Notes+on+Module+2+-+Jacqueline

Personal Reflections Made about the possibilities of collaboration:

Sometimes the needs of the children get overlooked between the power struggle between the classroom teacher and the librarian. Some teachers hate to give up class time to visit the library. The teachers are looking at in the wrong way, instead of looking at it as a waste of instructional time, they should look at it as a way to have two teachers expanding on their current instruction.

With the increased emphasis on high state testing, classroom teachers guard their instructional time closely. With teacher librarian and teacher collaboration, teachers could take advantage of their library time and the teacher librarian to help prepare the students for these state tests.

Notes:


 * "Collaboration provided a way, finally, for the teacher librarian to prove his or her value in the learning experiences of students" (McGregor 199).
 * Working with partners will allow "...building upon past successes and reflecting on previous collaborative experiences to effect improvement (McGregor 199).
 * Change is complex
 * The principal can play a vital role in the success of collaboration. "He or she can be either a vital support or a hinderance in the process(McGregor 208).
 * "The teacher librarian and the principal are typically the only ones with this "big picture view," and thus, the teacher librarian can propose collaborative ways to address overall problems by collaborative methods" (McGregor 210).
 * "While learning specialists may have highly specialized roles, the common characteristics that shape their jobs make them natural partners in the work of formal leadership to raise student achievement" (Zmuda and Harada 43).

McGregor, J. Collaboration and Leadership. In Stripling, B. K. and Hughes-Hassell, S. (eds.), //Curriculum Connections through the Library//. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2003. 119-219. (pdf)

Zmuda, A., and V. H. Harada. The Learning Specialist: Clarifying the Role of Library Media Specialists. In //Librarians as Learning Specialists: Meeting the Learning Imperative for the 21st Century//, 2008. 23 – 43.