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List 3 goals. Three specific ideas that will enhance your own learning during your practicum experience. 

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List 3 goals. Three specific ideas that will enhance your own learning during your practicum experience. 

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Look back to your goals. Did you reach them? What are three of your biggest takeaways?

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Look back to your goals. Did you reach them? What are three of your biggest takeaways?

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1. Learn more about Elementary and Secondary computer teaching.

I was surprised by how much Chromebook usage was actually happening in elementary. The students regularly used Chromebooks in the classroom and they used them in the library for research, coding, and typing. But this was also a problem with controlling what the students were doing with the Chromebooks and with thinking that all of their digital literacy skills were the same. The saving grace for this is that it comes as no surprise that many of the 'flix' resources are ebooks or modeled after books, so the lessons that were planned for using those resources were actually highlighting literacy skills with books, table of contents, finding glossaries, using context clues, etc. This made me realize that if we have to pick which standards are realistic for children, we might not want to make an entire unit entirely dependent on using Chromebooks for skills that we can facilitate with books and magazines. So I'm conflicted as to what my baseline for student abilities would actually measure: do I set a baseline for their traditional literacy skills navigating books (in the hopes that this applies to ebooks), or do I set a baseline for digital literacy skills navigating files, databases, clickable resources, etc? I would love to imagine that I could do both, but in the elementary and even in the high school setting, those would require different lessons and different assessments. My take away from this is that this has me thinking about the overall goals of the library program: when am I explicitly checking for traditional literacy skills, when am I explicitly checking for computer navigation skills, when am I expecting mastery in both of these at the same time, AND am I sure that whole school is on board with how much the library expects computer literacy. This really informs me about developing curriculum that feels like its moving towards something and not just repeating the same thing over and over. But I also realize that reinforcement at the elementary level was absolutely a required process for children, their behavior, and learning difficult skills. I know I'll need to have plans, but also be playing it cool and thinking of lesson goals as fluid and not static.

2. Learn more about classroom management in Elementary and Secondary library classrooms.

So this experience between West and Weber was very, very enlightening about classroom management and behavioral management. On the one hand West had a lot of coordination to figure out with where students should be during what times of the day, and how to track this. So, West uses ID signings, they have access to student schedules, and the secretary is incredibly on top of keeping students out who should be in class. At Weber, all of these things are solely the responsibility of the TL, and that makes a lot of sense. There aren't 'free periods' for students to roam around in elementary. So, anything that happens in the library has to be okayed by the TL, and the secretary directs all questions about that to the TL only. I learned a lot about classroom management from my elementary placement. So many things have to be considered with seating, student behaviors, assessment, etc, but at the secondary level, most of the library instruction happened in other classes, and the assessments were the teachers' responsibilities. So, the classroom management was more co-teaching and working with the teacher's availability and their classroom atmosphere. It's made me realize that if I enter a library where all the wall space is occupied by books, then I need a 'deployable' classroom: I need to get markerboards on wheels, a projector on wheels, a cart that can hold all of my classroom materials, and I need space in the library that has real furniture for class, not beanbag chairs and all that, and I'll also need to make policies about the library atmosphere when class is happening. I'll literally need signals and signage that tells everyone know that the library space changes during class; it needs to be quieter, cleaner, and focused on instruction. I didn't have to think about this at West, because the library had all of these kinds of areas in different corners of the library. Projectors in one space, markerboards in another, desks in another, games in another. I could just shift the class space wherever I needed it because the library had so many interior locations, but now I realize that is a huge luxury. My takeaway from this is to be aware that I need policies and spacial awareness: my library can't just be two things, a classroom where students sit where they're supposed to, and a library where students roam around and find books (or sneak out of my view). These are opposing spaces, and it is unfair to students to expect that they'll just know when the rules are one way versus when they're another way.

3. Learn about scaffolding lessons or building big ideas from small ones.

This goal made me realize that 'scaffolding' means different things depending on what is being 'scaffolded'. I think this is also about perspective on teaching something difficult. In my head, curriculum finishes with a challenge, and because of that, 'scaffolding' lessons means giving a lot help in the beginning and then taking that help out towards the end of the unit. I feel like both my practicum experiences have impressed upon me that maybe 'scaffolding' isn't a thing that disappears the way it might in other classrooms. We are constantly adding difficult variables to all of our lessons, more research skills, more database skills, more computer skills, and we're also adding a many number of guides and diagrams behind those skills. This has me thinking that if I making a unit, I'm making it twice or several times over: I'm making the lesson, a guide to the lesson, notes for the lesson, cheat sheets, the worksheets and tests, and retest copies. And that's not just because the lesson itself needs all of this support, but because the skills required adds up and I can't maybe verify that students have developed all of the other skills to use a computer or navigate a book from other schools (or other countries). My take away from this goal is that I have to think about those certain grade levels that transition between schools and the common core standards set for them: how much of 9th grade do I spend verifying what students should have learned in 8th grade; what would I do for new Americans; is scaffolding a process of verifying old skills or supporting new skills--or do I have to do both? I think I've learned that I really need to know my lessons inside and out, I need to have a lot of classroom materials that reinforce what I'm teaching, handouts, slides, videos, etc, and that I might really need even more in-depth standalone materials that refresh skills. Or, I put a lot of trust in my district, and that trust is where I am putting faith that I can fairly grade and assess students without thinking that they've missed certain skills or that I've missed an area of teaching them something. This has me thinking a lot about giving 'fair' grades for skills I haven't taught in my classroom but are expected from me or from the standards for my grade level. I have lots of thoughts about this topic, and they're all equitable and fair and I like that.

