The School Librarian and Leadership

The School Librarian and Leadership: What Can Be Learned?

Elias, Jenann

ET, IL

ROOTS LEWIS, K. (2016). The School Librarian and Leadership What Can Be
Learned? Teacher Librarian, 43(4), 18-21.

As library professionals we are surrounded by exciting research, brilliant minds, and amazing practitioners. Armed with these resources, we should "elevate library positions in schools, ensure deep student learning and keep libraries at the forefront of teaching and learning" (Roots Lewis, 2016). This can be accomplished in several ways.
First, being a leader means knowing what matters and why. It is not enough to just read research; the librarian needs to share and act on research. This can be accomplished by co-teaching and collaboration. Evidence shows that learning experience increased when classroom teachers and librarians co-taught students. As the librarian co-teaches, it is important to document student learning. Later this evidence can be used to showcase achievement within your program using photos, anecdotes, videos, and even graphs and charts.

Being a leader at a school also means knowing what matters to your principal and why. Determine what similar goals you have, and then build on them using your strengths. Keeping your finger on the pulse of the school can help. Listen to your principal (and other admins) and ask the right questions. Librarians, after all, are “all about matching people with great resources” (Roots Lewis, 2016). So whether it’s bullying, test scores, poverty, attendance, or any other topic, find articles, video, research, studies, and other relatable information and share them.

Always be careful to ferret out gems, because you don’t want to deluge busy admins. In fact, never go unprepared with only problems. Always come bearing possible solutions and an “openness to work out a better solution together” (Roots Lewis, 2016).

And remember to highlight your best practices. According to the late Donald Clifton, who studied leadership for decades, “What great leaders have in common is that each truly knows his or her strengths...and can call on that strength at the right time” (Roots Lewis, 2016). Documenting evidence of learning and providing snapshots of your program in regular intervals are best. This serves not only as a communication tool but an advocacy tool as well.

This author cited a number of other articles and sites to assist in documentation and advocacy including Evolving with Evidence by J. Valenza in Knowledge Quest 43(3), 36-43.

Relationships Between the Perceived Value of Instructional Techniques and Academic Motivation

Relationships Between the Perceived Value of Instructional Techniques and Academic Motivation

Elias, Jenann

ET, CA

Komarraju, M., & Karau, S. J. (2008). Relationships Between the Perceived Value of

Instructional Techniques and Academic Motivation. Journal Of Instructional

Psychology, 35(1), 70-82.

In this article, the authors discuss the relationships between the perceived value of instructional techniques, including technology enhancements like course material websites (lecture notes, review sheets, grades, sample tests), and the student motivation and learning.

The authors propose that instructional techniques do not impact all students equally. Research prior to this paper has been on the relative effectiveness of different instructional techniques. This assumes that these techniques are perceived equally by all students.

All 172 subjects, students in this case who were enrolled in psychology or business classes. Most had easy access to a computer. The subjects were questioned on their perception of different instructional techniques. All the courses had an online presence including lecture notes, review sheets, grades, sample tests, and links to articles). They stated the perceived value of course websites, active learning, and traditional lectures. The subjects were asked to fill an Academic Motivations Inventory (AMI) that consists of 90 items and includes 16 dimensions of academic motivation.

About 93% of the students reported that they find the course websites useful. The interesting part was that when the 16 dimensions of the AMI and the three instructional strategies (website usage, active learning, and traditional lecture) were correlated, some statistically significant correlations emerged. In layman's terms, “one size does NOT fit all.”

The authors state that “The results of our study clearly suggest that various teaching techniques are significantly associated with distinct aspects of students' academic motivation.” Three profiles of academic motivation emerged, they were engagement, avoidance, and achievement motivation, each associated with unique learning preferences.

From a teaching perspective, engaged students are ideal for learning. These students desire self-improvement and will respond to the widest spectrum of teaching techniques. Avoidant students worry about their performance and grades and are more likely to dislike school and experience stress. They present a challenge to the teacher. Achievement motivated students placed a high value on traditional lectures as well as course websites and online learning.

It is surprising that the questions that the authors, Meera Komarraju and Steven J. Karau, raise here have not been asked before. From my own experience in the field of education (both as a student and as a teacher), I find that not all students react the same way to a presentation, whether in class on online. I am glad that they addressed this point in this paper. My observation is that further study is needed, and with much more refined statistics. The authors acknowledge that there were some internal inconsistencies. It will be interesting to hear the experiences of teacher-librarians and other information professionals working in these situations.

