School Library Advocacy to Get Your Groove Back

I recently returned from another conference where technology in education was the focus. Of the sessions I chose to attend, a couple of them didn't promote the use of technology at all. A few others just taught the technology tool. They were taught by either a team of school librarian/teacher or instructional technology facilitator/teacher. But the overall emphasis seemed to be on the tech tool being the focus, not the educational outcome.

As a school librarian, I feel that we may have lost some of our focus. I feel we need to move beyond just teaching technology tools, and move toward collaboratively planning lessons with teachers that allow them to utilize tools and strategies in developing higher order thinking skills and personalized learning. Then we need to demonstrate that practice for other librarians/teachers/administrators who are unsure what that looks like in practice. Also, there needs to be student choice and voice, either in the technology tools they use for creation; choice of reading materials for study, analysis, and grades; and in how we personalize their instruction/learning. In order to advocate for our positions, we need to make it our practice to team plan and teach with teachers and specialists in order to make this happen. Otherwise our value is overlooked and becomes diminished. 

What can we do to be library advocates?

• attend grade level / department level PLT's when planning lessons & reviewing data (PLT - Professional Learning Team)
• become a member of the SIT team (School Improvement Team)
• develop a relationship with your administrative staff; provide updates on your progress with students in your library often; let them see what you do and how your time is allocated in the library
• stay up to date on grade level / library practices, pedagogy, technology tools, and curriculum standards in order to plan & share
• curate resources tailored to student & teacher needs
• to start, work with one teacher per grade level /  department to plan & team teach; most won't come to you
• be active and involved in your local, state, and national library associations
• advocate for a flexible schedule or a fixed / flexible schedule. This will give you availability to meet the needs of students & teachers.
• create an online presence on social media with a PLN (Professional Learning Network) & stay active (participate in Twitter chats, Facebook Library groups, Instagram, etc.)
• partner with businesses in your local community
• create and develop your brand; you represent your library, your students, your school, your profession
• develop your library space to be flexible and meeting current needs of 21st century students. Partner with students / staff for input. Design your space to be the "hub" of your school. May need grants, fundraising dollars, etc. 
• promote your library within your school, especially in April for AASL School Library Month. They have lots of promos and printables. This year, it is all about "Making Connection at your School Library".  http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/slm #AASLslm
• Become a Future Ready Librarian by partnering with librarians, administrators, teachers and staff using the resources found at https://futureready.org/program-overview/librarians/ #futurereadylibs 
• Ask for help if you need it. Librarians are a passionate group who love to share. We are here for you. Take a look at this graphic created by Jennifer LaGarde. It explains our position perfectly. (And she is is an awesome librarian to have in your PLN. @JenniferLaGarde

These are just a few things that will give you a larger voice for you as a librarian, your library and your students. Remember, school librarians are rock stars for students and teachers. Let your star shine! 

It’s Mid-Year…How Do You Organize Your Evidence For Evaluation?

This is a mid-year blog that I wrote last year on another blog that is appropriate for this time of year. ~ Crystal

As I sit here on our 4th snow day that we have been out of school since last week, I am gathering and organizing my evidence for my mid-year PDP evaluation tomorrow and year-end evaluation. This can be a stressful time of year if your sources aren’t together and organized. We have everything from emails to student samples to professional development notes. How do we keep it all organized? How do we know we are meeting every standard on our evaluation rubric? Do we even have enough evidence to reflect upon?

In the past, I have had difficulty with organization. I tend to jump on every curation and organizational tool that I have ever been introduced to as I love getting new information on how to store resources. But after a while, it got overwhelming knowing which one to use and would be the most effective. So far, I have decided to use LiveBinders.

I have found that I can add tabs for each standard that I want met. Then I add subtabs under each standard for each evidence I have that meets that standard. You can add URL links, photos and documents. So far it has been very user friendly.

These are my subtabs so far for Standard 1: School library media coordinators demonstrate leadership.

Subtabs for Standard 2: School library media coordinators build a learning environment that meets the instructional needs of a diverse population of students.

Subtabs for Standard 3: School library media coordinators implement a comprehensive 21st Century library media program.

Subtabs for Standard 4:  School library media coordinators demonstrate knowledge of learners and learning and promote effective instructional practices

And subtabs for Standard 5: School library media coordinators demonstrate knowledge of learners and learning and promote effective instructional practices.

Having multiple subtabs allows me to show the items that I am using to prove that I’ve met or exceeded that standard. The standards I am referring to are:

Rubric for Evaluating North Carolina’s School Library Media Coordinators

I sincerely hope that this information will help you on your journey to become Proficient, Accomplished or Distinguished. We are all on this journey together. I would be very interested in hearing how you organize your evidence for evaluations. Please feel free to share or comment. Happy curating and organizing!