Histories of Personalized Learning

Michele Peabody

ET

Watters, A. (2017). The histories of personalized learning, Hackereducation OEB Mid Summit conference in Reykjavik, Iceland. Retrieved 6/2017 from

http://hackeducation.com/2017/06/09personalization

The author, “I am an education writer, an independent scholar, a serial dropout, a rabble-rouser, and ed-tech's Cassandra” argues that personalized learning has been around for at least a decade, and depending on your agenda, we define it the way we want to. Industries and tech companies agenda is the “personalized computer” and are succeeding in having education follow their lead.

Loertscher, D.V. (2014). Collaboration and Coteaching. Teacher Librarian, 42(2),

         8-19.
Summary-This article discusses the importance of a teacher librarian in the classroom and how they can be an integral part to the instruction of students.  The role of the librarian has been changed a great deal.  We have gone from just checking books in and out to being involved directly in instruction. This can be done by collaborating with teachers in classroom instruction, PLCs, and professional development. 

Review- I really liked this article because it is true.  I have been working as a teacher librarian for over 5 years now and I do all of these things.  I work collaboratively with the teachers and staff here at the library.  I also am directly involved in coteaching the classes with the classroom teachers.  This article is timely and relevant.

Allen, M. (2008). Promoting Critical Thinking Skills in Online Information Literacy Instruction Using a Constructivist Approach. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 15(1/2), 21-38. doi:10.1080/10691310802176780. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=34179935&site=ehost-live&scope=site

This article discusses how the constructivist approach is becoming an increasingly popular way of teaching literacy skills in the library.  In this approach, the teacher works as the facilitator or the guide to learning. This is a trend that increasing in the library. Librarians are learning ways in which they can achieve these goals within their libraries. They are learning ways to make learning in ways that are more online and asynchronous instead of the typical one-shot lecture method.  This way is being embraced more and more and seems to be something that we need to embrace. 

Video Record for Teacher Feedback

Post by Lora Poser-Brown

ET

Gates, Bill. “Teachers Need Real Feedback.” Ted Talk. May 8, 2013. Viewed Nov. 8, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Ub0SMxZQo

Overview: Teachers are rarely evaluated for improvement. To improve best practices, though, far more discussion and reflection needs to be happening in US education. MET - Measures of Effective Teaching. Using video of self and “experts” to improve instructional quality. Project promoted and funded by the Gates Foundation.

Analysis: This video is a brief explanation of the Gates Foundation's MET program. The video is too short to fully explain the program, like who watches the videos besides the recorded teacher and who is selected to provide feedback. However, good interview time was given to a teacher who has really grown - in her opinion - from participating in MET.

Digital Citizenship: A Holistic Primer

Coulterpark, Rebecca

ET
IL

TeachThought Staff.  (2016, October 28).  Digital citizenship: A holistic primer.  Retrieved from https://www.imperosoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Digital-Citizenship-A-Holistic-Primer.pdf

Summary:

This white paper discusses digital citizenship, its definition, its current role in schools, and how it should be employed in the future in schools. The team from Teach Thought discusses the history of digital citizenship, and how this new form of citizenship has developed as internet use has become more prevalent, especially as online resources have become more pertinent to education. They introduce the core themes involved with digital citizenship, proposing that they are 1) respect yourself and others; 2) educate yourself and others; 3) protect yourself and others. The paper continues by discussing the necessity of digital citizenship at all levels of education, and how to employ it and teach students about how to be good digital citizens. They conclude the paper by discussing how digital citizenship might evolve in the future and answering potential questions about digital citizenship with continuing technologies, and how to teach digital citizenship.

Evaluation:
The Teach Thought Staff take an in depth look at digital citizenship, and discuss how it should be employed not only at the K-12 level, but also in higher education. This article does a good job of looking at, and explaining, different components of digital citizenship and what types of responsibilities we have as digital citizens and the important pieces to teach to students who are new to the digital world.
The breakdown of the sections makes it easy to navigate, and takes an easy to read approach to the topic of digital citizenship.

CO-Dispositions of Exemplary School Librarians as Identified by Graduate Students

Emily Ratica

CO

Long, L., & Jones, J. j. (2016). Dispositions of exemplary school librarians as identified by

graduate students. (cover story). Teacher Librarian, 43(4), 8-12.

