• Who did you meet with during your four-hour work time? What time(s) did you meet? How did it go?
• Describe how you are matching the collection to your building curriculum and/or to the Iowa Core Curriculum. (ie. Discuss how you are documenting the gaps and identifying and prioritizing the needs.)
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Jane Langholz and I are currently setting up times. I'm looking forward to meeting yet another colleague.
ReplyDeleteSandy Norfolk and I met for 4 hours in Feb. We identified specific weaknesses in our 500's, using "titlewise" we identified aged titles to be weeded, we compared the Iowa Core Curr. to the weaknesses in our 500's, we determined what percentage of books needed to be added to the 500's, and used Wilson Core collection and Books for the College Bound to create a list for future selection. We then compared our buildings curriculum maps to the Iowa Core as well as to current and future library holdings. We are tracking needed materials and documenting the gaps we hope to fill on excel documents. We are weeding obsolete and aged materials from our collections.
ReplyDeleteIt's great having a colleague to bounce ideas off of, to help brainstorm, to give you direction when you seem to be lost, and to confirm what you're thinking. The four hours Joy and I spent together was such a collaboration. Lots of discussion about the curriculum in our buildings and how it matched the Iowa Core Curriculum. Lots of discussion about how old our collections are and how to best go about weeding and updating them. We agreed that even eating an elephant one bite at a time is very time-consuming!
ReplyDeleteI met with a teacher in my building for an hour so far. We are creating a list of books that would go with the new science curriculum they have in kindergarten (specifically "balls and ramps"). We are going to share that list with the teachers in the district.
ReplyDeleteJane Langholz and I met on February 2nd here at the Turkey Valley Elementary Library. The time went so fast. First of all, it was great to hear each other's collection and job stories. We both agreed that the toughest part is that of teachers changing positions due to declining enrollment. We are both small in school size. Here at Turkey Valley we've made changes such that I went ahead and put out a curriculum rubric for all teachers to fill in so I have a know on what is currently being taught and by whom. We no longer can fund a "curriculum director" which is sad. This is where I feel I can come in to help find holes, but I don't want that title on top of everything else. I then asked teachers to circle areas of need, so as to get a handle on what I need to order or update from their perspective and to match their needs in the classroom. I am trying to align my work with Iowa Core Curriculum and 21st Century Library Standards. It was a very enjoyable and valuable time. We met almost the entire four hours and have been updating one another via email.
ReplyDeleteDubuque has new science curriculum and like Laura, I also have meet with a teacher on science curriculum paper and wood. We also will be sharing information with others in the district.
ReplyDeleteAnn Stevens and I met on Wednesday, February 10 from 9:00 to 1:00 in Shenandoah. We both thought our time spent together was very valuable. We both used the Iowa Core Curriculum to identify gaps in the collection. Our discussion included our understanding of the Iowa Core and its building impact and implications for the collection. Since science was a focus for both of us, we found Karen's Iowa Core document useful for our work. Once we identified gaps, we recorded our work on the Collection Analysis form in our book, which I found to be helpful in gathering all the data in one place.
ReplyDeleteAs you read, Deanna Etherington and I met 10 February for four hours. It was time well spent and for me, we could have worked longer if schedules had allowed it. Bouncing ideas and questions back and forth increased my understanding and furthered my thought process as I work on this immense project. We worked with the Iowa Core and found Karen's document very helpful. The science department is currently aligning our curriculum with the Iowa Core. One of my science teachers provided me with the core curriculum very succinctly stated. It is wonderful and will facilitate the resource alignment more manageable. The collection analysis form facilitates identifying the gaps and strengths in the collection and gathers the information in one place.
ReplyDeleteI met with Evie Milbrandt for a four hour worktime in February. We discussed curriculum mapping at our schools, how each of our schools are now working to align to the Iowa Core Curriculum, and the value of this resource alignment process in providing curriculum support. We worked on using our schools' curriculum maps to identify gaps in our collections. Like others, I am using the Collection Analysis form from the CD to record my work and identify curriculum gaps. I plan to get more feedback from teachers to prioritize needs.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your collaboration, Evie!