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Self Reflection: Standards                                                             

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Self Reflection: Standards                                                             

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For your thoughts: Which of the national, state or other national organization Standards would you find most helpful and why?

The AASL standards are incredibly thorough for not only the learner, but for the librarian and the library program. The ISTE crosswalk is also an incredible resource that almost spells out entirely how students can bridge library science ideas with technology. It doesn't seem like working with Chromebooks is going away anytime soon, so this crosswalk that shows side-by-side details of standards is likely to be my go-to reference for many lessons.

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List here any professional books that you might want to spend more time with, or professional development opportunities or trainings that your mentor might suggest. Keep a log of the 8 hours of webinars, trainings, or conference. All must directly relate to school libraries (literacy, technology, inquiry, management, etc.).

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How have the national standards, state standards and/or other professional standards guided your mentor's work?

WEBER

Leanna and I spoke about national and state standards in regards to what she plans with visiting classes. She shared a district-wide spreadsheet of Understand, Know, Do standards showing how in-class goals match with ISTE, AASL, and Iowa expectations. I learned a lot from looking at this spreadsheet but also from seeing how connected other librarians were to make these goals happen across the district.

WEST

Jill and I spoke about the library curriculum and the standards she is following, along with those from the Iowa City district, and it very realistic. The standards are the same few standards carrying over for all 4 years of high school. And this is because she is the only librarian for all of thirteen ninth grade classes. She is heavily involved in trimester research projects, but outside of those, she can't realistically meet every student and develop their skills. I feel like I saw a bit of this in that my lesson involved students who might have not had enough information about their school library. But I have to remember that it isn't just the TL's responsibility to bring students to the library.

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1/31 --> Half day at Weber 8:00-12PM (4 Hours)

3/14 --> 8:00 to 2PM (6 Hours)

3/28 --> 8:00 to 3PM (7 Hours) (remember to get lesson)

4/21 --> 8:00 to 3PM (7 Hours)

4/22 --> 8:00 to 3PM (7 Hours) (Project)

4/25 --> 8:00 to 3PM (7 Hours) (11:30-12:00)

4/28 --> 8:30 to 12PM, 3.5 Hours

4/29 --> 8:30 to 12PM, 3.5 Hours

5/1 --> 10:30 to 12PM, 1.5 Hours

5/2 --> 8:30 to 12PM 3.5 Hours

5/6 --> 8:30 to 2:30 PM 6 Hours

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Victor Resendiz

Elementary Lesson Reflection

I will acknowledge that I observed this lesson several times, and I really went into it prepared to copy how Leanna had given instructions. I knew from those earlier observations that the lesson itself required a lot of time and behavior management. I had mentioned that for my secondary lesson, the wind was kind of taken out of my sails because I had to pull back on what I was expecting to do, but here I was allowed a lot of opportunities to see and mentally prepare for what could happen.

About the behavior and classroom space. I have been absolutely amazed at how much coordination and reinforcement Leanna uses to keep the classroom a productive space. I know for a fact that the atmosphere during my lesson was more likely due to the students taking the opportunity to be a little extra, just as they would with a substitute. During a regular class, Leanna uses all of Weber’s call and response techniques, all of the pizza party tracking, all of her own point values, and of course, in person feedback with students and their teacher. Even though I felt like I was going along nicely with the lesson and still crunched a little on time, I know that all of those areas of behavior management (had I been left alone) would have set me back a lot, because they set Leanna back. Had I not had a great host to learn from, I would have taken that as being a product of me failing somewhere, but Leanna also had a good perspective on that, too. I will always remember her saying that failing to reach the end of the lesson can be part of the lesson, that had the students been better behaved or paid attention, then the class could have finished. I’m not saying I’ll blame the students every time class goes overtime, but maybe I’ll mention when it is obvious that the students are misbehaving. I could have also put the snake away or told them that he didn’t like loud classrooms and that might have actually worked quite them down.

