Defining Leadership
“The effective mobilization of human resources always requires their voluntary participation (Matthews, p. 40).”
 
It does not take long to search and find a list of adjectives describing characteristics of what one would consider to be a successful leader. It is a little more complex however, to truly break down the specific components that drive the success of an effective leader in any organization, including the wonderful world of education. In short, leadership is all about human interactions. 
 
Effective leaders seem to find ways to understand the purposes and goals of those around them while also recognizing the implications of their decisions and remaining open to reflect on their practices. Leaders must continually consider the influence and impression they are making on others and the effect this may have on common goals. Effective leaders take the time required to build meaningful relationships. People do not like feeling like a subordinate, taking orders from another person without having the ability to provide input in the decision-making process. Effective leaders have to embrace and conform to the many misconceptions they know exist among diverse people groups.
 
Effective leaders provide ample opportunities for others to utilize any professional potential they may have to increase in their own capacity. They also give credit and recognition to employees when it is due as consistently as possible. Effective leaders understand that the teaching and learning process continues as adults in our professional roles, and ensure this growth continues throughout an organizational body. Effective leaders attain the ability to recognize a specific set of skills in others and can think of ways to utilize them for the greater good of the group. I personally believe that a leader’s goal should be democratic, in the sense that boundaries are set with well-defined goals and clear expectations, while also providing growth opportunities to each worker willing to seize them. 
 
Reference:
Forming Impressions of Personality (1946). Pgs 56-72. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.
 
Mathews J. (2016). Toward a conceptual model of global leadership. IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior. 15:38.
 
Leadership Styles
Servant Leadership Approach
The terminology of servant leadership was coined in 1970 by a man named Robert Greenleaf, although these same practices occurred long before. Since then, this leadership style has been applied in various contexts. Instead of commanding or enforcing authority, the servant leader holds a ‘serve first’ mindset in an effort to uplift, empower, enhance the professional development of their employees. This leadership style seems to move past the aspects of the transactional leadership approach. Two core principles of this leadership style are to first pose meaningful questions, and second is to truly listen (with the intent of understanding) to and act upon staff’s needs based on the responses to these questions. The servant leader does not hold themselves above or better than anyone else. Additional characteristics of servant leadership include community building, foresight, wholehearted attention, persuasion, and empathy. Quincy Adams (6th US President) once said “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” The overarching idea is that if a leader focuses on the desires and needs of their employees, then these actions will be reciprocated, leading to enhanced productivity and professional performance (Gregory, 2006).
 
Transactional Leadership Approach
German sociologist Max Weber determined that there are three primary categories of leadership in 1947, one of them later referred to as transactional leadership. Used quite frequently post World War II, transactional leadership can be described as taking charge, giving directive, being in command, being resistant to change, and structured. This leadership style may not be the best fit if the goal is to encourage initiative or creativity. These leaders focus on the day-to-day task at hand, which can mean gains in organizational productivity levels. Transactional leadership is all about exchanges and reinforcement from top to bottom. This type of leader expects a certain number of products or outcomes in exchange for predetermined rewards, such as a paycheck. Another name used for transactional leadership is managerial leadership as it is about managing through monitoring employees. This leader is usually the sole decision maker while staff is expected to follow suit (Gregory, 2006).
 
Transformational Leadership Approach
Initially coined in the 1970s by J.V. Downton, the success of transformational leadership can be measured by the impact it has on employees and organization as a whole. James M. Burns later added that through this form of leadership, “leaders and their followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation.” This style can be further described as promoting intellectual stimulation, holding consideration for various employee viewpoints, using a clear vision to inspire motivation, positive influence, and stakeholder empowerment while also building upon staff trust and respect. Similar to servant leadership, there are many factors of relationship and team building through effort to create a professional culture responsive to change. In this leadership approach, the goal of the leader is to perpetuate the cycle, creating additional leaders by increasing professional capacity through various initiatives. One goal of this style is the hope that through positivity, goal setting, collaboration, and encouragement, that employees will begin to view themselves and their work more meaningfully. Influence comes from affecting the way staff members perceive their roles and contributions to the organization. The transformational leader believes in the power of persuasion first and foremost (Purvanova, 2006).
 
Comparing Leadership Styles Based on this week’s readings and findings the primary differences between all the leadership styles is that some focus more on individual employee needs and while the other focuses more on the overall organizational goals. On the other side from the perspective of the employee, one style may be preferred as a follower of someone inspirational and motivating, while others are primarily focused on monetary gains or transactional exchanges.
 
Data-Driven Decision-Making
Bambrick-Santoyo (2018), explained the Data-driven Instruction as identifying what our students needs are and finding ways to meet them where they are. I can appreciate the mind-shift-thinking from “Did we teach the concept?” to “Did students learn the concept?” (p.28). Using data to drive instruction is all about tracking skills mastered or skills that require more focus or interventions so that these things can be considered when creating/selecting curriculums, lesson planning, and classroom instructional practices. Having student data to analyze can help educators to identify the what, why, and the how. Student data can help drive the overall objective focus, direct the selection of academic activities, and guide progress monitoring. Bambrick-Santoyo (2018) also explained that assessments are the starting point for how we plan to develop our instruction. If mastery is set by the assessment our students take, then they need to become a common implementation practice across grade levels and content areas, occurring at least quarterly. The text also recommends that assessments should be available for educators to analyze prior to testing so that they are able to build their instruction to the level of questioning and rigor reflected on the test. The next criteria area requires that assessments are aligned with TEKs (Texas Knowledge and Skills standards) with the long-term goal of preparing students to be future ready (college and beyond). Finally, assessment should include the same TEKs subsequently throughout the school year in order to determine a growth or decline with a specific TEK. Studies have shown that using student assessment data to drive instruction works. While there is no substitute for solid teaching, the data can help us focus on specific student needs and to implement strategies that will increase student learning outcomes (Bambrick-Santoya, 2018).

Mandinach (2012) stated that, “Data-driven decision making is a generic process that can be applied in classrooms to improve instruction as well as in administrative and policy setting.” (p71). Per the Institute of Education Sciences (2017), it is better to use the data as appropriate to “inform the goals rather than letting the goals be driven by what happens to be in the data that we collect.” Our Smith School Family Community (SFC) data reveals several areas needing improvement such as with our communication with families and ability to get our community and stakeholders together in such a way that will impact and promote student learning. The data showed that we could improve by including our families in campus-wide decision-making and in developing a more diverse and inclusive parent community group. I was a bit surprised by many of the responses received from the members of our community, and I needed their honest responses to make appropriate changes. Stakeholders who are committed and engaged in school activities are not always aware of everything the school has to offer or how to access all the resources available to them. I began to consider the data analysis process with a focus on the data just collected. The Institute of Education Sciences (2017), sates that there are several steps to be followed when making using data for decision-making.
 
These steps include:
Ø data must be collected from a variety of sources.
Ø Data must be reviewed, and a hypothesis must be drawn from it.
Ø The hypothesis must be tested through a plan of action.
Ø The cycle starts all over. In the area of Improving Communication, the data shows that our school communicates well through the varied forms of technology usage.
 
