Discussing Collaboration with Jamie Corson of Wando High School Media Center




  1. What are some examples of the ways in which you are implementing these competencies in your library program?

Mr. Corson recently graduated from the University of South Carolina’s MLIS program and has worked at Wando for the last three years. He works alongside Ms.Cindy Philbeck, another certified librarian, and Ms. Cheryl Pavella, a media clerk. He states that collaboration starts with them and the staff, and that they divide the responsibilities according to their individual strengths. Mr. Corson is adept at and inspired by the programming side of the library. 


When considering the competencies for collaboration, a student advisory group demonstrates decision-making as they work together to make the library collection appealing to their peers and find programs and speakers that appeal to them and their fellow students. The library also includes a crafting station which the students can use to complete group assignments. One of the library’s most popular events that they host is a breakout box (similar to an escape room). They can tailor the boxes to the lesson's content, and the students need to work together to open the boxes and win the final prize. 


  1. What are some of the resources in your library program that you are using to 

          implement these competencies?

One of the programs that the library is involved in is a weekly therapy dog visit. Dog owners in the community bring the dogs into the library for story time with the special education students. The library also stocks an assortment of creation materials as well as a makerspace for the students to create three-dimensional projects together. 


The librarians also encourage collaborative creation by visiting classrooms to present a lesson on making a podcast using free software and the equipment they have available for check-out at the library. 


  1. Do any of the competencies that you are implementing include collaboration with classroom teachers?  If so, please provide examples.


Mr. Corson practically scoffs at this question and answers with a resounding “Of course!” Teachers are often the greatest proponents of the library, and their buy-in is paramount. Starting in Freshman year, teachers are strongly encouraged to bring their students in for an orientation. Not only is this often the student’s first engagement with the library that increases their comfort level, but it is also face time with the classroom teachers to learn more about their future lessons and openings for collaborations. Many teachers will often use the librarians’ research skills and invite them to teach the class ahead on an assignment. As stated above, teachers also have the option to bring their class in to experience the break-out boxes according to the curriculum. For easy scheduling, the library provides teachers with a Google form called “book a librarian,” which makes it quick and easy. Mr. Corson also models several competencies when he posts a weekly newsletter educating the teachers about the programs in the library, how they can use them, and what other teachers are doing in collaboration with the library.


  1. What are some of the challenges that you face when trying to implement these competencies?

Mr. Corson laughs as he says, “You need to catch the teachers early.” His favorite teachers to approach are the ones who just graduated because they are more open to trying new things. He struggles to get teachers who have been working a long time and are set in their ways to try something new. 


  1. Are there any other comments that you would like to make regarding the Shared Foundation / Competencies and Domains that we have discussed today?

Mr. Corson’s most vital advice is to “eat the apple one bite at a time.” Creating a fully functioning collaborative environment takes time, but just keep chipping away at it, one teacher or program at a time. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Social Media Tools-Blog #6

Image
  I want to start with a little bit of a sidebar.  When I was a Montessori teacher many years ago, I had many ways to teach writing to my young students. By far, the most popular choice for my kids was to use a shallow box filled with sand for them to practice drawing letters with their fingers. I have a theory that this method was a favorite due to its ephemeral quality: if the student messed up, all they had to do was shake the box, and the evidence was gone forever, with no paper trail. In Lucas John Jensen’s article, Integrating Social Media into Online Education , he sought to make his online classroom’s discourse more dynamic by putting it on Twitter (2019). However, I believe this is just a different stage for the same performance. In an in-person classroom during discussions, students are allowed to speak off the cuff without the worry of it being recorded,  referenced, and dissected word for word, as can happen when it is written in a post. Responses become more ...
Read more
  AASL versus ISTE Standards After looking over all of the materials in Knowledge Quest volume as well as the ISTE and AASL websites, I discovered a big picture similarity along with several crosswalks that can facilitate standards working in collusion with each other. In the big picture of education, both sets of standards enumerate skills that empower the learner to pursue knowledge outside of the traditional, teacher-led classroom. “The empowered learner” is actually the very first ISTE standard listed for students, and I believe that autonomous and engaged pursuit of knowledge is the goal of both sets of standards. The process of acquiring knowledge starts with a question and a plan for answering that question. It then moves through the process of getting it answered or generating further questions, using a critical eye for the quality of answers and attributing it to its source. The final step is applying what is learned to another context. Both ISTE and AASL standards clarify...
Read more

Cyberbullying-Blog #7

Image
  What stood out to me the most about cyberbullying is that it often accompanies face-to-face bullying and that the latter happens more often as the studies cited in the article From the Sandbox to the Inbox have shown (2015). It makes sense that cyberbullying is an extension of school-day occurrences.  This is what is so hard now in the days of social media, for bullied children there is no escape, no respite, even within a child’s own home. I had the misconception that cyberbullying would be more frequent due to the draw of its anonymity and how it allows the perpetrator to avoid the reaction. However, the popularity of the face to face bullying points to something different. The bullies want to experience the reactions, at least in the K-12 studies, which is what I am most interested in.  As the article points out bullying tends to spike from the middle school years through early high school (Faucher et al., 2015), which strikes me that there is a correlation between ...
Read more