A School Librarian's Journey to Transform Her Library

Anna Taylor
Gilcreast, J. (2014). FROM DRAB TO FAB. Knowledge Quest, 42(4), 38-43.

Jessica Gilcreast just got the position of School Librarian at an urban school in New Hampshire! However, Jessica's joy soon simmers as she enters her new library. Shelves are placed in a way that leaves no open space, books are falling apart and lack diversity, no decor is present, the list goes on. Jessica knows she has a lot of work to do but does something that is very smart; she decides to take everything little by little. 

Throughout the course of six years, Jessica transforms her library into a drab space in the school to a learning commons that meets the wants and needs of both students and teachers. 
Below is a brief over view of Jessica's process:

YEAR 1: 

• Painted a mural
• Weeding 
• Rearranging shelves and furniture
• Build relationships with students, staff, and teachers
• Write a grant for books and a SMART board

YEAR 2:

• More weeding
• Provide professional development opportunities with teachers using new technology
• Create a new tech space for the new SMART board
• Write a grant to add multicultural books into the collection

YEAR 3:

• Take a break and focus on teacher collaboration
• Write a grant for more technology

YEAR 4:

• Create and obtain a connecting computer lab
• Take over the book fair and use the money to purchase more furniture
• Add over 1,000 books to the collection

YEAR 5 & 6:

• Un-Dewey the collection
• Continue making the library an extension to the classroom
• More staff development and integrating technology into the classroom
• Keep up with other libraries and implement new ideas to reflect the needs of the library users

Honors Classes Part 2

Gualano, Gabriela

Wolpert-Gawron, H. (2013, July 8). More diversity in honors classes: An update. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/more-diversity-honors-classes-update-heather-wolpert-gawron

After a previous post about unequal demographics in honors classes, Wolpert-Gawron and others at her school decided to increase outreach to all students.  A major reason for fewer Latino students in honors classes was that they simply were not even applying.  All English classes were visited by Wolpert-Gawron early in the year to discuss applying for honors the next year.  Families were called and informed about honors in their native language, and provided parent informational workshops.  Also, AVID teachers explained honors during their classes.  For the upcoming school year 14% of honors students are Latino.  It’s still a small percentage, but it’s a great and significant improvement over previous years.

What a great and encouraging start for this school’s honors programs.  I applaud their efforts for recognizing the huge disparity in honors students, and attempting to bridge the gap.  Though the school recognizes there still is work to be done, they made a huge jump for the upcoming school year.  The school also used a variety of assessment measures to determine honors for the next year.  Report card grades, test scores, teacher recommendations, and a writing test are all considered when determining class placement.  As noted in the article, teachers have different grading styles, writing preferences, and teaching styles.  A variety of assessments better ensures that students have a fair chance of demonstrating their strengths.  Class grades may be average because of a low test grade, or neglecting to turn in homework.  However, the writing sample may be superb.  It will be the student’s responsibility to live up to the expectations in honors, but at least the student will be given the opportunity to try.

The article concentrated on ELA classes.  How did math, science, and history fare?  There are also often number differences based on gender.  Was that a factor at this school, and how did the new method approach it?

Honors Classes

Wolpert-Gawron, H. (2013, March 28). Honors classes: A need for more diversity. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/more-diversity-honors-classes-heather-wolpert-gawron

Gualano, Gabriela

Wolpert-Gawron works at a diverse middle school where approximately half the students are Latino and the other half Asian.  It would make sense that honors classes would mimic these statistics, but that is far from true.  Instead, honors classes are about 98% Asian and 2% Latino.  The school decided that enough was enough and there needed to be a change.  Students themselves can be their own worst critic as Latino students say honors are for Asians and Asian students say AVID is for Latinos.  Wolpert-Gawron and the school are attempting a solution by increasing outreach to all students in all classes.

It is very interesting that middle school students have strongly established stereotypes about honors and AVID classes.  These views are preventing some students from achieving their true potential as they stick to the classes they are familiar with, and neglect to challenge or support themselves.  Although middle school sounds young, these decisions are often made a few years earlier in elementary school.  Already young children have decided if they are good or not at school.  The school believes the gaps in achievement are not purely ability, but more often morale or misperception of tracking.  In order to change these, the school began emphasizing honors classes more clearly, and specifically explained the application and testing process to students.  Parents and students demand honors classes, but then society complains when there is a gap between achievement.  Hopefully, Wolpert-Gawron and her school will be able to further explore this issue and come up with some kind of solution. 

20% Me Time

Gualano, Gabriela

Juliani, A. J. (2013, June 25). Why “20% time” is good for schools. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-percent-time-a-j-juliani

Google has a policy where their employees are given 20% of their work time to spend on something else other than assigned projects. The article proposes carrying this idea over to schools, and giving students 20% of the day to work on something that fits their interests. The 20% time gives students time to work on their own projects while still meeting standards and grade level skills.

I think this model, if used properly, could go a long way in making school more applicable for students. The idea is also rather revolutionary for schools, and I wonder how it works for various subjects. Thinking back to my own school experience, I would have loved having 20% to myself in history or English, but would have been utterly lost in science or math. I could follow a lecture and memorize information, but I would have hated having to devise my own project and learning outcomes. Without an interest in the topic, I would not have been able to come up with something to learn. Even now I often equate success with an “A” on a test. Success in high school was earning an A on my report card; not creating some project that may or may not be successful. On the other hand, some might argue that by being able to create my own assignments I would gain an interest in these subjects. Perhaps so…the only time I remember being truly invested during science for its own sake and not a grade was in 7th grade. We were supposed to trace hemophilia through Queen Victoria’s family. The genetics and historical implications were endless fascinating! Would more assignments like these piqued my interest more? Giving students 20% of the time also allows them to work at their own pace. Differentiated instruction is a key buzzword, but it is difficult to achieve meaningful DI in practice. 20% would inherently solve DI. Some would speed ahead, while others would be able to take their time until a concept was truly understood. Plus, students who are invested and interested in their work will actually learn something. My biggest concern is for the students who, for whatever reason, do not care about school in any capacity. Will 20% reach them, or will it be just another opportunity to waste time?

Evidence-Based Practice

Dallstream, Nadia

Bates, J., McClure, J., & Spinks, A. (2010). Making the Case for Evidence-Based Practice. Library Media Connection, 29(1), 24-27. Permalink: http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ899899&site=ehost-live

This article discusses the need for assessment of school libraries. It also provides information on the type of data that can be collected and offers suggestions on how to collect it. The types of they collected include direct which was obtained through: collection statistics, accessibility data, usage statistics and collaborative instruction data. They also give reasons to and ways how to collect indirect data. Some of these ways include: pre and post tests and “ticket out the door” systems. It gives information on the data tracking tools that can easily be implemented like Promethean’s ActiVote System: http://www.prometheanworld.com/en-us/education/products/learner-response-systems/activote and Survey Monkey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/ . They used the data collected to demonstrate to teachers the need for instruction, and then after the instruction and collaboration they collected more data and showed the student’s progress in this way. 

The authors also give examples of how their own instruction and lessons have improved due to student feedback and performance. In addition they have evaluated other data such as the state tests to identify learning gaps and have addressed those skills specifically and collected the data to support that their intervention has made all the difference.

This is definitely an article worth reading. The authors successfully make their case on why collecting data and evidence-based practice is so important. They also give some very easy and practical tips to follow.