I was surprised that our parents' responses show that we are failing to conduct annual surveys to share information and concerns about students’ needs and perceptions of school programs. Although our school communicates with our parents regularly weekly, communication is mostly in send mode and does not provide for the parents to return any meaningful feedback. Parents feel they are not involved in many school-based decisions. Aldine ISD started a Family Engagement Plan asking that all campuses to engage families in the instructional processes. Aldine ISD has an At-Home Learning plan to foster parental involvement through the online district Aldine Cares initiative. Our school also used other social media types such as the district Let’s Talk site, Class Dojo, Twitter, Remind App, phone calls, e-mail, etc. In the area of Promoting Positive Parenting, the survey revealed that our parents appreciate that our campus newsletter and website include a calendar of school events information. However, the survey revealed that our families would also like information about their student’s goals, strengths, and skills as it relates to academics as well. A feedback survey could be initiated during school enrollment procedures or individual parent-teacher conferences. This initiative will align our campus with the district’s initiative to promote family engagement. This should provide tools and resources to our families that need to help their children with their schoolwork, as well as additional workshops, and volunteer opportunities will give parents options to participate in. In the area of Increasing Volunteerism, we do recognize our volunteers for their time and efforts. We also encourage families to be involved on our campus by helping with events and planning and scheduling school events at more convenient times for families. We may also want to consider ways to match our parent volunteers' interests and skill set to our school staff so that they can effectively assist in the classroom too. We should do to get more volunteers involved. I believe that opening the school library, cafeteria, and gym to volunteers during school hours to complete tasks usually assigned to staff would greatly assist in this effort. Increasing parent volunteer’s involvement would improve our school climate and have a positive ripple effect within our local community and partners. In the area of Collaborating with the Community, the school works well with local businesses, industries, and community organizations on programs to enhance student skills. We also provide information on community activities that link to learning skills and talents, including summer programs for students. However, we need to improve on sponsoring inter-generational programs with local senior citizens. We will solicit resources for volunteer training and offer afterschool programs for any and all individuals that may be interested in attending. Those programs could be extended to include more senior citizens residing within the community and target new areas such as local senior citizen complexes. The school building could also be utilized for more community events such as after-school tutorial programs offered through the local civic centner, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Girl and Boy Scouts. Mandinach (2012) says that “the use of data at the local level include making sure that the right data exists in determining the right data elements are used to make data-driven practices possible” (p 82). I think that Smith Elementary is on the right path regarding the use of data to make the well-informed decisions for our Stallion students and stakeholders.
 
Value of Professional Self-Reflection
Reflection on the present can help us as leaders to prepare for the future. Good leaders are visionaries. 
 
The process of self-reflecting for the intent of bringing about more self-awareness can unlock serious potential in yourself which in turn can benefit those that you lead. It is difficult to inspire and motivate others as a leader if one’s own emotions are continually getting in the way. Understanding that this process is ongoing must also be realized. Good leaders embrace and work towards improvement (Mabe, 1982). 
 
Often leaders have the intent of remaining completely objective in various situations, but it remains possible that they do not have the perfect understanding of how their behavior is impacting others or their perspectives. There are also times where leaders are expected to react constructively to bad news. When this is achieved, teams can move towards problem-solving instead of backpedaling (Mabe, 1982). 
 
Research studies have shown that leaders who take the time to self-reflect and become increasingly self-aware reported having better relationships with staff members, increased ability to regulate emotions, reduced stress, and greater effectiveness at work. However, the caveat to this is that self-assessment works only if being completely honest with yourself to the extent acknowledging strengths and weaknesses. This can be difficult to do as well (Parlakian & Seibel, 2001). 
 
There are various action steps that can be taken in the self-assessment process, including: completing self-assessment questionnaires, self-observation via video recording, peer observation, requesting honest feedback from others, reflective journaling, progress monitoring or success tracking, building a robust network of professional peers, and intentionally making the practice of targeted self-reflection a part of your evolving leadership style. Self-assessment leads to self-awareness, which leads to individual behavior reform, which leads to a positive catalyst of change from the top down (Parlakian & Seibel, 2001). 
 
One mantra that educators seem to share is that of being ‘lifelong learners’ and that is what self-reflection and awareness bring to the table. The realization that there is need for improvement or development in a specific area and taking action steps required to make it happen. How can I be a more effective leader? Now that is the question! This week’s discussion prompt invites another quote from psychologist Abraham. Maslow, who once stated “you will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety.”
 
References:
Mabe, P. A., West, S. G. (1982). Validity of self-evaluation of ability: A review and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67, 280–286.
 
Parlakian, R., & Seibel, N. L. (2001). Being in charge: Reflective leadership in infant/family programs. Washington, DC: ZERO TO THREE
 
Throughout the self-assessment and self-reflection process, it has been beneficial to
consider my typical behaviors throughout the workday. It causes one to consider how and why we invest our time and efforts the way that we do through an honest and eye-opening lens. The purpose of these assessment activities seems to ascertain an accurate picture of the state our leadership approach is in currently in relation to our habits that either positively (or in need of
improvement) contribute to the school’s overall vision for improved teaching and learning.
Effective administrations focus on methods of shifting school culture by reflecting on their own
best practices in addition to collaboration with other professional stakeholders. Soren Kierkegaard once wrote, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” which applies to this week’s research and application in great length (McMillan & Hearn, 2008)
 
I feel that with these self-assessments, there is not necessarily a right or wrong response. I also believe in balance and that a little of both people and task thinking in our leadership personalities. Both bring various strengths of leadership traits to the table to move the needle forward. Task oriented leaders tend to prioritize their to-do list, are concerned with efficiency, productivity, and obtaining goals. People oriented leaders are more people focused, work towards building relationships and a sense of community. At the end of the day, we as leaders do not want to neglect relationships or our to-do-list, thus priority and time management is such a crucial part of navigating leadership in general (Henkel & Marion, 2017).
 
To move the direction of my intersected lines on the graph more towards the middle of that Team Leader quadrant, I would consider working towards the following action items:
 
● Add relationship building activities to to-do list
● Continually lead by positive example
● Find ways to foster team collaboration and sense of professional comradery
● Ensure a clear vision has been effectively communicated to all
● Cultivate a passion and sense of urgency for continuous learning and improvement opportunities for every student
● Sustain the need for positive improvement through the practice of assessment, reflection, anddata analysis beginning with myself
● (Henkel & Marion, 2017)
 
Oftentimes we all seem so caught up in meeting daily demands that it can become difficult to pause long enough to reflect on how things went and what it means for the way we need to approach the next day. This is just as true for the campus administrator as it is for the classroom teacher. This assessment in conjunction with the others shows me that I am very much a work in progress. I am not certain if any of us contribute to the success of others to the extent that we would like to, but it is something the reflective administrator can strive for and move close to a little more each and every day (Desravines & Fenton, 2016).
 
Moving forward I plan to make an aggressive commitment to practice the following:
● Begin with self-awareness
● Think and act intentionally
● Assess the impact of my actions
● Be responsive in relation to collected information
 

 
The Value of Professional Collaboration
 
I feel that much of what we have learned about throughout this course pertains to both collaboration and creating a certain type of culture/climate on campus. Collaborative cultures take the brakes off and accelerate a faculty’s capacity to improve upon instruction.
Information is the lifeblood of any well-structured and successful organization, and it must be communicated clearly. 
 
A true brainstorm is not possible without collaboration. According to Berman and McLaughlin (1992), for schools to change and to succeed, educators must be collectively involved in the implementation of practices and processes. Working among your professional peers allows you to develop new or small ideas into real action plans.
 
The collaborative instructional leader must prioritize creating school wide opportunities for collaborative, partnerships, and leadership. These practices are necessary for discovering new ideas, initiatives, or research-proven instructional strategies. Leaders that tap into their teacher’s experiences and expertise are more likely to achieve success. Collaboration often requires a leader to become vulnerable enough to seek input and help from others. This also may lead to some discomfort as stakeholders work through conflicting opinions or viewpoints. 
While principals are the learning leaders on their campus, they require support from other teachers, skills, and community members in addition to district-level administrators in order to drive the bus forward.  Research suggests that effective administrators facilitate collaborative shared leadership among staff and stakeholders. 
As an administrator, I plan to place priority focus on the following:
 

• Monitor curriculum and instruction implementation
• Measure progress toward goals throughout the year
• Remain transparent 
• Make certain that goals and action plans are specific and realistic enough to be effective
• Embrace shared decision-making and collaboration 
• Create a climate where school leaders are open to discussion
• Build and sustain the school’s mission and vision
• Use data to drive instructional decision making
• Lead a learning community 
• Ensure that meetings result in clear, specific, written goals and action plans for achieving them

 
School leaders realize that they cannot reach their instructional goals in isolation. A collaborative culture is more than attending meetings, lesson plan sharing, or attending professional development sessions. Creating a collaborative culture is developed by the principal's transparency, humility, integrity, accountability, honesty, and a commitment to inviting others into the mission of achieving shared goals. 
 
