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.

An Example of Co-Teaching

Mary Fobbs-Guillory

CO

Ainsworth, L. (2016). Teacher and teacher librarian collaborative inquiry. Teacher Librarian, 44(2), pp. 28-31.

This article gives a detailed account of a co-teaching experience between a 5th grade teacher and a teacher librarian in Canada.  The class was studying Inuit culture and the skill of questioning.  The article documents the process of the professionals planning the lesson together and then teaching the class in two groups.  This method is also called Station teaching because the students rotate from being taught by one professional to the next.  The teacher librarian created a short video on challenging vocabulary for students to view ahead of time and posted it to the class blog.  The teachers taught how to ask questions and provided them with question builder frames and rubrics.  They read books, facilitated discussions, and provided artifacts and art prints from the local museum for the students to analyze and develop questions about.

This article gave a very detailed account of the lesson, I felt as though I watched it.  It gave me a full picture of what co-teaching looks like and how fun and powerful it can be.

Co-teaching Relationships among Librarians and other Information Professionals

Alpers, Jessica

CO-Collaboration

Medaill, A., & Shannon, A. W. (2012). Co-teaching relationships among librarians and other information professionals. Collaborative Librarianship,4(4), 2.

Summary: The article begins by discussing librarians as teachers and then delves into collaboration. A table is presented showing attributes of successful collaboration. This is followed by a discussion of co-teaching, with an explanation. Much information is given on the topic, including factors for success. The article goes on to describe methods for co-teaching, and explain what works and does not work. Following this discussion is a set of guidelines for successful co-teaching.

Evaluation: This is a good article describing co-teaching between librarians and teachers. For someone who may not have a lot of experience co-teaching this is a good resource to begin with. The tips and guidelines are very easy to understand. For those who have more experience, it is a good resource to help strengthen your understanding and performance as a co-teacher.

Creating Hybrid Spaces for Exploration

Subramaniam, M. M., Ahn, J., Fleischmann, K. R., & Druin, A. (2012) Reimagining the role of school libraries in STEM education: Creating hybrid spaces for exploration. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy. 82(2) pp. 161-182.

Summary: This article examines the role of school libraries in STEM education from a sociocultural approach. The article stresses the need for school libraries to create hybrid spaces for STEM education and to maximize the roles school librarians have in that education. The authors propose that teachers and librarians take on an active role in STEM education through advising, collaboration, and technology. The authors further propose that librarians are in a unique position to create an environment for active participation for STEM activities which will further aid students in creating a STEM identity.

Evaluation: Though focused on STEM education, the takeaways from this article really stress basic elements of teacher-librarianship and library space. They stress libraries being active learning commons, collaboration with teachers and librarians advising students on resources and technology to provide transformative experiences for learning. 

Teachers & Teacher Librarians Collaborate on Inquiry-based Science Instruction

Gabrielle Thormann

CO and IL

Montiel-Overall, P. & Grimes, K. (2013).  Teachers and librarians collaborating on inquiry-based science instruction:  A longitudinal study.  Library & Information Science Research, 35(1), pgs. 41-53.

Summary:  This article focuses on how the teacher and teacher librarian collaboration can be achieved, and as the title says, by collaborating on inquiry-based science instruction.  The article offers basic definitions alongside the complexities of how collaborations were built in six Latino elementary schools with many second language learners.  Students’ and teachers’ skills are generally reviewed:  Currently, many of their skills and knowledge do not support higher-level inquiry-based instruction.  Key points of information-literacy and teacher librarian skills are correlated to the scientific method, and how these points can be used to support students.  The overall process is explained:  to create and support the relationship between the teacher and the teacher librarian, and to provide the necessary content knowledge.  Achievements and challenges of the process are reviewed.  Keys to the success of this project included peer mentors for the teacher and teacher librarian, and the recognition that two heads are better than one.  Challenges are presented and discussed.  Themes - Preparation, Experience, Transformation, Motivation - are also distilled from the process, and examined in writing and in Appendix C.   

Review:  I found reading this article challenging.  However, a lot of practical useful information for creating an inquiry-based science unit is embedded within the theoretical writing.  I found Table 1, “Summary of four modules of professional development intervention workshops,” very interesting as one can see the steps of the transformation for the collaborators.  Also, “Appendix C. Themes and categories from analysis of teacher and librarian collaboration” provides ideas of how the collaborators worked in real time.  Finally, it’s worth noting that this is the eighth article this author appears in in this blog database.  These articles are focused on collaboration/co-teaching and 21^st century skills. 

Learning To The Second Power

Karla Morones

CA, CO

Wallace, V., & Husid, W. (2012). Learning to the second power. Teacher Librarian, 39(3), 25-29.