As far as the room is concerned, I don’t know if the computer lab or the library floor is a better location for class time. On the one hand, keeping the students in that classroom space stops them from escaping my peripherals, but on the other, every moment is amplified, sound, actions, all of them, and the distractions become even bigger than they really are. When I met our friend with special needs, he had a sub helping him, and when his behavior became disruptive, the sub took him out into the library away from the other students. (I don’t know if that was a legal thing he was supposed to do, I’m still reading about this). But the child’s behavior settled down outside in the larger library space. I feel there would be plenty of sacrifice between using either area for class. The outside area doesn’t have a marker board, doesn’t have any of the other boards. If I had to display standards or learning objectives, I’d have to wheel out boards and leave them out all day on the stage. The area also has a lot of fun furniture that is too much fun for class time. Its kind of a difficult choice to make, because all the fun stuff we put in our library space might be a distraction during class time, all the beanbag chairs, puzzles and games, especially if that stuff is normally left out.

I really enjoyed the chance to do a research lesson like this that wasn’t databases or using Chromebooks. If I had the chance to customize the snake unit, I would like to bring up herpetology and maybe add videos of the Everglades and the study of snakes there just to add more connections to science in the field.

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Lesson Plan_ Week 2 of Snake Research (1)

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List at least three things you do well and are prepped for as a school librarian. Celebrate. Brag. Let yourself shine: 

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List at least three things you do well and are prepped for as a school librarian. Celebrate. Brag. Let yourself shine: 

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1. I am actively looking for methods for equity and 'fair' expectations for all students. I want to say that by the time I graded something or gave feedback to students that I took into consideration everything I could have done to make their successes and their failures fair for them. Because receiving negative feedback sucks, especially as a kid or teen. Students need cheerleaders, yes, but they also need fair expectations for growth--and they have to grow and be independent. And I think I do a good job of figuring out ways to get them there and set them up for life.

2. I am always looking and assessing our technology and expenses in the school library. I know that's probably annoying and it's become part of my personality, but I want to be confident that if I choose a subscription or new piece of equipment to spend money on, then I've done my research and fully imagined how that equipment could be used and to what benefits. All of the digital and technological additions to the library take away from buying more books and more class sets. I don't like tech fads, and I don't like buying IP even for children. I can't justify the expenses of bookmarks, books, and other materials that have the Disney signature, when I could just make things without that branding. So, I stay level-headed about what to purchase and why.

3. I am secretly looking at making learning information science into the most 'fun' possible thing I can make it, and I know not everyone will be on board with that. I know from professional experience as an English major and in digital products that most of the 'professional' careers in these fields are all associated with the entertainment industry. And everyone hates acknowledging that and so they don't trust making their curriculum so tied to blogging, digital media, or crafting--but those are the jobs that are available for students right out of high school. They have to learn the project management skills to get those jobs. They have to know how to make all the media that goes into a blog, into a reel, and even how to film them. Yes, these skills can be part of 'real' education, researching for content, creating graphics for businesses, or making a digital portfolio, but that doesn't mean they have to be less fun or devoid of student interest. I'm not saying I'll throw out all the text books, but I really do believe that student interests can guide a professional education that still hits all the standards demanded by the common core AND makes something the students really enjoy that they are likely to find a job in. To people who don't have experience in this kind of job market, they probably think this is all silly, but it isn't. Jobs in the digital space are jobs in publishing, art, and entertainment writing. If a student asks me why they have to learn how to read and write, I absolutely have an answer that its in case they need to get a job in a writing field that will be book reviews, writing research info-tainment, all of that. I know for a fact that I am building curriculum that is directly tied to workforce and employability. I know I can say that confidently to students AND to admin.

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What evidence of the Iowa SLP Anchors 2, 3, 4 in “Component 1 Teaching and Learning” have you seen/talked about? Where would you see the programs on the continuum?

WEBER

At the elementary level, the school library program is still fresh, however, Leanna is in the midst of developing research curriculum to meet the standards outlined in TL2 and TL3 at the 'operationalizing' standards. TL4 is the weakest area because the school environment does not promote free internet use to accomplish this standard. Most of the teaching material is hand-selected and given to students through other education resource. The students can use their AEA resources to find answers to questions, but they are not grabbing materials from those sites and reproducing them--yet! I think I will probably look into how the internet works and how much time can be spent pulling information from resources into other documents. The kids have trouble with navigation and I can't imagine that teaching them formatting and in-text citation will be easy.

WEST

Of course West has all of these skills set up at the Optimizing level. This is a very interesting contrast because I have even spoken to Leanna about how Jill's collaboration works and she seemed inspired by it. I described that many many research projects have a 'library' week or weeks where Jill teaches about citations, bibliographies, and other research skills. And with the subject of AI in secondary schools, all the instructors have to communicate in someway about ethical use of online resources.

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(As you gather information on the library instructional plan and assessment, please stress this is not evaluative! We are just trying to gather different ideas, concerns, issues related to delivering the instructional component of the library program.)