Academic Calendar Planning
 
When meeting with the campus leadership team to discuss plans for the upcoming academic calendar, it is important to consider the knowledge, experience, and recommendations made from your professionals that will truly allow students to become and remain successful in school. As a new school administrator, I would first ensure that my leadership team is made up of the most appropriate stakeholders including assistant principals, skills support specialists across content areas, department heads or teacher team leads, our school counselor, ILS/Librarian, and myself to ensure that we are receiving feedback from a diverse group of student advocates which each contribute to our school in unique and meaningful ways. During the first planning meeting we will discuss the things that worked well and perhaps not so well from the calendar implemented from the prior academic school year. I would suggest that we meet either virtual or in-person 3-5 times prior to the start of the new school year or until we feel confident with our action plans. Next action steps will be based on our evaluation, discussions, ideas, and findings so that we can create and align our new goals to our priority focus areas (Desravines et al., 2016).
 
I agree that it is important to collectively look for specific areas seemingly stuck at a level of under-performance among sub-populations, across particular content areas or grade levels, and continue looking for similar trends throughout priority items. By doing this, we are able to use data to justify our decision-making and explain to teachers the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ and then can also support them in the ‘how’ as well throughout the school year.
 
I think that the Diagnosis Process Guide is solid although it would require a considerable amount of time to coordinate and conduct with the campus leadership team. As our text states, “school leaders often jump to judgements that can distract them from a deeper understanding of school action” and I would want to do all that I can to prevent this from occurring. I also agree that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ planning approach, and it is vital to the success of your particular school to ensure that developed targets, goals, and action steps are appropriate and realistic for your specific staff, students, and school community. It makes sense to use student data as a benchmark to work from in order to help teachers set attainable targets. I also agree that to have a holistic understanding of your students, it is important to use ‘multiple data points to diagnose school practices’ (Desravines et al., 2016).
 
I am not certain I would say anything is necessarily missing from the ‘diagnostic’ process, but I would add how incredibly valuable it is to have ‘pausing points’ where the leadership team has ample time to reflect and review what action/priority items are working well, what needs to be scrapped, or perhaps just tweaked slightly to remain in place as most beneficial for student’s academic achievement at our school. I have also seen firsthand how easy it is to fall into the habit of comparing your campus to a sister campus or thinking everything should be apples to apples across your district, when the reality is that the community and students that we serve can be quite unique compared to the school ‘next door’.
 
For example, our testing coordinator has to work between two campuses and we are only about a 10 minute drive apart from one another. One campus where I teach, over half of the student population are English Language Learners (many of them newcomers) while down the road there are a total of 4 ELLs at the ‘sister campus’.  Needless to say, our academic/curriculum needs are not going to be identical- all the way to the type of teacher certifications we need to hire and the bi-lingual paraprofessionals we will need to support these students.
 
Reference
Desravines, J., Aquino, J., & Fenton, B. (2016). Diagnosis and action planning. Breakthrough principals: A step-by-step guide to building stronger schools. (pp. 27-48). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 
Campus Improvement Planning
 
The Campus Improvement Plan serves to align objectives, goals, strategies, and actions, combined will increase student academic achievement and performance for all students. Following a Campus Improvement Plan should help to close learning gaps through implementing necessary supports. From this week’s simulated Campus Improvement Plan, the highlights that I appreciated the most include: The data considered, questions posed (Root Cause Analysis process), and the three-year time frame required to effectively implement big change. 
 
When considering key elements to keep in mind when building a Campus Improvement Plan independently, these are the items which have been documented as best practices for the CIP development process:
 

• Recruit School-wide Planning Team to form committee 
• Conduct a Campus Needs Assessment beginning with the collection and analysis of student data (attendance, behavioral, academic)
• Consideration of feedback/input/considerations from all stakeholders (I.e. community surveys)
• Develop problem statements and conduct a Root Cause Analysis to determine the why's behind the gaps
• Objectively develop you school plan and plan for transition/implementation based on data-related findings
• Draft SMART performance measures 
• Identify available funding sources for each program/activity
• Ensure all programs are available to all students 
• Professional Development, training, and continuous support from administrators
• Ongoing Campus Improvement Plan evaluation and critique

 
The evaluation process when reviewing your CIP should include: listing your needs, identifying strategies, identifying funds, reviewing current data, and evaluating the current impact of your Campus Improvement Plan. 
 
The Campus Improvement Process works best within a positive school climate with a focus on culture. The ideal supporting environment includes a quality of relations between school staff, students, families, and the community. The idea of developing a ‘whole school’ is a common theme that drives many campus improvement initiatives. 
 
Reference:
Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2018). Staff culture. Leverage leadership: A practical guide to building exceptional schools (pp. 263 - 288). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 
Campus Culture
Your personal definition of school culture-
School culture refers to shared behaviors and beliefs that are held by staff, teachers, students, and the community used to develop a positive school climate/environment for all. School culture goes beyond the parents and students- it also refers to the way that teachers and staff interact and treat each other. 
 
A positive school culture is evident when:

• The mission, vision, and values are clear, measurable, and communicated to all families, staff, and students.
• Teachers/staff use teachable moments to reinforce and model desired behavior.
• A shared effort to implement action steps required to achieve short and long term goals is visible by all stakeholders.
• (Desravines, 2016)

Five examples of activities/practices/behaviors that are indicators of a positive school culture include:

• Establish and enforce school norms that create value and keep action items such as discipline consistent.
• Use culture-data to reflect and direct future discussions, training, and action.
• Advocate and create meaningful parental involvement within the school.
• Model the positive behaviors you want to see from students and staff across the campus.
• Reinforce good behavior and achievement through celebration and praise.
• Provide ample professional development opportunities and community building events for staff/teachers and families so that they can feel empowered. 
• (Desravines, 2016)

Person(s) responsible for the culture of a school 
While all parties play a part in the everyday development of a positive school culture, it starts with the school principal. While the principal sets the tone for the culture, they also recognize that this is a shared responsibility and creates the catalyst for positive change so that all stakeholders also take on responsibility. 
 
Who has to “buy in” to a change in school culture and why?
Research confirms that school culture has the power to influence and affect student learning. Everyone who works at a school regardless of position leaves their fingerprint on the campus culture. I believe that the ‘buy-in’ factor has to have a trickle down effect, and while it does not require 100% to have the desired impact, it does need to be owned by the majority. It begins with the principal making a commitment to the cause, then buy-in from the leadership team, then buy-in from the teachers and staff, and then trickles down to students and families. 
 
One of the best ways to obtain buy-in from others is by including their voice, thoughts, and opinions in the big decision making process. The more that your team and teachers feel that they have a valid part in shifting campus culture for the better, the more likely they are to be motivated to act as champions of this change. Much like students, teachers and staff also like to be recognized and rewarded for their efforts and contributions. Another part of buy-in is educating your stakeholders on all the elements of campus culture to better understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ (Reichers & Schneider, 1990). 
 
