A conversation with Ms. Stein

Explore Key Commitment: Discover and innovate a growth mindset developed through experience and reflection. 

For the past six years, I was an elementary school reading teacher at Windsor Hill Elementary and have since moved on to be a librarian at the middle school up the road. However, the librarian at Windsor Hill will always be a valuable colleague and profession resource for me as she helped fuel my passion for this profession. Mrs. Stein is unique as an elementary school librarian since she came from the public side of librarianship before landing in a school, and even more so since she spent much of her time in a law library. 

When I started our conversation on the Explore competency of the AASL standards, Mrs. Stein immediately jumped into the think domain which focuses on fostering student's personal curiosity. She shared that some of her favorite lessons to do with students center around nonfiction texts where she guides them through a KWL chart (know, want to know, and learned) in order to get their minds thinking about the known and unknown. Specifically with her first grade classes, she asked them questions about bats to get them excited about what they already knew (they fly at night!) and what they didn't know (why do they hang upside down). After finishing her nonfiction lesson on bats, she also read the classes Stellaluna to connect fiction text as well. This example lesson demonstrated her understanding of getting students to think for themselves about what they want to know and are curious about, but also a great example of how to engage students in a lesson they are excited to be a part of. I personally enjoyed how she modeled the KWL chart with the students and left it hanging on the wall to refer back to throughout their lessons and I want to use this strategy in my middle school library position. However, it can be harder to ignite middle schooler's personal curiosity and her lesson showed how I can use different types of text to engage everyone.

Furthermore, when we discussed what resources she uses to help  implement the Explore competency, she immediately shared that she loved to use databases with fourth and fifth graders to conduct research and also for entertainment. She said she hits the grow domain with the upper level classes by challenging them to find information using the SC Discus databases and help them develop their research abilities while showing them they are capable of conducting research without using google. When Mrs. Stein was discussing her research lessons with me, I immediately recognized how I can use her experience and advice with my middle schoolers who often come in with a negative mindset that they can't do research and it's too hard. Her lessons on using databases demonstrated how I can help change my students thinking to a more growth mindset and give them the tools they need to be successful researchers, while then expanding into evaluating sources and information. 

Mrs. Stein and I also discussed her collaborations with other teachers, which she admitted was hard for her at first and she did not do very much collaboration her first year until she understood the basics of how to run the library. Now she collaborates with academic classroom teachers and fine arts teachers to explore information and knowledge in new ways. She shared that one of her favorite lessons of all time involved collaborating with a physical education teacher to have students physically moving and problem solving while they learn to engage both sides of their brain. Her excitement and success with this collaboration helped remind me that I am not limited as a librarian to only collaborate with core academic teachers, but can bring in all members of the school community to the library for student focused learning and activities.

Overall, Mrs. Stein shared that her biggest challenge with the Explore competency is having the time to do everything she wants to in her lessons since they are limited to 25-30 minutes at her school. However, she says she learns more every year and keeps improving her lessons to ensure she is being a successful librarian while also having a fun time with her elementary students. Throughout the whole conversation, Mrs. Stein's positive attitude about the Explore competency reminded me that the AASL standards are not a checklist we have to go down, but instead a way to elevate the learning experiences in the library to make them fun and meaningful.