Summary

This article discusses the importance of librarians in inquiry-based learning.  The article shows how historically the role of school libraries and how it has grown in greater significance in education.  The article also discusses the challenges that a school librarian faces and demonstrates how a willingness to be flexible will have a positive effect on the school’s and the student’s educational success.  

Evaluation

I found this article to be incredibly informative.  The authors begin with a historical context of the school library and the librarians. Many of us will find their description very familiar.  The authors then discuss the challenges that many school librarians face such as lack of support staff, budget cuts, and primarily the way people view of school librarians.   I know many people view libraries as an old profession that really doesn’t have any place in today’s modern world of technology.  This article gives many tips on becoming more flexible and at the same time becoming more relevant in today's society,  First collaboration is key, we need to attend staff meetings when curriculum is being discussed .  Creating the library so that it is conducive to group learning, having places where the students can work independently from their teachers.  The authors suggest and I agree that for the school library to survive it needs to become not only relevant but necessary in a school.

Pedagogy for Practical Library Instruction

Karla Morones

ET, CO

Montgomery, M. (2015). Pedagogy for practical library instruction. Communications In Information Literacy, 9(1), 19-23.

Summary

This article touches on the fact that many librarians have no background knowledge on educational theories.  The author gives personal experiences with her learning process and fish out of water feeling when she first started her position at an academic library.  The author explains how much knowledge a librarian really needs to know and how to obtain the knowledge to become effective instructors.

Evaluation

I very much enjoyed this article.  I felt the author was talking about my particular feelings and experiences.  I, too felt like fish out of water, and I appreciated her humor and tips on pedagogy. The author, much like I did, kept returning to constructivism theory as the best way for her to engage her students.  She had to begin teaching herself theory and pedagogy through books and journal articles.  She also joined organizations such as ALA, ACRL, Library Juice Academy, OCLC’s WebJunction, and others that provided both free and fee-based training via webinars and online classes. She then proceeded to focus her studies on this theory and began applying it to her classes.  She found student led activities had much better outcomes than other activity she had planned.  

Teacher Librarian Cooperation...from 1937?

Alan Phelps
CO- Integrating TL into curriculum

Horton, M. (1937, June). Teacher librarian cooperation. Bulletin of the American Library Association. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25689113 

Summary:

This article looks at the relationship between the school librarian and the classroom teacher. Published in 1937 by the American Library Association, it lays out the role and importance of the school librarian in collaborating with teachers to optimize student learning. at that time. The article emphasizes the need for open and clear communication. Even at that time the librarian saw the need to "relate the catalog to actual situations" a student might find themselves in, both in the present and later in their lives. It also emphasizes the need for librarians to be familiar with course materials, important concepts, and basic knowledge in all curriculum areas. It also talks about the occasions when the need arises for librarians to conduct formal lessons in the library. 

Review:

Having been a long time high school history teacher  before becoming a TL I was intrigued by the title and date of this article. It caught my eye because of the "Teacher Librarian" title and the publication date. As I read it I quickly realized it was referring to the teacher and librarian as two different people not a TL, still it intrigued me. I found the article very interesting though and learned a lot about the role of librarians at that time and now I can see the TL as a natural progression of the school librarian, considering that already at that time, in some ways the librarian was already seen as a teacher, collaborating and deepening classroom learning, and even conducting lessons when the need arises. It was interesting also that at that time, according to the article, the librarian might advise a teacher not to teach something if there were not books in the library to support student learning. Overall, I found the article interesting and helped me put the role of the TL into historical perspective.

In School Libraries, Differentiation Through Curation

Karla Morones

IL, CO

Morris, Rebecca. "In School Libraries, Differentiation Through Curation". Harvard Education Publishing Group. N.p., 2016. Web. 2 May 2016.

Summary:

This blog posting covers how important the skill of digital curation is for school librarians to have.  The author would like to see digital curation not only in the hands of school librarians but the students as well. She believes having the students involved in the curation of digital material would lead to differentiation. Morris sees this happening by app smashing, a term coined by educator Greg Kulowiec, where a student would use multiple apps to complete a final task.  Morris suggests that school librarians would make excellent curators because they are enthusiastic and knowledgeable in helping teachers and students evaluate select and use digital tools

Evaluation:

I found this article informative and  a valuable resource.  This is a skill that would serve all librarians well, being able to provide students and teachers with a list of digital resources that could be used for a lesson or a research project would help immensely.  It is important to differentiate learning for students and teachers this would make way for more effective collaboration.