This article provides an insight into the important dispositions of what makes a good school librarian, at least according to graduate students working toward their MLIS. These dispositions include collaboration, leadership, life long learning, compassion/caring, and flexibility. These are all essential characteristics for a teacher librarian, and by developing these dispositions, professionals in the field can "cultivate their own dispositional strengths and improve any weaknesses in order
to hone their practice and provide the best library services to their patrons" (11-12).

While it is very insightful and a good reminder of professional practices, the article is also rather sweet in its naiveté.  It rather reminded me of what it was like to be in my teaching program - a lot of discussion about strategies, practices, and lesson planning, but no amount of discussion could prepare me for what real teaching was like.  The same applies to being a librarian - I did a lot of reading and discussing about professional dispositions, but I was not prepared for what would truly be expected of me as a professional as soon as I took this role.  The things discussed here, while extremely important, of course, are just the very basic functions of everything a good librarian does.  This is a hard profession, and definitely not for the faint-of-heart.  These "dispositions" are a good start, but there is so much more to learn that can only be gained through first hand experience on the job.

Connecting Community Groups at the Library

Aubree Burkholder

CO

Jarecki, K. (2016, October). Connecting Community Groups at the Library. Retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2016/10/connecting-community-groups-at-the-library/

Summary:

The library’s reach isn’t limited to just its walls. The library’s reach should extend to the whole community, and often times librarians can have a difficult time trying to find ways to connect with their surrounding communities.  This article gave great advice and real life examples of how libraries can organize programming and connect with community members and groups.

Evaluation:

I enjoyed this article because I feel that the number one jobs of public libraries should be to make connections to the community that it serves. 

Re-Envisioning the MLS The Future of Librarian Education

Aubree Burkholder

CO

Bertot, J. (2016, January). Re-Envisioning the MLS The Future of Librarian Education. Retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2016/01/re-envisioning-the-mls-the-future-of-librarian-education/

Summary:

Exploring the future of public libraries requires us to consider the future of public librarians—and how they prepare for a dynamic and evolving service context.  Public libraries are in transition, bridging the print, physical, digital, and virtual worlds. Taking this into account the article suggests that there are things that both Professors and MLIS students should be doing differently throughout their degrees that will help prepare for the continuously changing library field.

Evaluation:

I enjoyed this article because I feel that it is very apt information for any student currently pursuing their MLIS degree to understand that they will need to be very forward thinking and socially advanced when working in public libraries. 

TED Talks Education

Karen Rogers

ET
CA
CO

TED. (2013, May 11). TED Talks Education. Retrieved July 13, 2016, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dilnw_dP3xk

Summary:  This video has a plethora of educators, Bill Gates, psychologists, and students who talk about educational theory, new ways of looking at curriculum and assessment, and how to improve our teaching.  The speakers talk about the importance of relationships, inquiry, perseverance, how to motivate students, and ways to help teachers improve.

Review:  The video is incredibly empowering and inspiring.  It encourages teachers to change their traditional mindset and take some risks in education.  It talks about the problems faced in education and ways to improve them.  It talks about the importance of building up student confidence and passion for knowledge being even more important than talent.  I think it is something all people in education should watch before starting the school year.

Good Leaders Learn What Not to Do - Leading from the Library

Reyna, Lisa

ET - Government and Professions

Bell, S. (n.d.). Good Leaders Learn What Not to Do - Leading From the Library. Library Journal. Retrieved May 20, 2016, from http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/09/opinion/leading-from-the-library/good-leaders-learn-what-not-to-do-leading-from-the-library 

Summary/Evaluation

Leadership in the Academic Library Profession: Evaluation and Assessment of Leadership

In the article, “Good Leaders Learn What Not to Do”, Steven Bell mentions how Kouzes and Posner are responsible for the “ten truths of leadership” and how valuable an asset this information is to the working professional, but voices his opinion on the importance of learning what leaders should not do in the workplace as well. [2]