Topics for discussion with your TLs: Is there a planned curriculum (scope and sequence)?  What skills do they make sure are taught? When and where? If there is a plan, how did it come about? Can you obtain a copy? If there isn't a predetermined plan, how do they determine what to teach?

Are there formative or summative assessments to document student learning?

Are there examples of guided inquiry lessons/units/themes with teachers? How did that work?

Are there other questions you have related to curriculum, instruction and/or assessment that they might have insight into?

WEBER

Leanna plans many things in advance of teaching. Her lessons reflect the standards combined in the Iowa City district and modern information goals. Her students participate in technical things like algorithm games and literacy goals like weekly book talks and genre explorations with nonfiction and other media. My lesson plan with her will involve a guided inquiry 'Snake' unit, and that will round out the year for many of her first grade classes.

WEST

I've learned a lot about curriculum and assessment in action at West. The symposium for ninth grade classes is a weeks long project that the students finish with an 8 minute speech. This involves many stages of information gathering, resource in-text citations, and drafting with notes and graphic organizers, which are all assessed by ELA teachers and the librarian. In fact, Jill keeps examples of good symposium note organizers and flash cards to show students and to build on for the next year. This was a great opportunity to see and learn about, because I had many questions leading into this practicum about the role of a school librarian when other departments plan giant projects for their students. In this case, there are stages of this assignment where the school librarian takes the lead, and the school librarian grades the references, and the school librarian assesses the notes.

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3/11 --> 12-4 (4 Hours)

3/24 --> 8:30-1 (4.5 Hours)

3/25 --> 8:30-3 (6.5 Hours)

4/1 --> 8:30-3 (6.5 Hours)

4/4 --> 9-1

4/8 --> 9-1

4/11 --> 9-4 (7 Hours)

4/15 --> 9-4 (7 Hours)

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Victor Resendiz

Secondary Lesson Plan, Lesson Reflection.

For my practicum at West, I was given the opportunity to do a book talk about graphic novels to ELL reading strategies students. I asked a lot of questions about what expectations I should meet for the students and what I should know about their ability levels as ELL students. I was told by my host and the participating teacher that this class was not the ELL English 9 class but was a class for struggling readers in the ELL program, which I thought was a great opportunity for me to do the kind of work I want to do as a librarian. However, I was instructed that even though I was eager to present everything I knew about graphic novels and develop a full hour block of class, the allowed time wouldn’t be more than twenty or so minutes, and the ability levels of the students probably couldn’t follow discussions of trends, graphic novel vocabulary, and culture of reading graphic novels and manga. And these directions were also to speak slowly, straight to the point, and allow time to let students discover the materials themselves.

I did make some notes and talk to the ELL teacher before my scheduled lesson, and I was still instructed to bring the tone of what I was saying down. I was at that point very nervous about what other options I had to present graphic novels. These adjustments felt very real-world to me so I followed them, but even though the ELL teacher recommended that I not add the heavier graphic novels or present them to the students, I left them in the eyeline for students. I made a full display of the materials and set up the ‘easiest’ materials first, and I decided to keep the cart with extra genres of graphic novels nearby. I did my best to highlight a few key points about graphic novels and manga without getting into the vocabulary so much. It did feel weird to talk about books in a way that removed a lot of the ELA / English major terminology, but at the same time, I understood that the ELL teacher wanted me to deliver something that was accessible for her students. The best I could do was describe them as picture books with low vocabulary and highlight the reading orientation. But I wish if that were the case, perhaps the lesson could have been more planned out if the need was so great. I know now that working with a difficult range of abilities might really require a lot of adjustment from the familiar ways I talk about reading. By the end of it, when you and I spoke, I also did mention that I hadn’t considered that the students didn’t know their library that well and I didn’t think to ask if they had been led through the area. I know the TL and the ELL teacher probably set these expectations low for me, being that I am so new to teaching, but I felt like I could have been allowed to do a bit more given that the students were clearly interested in the graphic novels after I gave the book talk. The ELL teacher said something to me that I will think about a lot from now on that “It would be a good experience for the students to just have someone introducing the materials to them and showing them visuals so they can see for themselves.” I think had I known that kind of thing ahead of time, I probably would have stuck with visual aids and a presentation like I had intended. And of course, I probably would address this kind of need much, much earlier than March.

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Lesson Plan_ ELL Reading Strategies and Graphic Novels (1)

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Do you have some additional ideas of things that might be done in a similar setting to create a culture of reading?

