AASL Interview- "Collaborate"

Collaborate

Anna Webb Riverside High SchoolGreer, SC

Collaborate: Work effectively with others to broaden perspectives and work toward common goals” (AASL, 2018, p. 83).

Ms. Anna Webb is the media specialist at Riverside High School in Greer, SC. I had the opportunity to meet with her and discuss how she collaborates with teachers. I actually witnessed evidence of collaboration when I was in the library talking to her. A senior honors English class spent their whole class time in the library with their English teacher. Ms. Webb told me that she had already collaborated with this teacher on their current project, which was researching British poets. Ms. Webb said that most collaboration occurs with English teachers. She helps students locate and evaluate sources, reminds them of SC DISCUS and how to search on it, as well as general resource help. Mrs. Webb has also collaborated with teachers to plan and lead book tastings. She stated that collaboration can be both formal and informal, and that great collaboration comes from formal meetings, but also in casual passing conversation. I agree that collaboration can take all kinds of forms.  This is why I think it is so important to have great customer service skills.  Many people pass through a library, and this is an excellent opportunity to collaborate with teachers.

The RHS library has resources that stimulate collaboration between teachers and Ms. Webb. Break out kits are highly popular, and these kits include code-breaking tools such as combination locks, invisible ink pens, special flashlights, keys, etc. Many teachers collaborate with Ms. Webb to create group kits that contain clues to solve the mystery. She was working with a social studies teacher on creating Break Out kits for a social studies class. The class was going to do a break out kit lesson on the Seven Wonders of the World, and Ms. Webb prepped the materials and also gave the teacher ideas. I am fascinated with Break Out kits, and I would like to purchase a few at my future library. I like that they can be reused over and over. Kids are also pretty excited about these as well. The RHS library has a great collection of reference books, reference sets for poetry, and books that represent different cultures in the school. SC DISCUS is a great free resource that she often incorporates into lessons.

The biggest challenge is that teachers do not want to give up the time. Also, some teachers don’t understand what her role is as a librarian, and some feel reluctant to ask to collaborate because it may seem that they are doing something wrong or are not knowledgeable enough. She has a goal to collaborate with someone from each department each year. “It only takes one person to have a great experience and to spread the word to colleagues. Then more and more people will want to collaborate” (A. Webb, personal communication, November 19, 2019).

Ms. Webb gave me the following advice: “I think that collaboration is absolutely key in maintaining our positions as librarians. Anyone can be hired to check out books, but schools need a librarian who is qualified to teach ICT skills. There is so much value in what we do. Remember to integrate yourself into the teaching culture of the school. Seek out other librarians to collaborate with as well...you’re not an island by yourself” (A. Webb, personal communication, November 19, 2019). Interviewing her was a great experience, and I now have a better understanding of collaboration.

References

American Association of School Librarians, (2018). National school library standards for
               learners, school librarians, and school libraries. Chicago: American Library Association

AASL Standards Interview- "Inquire"

Inquire 

Jill Tyner
Bethel Elementary School
Simpsonville, SC

Include: Build new knowledge by inquiring, thinking critically, identifying problems, and developing strategies for solving problems” (AASL, 2018, p. 67).

Mrs. Jill Tyner is the media specialist at Bethel Elementary School in Simpsonville, SC. I interviewed her about how she incorporates inquiry in the library program. First, she gave some background about the scheduling at Bethel. “We have a ‘mixed fixed’ schedule. I see kindergarten and first grade classes every week, and I see second through fifth every other week. Each lesson is 30 minutes.” (J. Tyner, personal communication, November 26, 2019). She further explained on Mondays and Tuesdays she has no breaks except for lunch. On Wednesdays through Fridays she has fewer classes. Due to time constraints of 30 minute lessons, she does not incorporate whole inquiry lessons in the library; however she will incorporate inquiry questioning and incorporate inquiry “tidbits” into what they are already doing in the library. Some teachers do request that she teach or co-teach inquiry lessons in the classroom. Co-teaching is definitely ideal, because the teacher knows the content and the needs of the student the best, and the librarian knows inquiry and where to find resources best.

