Crystal Roel

Reflective Essay
E-Portfolio
March 2019

In 2006, I graduated the undergraduate program from Northern Illinois University

with a degree in elementary education with a middle school endorsement. After college I

began subbing for over 7 years. Colleagues in the northwest suburbs respected me for

my teaching style and my contributions. Over the years, I gained so much experience

being everyone’s longterm substitute for maternity leaves (5 to be exact) that I

wondered if I was destined to be a substitute forever.

Alas, I was able to secure my own 5th grade classroom in 2012. It was exactly

what I was hoping for as I had collaborated with so many teachers in that district in

years past. My students were wonderful and applied themselves to whatever I

challenged them with, and I loved the 5th grade curriculum. However, over the course of

that year, I noticed that the focus for that district lied heavily on mandated test scores

and not as much on the actual students. This caused me to pause and reevaluate my

own vision and passion in terms of education. I needed to feel inspired, creative, and

reinvigorated. After a lot of consideration, I made the tough choice to leave a full time

teaching position to find a different district that would hopefully have a similar vision and

values to my own as an educator.

I was ready for a new adventure when I secured a position as a Resource Center

Associate in a public middle school library in Winnetka, IL. Not knowing what to expect,

I dove right in, working along side the head librarian there. Over the course of one year,

I learned the routine of the library. I helped students and staff locate books they wanted
to read, lead book clubs during lunch periods, taught students how to improve their

research skills, and so much more. Even while enjoying myself and my time in the

library, I still had every intention to return as a classroom teacher.

Honestly, I thought I would never push myself to actually complete any type of

masters degree. But, something changed for me while working in that school library.

There was a spark…a spark of inspiration…of positivity…of passion. However, here I

was with this choice, this opportunity, knocking at my door to pursue a new passion that

was completely related to my current career, but tailored as if the job was made for me.

That is when I decided I would grab the reins of my professional life and apply to

Dominican University to complete a masters of Library and Information Science and

secure the position of my dreams….a certified school librarian.

I started the program in 2015, nearly 10 years after graduating from my

undergrad courses. I’m not going to lie, the thought of writing papers, completing

assignments, and sitting in class again was a bit terrifying to me, and I did not know

what to expect. I only knew that if I did not try, I would never know.

In the beginning of my journey in the program, I took classes to create a concrete

foundation and understanding of the profession. Courses such as Introduction to Library

and Information Services, Organization of Knowledge, and Reference and Online

Services helped me to gain a better perspective of what my working professional

identity and philosophy was. The American Library Association’s core values played a

huge part in shaping my beliefs of what qualities someone in this field should embody.

When it all comes down to the values that are most essential to me, I would include

advocating for the rights of all patrons to have access to any and all information while
keeping that information confidential and fair. Additionally, through writing out elaborate,

specialized MARC records for a variety of materials, I learned the importance for all

forms of information to be recorded and cataloged. Doing so also supports ALA’s core

value of preservation, where all information published in all media and formats, should

receive the proper care and attention in order for it to maintain its integrity.

I also feel great pride in the independent and group work that I produced

throughout the program as well. In some of my courses I was tasked with enhancing

different sections of a school library collection. I find that designing these lists is a

wonderful challenge I will always gladly take on. One of the most important aspects of a

library is that it is tailored to its users. After finding out what my patron’s needs are, I

make it one of my number one goals to stock the shelves with materials that they will

use and appreciate. I curated two, in-depth lists based on the needs of the teachers in

the school that I was employed, one pertaining to Ancient Egypt topics as well as one

pertaining to different social emotional learning. I feel that I successfully maximized the

amount of resources- both print and digital resources, under the constraints of the

hypothetical budgets I was offered. This activity not only helped prepare me to perform

this task for my staff in the future, but I could potentially have a use for these exact

resources if they happen to align with the curriculum at the schools I will potentially work

in.

Through the LIS program I was also able to enhance and further develop my

level of expertise regarding makerspaces, an increasingly important component of

school library media management. Creating new spaces to house different emerging

technologies that can be included in makerspaces is a wonderful and exciting task. It is

essential, no matter how large or small a space may be, to allow students to branch out

and work more with their hands and mind beyond just reading materials. I find great joy

in investing my time and energy learning about new tools and activities that are

available to offer in these spaces. With having the opportunity to explore the different

types of makerspaces that are out there, I feel that I could bring that enthusiasm into

any workplace and inspire others.

Another instance when I was able to enhance my skills in the profession and

collaborate with others is when I put together an interactive resource using Google

Spreadsheet for teachers to find mentor picture book texts that supplement the various

topics that they cover throughout the year. This allowed educators to self advocate and

retrieve the necessary materials they needed for their lessons, and then consult the

head librarian if they still needed further assistance. I was only able design this resource

after I carefully observed the needs of my professional colleagues. The response to

having this available to them was overwhelmingly positive, and I was honored that I

could offer it.

I expanded my repertoire to include a professional Prezi presentation dealing

with the topic of social and emotional learning. I feel confident that in the future I can

use this presentation in a professional development opportunity to inform educators

about this very relevant issue in schools today. The wide variety of both fiction and non-

fiction materials will allow teachers to embrace these important concepts that the Illinois

State Board of Education have set forth, and educate their students in an organic and

positive manner.
 After realizing the type of impact I could have with informing individuals how they

can enhance their learning, I was inspired to do more. In Integrating Technology Into

Programming Services and Instruction, I constructed an informative brochure on how to

navigate Overdrive, a fabulous app that allows individuals to access both e-books and

audiobooks. I made this brochure visually appealing with simple how-to-get-started

directions as well as where staff and students could go for more assistance, if needed.

Although it was a bit time consuming making a resource such as this, I was very proud

of the final product and knew it was well worth the time since it would be helpful for

others to use.

It is utterly important to me that I continue to learn, expand, and make

professional contributions after the experiences I’ve encountered during the Dominican

SOIS program. Whether through writing professional book reviews, as I had done in my

Materials for Children and Young Adults courses, or attending national conferences,

such as the Illinois Computing Educators conference, I never want to stop acquiring

new knowledge that can help me to help others that need it.

In the future, I hope to secure a position within a school or public library youth

services where I can enrich my patron’s lives and expand their horizons with the skills

and information I have acquired during this masters program at Dominican University. I

have an enormous amount of potential and talents to share with others, as I am a

motivated library media specialist that throughly enjoys collaborating with other

professionals and inspiring young minds. I know that I will have a positive impact on any

organization I join and look forward to that opportunity.