After reading the article “The Evidence-Based Manifesto for School Librarians” I was focused on one primary idea: advocacy and the ongoing documentation of a librarian’s work. This documentation is essential for a variety of reasons (one of which is job security). The documentation should be ongoing and both formal and informal and can range from counting the number of students using the library daily to charting website hits and resources uses. However, the issue of accountability is an especially important one.
Using Evidence Based Practice ensures that library lessons are linked to specific goals and help both students and teacher access information in a variety of ways. EBP can document differentiation and inquiry-based learning projects fairly easily, as there is a concrete paper trail of course outcomes and learning goals and usually there is a written unit plan and/or lesson plan. Some of my biggest classroom successes were when the librarian took the time to understand a unit. A “Project Heritage” unit that my students were involved in was particularly significant this year.
As the classroom teacher, I sat down with the librarian and discussed the unit outcomes: (understanding heritage, understanding the Holocaust and connecting common themes to other genocides, etc…). She then created a wiki where students could comment and ask questions and together we uploaded links, documents, multimedia resources, book reviews, quizzes, etc… that the students could use. It was interactive, it gave the students and the teachers accountability, and it was naturally documented as evidence for future planning. As mentioned in the “to-do” list, it was a big job, but we tackled it bit by bit, and it was worth it. (And we were able to use the wiki for future learning, too!) In the future, I would most likely introduce a survey to the wiki as well.
In a digital age, it’s frighteningly easy to see why some people wouldn’t understand the importance of a librarian’s job. Borders shut down, books are being downloaded (often illegally) from the Internet, and newspapers are read on Smartphones. It’s important to document why a librarian’s work goes beyond restocking shelves and suggesting books. If people could only see the magnificent learning opportunities that good librarians provide on a regular basis, then perhaps the future of libraries and librarians would be a bit more secure.
References
Kramer, P.K., & Diekman, L. (2010). Evidence = assessment = advocacy. Teacher Librarian, 37(3), 27-30.
Todd, R. J. (2008). The evidence-based manifesto. School Library Journal, 54(4), 38-43.
Using Evidence Based Practice ensures that library lessons are linked to specific goals and help both students and teacher access information in a variety of ways. EBP can document differentiation and inquiry-based learning projects fairly easily, as there is a concrete paper trail of course outcomes and learning goals and usually there is a written unit plan and/or lesson plan. Some of my biggest classroom successes were when the librarian took the time to understand a unit. A “Project Heritage” unit that my students were involved in was particularly significant this year.
As the classroom teacher, I sat down with the librarian and discussed the unit outcomes: (understanding heritage, understanding the Holocaust and connecting common themes to other genocides, etc…). She then created a wiki where students could comment and ask questions and together we uploaded links, documents, multimedia resources, book reviews, quizzes, etc… that the students could use. It was interactive, it gave the students and the teachers accountability, and it was naturally documented as evidence for future planning. As mentioned in the “to-do” list, it was a big job, but we tackled it bit by bit, and it was worth it. (And we were able to use the wiki for future learning, too!) In the future, I would most likely introduce a survey to the wiki as well.
In a digital age, it’s frighteningly easy to see why some people wouldn’t understand the importance of a librarian’s job. Borders shut down, books are being downloaded (often illegally) from the Internet, and newspapers are read on Smartphones. It’s important to document why a librarian’s work goes beyond restocking shelves and suggesting books. If people could only see the magnificent learning opportunities that good librarians provide on a regular basis, then perhaps the future of libraries and librarians would be a bit more secure.
References
Kramer, P.K., & Diekman, L. (2010). Evidence = assessment = advocacy. Teacher Librarian, 37(3), 27-30.
Todd, R. J. (2008). The evidence-based manifesto. School Library Journal, 54(4), 38-43.