We also discussed resources in the library used for inquiry. “Of course we have books, but we also have a small collection of eBooks. Sometimes I buy eBooks for specific projects. For example, I like to buy Lightbox interactive books from Follett” (J. Tyner, personal communication, November 26, 2019). She told about a time recently when 5th grade was doing a project on famous inventors. She bought several Lightbox interactive biography books, and the fifth graders enjoyed using these. She also buys Pebble Go, which is an encyclopedia-type database for younger elementary students. This is around $1,200 per year, but she says it is worth it because it is easy for Kindergarten through second grades to use. She also incorporates SC DISCUS into inquiry lessons. When I become a librarian, I want to build up the eBook collection, and Lightbox interactive books seem like great resources.

As for collaboration, Mrs. Tyner has a goal of collaborating on a project per grade level per year. She visits grade level meetings to collaborate with them, and she is working on getting on a rotation of visiting one grade level planning each week. She helps them in many ways, from making digital pathfinders, planning, co-teaching, or teaching a class without the teacher. She said that it really just depends on what the teachers need. She stated that it’s more effective to co-teach than just to take over teaching the class, but some teachers see that as an extra planning time. I think that based on the schedule of her library, the collaboration goal that she has is impressive. I plan to have a collaboration goal at my future school. I also like the idea of rotating to different grade level meetings, if that is possible with my schedule.

A challenge that Mrs. Tyner sees with inquiry learning is the time, both for the teachers and herself. “There are so many standards that the teachers have to cover, and we have trouble trying to fit it all in. Also, the library schedule makes it very difficult to plan inquiry lessons. The older kids in 2nd through 5th grade only see me every other week for 30 minutes, so too much time passes between lessons, and it just drags on for everyone” (J. Tyner, personal communication, November 26, 2019). I can absolutely see how it is difficult to implement whole inquiry lessons into the library schedule. 30 minutes is not much time for a whole lesson, much less an inquiry lesson. It is great that she does try to collaborate with teachers on inquiry outside of the library lessons.

Another challenge is that students have trouble with critical thinking skills. For example, if they are looking for information in a book about George Washington, and trying to find out his birthday, many get frustrated that a book may not say “birthday.” However, it may say “George Washington was born on February 22, 1732.” They have trouble with critical thinking to determine that this information is actually his birthday, even though it doesn’t use the word “birthday” in the sentence. They often give up if the word is not right there in the text. She made a good point that working on critical thinking takes a lot of practice, and it has to be implemented in the classrooms consistently as well. I really enjoyed talking to Mrs. Tyner and learning more about inquiry-based learning.

References

American Association of School Librarians, (2018). National school library standards for
          learners, school librarians, and school libraries. Chicago: American Library Association

AASL Standards Interview- "Include"

Include

Allison Diaz
Beck Academy (Middle)
Greenville, SC

Include: Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to inclusiveness and respect for diversity in the learning community” (AASL, 2018, p.75).

Mrs. Allison Diaz is the media specialist at Beck Academy, a middle school in Greenville, SC. She discussed the foundation Include with me. She practices this foundation a lot, since there is a large special education population there. She stated, “24% of our 6th graders have IEPs or 504 plans. We have 3 self-contained special education classes, a multi categorical class, and two self contained for orthopedic impairments” (A. Diaz, personal communication, November 21, 2019). These 3 self-contained classes each visit the library once a week for a 20 minute lesson, and then check out books. She tailors the lessons to fit the needs of their cognitive levels, and makes adjustments to fit their needs while in the library. For example, she moves tables so that students in walkers, wheelchairs, and with limited mobility can move around easier. Also, instead of students looking for books on the bookshelves which may be a challenge, she pre-selects a variety of books and puts them on a table for these students to browse with easier access. I think by her taking these steps before they get in the library, it makes them feel more at home in the library. If they had to find books on the shelves, I would imagine that it would be very frustrating for them. If they had trouble moving around, they would not feel welcome, and therefore would not want to come to the library.

A resource that is really effective with including all students are Playaways, which play audio books. These are great for students who cannot read well, and for the large ESL population. Playaways seem like would be a great investment in my future library, so I will keep this in mind. Most ESL students speak Spanish or French as their native language. As a result, Mrs. Diaz has added many popular titles in these languages. Beck Academy also has a maker space area, and so many students enjoy this area, including the special education and ESL population. Magnatiles are often chosen as a favorite.

Mrs. Diaz collaborates with teachers to include all students. Recently, she has collaborated with the art teacher and music teacher. She co-taught a lesson on researching the genres of music, and this music class included special education and ESL students. I think it is great that she collaborates with special area teachers as well.