So this is very difficult for many nuanced reasons. The best example that has me thinking about when and where to push literacy is from WEST high. I learned that at one point all the incoming ninth grade students would have a class novel covering the Little Rock Nine as part of their social studies requirement. However, because the push of AP Human Geography, instead of having 13-14 classes of ninth grade social studies who were all reading about the Little Rock Nine (a total of 400 class books), now the freshman are divided between about half who are taking AP Human Geo and half who are in regular social studies. So, the TL is considering removing the whole 400 class books about the Little Rock Nine and is hoping to redesign the experience from the ground up. I don't think I would make a decision like that. I think I would ask why AP classes aren't reading class novels, and how we could build a collection that supports AP reading levels outside of just AP English and Lit. I know the pushback for AP reading would be that those students "should be focusing on the test," but then I'd show my admins that these students probably aren't even taking those AP tests, but they really should be reading more novels. To me 'culture of reading' literally means that most classrooms engage in novels or other print materials. That means figuring out if a class book can be added to the curriculum and if that curriculum change affects all of ninth grade or whichever.

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What roles do your TLs play in supporting reading literacy?

What are their viewpoints on some of the current issues/debates that relate to promoting reading?

WEBER

Obviously an elementary school librarian has a huge role in presenting books to children and teaching them how to navigate the library. What is interesting is that this science of information gathering has to meet children where they are, and that does involve making more media for them than one would expect. Maps a child can read. Simplified guides for them to understand call numbers. More signage, more book displays, and more subjects for reading. I've never considered that the information I'm learning is 'stuck' in graduate language and I will eventually have to learn how to break these library science concepts--the STEM and makerspace things, too--down to a level that children and teens can understand.

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What different degrees of collaboration do you recognize?

My secondary placement is a fully embedded and curriculum-level designer for the high school, while my elementary placement is still developing collaboration connections. It is interesting to have seen a TL who does not need to advertise what the library does, and a TL who is new to their building and is advertising themselves and their help with other teachers. Still, the both of these levels of collaboration require self-inventory, knowing where the TL's skills are, knowing what the library can offer, and knowing how much time can utilized away from the library. My ideas of collaboration are focused on bringing classrooms to the library, because that seems like it makes the most sense. Whichever level of collaboration I might engage with, leaving the library for extended periods of time feels like the wrong answer, unless as is the case with WEBER, the class timing can't waste the extra minutes walking to the library. So, in WEBER, the TL moves to pre-K and Kindergarten classes to fit in with 27 minutes. That means building a 'mobile' library and having that available, a cart, an extra laptop, an extra scanner, book lists, the whole thing. It's a lot of prep but for good reasons and that's what the collaboration should aim for.

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What strategies do your TLs use to encourage collaboration with teachers?

WEBER

The TL posts her schedule and informs many of the teachers what her weeks look like, as well as informing them that her blocks are open for planning with other teachers. But, she also is required to teach her specials, so many of the same students are already scheduled to be in the library twice a week and when reading units involve the library, she's there to guide with the teacher present most of the time.

WEST

The TL is actively helping teachers with adjusting their symposium or research lessons in order to match what the teacher sees in class. When teachers feel like content needs to be changed or adapted to the class room, the TL and teacher find a time to talk about what needs to happen. And these interactions are usually in favor of what the teacher wants to help meet students where they are at with ability or struggle etc. The TL is also available for classroom visits pretty often. If teachers have a problem explaining research sources or need help with students and their topics for symposium (because they're not finding material) the TL stops in and assists. These strategies highlight constant communication with teachers about their students and almost all changes are in favor of the classroom needs.

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Thinking about the two programs, at what stage on the continuous improvement matrix (Iowa SLP Standards) “Program Component ! – Teaching and Learning” Anchor 5 would you place the program and what might be a “next step or two?”

WEST is full developed, but understandably understaff for the size of the school. Continuing past 'optimizing' would mean revisiting connections with teachers who aren't already visiting the library for research. And that might be difficult for a number of reasons, because in a school that big, the classrooms that aren't getting enough attention are probably the ELL / Spec. Ed. classrooms. I think we discovered that with my practicum lesson and we learned that as of April, there were students who didn't know what was in the library and they were ELL students. (I will say with all transparency that the CC standards were not that developed, and even though these research projects were available for all students--they cover most of the same materials that all other libraries are covering, 6-8 grade, 9-12).

At WEBER, it is hard to say what is possible without really really reworking the 27 minute class times. I think according to the program standards, this library would fall into the 'emerging' category. It seems unfair to make that decision. This because moving up the standards requires so many outside involvements with teachers, admins, and very developed classes that many, many people would actually have to be on board and fully informed before the TL can move the program up a notch. And it is also unfair that even if the library is doing good things like bringing in diverse materials and making diverse displays, the classrooms would still have to accept those materials and make them valuable in class. Most of the time the kids are checking out books that immediately get put away for home reading. So, maybe some communication with the teachers needs to happen more than we realize.

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What works and doesn’t work? How do they plan for their technology needs? Are there “tools” that they recommend?

If they have a makerspace, what LEARNING is happening – what materials and activities. Are they teaching the computer science standards?

