Comments for Calling All School Librarians! http://casl.wordpress.com Connecting -- Advocating -- Supporting -- Leading Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:59:15 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on Advocacy by David Sanger http://casl.wordpress.com/2008/11/07/advocacy/#comment-3140 David Sanger Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:59:15 +0000 http://casl.wordpress.com/?p=187#comment-3140 Nance Nassar and I combined the Leadership and Advocacy Groups for discussion purposes. Here are some key points that were discussed: 1.Political leadership is important. What librarians do to raise awareness at the state and district level is important 2.Building a relationship with the school principal is essential. School Librarians need always find ways to involve principals. Making the school and the principal “look good” is a part of our advocacy. 3.Listening is key. Listen to the needs of the principal, your school and your users. Network with key players in the school including the school secretary, assistant principals, and curriculum leaders. 4.Become a “go-to” person for information. Data is our stock in trade and people need to feel the library is the place to get the information they need. 5.Know what is going on in your district. District initiatives are key to our programs. Problem solving, critical thinking, and comprehension are essential to the success of instructional programs and they are the basis of our work. 6.An example from the Denver Public Schools is the work librarians are doing to address the district’s new Success Factors: •Put Students First--Puts students first in setting priorities and delivering results •Achieve Results--Sets aggressive goals, focuses on key priorities and assumes responsibility for results •Achieve Results--Sets aggressive goals, focuses on key priorities and assumes responsibility for results •Deliver Excellent Service--Takes responsibility for understanding and effectively addressing needs of students and other stakeholders •Make Change Happen--Seizes opportunities for improvement and promotes positive change Nance Nassar and I combined the Leadership and Advocacy Groups for discussion purposes. Here are some key points that were discussed:
1.Political leadership is important. What librarians do to raise awareness at the state and district level is important
2.Building a relationship with the school principal is essential. School Librarians need always find ways to involve principals. Making the school and the principal “look good” is a part of our advocacy.
3.Listening is key. Listen to the needs of the principal, your school and your users. Network with key players in the school including the school secretary, assistant principals, and curriculum leaders.
4.Become a “go-to” person for information. Data is our stock in trade and people need to feel the library is the place to get the information they need.
5.Know what is going on in your district. District initiatives are key to our programs. Problem solving, critical thinking, and comprehension are essential to the success of instructional programs and they are the basis of our work.
6.An example from the Denver Public Schools is the work librarians are doing to address the district’s new Success Factors:
•Put Students First–Puts students first in setting priorities and delivering results
•Achieve Results–Sets aggressive goals, focuses on key priorities and assumes responsibility for results
•Achieve Results–Sets aggressive goals, focuses on key priorities and assumes responsibility for results
•Deliver Excellent Service–Takes responsibility for understanding and effectively addressing needs of students and other stakeholders
•Make Change Happen–Seizes opportunities for improvement and promotes positive change

]]> Comment on Leadership by David Sanger http://casl.wordpress.com/2008/11/07/leadership/#comment-3136 David Sanger Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:50:32 +0000 http://casl.wordpress.com/?p=194#comment-3136 Nance Nassar and I combined the Leadership and Advocacy Groups for discussion purposes. Here are some key points that were discussed: 1.Political leadership is important. What librarians do to raise awareness at the state and district level is important. 2.Building a relationship with the school principal is essential. School Librarians need always find ways to involve principals. Making the school and the principal “look good” is a part of our advocacy. 3.Listening is key. Listen to the needs of the principal, your school and your users. Network with key players in the school including the school secretary, assistant principals, and curriculum leaders. 4.Become a “go-to” person for information. Data is our stock in trade and people need to feel the library is the place to get the information they need. 5.Know what is going on in your district. District initiatives are key to our programs. Problem solving, critical thinking, and comprehension are essential to the success of instructional programs and they are the basis of our work. 6.An example from the Denver Public Schools is the work librarians are doing to address the district’s new Success Factors: •Put Students First--Puts students first in setting priorities and delivering results •Achieve Results--Sets aggressive goals, focuses on key priorities and assumes responsibility for results •Achieve Results--Sets aggressive goals, focuses on key priorities and assumes responsibility for results •Deliver Excellent Service--Takes responsibility for understanding and effectively addressing needs of students and other stakeholders •Make Change Happen--Seizes opportunities for improvement and promotes positive change Nance Nassar and I combined the Leadership and Advocacy Groups for discussion purposes. Here are some key points that were discussed:
1.Political leadership is important. What librarians do to raise awareness at the state and district level is important.
2.Building a relationship with the school principal is essential. School Librarians need always find ways to involve principals. Making the school and the principal “look good” is a part of our advocacy.
3.Listening is key. Listen to the needs of the principal, your school and your users. Network with key players in the school including the school secretary, assistant principals, and curriculum leaders.
4.Become a “go-to” person for information. Data is our stock in trade and people need to feel the library is the place to get the information they need.
5.Know what is going on in your district. District initiatives are key to our programs. Problem solving, critical thinking, and comprehension are essential to the success of instructional programs and they are the basis of our work.
6.An example from the Denver Public Schools is the work librarians are doing to address the district’s new Success Factors:
•Put Students First–Puts students first in setting priorities and delivering results
•Achieve Results–Sets aggressive goals, focuses on key priorities and assumes responsibility for results
•Achieve Results–Sets aggressive goals, focuses on key priorities and assumes responsibility for results
•Deliver Excellent Service–Takes responsibility for understanding and effectively addressing needs of students and other stakeholders
•Make Change Happen–Seizes opportunities for improvement and promotes positive change

