ISCI 794 Interview #4

 

ISCI 794 Librarian Interview #4

Deborah Cooley - Elementary Librarian - Shared Foundation - Explore

Speaking with an elementary librarian provided discussions that led to the sharing of lesson ideas. It was very interesting to see the similar lessons we taught as well as ideas to enhance or adapt lessons. Mrs. Cooley taught text features by having students look at animal speeds using only the contents or indexes of books. Students then presented their information. While very specific questions are part of exploration, it is also necessary to ask broader or general questions. Teaching on a fixed schedule for me means that the lessons have to be shorter to fit in a 50-minute time frame or less. Breaking up how to do research and how others teach this is something that I am always looking for. I enjoyed learning some new ideas and i am looking forward to implementing some of these ideas. 

The challenges that we face implementing these competencies was also an aspect of our discussion that were notable. There are a number of Ukranian and Hispanic families in our district and the language barrier creates a continued challenge. In some instances, you may need to explain something in three languages to accommodate all your students. Students receive services to improve languages skills but there is not a translator or aid that travels with them, and we have to employ digital means to aid our teaching like Say Hi or Google Translate. While these applications are great, we must find the time to instruct students two or three times to give all students a chance to gather the knowledge we are sharing. Linked to this is also the diverse reading levels of our students within each grade.

ISCI 794 Interview #3

 

ISCI 794 Librarian Interview #3
Holly Rice - High School Librarian - Shared Foundation Inquire

This shared foundation really ties in easily with research for high school aged students. Students are completing far more extensive projects that require additional skills of developing a research question and then finding a variety of sources. Mrs. Rice likes to teach the "CRAP" method as it is easy for HS students to remember due to entertainment value of the word. Also of note is that during the instruction of research skills, information literacy can also be tied into the instruction. helping students to become more digitally aware their online presence is something that should be addresses regularly.

Visiting with Mrs. Rice has expanded my thoughts on what high school librarians can do with their students. I know that all librarians wear many hats, but the flexibility of a high school does allow for more collaborative opportunities, instruction that can have immediate be real world usage, and additional opportunities to develop relationships with the students.  Mrs. Rice has worked with teachers on research, with SPED teachers to teach marketing and advertising using Canva, creating escape rooms, advising clubs, and just being a hub for staff and students. 

Mrs. Rice made a comment at the end of the interview that really stayed with me. She stated that she excited that librarianship was moving to a more innovative way of learning, and not just checking books in and out. This is such a true statement and very evident in all that we have learned and all we will do in the future. 

 ISCI 794
Blog Post #2 
Interview with Amber Eaves - AASL Shared Foundation - Explore

This interview was with Amber Eaves. I worked with Amber last year in her library and we met over spring break to talk about some of the changes that have happened and to catch up with each other. Amber chose to answer questions based on the shared foundation of explore. 

The first question revolved around building hurricane houses to withstand winds and water. When students do research, they are explore and constructing new knowledge. I built a unit around topographic maps this year and after talking with Amber, I want to incorporate more exploration into this unit. We built topographic maps with Legos. I provided the map and the students had to construct that map. I want to encourage more exploration next year by having students possible create their own maps and exchange these to have the different group construct the maps. We can talk more about how the different Legos can represent land features and to possibly look at any constraints that we may need to put in place to help students or to make the task more difficult.

Our conversation also covered topics like time in the library schedules for collaboration. We are both on a fixed schedule and this makes it very difficult to meet with teachers to collaborate on lessons. We both try to make a point of responding quickly to teacher requests to show our enthusiasm for helping, we also try to be visible and get out of our spaces often to be seen and available for questions. Neither of our schedules accommodate attending grade level meetings so when there are staff meetings we also offer our assistance. 

Amber also stated that she struggles with students being disengaged with many or all lessons. This mainly is seen in the older students and she has tried a variety of lesson types, formats and structures with little success. In most instances, 80 to 90% of the class is engaged but there are that one or two that are not willing to participate fully or give their best efforts. I see this as well in my library classes and like Amber, I try to vary lessons and choose engaging topics that are of interest but there are still those few students who are not motivated or engaged. For the future, I want to try to get more student work hanging around the library and the hallway as way to possibly motivate students. I also want to find ways to incorporate more STEAM lessons into my programming. The lessons will also encourage more problem solving skills which was the final are we talked extensively about. 

We talked about students lack of problem solving skills and what some of the cause of this could be. We both considered how technology provides answers at the touch of a button and that this convenience may be a small part of the issue. Our conversation prompted me to look at different ways students can develop these skills in the library. Maybe have problems task cards that groups of students can discuss ways to solve these or have group discussions once a month about the task card. Adding Lego or other STEAM challenges also can improve these skills in the future. 

 ISCI 794

Blog Assignment

Interview #1

Interview with Carolyn Crosland - AASL Shared Foundation - Collaborate 

This interview was with my supervising librarian, and we had a great conversation during and after the internship. I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to collaborate with classroom teachers during my internship. The internship and collaboration opportunities were important aspect of the internship and provided some key points that will affect how I initiate collaborative opportunities in the future. 

The biggest take away that I had from our discussion was that unless you can insert yourself into lesson planning, teachers are only going to see you as the "book check out lady". Teachers in ELA have a tendency to reach out more often as books and literacy tend to go hand in hand, but the library is just as important to other disciplines. Mrs. Crosland shared some of the collaborative projects she has done at her time at her school such as world of finance with the math classroom and colonial times day for the social studies classes. Talking about these collaborative projects highlighted that the experience the students get out of this opportunity with stay with the students longer. Collaborative projects require more from both the teachers and the students but the benefit for the students is well worth the extra effort. 

Collaboration is hard to start when librarians are new. We talked about reaching out to teachers often with offers of help beyond book check out. The more the teachers here your name and your willingness to help, then they are more likely to reach out in the future. It is hard to be seen as more than just the book check out lady so as a librarian, we must be proactive and seek out chances to work with teachers and attend grade level meetings so that all subject areas can see that the library or librarian is there to not just pull resources but to be an active participant in the education of students. The final thought that Mrs. Crosland offered was the barriers that exist when the administration is not supportive of the library in general or collaboration. Administration that already understands the importance of collaboration goes just makes our job easier. If collaboration is not a priority or supported, then as a librarian we just have to be more creative about finding times in our busy schedules to make collaboration happen. Mrs. Crosland does not have very supportive administration and during my time with her, I came to better understand that collaboration does not require days and hours of conversations and meetings. Collaboration can be one 30-minute meeting with some follow-up emails or short conversations. This was a great lesson that I know will benefit me in the future.