National School Library Standards: Engage

 

Librarian Focus: Mrs. Katie Pulley, Ware Shoals Middle School

Years of Experience: 10 years

 

Interview Reflection:

Mrs. Katie Pulley is the librarian at Ware Shoals Middle School in Ware Shoals, South Carolina.  We have worked together at the middle school and have known each other for many years.  I work at the primary school in the same district as Mrs. Pulley and we often email or call each other to discuss library issues or ideas.  She is a great friend and resource!

Mrs. Pulley and I focused on the shared foundation, Engage, for our interview.  I gave Mrs. Pulley time to explore the National School Library Standards and then we discussed Engage and how she implements the competencies of this foundation into her school library setting at Ware Shoals Middle School.

I asked Mrs. Pulley how she implements these competencies and she immediately shared the example of her school news program.  Together with 7^th and 8^th grade students, Mrs. Pulley creates a morning news program.  She shared that she models and teaches the entire school population about ethical use through the program. Any time the news staff highlights an author or musician, they are sure to document a citation giving deserving credit to that person.  Her students in 5^th-8^th grade, and her colleagues, see citations almost daily at the bottom of the news segments!  Additionally, Mrs. Pulley shared that when she collaborates with teachers for co-teaching building up to research projects, she is adamant about showing students how to use SC Discus correctly.  She discusses that SC Discus is reliable and valid and having a built-in citation maker is also appealing!

Speaking of SC Discus, Mrs. Pulley mentioned this as her biggest resource she uses to foster the competencies of the Engage foundation.  She tries to focus her students’ attention on Discus as often as possible because it offers so much for middle school students on any learning level.  One may simply change the level of most articles to suit the needs of any learner.  Mrs. Pulley also shared the information is reliable and easy to navigate.

Mrs. Pulley works with the teachers in her school building often and finds that collaborating with teachers and students makes projects and learning much more important to students.  She shared that it’s always a win when a student can make the connections between classes and courses.

Mrs. Pulley and I discussed challenges she faces implementing the competencies of the Engage foundation and she said that Google is a tough idea to fight.  While many ideas and facts can be found easily via Google searches, it is difficult to convince students to use an alternative such as SC Discus.  Although accessing Discus may take a few more steps, she shares with her students that the end result is much more polished and acceptable to teachers.

In particular, this domain has changed during the pandemic.  Our school district is operating on a hybrid schedule and students are working from home more these days.  They are not receiving the guidance they normally get in the library/classroom from Mrs. Pulley or the teachers.  They typically choose to go for information that is fast and easy to access without fully understanding the magnitude of their decisions. 

Overall, Mrs. Pulley enjoys working on a flexible schedule with her students at the middle school.  She finds that working closely with the students and teachers is more meaningful to students than a single activity one day per week.

 

References:

American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. American Library Association.

Pulley, K. (2020, November). [Personal interview].

National School Library Standards: Curate

 

Librarian Focus: Mrs. Heather Peters, Guinyard-Butler Middle School

Years of Experience: 3 years

 

Interview Reflection:

Mrs. Heather Peters is the librarian at Guinyard-Butler Middle School in Barnwell, South Carolina.  We attended the same high school many years ago and have remained in contact through social media as adults.  When I first decided to make the transition from a classroom teacher to seek certification and my MLIS from USC, I reached out to Mrs. Peters to find out about her journey.  She has been a wonderful resource and friend to ask questions during my journey into the world of librarianship.

Mrs. Peters and I focused on the shared foundation, Curate, for our interview.  I gave Mrs. Peters time to explore the National School Library Standards and then we discussed curating and how she implements the competencies of this foundation into her school library setting with her students at GBMS.

Mrs. Peters works, especially pre-Covid to implement the competencies of Curate into her library program.  One way she implements the competencies is by assisting teachers by gathering materials to be used in their classrooms.  She gathers print resources and web-based materials for teachers and students.  She has also worked to create a database of resources for the school.

The resources she uses most often to implement these competencies depends on the nature of the requests.  For example, she uses SC Discus to gather articles and for creating text sets for teachers.  She uses NovelList K-8 and Titlewave for purchasing collection materials.

She works with teachers as often as she can and has worked hard over the past three years to build relationships with her teachers to build co-teaching experiences.  In dealing with new Social Studies standards, she has collaborated with the Social Studies department at her school to begin purchasing new materials that will support their new curriculum.  She works with ELA teachers who request articles and text sets which usually center on a theme or that will supplement the literature they are using in their classes.

