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LIBE 467 Assignment 2: The Collaborative Teacher Librarian

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Introduction:

This paper will focus on using the Concerns-Based-Adoption Model (CBAM) to approach cooperative collaborations with two teachers at my school. “The strength of the concerns model is in its reminder to pay attention to individuals and their various needs for information, assistance, and moral support” (CBAM, p. 2). In both cases, the goal is to find a way to support the teacher’s use of digital and physical reference materials from the school library and help to evolve their practice.

Teacher #1: Audra

Grade: 6

Level of Use: Routine

Routine: Team members are making few or no changes and have an established, comfortable pattern of use.  Little preparation or thought is being given to improving (CBAM, n.d.).

Intervention: Study and research to deepen content knowledge in focus area, application of learning to the classroom, examination of student work, development and use of formative assessments (CBAM, n.d.).

Scenario and Learning Outcomes:

Audra has been doing planet posters for 5 years now as a project in her Science 6 curriculum: components of our solar system and the research portion, has become stale for her.  She used to rely heavily on the internet for student research, supplemented by a few old books that still named Pluto as a planet. Some of the reliable websites are no longer available and she finds that most of the time she is having to manage the students who wander off topic into the abyss of the internet.

Objectives: 

Audra wants to bring in some focused digital and physical references that the kids can use for their research as a way to keep her students on task.  She is also looking to support her students who have a lower reading level than the rest of the students

Recommended Reference Resource (Information Skills):

Instead of letting the students research in the wild, we will direct them to National Geographic Kids where their research can be streamlined and safe.  This website is very bright, colourful and easy-to-use so the students interest will be piqued and maintained.

I have also recommended a set of books by Heos and Fabbri (2014) and it depicts what it would actually be like if you were to take a vacation to the Milky Way.  The planets that are included are: Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Uranus, The Moon. The reading level is a bit low for this grade, but Audra has many students who would benefit from a resource that is easier for her students who struggle with language.

Students are trying to research characteristics of their individual planets and this resource lays all of that out for the kids in a clear and fun way.  The intention is that these books will supplement any additional research that the students will do, but it will also give them a book that they can practice referencing using a citation generator.  The advantage here is that they can physically see the information that they need in order to reference the work properly inside of the book, rather than copy and pasting from the internet.

Activities and Design Collaboration: 

As a fresh spin on her old poster project, Audra and I have been planning a to-scale replica of the planets.  Using measurements to distance the planet group from each other, the students will physically represent each planet.  The presentation will be outside along a large biking path that is near the school. The other classrooms will be invited to come for a “Galaxy Tour” where each group will present their research findings.

Evaluation:

Audra has always used posters as the final product, but we decided to give the students more variety of choice for them to represent their learning. The final product for this project will be a brochure, a trifold board and a diorama.  The students will hand in their research checklists, as a formative assessment, so that we can see they have done the leg work and that they have the information they need to perform their presentation during the gallery walk.  The other classrooms will be invited to take part in the walking tour and act as an audience for each group.

Teacher #2: Trevor

Grade: 8

Level of Use: Preparation

Preparation: Team members have definite plans to begin participating and are learning the processes and skills needed for successful implementation (CBAM, n.d.).

Intervention: Guided overview of tools and materials, advice and tools for management, modeling and practice with teaming strategies, consensus on area for team focus (CBAM, n.d.).

Scenario and Learning Outcomes:

Trevor is organizing a unit on Truth and Reconciliation in his grade 8 social studies curriculum specifically on colonization and indigenous civilization (gov.bc.ca). He is nervous about it because he himself is not First Nations, he is new to the city and he feels that his knowledge is limited.

Recommended Resource:

Trevor is seeking guidance from a local author and intending to use the textbook, Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith. https://www.orcabook.com/Speaking-Our-Truth

Along with purchasing the textbooks, we also bought a digital copy of the Speaking our Truth Teacher’s Guide written by Tasha Henry from Orca Publishing.  This is the support and guidance that Trevor needs to tackle the content that he wants to present to his students.  One of the first things that the Teacher’s Guide asks when taking on this important content is if you have consulted with any local First Nations.  The author, Monique Gray Smith, is local to Victoria so we would also be able to reach out to her to potentially come and speak during Trevor’s unit.