Look at the library website or socials – how is it organized? What is a necessity; what is nice?  Who is the audience?

WEBER

Technology in elementary is a very difficult thing. On the TL side, she uses her projectors constantly: there are slides for every lesson, there are backdrops for book talks, there are timers for the classroom, there are doc cams on books, and there are walkthroughs of computer materials. It seems overwhelming to use all of these things through projectors, but she's been doing this now for several years and has made the use of projectors very efficient. She also utilizes the former computer lab as a learning space with technology and this space doubles for crafts and extra classroom needs. This space is used for coding with Chromebooks or cutting some puppets from printouts. There is a crosswalk that was given to me that shows all the standards the elementary is trying to reach with students, but it is quite a big list of goals. The hour of code and those bite-sized lessons seem to be the most practical with the 27 min class times.

WEST

A lot of technology is used in the high school library. There are computers for gaming, signing in, and projectors and TVs that can be used. There is a Cricut and some copy machine access that allows for printing and crafting student projects--and the copy room is usually printing some kind of student project. There is also a lot of usage of online databases, SIRS, Ebscohost, and others. Of course, there are more rules for technology usage as well. Chromebooks are fully incorporated with the classroom experience, even when the librarian is teaching, and cell phone policies are a little ruthless in the classroom--and possibly too relaxed in the library. I don't believe the library follows up with technology standards--but because this is a high school there are more teachers teaching comp sci and other topics than just the librarian.

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Reflection: Managerial Aspects of Program Delivery

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Reflection: Managerial Aspects of Program Delivery

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What is their biggest “headache” and if you were them, what might you do?

WEBER was really having issues addressing behavior and class time. On the one hand it seems like the elementary school had a ton of available staff for all students, but during class and at the upper levels, it seemed like support for the teachers really thinned out. It was a common thing after a while that I would observe and feel like student needs were escalating, and one of those times Leanna did call in for assistance and it didn't come until at the very end of class. It sounds mean to call this a 'headache,' because its unfair to the students who can't help themselves. I've only had the one real class about Spec. Ed so I know there's a lot I'll actually have to learn from other resources at my school about this subject and it might be part of my PDs that I look into in the future.

At WEST, the 'headache' was constantly managing students in the library. The school had to use scanners, but the kids were allowed to use photos of their IDs to scan into the library, and if not, many of them just waltzed in. When they did, the secretary had to hound them down and get them to sign back in, and that's the only way to see their schedule populate on the computer--to see if the student actually had a free period to be in the library. There were quite a few rules about who couldn't be in the library, but they seemed reasonable. Yes, the library was available for access, but not for lounging during class. Yes, students could come in during their free periods, but to be actively engaged in something else. I'd have to really think about managing the space and setting a goal for the library for every grade level. And also be prepared to get into it with seniors and all of their free time. There were seniors doing their senior week things at WEST which also involved them tackling each other and other horsing around. I would've kicked them out of the library.

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Mentor Topic: Managerial Aspects of Program Delivery

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Mentor Topic: Managerial Aspects of Program Delivery

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How is the budget determined, managed, purchases prioritized, sources?

What role did the associate play (if there was one?) Who evaluated the associates? (Is there an example of a job description, interview questions, evaluation?)

What are some techniques the TLs used to manage student behavior?

WEBER

The TL has a ton of techniques for behavior management. As she delivers lessons, she is actively reinforcing behavior standards from the school and the DOLPHINS acronym for respect and good behavior. She has her hand gestures to get the students to participate, and there are color codes, dots, for lines, tables, and areas where the students should or shouldn't be. There's also a 'book house' reward system that is unique to the library. When students behave, they're given time in the book house to read on their own for the class. The para is an observer to all of this, usually handling office work while the TL is busy. Their primarily the person checking in and out books. We had several conversations about the budget, but not about how it was determined. She receives $4000 as her budget, and I assume that is pretty good considering that she had quite a few areas of the library that display new books in different categories.

WEST

The TL talked about needing a sign-in computer to manage who was in the library and when they were supposed to be in the library. This is maybe the best conceit about the library, because it came with removing awkward security gates, and the sign-in system keeps more problems out of the library than anything else. Because there is so many students who have no class during some afternoon hours, the library needs a system and rule structure to keep from being flooded with students who aren;t w

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Self Reflection: How to Assess Effectiveness

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Self Reflection: How to Assess Effectiveness

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What might be some barriers to being a “true” leader in your building?

