Standard 4: Advocacy and Leadership
4.4.2. Advocacy: Candidates develop a plan to advocate for school library and information programs, resources, and services.
Artifact:
Library Advocacy Action Plan
Over the past four months of my internship, I have been disgusted by the lack of teacher interaction during librarian research presentations. So many teachers, both in middle and high, bring students into the library and do one of three things: log on to a computer and check email, grade papers the entire time, or leave. And these actions take place during flexible library time – I cannot even imagine the frustrations of elementary-school librarians on a fixed schedule! So much of our McDaniel coursework has revolved around the concept of collaboration. But, librarian-teacher collaboration is ineffective if the classroom teacher cannot fulfill his or her role in the instructional process. The need for a stronger appreciation for true collaboration among teachers is why I focused on educating teachers in my action plan for School Library Administration. My plan advocates for the school library and its resources and services by allowing teachers to observe the concept of true classroom-library collaboration through a faculty meeting presentation.
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Many teachers want to make use of the library. They know that by utilizing its resources and the school librarian’s expertise they can enhance student understanding. They want to bring students to the library so the students may take advantage of the opportunities to learn beyond the traditional teacher-centered inquiry process. Yet, teachers are also concerned that the time spent collaborating with the librarian and creating new learning opportunities will infringe upon their already scanty planning time. Who can blame them? Time is precious for teachers. For those teachers who have never ventured into the library for a collaborative unit, their hesitation is understandable. My action plan addresses this. It is one thing to expect a teacher, having never collaborated on a project with the school librarian, to, out of nowhere, show up with an enthusiastic attitude at the library’s doorstep. It is quite another thing to, at a full staff meeting, provide teachers with examples of projects and materials, visual feedback from both teachers and students, and recommended timelines in order to entice them into the library.
My action plan works to provide specific examples of collaborative units for a school faculty. The action plan, if approved by the building principal, involves collaborating with two to three teachers to complete student inquiry-based units. I did not initially include how I would select the teachers, but having now finished my internship, I feel that the most appropriate teachers would be ones who have been willing to collaborate in the past but are not library regulars. They also should be teachers who are respected as academically rigorous by the majority of the faculty. I would avoid those teachers who use the library as extra planning time because, most likely, there are other instructional issues at play in their classrooms. Once the teachers agree to the projects, the librarian sets up collaborative meetings with the teachers, separately, early in the semester. The size and breadth of the units are to be determined by the teacher and librarian based on the curriculum’s objectives. The librarian will be involved in all processes of the unit, from the diagnostic, interest-building pre-assessment to the grading and the final evaluative piece. The collaborative units must emphasize that the teachers and librarian are co-planners, co-teachers, and co-assessors. My action plan highlights that the librarian and the teacher must equally contribute to the unit.
Following the conclusions of the collaborative units, the librarian will survey the teachers and a small selection of students from the classes. The librarian asks the teachers questions such as “What changes would you make to the planning, execution, and assessment of the units?” The librarian asks the students to provide feedback on what they learned and whether the student inquiry that took place was as successful and enlightening as a classroom lesson would have been.
The school librarian will then compile the timelines of the units, the tasks and assessments that the teacher and librarian completed separately, samples of the final products, and the students’ feedback. The librarian will then present this information at a department chair or teaming meeting. If the school leadership and the building principal deem the information valuable, the action plan will conclude with the librarian’s presentation at a faculty meeting halfway through the year. Ideally, this meeting will be reserved for the librarian. Throughout her presentation, the school librarian will address the time and work commitment but also advocate for the school library’s informational programs, resources, and services by demonstrating the benefits to the students via the student opinions on the units.
I wrote this action plan for School Library Administration before beginning my internship. At the time, I felt it was a manageable initiative for the school librarian to take on. I suppose I felt this way because I am a teacher who actively seeks out the school librarian to collaborate. I love bringing students to the library and allowing them to take control of their own learning. I know, personally, if a school librarian stood in front of me, advocating for her library and its resources, I would want to jump up, wave, and exclaim that I want to be first in line to collaborate! Please let me bring my students to the library! Sadly, I am not the target audience for this action plan, and having now finished my internship, I realize that some teachers truly need to be enticed. They may not be as gung-ho as me after having to sit through an hour-long meeting run exclusively by the school librarian. This may be especially true if I am a math or physical education teacher, one who is traditionally hesitant to take on a collaborative project and dreads staff meetings. Now that I have observed the potential for this action plan from a librarian’s perspective, I do not feel as if the more reluctant teachers would be convinced after one faculty meeting. Breaking this presentation into smaller parts and presenting for 10-15 minutes at multiple faculty meetings or targeting department or team meetings may pull in more willing collaborators.