Activities and Design Collaboration:

We are using Leading Learning standards to evaluate and facilitate our instructional design.  At this point, we are at the Evolving Stage of Instructional Partnerships because we will, “cooperatively develop units of instruction that engage learners in inquiry learning” (Leading Learning, 2014).

The first inquiry experience will be one where the students investigate the Medicine Wheel.  We are endeavouring to have the various corners of the classroom set up with information about each directional value and for the students to take notes on each one by moving around the room (Smith, 2020).  This is the first step into the content, and the students will come back to this initial exploration throughout the mini-research projects along the way.

Evaluation:

The culminating assignment will be a First Person Historical-Fiction Letter (Henry, n.d.) using all of the knowledge that has been gleaned over the activities and lessons during the unit.

Conclusion:

Teacher time for collaboration is limited and so it is best to have digital and physical resources that they can easily take with them from your planning sessions, along with some quick and easy lesson ideas.  Leaving the door open to them as a place where they can find support is very important so that they do not feel alone in their efforts.

Works Cited

Building student success – B.C. curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2023, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/science/6/core

Henry, T. (n.d.). Speaking our truth teacher guide. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from    https://www.orcabook.com/Speaking-Our-Truth-Teacher-Guide-P4026

Heos, B., & Fabbri, D. (2014). Do you really want to visit Saturn? Riverstream          Publishing.

Designing learning environments to support participatory learning. Leading Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/learning-environments/

Levels of use – concerns-based adoption model. Google Sites: Sign-in. (n.d.)              Retrieved February 28, 2023, from                            https://sites.google.com/site/ch7cbam/home/levels-of-use

Planets – national geographic kids search. National Geographic. (n.d.). Retrieved        March 9, 2023, from https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/search?q=planets&location=srp&type=manual

Smith, G. M. (2020). Speaking our truth: A journey of reconciliation. W. Ross              MacDonald School Resource Services Library.

The concerns-based adoption model (CBAM): A model for change in individuals.         (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2023, from                                     https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/731/2015/07/CBAM-explanation.pdf

Theme 2: Cooperate, Collaborate and Evalutate

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Page 11 of Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell’s book Art Matters. ART MATTERS by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell is published by Headline on 6th September

Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell, 2018.

Cooperative Programming:

I am always somewhat bias towards books, as the beautiful On Why We Need Libraries: A Essay in Pictures (2018) touches on above. If TL’s have space for computers, there should be a computer station where a student can do research with the guidance of an educator.  However, more likely, the reference services at an elementary school will exist for teachers. It is teachers who are going to come in and look for certain books to augment their monthly themes.  It is teachers who will wander in, somedays on the morning of, needing to find where the “arctic owl section” is.  So, librarians would do well to prepare themselves in advance to be in a position to anticipate the needs of the teachers that will be coming through the door.

It stands to reason that a school library, over years of use, will have evolved to house the books that teachers come to rely upon being there. This creates an expectation, a precedence and a pattern that librarians can begin to predict as the years go by.  In this way, I strongly believe it takes a new librarian 3-5 years to truly get a handle on what their collection has to offer as well as what the expectations of the teachers are.

Collaborating:

Reidling (2013) describes the need for the reference interview between a librarian and their students.  While I agree that this is a responsibility and privilege to investigate the literary appetites and research requirements of students, the more important, and often overlooked, interview lies between the librarian and their teacher colleagues.  As Reidling eloquently says:

“In the reference interview, the school library media specialist’s goals are to determine efficiently and productively, the nature, quantity, and level of information the student requires, as well as the most appropriate format.  The effective reference interview takes practice and creativity; this process can efficiently connect knowledge with the student’s information needs.  It is crucial that the school librarians learn to listen and communicate more effectively with students” (Reidling, 2013, p. 99).

