ISCI 794: Implementing the AASL Standards in the School Library (3 of 4)

This is the third entry in a four part series, in which I have interviewed four librarians about ways in which they implement one of the six Shared Foundations (Inquire, Include, Collaborate, Curate, Explore, and Engage) of the AASL National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries (American Association of School Librarians, 2018). Specifically, the focus was on the Shared Foundations as they relate to School Librarians. Each librarian was paired with a Shared Foundation, was allowed to review the associated Domains and Competencies beforehand, and then asked the same five questions.

For my third interview, I spoke with Stella Carmody at Forestbrook Elementary School and the Shared Foundation that I selected for her was Collaborate:

Question 1: What are some examples of the ways in which you are implementing these competencies in your library program?

Ms. Carmody told me that the school, as a whole, has really gotten into using Kagan strategies. These strategies are all based around collaboration. One of these strategies is called RoundRobin and it starts with separating the students into groups of four and putting the groups at different tables around the library. This aligns with competency III.A.3., “Organizing learner groups for decision making and problem solving” (p. 84). The groups are then assigned four book award nominees, either the actual books or a summary and preview of the book on their iPad and ask them which would be more interesting. They take time familiarizing themselves with each title, then tell each other what they thought about which title would win the book award and why. Ms. Carmody monitors and guides the discussions. Each group gets to vote for a winner, then the winning title is revealed at the end. I see this activity as a way to implement competency III.C.1., “Demonstrating how to solicit and respond to feedback from others” (p. 84).

Another strategy that she uses is Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up, where you pose a question to the students, they stand up, put their hand up, and pair up with another student. Ms. Carmody said that you have to keep an eye on the pairings though, so that students do not just keep pairing up with their friends. The point of the exercise is for them to experience different perspectives and create connections, which is in keeping with the objective of competency III.C.2., “Advocating and modeling respect for diverse perspectives to guide the inquiry process” (p. 84).

Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up can also be used in conjunction with the Timed Pair Share activity. For this activity, students pair up to share their thoughts on a question. An example of this would be if you were reading a story to the students, you stop and ask them where they think the story is going, or what they think about a character’s actions, or at the end of the story, what they think the story was about. I would argue that all of these activities where the students pair up and discuss topics are an implementation of competency III.A.1., “Challenging learners to work with others to broaden and deepen understandings” (p. 84).

When they have time to do makerspace activities, Ms. Carmody will divide the students up into teams and ask them questions related to the library. The winning team gets to choose which activity the class will do. I thought that this was an interesting way to use competency III.D.1., “Stimulating learners to actively contribute to group discussions” (p. 84), because it stimulates the students to contribute by making the discussion competitive.

Question 2: What are some of the resources in your library program that you are using to implement these competencies?

Books from the collection are being used to stimulate group discussions. Teaching the students how to use their iPads has become a large part of the work done by the library, so that is a resource that gets used when it is appropriate. Some of the resources that the students use during makerspace activities are Legos and simple robotics kits.

Question 3: Do any of the competencies that you are implementing include collaboration with classroom teachers? If so, please provide examples.

The short answer is not really. Ms. Carmody told me that collaboration between the library and teachers was better years ago. They are still doing it, but not as much. The library used to have a flexible schedule, but classes follow a strict pacing guide now, so it is much more difficult to coordinate. The planning schedule for teachers is set up in a way, where they are in their planning period when their students are in the library, so there is no way for them to plan together. She has also found it difficult to find teachers who are willing to plan outside of their planning period. She said though, that if you can get one or two teachers to work with you, then you can use the products from those collaborations to bring in more teachers. She also said that you can use what the students are doing in the library as a conversation starter with their teachers when you are trying to initiate a collaboration.

Question 4: What are some of the challenges that you face when trying to implement these competencies?

She said, and I think that this kind of echoes something that Mrs. Bennett said in her interview, that one of the challenges is that no grades are issued by the library. Because of this, administrators can sometimes forget about the library, because the work done in there does not factor into the school report card. She said that sometimes people just do not know what the library can offer or how it can help the curriculum. I think that this is where we, as librarians, have to practice our own collaborative skills so that we can foster active participation on the part of our fellow educators.

Question 5: Are there any other comments that you would like to make regarding the Shared Foundation / Competencies and Domains that we have discussed today?

Ms. Carmody said that technology has changed a lot for the library. As stated before, iPads and how to use them plays a significant role now. Technology offers a lot of new avenues for collaboration, but it also necessitates that we teach students about digital citizenship and copyright. So, when you are teaching students how to use communication tools and cultivate networks, you have to make sure that they are using them safely and responsibly.

Reference

American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National school library standards for learners, school librarians, and school libraries. ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library Association.