Reference:
Desravines, J., Aquino, J., & Fenton, B. (2016). School culture. Breakthrough principals: A step-by-step guide to building stronger schools. (pp. 120-144). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Leverage Leadership, Chapter 5: "Student Culture", pp 221 - 261
 
Reichers, A. E. & Schneider, B. (1990). Climate and culture: An evolution of constructs. In B. Schneider (ed) Organizational Climate and Culture (pp.5-39). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
 
 
Mission and Vision
 
It is important that every school (and any type of organization really) have their own mission and vision statements. According to Desravines (2016), various organizations and schools may use the term vision and mission differently. The mission should guide the organization’s strategy and a vision statement should summarize the direction in which you are headed. The mission statement, on the other hand should define how you plan to arrive to your predetermined destination. I do feel that if developing a vision is done with the right intentions and ingredients for success, it can push a school in the right direction for the betterment of staff, students, and the local community. A vision statement is a clearly defined outline explaining where you want to be as every school aims to be the best, or so one should hope. Vision statements should be clear, concise, and describe where you want to be in the future, so it explains the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ keeping the specific needs of the school in mind. The mission statement you generate defines the ‘how’ you plan to arrive at your targeted goals stated in your vision. Your vision is your desired destination and your mission explain your travel plans and what is needed in the suitcase to make it there, sort-to-speak. Every school wants to make it to an “A” rated performance status (or should). We all want for every learner to have the opportunity to become academically successful. The data sets provided this week can be used to formulate both a mission and a vision statement by looking at the data as it allows us to identify trends over the course of two years which shows us which students need the most support and in which areas. In the development of the vision and mission statement for this junior high school, the following items should be considered:
 
· What is our purpose as an educational organization?
· What qualities do we want for our campus to hold academically and otherwise?
· What do we want our core values to look like and why?
· Who is our core audience in the community and how are we best serving them as a public school?
 
Implementing data-driven decision making as school leaders helps to know whether the schools realizing their mission, vision, and purpose.
 

I am sharing this because I am grateful for those who taught me these strategies and I use them regularly. I believe they promote the learning process. 

In my view... The days of 'sit and get' for students and 'sage on the stage' for teachers are long gone. I think that the whole virtual instruction format has become a hindrance for embracing some of these strategies listed below, and understandably so.  

Some in our field may call it whole brain teaching, some call it instructional strategies (lLead4ward), or perhaps call it Kagan Structures. What do they all have in common? Intentional structured opportunities for student conversation and collaboration. 


I also call it making students an active participant in their learning... and it may often look like structured chaos. Because these are strategies, they can be applied across content and grade levels. This can also be done while being Covid-safe if well prepared. 

If you walk through the library during one of my lessons, 9 times out of 10 you will see that the students are busy and buzzing working in collaboration (yes they are also talking)... which is exactly how I designed it to function. Students will never have an empty desk (unless transitioning) and always leave with a tangible product in hand. Of course this product could be virtual as well. 

The most recent research in education tells us that teachers should be facilitating learning and students should be talking, engaging, and interacting with you, the teacher, and one another frequently. If a teacher is posing a single question and having a single student respond- where is the learning ownership for the rest of the class? These strategies are so important because we do teach so many tiny humans at one time and need for them all to be held accountable. 

Trust me when I tell you (as someone who teaches just about all students on campus) there are some students/classes that are not ready to do all the fun interactive learning activities that I have planned for them as they are not willing to comply with my expectations for the LMC. In these cases, I assess behavioral/structure concerns and spend my next class revisiting my expectations and requirements until we learn how to get it down together. When students lose the privilege of participating in fun and engaging activities, it will usually motivate them to turn it around for the next opportunity. 

​Maggie

After reading the article ‘Fifty Alternatives to the Book Report’, I chose to outline a lesson plan for number 15-Cartoon squares, but with a twist. Narrative non-fiction is one of my favorite genres next to expository texts, so I like coming up with activities that will get the kids more interested in this genre as well. In addition to reading biographies and memoirs, I also enjoy incorporating technology into my lesson plans.
​Reference:-http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/0871-jan98/EJ0871Ideas.PDF 
​
For this lesson, students will select a person of interest and study them by reading biographical works published about their lives. Students will then create a digital biographical story of their own using a website called: Storyworks.com. Since students do not visit the library every single day, this project could take up to a month to complete. The targeted level for my project is sixth-grade reading with a focus on ELAR TEKs.
Formal lesson format attached with rubrics and examples:

National Literacy Standard
6.1 The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively by recognizing the need for information and the librarian collaborates, designs, and provides ongoing instruction and integration of information technology and literacy.

Sixth-Grade TEKs
6.7 Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Literary Nonfiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the varied structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction and provide evidence from text to support their understanding.
​
Library Objective
Students will demonstrate their understanding of researching, reading and writing a person’s biographical works by creating their own literary non-fiction work through digital story telling.
Students will create a digital story board using Storyjumper.com

Title
Digital Biography Project

Resources
The Library (various books), the Internet (various sources), Storyjumper.com

Introduction
The librarian will introduce the project by reading a biography about Eleanor Roosevelt to students and point out the things found to be very interesting. The librarian will also display a Story jumper digital project completed prior as a model example.

Vocabulary
• Literary device
• Memoire
• Personal narrative
• Compare
• Autobiography

Activities
Students will read various biographical works on one pre-selected person of interest.
 
Students will take notes of the findings that they think are the most interesting and beneficial to contribute to their projects.
 
Students will also research person online from librarian approved sources.
 
Students will compile information to draft together an outline of their own literary non-fiction piece.
 
Librarian will provide short tutorial on how to use the Storyjumper website for purpose of creating a digital flipbook.
 
Students will be provided with ample time to take their researched findings and work on the website to create their own digital project product.

Librarian will walk around to monitor progress and provide assistance.

Closure
Student’s final projects will be evaluated by their peers for appropriate feedback and additional contribution. Teacher librarian will grade students project based on rubric below.

Comments/Lesson Reflection: (To be determined...) 

Picture Books 
Klassen, J. (2011) I want my hat back. Penguin Random House: New York, NY. 1-40 pp.
 
In this book, a bear has lost its hat and wants it back. The bear goes around and asks all the animals it encounters whether they’ve seen it or not. When they all say no, the bear thanks them each, and then lies down feeling saddened. Soon after, a deer comes and asks what the hat looks like. As soon as the bear starts describing the hat it remembers where it has seen the hat. The bear jumps up and runs back until it meets the thief and recovers the hat. The book consists of many elaborate illustrations and very few words.
 
Graphic Novels 
Shakespeare, W. & Wiegle, M. (2007). Romeo and Juliet. Spark Publishing: New York, NY. 1-225 pp.
 
No Fear Shakespeare Graphic Novels is a series based on the translated texts of the plays found in No Fear Shakespeare, making the more attractive to the young adult reader. Each of the titles is illustrated in its own style, but all are funky, and appealing to teen readers. This text offers helpful plot summary with line-by-line translations of the original play illustrations that show the reader exactly what's happening in each scene--making the plot and characters easy to understand.
 
Poetry 
Appelt, K. (2002). Poems from homeroom. Henry Holt and Company: New York, NY.
 
The poems here describe the lives and longings of high-school students. From having crushes to first learning how to drive, Appelt focuses on the dramas of teenage life. Her poems speak directly to her readers, who will also appreciate her suggestions, and her excellent bibliography of adult books on writing.
 
Traditional Literature 
Hodgson, F. (1911). The secret garden. The Phillips Publishing Co: New York, NY. 1-375.
 
When Mary Lennox’s parents die of cholera, is sent to England to live at her Uncle Archibald’s house. She finds the bleak Yorkshire moors in winter a very different place to India. Used to her orders being obeyed, Mary is astonished by servants who answer back. Mary is soon intrigued by the tales that the maid Martha tells her of her life at home in a large, poor family, especially about her brother, Dickon, and his animals. When Martha tells her about the garden that was locked ten years ago by her absent uncle after his wife’s death there, Mary determines to find both it and the key. As spring approaches and she spends more time skipping in the gardens and talking to the elderly gardener Ben Weatherstaff, she begins to become a happier and healthier child. In the end, Mary brings the garden back to life. She helps to restore his health, and her friendship also improves his personality and outlook on life.
 
Fantasy 
Pullman, P. (2005). The golden compass. Random House Publishing: New York, NY. 1-368.
 
This book as all the elements of fantasy with its multiple words and adventure missions. Lyra lives in a parallel world in which human souls take the form of lifelong animal companions called daemons. Dark forces are at work in the girl's world, and many children have been kidnapped by beings known as Gobblers. Lyra vows to save her best friend, Roger, after he disappears too. She sets out with her daemon, a tribe of seafarers, a witch, an ice bear and a Texas airman on an epic quest to rescue Roger and save her world.
 