Designing Your Own Text Sets

Deligencia, Nick

CO, ET, IL

Lewis, W., & Walpole, S. (2016). Designing your own text sets. Literacy Today, 33(4), 34-35.

Summary:

Create a set of four texts to build background knowledge and support students as they tackle text complexity.  “Quad Text Sets” include (1) video clips, (2) small/short informational text, (3) complex “target” text, and (4) contemporary text “to extend understanding.”

Evaluation:

Worth reading.  It’s only 2 pages, and has application far beyond the language arts example provided.

The concept of text sets may not be new to experienced educators, but this concise explanation of what to choose and why to choose it could easily serve as a roadmap for initial collaboration efforts with teachers.

I subscribe to the print edition of the journal as part of my membership in ILA, but it’s also accessible through the EBSCO/Academic Search Complete database at SJSU’s King Library.  Just copy/paste the title into the database search bar.

CO- Integrating TL into curriculum, ET- Arenas of Practice, IL-Critical Thinking

Integrating Reading & Programs for ESL

Roys, Kelly

ET

American Library Association. (2008). How to Serve the World @ your library. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/offices/sites/ala.org.offices/files/content/olos/toolkits/servetheworld/LI_toolkit.pdf

Summary: This article from ALA describes the importance of providing collections and resources for ESL (English Second Language) learners to promote life long love of reading and learning. There are programs demonstrated as an informational resource to promote other programs in your local libraries and other resources to read to discover more about differentiation. 

Review: As an educator for the elementary age group, instruction serving this population should be relevant and applicable for information to be retained and acceptance/understanding to ensue. Students need a safe place for learning and by providing articles and information to highlight this need is important. Librarians have a duty to increase this as they are a hub for resources, programs, and types of books/materials for the students to access and teachers to utilize in their classrooms. 

SC Study Shows Link Between School Librarians and Higher Test Scores

SC Study Shows Link Between School Librarians and Higher Test Scores

Alison Dinicola

IL CA

Gavigan, K. & Lance, K.C. (2016). SC study shows link between school librarians and higher test
scores. School Library Journal.  http://www.slj.com/2016/03/literacy/sc-study-shows-link-between-school-librarians-and-higher-test-scores/#_

Summary:
This article discusses the importance of school librarians and libraries on student success on tests. South Carolina Association of School Librarians (SCASL) worked with RSL Research Group, in 2013, on a study showing the importance of school librarians and library programs. This study documented how school libraries have added to the success of students on test for English language arts (ELA) and writing standards. Data was taken from results of the South Carolina Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) for elementary and middle schools, and South Carolina High School Assessment Program (HSAP). Schools, with full-time librarians and at least one assistant, either full-time or part-time, had students that showed more strength and less weakness on PASS writing standards. Higher spending on libraries showed significant strengths on student test achievements. This study showed that collaboration between librarians and teachers help students develop "information literacy skills." The schools that excelled had 20 or more hours of librarian instruction. Study, also, found that this successful schools had an overall checkout of 20,00 items or 36 checkouts per student. Other areas of data were on collection size for both books and ebooks, access to computers, and frequency of library visits. School administrators found that library visits that were based on needs as compared to fixed times were more effective on students' success. High achieving schools had 4 or more library visit per week in elementary and middle schools, and 15 or more visits in high schools. Administrators valued the library policies and practices and saw school librarians as having a leadership role at their schools.

Review:
I found this article up-lifting in that it showed how important school libraries and librarians are to the success of any type of school, elementary, middle, or high school. Many districts and states feel that a school library can be run by anyone on the staff. However, this article showed that professional librarians are essential to a high achieving school. In the school district I work at, library assistant have been cut back due to the budget and one librarian could be working at several schools within one week. In fact, I work at 3 different schools over 3 1/2 days of a week. This article showed how important a library and an assistant is to each school. Having a librarian onsite all week, working along side the teachers, gives students the structure and support they need to meet today's 21st Century Skills. This article reinforces the concepts Dr. Loertscher teaches of coteaching and collaborating between librarians and teachers. The more we work together the more our students will succeed. I appreciated the administrators that felt their librarians were the center of their schools success. This article is a great resource in support of school libraries and librarians for successful schools, teachers, and students.

Teaching to Interrogate –A Humanities Research Project

Resource:

Schmidt, R. K., Giordano, E., Schmidt, G., & Kuhlthau, C. C. (2015.). A guided inquiry approach to    teaching the humanities research project. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Summary and Response:

This book is a really comprehensive guide towards introducing a humanities research project as a collaboration between TL and classroom teacher, whereby student, TL, and teacher are "each...a partner to the others" (p.8).  The students are guided through the process of understanding the purpose of the research paper – to draw their own  conclusions by looking at a variety sources from various formats.  Students are provided with a choice of pathways to hunt for information in which they may either begin with reference materials if they already have a  topic in mind or they can begin with magazine articles and examining their own interests in order  to identify a possible topic of cultural significance to research.

