Page 30 - THE Journal, March 2017
P. 30

30
| MARCH 2017
VIEWPOINT
who is continually curating resources, facilitating professional learning, building instructional partnerships, contributing
to the development of quality curriculum, advocating for equitable access and being a leader in the school to empower teachers and learners.
Of course, in order for this to happen, there must be administrative support for the school librarian to perform at this level, and those administrators need to understand why their library program exists, what the librarian is doing to support the school’s vision/mission and how he or she is accomplishing that support.
The Alliance for Excellent Education put out a press release in June 2016 announcing its partnership with the U.S. Department
of Education to expand the Future Ready
create digital products of their learning that engage them in critical thinking, collaboration and authentic, real-world problem solving.
Curates Digital Resources and Tools:
Leads in the selection, integration, organization, and sharing of digital resources and tools to support transformational teaching and learning and develop the digital curation skills of others (FR_Librarians_Factsheet.pdf, 2017).
In a recent THE Journal article about districts curating digital resources, an administrator made the point that they needed someone “in the school [to] curate quality resources for teachers and then house them in an organized web-based portal where teachers can access them” (Raths, 2016). That someone is already
In Forsyth County, GA, there has been
a concerted effort in creating a team approach with instructional technology
and library media. School librarians are impacting student achievement through
the curation of print and digital resources but also in the design of instructional units that can be delivered by the classroom teacher individually or as a co-taught unit in which the school librarian, instructional technology specialist and classroom teacher work together. One elementary librarian worked with her content area teachers to build a unit on opinion writing for fourth and fifth grade students. She not only pulled together the resources necessary to teach the unit but created an interactive digital program that integrated those resources which could then be displayed
The problem is that many principals and district administrators do not know the full extent of what their librarians can offer as they make the shift to digital resources.
Schools initiative by “positioning librarians as leaders in the digital transformation of learning” (Amos, 2016). A framework was developed that outlined the expectations of the services and skills of a Future Ready librarian. As more districts begin to adopt digital resources, they would be wise to look to their school librarians to fulfill
the principles as outlined by the Future Ready Framework. For example, in just the one area of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment, the framework says that the school librarian:
Builds Instructional Partnerships:
Partners with educators to design and implement evidence-based curricula
and assessments that integrate elements of deeper learning, critical thinking, information literacy, digital citizenship, creativity, innovation and the active use of technology.
Empowers Students as Creators:
Encourages and facilitates students to become increasingly self-directed as they
there if they have certified school librarians and if those librarians are supported in delivering a standard of practice that includes the Future Ready Framework
as well as the standards set forth by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). Many states also have local standards or evaluation systems in use that help set expectations for quality school library programs.
The problem is that many principals
and district administrators do not know
the full extent of what their librarians
can offer as they make the shift to digital resources. University programs preparing teachers and school leaders do not typically address the unique functions of the school librarian or program. Unless there has been personal experience with a fully supported library staffed by a professionally certified librarian, a leader could go all the way up to being a superintendent without ever knowing how to leverage that position to its fullest potential.
on the classroom IWB. A middle school librarian created personalized learning flow charts that would be familiar to anyone who ever read a “choose your own adventure” story. She collaborated with content area teachers to assess their needs and then curated the necessary print and digital resources for students. The online flow charts allow students to direct their own pathways through those resources for a personalized experience that gets them to the expected learning outcome.
In the Hempfield School District in Lancaster County, PA, librarians have been kept at the forefront of their 1-to-1 implementation plan for grades 1 through 12. The district recognized that their librarians had a global K–12 perspective and understood the “why” of putting students at the center of teaching and learning. They leveraged the unique
skills of their school librarians to curate resources and then thoughtfully organize them — print, e-books, databases, websites,


































































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