Mini+Case+Study+Paper+Draft

 Jennifer, I have no idea why the formatting and fonts of this page are so weird? It just keep coming out like this even though it looks fine on Word. Anyway, I put my stuff in blue so you can see the changes easily, I just added some stuff or rearranged it a bit. I am also emailing this to you as a word doc. Please feel free to make some edits or revert changes. Email me and let me know what you think. Thanks! Corina, this looks good! I decided to highlight only the areas where we discussed our experiences. Thanks so much for all your help!! I also deleted the citations that we did not use in the paper. Thanks for submitting the rubric. I will turn in the paper. I also emailed you earlier! Thanks again!!

Jennifer Ramirez / Corina Galvan Dr. Judith Moreillon LS 5443.20 – Librarians as Instructional Partners September 23, 2010 **Classroom-Library Collaboration Mini Case Study** In a school environment the school librarian can be a very valuable asset because of the power they have to connect with all staff and children in the school. With this power they have the opportunity to collaborate with all the teachers and staff in the school community to benefit the student education and academic success. As stated by Paula Godfrey an elementary principal, “The teacher-librarian is one of the most important people at the school because there is no one else who impacts the academic achievement of every single child in the building [school]” (Paula Godfrey, “Principal”). Collaborating can be beneficial for everyone involved; teachers, school librarians, administrators, and especially students.

**Teachers**

Teachers can benefit in many ways from collaborating with the teacher-librarian from their schools. “** If the librarian is willing to work with you and is willing to lend her expertise to each project that you bring her, the collaboration with the librarian can be really excellent” (Sherri, “ High School Teacher ” ). Collaborating with a teacher-librarian allows the teacher to have someone to brainstorm with on project ideas or lessons. This allows the teacher-librarian to provide some insight on ways to incorporate things like technology and various media sources into the project or lessons that are planned. As stated in the article ** //The Forgotten Partners in Special Education: Teacher-Librarians//**, “a **collective expertise is created when teacher-librarians and educators integrate their knowledge and skills on behalf of the students” (Jones, p.69). ** An added side effect is that the teacher may learn some new things from the teacher-librarian along with her students. ** ** “I was eager to learn… I would learn right along with the kids, and that’s exactly what I did” (Pat, “7th-grade Social Studies Teacher”). **

** The teacher-librarian can also be a very valuable resource for student teachers as well as the regular classroom teachers. During my (Jennifer) field base experience, the librarian at the elementary school where I went to gave the student teachers a mini lesson on how to use and find valuable educational software and websites on the computers. She told us how to access the school’s subscription to Discovery Mainstream Educational Videos for our lessons. She was very helpful to us and willing to offer her expertise and school resources. She actually encouraged us to use the computer resources, because the school had to use them or they would terminate the resource. I really appreciated her help and she demonstrated to all the student teachers that she is a very valuable resource to all of the school system. **

** Students **

** Teacher-librarians can impact students in so many ways. “There is more individualized attention on students” (Peg, “Kindergarten Teacher”). With the help of the teacher-librarian, the classroom teacher can provide more individualized attention to the students which make the students feel appreciated and more willing to accomplish tasks. **** Students can benefit from the teacher-librarian by learning about topics not normally covered in class like types of technology available to them at the school and how to use them. Also, teacher-librarians are usually more experienced and knowledgeable on subjects like research, Wikis, Blogs, digital resources, citations, etc. As one teacher stated about her experience of a classroom-library collaboration; “there was reading, research, and a presentation all in one project” (Mary Ann, “7th grade Language Arts teacher”). **

** Librarians **

** It is important for librarians to show stakeholders how they impact the academic success of the school and students. Collaborating with teachers demonstrates professionalism and shows that librarians are educators too and they can have a positive impact on student success. “He or she is able to watch the process of learning of individual students over a period of years and with this knowledge can lead collaborations that fill in gaps and provide individual learning experiences (McGregor, pg. 209).” Librarians are one of the only people that see all the students in the school and have an opportunity to impact them all. **

** When there isn’t a willing collaboration of a librarian, it could end up being a negative experience for the teacher and the students end up missing out on a potential learning experience. For example, I (Corina) taught high school science ** and it was mandatory that students were to each develop a science fair project to enter in the district science fair. I thought that this would be a great opportunity to work with the librarian and have her help me get the students started in the right direction in their research. Many of my students were not familiar with conducting their own research properly and how to utilize the library for their information needs. What ended up happening was a 15 minute orientation to the library by the librarian and that was all. Overall I didn’t receive the help that I had requested and I never went back to ask for her help again. So it is important that the librarian advocate and follow through with the services they can provide the school, teachers, and students through classroom-library collaboration. This will ensure future collaborations with other teachers.

** Principals **

** Collaborations can benefit principals by helping them meet their school wide goal and also give the principal some insight to the inner workings of a school library program. Joy McGregor says that by demonstrating the way a changed mental mode will help the Principal achieve his or her goals should open the door for change (pg. 208). The change that McGregor is talking about is collaboration and the benefits that teacher-librarian collaboration can have on the entire school system. If the Principal is aware of how collaboration affects the success of all students and the school as a whole, then they are more willing to advocate for teacher/librarian collaborations. As mentioned before, “the teacher librarian is one of the most important people in the school because they affect all children” (Paula, “Principal”). **

**Works Cited** "3rd-Grade Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. < [] >

"7th-Grade Language Arts Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. < [] >.

"7th-Grade Social Studies Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.< [] >.

"8th-Grade Language Arts Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.< [] >.

"Elementary Art Teacher." Interviewed by Judi Mereillon. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. < [] >.

"High School Art Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.< [] >.

"High School Student Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.< [] >.

"High School Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.< [] >.

Jones, Jami L., et al. "The Forgotten Partners In Special Education: Teacher-Librarians." //Teacher Librarian// 37.4 (2010): 65-69. //Academic Search Complete//. EBSCO. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. "Kindergarten Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. < [] >.

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

"Principal." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 19 Sept. 2010.< [].

** Schultz-Jones, Barbara. "COLLABORATION IN THE SCHOOL SOCIAL NETWORK." **// Knowledge Quest //** 37.4 (2009): 20-25. **// Academic Search Complete //**. EBSCO. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. ** ** Zmuda, Allison. "What Does It Really Look Like When Students Are Learning in the Library Media Center?." **// School Library Media Activities Monthly //** 25.1 (2008): 25-27. **// Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text //**. **** EBSCO. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. **