Collaboration Action Plan

*Image from Using Technology Better blog

As teacher-librarians and teachers, we are aware that direct instruction in information literacy provides significant benefits to students. Furthermore, throughout this course, we are realizing how that instruction is also directly linked to students being able to access and use a well-stocked print and digital reference collection (Riedling, 2013). However, due to the demands of the curriculum and individual student needs, classroom teachers are at various levels in regards to their use of reference resources with their students. Access to digital resources is changing the way that learners locate the information they need and teacher-librarians are in the unique position of being able to support and guide teachers to increase their effective use of reference resources, both print and digital, to support student inquiry and learning. The standards outlined in the Canadian Library Association’s 2014 document Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons includes the following indicator of growth:

Standard: Cultivating effective Instructional design to co-plan, teach and assess learning

Instructional Partnerships – Leading into the Future

‘Teacher-librarians foster student and teacher technological capabilities and digital literacies’ (Canadian Library Association, 2014, p.15)

Teachers in British Columbia have had many innovations introduced to their practice in recent years. The increase in the use of digital devices in the classroom, increased focus on inquiry based teaching and learning, evolution of the digital reference collection and the use digital portfolios for communicating student learning. Naturally, teachers are at a variety of levels in regards to their familiarity and comfort with these innovations. In order to frame our understanding of these different levels, I will use the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) developed by Dr. Archie George, Dr. Gene Hall and Dr. Shirley Hord. More information is available at https://www.air.org/resource/concerns-based-adoption-model-cbam. The authors outline the Stages of Concern and the Levels of Use that educators move through when introduced to a change.

*Images taken from http://www.nationalacademies.org/rise/backg4a.htm

What follows is an action plan for two elementary classroom teachers who have the potential to expand and refine their usage of references resources with their students. Strategies for change were inspired by the Stages of Concern about Personalized Learning table which can be accessed here. Ideas were also adapted from the document by Hord, Rutherford, Huling and Hall (2006) Taking Charge of Change. 

Reference Resource Use Action Plan
Teacher #1
Profile	Ms. J Grade: 3/4 Ms. J is a new teacher in her second year of her first teaching position. She is comfortable using technology in the classroom and regularly gets her students to use apps like ‘Prezi’ and ‘iMovie’ to create presentations to show their learning. Ms. J uses FreshGrade to create digital portfolios for her students and communicate student learning to families. Ms. J works late after school and spends a lot of time planning and looking for resources to use with her students. Although she is positive about teaching, she often feels overwhelmed with ideas and planning. Ms. J brings her class to the Library Learning Commons for book exchange but she is yet to collaborate with the TL. The students often use ‘Google searches’ to find information for projects and Ms. J notes that they will often plagiarize unintentionally while researching. Ms. J knows that there are digital resources available and wants to improve her student’s use of reference materials but she does not know where to start.
Stage of Concern	1 – Informational. Ms. J knows that she can improve her teaching practice and use reference resources more effectively however; she is not familiar with what is available.  She recently approached the TL to ask for assistance in this area.
Levels of Use	1 - Orientation The goal for Ms. J is to move from Level 1 (Orientation) to Level 2 (Preparation) with a definite plan to begin using more print and digital reference resources in the classroom.
Action Plan	There are 25+ digital subscription reference resources available to Surrey School District staff and students. However, I am conscious of not overwhelming Ms. J with options and thus I would focus on introducing one or two databases (National Geographic Kids and World Book Student). o Initially I would invite Ms. J to plan after school and I would provide an inquiry unit planning template (example here) to create a mini-inquiry unit linked to the Grade 3 and 4 Science Big Ideas. o I would show Ms. J how to locate and login to the district digital databases and focus on the ones mentioned earlier. o Ms. J and her class could then book into the collaboration time slots available in the Learning Commons for a minimum of four sessions. o I would then team-teach with Ms. J and suggest that we set up stations for students to explore the databases with laptops and ipads as well as reading and searching through print reference resources. At this point, the students would just be becoming familiar with the resources and we as teachers would be guiding and teaching them how to use them effectively. o I would then meet with Ms. J and review how she is going to use the resources to teach the mini-unit in her class. Depending on her level of confidence, we could continue to team-teach in the Learning Commons or she could transition to teaching the mini-unit independently.
Follow-up	After taking the steps outlined in the action plan above, I would give Ms. J some time to explore the resources with her class independently and then I would take time to meet with her again and ask her how she was feeling about using the reference resources we had explored. I would ask if she had any further questions and remind her to contact me if she had any concerns. I would make a note to check in with Ms. J in the following term or school year to see if she would like to integrate other reference resources.

