[aisle] 7th/8th Grade Research teacher pushback...

Fri Oct 15 13:44:01 CDT 2021

Don't go to your admin until you've had a private conversation with each of
the snarky teachers, and otherwise done everything else you can do
to rectify the situation on your own. The teachers will view you as a
tattle-tale, and Admin. will think you can't handle it.

What about a conversation with the teacher that begins 'It's clear my
curriculum isn't meeting your students' needs. What can we change to
support what you're doing in the classroom?' I know it's like eating crow,
but some people just have to feel like they're in control to work with
anyone else.

Are you able to sit in on their team meetings for a few minutes every
couple of weeks? You'd probably hear things about what they're doing, and
could offer some supportive suggestions ('would our database on ___ help? I
could spend library time showing the students how to use it.').  School
librarians usually have to find their own way into departmental planning -
you can't wait to be invited.

How do the teams function themselves? If they are a trainwreck, you're not
going to have any luck with the group. In that case, pick a few teachers
you think you CAN work with, and like Kathy said above, if it works well
then all the teachers will want in. If they've asked to meet with you, all
the better IF they have some clear curricular goals you can help with. If
all they want you to do is checkout and book talks, you have a problem!

Good luck, and keep your head up!

On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 12:56 PM Dawn Scuderi via AISLE <
aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> Hi Kathy,
>
> First, thanks for reading my whole long email!
>
> 8th Grade does no research for the entire year.  There is no 8th grade
> research except for the 40 kids that are in our accelerated classes.  The
> previous librarian supervised kids and checked out materials and that was
> it.  No one in the science group was willing to put themselves out there.
> I met with everyone at the end of last year.
>
> There really was not an opportunity to tie it into any planning in any
> group's curriculum so I thought that having them exposed to the content was
> more important than just doing nothing.  Also, I am on the teacher
> danielson so I had to have an assessable lesson (not ideal).  There is no
> requirement for "lessons" but I try to tie stuff in with the calendar like
> banned book week and poetry month.
>
> I am afraid that if I address this with the teacher, I will lose all of
> 8th grade.  :(
>
> On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 12:15 PM Kathy Wickline via AISLE <
> aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
>> Dawn,
>> First, your treatment by a fellow professional is deplorable. Before
>> going to your admin, I would meet with the teacher.
>>
>> Secondly, were these lessons taught in conjunction with students using
>> the information for databases, citations, and validating websites?  I
>> definitely believe students won't retain this information unless they are
>> being asked to apply it.  Remember the old four-step approach:  Tell, Show,
>> Do, Apply.  Once the teachers and students apply what you have shown, then
>> your lessons will be valuable to them.
>>
>> Last of all, if the eighth grade isn't doing any research this semester,
>> then research as your goal is probably not the goal for this semester.  Are
>> you required to have weekly lessons with the ELA classes?
>>
>> I remember starting out and finding one or two teachers with whom I felt
>> I could successfully work.  We came up with projects that went with their
>> curriculum and then after other teachers saw this, they were willing to
>> work with me, too.  I found the social studies and science teachers were
>> very open because they don't have to stick so closely to Common Core, so I
>> started with them.  After all, they can have their students complete
>> research, too.
>>
>> Kathy Wickline
>> Unity Junior High Librarian
>> Tolono, IL
>> wicklinek at unity.k12.il.us
>>
>> Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ujhslibrary
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 11:04 AM Dawn Scuderi via AISLE <
>> aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> I could really use some advice.....
>>>
>>> I am in my second year at a middle school.  As you all know, last year
>>> was a train wreck for most libraries.  I was closed for 4 months at the
>>> start of the year.  Many of last years 7th graders didn't get any library
>>> lessons as I was pulled to teach in other parts of the building.
>>>
>>> Last year, I met with ELA (the only users of the library in this
>>> district) and they advised me 3 things about research content in their
>>> curriculum:
>>> 7th Grade does research at the second half of the year.
>>> 8th Grade ELA does NO research
>>> 8th Grade Science (only our highest kids) do research for the science
>>> fair.
>>>
>>> When I had to create my professional goal with my admin, I chose to
>>> focus on research.  I taught 3 lessons.  Databases, validating websites and
>>> citations.  I see kids every 2 weeks for 40 minutes, and to accommodate
>>> reading, I mixed in banned book discussion and narrative non-fiction
>>> booktalks.
>>>
>>> Now, there has been pushback from 8th Grade ELA who are sick of my
>>> content.  One of them decided to not have students bring tech for my formal
>>> eval because she wanted to have more time for checkout and not do the end
>>> of my lesson (she knew it was my formal) and another talks to kids over my
>>> lessons (about sports and non related stuff) and makes snarky and passive
>>> aggressive comments during my lesson for the benefit of the students.  Now
>>> students are starting to be disrespectful.
>>>
>>> Advice?  Should I go to my admin?  I feel like the level of disrespect
>>> is painful.
>>>
>>> They want to meet with me to have me alter my calendar to better meet
>>> their curriculum...
>>>
>>> What do you think?
>>>
>>> HELP,
>>> Dawn
>>> MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG
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>>
>> MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG
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