Teaching Teachers!

 Topic: selection of Professional Development article- [1] why you chose this one, [2] what the main thrust of the article is, [3] what did you take away from it. 

As mentioned in my discussion post this week, I picked Keeling's article, "The AASL Planning Guide: A District Guide to Powerful Professional Development" because there is currently no centralized district librarian/supervisor in the school district I started working in recently and my many questions about what/how to best implement research lessons with departments has led me to so many questions about what incoming freshman do and don't know about how to research for papers and projects.

Although I have worked hard to meet with the other librarians in the elementary schools (there is no librarian in the middles school), I feel like at minimum, centralized best practices and check-in must exist for students to have a consistent experience.  

As also mentioned in my discussion post, I wrote that "...I realized the importance of a district approach only after being asked to sit on an EdTEch cohort at the beginning of the year. We have been tasked with evaluating and streamlining apps used by teachers and students and as a result, I have discovered just how important it is for students to have a consistent learning experiences and available technology throughout their k-12 experience. This made me see just how important it is to identify how we are doing as a district and understand what students are/are not learning in younger grades before they get to me." It was actually a high school senior that made the cohort group pause when he stated the importance of consistency and clear expectations for students throughout their entire education. This was truly a 
"wow" moment even though it seems so obvious but is so often overlooked. The student's ability to clearly articulate this barrier has since defined a lot of my decision-making process. 

I am stealing from my own discussion post again so that I remember when I look back: "While Keeling's article talked about a district-level library supervisor which does not exist in my district, Keeling's outline of, "...AASL's Planning Guide for Empowering LearnersLinks to an external site. as a vehicle for professional development, our discoveries about our programs, and our insights into the continuous improvement cycle" was very helpful in that specific evaluation steps are offered: the Planning Guide for Empowering Learners is an online program assessment and planning module.  I am always looking for was to identify the "gold standard" of what we do and felt this article offers a way to clearly align what we do as a profession with standards. Keeling shares that, "the Planning Guide introduces an impersonal, objective standard that could facilitate broader acceptance of normative structures and standard practice, which could assist in improving the school library "brand" by defining best practices across the profession." 

Another takeaway is how this process is also helpful in terms of what principals place a high priority on:

1) Articulated goals and objectives
2) Vision
3) Systematic evaluation of the library
program
4) Regular meetings with the principal
5) Written budget requests 

As a fellow classmate noted in the discussion, the key takeaway is having standards to support vertical alignment is key as the administration, as noted by Keeling above, responds well to clearly articulated goals and priority.

The PD framework guide will definitely help me as a starting point to finally feel more confident in planning PD with teachers and staff in my school! I found it very helpful as a framework to reference and utilize as well ensure continuous evaluation (aka NOT GETTING STUCK in my ways) especially since I work alone and do not have a lot of communication with other district librarians. Keeling's best practices are easy to note as well and make sense in a way that I would not expect push back or confusion. 

Works Cited:

Keeling, Mary. ""The AASL Planning Guide: A District Guide to Powerful Professional Development." Library Media Connection. March/April 2012. p 30-34.