I sat down by myself in January and started the process of looking at our curriculum. I had to make sure I made myself familiar with what was going on before I brought anyone else on board. I met with our elementary principal for about 30 minutes and discussed what we are going to be using for a school wide curriculum. He was able to provide me with the new Iowa Core Curriculum matrix and explain what we will be doing in the future. After going through that I met with several teachers (time accumulation of about an hour) throughout the elementary building to make sure what they are looking for to supplement their curriculum. I learned a lot by doing that. I was able to make a list of where to begin updating our gaps. In February, I met with Bev my head librarian for 2 hours. We set down and worked through the curriculum and matched it to what we have on the shelf. We did find several gaps in our collection. We had a really productive work time. I learned a lot from her. I also had the pleaseure of meeting with Karen Lampe this month for an hour to discuss our library and where to go next. Thank you Karen!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention I also used the collection analysis form to decide where my gaps are. We discussed if we wanted to provide a print copy of the book or provide the students with online information. We also discussed what is practical with our budget.
ReplyDeleteOn Feb 15th the school librarians from the Dubuque district meet for 2 hours. During this time we were able to share the process we are going through with our collegues. We were able to gather insight and information from those librarians who had taken the class earlier and had plans in place. We continue to discuss ideas through e-mail and phone conversations whenever we can.
ReplyDeleteIn addition I was able to meet with my Science Department for an hour. Since there is a new curriculum and I will be weeding the 500s this Spring, I wanted to appraise them of what was going on and get their thoughts about new materials. We talked about the Iowa Core and looked for materials that would support their curriculum. They will continue to give me suggestions. I also have been meeting with the Reading teachers in my building. Fiction is an area that I think I can weed without too many qualms, so I wanted to brainstorm ideas and lists with them.
Like Kris Gallagher said the teacher-librarians from the DCSD met on Feb. 15. Time flew by fast as we discussed each library's collection and the alignment process.
ReplyDeleteAfter this meeting I continue to gather information from the various curriculum areas. I found the forms from the CD to be a good place to start. I have met with the principal several times and continue to keep her up-to-date of my next steps. I can't wait to share with her my 5 year plan.
I have been slowly working on sections of my high school library collection. It has not been weeded for at least 10 years and is not automated. I sent out a list to all of our science teachers and they replied back with their curriculum units. I have then gone through all science areas of the Dewey Decimal groupings and made a list of what needs weeded. I have sent this to my building principal as a beginning to the weeding and replacement process. We are working in our PD times to adjust our curriculum needs with the Iowa Core Curriculum, so I am matching the data I have found with what we have discussed in PD time. With only myself and no associates or volunteers, I am taking this slow, but making sure I have specific data to verify all weeding and wish lists to purchase.
ReplyDeleteI have also contacted Kim Carlson and we have been emailing back and forth between our busy schedules. We will be chatting on Facebook when we finally get a common break in our schedules.
This has been an eye opening experience, and I look forward to sharing more data and information with my building administrators as I find more holes in our curriculum and my shelf list.
I find that staying in contact with my building principals does help when I do go to make purchase requests, because they can see the work it entails and need for updated books for student use.
Dawn and I met for an hour on the evening of Jan. 12 right after our class and began working on the science curriculum matrix. We met again on Feb. 28 for 3 hours. I specifically looked at the 500's (science) section because it is one of the "Big Five" areas. It also is where almost all of the science curriculum comes from. It was helpful to see which specific areas needed to be aligned with the curriculum. Some areas I had plenty of resources like the magnets, dinosaurs, and animals. There were a few subjects that I had few or no books on like air/gases, heat, sound, light, and color. I would say my worst area is the space section. The majority of those books were outdated. Four grade levels have space in their curriculum, so I feel this is an immediate need to address.
ReplyDeleteDawn and I also collaborated with Jamie Noack via email discussions and Google Docs. We shared our documents and commented on them. We discussed the use of the nonfiction section of the library by students, noting that elementary students use it more than secondary students. I would like to see the teachers at my elementary building use the nonfiction sections more than they do. I can promote the nonfiction section by making teachers aware of what books we have that go along with their curriculum now that I have done this work.
I chose to align my 6-12 science standards and benchmarks with my library collection. I chose this area to work with first because I knew it was severely outdated and the science teachers are my primary users of the library. Although I am in a 7-12 building, I chose to align standards and benchmarks and the Iowa Core for grades 6-12 because we will be splitting into a separate middle school and high school within the next 3 years. I am only in my second year at this building so I am still very much learning my collection. One thing that I discovered was that I have A LOT of books supporting topics that are not taught in our district (i.e. astronomy, magnets, etc.) Although I feel I need to have some of these books to support student interest, I can definitely scale back and allocate more resources to topics that are covered in our curriculum.