]]> Comment on CASL Virtual Meeting at CAL by Yvonne Miller http://casl.wordpress.com/casl-virtual-meeting-at-cal/#comment-3130 Yvonne Miller Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:52:28 +0000 http://casl.wordpress.com/?page_id=183#comment-3130 Thanks to everyone in the secondary librarian group at the CASL membership meeting today! It was great to hear from all of you! I tried to capture your ideas below. Please add any other ideas, questions or corrections. Thanks! Suzie - Arvada West HS: Tech Committee is taking on the role of integrating effective use of technology with staff. Staff development opportunities on new technologies (clickers, doc cameras etc). They created a Wiki to communicate division of responsibilities of sharing and integrating tech. Sara – Meadow View HS: biweekly tech tip sent out to staff on use of technology Reba – Sierra High School Poetry Slam! Collaboration of HS students to middle and elementary sharing student experiences using poetry. Phil - St Vrain: professional evaluations using smart goals for improving practices. Smart goals on a wiki so everyone can share and see other goals. Uses a smart pen which records everything you write and is downloaded as jpgs using usb connection. $169.00 at Target. Seeking High Performance Power Librarians to share on a panel for one of their staff dev. days. Mark – Skinner HS – Golden Compass pulled off shelve at middle school by librarian. School Board supported the pull of the book based on religious beliefs without reading the book – Board rescinded the decision. Yvonne Sagewood MS: Collaboration with CU Medical students and 7th graders completing an iSearch on diseases. Great opportunity for both the middle school students and CU med students! Questions – How do we preserve school librarians? Some districts are putting classified staff in libraries expecting them to teach. State Law dictates what paraprofessionals can and cannot do. Su will add link to law on the blog. Thanks to everyone in the secondary librarian group at the CASL membership meeting today! It was great to hear from all of you! I tried to capture your ideas below. Please add any other ideas, questions or corrections. Thanks!

Suzie – Arvada West HS: Tech Committee is taking on the role of integrating effective use of technology with staff. Staff development opportunities on new technologies (clickers, doc cameras etc). They created a Wiki to communicate division of responsibilities of sharing and integrating tech.

Sara – Meadow View HS: biweekly tech tip sent out to staff on use of technology

Reba – Sierra High School Poetry Slam! Collaboration of HS students to middle and elementary sharing student experiences using poetry.

Phil – St Vrain: professional evaluations using smart goals for improving practices. Smart goals on a wiki so everyone can share and see other goals. Uses a smart pen which records everything you write and is downloaded as jpgs using usb connection. $169.00 at Target. Seeking High Performance Power Librarians to share on a panel for one of their staff dev. days.

Mark – Skinner HS – Golden Compass pulled off shelve at middle school by librarian. School Board supported the pull of the book based on religious beliefs without reading the book – Board rescinded the decision.

Yvonne Sagewood MS: Collaboration with CU Medical students and 7th graders completing an iSearch on diseases. Great opportunity for both the middle school students and CU med students!

Questions –

How do we preserve school librarians? Some districts are putting classified staff in libraries expecting them to teach.

State Law dictates what paraprofessionals can and cannot do. Su will add link to law on the blog.

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