The name of my blog is The Retired Rookie.  What I am retired from is teaching - what I am a rookie at is being a library media specialist.  So, after a year of occasional attempts to understand the AASL National School Library Standards, my SLIS 761 course finally prompted me to actually study the document and come to a better understanding of the framework and the classroom application of the standards.  Upon my first examination of the ISTE standards, I immediately found these standards to be approachable and much easier to understand than the AASL standards.  Now I feel like I have a working knowledge of both documents.

As I mentioned, I come to the field of library media from the field of teaching - a journey shared by many in the school library field.  That said, I found the article "School Librarians Level Up" by Jennifer Freedman and Alice Robinson very relatable as they presented the AASL standards through a process teachers are familiar with called "unpacking the standards" (Freedman and Robinson, 2019).

Unpacking!
(picture of box with objects)
Picture from Pixabay

Freedman and Robinson helped me to see that in the AASL standards for Librarians, the Shared Foundations and the Domains serve to focus my attention, but the Key Commitments and the Learner and Librarian Competencies are where the action is (Freedman & Robinson, 2019).  I really like the word commitment that the AASL uses because as teacher librarians we are truly committed to our actions in the classroom making a difference in the lives of our students (American Association of School Librarians, 2018b).

It takes a bit of an effort to comprehend the AASL standards and the ISTE Crosswalk because the focus for the Learner, the School Librarian and the School Library all demand thought and processing while the ISTE standards feel more easily applied to teacher action (American Association of School Librarians, 2018a).  Even when you go to the ISTE standards web page, you can select your area of focus and read just from the perspective you are seeking (International Society for Technology in Education, 2000).

What I think a maker space should be.
(large warehouse-like area with many tools)
Photo from Pixabay 

As a school librarian without a maker space, I feel stressed by standards that include making, but I can settle in with standards that call for tinkering (American Association of School Librarians, 2018a).  I really like the ISTE interpretation of problem-solving as a computational thinking model and one that can be done without a full maker space, while at the same time I acknowledge that the AASL standards do indicate that the School Library can function as a virtual space at the same time it functions as a physical space (American Association of School Librarians, 2018a).  One goal I have for this year is to begin novel engineering and let students begin to tinker based on their interpretations of the books we read.  To do so, I will have to familiarize myself with what the AASL calls the cycle of design while I am already familiar with the ISTE-referenced design process (American Association of School Librarians, 2018a).  What I am unsure of is how far tinkering goes toward the full making process or can you tinker with no end goal in mind?  Freedman and Robinson referred to an activity in their pursuit of School Librarian V.B.2  (American Association of School Librarians, 2018a) that seems to walk the line between tinkering and making (Freedman & Robinson, 2019) and really challenges my perception of what I can accomplish in my space.

What tinkering and making could look like in my library.
(students pulling random objects out of a plastic bin)
photo from Pixabay

In the Domain, Grow, I really like the AASL reference to scaffolding, being open-minded, and fostering learning environments, but I see equally encouraging words in the ISTE standards - words like understanding, respect, and fostering a culture (American Association of School Librarians, 2018a).  I see the Learner and the School Librarian in the AASL standards represented in the learner and leader in the ISTE standards, but I just love the idea of the School Library as a functioning partner in the AASL standards (American Association of School Librarians, 2018a).  The ISTE standards broaden the idea of the learner into other roles such as the citizen, the collaborator, the designer, the computational thinker, and the creative communicator (International Society for Technology in Education, 2000).  

Finally, I take comfort in both sets of standards using the word "collaborate" frequently (American Association of School Librarians, 2018a).  After all, we will only grow as we continue to collaborate with others.  I need to further my collaboration with teachers, with the technology specialists, and even grow as a facilitator so my relationship with my students can become less instructional (at the appropriate times) and more collaborative.
 

The Retired Rookie

References:

American Association of School Librarians. (2018a). National school library standards crosswalk.              American Library Association.

American Association of School Librarians.  (2018b). National school library standards for learners,        school librarians, and school libraries.  ALA.

Freedman, J., & Robinson, A.A. (2019).  School librarians level up!  Knowledge Quest, 47(5), 12-15

International Society for Technology in Education (2000). The ISTE standards.  https://www.Iste.org/        Iste-Standards.  Retrieved September 2, 2022, from https://www.iste.oorg/iste-standards