Looking back through my action plan, I recognize its merits and still truly believe it is an advantageous plan for a school library. I feel as if the most powerful portion of the presentation is student feedback, so actually inviting the students to come to the meetings (both the high-achieving students and the students who need a bit more instructional attention) and provide direct feedback to teachers about the library resources and services they found beneficial would truly enhance my action plan.
As a teacher, I have no problem collaborating with the school librarian. I am concerned that my starry-eyed, “I love the library” attitude may be a problem for me as I enter the school library profession because I will have to step back and figure out ways to advocate for my library with the hesitant teachers. I will need to see into their psyches and make sure that as I advocate for my programs and my resources, I must also keep in mind why they are hesitant and how I can alleviate their concerns. Meanwhile, I must make sure I prevent teachers from logging onto their email as soon as their students are sitting and settled.
My action plan works to provide specific examples of collaborative units for a school faculty. The action plan, if approved by the building principal, involves collaborating with two to three teachers to complete student inquiry-based units. I did not initially include how I would select the teachers, but having now finished my internship, I feel that the most appropriate teachers would be ones who have been willing to collaborate in the past but are not library regulars. They also should be teachers who are respected as academically rigorous by the majority of the faculty. I would avoid those teachers who use the library as extra planning time because, most likely, there are other instructional issues at play in their classrooms. Once the teachers agree to the projects, the librarian sets up collaborative meetings with the teachers, separately, early in the semester. The size and breadth of the units are to be determined by the teacher and librarian based on the curriculum’s objectives. The librarian will be involved in all processes of the unit, from the diagnostic, interest-building pre-assessment to the grading and the final evaluative piece. The collaborative units must emphasize that the teachers and librarian are co-planners, co-teachers, and co-assessors. My action plan highlights that the librarian and the teacher must equally contribute to the unit.
Following the conclusions of the collaborative units, the librarian will survey the teachers and a small selection of students from the classes. The librarian asks the teachers questions such as “What changes would you make to the planning, execution, and assessment of the units?” The librarian asks the students to provide feedback on what they learned and whether the student inquiry that took place was as successful and enlightening as a classroom lesson would have been.
The school librarian will then compile the timelines of the units, the tasks and assessments that the teacher and librarian completed separately, samples of the final products, and the students’ feedback. The librarian will then present this information at a department chair or teaming meeting. If the school leadership and the building principal deem the information valuable, the action plan will conclude with the librarian’s presentation at a faculty meeting halfway through the year. Ideally, this meeting will be reserved for the librarian. Throughout her presentation, the school librarian will address the time and work commitment but also advocate for the school library’s informational programs, resources, and services by demonstrating the benefits to the students via the student opinions on the units.
I wrote this action plan for School Library Administration before beginning my internship. At the time, I felt it was a manageable initiative for the school librarian to take on. I suppose I felt this way because I am a teacher who actively seeks out the school librarian to collaborate. I love bringing students to the library and allowing them to take control of their own learning. I know, personally, if a school librarian stood in front of me, advocating for her library and its resources, I would want to jump up, wave, and exclaim that I want to be first in line to collaborate! Please let me bring my students to the library! Sadly, I am not the target audience for this action plan, and having now finished my internship, I realize that some teachers truly need to be enticed. They may not be as gung-ho as me after having to sit through an hour-long meeting run exclusively by the school librarian. This may be especially true if I am a math or physical education teacher, one who is traditionally hesitant to take on a collaborative project and dreads staff meetings. Now that I have observed the potential for this action plan from a librarian’s perspective, I do not feel as if the more reluctant teachers would be convinced after one faculty meeting. Breaking this presentation into smaller parts and presenting for 10-15 minutes at multiple faculty meetings or targeting department or team meetings may pull in more willing collaborators.
Looking back through my action plan, I recognize its merits and still truly believe it is an advantageous plan for a school library. I feel as if the most powerful portion of the presentation is student feedback, so actually inviting the students to come to the meetings (both the high-achieving students and the students who need a bit more instructional attention) and provide direct feedback to teachers about the library resources and services they found beneficial would truly enhance my action plan.
As a teacher, I have no problem collaborating with the school librarian. I am concerned that my starry-eyed, “I love the library” attitude may be a problem for me as I enter the school library profession because I will have to step back and figure out ways to advocate for my library with the hesitant teachers. I will need to see into their psyches and make sure that as I advocate for my programs and my resources, I must also keep in mind why they are hesitant and how I can alleviate their concerns. Meanwhile, I must make sure I prevent teachers from logging onto their email as soon as their students are sitting and settled.