Mrs. Peters shared that challenges have grown immensely due to Covid-19.  It is difficult to balance pre-Covid expectations with new responsibilities.  For example, over the past three years she worked to develop trusting relationships with the teachers in her school building.  She was spending more time with the teachers and classes teaching 21^st Century skills and digital literacy skill lessons.  She was available at the teachers’ beck and call!  Now, that Covid-19 has entered the scene, she has to plan differently.  She is now assigned a virtual class.  She must prepare, teach, contact, parents, etc. and she must intentionally make time for her library responsibilities.  As well, she works by herself and she knows the reach of her library would be wider if she had an assistant.  Circulation, which was through the roof, is almost nonexistent this year.  Checking out books, collecting books, etc. are difficult. 

In closing, Mrs. Peters shared that she knows collaboration and curating are foundational to her school library program. She has realized through Covid that she misses her library and she is working to learn what works best for her students and colleagues in this new library world she is navigating.

 

References:

American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. American Library Association.

Peters, H (2020, November). [Personal interview]. 

National School Library Standards: Collaborate

Librarian Focus: Ms. Roxanne Spray, Ware Shoals High School

Years of Experience: 11 years

 

Interview Reflection:

Ms. Roxanne Spray is the librarian at Ware Shoals High School in Ware Shoals, South Carolina.  We have a close working relationship because we are employed by the same school district and Ms. Spray served as my supervising librarian for my internship experience during SLIS 794.  Ms. Spray has served as a library media specialist in all areas of K-12 education.  She was the librarian at a middle school in Columbia, SC, and she worked as the librarian at the primary and middle schools in the district we now serve in together.  We communicate often with the third librarian in our district to help navigate new learning platforms, for help in Destiny, and as a sounding board before we implement new ideas.  For example, Ms. Spray recently worked to genrefy her high school’s fiction collection.  She discussed several scenarios, pros, and cons with us before she made the decision to do this for her students.  She has been an invaluable resource for me during my journey through the MLIS program and as I have started my career as a school librarian.

Ms. Spray and I focused on the shared foundation, Collaborate, for our interview.  I gave Ms. Spray time to explore the National School Library Standards and then we discussed collaboration and how she implements the competencies of this foundation into her school library setting with her students at the high school.

As we began our interview, it was clear that Covid-19 has changed and shaped a new way to look at collaboration in the library.  Ms. Spray works with her colleagues often to provide co-teaching opportunities in the classroom and in the library.  However, true collaboration has been difficult due to the recent pandemic and new health guidelines our schools are following to protect student and staff health.

Although things are different, Ms. Spray is still working with teachers and students.  She is helping in as many ways as possible to still provide meaningful learning experiences for the high school students.  Part of “Think” under the School Librarian Domains and Competencies applies.  Ms. Spray mentioned that when students visit the library as a part of a co-teaching experience, a project has already been assigned by the content teacher.  Usually, her role is to help students locate sources, cite sources, and use those sources to help develop a final project.  If students pay attention, they learn these skills and the rest of their class period is spent using the skills they have learned.  She shared that other competencies within the “Think” section often don’t apply because once students have had the mini-lecture, they work independently and not as a group.

Within the other areas, Create, Share, and Grow, Ms. Spray works to provide communication tools and resources.  She usually begins the school year teaching and refreshing OneDrive skills and knowledge.  Due to a hybrid schedule the district has adopted, instructional time has been cut in half on campus and there hasn’t been time to hold sessions like this in the library this school year.  Part of the Share section highlights involving diverse perspectives in their own inquiry processes and Ms. Spray shared that many of the databases used at the high school foster different perspectives, especially Opposing Viewpoints in Context.  She shared that this has been particularly useful in argument assignments.  Group work is more of a challenge due to Covid-19, but Ms. Spray has made sure to make the most of co-teaching opportunities this school year.  She creates and facilitates group discussions when the classes visit the library.

Some resources Ms. Spray uses in her library to promote collaboration are OneDrive, SC Discus, Schoology, high school eBook collections, and the public library and school library resources.  OneDrive and Schoology allow collaboration as students are able to work together on assignments.  For example, students can create a PowerPoint in OneDrive together, adding and editing as a group.  In Schoology, the school’s learning management system, students are able to share resources and discussion boards are usually a part of all assignments.

