TExES School Librarian Certification Set 2

Primary purpose of a school library

Promoting reading comprehension through read-alouds (modeling reading strategies, memory retention practice, and vocabulary)

Methods for keeping abreast of changes in library curriculum

An ever-changing society requires school and library curricula to change, so students can be prepared for the working world. These changes are influenced by changes in state/national standards; they ultimately are established by decision-makers within districts. The librarian must remain up to date on actions/publications of library-related national/state decision-making bodies (AASL or the Texas Department of Education). This can be done by joining the AASL and interacting with regular publications or familiarizing oneself with standards/expectations established by the state department of education. Regularly participating in PDs and discussions with other librarians is how to stay informed.

Librarian’s role in integrating information literacy

The AASL and ISTE learning/tech standards make school librarians responsible for integrating information literacy across the curriculum, either independently (in library studies) or collaboratively with classroom teachers, depending on the school’s scheduling format. Using a variety of research/information problem-solving models, librarians should guide students of all ages and grade levels through inquiry in order to develop the information literacy skills of sourcing, validating, and effectively using information. By doing this and aligning educational goals with the AASL and ISTE standards, librarians will help students develop the info literacy skills they need in all facets of education.

Key aspects of designing collaborative instruction with classroom teachers

The most important aspect of collaboration is communication. Clear, open communication helps both parties feel that their educational goals for students are heard, understood, and supported. It also allows the partnership to assign roles and responsibilities. This is vital in making sure the workload in these activities is split evenly and fairly. Maintaining this communication throughout will ease the progress for all involved. Establishing the type and degree of collaboration is next. While it is easy to view collaborative instruction as strictly research projects or reading reports, it can also be as simple as providing resources or book lists for the teacher to use with students outside of the library. Lastly, librarians need to be aware of the curriculum they’re supporting. They should become familiar with the standards in the content area they’re collaborating on.

Describe obstacles school librarians may face when collaborating with teachers and provide suggestions for overcoming these obstacles

One major barrier to collaboration is TEACHERS’ BELIEFS OR MISUNDERSTANDINGS about the librarians’ role, abilities, and purpose within the school. To overcome this, it is vital to make sure teachers understand what librarians can offer and how they can assist students in researching their educational goals. This can be accomplished through many different forms of outreach, and it will make teachers more willing to take the time to collaborate. This leads to another common obstacle for planning—TIME. Because time is a commodity and cannot be produced, creative solutions, like collaborative documents for planning, can be used to work together asynchronously. Librarians should also consider advocating for protected time during the day to collaborate with teachers. Another barrier is the LIBRARIAN’S POTENTIAL LACK OF KNOWLEDGE of the content area she wishes to assist in. To mitigate this, the librarian should familiarize herself with standards used to guide instruction in that area. This will provide the background knowledge needed to successfully collaborate.

The process for assessing student work on collaborative assignments

Throughout the learning process, both the librarian/teacher should collect data as students traverse inquiry-based work. This data should pertain to a student’s ability to find, evaluate, and use information to construct new knowledge. To do this, both formative and summative assessment data should be used. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS are small, ongoing assessments that occur while learning is taking place. These can be checklists, self-assessments, peer reviews, or conferences with the librarian. This allows students to receive regular feedback throughout the process and for librarians/teachers to assess their effectiveness. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS are more formal. Typically, they are the product that was created as a result of completed research, such as a paper, speech, book review, or presentation, but they can also come in the form of tests, quizzes, or exams. They’re used to determine student success as well as the success of the instruction. The role/use of assessments conducted in the library/classroom will vary between districts and classrooms.

Outline the AASL’s National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries as it relates to collaboration between librarians and educators

Collaborate is the third Shared Foundation in the AASL Standards. For school librarians, the Collaborate Competencies involving other educators focus on facilitating collaborative opportunities, demonstrating the importance of collaborative tools, and sharing responsibilities. By facilitating collaborative opportunities, librarians are able to work with teachers to produce meaningful learning opportunities for students that neither adult could create alone. This enhances student learning while also meeting the instructional goals of both the librarian and teacher. By demonstrating a personal use of collaborative tools, librarians build opportunities to extend collaboration regardless of time/space constraints, which are some of the most often-referenced obstacles in collaboration. In sharing educational responsibilities, librarians can bridge the gap across disciplines. It is also best practice to share with all stakeholders what collaboration is taking place and what impact it has so that the community is aware. This adds value to the library and serves as a way to promote collaboration.