At WEST and WEBER, the TL can't be two places at once, and that seems to be the problem of being a leader in both locations. There's not enough time in the day to sit down with other teachers about changing curriculum, and the teachers and TL would have to figure out if the library contributions were substantial to the teacher's require standards. It is convenient that many library standards fit into ELA standards, but outside of ELA it seems we would have to make our collaboration a 'fair' practice with the other teachers involved. I would want collaboration to feel like I would only play a tidy part to something that could get messy for teachers. Like I would only play a part of research and setting up standards for citations, but the teacher would have to read every draft, check all the notes, and do the final grading alone. So what is their buy-in to develop complex curriculum experiences instead of doing something more in their control? I think I would preface my leadership by reminding my peers that I can contribute to their grading, assessing, classroom management, and all of those things as equally as having a second teacher--and I think that's what library leadership requires. For the admins, students, and other educators, I'll have to constantly advocate that developing curriculum with the library can be complex and rewarding for everyone involved and no one should be left out.

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Mentor Topic: How to assess effectiveness

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Mentor Topic: How to assess effectiveness

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How do the TLs assess the effectiveness of their program?

How do they inform/educate others about their program?

What professional activities do they encourage?

WEBER

Leanna has mentioned that assessment isn't very effective for the current library curriculum at Weber. She is in the middle of developing more connections and units that would allow a better assessment of students in and out of the library. Currently, the students struggle to keep on pace with expected weekly goals and there are many reasons as to why that happens. Functionally, the classroom space, the lessons, and the teacher buy-in is there, but improvements will require that there is more assessment between teachers for grades to measure where students are between weeks. Leanna is very open with other teachers about her schedule and her availability, but this is mostly about books for now, and not about shared research units.

WEST

In the complete opposite direction, Jill is fully an embedded librarian with many departments at West. She has taught research across many subjects and has even been involved in classes where the school library was the subject of a project. She describes that the architecture and engineer classrooms once ran a unit where they 'redesigned' the school library according to the school librarian, and she was happy to participate in an unexpected collaboration project. She also actively participates in assessing the students who research with library materials. She grades notes, works with students and their topics, and buys materials when necessary. As part of staying in the know, she has also worked with the News Literacy Project, she has promoted author visits to the district, and she has updated the school library technology wherever possible. I learned from her that the News Literacy Project that opportunities exist to discover high quality resources about dis and misinformation that are ready to go.

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1. Learn more about Elementary and Secondary computer teaching.

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1. Learn more about Elementary and Secondary computer teaching.

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I have zero experience with the school system and 1:1 computer / Chromebook classrooms. I would like to learn more about how 1:1 computers have benefited and changed teaching library science skills or if they've increased difficulty for teachers overall. So, I would like to learn the positives and negatives of technology in the classroom, because I want to work with more hands-on materials than over-rely on Chromebooks.

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2. Learn more about classroom management in Elementary and Secondary library classrooms.

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2. Learn more about classroom management in Elementary and Secondary library classrooms.

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I want to have a safe space for students of all kinds, and I want to develop the personality skills required of me to promote student engagement without cold calling students or singling out their behavior. This is a pretty big goal for me, because I don't think many men develop this kind of people skill and especially not veterans.

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3. Learn about scaffolding lessons or building big ideas from small ones.

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3. Learn about scaffolding lessons or building big ideas from small ones.

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I am very interested in having students build something, not just anything small either. I want students to have projects, dioramas, poster boards, very sizable things that they can remember from their time in my class or from my teaching, and so I'm interested in what kind of scaffolding I would have to build to have students reach a point of finishing a project, and I would be keeping in mind the overall education goals that ask for students to be designers, producers, and collaborators with a voice.

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So, this PD was interesting to watch. I felt like the presenter didn't do a good job at demystifying AI. This got me thinking many other PD videos about tech topics might not all have the same quality. It is interesting to see how teachers are struggling making sense of AI in the classroom (in terms of helping them manage assessment) and it is also interesting to hear that teachers have doubts about the need for it.

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Demystifying AI in the Classroom: Hands-On Tools for Future-Ready Learning - edWeb

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Learn how AI systems work, how they can benefit your students, and how to teach AI in a way that’s fun and engaging for all learners.

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This was a much older video than I thought. But, I liked the discussion of getting into how classrooms could use different technology and how the librarian could use or manage some of these. This got me thinking about what items outside of 'hard' technology that I could add to a library. And the ideas are pretty sweet.

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Presented by Karey Killian, Library Media Specialist
Sponsored by Quill.com | Co-hosted by Big Deal Media
WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING If you view the recording and would like a CE certificate, join the Amazing Resources for Educators community and go to the Webinar Archives folder to take the CE quiz.
STREAM teaching isn't about a checklist for ticking off items that are covered in class. Rather, it's a unique approach to teaching that uses science, technology, robotics, engineering, arts, and math to connect the dots for authentic, deep learning.

When young scholars see themselves as inventors, creators, designers, problem-solvers, and collaborators, their ability to discover their true potential increases. As educators, it is our job to provide them with opportunities to experience a variety of activities that allow them to make mistakes, fix problems, try again, and brainstorm something new.