Reference Resource Use Action Plan
Teacher #2
Profile	Mr. H Grade: 6/7 Mr. H is a veteran teacher of twenty plus years. He has a traditional teacher-directed style of instruction in his classroom. Mr. H is a confident and friendly colleague who is open to collaboration and team-teaching. He is wary of technology and often complains that the time it takes to sort out technical problems with ipads and laptops, takes away from instructional time. However, he does use a computer to do his own work and occasionally project instructions to the class on the projector. So there is some familiarity with technology. Recently came to the library to ask about why we have not replaced the outdated print encyclopedias.
Stage of Concern	0 – Awareness. Although Mr. H is aware of that the district has digital resources available, he has not used them with his students nor explored their potential on his own.
Levels of Use	0 - Non-Use. Mr. H does not want to integrate more technology and is taking no action towards using digital reference resources. The goal is to move Mr. H from Level 0 (Non-Use) to Level 1 (Orientation) and possibly Level 2 (Preparation).
Action Plan	*Screenshot from www.surreyschools.discoveryeducation.ca Surrey School District has recently paid for a subscription to the Science Techbook resource available through Discovery Education. This is a comprehensive resource that is directly aligned with the BC New Curriculum. The ‘Science TechBook’ is highly structured and guides students through lessons with sequential content while at the same time still providing opportunities for students to inquire and explore digital resources on their own. The overall ‘textbook’ format will be familiar to Mr. H and hopefully make the transition to using more digital reference resources an easier one for him. o As Mr. H is not aware of this resource, my first step would be to ask to present a short introduction to all staff at the next monthly staff meeting, in order to highlight the resource without any obligation on his part. o As the subscription is currently only for Grade 6 and 7, I would the teachers as a grade-level group to come to the Learning Commons at lunch (provide snacks) and simply explore and ask questions. Hopefully Mr. H would also attend. I would highlight the structured nature of the resource, planned lessons and links to the BC New Curriculum. o I would approach Mr. H and ask if he would be interested in bringing his class to the Learning Commons at the same time as another class who is already using the TechBook. His students could be paired up with students in the other class to complete a lesson together and become familiar with the resource. o I would then show Mr. H some of the online tutorials for teachers that are available to teachers on the Discovery Education website. I would ensure that he is able to login to his own account on Discovery Education. o At this point, I would be cognizant of not pressuring Mr. H and allow him time to explore and consider how this resource would fit into his teaching plans.
Follow up	After taking the steps outlined in the action plan above, I would make time to meet with Mr. H to evaluate how he is feeling about using the digital reference resources. Depending upon his response, I would offer my help to sign up his class and create accounts for the students. Potentially, we could then work towards booking time in the Learning Commons to bring his class and team-teach an introduction to using the Science TechBook. I would stress that I could provide support to resolve technical issues that may arise.

As noted by Hord et al (2006), movement through the stages of concern cannot be forced. Thus, it is important to approach this plan of working with teachers with an open-minded, patient and flexible attitude. The authors of Taking Charge of Change also remind us that ‘change is a process not an event’ (Hord et al 2006, p.5-6) and that ‘change is a highly personal experience’. Therefore, there is a good chance that this action plan will not unfold as predicted however, the value of the experience is in the process and not always the final result.

References:

Canadian Library Association (2014). Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada. Accessed January 10^th, 2018 from http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/

CBAM: Stages of Concern on Personalized Learning. Bray & McClaskey. (2013). Creative Commons License. adapted from Hord, S.M., Rutherford,W.L., Huling-Austin, L., & Hall, G.E. Taking Charge of Change. ASCD. Accessed February 28^th, 2018 from https://ed.sc.gov/instruction/personalized-learning/personalized-learning/personalized-learning-school-district-resources/stages-of-concern-about-personalized-learning/

Hord, S.M., Rutherford, W.L., Huling, L. & Hall, G. E. (2006). Taking Charge of Change. Accessed February 25^th, 2018 from https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/downloads/report/taking-charge-of-change-2014.pdf

Riedling, Ann. (2013). Reference Skills for the School Librarian. Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth.

SEDL (2013). Concern-Based Adoption Model: CBAM. Accessed February 20th, 2018 from http://www.sedl.org/cbam/