Science Fiction 
Williams, S. (2013). Jump:Twinmaker #1. Balzer + Bray. New York, NY. pp. 1-496.
 
Clair lives in a world transformed a global teleport system which allows people to transport themselves instantaneously around the world. When a coded note promises Improvement - the chance to change your body any way you want, making it stronger, taller, more beautiful - Clair thinks it's too good to be true, but her best friend, Libby, is determined to give it a try. What starts as Libby's dream turns into Clair's nightmare when Libby falls foul of a deadly trap. With the help of Jesse, the school freak, and a mysterious online friend called Q, Clair's attempt to protect Libby leads her to an unimagined world of conspiracies and cover-ups. Soon her own life is at risk, and Clair is chased across the world in a desperate race against time.
 
Realistic Fiction 
Palacio, R.J. (2012). Wonder. Alfred A. Knoff Publishing: New York, NY. pp. 1-  320.
 
August Pullman is a ten-year-old boy suffering from severe birth defects, including a cleft palate, which have left him disfigured. His parents decide to enroll him at Beecher Prep middle school after years of homeschooling him. During a tour of the school, August meets Jack, Julian, and Charlotte. Jack is nice to him, and August believes he has found a friend. The book is a look into how our friendships can affect the quality of our lives, and it’s important that we look beyond physical appearances to find our friends. People who might look different can be some of the best friends that we will ever make.
 
 
Historical Fiction 
Lowry, L. (2003). The silent boy. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: New York, NY. pp. 1-193.
 
Set in a small Pennsylvania town in the early 1900s, this book tells the story of Katy Thatcher, a precocious doctor's daughter, and the unusual boy she meets on a nearby farm. Katy Thatcher always knew she wanted to be a doctor like her father. She joins him on his rounds and has a keen interest in the people around her. She's especially intrigued by Jacob, a gentle, silent boy who has a special sensitivity toward animals. While Jacob never speaks to or looks at Katy, they develop an unusual friendship and understanding. The townspeople dismiss Jacob as an imbecile. Katy just thinks of him as someone special who has a way of communicating with the animals through his sounds and movements. Only Katy comes to realize what the gentle, silent boy did for his family. He meant to help, not harm. It didn't turn out that way.
 
           
Biography 
Lee, S. & McClelland, E. (2016). Every falling star: The story of how I escaped North Korea. Amulet Books Publishing: New York, NY. pp. 1-336.
 
This is the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is the intense memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju who is forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting, begging, and stealing rides on cargo trains. Sungju richly re-creates his scabrous story, depicting what it was like for a boy alone to create a new family with his gang, his “brothers”; to be hungry and to fear arrest, imprisonment, and even execution. This riveting memoir allows young readers to learn about other cultures where freedoms they take for granted do not exist.
 
Informational Books 
Stewart, M. (2012). National geographic readers: Titanic. National Geographic Society: Washington, DC. pp. 1-48.
 
This text includes exclusive in-depth coverage including Bob Ballard's 1985 discovery. Delve in to learn more about the passengers on board and how this terrible disaster could have been prevented. This book seems particularly accessible to beginning readers (ease of use). Clear photographs with informative, boxed captions; several numbered lists, such as “10 Cool Things About Titanic”; a timeline; and sidebars defining unfamiliar terms are nicely integrated with expository prose that describes the ship, briefly covers the voyage and disaster; rescue; and thoughts about how the disaster could have been averted.
 
Literature for a Diverse Society (Multi-cultural) 
Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi, a Girl in Pieces. Cinco Puntos Press: El Paso, Tejas. pp. 1-208.
 
Our main character, Gabi is a 17-year-old Mexican American girl that is navigating considerable conflict both at home and in her social life: her father is addicted to drugs, while Gabi’s strict mother pressures her to conform to her own views of their heritage and values. Gabi, who seeks comfort through binge eating, wants to grow up on her own terms, and she explores her awakening romantic and sexual feelings by writing poetry. Gabi’s letters to her father are particularly moving, and her narration is fresh, self-aware, and reflective. The intimate journal structure of the novel is especially revealing as Gabi gains confidence in her own integrity and complexity: “I guess there is more to this fat girl than even this fat girl ever knew.”
 
 

Selection: Bud, Not Buddy

For this week’s assignment, I chose to focus on an example of historical fiction (young adult) out of the three genre options. I have always been drawn to historical fiction when considering realism specifically. I really like the way things seemed so real and cultured at a time before Internet, Google, social media, and all other things technology driven. At the same time, if it was not for distance education online, I would not be an educator today.

The example I chose is Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. I was also surprised that I was not able to find this title or author mentioned in Chapter 5, since this was also an awarded the John Newbery Medal and has written many other historical fiction texts.

This historical fiction story takes place in Michigan during the 1930s during the Great Depression, which is a very important part of American history. A book study using Bud, Not Buddy could be used with other departments for a cross-curricular study as well if they were learning about the Great Depression or US History in general. Bud’s character is quite dynamic as an African-American orphan and is tired of bouncing from one home to the next. Many students can either relate or appreciate the type of problems/conflicts he faces since many come from broken homes or have lost a parent. Bud decides to run away on a quest to find his real father. Since his mother had passed four years prior, Bud has no other family members left in Michigan and no other reason to stay. Middle-schoolers can relate to the main character, Bud since he is ten years old and the plot development throughout the story on focuses on a few weeks of Bud’s life, and not a life-span. In addition, the language is not too complex so that a younger reader can clearly understand everything stated. The language and dialogue the author uses for Bud is far from grammatically correct or formal, but it is authentic to the time period, making his character that much more believable. One of Bud’s favorite things to say is “shucks”. Adolescents can easily understand the way Bud thinks, talks, interacts with others, and the world around him.

The setting in this book is described in rich accurate detail which helps to bring the past back to life, and the writer uses enough figurative language to keep the story interesting.  Sometimes Bud must walk miles and miles, sleep under a tree, feels lonely, or like he cannot trust anyone. In the year 1936, traveling along through cold and rainy in Flint, Michigan is tough for a kid, but especially living during such a racial and controversial time. Real individuals throughout history are referenced in this book, such as J. Edgar Hoover, Herbert Hoover, and Satchel Paige. While the circumstances of the times are depicted in an authentic way, the author provides the reader with much optimism and hope as Bud eventually finds a new family and home with the Jazz band members that his grandfather plays with. The universal themes in this book emphasizes the importance of survival, fate, family, love, hope and relationships. Bud is a very bright (and brave) kid and keeps track of every life lesson he learns along his journey.

This book is great for a wide range of ages, but I think it is target towards the middle school levels more than anything. It is also a great read for anyone who enjoys reading about historical situations like I do. All the events taking place in Bud, Not Buddy could have actually happened, and after reading you might wonder if they really did. It is based upon real life hardships, such as the Depression, and what it might be like to go through life as a young boy during this time-period.
 
Short, K, Tomlinson C, & Lynch-Brown, C. (2015). Essentials of Young Adult Literature, 3rd Edition. Pearson. pp 84-90.
​
Short, K, Tomlinson C, & Lynch-Brown, C. (2015). Essentials of Children’s Literature, 9th Edition. Pearson. pp 123-128.