In this webinar, Library Media Specialist Karey Killian led an exploration of how STREAM teaching can create meaningful learning for our students. Topics included:

Approaching STREAM as a way of thinking through learning, not as a subject or a class

How to provide ALL students with opportunities to discover unique ways of making learning connections-despite individual economic backgrounds-with science, technology, robotics, engineering, arts, and mathematics

How to connect students' experiences with those of other students, while sharing their learning adventures

How to help students showcase their discoveries with others

How to include STREAM thinking activities in the classroom

How to create unique learning adventures by using #Skypeclassroom

Learn more about STREAM teaching. This event is for K-12 teachers and librarians/media specialists.

Karey Killian is a certified Library Media Specialist for elementary schools in the Milton Area School District in Pennsylvania. She is a twenty-first century librarian who seeks ways for every student to achieve more by discovering their interests and talents. Those life moments usually occur during time in Makerspaces and Skype lessons. Karey was selected to engage in the Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert community in November 2015. Being among colleagues and an organization that strive to "empower every student on the planet to achieve more" continues to motivate her to find powerful learning opportunities. Follow Karey on Twitter @CoLIBRAtoRY.
WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING
Founded in 1956 and headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL, Quill.com serves the needs of over a million small to medium sized businesses. As a premier business to business office products provider, Quill.com sells everything from paper and ink and toner to cleaning supplies and technology with 24-hour-a-day access to more than 100,000 business essentials. Introduced in 1996, Quill.com was one of the first successful Web sites launched in the office products industry and has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Staples, Inc., since 1998.

The Big Deal Media mission is to save every educator time and money while identifying top-quality resources for schools and classrooms. Big Deal Media is a content-rich collection of print and electronic publications that offer the information and tools K-12 educators need-all vetted through the prism of the curriculum.

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How to Connect Science, Technology, Engineering, Robotics, Arts, and Math in the Classroom

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Presented by Karey Killian, Library Media Specialist Sponsored by Quill.com | Co-hosted by Big Deal Media WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING If you view the recording and would like a CE certificate, join the Amazing Resources for Educators community and go to the Webinar Archives folder to take the CE quiz.

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This was a Follett PD about using Destiny. There is a lot I want to know about using Destiny effectively, since it is 'THE" software we use to manage our libraries, and I wanted to hear from a developer or their team. And this was great. I've shared this with other classmates, since the only way to have total access to Destiny is to be the librarian, and secretaries and subs don't have the same access either. So, I learned a lot about the reports, the record keeping, and I can't wait to see more of their PDs.

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The future of public librarianship is a interesting topic. Getting to hear from library directors (and ICPL's director Elsworth!) about budgets and community changes was very enlightening. It's nice to know that the directors of libraries are keyed in on these conversations about funding and everything political--and to know that they're on the public's side. I think school librarians all too often think about our admins and education 'leaders' as barriers to libraries and information that it is refreshing to see admins in public libraries with positive outlooks.

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Cyndee Landrum - SLIS PD Series 2024-2025

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Zoom Meeting ID: 91452305864 * Host: Lucy Santos Green * Meeting Start: 04/08/2025 @ 6:42 PM * Recording Start: 04/08/2025 @ 6:42 PM * Duration: 1 hr 25 mins * Participants: Cynthia's iPhone, Marisa Pelczar, Tiffney Gipson-Goodwin, Daniel Leunig, IMLS, Jeff Regensburger (he/him), Scott Clemons, Sarah H, Elsworth's iPhone, Dr. Aaron J.

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I love every video I have seen about Amanda Jones and her struggles with community and censorship. I think this topic catches my eye the most, because I know for some people just the thought that I'm Mexican American in a teaching position would be a reason for them to hate me. I can't imagine though being the punching bag of online volatile communities. I think the advice to 'be prepared, be ready' is a reoccurring thing in library school and that's awful. But we need to know the legal landscape and the realities of working in libraries right now.

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Zoom Meeting ID: 99854463978
• Host: Lucy Santos Green
• Meeting Start: 12/03/2024 @ 6:32 PM
• Recording Start: 12/03/2024 @ 6:32 PM
• Duration: 1 hr 33 mins • Participants: jasonwaterman, Lucy Santos Green, Catherine Schiele’s iPhone, Trystan, Olivia Luhring, T jones, sandra, Linda Smith, Alison Day, Abbie Morrison, Alison, dannyzolna, Kay Hansen, denise, wyattdecoster, Cecilia Ose, Johnny Menke, lily leding, ellemagafas, Josée Varboncoeur, Beth Paul, Eti Berland, Doug Thompson, Stephanie Blalock, Laura’s iPhone, Aurora, Maxwell Beland, Amanda Jones @abmack33, Kayla Lindberg, emma trigsted, Karen Franker, James Logsdon, Anna Luria (she/her), Niko Vinovich, Alayna Jurek