No librarian in their right mind would argue with this statement in wanting to help a student to find their way, but what if we replace “student” with “teacher”?  It is very difficult for teachers to carve more time out of their schedules; this, we know.  However, if a faculty member is going to utilize their school library, thus immobilizing the librarian as a resource in and of themselves, presumably, this act should take some weight off of the teacher’s shoulders.  More appropriately put, “as in most professional activities carried out by the school librarian, effective collaboration development is done collaboratively” (Reidling, 2013, p. 17).  Even more succinctly put: we need to work together.  All too often teachers are floating on their own personal islands while the sand recedes around them. I they only had more time they could access the resources around them to make them feel less alone. Dramatic perhaps, but true nonetheless.

One of the key components of professional collaboration must be a positive and mutual respect between the teachers and the TL. At my school, because there are two teachers per classroom as per the Montessori education model, adding a third party can sometimes feel cumbersome or uninvited.

Other blocks to this elusive collaboration are outlined at length in Strategies for Successful School Librarian and Teacher Collaboration by Kammer, Donahaye and Koeberl (2021). “Another barrier to collaboration is the comfort level that either teachers or librarians have with their content areas.  If a librarian comes from a humanities background then they may not be as comfortable collaborating on a science project for example (Kammer, p. 6, 2021).  These excuses are irrelevant when approaching this important professional collaboration.

Teachers need to be as open to receiving support as librarians need to be open about offering it. “School librarians and teachers are engaged in efforts to collaborate at various levels to increase student achievement and be more effective teachers.  Some of these efforts include co-teaching and supplementing an existing content-area lesson with library instruction” (Kammer, et. al., p. 2, 2021). Communication is the key to successful collaboration, and yet it can still be very difficult for some to approach and achieve.

Evaluating: 

If our intention is to inspire creative collaboration and planning with our colleagues, then we need to ensure that we are able to offer them quality reference sources.  In order to do that, we need money, plain and simple, and a vetted criteria that helps us to make decisions. “Selection policies are vital because they explain the process followed and the priorities established before any resource is purchased and placed in the school library collection” (Reidling, 2013, p. 18).  If these policies are not observed, then the decisions become subjective and both time and money can be wasted.

Thankfully, we have some standards to guide us in these endeavours as, “the Ministry of Education and ERAC organize evaluation criteria under five main headings: curriculum fit, content, instructional design and social considerations” (BCTLA.CA p. 75).  ERAC lays out these guidelines for us in order to maintain a certain standard and to help librarians make these important decision so that we are better equipped and able to support teachers and students.

Works Cited

BC teacher-librarians’ association. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://bctla.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/erac_wb.pdf

Gaiman, N., & Riddell, C. (2018, September 6). Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell on why we need libraries – an essay in pictures. The Guardian. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2018/sep/06/neil-gaiman-and-chris-riddell-on-why-we-need-libraries-an-essay-in-pictures

Kammer, J., King, M., Donahay, A., & Koeberl, H. (2021). Strategies for Successful School Librarian and Teacher Collaboration. School Library Research, 24, 1–24. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1292862.pdf.

Riedling, Ann, (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth.

Inquiry Blog Post #3: Supporting Teachers in their ICT Growth

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Building relationships with teachers is crucial to student learning and success as a TL.  Schools are incredibly busy places with demanding schedules and it may be hard to create time and space to build those professional development opportunities for yourself and teachers.  TL’s are no doubt leaders in their communities, but I see my role as one of supporting the teachers in their creation and delivery of curriculum.  As supporting characters in a school, it is incumbent upon us to find ways to enrich the teacher’s and students’ learning experiences.  Becoming a digital resource and finding solutions for teachers online that make things easier for them and not more complicated, is the key.  As McClintock Miller and Bass (2019) discuss, one must insist upon five minutes of harassment where you can check in with a teacher about what their plans are for that week where in turn the TL can then position themselves as a mentor by identifying technology and tools that will enhance the teacher’s lessons (McClintock Miller & Bass, 2019, p. 22).