We Got it from here....thank you 4 your service

Audrey Kelly

ET

Emdin, Christopher. "Christopher Emdin SXSWedu 2017 Keynote." SXSWedu Keynote Address. Texas, Austin. 6 Mar. 2017. YouTube. Web. 21 Mar. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbBwM1c-6xM>.

The Columbia Teachers College Professor of Science Education and author of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood-- and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education, Christopher Emdin offers the keynote address at SXSWedu, the conference for educators.  His energetic and electrifying speech amplifies his agenda of producing teachers who are willing and able to meet and teach students where they are. More importantly, he wants the educational system, and those individuals in it, to stop doing violence to black and brown bodies by denying culture and reality in the school setting.  He exhorts the crowd, who recognizes as friends, enemies, and frenemies, to acknowledge the failures of the US public education system that continue to suppress, repress and oppress student voice.

He states that his friends believe that the idea that education is the civil rights issue of our time and that we must talk about equity and diversity and understanding to reach students.  

He names ‘enemies’ as those who out to sell product or technology or their own agenda to schools, or make money off schools as enemies, ‘frenemies’ as those who can quote the big

educational theorists but do not have positive approaches to learning and students. And, he reaches out to the believers and who, despite good intentions, end up being enemies due to their complicity in the institutions that do not value specific groups of people.

Emdin chose the lens of the recent Tribe Called Quest album, titled “We Got it from here… thank you 4 your service” to share his message with the audience, quoting lyrics and inserting his own rhymes, to call upon educators to attempt to understand urban culture, develop teachers from within the urban community, and create curriculum that is integrated and draws from the culture of the students.  

I own the Tribe Called Quest album and have long been a fan of their music, so I could certainly relate to the message of the keynote speech.   I consider hip-hop to be an accessible genre, and one that connects people regardless of their background, though I guess some would disagree. My thoughts also turned to the ideas around how we communicate and how we relate to the ‘mother tongue’, that is, the language we first learned from our mothers.  I think I felt a connection in that regard, too, having been raised by New Yorkers, who sounded very much like Emdin to me.

A Strategy Session With Some of Education’s Top Thinkers

Williams, Susan

ET

Ryan, J. E., Selingo, J., Christakis, N., Gasman, M., Levy, H., Krislov, M., ... Weingarten, R. (2016, June 22). A strategy session with some of education’s top thinkers. Retrieved from http://nyti.ms/28PovcP

This is an article of big ideas, featuring 15 perspectives from top education thinkers.  Topics include:

The importance of social emotional learning; balancing diversity and freedom of expression; the status of a liberal arts and vocational education programs in light of the intense STEM push; income and opportunity inequalities and balancing technology use. Offers useful names to attach to ideas for further research and highlights trends.

7 Things You Should Know About a Flipped Classroom

Boyer, Allison

ET

7 things you should know about a flipped classroom. (2012). Educause. Retrieved from https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7081.pdf

Summary: This is more of a brochure set-up, but it still offers a lot of information in a short space.  Educause released this to detail 7 important facts about a flipped classroom, which is when the instruction and the the homework is reversed.  With this method of instruction, the teacher (and/or teacher librarian) prepares video lectures (either original or compiled from other sources) for students to view on their own.  This way, classroom time is devoted to hand-on, practical, active learning activities.  With this, students are responsible for their own learning.

 

Review: While this isn’t exactly an article, this brochure gives an excellent and quick debriefing on flipped classrooms.  The seven points are clearly defined and explained.  The layout makes it easy and quick to read.  The scenario they use as an example is also beneficial to understanding the idea of a flipped classroom.  It gives a “real life” example of how to use this method of instruction. The 7 facts contain both the positives and downsides to flipped classroom, which gives a fair representation.

Short and good article

Rycik, J. A. (2015). 21^st cenury skills in secondary schools. American Secondary Education, 43(2), 2-3.

Rycik identifies and spells out a brief summation of the skills needed in the 21^st century. He lists a set of earning areas and then summarizes what is being done in research in these areas.

This article is short and sweet—and very informative. Published in 2015, it is right on the leading edge of pedagogical theory.

Applying the Science of Learning: Evidence-Based Principles for the Design of Multimedia Instruction

By Bailey, Rachel
ET
Mayer, R. (2008). Applying the science of learning: Evidence-based principles for the design of multimedia instruction. American Psychologist, November, 760-769.