Strategies for librarians to disseminate research findings about the relationship between effective school library media programs and student achievement

Students with access to an adequately staffed school library program generally perform better on standardized tests across all subjects. It is the responsibility of school librarians to use this information to advocate for themselves and their programming, and they can do this in multiple ways. First, librarians may have the opportunity to SPEAK DIRECTLY TO STAFF to explain their offerings and the benefits they have. They should also CREATE EASY-TO-DISTRIBUTE INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS that demonstrate the impact school libraries have on learning that they can pass out while speaking to staff or at other times. It is also highly recommended that librarians HAVE AN ELEVATOR PITCH ALWAYS PREPARED so they are able to verbally advocate for themselves if the opportunity arises. In doing so, librarians form partnerships with teachers and administrators, and they can form relationships with students that lead to success for all involved.

How do you analyze/evaluate data to plan/implement modifcations

Changes made to the school library program are typically data-driven. This can be quantitative or qualitative and related to circulation and usage, student achievement, or any other desired library behavior or quality. The type of data will depend on the type of desired changes/outcomes. The librarian should establish a goal and use collected data as a baseline that will be compared later to determine the success of any changes. The librarian should also use action-based research and existing professional information and resources to develop his or her plan to make modifications to the library’s space or programming. Once the changes have been implemented, updated data should be collected as it relates to the goal and analyzed to see if growth occurred. For example, the librarian may be looking for an increase in circulation, student performance on library activities, or overall patronage. Growth indicates successful changes, while a lack of growth indicates the modifications were not successful and need to be revisited.

Physical development of school-age children and how it relates to learning

While students should have developed strong motor skills and coordination before starting school, there will inevitably be a variance in students’ physical abilities across and within grade levels. Thus, strength, balance, coordination, and related abilities will not be the same for every student. This is important to acknowledge when planning so there are realistic expectations for students and appropriate accommodations can be made.

Children’s expected physical development before beginning kindergarten

Students should have developed the abilities to walk, hop on one foot, climb stairs, turn pages in a book, dress/undress themselves, steadily hold thick writing utensils like large crayons/beginner pencils, and be able to feed themselves.

Children’s expected physical development between ages 5 and 6

Students should be able to jump, skip, hop with both feet, steadily hold pencils, and begin writing letters.

Children’s expected physical development between ages 6 and 7

Physical coordination continues to develop, as do hand-eye coordination, the ability to draw more complex shapes, and the ability to write sentences. Beyond this, kids continue to develop these foundational skills and improve coordination and mobility.

Social development of school-age children and how it relates to learning

Because social development is so deeply affected by many factors beyond a child’s control, it’s to be expected that children’s social skills and abilities to interact with others will vary highly among the students within a school. The variance will be more prominent in early years, but it tends to level out as students spend more time in formal learning environments. When establishing expectations for children, educators must understand what children are capable of based on their expected development, and they should use that information to guide decision-making.

Children’s expected social development before entering kindergarten

Children will play with others, share toys and materials, and be aware of his own feelings and feelings of others

Children’s expected social development after entering kindergarten

Children will become more social and continue to show an ability to share and play collaboratively with others.

Children’s expected social development around 2nd grade

As a child’s interest in social relationships deepens, he begins to focus more on forming friendships. Overall, children will continue to develop their independence and their own moral standards throughout their years in school.

Cognitive development of school-age children and how it relates to learning

Cognitive skills refer to the ability to think, learn, and reason. Their development in school-age children allows them to access a multitude of new skills, like simple mathematical processes, sorting, and organizing. As they continue to age, students will mature, develop longer attention spans, a better understanding of logic and reasoning, and broader imaginations. These stages of development should be considered in lesson planning to ensure the concepts being delivered are developmentally appropriate.

Children’s expected cognitive development when entering kindergarten

Children can represent their thoughts with pictures or written words, but they cannot reason and think logically. Then, during the school years, children begin to develop the ability to think in a less egocentric way and begin to consider the feelings of others, a crucial component of socialization in school.

