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].