How do school librarians incorporate the AASL Standard of Inquire?                                                                                                                

  Interview Date 11/4/21: Focus Inquire 

Today I met with Media Specialist Mike Leroy to discuss how he incorporates the AASL Shared Foundation of Inquire with his high school students. Leroy enjoys finding ways to help his students think outside of the box and ways to encourage his students to inquire about new topics in new ways.  Currently he is collaborating with a spanish teacher on class presentations that align with school librarian domain and competencies 1.B.3 “Facilitating the development of products that illustrate learning” and  1.C.2. “ Providing opportunities for learners to share learning products and reflect on the learning process with others” (AASL, 2018). 

Leroy is assisting the teacher with instructing students on how to use various tech apps such as Headliner to create and edit videos that show students speaking Spanish while educating viewers how to prepare a traditional Mexican or Spanish dish. He has noticed that many teachers are not comfortable with today’s hottest technology so he steps in to help with this aspect of projects. He also supports this teacher's assessment of language development with a hands -on activity.  Within this lesson, students would produce their own individual recording demonstrating use of technology and understanding of language. They would then be placed in groups where they would evaluate each other's work and provide feedback. At this point students would make revisions to their own assignment as well as select one recording from the group to be presented to the class. Their top pick would then progress to a group project where they would work together to re-record, edit, refine, and present. Leroy brought up a plan on how each student could share in the editing responsibilities so they would all gain additional experience. This project provides an opportunity for students to reflect on what they learned on their own projects and then take that knowledge and apply it to the final group project that would be shared/presented with classmates in the media center. 

While Leroy is happy with opportunities to work with students on the presentation end of assignments, he looks forward to working with classes more on the front end of projects such as research work. He would like to help them grow more with their research skills and has contacted teachers about bringing classes into the media center for lessons on the research process.  He wants to instill good habits with students , getting them away from Googling everything and more towards using library resources from SC Discus with the ability to identify sources and use the T.R.A.P. method. He has worked on pulling specific materials requested by teachers for class assignments and has made himself available when teachers call on him for assistance. 

Leroy uses many resources in his library to help implement inquiry learning competencies such as creating Destiny collections for students and he attends department meetings to talk with teachers about what they are doing in class and how he can supplement their lessons. The media center itself offers space for presentations, group study areas, and tools such as IPads and white boards. He has also collaborated this semester with teachers on the following activities, booktalks to generate interest in the latest titles, conducting children's lit lessons with teacher cadets, SC discus and databases usage lessons with ELA 4 , Science collaboration teaching compounds and elements using stop motion and Google draw. 

When asked about current challenges his media center faces when trying to implement AASL standards and competencies, Leroy responded that it is often hard to get teachers to start off a unit with the media specialist in mind.  They often come to him after they have begun with a project. He also encounters difficulties due to the size of the school. With the amount of students, multiple classes go on simultaneously such as a specific science class making it difficult to reach each group. He has also noticed that many high school kids have apathy towards reading and he is making it a goal to regain excitement with his students. Currently he is undergoing a genrefication effort with his library in the hopes it will create excitement and encourage students to read. He and his staff are looking to create a book store atmosphere to make locating an interesting read fun and easy.  

References

American Association of School Librarians. (2108). National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. Chicago, Ala Editions, An Imprint Of The American Library Association, 2018.