AASL Standards Interview- Denelle Thompson

Ms. Denelle Thompson is a K-5 school librarian at Varnille Elementary in Varnville, SC. She expressed to me that she was a first year librarian, however, she taught school as a 4th and 5th grade teacher for about four years. Almost instantly, we connected. Ms. Thompson agreed to speak more with me regarding the AASL standards. She said this was the perfect interview for her since she was fresh out of the MLIS program at USC and was very familiar with the standards. I have listed her shared foundation, domain, and competencies below: Shared Foundation III: Collaborate Domain- A. Think Competencies: School Librarians facilitate collaborative opportunities by: Challenging learners to work with others to broaden and deepen understanding Organizing learner groups for decision making and problem solving When asked about examples of ways in which Ms. Thompson are implementing these competencies in your library program, she elaborated on a few different strategies. In her library, younger students sit on the carpet (older at tables) and she utilizes the "Think, Pair, Share". This strategy allows students to choose a partner (usually some one sitting close to them) and discuss their ideas about the story or question that was posed to them with a partner. The students then share out their answers to the class by telling what their partner said. There are also times when she have students complete a group activity based off of the lesson that was just taught. Ms. Thompson also have two group center activities where students collaborate to build pre-designed structures or come up with their own ideas. She also included the main resource that she uses to implement the above competences are center activities consist of blocks and gears; lesson activities are also used. Ms. Thompson also expressed that she collaborates with classroom teachers. Normally she plans lessons based on the school's reading goal for the year or if her principal feels that there is a grade level that needs more support with specific standards, she works on that. She also work with the teachers of older grades (4th-6th) on projects that are individual or group based. Some challenges that she has faced when attempting to implement these competencies includes having difficulties with collaboration. She expressed that Collaboration requires students to work together, which means different personalities being able to work together. Of course that is not always easy. When groups are having difficulties working together, she normally intervene and act as the mediator. This issue normally happens during the first couple of months after group work is implemented, but it gets better with time. Another resolution to the problem is switching the groups up works well or speaking with their classroom teacher to see who work doesn’t well together can stop problems before they arise. When asked if she had any further comments, Ms. Thompson expressed that the only thing that she can say is that collaboration is hard for adults and students are no different. It takes time for the children to get used to working in groups. We have to learn to be patient with them and don't be afraid to stand back and see if the students work it out for themselves before intervening. I could not agree with this statement more. Collaboration is a tedious task, and must be implemented correctly, if we are expecting it to be an asset to our teaching and learning for students. This interview was also very beneficial as Ms. Thompson is a first year librarian. She also provided me with very good tips and suggestions as I begin my own career as a school librarian.