coach for seven
years before becoming a media specialist. When asked about her past job
experiences, she stated that being a teacher allowed her to be able to understand
children and their needs/wants and things they enjoy at the different age levels.
Being an academic coach helped her more with the research part of it and made her
more aware of what teachers need as far as research and what they want. Mrs.
Ogden chose to pursue a degree as a school library media specialist because she
always loved to read and she loves technology. She said what better way to
combine the two than to become a media specialist. She received her master’s in
media and technology, and also attended the Georgia Technology Training for
several years in a row. She said she has thought many times about something she
didn’t learn in school that she feels she needs in her current position. The only
thing she can think of is the program used to catalog and check in/out books. She
stated that she wished she would have learned more about the individual program,
however, she understands that every school is different and may have different
programs. She also wishes she would have had more of the technology
information, however, it changes so much that it probably wouldn’t have been
applicable today. As far as cooperative planning with the teachers, Mrs. Ogden
said she sends out an email at the beginning of every year with her information, as
well as a survey for them to complete about their likes/dislikes and any standards
they would like lessons taught on. When answering the question about developing
a strong team approach with other teachers, she said that has been - perhaps - one
of the most difficult things about being a media specialist at the high school level.
The high school classes no longer have scheduled visits to the library and the
teachers pretty much do their own things. She said she just constantly sends emails
letting them know she is there to assist them with whatever they may need. As far
as reluctant teachers, she said she likes to use examples of things she’s done with
other so they can see what she’s doing might actually benefit their classes, as well.
When asked about reading programs for the school, she said that at the high school
level there really is no reading incentives. They do, however, have books available
for the college and career readiness program that gets students to come to the
library. She said she depends on the students’ love of reading to get them in the
media center more often. Mrs. Ogden promotes interest in the use of resource
center materials by offering the college and career readiness materials. They also
have a cohort with another library system that offers online programs free of
charge to students. Before Covid, classes would come to the media center for
storytelling and other classes would come and be involved with each other.
Professional development is mostly completed by the school’s academic coaches,
but as the media specialist she said she does not have much to do with it. When I
asked Mrs. Ogden about her own professional growth as a media specialist, she
would like students to be able to come to media center for learning center
approaches. She said before Covid, she would have an entire area during lunch to
allow students to come and do different things (scrapbooking, games, etc.). She is
also a part of a “group” of media specialist from surrounding areas in which they
meet to discuss various aspects of the media center and share/collaborate with one
another. As far as diversity, she said any and all students are allowed in the media
center and are encouraged to work together and her goal is to ensure that each
student feels welcome in her center. In order to include resources for all students,
Mrs. Ogden has a drop box for students to put their book interests in. She also asks
the teachers for requests to ensure their academic needs are met in all aspects. The
media center is using a program called SORA where they collaborate with First
District RESA and she makes sure each teacher knows the availability of that, as
well as various print resources in the media center.
When reflecting on my interview and the answers Mrs. Ogden gave, I
realized that – in today’s world – a media specialist isn’t “just” a media specialist.
This year, Mrs. Ogden has become a teacher again, and she has also had to
relinquish some responsibilities due to Covid. When speaking with her, she said
that she misses students being able to freely come in to the media center for their
love of reading. Mrs. Ogden is now having to teach an algebra and a credit
recovery class in her media center on a daily basis. It hit me that, every year might
not be butterflies and rainbows. However, Mrs. Ogden had a wonderful attitude
about being pulled to “teach” again. In speaking with her about this, I realized –
regardless of what we are made to do – our goal is to welcome students, and to be
there day in and day out for them.