                                          Wessendorff Middle School Library: Plan of Action 
The WMS Library Plan of Action presents opportunities for our library staff to elevate the academic profile within the community by increasing awareness of the critical role that the library can play in student learning through technology, research, reading, writing, maker-space, and other academic related activities. The library has also been shown to help students grow socially, teach them about our economy, and the workplace. It is widely accepted that schools with librarians have higher scores on high-stakes testing compared to schools which do not have a library. A proactive and strategic marketing effort is important to maximize our goal in growing our library and thus our student learning community. We want more attention given to the services and resources that we offer, thus I have outlined our campus library marketing plan below (Lee, 2000).
Goals
Wessendorff strives to be recognized for its library’s excellence in technology, stimulating atmosphere, and resources. The library will continue to raise awareness of all that the it offers throughout the campus, district, and community. The WMS library will continue to promote services and programs while anticipating the needs of our middle school students and their teachers. The library staff will continually work with partners to promote the development of funds. The WMS library’s primary goals are as follows:

• Communicate the library’s role to students, teachers, community, and all other stakeholders.
• Review current website content and improve areas needed to better provide user access to WMS library services and information.
• Connect with campus administration to implement staff development and trainings.
• Review current collections that are underutilized and plan for future promotion of new information packages.
• Promote LCISD online resources, special collections, reading programs and incentives to encourage increased reading at home.
• Keep both internal and external signage relevant and current for all those accessing library and related services.
• Collaborate with other campuses within the district to promote WMS library’s programs and services.
• Review marketing plan and timelines to allow for adjustments in relation to effectiveness and budgets.
• Become active participants in State and National initiatives which support library development.
• Provide continual training sessions to WMS staff regarding resources and academic activities.
• Provide opportunities for students to participate as volunteers on different projects (Broido, 2004).

Objectives

• Increase our student usage by 40% or more (book clubs, special projects, study space).
• Develop promotional packages for programs, services, and collections.
• Increase participation in WMS library reading programs/other activities by over 25%.
• Formulate relationships with all administrators, teachers, and students on campus.
• Meet regularly with other librarian professionals within the district for PLCs and continual growth.
• Seek grant funding for library development purposes in line with administrator’s vision, learning objectives, and strategies.

Strategies
Target Users:
Our primary users are of course, the students attending WMS are our primary target audience. We are also targeting students’ parents and eliciting their involvement in after-school programs hosted by the library. Other targets are of course educators who can benefit from the library’s curricular supports and technology resources in the classroom (Westbrook, 2001).
Tactics and Actions:
Host a campus principal forum (including lunch) twice a year.
Host regular meetings for educators (include tea/hot chocolate) with library staff.
Qualitative Measures:

• Exit tickets
• Surveys
• Comparative data analysis
• Team meetings
• Feedback sessions

Key Message
The Wessendorff Middle School Library is:

1. An attractive learning space where students and teachers feel warm and welcomed.
2. Provides accessible resources which are well-organized and kept up-to-date.
3. Offers much more than books (maker-space, technology, coding, tutoring, literary clubs).
4.  A core service center to the entire WMS student body.
5. Provides all users with a helpful and pleasant experience daily.

Evaluation
 It is important to evaluate how well the library and media center is progressing in order to determine what is working, what needs to be improved, what needs to change, etc. Marketing strategies should be evaluated annually, in addition to monitoring the library’s online catalogue and database activity. The WMS librarian will evaluate which searches are being made the most, which information packages are most requested, etc. These evaluative efforts can provide the librarian’s staff with useful data showing which services and resources are the most prominent (Dempsey, 2009).
 Evaluation and reflection provides accountability measures while helping to improve the effectiveness and quality of our call to action marketing plan. Evaluation measures can come from a variety of methods that collect and analyze data and trends (Broido, 2004).
​
Today, the trends in the public-school library are breaking traditional methods by discovering new and innovative ways to deliver services to the student and other users, while continuing to maintain traditional core values such as customer service, a love for reading, and the development of life-long learning. It is crucial that public school librarians understand how to effectively market themselves to their campus and community and promote their importance and value to the community which it serves. Creating this marketing plan is one of the important elements to these efforts. With all the key elements mentioned in this marketing plan, the Wessendorff Middle School Library can ensure its longevity in serving 21st century learners (Abram & Luther, 2004).
 
 
References:
Abram, S. & Luther, J. (2004). Born with the chip. Library Journal, 129:8, 34 - 38.
Broido, E. (2004). Understanding diversity in millennial students. New Directions for Student Services, no.106, 73 - 85.
Dempsey, K. (2009). The accidental library marketer. Information Today, Inc. (p. 16)
Lee, D. (2000). Marketing for libraries: Theory and practice. Mississippi Libraries 64 no. 3: 101.
Westbrook, L. (2001). Identifying and Analyzing User Needs. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.
 

Unlike other format-specific literacies: such as technology, media, and digital literacies, transliteracy is an over-arching concept which helps us to better understand the connection between them. Trans-literacy means to span across, to transfer, and to change in relation to reading and writing. Trimm (2011), writes “transliteracy is described as “the ability to write and interact across a range of platforms, tools, and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio, and film, to digital source networks.”  The concept of transliteracy is not solely about technological devices, but about all types of communication across various cultures and time. It is about moving between and across modalities  
 
The transliteracy concept shines light on what it means to be literate in the 21st century when we have unlimited access of information at our fingertips through technology and devices, television, radio, books, journals, blogs, YouTube, magazines, chatrooms, etc. Additionally, this concept hopes to bridge and connect modalities from the past, present, and future. Blogs online are not the same as telling ghost stories under the blankets as a kid, just like shopping on Amazon.com is a much different experience than shopping at the local flea market.
 
The library can embrace the challenges of transliteracy by eliminating a divide between the virtual, digital, and printed worlds to meet the unique needs of the learners it supports. I would implement transliteracy in our middle school campus library by setting up an online platform or forum. This can be accomplished through Canvas, Office 365, Edmodo, Google Classroom, or something similar, where students (and educators) can have an online book club forum. A group could be based by either the exact same book being read by a small group of students… or just a book club group for the same type of genre interest. Students and teachers can go into these online forums/programs to post their specific findings about what they read. This could almost be like a digital book talk. The users can rate the book, and must answer certain questions about the book (i.e. favorite/least favorite part, why others should read it, the most exciting event or fact, etc.) while also have room to add to their personal review.  Similarly, to YouTube videos that are ‘trending’, this online book club can post ‘trending’ books of the week or the month. Books read and reviews given can be provided on text, audio, or eBooks.
 
To take it a step further, the users of this group can post where they retrieved the book, or set up ways to track how to check it out from the library or borrow it from another individual on campus once they have finished reading it. A Flip-grid video clip can be added with the reader providing their book talks. A scheduled date and time can be set for meeting up with book club members in person, in the library for extension activities and deeper discussions. In these scenarios, transliteracy is used to tie together reading, writing, analyzing, reviewing, and collaborating with other readers.
 
Reference:
 
Jaeger, P. (2015). Transliteracy- New Library Lingo and What It Means for Instruction. Library Media Connection, 30(2), 44-47. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
 
Trimm, Nancy (2011). Not Just Literate, but Transliterate: Encouraging Transliteracy Adoption in Library Services. Colorado Libraries 36.1 (2011): 1-3.


 

Libraries containing literature have been essential to generations stemming back to those who originally founded our great country.  
Until reading the first chapter of the book “Catalog It!”, I never truly realized that cataloging has such an interesting and extensive history going back to the 7th century of B.C. Based on the assigned readings, it appears that catalogues have dramatically changed along the way, much like the rest of the technologically advancements and the ever-evolving world which we live. Throughout history, catalogues have appeared in various forms, from tablets made of clay, to scrolls, printed on cards and books, all the way to the online versions that most of us use today (Kaplan, 2016).
Today, computer based catalogue systems are very flexible, allowing for more entry points and efficient systematic changes, but are still quite costly. Keeping up with rapid advancements and changes in technology may become a financial hardship for the school library in addition to the need to provide additional trainings on how to use new programs (Kaplan, 2016).
While change is inevitable, one thing which seems to remain constant is that librarians and their cataloging systems will play a vital role in a quest for knowledge and understanding in a vast world of information and resource collections.
The second chapter of our text explained a lot about the Library of Congress, which I also found to be very interesting. The LOC contains millions of manuscripts, recordings, photographs, news article, maps, and books, making it one of the largest libraries in the world.  The Library of Congress provides access to a vast and diverse wealth of knowledge that dates to the 1800s, when it once contained the personal collection of our former US present, Thomas Jefferson (Kaplan, 2016).
In the third chapter, I read about the MARC system, an acronym which stands for Machine-Readable Cataloging. This is a data-based format which was initiated by the Library of Congress about forty years ago, and provides a means by which computers can interpret, use, and exchange bibliographic information. Today, these elements make up the foundation of nearly all the library catalogs used (Kaplan, 2016).
MARC has gone through a few different names and changes over time. When first created, in was called LC MARC, then called US MARC in the 80s. Since the 2000s, it has been more recently known as MARC 21 (Wilson, 1983).
RDA (Resource Description & Access) is set of standards which explains the type of information that must be included in a library record, but should not be confused for MARC, which is the encoding standard that makes information identifiable by the cataloging software used in the library. RDA explains the what and why, while MARC explains the how information should be labeled and stored so that resources are made easily accessible to patrons (Wilson, 1983).