Children’s expected cognitive development between the ages of six and eleven

Children develop the ability to think logically about concrete concepts

Children’s expected cognitive development at age 12+

Children develop the ability to think in a more abstract manner and use advanced reasoning.

Emotional development of school-age children and how it relates to learning

Upon entering school, most kids begin to pursue friendships and develop relationships with classmates. This tests their ability to cooperate and consider the feelings of others, which are both still developing during this time. Compassionate understanding, self-regulation, and emotional control are also beginning to develop as students enter school. Across early elementary school years, children develop the ability to comfort their peers and consciously control their own behavior. Then, in late elementary years, children begin to develop the ability to see things through the lens of their peers. Their ability to provide support to peers continues to strengthen, and their ability to express their own emotions improves; however, they may still need assistance. Beyond elementary school, children’s ability to self-regulate and express their feelings continues to develop, and they begin to crave more independence from their parents and families. Through understanding these stages, school personnel are better able to support the emotional needs of students to ensure their success.

Theory of behaviorism as it relates to a learning environment

The theory of behaviorism suggests that learning is a product of one’s interactions with his or her environment. As such, it is an educator’s responsibility to create an environment that will produce the desired interactions and responses for students. The response that individuals receive from their interactions will provide feedback, either positive or negative, that tells them whether what they have done is correct or incorrect. In a learning environment, positive reinforcement tools may look like recognition, awards, prizes, or praise. In some cases, negative consequences may be given to reduce behaviors that are not desirable. Test scores and grades can fall under both the positive and negative category depending upon the earned score. Positive scores let students know they are on the right track, while negative scores reflect a need for some type of change. These types of feedback are part of what is known as operant conditioning. In operant conditioning, positive consequences are given to reinforce desired behaviors, and negative consequences are given to decrease undesirable behaviors.

The theory of cognitivism as it relates to a learning environment

Cognitivism focuses on the processes of the mind and how the brain receives, organizes, and retrieves information. It highlights the role that thinking plays in learning and insists that learning takes place through the brain organizing information into concepts. A large portion of this theory focuses on schemas, units of already-understood concepts within the brain that are interconnected. Schemas are sometimes referred to as the building blocks of learning. They provide a framework for the brain to remember new concepts and information by connecting it to schemas of similar, already-learned concepts and information. In cognitivism, educators are responsible for scaffolding instruction, meaning breaking it down into more manageable pieces to make connections. Where students have no existing schema, it’s important to help them build up knowledge and activate prior knowledge through discussion before beginning instruction.

The theory of constructivism as it relates to a learning environment

The theory of constructivism states that new knowledge is constructed on top of prior knowledge during a student’s learning journey. As such, learning will be a personal experience, and the way each student learns will be unique. It also describes learning as an active event in which the learner must engage in some type of hands-on experience, discussion, reading, or other immersive activity in order to obtain new knowledge, rather than a passive event, such as listening to a speaker or seeing something done. Because learning is so personal and unique to the individual student in this content, educators should act as facilitators or guides and provide opportunities for extensive engagement as opposed to providing direct instruction. This theory also calls for more group work opportunities and time to share learning among participants, which may require physical adjustments to the learning space.

Some impactful education theorists

Jean Piaget (Theory of Cognitive Development); Lev Vygotsky (Zone of Proximal Development); Abraham Maslow (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs)

What was Jean Piaget known for?

He was known for his theory of cognitive development, which explains the processes through which a child’s mind learns and develops understanding. Through his work, he was able to prove that children think and process information differently from adults and need education catered to their unique way of learning.

What was Lev Vygotsky known for?

His zone of proximal development has been his most impactful work in the education field. It is viewed as the zone between what learners can do without assistance and what they can do when assisted by an adult or peer. He established that it is within this zone that learning takes place.

What is Abraham Maslow known for?

His hierarchy of needs is a prioritized list of the needs humans must fulfill. It begins with the most basic needs for survival and becomes more abstract as it continues into self-actualization. His research suggests that students are not able to participate in learning until the needs lower in the hierarchy are all met.