Truth 1: You Make a Difference

Truth 2: Credibility is the Foundation of Leadership

Truth 3: Values Drive Commitment

Truth 4: Focusing on the Future Sets Leaders Apart

Truth 5: You Can’t Do It Alone

Truth 6: Trust Rules

Truth 7: Challenge Is the Crucible of Greatness

Truth 8: You Either Lead by Example or You Don’t Lead at All

Truth 9: The Best Leaders Are the Best Learners

Truth 10: Leadership Is an Affair of the Heart

The ten truths listed above are from Kouzes and Posner’s book, The Truth about Leadership, which each concept is featured in it’s own chapter. [1]

Steven Bell believes that by identifying the presence of ineffective leadership in libraries, this approach could also prove to be just as valuable to the overall success of professional leadership. Throughout this article, he refers to the effectiveness of how not to lead and focuses on another article written by Steve Staninger titled “Identifying the Presence of Ineffective Leadership in Libraries”. Staninger mentions the inability of leaders to treat their employees, as they would want to be treated themselves. Other instances of ineffective leadership include moral disengagement and micromanagement. When these instances arise within the workplace, the negativity can lead to damage of employee morale as well as fundamental damage to the organization itself. [2]

Although leadership can be expressed in many facets, academic librarianship possesses a need to conduct it in a highly professional manner, while working with internal as well as external stakeholders, such as librarians; library staff; administrators; students; faculty; non-library administrators and staff. [2]

I truly believe that all individuals placed within a leader/management role should possess a certain type of skillset and quality, which would allow them to be a positive role model as well as leader in the workplace. Staninger describes that ineffective leaders have a disregard for the importance and value that represents institutional culture by neglecting the consultation of employees who could be beneficial in the overall decision-making process in creating a better workplace. I also believe that there is truth to this theory. As an effective leader, he/she has to maintain a certain quality in order to achieve greatness. True leaders aspire to make a difference and when mistakes are made, they learn from them allowing themselves room for growth and wisdom when bestowing their knowledge onto others. True leaders also allow their employees the credit deserved when making a positive impact on the organization by acknowledgement and recognition.

As Steven Bell describes in his article, I too believe that it is always a better practice of knowing all aspects of management and leadership, even when it comes to researching the ways in which a leader could be ineffective in order to learn and determine which concepts and behaviors to avoid.

Additional Sources:

1. McKinney, M. (n.d.). Leading Blog: A Leadership Blog: Ten Truths about Leadership. Leading Blog: A Leadership Blog: Ten Truths about Leadership. Retrieved May 20, 2016, from http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/2010/08/ten_truths_about_leadership.html

2. Staninger, S. (2011). Identifying the Presence of Ineffective Leadership in Libraries. Library Leadership & Management, 26(1), 1-7. Retrieved May 20, 2016, from http://journals.tdl.org/llm/index.php/llm/article/view/5782/5815  

New Media Literacy Education (NMLE): A Developmental Approach

Amy Unger

Media Literacy Ed.

Graber, D. (2012) New Media Literacy Education (NMLE): A developmental approach. The National Association for Media Literacy Education's Journal of Media Literacy Education, 4(1), 82-92.

Summary:

In response to computer-technology usage by digital natives, the author of this article, Diana Graber, has developed and implemented a media-literacy curriculum called Cyberwise.  Her basis for its development was in response to a growing awareness of the immensity of internet and social media usage by digital natives, and scholars such as Prensky (2010), pointing towards a justified need for meeting young people "in whatever way they [educators, mentors] meet them" (this, increasingly meaning through technology) with opportunities that "best configure students' brains so that they can constantly learn, create, program, adopt, adapt, and relate positively to whatever and whomever they meet ...", along with James, et al., (2008) stating that, "... the responsibility lies with the adults (educators, policymakers, parents, etc.) to provide young people with optimal supports for good play and citizenship."

Furthermore, Graber's Cyberwise curriculum responds to the long-revered developmental theories of Piaget and Kohlberg, summed up as sharing the belief that

" ... children spend the first 12 years of life developing the cognitive structures that enable them to grasp the abstract, metaphoric, and symbolic types of information that lead to ethical thinking.  This understanding of cognitive and moral development requires us to at least consider how and when the youngest members of our society should be turned loose in a digital environment" (Graber, 2012).