Summary: This article combines the science of learning and instruction. After conducting numerous research trials, the author concludes that some multi-media led instructional strategies are more conducive to learning than others. In the article he highlights 10 effective principles of multimedia instruction. Here are his findings:

1. Eliminate extraneous material.
2. Highlight essential material.
3. Present pictures and spoken words rather than pictures spoken words, and printed words.
4. Place printed text next to the corresponding part of the graphic.
5. Present corresponding graphics and words at the same time.
6. Break a continuous lesson into learner-paced parts.
7. Provide pre-training on the names, locations, and characteristics of key concepts.
8. Present graphics with spoken text rather than graphics with printed text.
9. Present words and pictures rather than words alone.
10. Present words in conversational style rather than formal style.

Evaluation: The author's findings make sense to me. I especially like number three, which reminds the instruction to not include all the printed words on a slide when given a presentation. This is too distracting for the listener and they have a hard time deciding what to focus on.  When I taught middle school, I noticed that students often put all the text on their presentation slide. This makes for a boring presentation for the listener. I also like number 10. If a presentation is more conversational, the learner is more likely to tune into what is being said. 

Socratic Pedagogy from a Nietzsche-esque point of view

Panneck, Brook

ET

Rud, A. G. (1997). Use & Abuse of Socrates in Teaching. education policy analysis archives, 5, 20.

This article, as described in the introduction is a “plan upon Friedrich Nietzsche’s well-known essay, The Use and Abuse of History (1874, 1979)”, wherein the author examines the history of Socratic pedagogy, it’s famous proponents and critics, its uses and abuses, as well as explanations.

It includes recent commenters on this method, and a critical evaluation through the eyes of various critics of Socratic methods. It looks at the pedagogy through Plato’s works, examines abuse of the methods and illustrates the celebrated method among teachers, who have in some cases taken the method much further.

This is an interesting article that encourages a deeper thinking and understanding of the Socratic method. It also inspires creativity, not only in the way we use it, but how we can use the method on ourselves. It also suggests we use a level of caution when using this method so we don’t abuse it or the learner. 

Toward constructivism for adult learners in online learning environments

Panneck, Brook

ET

Huang, H. (2002). Toward constructivism for adult learners in online learning environments. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33(1), 27. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=5894267&site=ehost-live

This article views adult online learning through the lens of constructivism. If you ever took part in online learning when it was first getting off the ground, you may remember the typical bird unit/behaviorist methodology employed. Many of these online learning experiences utilized televised technology to deliver instruction, where the sole source of information came from the instructor. Online learning has, for the most part, come a long way since then, though you will still find the typical bird units still being used, and quite often. This article explores the need for constructivist methodology for adult online learning, by first exploring this history. The last sentence of the first introductory paragraph, perhaps sums it up best- “…adult learners always bring their unique learning characteristics to the learning situation, so an effective instructor should recognize learners’ characteristics to help them learn best” (Hang, 2002, p. 27). Though that particular outlook should be applied to all learners of any age.

The article justifies the need for newer constructivist online learning formats for adult learning based on their unique circumstances of work, family and other responsibilities not typically present with other types of learners. It explores a history of constructivism theories, which by the way, I would recommend that classmates explore this article to find great references to constructivism theories, and adult learning theories. It also explores online learning technologies and addressed how these “cognitive tools” provide support for the online learner, in their learning processes (21^st century skills can be found here also).

After reviewing various theories mentioned above, the article addresses issues associated with constructivist approaches to online learning, both for the instructor and for the learner. It then explores, through the lens of constructivism, interactive learning, collaborative learning, facilitating learning, authentic learning, learner-centered learning, and high quality learning. It then concludes with a justification, need, and proposal for applying these constructivist theories to the adult online learning environment.

This is an excellent article. It reviews educational theories- specifically online learning/instruction. It also includes a lot of great information relevant to 21^st century skills, constructivism, and adult learning theory. The references to other articles are a bonus, making this a great article for other classmates to check out and keep in their personal libraries. 

Matching Up Learning Styles with Learning Objects: What's Effective?

Bullard, Sherrie

ET

Mestre, L. S. (2010). Matching Up Learning Styles with Learning Objects: What's Effective?. Journal Of Library Administration, 50(7/8), 808-829.

