Category: Inquiry

Picture Book Column: Using Non-Fiction Picture Books with Guided Inquiry Design

5/17/2022

Luke Steere is the librarian at Wilson Middle School in Natick, MA

I. My Sixth Grade Guided Inquiry Class

At Wilson Middle School my Guided Inquiry Design (GID) class is focused on student’s self-schemas. Whatever topic they would like to research, they study. The challenge is squeezing it all into 16 sessions: the trimester special is split with a tech ed course. This is not a total bummer: one of the things the time restriction breeds is more focused topics. I encourage a lot of sharing within the inquiry community to see how seemingly disparate topics can connect to overarching themes.

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How a Meaningful and Personalized Mission Statement and Inquiry Skills Framework Can Breathe New Life Into Your School Library Program

5/1/2018

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Emily Houston and Kendall Boninti are the librarians at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge, MA and they received a 2018 Web Seal of Excellence Award.

In the year and a half we have been working together in the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Library, the two of us have sought to create a more equitable, accessible, and joyful experience for our students by making big changes to the physical space, programming, and the way we teach and collaborate with colleagues. After weeding and moving our print collection and revamping our website in the fall, we decided our next step was to formalize our mission and create a library learner competencies framework. We’ve already seen the impact that they have had on our program and we want to share our process with school library community.

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Rebranding the library...as a library

10/15/2016

6 Comments

Amy Fiske is the Librarian at Wellesley High School and winner of a 2016 MSLA web seal of excellence award

As I sit down to write this article, I am partway through a multi-year process to change the culture in our high school library. I am changing it in a direction that will surprise some, who may remember me presenting at MSLA on the subject of Innovation Centers in school libraries. However, not every new trend is appropriate in every setting. What I and my colleagues have learned in the last three years is that it may be far more effective to find the niche that is empty at your school...and then fill it.

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Making Waves: Connecting Community, Inquiry, and the School Library

5/7/2016

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Samantha Whitney is a librarian at Gloucester High School
and a winner of a 2016 MSLA President's Award

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, and find your eternity in each moment.”
― Henry David Thoreau

While completing course work in my school library teacher program, one of my professors advised us to lay low, observe behaviors in leadership, identify those with influence and to not make waves in the first couple of years on the job. I often reflect on this advice as I pass the ocean every day on my way to school and how happy I am that I did not completely follow that advice. Getting involved in my community and making waves helped to advance my school library program initiatives and position the library as an integral learning resource. Most importantly, the decision to jump in quickly has made me a confident, knowledgeable, and effective teacher.

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Picture Book Column: Using Non-Fiction Picture Books with Guided Inquiry Design

How a Meaningful and Personalized Mission Statement and Inquiry Skills Framework Can Breathe New Life Into Your School Library Program

Rebranding the library...as a library

Making Waves: Connecting Community, Inquiry, and the School Library

Forum Newsletter

Co-Editors
Luke Steere and Michelle Fontaine

Categories

Archives

Picture Book Column: Using Non-Fiction Picture Books with Guided Inquiry Design

How a Meaningful and Personalized Mission Statement and Inquiry Skills Framework Can Breathe New Life Into Your School Library Program

Rebranding the library...as a library

Making Waves: Connecting Community, Inquiry, and the School Library

Forum Newsletter

Co-Editors​Luke Steere and Michelle Fontaine

Categories

Archives

Co-Editors
Luke Steere and Michelle Fontaine