AASL Standard 2

Teaching and Learning

School library media candidates model and promote collaborative planning with classroom teachers in order to teach concepts and skills of information processes integrated with classroom content. They partner with other education professionals to develop and deliver an integrated information skills curriculum. Candidates design and implement instruction that engages the student’s interests, passions, and needs which drive their learning.

 

Standard 2 defines a key role of the library media specialist in relation to students and teachers. The library media specialist needs a firm grasp of the learners and how to teach them effectively. This standard stresses the importance of teaching information literacy skills within the context of the curriculum.

I mastered this standard through my work on two different assignments. The first assignment was the I Search. By working with students so closely as they develop their research projects, the media specialist is using the constructivist approach in supporting learning. It allows the learner to select a topic of interest to them, uncover and analyze information independently and synthesize that information into a meaningful project. The LMS acts a support to guide learning. I know I felt that sense of independence and later accomplishment as my professor guided me through my own I Search project.

The development of the collaborative units also allowed me to fully explore Standard 2.  Working closely with teachers, I developed units that helped reinforce what the students were learning in the classroom by using media center resources. Communication with the teacher was an integral part of this assignment as they were the individuals who knew the subject and their students. Based on that information and my knowledge of the learning process, I was able to create collaborative units that wrapped information literacy skills into classroom curricular goals. I feel strongly that a working knowledge of your school’s standards is a must for any school media specialist. Those standards are what drive the whole media program, right down to the units one should be developing with teachers.