Summary:

Online instruction is quite prevalent on campuses and within libraries. Librarians are engaged in the creation of learning objects that can either be linked to or embedded within course-management systems. But are those instructional tools designed to best accommodate diverse learners or are they constructed to reflect the teaching and learning style of the designer? Results from a study (a survey of librarians, student usability studies, and interviews) document both considerations made in the creation of learning objects, and the effectiveness of learning objects from students' perspectives.

Evaluation:

I enjoyed this article. It gave examples of learning objects and how effective they were. These were all based on the students' perspectives.

AASL Standards for 21st Century Learning

AASL Standards

ET, IL

http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf

This link is to the American Association of School Librarians standards for the 21^st Century learner.

The four standards that the AASL deem important are:

·         Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.

·         Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.

·         Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.

·         Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.

The page goes into great detail under each value.

Problems with Race to the Top

Race to the Top Leaves Children and Future Citizens Behind:

The Devastating Effects of Centralization, Standardization, and High Stakes Accountability

by Joe Onosko

http://democracyeducationjournal.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=home

ET

While researching Race to the Top and Common Core, I found this interesting article from the Democracy in Education Journal.  It gives eight reasons why he thinks RTT is a bad idea.  I was more interested in those who he thought would benefit from a more centralized, nationally controlled, standardized system, with enormous financial benefit to those participating. [Otherwise known as “if you clean your room you can have a cookie”]

Here is the list of potential beneficiaries: 

·         Those genuinely committed to equality of educational opportunity and who believe that only a centralized, federal plan can move the nation in this direction.

·         Those who believe more competition is needed to improve public schools, necessitating grant competitions (rather than proportional funding), national testing, and high- stakes accountability.

·         Dominant players in the educational assessment industry who see a whole lot of profi t potential.  

·         Corporate America, which spends billions a year on employee training and hopes to reduce a portion of their training costs through a better education system.

·         Those who believe that hierarchical, rational organization (including the power of technology, centralization, standardization, input/output models, quantitative data, and so on) is the best way to improve student achievement.

·         Cash-strapped governors and state department of education leaders who see Race to the Top as the only way to access millions of dollars in desperately needed revenue.

·         Free marketers and other charter- school proponents who’d like to see a partial or complete dismantling of public education by demonstrating the superiority of charters.

I was fine with the list until the last one:  charter schools.  I think public school education as it stands today is fine with much room for improvement.  But there are many who don’t fit well into a public school.  Public Charter schools, run well, fit this niche.  Both of my sons would have failed miserably at the public schools in my area.  Private schools weren't an option financially – and I didn't see much improvement in education for the money.  Both of my sons have flourished at public charter schools – first with a Montessori – themed K-8, and now at a College Prep, STEM-focused high school.

Building a Better Teacher

Beverly Rupe

ET-Learning Styles, cognitive theory, teaching, teacher assessment

Green, E. (2014). Building a better teacher: How teaching works (and how to teach it to everyone). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.

This book explores the history of efforts to transform teaching from ineffective rote methods to more creative approaches. It includes a discussion of the academic research leading to teaching reform beginning in the 1980s, and uses examples from classrooms to illustrate the differences between effective and ineffective methods. Engaging students, encouraging them to talk (using "academic discourse") and then listening to them to determine their needs are areas of focus in each of the classroom stories detailed in the book. The focus is on improving the art of teaching, which, according to the author, is a skill that can be taught. I found this book fascinating and very readable, and very pertinent to classroom teachers and TLs alike.

Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns 

Gloria Maciejewski

ET - Educational Theory  

Strauss, V.  (2014, Oct. 24) Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns. The Washington Post. retrieved from: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/24/teacher-spends-two-days-as-a-student-and-is-shocked-at-what-she-learned/?tid=pm_pop

This is an article I think every teacher should read, no matter where they are in the career.

 It appeared first on a blog by Grant Wiggins, author of Understanding by Design. It turns out that it was written by his daughter, Alexis,  who had transition out the role of teacher after 15 years and was now an instructional coach at an American High School overseas. As part of an introduction into her new role, her administrator asked she shadow a 10th grader and a 12th grader.  She uses her experiences to form three reflective  Key Take-Aways.
1.  Students sit all day long and it is exhausting (no surprise there)
2.  High school students are asked to passively absorb for (a shocking) 90% of the time.
3.  Students wind up feeling like a nuisance all day long.

She then goes on to frame what she would have done differently given the chance to do it all again.

New teachers and old could benefit from this article. I wish there was an elementary version. Wake up teachers and get your kids moving and active.