Actually, teaching to Information Literacy doesn't require collaboration
with classroom teachers. Take a look at the definition of IL from ALA,
"Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to
"recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate,
evaluate, and use effectively the needed information."
(http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilintro.html#ildef) There is no correlation
with whether the classroom teacher is teaching to content standards or
not (except that it makes it easier to come up with potential
collaborative ideas).
It MAY be more effective to teach IL through collaboration, it probably
is better (at least theoretically), and it can be more engaging to the
students. But it will certainly be better to exemplify the inquiry model
and teach the necessary skills in isolation than to not use or teach
them at all.
Trying to switch a school (or district) from a fixed specialist schedule
to accommodate what CL teachers perceive as 'one more thing on their
plates' is a pretty hard sell. Administrators often aren't in a position
to make that change as union issues get involved. Being consistent
across a grade level can be difficult. That requires a lot of time
tracking what skills have been introduced with what class so that next
year's regroupings will have some base level of skills.
Instead of spinning our wheels trying to facilitate a change, it may be
better to make sure WE are teaching to OUR content standards (district
and state, as well as ALA's Information Power). Kids will get the basic
information, teachers see us as content teachers (not story time or
babysitters), parents learn what important skills we teach,
administrators see us as specialists providing teaching on skills that
are not duplicated in any other area.
When I taught in elementary library (10 years), I taught IL classes for
teachers, librarians, and administrators on district and state level.
And did collaborative lessons when able to 'make an opportunity'. But it
is virtually a full time job modeling and teaching IL skills without the
above.
The Big6 website (http://big6.com/) will provide a wide range of ideas
and lessons for IL instruction. Jamie McKenzie's From Now On (
http://fno.org/) site also has many good ideas.
Robert Eiffert,Media Specialist
Pacific Middle School
Evergreen SD, Vancouver Washington
beiffert@attbi.com
-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Toni Buzzeo
Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2003 3:21 AM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: ELEM: Media Lessons - HELP!
In response to Patricia's question, Frankie wrote:
>IL involves the MS collaborating with teachers to plan and implement
>lessons, teaching and making use of information resources, and
>evaluating the results. If you will do a search on this phrase you will
>find lots of interesting and helpful information. The ALA website is
>very helpful. Also, there are books and videos available from catalogs
>that market professional library materials.
>Studies show that schools that use IL make better progress than schools
>that do not.
Patricia, I'm the author of a couple of those professional library
books, and I couldn't agree with Frankie more. What you are trying to
do is Herculean primarily because you AREN'T collaborating, but may be
trying to create the entire experience without one essential
element--the classroom teacher teaching the learning standards in the
content area. It sounds as though you are working on a fixed schedule,
which is a disadvantage, but it is still possible to approach
collaboration if you have a willing group of teachers who will work WITH
you. Some of the nineteen unit plans in Collaborating to Meet
Standards: Teacher/Librarian Partnerships for K-6 by Toni Buzzeo
(Linworth 2002) were written by LMS's in fixed schedules. Perhaps your
approach could be two-pronged. 1) Find a few collaborators and begin
the process and 2) Begin to lobby for a change to flexible scheduling
and full collaborative teaching.
All best,
Toni
Toni Buzzeo, MA, MLIS <mailto:tonibuzzeo@tonibuzzeo.com>
Maine Library Media Specialist of the Year Emerita
Longfellow School
432 Stevens Avenue
Portland, ME 04103
http://www.tonibuzzeo.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In
the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation.
LM_NET Help & Information: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archive: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml
LM_NET Select/EL-Announce: http://www.cuenet.com/archive/el-announce/
LM_NET Supporters: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ven.html
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation.
LM_NET Help & Information: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archive: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml
LM_NET Select/EL-Announce: http://www.cuenet.com/archive/el-announce/
LM_NET Supporters: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ven.html
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-
LM_NET
Mailing List Home