Moreover, it is this capacity for ethical thinking that drives the Cyberwise curriculum.  Graber calls for our teaching of students to be wise users of the tools at their disposal, as a prerequisite to teaching media literacy.  Citing Ohler (2010), she notes the suggestion of a "whole school approach to behavior that sets the entirety of being digitally active within an overall ethical and behavioral context --- character education for the Digital Age."  Monke (2004) refers to this challenge with this:

"It seems that we are faced with a remarkable irony: that in an age of increasing artificiality, children first need to sink their hands deeply into what is real; that in an age of light-speed communication, it is crucial that children take the time to develop their own inner voice; that in an age of incredibly powerful machines we must first teach our children how to use the incredible powers that lie deep within themselves."

In searching for evidence of schooling that is currently meeting any portions of this demand, Graber found one approach to be notably successful at developing moral reasoning, i.e., the Waldorf® school approach.  In a cited dissertation (Hether, 2001), about high school seniors from diverse educational settings, the Waldorf® school approach was found--through a quantitative survey tool about moral reasoning, known as the DIT (Defining Issues Test)--to result in graduates scoring significantly higher in moral reasoning than students from religiously affiliated or public high schools.  Waldorf educated students scored in a range more commonly associated with college graduates (Graber, 2012, p. 87).

Perhaps even more importantly, the second phase of that same dissertation identified five aspects of Waldorf® education that might contribute to higher moral reasoning:

1. an emphasis on educating the whole person
2. sensitivity to developmental appropriateness
3. the practice of storytelling
4. the integral place of the arts in the curriculum
5. preservation of a sense of wonder towards the natural world

Sometime later, Jenkins, et al. (2006), (as in the Jenkins, et al.: Henry Jenkins of USC, and his team) identified "the media literacies", which have significant overlap with the aspects of Waldorf® education:

1.  networking, negotiation, collective intelligence and distributed cognition, such as occurs while students are working together to build a small structure (one of the many hands-on, collaborative projects in the Waldorf® curriculum)
2. visualization, judgement, and appropriation, such as the proficiencies cultivated through the Waldorf® empahasis on art
3. performance and simulation skills, such as developed by the dramatic storytelling practiced in Waldorf®, and 
4. play, considered a hallmark of Waldorf® education (Graber, 2012, p. 88).

While the article goes further to explain the middle school years as the right time for ethical media literacy instruction, through Harvard University's GoodPlay Project that identifies what ethical issues young people encounter in the digital world, it also makes mention of a three-year case study, through classroom action study, using Cyberwise (this being a Waldorf-inspired charter school in Orange County, CA) (Graber, 2012).

In conclusion, this article helps us stop and think about what we are doing while immersed in the beginnings of the digital age, with its "world full of both possibility and peril - rules of engagement being hashed out as we go" (Graber, 2012, p. 89).

Evaluation

I find this article to be indispensable, unique, and on the list of "why is this not required reading"?  Thank you for (hopefully) bearing with its length.

Citations referred to in the Graber Article (found to be in citation other than APA):

Hether, C.A. 2001. "The Moral Reasoning of High School Seniors from  Diverse Educational  Settings." Ph.D. dissertation, Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center. Retrieved from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text (Publication No. AAT 3044032).

James, C., K. Davis, A. Flores, J.M. Francis, L. Pettinghill, M. Rundel, and H. Gardner. 2008. "Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media: A Synthesis from the Good Play Project." GoodWork® Project Report Series, Number 54. Project Zero, Harvard School of Education.

Jenkins, H., R. Purushotma, K. Clinton, M. Weigel and A.J. Robinson, 2006. Confronting the  Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. http://newmedialiteracies.org/.

Monke, L. 2004. "The Human Touch." Education Next 4(4). http://educationnext.org/thehumantouch/

Ohler, J.B. 2009. "Orchestrating the Media Collage." Educational Leadership 66(6): 8-13.  http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/Orchestrating-the-Media- Collage.aspx

Everyday Best Practices

Monteiro, Sarah

Anderson, M. A. (2011). EVERYDAY BEST PRACTICES. Library Media Connection, 30(3), 48-50.

