Candidates in school librarian preparation programs collaborate with the learning community to strategically plan, deliver, and assess instruction. Candidates design culturally responsive learning experiences using a variety of instructional strategies and assessments that measure ALA/AASL/CAEP School Librarian Preparation Standards (2019) - 9 the impact on student learning. Candidates guide learners to reflect on their learning growth and their ethical use of information. Candidates use data and information to reflect on and revise the effectiveness of their instruction.
2.1 Planning for Instruction: Candidates collaborate with members of the learning community to design developmentally and culturally responsive resource-based learning experiences that integrate inquiry, innovation, and exploration and provide equitable, efficient, and ethical information access.
2.2 Instructional Strategies: Candidates use a variety of instructional strategies and technologies to ensure that learners have multiple opportunities to inquire, include, collaborate, curate, explore, and engage in their learning.
2.3 Ethical Use of Information: Candidates teach learners to evaluate information for accuracy, bias, validity, relevance, and cultural context. Learners demonstrate ethical use of information and technology in the creation of new knowledge.
2.4 Assessment: Candidates use multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth. Candidates, in collaboration with instructional partners, revise their instruction to address areas in which learners need to develop understanding.
LIS 654: Collaboration/Co-Teaching Interview & Student Needs Analysis: 6th grade ELA Teacher (Part 1) (2.1, 2.3)
LIS 654: Inquiry-Based Unit Plan: 6th grade ELA Nonfiction Unit in Collaboration with the ELA Classroom Teacher. (2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4)
How It Aligns
Standard 2 focuses on school librarians collaborating with other teachers so as to enhance student learning. In my Collaboration/Co-Teaching Interview & Student Needs Analysis with my 6th grade ELA Teacher, our interview laid extensive groundwork for what she and her specific students needed (2.1). In addition to discovering the particularities of the students in her class as well as the unit she most needed help on, I was able to align her Common Core Standard RI 6.1, cite relevant sources, with AASL Competencies B.(Create) VI.(Engage) 1-2, “ethically using and reproducing others’ work”, and “acknowledging authorship...” (American Association of School Librarians, 2018, p. 39) (2.3). I was also able to align her Common Core Standard RI 6.2, determining the main/central idea of a text, with AASL Competencies D.(Grow) IV.(Curate) 2., “Integrating and depicting in a conceptual knowledge network their understanding gained from resources” (American Association of School Librarians, 2018, p. 37).
In my Inquiry-Based Unit Plan in collaboration with my 6th grade ELA teacher on her nonfiction unit, we were able to craft 4 lessons in the library taught alongside 4 lessons in the English classroom (2.1). With the Teacher-Librarian, students learned about the ethical reasons for citing sources and how to use citation generators (2.3). They dove into digital research skills by learning how to apply algorithmic and operative logic techniques to search engines and digital databases. While essential questions guided each lesson, a gamified "Google Samari" whole-group activity with boolean logic and the creation of Google Logos reflecting their research topics allowed students to engage with their research in authenic, creative, and collaborative ways (2.2). Assessment was taken in multiple ways. Formative assements were sprinkled throughout. For example, exit tickets where they reflected on their understanding of citations and keyword searching through both digital means, such as Waklete, and tech-free means, such a human opinion-meter. The whole-group, gamified Google Samari activity was another formative assessment where the Teacher-Librarian was able to see the varying levels of student understanding and then amend/pivot/assist as needed. Lastly, summative assessments were gathered through their final Google Logo depicting their research topic as well as the “Lost Internet Treasure” group work where they tested their knowledge of keyword searching (2.4).
What I Learned
In my Collaboration/Co-Teaching Interview & Student Needs Analysis assignment, I learned how essentail it is to have well-thought out pre-planning meetings with teachers. Walking into a lesson without properly understanding the needs of those students and their teacher ahead of time will only lead to weak instruction and poor learning. Going into that interview with specific questions about her needs and the learning needs of her students provided us with a mutual understanding of what I can bring to the table as a co-teacher. By being on the same page, we were able to then move on to creating lesson plans that were developmentally appropriate, engaging, and effective.
Not having come from a teaching background, my Inquiry-Based Unit Plan gave me the opportunity to learn deeply myself the power of active, collaborative learning. The Stripling Modle of Inquiry has taught me of the possibilities available to teachers for offering differentiated learning where all students can benefit. I was able to create lessons that I myself would have truly benefited from as a young person with ADD. I aimed to incorporate movement, collaboration, creativity and surprise by using such techniques as the Wheel of Fortune name picker, group work with scaffolded worksheets and organizers, gamified interactive lessons, makerspace coding activity, and exit tickets that were thoughtful and/or silly and/or included physical movement. As Kristin Fontichiaro says in her article, “Nudging toward Inquiry: Re-envisioning Existing Research Projects”, “Students flourish when they are given time and space to explore ideas. Nudging toward inquiry can be the first step” (Fontichiaro, 2009, p. 18).
Impact On Students
Using what I learned from The Stripling Model for student-led inquiry will have significant, positive impact on student learning. In this 8-lesson, co-taught ELA unit, students were able to personalizing their learning (choosing their own research topic), connect to previous knowledge (on their topic, on the ethical importance of citations, on how to search for sources effectively), wonder about how it connects to guiding questions leading to discovery and more questions, and investigate and construct through collaborative, scaffolded learning activities. They were able to reflect at the end of each day's lesson to further solidify understanding before coming back the next day to go through the cycle of inquiry and discovery again (Harada & Coatney, 2014). Through this process, students gain deeper understanding of content.
Working collaboratively with my 6th grade ELA teacher allowed for more robust, organized instruction for students, targeting ELA content-area standards (CCS RI 6.1 & 6.2), as well as my own AASL standards (B. VI. 1-2 & D. IV. 2) . By meeting with my teacher for a needs analysis, I could more thoroughly understand what she wanted and needed from me as her School Librarian. Because of clear planning and communication, effective lesson plans could be built. This directly results in cohesive lessons leading to greater positive impact on students. Were this unit to have been carried out in reality, student final assessments would show higher understanding of content and increased student achievement thanks to collaboration between their Teacher-Librarian and ELA Teacher (Lance et al., 2010).
References:
American Association of School Librarians (Ed.). (2018). National school library standards for learners, school librarians, and
school libraries. ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library Association.
Fontichiaro, K. (2009). Nudging toward Inquiry: Re-envisioning Existing Research Projects. School Library Monthly, XXVI(1),
17–19. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CItZmbhcRJfDvUrmmo4YYEPT6iTKJnQl/view?usp=embed_facebook
Violet H. Harada, & Sharon Coatney. (2014). Inquiry and the Common Core : Librarians and Teachers Designing Teaching for
Learning. Libraries Unlimited.
Lance, K. C., Rodney, M. J., & Schwartz, B. (2010). Collaboration works—When it happens! The Idaho school library impact study. Teacher Librarian, 37(5), 30–36.