Shared Beliefs

I've just had a big "AH-HA" moment! So, I'm drudging through the last  pieces of my (almost final) graduate classes - putting the final touches on my e-portfolio, taking a final exam, reflections, and more reflections - when it all came together. For almost every major assignment for the past twelve classes, I've had to align with standards - ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Preparation of School Librarians, ALA’s Core Competences of Librarianship, NC Standards for the Master of Library Science Degree, the Common Core standards, and the NC Essential Standards for Information and Technology. And, let's not forget the biggie - the North Carolina School Library Media Coordinators Standards. As a teacher, I get it when it comes to standards. We should be working towards common goals with our students, and these goals are outlined in the standards. My "Ah-Ha" is with the standards, specifically the new NC School Library Media Coordinators standards, as they relate to me personally. My realization is that the standards outline what I believe to be true of effective school librarians.

My core beliefs are that School Library Media Coordinators...

• should demonstrate leadership. 
• should build a learning environment that meets the instructional needs of a diverse population of students. 
• should implement a comprehensive 21st library media program.
• should demonstrate knowledge of learners and learning and promote effective instructional practices. 
• should reflect on their practices. 

Further, I fully share NCDPI's Vision for School Library Media Coordinators:

The demands of providing a 21st century education dictate new roles for School Library Media Coordinators. School Library Media Coordinators are called on to have a larger role in their schools and school communities. School leadership is distributed among the staff and administration in order to bring consensus, common understandings, and shared ownership of the vision and purpose of the school. School Library Media Coordinators are valued for their leadership abilities throughout the school as well as in the media center. 

School Library Media Coordinators help make the content engaging and meaningful to students’ lives as they support teachers and facilitate the integration of curriculum and related projects across disciplines. In the school and the media center, School Library Media Coordinators facilitate instruction, encouraging all students to use 21st century skills to discover how to learn, innovate, collaborate, and communicate their ideas. They serve as facilitators of information skills development through the provision of professional development, coaching, mentoring, and co-teaching activities. Their work includes supporting the development of authentic and structured assessment strategies to assure that students demonstrate understanding of the content taught and ability to apply the skills they have learned. School Library Media Coordinators demonstrate the value of lifelong learning and instill a love of reading and learning in the students with whom they come into contact.

To pull all of this together, I am sharing WCPSS's Instructional Technology and Library Media Services team's work philosophy:

We build supportive relationships by guiding students and educators in using the right resources and tools for the right learners at the right times.

These words resonate with me - I truly feel that my primary responsibility is to do just this! My job is to  build relationships with my staff, students, and community so that I can guide them in using the right resources and tools for the right learners at the right time. Thanks to NCDPI and the new standards, along with my county's team for helping to clarify what exactly it is that I believe. How fortunate I feel to work as part of a system with which I share the vision!

I Can!

Students are at their highest level of engagement when their task is purposeful and authentic. Actually, this statement should read....people are at their highest level of engagement when their task is purposeful and authentic. For example, if I told one person to walk around the block, and then gave another person $10 to walk to the store to buy a snack, which person would be more motivated to go for a walk? Motivation is key to learning, and students are motivated when they have a meaningful reason. So how do we give students meaningful reasons to learn? By empowering them with choices of what (and how) to learn!

Kiran Bir Sethi, founder of Riverside School in India, teaches kids life's most valuable lesson: "I can." Watch her students take local issues into their own hands, lead other young people, even educate their parents.

Kiran Bir Sethi asserts that students should be made aware (so they feel), which enables them (to imagine), and then empowers them to do something. Since watching Sethi's video, I have quoted her many times to fellow teachers - (inquiry is) "a shift from 'the teacher told me' to 'I am doing it." I Can! When students are empowered, they learn. I have also thought about Sethi's suggestion to "take one idea, anything that bothers you, choose one week, and change a billion lives."

As librarians, we should be encouraging the inquiry process so that students are empowered to do just this - change a billion lives. This will not happen if we continue to assign a specific topic, with specific facts to find, from specific resources, etc. We must open the doors for our students, guiding and supporting them along the way.

