Teaching and Learning in the Library

School librarians are teachers, too, and we’re eager to support research instruction throughout the curriculum, in whatever way is best suited to the circumstances.  There are many levels of collaboration, and they range from brief consultations about resources to completely collaborative planning and instruction.

I know all about it, just take me to the request forms!

Some good moments to come visit us:

• When you’re planning a big research unit
• When you’re planning a little research unit
• When you have a lesson you’d like to adapt to make it more inquiry-focused
• When you have a lesson you’d like to adapt to make it more student-driven
• When you want some materials for a unit you’ve already planned
• When you want some materials to supplement a unit you’ve already planned

Things we can do for you:

• Co-plan and co-teach units or lessons
• Do push-ins (a brief mini-lesson as part of your larger planned lesson)
• Do pull-outs (work with advanced or struggling learners as part of differentiation)
• Put together online pathfinders (see the current ones here!)
• Put together a book cart based on your specifications

Some (but not all) of the research skills we can co-teach:

• Developing questions
• Search skills
• Key words (this is surprisingly relevant to concepts like finding main ideas and evidence)
• Types of sources
• Identifying relevant sources
• Evaluating sources for credibility
• Creating bibliographies & citing sources
• Note taking (in a variety of ways)
• Organizing information
• Supporting arguments with evidence
• Creating information sources in a variety of media
• Using social media responsibly
• Digital citizenship

The not-so hidden agenda

Librarians have content standards to teach too, and there’s a huge amount of research that shows that like anything else, they’re best learned when they’re relevant.  For research skills, that means when you’re doing research!  By working with me, you are giving me a chance to make sure AMS students are getting a solid foundation in research skills that will serve them well in high school, college, and as members of a democratic and information-saturated society.  Giving me some of your precious instructional time helps me ensure that students are getting consistent research instruction so they all have a solid foundation in research skills.