Hello! Welcome to Blog Post #1, where I will be discussing AASL and ISTE Standards, along with a couple of articles from Knowledge Quest, Volume 47 Issue 5.
The AASL Standards make vertical planning stronger for school librarians. They challenge us to think about how not only the students in our classes can be successful, but how these students can also be successful in moving forward. As an elementary school librarian, I must remember that the skills that I am teaching are foundational for these students as they progress through their education. These standards are not organized by grade level.
Let's dive into the ISTE Standards...
The ISTE are technology focused. As learned in the lecture this week, these standards amplify who we are as teachers. A key take-away from the lecture, was that these standards do not hide the aspects of teachers. We must plan for these standards.
I appreciate that the AASL Standards are broken into learner and school librarian competencies. The ISTE standards are broken down into categories by students and educators and include: Students: Empowered Learner, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, and Global Collaborator. Educators: Facilitator, Analyst, Citizen, Designer, Facilitator and Collaborator.
As a beginning school librarian, I can see that I will be able to use both of these standards. I will use the AASL standards to think about what I need to plan and my goals for teaching, and I will use the ISTE standards to help guide technology based instruction.
In the Knowledge Quest articles that I read, were some great ideas for building connections using school library standards.
The article, What's in a Quote? Building Connections Using School Library Standards, by Kathryn Roots Lewis made me more aware of the ways that school librarians can be leaders to transform teaching and learning. She makes a powerful statement in saying, "National School Library Standards give school librarians the path to meaningful, learner-focused practice." This article also enlightened me on the terms enable learner voice, choice, and agency. Lewis refers to librarians as being learner-ready and encourages us to think about how the standards are aligned with all of the components of a learner's education.
Here's to helping students with the process of taking charge of their learning.
Until next time,
Emily
References
American Association of School Librarians. (2017, September 12). AASL Standards-Evolved and Familiar.YouTube. https://youtu.be/JFMCRxGPOgY?si=JsiyebsleO dgo1H
American Association of School Librarians. (2017). A Guide For School Librarians-Reflect and Refresh- Getting Started with the National Library Standards. https://standards.aasl.org/project/one-pagers/
American Association of School Librarians. (2018). National School Library Standards crosswalk with ISTE Standards for Students and Educators. https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180828-aasl-standards-crosswalk-iste.pdf
International Society for Technology in Education. (2024). ISTE Standards: For students. ISTE. https://iste.org/standards/students
Lewis, K.R. (May/June 2019). Making it matter: National School Library Standards for school administrators! Knowledge Quest 47(5). pp. 56-63.
O'Connor, M.L.C. (May/June 2019). Now serving: An appealing menu of digital literacy tools & resources. Knowledge Quest 47(5). pp. 17-21.
Hi Emily, I really enjoyed your post. I also really liked Mrs. O'Connor's article in Knowledge Quest and mentioned it in my blog. I very much want to be that type of librarian. I appreciate the fact that you added visuals in your post. I think I will try that for my next post. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteAs you listed the categories for students and educators in the ISTE standards, it struck me that there is some similarity to these descriptors and the dispositions discussed in Cromartie and Burns's article, Navigating the Librarian Slopes: Dispositional Shifts in the National School Library Standards, also found in the reading for this week. This article discusses how school librarians dispositions must evolve to meet the AASL standards. The vocabulary used in the article are gatherers, contributors, connectors, creative forces, defenders, and guides. Though not exact matches, the choice of descriptors is intentional in both, to foster a collaborative rather than authoritative role with our learners. Within this context, our role is to help students create their own understanding rather than view us as experts to feed them information. As you mentioned, this process starts early in life with students, hopefully, having the skills needed to continue their learning after they leave our buildings.
ReplyDeleteEmily,
ReplyDeleteThe article by Mary Lou Caron O’Connor was one that I enjoyed also. I loved that her students compared going to her library like a restaurant. Her library sounds interesting and fun to visit. Thanks for your post!
Theresa Gossard
I like how you think of both of these as separate standards. Sometimes we get so caught up in getting stuff done that we lump them all together but we do need to remember that the ISTE and the AASL standards are two separate entities. It may help you to look at the crosswalk between the two though! This lists how the two sets of standards overlap! Here's a link: https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/180828-aasl-standards-crosswalk-iste.pdf.
ReplyDeleteEmily,
ReplyDeleteYou did a fantastic job of explaining the standards in context to the lecture from this week, discussing the vertical planning and how the standards do not hide, but, in fact, amplify lessons and teaching. I appreciate the insight you shared in this regards, helping me to put pieces together.
As for the Knowledge Quest articles, I, too, remarked about O'Connors article on the menu choices. I can see you next year using this idea to your advantage and soaring, with your creativity! I think many of us that are currently teaching and looking at making that change to a library can take ideas from this article along with some of the ideas from Freedman & Robinson. I like how this information is helping us come up with tangible ideas rather than just theoretical pieces to help us become successful!