Collaboration and Instructional Design

• Thematic inquiry through fiction and nonfiction, PreK to grade 6, by Colleen  MacDonell (Linworth Books, 2009, 121 p., $_____, ISBN: 9781586833503)

  The title of this book gives the impression that the authors cover the entire process of inquiry, when in fact, they cover the building of great questions and resources to get the learners started. They begin by urging teacher librarians and teachers to use an inquiry model and then give a number of unit ideas that are common in the elementary curriculum.. The authors make the mistake that many teacher librarians have made over the years in concentrating on the launch of inquiry rather than the middle and end where the work, the thinking, and the best learning supposedly happens. They do make the excellent point that questioning is of vital importance and they give excellent examples to use by the adults and also the learners as both build questioning skills. Engagement is affected positively when good questions are developed. So far so good. Now, let’s get to the hard part that is beyond putting that golf ball on the tee. If you see that learners really aren’t interested in the outset of research assignments and inquiry, then this is a very good book to help. Otherwise, find a better source that covers the actual work, the analysis and synthesis of information, the creation of high-think products rather than cut and paste jobs, and reflections along the way and at the end to push deep understanding and better learners.

   

   

• Teaching for wisdom, intelligence, creativity, and success by Robert J. Sternberg (Corwin Press, 2009, 171 p., $_____, ISBN: 9781412964531)

  This author trio believe so much in what they are thinking that they invite the reader to participate in pushing the teaching of facts and basic concepts much further toward excellence and dep understanding. They present nuggets of ideas about engagning students in the various ideas listed in the title of the book and then have a challenge for the reader or group that extends the idea into practice. Thus, this book can be used in abbreviated professional community meetings becasue a small group can tackle one idea; discuss it, decide how they are going to try it, and then at the next meeting report back and compare success or failure. Thus, the various concepts can be taught in any order and the overall model can become the background knowledge  as progress on the various ideas is tried and then comes together. It is refreshing to read a very usable text and the ideas for pushing learners beyond factual knowledge are enticing.  Highly recommended.

   

• Pyramid response to intervention : RTI, professional learning communities, and how to respond when students don't learn by Austin G. Buffum, Mike Mattos, and Chris Weber (Solution Tree, 2009, 225 p., $_____, ISBN: 1934009334)

  Is RTI (response to intervention) being discussed in your school? This is a federal law passed a couple of years ago in the waning days of the Bush administration. It requires all schools to have an active plan for bringing every learner up to expectations. This trio of authors propose an add-on to the basic questions of intervening with learners in what they call a POI or Pyramid of Intervention. Instead of waiting until learners are in big trouble, they propose monitoring all learners for minimal, intermediate, or major intervention. Thus, you target all learners for help rather than just those in major trouble. Seems sensible. If this is being discussed, then teacher librarians who understand the targets can help create the plan of intervention with what we do best in reading, technology, information literacy, and collaboration. But to do so, we have to understand the background of what is being discussed and the proposals for improvement and targets. Perhaps another perspective for us is to worry about learners who have already achieved the minimums and are now coasting and bored. Will we ever get over the striving for minimums? This book will give you the background you need for an intelligent intervention of your own. Bottom line: read it if its on your school’s plate and then pass it along to the policy folks in the building.

   

• Focused instruction : an innovative teaching model for all learners by Gwen Doty (Solution Tress, 2008, 158 p., $______, ISBN: 1934009288)

  The author claims that his technique of teaching is innovative so it naturally draws our curiosity. And then we meet the real technique. First, divide your class into the eagles, the robins, and the buzzards...oh my. Surely the buzzards will know who they are and meet buzzard expectations. The second fatal flaw is that the goals for each group are at different levels so that the ideas of differentiation taught by such authors as Carol Ann Tomlinson are negated. And, of course, there is no push beyond the state standards toward excellence so our eagle group quickly meets the expectations but never get pushed off the cliff to test their wings. Bottom line: forget this one.