Improving Disposition

I have been researching librarian dispositions this semester, and for a recent assignment was asked to narrow these dispositions down to the five I felt to be the most important. If you're wondering what exactly a disposition is, Lillian Katz defines dispositions as a "pattern of behavior exhibited frequently... in the absence of coercion... constituting a habit of mind under some conscious and voluntary control... intentional and oriented to broad goals" that can be caught and taught through modeling. 

Narrowing down to just five patterns of behavior that librarians must exhibit was quite a challenge! As librarians we must be empathetic, hospitable, professional, collaborative, flexible, respectful, reflective, persistent, open-minded, enthusiastic, reliable, trustworthy, ....How to edit down to just five? Through the process, I was able to reflect on the dispositions that are my strengths and those that I can continue to improve. 

So, after much thought and reflection, here are the top dispositions I believe school librarians must have in order to effectively do his/her job supporting learners with the right resources at the right time....

School Librarian Dispositions

Disposition	What does this disposition look like in a school library?	How could a librarian develop this disposition if he/she felt weak in this disposition?
EMPATHETIC	When an educator has compassion, he/she has a core belief that all people can learn. He/she then works diligently to find strategies tailored to individual students. Librarians do this by taking time to get to know staff and students and their interests, assisting students in finding good fit books, and matching resources with timely needs. Librarians use various scaffolding techniques to meet student needs - show and tell, tapping into prior knowledge, allowing time to talk, pre-teaching vocabulary, using visual aids, and pausing to ask questions.	He/she can make an effort to get to know individual students who are struggling. One idea is to have a weekly “lunch bunch.” When relationships are established, then the librarian will have motivation to find creative ways to support these students.
COLLABORATIVE	School librarians participate in school and district-based Professional Learning Teams. They regularly collaborate toward continued improvement in meeting students needs using data, professional experience, and best practice. Librarians have a shared vision for a better learning environment that supports the needs of all students. In collaborative planning, the teacher brings knowledge of subject content and students needs. The librarian contributes a knowledge of resources and technology, as well as teaching strategies.	He/she can reach out to grade levels, asking to join team meetings. At these meetings, the librarian should listen closely to the needs of the teachers and students.
LEADING	The librarian is instrumental in moving the school vision forward. He/she stays on the forefront of trends and has a love of learning. He/she leads by modeling best  practices and innovative strategies. He/she sets up the library environment so that it is the center of learning. Not only is it the place to find resources and creative ideas and to collaborate with staff members, but where staff and students turn for leadership in learning.	He/she can establish a professional learning network (PLN) separate from the school setting. Twitter is one example of a PLN where librarians can find and share ideas, practices, and strategies.
ETHICAL	The librarian seeks equal access for all, respects intellectual property rights, and is committed to intellectual freedom. He/she models and advocates these for both staff and students. For example, while collaborating on a research project the librarian infuses instruction on copyright.	He/she can commit to personal learning about equal access, intellectual property rights, and intellectual freedom. ALA has many helpful resources to support this learning.
REFLECTIVE	On a regular basis, the librarian reflects on his/her practices. Reflective thinking and self-examination takes place during and after instruction in the library. The librarian has many opportunities for instruction, both formal and informal, so the reflective process is continual. Many librarians are blogging as reflective practice.	He/she can commit to posting once a week on a personal professional blog. In this post, he/she can reflect on the week in his/her library - what went well, what needed improvement, what was unexpected, etc.

In which dispositions are you strongest? And, where can you improve? For me, I would like to focus on becoming intuitively collaborative. I need to do a better job of reaching out to grade levels and individual staff members. This is somewhat overwhelming to me, but I will start with just a grade level (or two) and go from there. Be on the lookout for a post on my successful collaboration (hopefully sooner than later!)

Katz, L. G., & Raths, J. D. (1985). Dispositions as goals for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 1(4), 301-307.