Summary:

Mary Alice Anderson’s goal in writing this article was to encourage librarians to create a place that is welcoming to both students and teachers. She goes on to describe best practices that can be attained daily.

Anderson’s first practice is to “roll out the welcome mat.” By making your space a welcoming place, people will want to bring students in to work. She recommends keeping shades up, office doors open, and even complete your own work in a more accessible position in the library, if possible. If you are entering after an “unwelcoming predecessor…make lemonade our of lemons.” Use your predecessors lack of best practices as an opportunity to show the school how a library should feel, inviting.

Anderson goes on to explain that you need to “walk the walk and talk the talk.” To do that, you need to worry only about the things that truly impact the students and not sweat the small stuff like missing books. Your time needs to be spent with teachers and students collaborating and demonstrating the best practices. If teachers are reluctant to collaborate because of other reasons, see if you can make it easier for them to find that time and constantly be looking for ways to work together. Along with working to find collaboration time and build relationships, you need to fight to have as much technology in the library as possible. Acquire all of the technology you can and teach your students how to use them. You should also be collecting an e-library that students can access books though technology wherever they are. Try and be the “go to” person for technology.

Andersons believes that a best practice is by being a leader in the school and holding professional developments for the teachers on technology. You also need to be an advocate for the library, why it is important, and why you are important not just during budget time. Spread the word of what you do and keep a log.

Anderson ends by making a call to reach out to the families and community. Hold special programs for the families and extend these programs to the community. Last but not least, be the change you want to see. Come in every day with a positive attitude and continue to make connections with everyone, including others in your field.

Review:

I really enjoyed Anderson’s article. I agreed with everything she had to say feel that all of these practices are essential if you want to enter a school librarian position. The environment we create will dictate our importance. If the library becomes a place that is unwelcoming and off-putting, who will patronize and bring purpose to the space? The library is only a library when it has patrons, and our patrons will only come if they see a reason and feel welcome. We need to give them that reason. As librarians we have to be positive influences in our students lives, the lives of our teachers, and advocates for these better practices.

Z-Discussions

Repackaging Research: Rigor and Relevance for 21st-Century Learners

Nadine Loza
Jaeger, P. (2014). Repackaging Research: rigor and relevance for 21^st-century learners. School Library Monthly (1)31 pp. 5-7.

Summary: Jaeger begins her article with a quote from Zora Neale Hurston, “Research is formalized curiosity. It is poling and prying with a purpose.”  Jaeger is Coordinator of Libraries in Washington state.  Her article calls upon teacher librarians to take the wise words of Hurston to heart.  She advocates that teacher librarians take the lead at their school to “just say no” to research packets that do not require deep, rigorous thinking.  Jaeger tells her librarians and classroom teachers, “if your assignment is answerable on Google, it is void of higher-lever learning”.  To prove her point, she discusses key standards in the Common Core that compels teachers to create research projects that provide students with rigorous questioning and deeper learning.

Evaluation: Jaeger call to teacher librarians is valid and necessary.  Both teachers and teacher librarians should turn to the Common Core standards to revise their lessons.  The new standards call on teachers to create lesson that fully engage students in their learning.  Today’s students are rooted in technology and social media.  Educators must adapt to what students know.  The Common Core standards are a good starting place to help educators understand what will be required for our students to be college and career ready.

New Routes to Library Success

Nadine Loza
Doucett, E. (2016). New routes to library success: looking outside of the library world to spark new ideas. American Libraries. March 42-45.

Summary: Doucett is the director of the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine.  She entered the library profession in 2004, from the business world.  In this article, Doucett makes the case for librarian professionals to look outside of the library world to understand how to evolve to meet the needs of today’s user.  She argues that without librarian professionals continually evolving to meet the needs of the 21^st century user, we might soon see a time where libraries a disappearing from American cities.  To make her point, she uses the example of how she turned to Margot Atwell, the publishing outreach coordinator for Kickstarter.  Kickstarter is an online crowdsourcing platform.  Kickstarter provides ways for individuals to promote a project or a cause to gain donations.  Kickstarter success lies in the ways the site connects people, and allows them to get involved in projects they feel passionately about.  Doucett was inspired to reach out to Atwell, and came away with important implications for libraries.  She recommends that library professionals use promotional videos, games, and community outreach to promote their programs in new and exciting ways.  She urges the library world to evolve with today’s user, she warns that the very survival of American libraries may be at stake.