Reference
Kaplan, A. (2016). Catalog It! A guide to cataloging school library materials. Third Ed. Librarian Unlimited. pp 1-35.
Wilson, P. (1983). The Catalog as Access Mechanism: Background and Concepts, in Foundations of Cataloguing, ed. by M. Carpenter and E. Svenonius. Littleton: Libraries Unlimited, pp. 253-268.

It seems that it is now more important than ever for school librarians and teachers to collaboratively work together, sharing the vision to educate students in the skills required for success in today’s digital age. With the push of technology integration into our state standards and classroom curriculum, school librarians can serve as a great resource for teachers, students, administration, and parents. There are various factors that can contribute to the teacher-librarian collaboration struggles (testing/standard/scheduling/territorial conflicts). However, if the teacher-librarian collaboration is successful, it can potentially result in a notable increase in learning and higher test scores across campus. For this collaboration to become effective, the teacher and librarian must first build a relationship and have a foundation of trust in addition to balancing out their complementary skills. After all, the teacher and school librarian do share many common goals as it relates to literacy development and lifelong learning (Draper, 2008).
If I were to implement a collaboration plan at my current middle school campus, the focus would be the initial implementation of technology and research skills. This could include the entire reading/ELA team, or the department head from every content area, so that students can begin to apply new research skills in every class, and for all assignments.
Although, it is well known that students today have access to the Internet from just about anywhere, and in many cases, also have access to 1:1 technology available in their classrooms. However, many students coming into the sixth-grade are reporting that they have never previously been taught Internet research skills. My goal would be to educate all students on how to navigate online sources successfully. At my Title I campus, there are most students than expected that just do not have access to technology outside of school grounds.
Lesson examples we plan together throughout this collaboration effort may include:

• Begin with a Tech-Talk: Much like a book talk, get students excited about how helpful Internet and research tools can be for avid learners.
• How the Internet search engine works and various key commands.
• Search tips and Google search tools – How to develop good research questions.
• How to evaluate search results / what is the meaning of a URL.
• How to determine the reliability of a source (author, reliability, validity).
• How to utilize the school database to locate information needed.
• Teach the difference between primary and secondary sources.
• Ways to avoid plagiarism when writing and citing.
• Connect how research skills today can connect to the workplace in the future (Draper, 2008).

These lessons can be co-taught in the library or the classroom setting, depending on what works best for all parties. This teacher-librarian collaboration can enhance students’ understanding of technology use by building upon what some already know from having a smart phone or being active on social media. The classroom teacher knows their students on a much deeper level, while the librarian can present information or an interesting interactive lesson to students in a new and engaging way. Librarians are also great at providing extension learning activities for students who have already mastered these concepts, so that no time for learning is wasted (Asselin, 2005).
An effective librarian desires an instructional partnership with campus teachers, because if we can help students by being a support for the teacher, then we are doing what is in the best interest of everyone.
Reference:
Asselin, M. (2005). Teaching information skills in the information age: An examination of trends in the middle grades. School Libraries Worldwide, 11(1), 17–36.
Draper, R. (2008). Redefining content-area literacy teacher education: Finding my voice through collaboration. Harvard Educational Review. 78 (1): 60–83.

Have you ever read, heard, or learned something (like an Aha Moment mentioned under the Notice and Note blog) that made all your schema come together and finally concepts just started to make sense? Well, that’s what this book and its teachings have done for me as a developing educator!
Heinemann only publishes books from the best of the best in the field of education. In my opinion, the two authors of this book, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell are genuine gurus in the field of pedagogy as it relates to literacy studies and practice.

What is a genre study?
“To become competent, literate members of society, students must be able to navigate multiple genres (p 10).”
In a genre study teaching model and format, students explore literary genres by completing a series of genre studies, each spanning two to three weeks. The concept of genres is introduced through class discussion, during which students determine the main characteristics of various genres. Students are then assigned a genre to explore, and they use interactive notebooks to record evidence that their book fits the assigned genre. Finally, students complete a book review and share summaries of the books they read with their classmates. Conducting studies of multiple genres can help students to achieve a better understanding of their characteristics. “Students learn how to learn about different text types so they can apply the process again (p 6).” Learning about genre takes a long time, so you repeat this process over and over across grade levels as students develop more complex understandings (p 241).

What is the value of genre study for readers?

• Helps readers know what to expect when reading a text.
• Helps readers to notice features and structures used by the writer as they process texts.
• Develops the habit of “reading like a writer.”
• Helps readers understand what is common among texts in a genre and what can vary.
• Helps students use what they learn as readers to write and what they learn as writers to enhance their reading.
• Supports the development of a community of readers and writers.
• Develops a “habit of the mind” so that the students actively notice the writer’s decisions as they read.

“Genres are containers for thinking. They help us to orient ourselves to the kind of story we are hearing and its purpose (p 19).”

The ability to read across texts is a critical competency for a literate person. You want for your students to learn to think analytically about a topic, idea, or theme by synthesizing information from several texts. Thinking across texts makes understanding richer and helps readers take multiple perspectives; it also helps you become more critical in your reading.

Steps in the inquiry process for genre study:

• Collect – authentic high-quality and high-interest texts at varying levels of difficulty. Keep multiple copies of certain texts for book-clubs and guided reading groups.
• Immerse – Expose students to several clear examples of each genre. As teachers read the mentor texts and, they should encourage students to think about, talk about, and identify different characteristics. Give book talks and encourage independent reading of the genre being studied.
• Study – Students analyze characteristic common to the group of texts. Have students list features that they notice on chart paper or in their notebooks. Students need to be able to distinguish between characteristics that are always evident and those that are often evident.
• Define – Use the list of collected characteristics to create a working definition of the genre.
• Teach – Hold mini-lessons on the important genre features on the list, using mentor texts and adding new mentor texts examples to the initial text set.
• Read and Revise – Expand student understanding during individual conferences about their independent reading and facilitate group share lessons. Encourage students to discuss elements of the genre in book clubs and add more characteristics to the working definition if necessary.

What are the genres in literature?
“An important aspect of literacy instruction is convincing students that they need to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction, and equipping them with the skills and genre knowledge necessary to do it (p 58).”
The primary genres covered in this book include the following:

Fiction Genres 
Realistic Fiction 
Historical Fiction 
Traditional Literature (including folktales, fairy tales, fables, epics, legends, ballads, and myths) 
Modern Fantasy (including simple animal fantasy, low fantasy, high fantasy, and science fiction)

Nonfiction Genres 
Narrative Nonfiction 
Biography 
Autobiography 
Memoir 
Expository Nonfiction 
Procedural Texts 
Persuasive tests

Forms of Poetry 
Lyrical poetry 
Narrative poetry 
Free Verse 
Haiku 
Limericks 
Concrete poems

Test Taking 
Multiple Choice Questions 
Short Answer Questions 
Extended Response Questions
“The more students know about how stories are structured, the easier it will be for them to comprehend what they are reading (p 62).”

The strategic actions required for reading:

• Solving words.
• Monitoring and self-correcting reading.
• Searching for and using information.
• Summarizing information to remember it.
• Adjusting reading to meet purpose and genre.
• Maintaining fluency.
• Making predictions.
• Synthesizing new information.
• Making connections with background knowledge.
• Inferring what the writer is implying but not telling directly.
• Analyzing the text as a literary object.
• Critiquing the text.

