Blog 4: COLLABORATE
I interviewed Henry E. Bonner Elementary School Librarian Melissa Mills for the AASL Shared Foundation Collaborate. Mrs. Mills incorporates lots of collaborative opportunities in all of her library lessons. She commonly uses turn and talk, group work, questions, and working in small groups on STEM activities. I asked her if collaboration would be different for the littlest learners (K5) versus the older grades. She said that she really implements the collaborative opportunities in the same way and that kindergarteners can do a lot more than they are often given credit for. She advises not to be afraid to give them responsibilities because they will surprise you with what they are really capable of. She advises that for littler students the things that may need to be modified are the placement of objects and the number of students in a group or where the project takes place. For example, having four kindergartners work on a Lego project will cause issues because their arms are little so if you put the project in the center of the table they will each be pulling it towards themselves which causes an argument. You can address it by either having the groups work on the floor or to put them in pairs where they can sit beside each other. She also shares that developmentally they are usually good about sharing with one partner but taking turns and sharing in larger groups can be too much for them. Mrs. Mills uses lots of STEM and Maker tools to support collaborative learning. She has Legos, Makey Makeys, Play Doh, magnetic blocks, robots, and a huge assortment of odds and ends for groups to create with.
One recent collaboration with teachers involved a fourth grade unit on electricity. The teachers had taught the unit in the classroom but wanted a way for the students to experience working with electricity. Mrs. Mills took what they had taught and expanded on it. She created the library lesson to take that off the teacher’s plate and had them approve it. The students experimented with electricity using the Makey Makey kits. They built circuit boards and tested materials to determine if they were conductive or not. The students loved it and were most surprised to find that bananas were conductors! She taught the lesson with student groups of four due to the limited number of Makey Makeys, but now that she has more she will do pairs next time.
This is the first year that Henry E. Bonner Elementary library has been on flex schedule instead of being a fixed special area so that is presenting its own unique set of challenges. Mrs. Mills is working hard to advertise what she / the library can do to help teachers. Teachers can drop their class off which can be a big help to them. If she is collaborating with one teacher she sends out an email to the others in that grade level to say hey, here is something I am teaching. Do you want to sign up? Most teachers will schedule their kids if they see these.
Another challenge can be student behavior. Since she does not teach the students on a fixed schedule, she might not always know which students don’t pair well together. Sometimes students have a hard time when the group doesn’t go with their ideas. She says that setting clear expectations up front helps a lot. She tells them that if they can’t agree they will vote in the group and if there is a tie they will do paper rock scissors. Knowing the expectations can help the groups collaborate more smoothly.
I asked Mrs. Mills what advice she would give to someone who might be in a library that is transitioning from fixed to flex. She shares that you really have to work hard and put yourself out there as far as what you can do and how you can help. You have to advertise. Once you have some successful collaborations word starts to spread and more people want to come work with you. She also shares that setting clear expectations in all areas is critical.
I really appreciate Mrs. Mills’ advice on getting started with collaboration in a flex schedule library. I get a little nervous grouping younger students due to my lack of experience with this age group, so her strategies are something that I can refer back to in the future. I also really appreciated the opportunity to see what a flex schedule looks like in elementary school and how collaborating with teachers on a flex schedule is much different than a fixed schedule.
One recent collaboration with teachers involved a fourth grade unit on electricity. The teachers had taught the unit in the classroom but wanted a way for the students to experience working with electricity. Mrs. Mills took what they had taught and expanded on it. She created the library lesson to take that off the teacher’s plate and had them approve it. The students experimented with electricity using the Makey Makey kits. They built circuit boards and tested materials to determine if they were conductive or not. The students loved it and were most surprised to find that bananas were conductors! She taught the lesson with student groups of four due to the limited number of Makey Makeys, but now that she has more she will do pairs next time.
This is the first year that Henry E. Bonner Elementary library has been on flex schedule instead of being a fixed special area so that is presenting its own unique set of challenges. Mrs. Mills is working hard to advertise what she / the library can do to help teachers. Teachers can drop their class off which can be a big help to them. If she is collaborating with one teacher she sends out an email to the others in that grade level to say hey, here is something I am teaching. Do you want to sign up? Most teachers will schedule their kids if they see these.
Another challenge can be student behavior. Since she does not teach the students on a fixed schedule, she might not always know which students don’t pair well together. Sometimes students have a hard time when the group doesn’t go with their ideas. She says that setting clear expectations up front helps a lot. She tells them that if they can’t agree they will vote in the group and if there is a tie they will do paper rock scissors. Knowing the expectations can help the groups collaborate more smoothly.
I asked Mrs. Mills what advice she would give to someone who might be in a library that is transitioning from fixed to flex. She shares that you really have to work hard and put yourself out there as far as what you can do and how you can help. You have to advertise. Once you have some successful collaborations word starts to spread and more people want to come work with you. She also shares that setting clear expectations in all areas is critical.
I really appreciate Mrs. Mills’ advice on getting started with collaboration in a flex schedule library. I get a little nervous grouping younger students due to my lack of experience with this age group, so her strategies are something that I can refer back to in the future. I also really appreciated the opportunity to see what a flex schedule looks like in elementary school and how collaborating with teachers on a flex schedule is much different than a fixed schedule.
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