   

• Lesson design for differentiated instruction, grades 4-9  by Kathy Tuchman Glass (Corwin Press, 2009, 194 p., $_____, ISBN: 9781412959827)

  Few authors of books on differentiated instruction address the need not only for various strategies to teach students with various learning styles but also the need for a wide spectrum of materials that will provide the diversity needed for various student needs.  Glass gets it. She provides not only a structure for thinking about differentiation and how the classroom teacher can build a repertoire and method of teaching diverse learners but incorporates a wide variety of materials and projects in the menu of the classroom. She is also one of the few that recognizes that a teacher librarian might have a role, albeit a limited one. She recommends that the teacher ask the librarian to gather materials and also someone who can assist students in searing the Internet. Perhaps one could use this resource as a stimulus to the world of media and then grab a larger role of co-teaching so that the differentiation coached by two adults would really stimulate every learner as they push toward excellence. Thus, if differentiation is of interest in your school and teachers begin to see that it does not work in an information-poor, media-poor, and Interne=less environment, then the teacher librarian moves in with the rich resources along with learning skills, information literacy, and technology knowhow to boost student engagement, involve every learner at their level, and bring the entire group toward much higher levels of understanding and skill. We have yet to find a differentiation book that reaches out to co-teach with the various specialists such as teacher librarians and teacher technologists, but this one is a step in the right direction.

   

• Teaching how to learn : the teacher's guide to student success by Kenneth A. Kiewra (Corwin Press, 2009, 184 p., $_____, ISBN: 9781412965347)

  Many many professional books concentrate on helping the teacher become a better teacher in front of the class as they deliver content, create assignments, manage behavior and organize their content to meet different learning styles. Kiewra presents his idea that we need to teach the students learning strategies to meet us as teachers half way. Teacher librarian’s contribution to learning is part of teaching students how to learn. We want to co-teach to see that the learning strategies of information literacy are taught in a way that enhances content learning. Thus our interest that here is a book that stresses the balance between how the teacher performs and how the students match the teaching effort through their own learning strategies. No mention of teacher librarians in this book. Kiewra is just interested in the teacher in an obviously closed classroom environment. However, the AASL Learning Standards provide the view of learning activitie when the classroom door opens into the world of information and technology. Like the learning standards Kiewra stresses ideas similar to our dispositions, responsibilities and self-evaluation by the students as they practice inquiry. If the classroom teacher can understand that by opening the door to a new world and to a specialist in the school known as the teacher librarian, magic and wonderful things happen by stressing both content and process learning. Let us assume that your professional learning community is reading this book together and that you are at the table during the discussion. It would seem a simple matter to turn the Kiewra strategy into  the idea that two heads are better than one. Try out this book on a teacher or two. Get the conversation started toward elevating both content and process teaching and learning. It just might be the way to get your nose under the tent into the classroom.

   

• Purposeful co-teaching : real cases and effective strategies by Greg Conderman, Val Bresnahan, and Theresa Pedersen (Corwin Press, 2009, 165 p., $_____, ISBN: 9781412964487) For decades, teacher librarians have been exploring the notion of collaboration or co-teaching (the current term in general education literature). Our literature is full of urgings, banning bird units, and models for how to make it happen. Teacher librarians often respond with the notion that the classroom door is locked tight, particularly in the NCLB era. But this book demonstrates that we are not the only specialists in education who are trying to get into the classroom and demonstrate that two heads are better than one. Our three authors combine special education teachers and classroom teachers in meaningful ways to teach together and make a larger impact. Their models of working together are suspiciously like the ones we recommend. No, teacher librarians are not recognized as a part of these folks’ model, but one instantly recognizes that they explore many of the same ideas and have some creative methods to share that we have not explored. So, if we really want to collaborate, start by reading this book and then reach out to the various other specialists in the school, form a coalition, and march arm in arm on the classroom fort rise. The recognize various levels of collaboration, the need for administrative support, have a model for actually co-teaching lessons and units, recognize conflicts and how to resolve them, provide strategies for emphasizing various types of topics and teaching kids how to learn supported by a team of adults. Recommended as an essential read to recognize that we have allies in collaboration but also to gather ideas these specialists have that would enhance our own collaborative efforts.

• Coaching : approaches and perspectives, edited by Jim Knight (Corwin Press, 2009, 222 p., $_____, ISBN: 9781412969253) I various specialists of the school are to be integrated into the staff of the learning commons, then the roles, ideas, strategies, and impact of the concept of coaching is essential if these professionals are to make a difference in classroom teaching practices. Jim Knight has assembled a group of various kinds of coaches with various perspectives to write essays about how coaching is to be designed and implemented in real schools. We were amazed at the titles of the many coaching positions modeled here: instructional coaches, literacy coaches, classroom management coaches, content coaching, and leadership coaching. Knight also lists ten important roles of coaching to include: data coach, resource provider, mentor, curriculum specialist, instructional specialist, classroom supporter, learning facilitator, school leader, catalyst for change, and learner. There is much to learn from professionals outside the library world. They have ideas very close to our own, fresh perspectives on problems we have faced for years, and different perspectives worth discussing. This book is worth  a read to broaden our own ideas of collaborative roles we can link to in order to make a larger difference of our own. Recommended.