Em's Ever Evolving Erudition

3 Things to Consider about Learner Differences When Planning Instruction: 1. Cultural background can influence how a student behaves in class as well as their learning style. 2. There are gender differences by population but they do not define individuals. 3. Teachers should guard against teaching solely in the learning style that they prefer. Having an understanding of one’s preferred style can help bring to attention how they teach. 2 Ways Librarians can Facilitate this in their Schools: 1. School Librarians provide resources for a diverse community. They collect various methods of communication: print, audio, visual, as well as assistive technology. They also have in their collection professional materials for teachers to help them design instruction tailored to different types of learners. 2. Library instruction helps develop the habit of metacognition. Teaching the research process has the students developing questions (hopefully student based questions, rather than teache...

January 24, 2011 Dear AASL, I’m writing to you in an effort to bring about change. The debate over what we call ourselves has gone on for too long. We should not call ourselves “School Librarians” nor “Teacher-Librarians” or even “School Library Media Specialists.” Let us cut through all this terminology and call us what we really are: “Superwoman” or “Superman” depending on gender. (I will use Superwoman for ease of reading). The nation is in turmoil over the education system. The world’s expectations of students entering the workforce and college are currently not being met. The workforce is looking for independent learners that possess problem solving abilities as well as the ability to work with new technology AND work in teams. College professors expects their students to have a large variety of skills including analyzing source documents, supporting arguments with evidence, and conducting research. “Superwomen” are the ones who teach and model all of these skills. This c...