MINI LESSONS: Virtual Meetings, Social Videos and Virtual Museums

My school is a Montessori school and so the teachers there love a mini-lesson.  One of the ways that I could be supportive while also being respectful of their time would be to offer short presentations on new technologies or ideas that I have that could be useful in the classroom.  Over the last few years, we have all had to become more comfortable having meetings online on Zoom and so forth.  I am certain that there were many teachers who couldn’t wait to do away with this platform and get back to their precious in-person meetings.  However, to my surprise, my school has continued to offer virtual staff meetings because it is undeniably a useful tool for the whole school.  There is more autonomy in knowing that you don’t physically have to be in the building to attend a meeting.

Hilariously, last year, there was a teacher who chimed into the Zoom meeting from her dentist chair.  Granted, this is, of course, an example of exactly what admin had asked us not to do, but it was still necessary that this teacher was in both of those places at once, and so she did it.  For me, this opens up a world of opportunity that traditional school structures have never been able to accommodate.  If I needed to schedule a mini-lesson with teachers to introduce a technological tool that they could use, my first step would be a Zoom meeting so that we could get together quickly, without actually having to get together and then if they had any questions I would be there to answer them.

The other option would be to utilize our staff social media platform, Slack, that has been instituted since B.C. (before covid).  Instead of bombarding the teachers with emails, or taking up their time at lunch or before and after school, I would create some videos for them on a new tool that I have found.  I could post these videos on their grade-level channel and then they would be able to access them at their convenience and also go back to them if they need to hear the presentation again.  As I have become somewhat proficient in filming You Tube videos (I was actually a Fitness Instructing Star of my school during the lockdowns – I can only shake my head and laugh).

My next step is to learn how to record myself giving these presentations so that teachers can have the instructions to re-watch, pause and fast-forward or whatever the case may be.  This is a new skill for me, voiceovers would also work very well, but I have made a goal of actually having my little face-square in the corner of a presentation that I give to teachers this year.  Wish me luck!  This video has been a helpful starting point:

An example of a virtual tool that I might share with teachers in one of my soon-to-be-masterpiece-videos is Digital Museum Canada.  I was fortunate enough to attend the BCTLA 2022 Conference on Friday and one of the resources that was shared during the session, “Under the Sink” by Peggy Janicki and Jennifer Lane was a website with many wonderful teacher resources from Sq’éwlets-A Stó:lō- A Coast Salish Community in the Fraser River Valley.

This project is a virtual museum that is powered by Digital Museums Canada (formerly known as virtualmuseum.ca that has been decommissioned) is rich with language resources from the First Nation’s around the area with beautifully curated teacher resources that are ready to utilize in the classroom.  My ideal would be to be able to give teachers a tour of the website so that they can see exactly where and how to access the materials they can use.

As we continue to evolve and want to bring useful technology into our schools more seamlessly, it makes sense that we would begin to confer as colleagues using the tools and methods that we hope to encourage our students to learn how to use.  It feels less overwhelming and more manageable to more I dive into some of these practices.  My greatest hope is to not become a Digital Dinosaur, no matter the deficit that is my starting point.

Works Cited

Husid, W. (2013). Collaboration: Make It Happen in Your School. Library Media Connection,31(4), 42–44.

How to record yourself presenting a powerpoint presentation. YouTube. (2020, May 16). Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://youtu.be/6abWf-5u3Gs

Funded projects. Digital Museums Canada. (2020, November 19). Retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://www.digitalmuseums.ca/funded-projects/

Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019).  Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. International Society for Technology in Education.

Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre. (2016, November 1). Classroom resources. Sq’éwlets – A Stó:lō-Coast Salish Community in the Fraser River Valley. Retrieved October 21, 2022, from http://digitalsqewlets.ca/classroom-resources_ressources-pedagogiques/index-eng.php