The number one challenge with collaborating is that teachers do not want to give up the time. They often see library lessons as something “extra” to fit in, although Mrs. Diaz would like to collaborate to integrate into what they are already doing. Another barrier is the lack of space and limits on budget. For example, she would like to expand the Spanish and French books even more, but there will be no place to put these books, and most of the time, there is no money left in the budget to spend because other expenses take priority. Teachers not being willing to collaborate seems to be so common in schools. Librarians really do want to help integrate, but teachers see it as something completely extra. When I am a librarian, I know that I will need to advocate to integrate into their existing lessons.

She offered advice to me as a future librarian: “Seek out the students who need it the most. ESL and Special Education students need it more than anyone else. Go to the teachers because more than likely, they will not come to you” (A. Diaz, personal communication, November 21, 2019). I really enjoyed visiting Beck Academy and am excited to implement some of this librarian's ideas into my future library.

References

American Association of School Librarians, (2018). National school library standards for learners,                  school librarians, and school libraries. Chicago: American Library Association

AASL Standards Interview- "Explore"

Explore

Mrs. Gaelyn Jenkins
Riverside Middle School
Greer, SC

Explore: “Discover and innovate in a growth mindset developed through experience and reflection” (AASL, 2018, p.103).

I interviewed Mrs. Gaeyln Jenkins at Riverside Middle School on the Shared Foundation Explore. Mrs. Jenkins has some great things going on at her school to encourage exploration. She implements these in the library space with book displays to encourage the kids to “take a chance” on different types of books. The library fiction section is divided into genres, so this makes it easy to explore books within the genres that they enjoy reading. Maker Spaces are a huge part of exploring in the library, and she encourages students to come in to use this space before and after school, and during school if they have a pass. There’s a variety of ways that they can explore and be creative. RMS was my primary site for my internship, and I can say from experience that the maker space area is quite popular. It was so exciting to see these students explore and show their creativity each day.

There are many resources that are in the RMS library that promote exploration. Of course, the biggest one is the Maker Space area. Some of the items in this space include a 3D printer, 3D scanner, button maker, Spheros, cubelets (robotic blocks), Little Bits, Makey Makey controllers, and a sewing machine. Other non-equipment items are origami supplies, coloring sheets, legos, and other smaller items that still spark exploration and creativity. The Maker Space area is a designated space with plenty of room for exploration and collaboration. It even has a counter height table so that it provides space for students to work together. I think that Mrs. Jenkins has done a wonderful job putting all of this together. It provides such a great opportunity for students to work together to examine things and seek out information on their own and with peers. This maker space is definitely a model for other libraries. I hope to incorporate a maker space like this one in my future library.

Mrs. Jenkins led a service project the Library Club a few years ago where they explored a real-world problem and applied it to a service project. She called it a “global problem, with a local solution” in which the students made a free library and also a food pantry for an elementary school close to them (G. Jenkins, personal communication, November 8, 2019). It provided an excellent opportunity to explore a real-world problem and think about how they can solve it on a local level. They worked cooperatively and learned how to take constructive feedback, so it was a great experience for them” (G. Jenkins, personal communication, November 9, 2019). What a great opportunity for students to investigate solving a problem to fulfill a need in their community.

Mrs. Jenkins collaborates with teachers to promote exploration. She worked with a social studies teacher to teach a few lessons where the class completed a project on the transatlantic slave trade. Mrs. Jenkins found primary sources from this time period, and students explored these by guiding themselves with their own questioning. At the end of the unit, Mrs. Jenkins gave them opportunities to grow and learn from each other by allowing the students to respond to each other's FlipGrid videos. She gave another example where she collaborated with an 8th grade science teacher so that students could explore force and motion. Using a “sphero”, a chariot, and a weight, teams had a competition with how fast their sphero would go in its chariot. It was a really fun and meaningful activity that everyone enjoyed.

Although some teachers like to collaborate, a challenge is that most do not. The biggest barrier is the lack of time. Teachers have so many standards to cover, and they do not want to give up the time to collaborate with her. In addition, some teachers do not want to give up lesson plans that they have always done and replace them with exploration projects. Mrs. Jenkins has given me so many ideas of how I would like to encourage exploration in my future library.

References

American Association of School Librarians, (2018). National school library standards for learners,                  school librarians, and school libraries. Chicago: American Library Association