Evaluation: Doucett’s analysis and recommendations are very useful to consider.  She uses her own background in the business world to find innovative ways to promote libraries.  Her assessments about the future of American libraries might seem alarmist, however, current research on library use confirms that they are at a sharp decline.  As a future teacher librarian, I agree with Doucett.  Teacher librarians must continually adapt their marketing and programs to make their libraries a place teens want to be.  Many teacher librarians have already adapted traditional rules, and transformed their libraries into spaces where collaboration and technology are welcomed.  Following these trends, libraries will continue to have a secure place in American cities.

Teacher Librarians, Training, and Expertise

Carol Brzozowski writes on transition librarians are making in order to revitalize library programs and services to support the changing needs of today’s students. One Canadian school district made clear decisions about the development of their school library services. According to Brzozowski, the district’s instructional technology services department provided multiyear training of teacher-librarians to help launch a new video on-demand service, and then an extensive training program to show teacher-librarians how to use productivity software, video-production technologies, and podcasting tools (2015). Trainings are great, but it’s necessary to define the vision for school librarians and teacher librarians. But today, the teacher-librarians are also expected to help “curate and guide learners and teachers to find good content and use it effectively”—a challenge at a time when the massive amount of digital content available to schools resembles the “Wild West,” Mr. Ray said after being interviewed by Brzozowski (Brzozowski, 2015). The expectations for teacher librarians are extensive but important as their roles are defined. Brzozowski observed progressive steps the Canadian district made, by investing their own education funds beyond grant funding to train librarians. The results were encouraging, through librarian training they were able to save money later, through streamlined acquisition and tracking programs district wide when monitoring textbooks. This training and ease of textbook management improved teacher’s job responsibilities as well. The benefits and the cost proved to make this districts decision easy to implement. I hope to uncover more stories about districts backing and building strong library designs for educational benefit and to bring patrons back to libraries. This story is a model of a strategy that experienced nothing but success.

References:

 

K-12 Librarians' Roles Shift to Meet Digital Demands

A Washington state district treats librarians as digital mentors

By Carol Brzozowski

April 13, 2015

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/04/15/k-12-librarians-roles-shift-to-meet-digital.html

Ruth Mitchell

ET

Dweck, C. (2015, September 22). Carol Dweck revisits the 'growth mindset'. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/09/23/carol-dweck-revisits-the-growth-mindset.html?cmp=eml-eb-pop112715.

Carol Dweck provides her reflection on the Growth Mindset and what we, as educators, need to do to follow the growth mindset journey and adopt a "deeper, true growth mindset." She explains that in order to do this we need to accept our fixed-mindset and carefully watch for "our fixed-mindset triggers" when we face challenges or feel incompetent as teachers. In addition, she gives the following statements to use when encouraging students:

• "When you learn how to do a new kind of problem it grows your math brain!"
• "If you catch yourself saying, 'I'm not a math person.' just add the word 'yet' to the end of the sentence."
• "That feeling of math being hard is the feeling of your brain growing"
• "The point isn't to get it all right away. The point is to grow your understanding step by step. What can you try next?"

Peer Review Article

By Terry Funk 
CA

Alabi, J. & Weare, Jr., W. H.  (2014). Peer review of teaching. Communications in Information Literacy, 8(2), 180-191.

Summary: This article is helpful to academic librarians who engage in instruction but may lack a teaching background. The authors have presented a review of the literature and best practices in peer review to help individuals improve in teaching.  A formal program is not necessary to start an informal process using key ideas in this article. Recommendations include: establishing trust, respect, and confidentiality; choosing a suitable partner; crucial communication during pre-observation, observation and post-observation; determining focus; making time and being ready for criticism.

Evaluation: This is a recent review of the literature done in 2014 with a narrowly defined focus on formative peer evaluations. It is both informative and succinct, detailing successful practices that can be tailored to one’s situation. The article is chock full of references and tools (documents and forms) to use for peer evaluation.