Ms. Spray works with her colleagues on a daily basis.  She maintains a Google calendar and teachers use it to sign up for co-teaching experiences.  She may teach an English class how to find sources for a research paper one period, but may work with a history class the next block to properly cite sources. 

When we discussed challenges implementing the competencies from the shared foundation of collaboration, Ms. Spray mentioned that she hasn’t seen a lot of group work take place in the library.  She feels as if her role is to teach research skills and resources, and to be on hand to monitor progress and answer questions.  Specifically, Covid-19 has put a damper on the Collaborate domain, which emphasizes group work, especially when you are supposed to be six feet apart.

It is always a treat to work with Ms. Spray.  She has been instrumental in my journey through the internship experience, but also is a treasured colleague who always listens and offers great advice for the library world.  Overall, Ms. Spray shared that collaboration isn’t as up front and center as the competencies of this domain assume.  She is pleased with the group discussions she can foster during her co-teaching experiences, but she mostly helps students to complete work independently when they visit the library.

 

References:

American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. American Library Association.

Spray, R. (2020, November). [Personal interview]. 

National School Library Standards: Inquire

Librarian Focus: Mrs. Jana Davis, Wright Elementary School

Years of Experience: 17 years

 

Interview Reflection:

Mrs. Jana Davis is now the librarian at Wright Elementary School in Belton, South Carolina.  She was formerly the librarian at Ware Shoals Primary School, where I now serve as the librarian.  She has been helpful during my journey beginning my MLIS at USC and transitioning into my position as our school library media specialist.  I reached out to her to schedule an interview and she was again a wonderful resource.

Mrs. Davis and I focused on the shared foundation, Inquire, for our interview.  I gave Mrs. Davis time to explore the National School Library Standards and then we discussed inquiry and how she implements this into her school library setting with her students.

Ways Mrs. Davis implements inquiry in her library are through research projects, inquiry stations, and mini lessons.  She shared a recent research project with me during our interview.  Mrs. Davis’ students completed a mini research project on dinosaurs.  She shared that elementary students have always been fascinated by dinosaurs and she could tell through circulation statistics, but she recently found a class who craved more information regarding dinosaurs.  She coupled the research with Who Would Win Books, also popular in her library.  Students chose two dinosaurs to research and compare.  Based on their research, they predicted who would win and then they presented their findings to the class.  She shared that this research sparked great discussions and was a hit with her students.  She also shared that mini lessons are a great way to implement inquiry in the library.  She stated that many elementary students struggle to formulate good quality questions.  She uses Google’s Mystery Animal, a game, as an introduction to help students understand how to formulate research questions that extend beyond simple yes/no questions and raved of her students’ engagement with this technique.

Mrs. Davis uses books from her school’s library collection, SC Discus, subscription databases, and websites like Wonderopolis and Epic to foster inquiry in her library and she often collaborates with her colleagues to help implement these competencies.  She mentioned that one of her goals this year is to build inquiry stations with her second grade teachers.  The stations are related to the science and social studies topics the students will study this year, as well as, personal interests the students have.  They have created inquiry stations for weather, U.S. symbols, bats, and spiders so far.  She also provides books and digital collections through Destiny and Epic.  The students visit the inquiry stations during science, social studies, or ELA blocks during their schedule.  Students are allowed time to explore the overall topic and then narrow their focus to help form questions for research.  Some of the products students have created from using the inquiry stations have been posters, Google slide presentations, and green screen video projects.

I asked Mrs. Davis to identify and explain challenges she faces when she tries to implement inquiry in her lessons and collaborations, as well as, to explain the difficulties Covid-19 has created.  Mrs. Davis’ response was that time is the biggest challenge, but always has been regarding inquiry.  Effective inquiry requires time and there is never enough of it, according to Mrs. Davis.  Due to Covid-19, her school has shortened its school day by 45 minutes which has cut her library class times to 30 minutes each day.  She also mentioned that management is difficult when students have so many interests because it is hard for them to focus on one topic or hone in on a topic.  Lastly, it is difficult to share as many resources this year because sharing resources during Covid-19 is highly discouraged. 

It was a pleasure to work with Mrs. Davis again to conduct an interview.  She was so helpful as always and gave great ideas that I would like to implement into my school library!  Overall, Mrs. Davis mentioned that implementing inquiry among elementary students works well because these students are naturally curious and ask lots of questions.  The shared foundation, Inquire, easily builds upon their natural curiosity.

References:

American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. American Library Association.

Davis, J. (2020, November). [Personal interview].