ReplyDeleteI collaborated with Suzi Burris and Dawn Goodale from Indianola. Because our busy schedules didn't allow us to physically get together, our collaboration took place via email and Google Docs over the past several weeks. This worked well because we were able to see each others documents and comment and share ideas accordingly. They also chose to work on science because it was part of the Big 5 they needed to align. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences among the benchmarks especially since we were comparing elementary and secondary grades. One discussion that we had is one that has had some echoing on SLIK-12 in the last week. We were discussing the importance of non-fiction collections. Suzi and Dawn both emphasized how elementary children gravitate to non-fiction books when they are checking our free reading books. Therefore, it is important for them to maintain a large, current non-fiction collection regardless of how often teachers use the books for projects. However, at the secondary level, my non-fiction collection goes largely untouched. Students no longer check out non-fiction books "just to read them". During research, they gravitate toward computers. Although I do feel it is necessary to maintain a non-fiction print collection, I struggle with how large of a collection to maintain.
I have looked at the gaps I have to fill, but still need to do the weeding. We have been given flexibility in making up "teacher days" due to snow so I am hoping to work some days over our upcoming Spring Break and just weed without interruption.
I'm working on my middle school science collection. More specifically the 600's. Last summer we did a weeding of the 500's so it will be interesting to see what else might need to go or stay. I'm aligning it with our science curriculum 5-12 which is taking some time to do. I've started a matrix like the one in the book, but had to put it down for awhile to get my head back in order. After talking with our curriculum director I think I've got a handle on it and can continue the process. I've noticed that we are missing some areas that the teachers are teaching at the middle school level. Specifically I need to boost up the Chemistry part of it since 7th grade does stuff with the periodic table.
ReplyDeletePatti and I have been emailing back and forth about our projects. It was funny to find out that both of us are working on similar ideas. It is our hope to get in a couple of more times using Facebook when life slows down enough to find a common time to do it.
Connie and I met on February 25 and March 2 for two hours each time.
ReplyDeleteAt first we were overwhelmed with the task we had set for ourselves of aligning our collections to the science curriculum. Once we narrowed our focus down to our district's six Earth Science units, though, we were able to make some good progress. At our first meeting, we pulled out the manuals for these six units and compared them against both our district's science standards and benchmarks and the Iowa Core (Earth Science). During our second meeting, we used the Wilson's site to begin searching for (by Dewey category) and selecting materials that would fill in the gaps in our collections. We both agreed that even though it took us a long time, we will be able to go through the process much more quickly with more practice.
To tag onto what Kristi Harper said, we noticed that there were several gaps in the Iowa City science curriculum when compared to the Iowa Core. We are operating on the assumption that we should think ahead and prepare to support the Iowa Core Science Curriculum, since it will be adopted before the 500s come up again in our resource alignment 5-year cycle. I was surprised by how many items in the Wilson Core Collection were published prior to the copyright dates recommended by Karen Lowe (almost 40 of the 117 recommended titles K-6). We set the filter to only show materials published in 2004 or later. We also began by using the narrowest recommentation list from Wilson's first. I looked at the full core collection recommendations within the copyright parameters we set, and found several more items to include in my list of titles to obtain. I think a trick is going to be purchasing items to align with the curriculum AND support varying degrees of reading levels. Budgets are tight for all of us! Then there are the titles I'd like to order based on student interest that are not an official part of the curriculum. These get just as much if not more use, in my opinion. It is certainly helpful to go through this process with another teacher librarian!
ReplyDeletedawnguni said...
ReplyDeleteSuzi and I met for one hour after our last class on Jan. 12. We divided the 500’s by grade levels. Suzi focused on K-2 and I aligned the 3-5 collection with our district standards and the Iowa Core. We met again on Sunday, Feb. 28th for 3 hours to finish our matrixes and share our findings. This process was very beneficial! Our district froze our funding in the fall. I am fortunate that in my smaller, older building, I received a generous donation from a student’s family. I want to be sure that I am spending the money appropriately. This process will help to ensure that I choose books that will support and enhance our science curriculum.
We also corresponded with Jamie via email and Google docs due to time constraints and hectic schedules. Her alignment resulted in findings similar to mine. Many of the titles in the 500’s need to be weeded from the collection. I need to remove a large number from animals, weather, habitats and vertebrates. Those titles need to be replaced as they are curriculum areas. I also need to beef up several sections including 532, 534, 535, 537, 538, 549, 552 and 596.
March 9, 2010 12:57 PM