Students are guided through how to interrogate types of sources, including 11 questions to ask when looking at primary source, 11 more for a secondary source, and 11 for the tertiary source.  These questions aim to help students build a sense of how to locate bias, understand the influence of perspective, how inclusion or exclusion of information play a role in this, how to interpret user-generated comments, and more.  Ultimately students are also provided with a more extensive set of questions to use to interrogate 16 formats, including pottery, an allusion, a garment, graph, musical performance and so on.  Students are encouraged to look beyond print sources for their research, and they are also encouraged to write their own questions for these and other source formats.  I find these interrogations very helpful myself, and many of the questions they provide for a student examining a pottery sherd are questions I would have done well to consider years ago, not only as a student, but as a teacher.  Reading the questions they pose provides a paradigm for the types of questions one might ask in encountering a variety of artifacts and print genres.

As with the other two books by Schmidt I have read and reviewed here, students are carefully guided through the outlining and organizing of their information into a final product.  Even within this guidance, students are encourage to  find a system for tagging, sorting, and ultimately organizing information that makes the most sense to each individual student.  

Ultimately, the book paves the way for great collaboration between students, teachers, and librarians. There are many aspects of the research process that I recognize in my own process, but have never quite articulated so explicitly to myself.  Her work always strikes a balance between explicit guidance and freedom that I find nearly perfect.  The projects are time-consuming, but if I can find more teachers to collaborate on these projects, I feel it will be really transformative for all of us.

Collaboration and Coteaching

Posted by Karen Kotchka

CO

Loertscher, D. (2014). Collaboration and Coteaching. Teacher Librarian, 42 (2), 8-19.

Summary

In this article the author reviews some of the reasons why the library and librarians have been pushed aside as not being central to a school's needs and then relates the results of a research study designed to see how much added value to student success would be yielded by a true collaboration and coteaching between a classroom teacher and a teacher librarian.  Results of the study showed a much greater impact on student success for the cotaught lessons.  The author includes some tips and ideas for a teacher librarian to get started on the practice of coteaching with other classroom teachers

Evaluation

I thought the article was valuable to stimulate thinking and action towards making the library a more central part of the school academic culture and it also clarified some of the meanings and interpretations of what types of teachig are now going on in the library and how technology and virtual learning can extend the reach and impact of the library.

Fostering Technology-Rich Service- Learning Experiences between School Librarians and Teacher Education Programs

Whitney Fischer

IL

Reference:

Shepherd, C., Dousay, T., Kvenild, C., & Meredith, T. (2015). Fostering Technology-Rich Service- Learning Experiences between School Librarians and Teacher Education Programs. Knowledge Quest, 44(2), 44-52.

Summary:
 

The authors stress that teacher librarians have the power and know-how to serve as leaders of technologies in their schools,but they are often a resource that is seldom tapped.  A way to ensure that teacher librarians are being used to their full potential by the schools that employ them has already been explored by many researchers, and the answer lies in collaboration between teachers and teacher librarians. This article places an emphasis on the notion that future teacher librarians should take courses in their academic careers that will help them aid teachers in the classroom when necessary.

 

Evaluation: 

I appreciate that this article contains a friendly reminder that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to teaching information literacy skills, and teacher librarians need to tailor their curriculum and methods to their unique make up of students.  Different learning styles, technological skills, and backgrounds should all be accommodated if able.

Three Heads are Better than One

Whitney Fischer

CO

Reference:

Parrott, D. J., & Keith, K. J. (2015). Three Heads Are Better Than One. Teacher Librarian, 42(5), 12-18.

Summary:
This article posits that due to ever-occurring budget cuts, now is the time for teacher librarians to step up and take a more active role in developing curriculum by working closely with classroom teachers. At many schools writing teachers and information literacy coaches have been forced out of the job, but teacher librarians possess many of the skills necessary to fill that gap in instruction.  With these new opportunities to be more involved in the classroom come new responsibilities, of course, and teacher librarians should familiarize themselves with Common Core standards to ensure that they are helping students reach the necessary benchmarks.

Evaluation:
This article is helpful because it suggests specific steps teacher librarians can take to increase their impact in the classroom.  Teachers possess the knowledge of how their individual students learn, but teacher librarians have the means and know-how to instruct students how to research effectively and accurately.  Though it is regrettable that information literacy coaches and reading specialists are becoming extinct in schools, I agree with the author that those positions can be filled by teacher librarians.