“Independent reading is life’s work, not just school work (p 314).”

Writing about what we read:
Writing about reading supports memory and expands understanding. Functional writing also includes the use of graphic organizers, diagrams, and outlines. This type of writing about reading supports analytical thinking. One of the added benefits of writing about reading is that students can become much more self-aware of their literate lives. Having written records helps students to reflect on their reading habits and realize how they have grown over time (p 374). When students have a chance to become writers themselves, they begin to notice how other authors work (p 392).
“Learning to respond powerfully to books is one of the great truths that students will learn in school. Writing reflects their thinking and their learning lives (p 334).”
Writing is an excellent way to help students internalize the many characteristics of genre.

Food for thought-direct quotes and notes from the author(s):

“Strategies are note discrete; they don’t happen one at a time and you cannot teach them one at a time. You employ these interrelated and complex strategies in a fluid way, your attention most of the time focused on your search for meaning (p 53).”
“Realistic fiction serves children in the process of understanding and coming to terms with themselves as they acquire human-ness (p 73).”
“New worlds and new interests lie waiting for children between the covers of informational books (p 148).”
“For me poetry has always been a way of paying attention to the world (p 191).”
“We want our students to make a lifelong commitment to reading and writing. And so, we begin by painstakingly caring about the literacy landscape, and then we proceed to do the best literacy teaching imaginable (p 239).”
“No single literacy activity has a more positive effect on students’ comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, spelling, writing ability, and overall academic achievement than free voluntary reading (p 313).”
 
Resource:
Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. (2012). Genre study: Teaching with fiction and nonfiction books. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH. pp 2-385.

From the moment that I was introduced to Notice and Note close reading strategies developed by Kylene Beers and Rovert Probst two summers ago, I was instantly hooked and have been implementing these ‘signposts’ in my classroom throughout the school year. I think of Notice and Note strategies to be your typical reading comprehension strategies (making connections, asking questions, determine importance, synthesize, and inference) updated and repackaged. “We didn’t develop these Notice and Note lessons to support the Common Core State Standards. We were trying to give students a scaffold so that they could read more closely, so that they could develop habits, dispositions, and skills we want them to have as lifelong learners (p 94).”
 
What is Notice and Note?
Notice and Note is a reading routine which provides students with “search fors” as they are reading and encourages them to reread a portion of a text to answer a question about the meaning of the text.
Notice and Note signposts are most often located as students read a text for class or for independent reading.
Educators have found Notice and Note signposts and strategies to be effective because they promote student engagement in a text and helps students determine meaning and theme in literary texts, which contribute to student comprehension of complex texts.mThe Notice and Note strategy helps students refine their understanding of texts to meet reading expectations in preparation of writing about texts.

“We think that these signposts show up in novels and informational texts because they show up in the world (p 74).”

“We hope that learning and saying alert for the signposts will inculcate a habit of paying close attention, a readiness to slow down and reflect , and a willingness to hear and explore other responses to a text (p 111).”

Description of Signposts across genres:
FICTION

• CONTRASTS & CONTRADICTIONS When a character does something that contrasts with what you’d expect or contradicts his earlier acts or statements, STOP and ask, “Why is the character doing that?” The answer will help you make predictions and draw inferences about the plot and conflict.
• WORDS OF THE WISER When a character (probably older and wiser) takes the main character aside and offers serious advice, STOP and ask, “What’s the life lesson and how might if affect the character?” This lesson is probably the theme of the story.
• AHA MOMENT When a character realizes, understands, or finally figures out something, STOP and ask yourself, “How might this change things?” If it is about a problem, it tells you something about the conflict; if it is a life lesson, it tells you something about the theme.
• AGAIN & AGAIN When you notice a word, phrase, or situation mentioned over and over, STOP and ask yourself, “Why does this keep happening again and again?” The answer will tell you about the theme and conflict, or will foreshadow what might happen later in the story.
• MEMORY MOMENT When the author interrupts the action to tell you about a memory, STOP and ask yourself, “Why might this memory be important?” The answer will tell you about the theme and conflict, or will foreshadow what might happen later in the story.
• TOUGH QUESTIONS When a character asks himself a very difficult question, STOP and ask yourself, “What does this question make me wonder about?” The answer will tell you about the conflict, and help you think about what might happen later in the story.

“We want to teach our students to be alert for certain features as they read, to take responsibility themselves for pausing and reflecting when they spot them, to own and ask a few potentially powerful questions at those moments, and to be willing to share and revise their thoughts in responsible conversation with others (p 82).”

NON-FICTION
●Contrasts & Contradictions: When the author shows you how things/people/ideas contrast and contradict one another, or shows you something that contrasts or contradicts what you already know, you need to stop & ask yourself... What is the difference and why does it matter?
● Extreme or Absolute Language: When the author uses language that is extreme or absolute, you need to stop and ask yourself... Why did the author use this language?
● Number and Stats: When the author uses specific numbers or provides statistical information, you need to stop and ask yourself… Why did the author use these numbers or amounts?
● Quoted Words: When the author chooses to quote someone, you need to ask yourself… Why was this person quoted or cited and what did this add?
● Word Gaps: When the author chooses to use a word or phrase that you don’t know, you need to ask yourself… Do I know this word from someplace else? Does it seem like technical talk for this topic? Can I find clues in the sentence to help me understand the word?
“Noticing the signposts is necessary but insufficient; the readers also have to question it and make note of what they learn from it (p 78).”

Questions Pondered for Study:
Is reading still reading? What is the role of fiction? Where does rigor fit? What is the role of talk? What is close reading? Do text-dependent questions foster engagement? Must everyone read the same book? How do we judge the complexity of a text? Are we creating life-long learners? Is the nature of reading changing because of 21st technologies, or is reading still reading?
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Food for thought-direct quotes and notes from the author(s):
“We want students inside the text, noticing everything, questioning everything, weighing everything they are reading against their lives, the lives of others, and the world around them (p 2).”
“We believe it is the interaction, the transaction, between the reader and the text that not only creates meaning but creates the reason to read (p 3).”
“Now more than ever, reading seems to be a social act (p 12).”
“Rigor is not an attribute of a text, but rather a characteristic of our behavior with that text. Put another way, rigor resides in the energy and attention given to the text, not in the text itself (p 21).”
“When the text is too tough, the task is simply hard, not rigorous. The essence of rigor is engagement and commitment (p 21).”
“Whether sitting outside on a college campus or inside your own school, intellectual communities are rooted in talk (p 24).”
A Hall’s Fave: “What happens in your school after the state test is given? Is it harder to motivate students to work? Do you see an attitude that says, this doesn’t count because the test is over? Those are signs that students have decided that the point of school is only to take one test. New standards, without addressing old problems won’t change anything (p 25).”
“Meaning is created not purely and simply from the words on the page, but from the transaction with those words that takes place in the reader’s mind (p 35).”
“Close reading should suggest close attention to the text; close attention to the relevant experience, thought, and memory of the reader; close attention to the responses and interpretations of other readers and close attention to the interaction among those elements. Close reading occurs when the reader is deeply engaged with the text (p 37).”
“New critics maintained that meaning resided within the text, not in the interaction with the text. The most rigorous reading is to find what the words on the page mean in our own lives (p 40).”
“We worry that a focus on text-dependent questions may create a nation of teacher-dependent kids (p 43).”
“The problem isn’t that we ask all students read the same book. It’s that we expect them to read it in the same way (p 50).”
“The background knowledge that each reader bring to the text shapes his interaction with it. One reader may find that some features have made the text impenetrable, while another may find that they make it a joy to explore. It’s who reads the text that matters (p 55).”
“Literature enables us to see our world and ourselves more clearly, to understand our lives more fully (p 191).”

Resource:
Beers, K. & Probst, R. (2013). Notice & note: Strategies for close reading. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH. pp 2-193.