Collaboration is a wonderful thing for school librarians because there are so many opportunities for collaboration with fellow educators, students, administrators, and the community. School librarians can become leaders in their school communities through collaboration. Collaboration can take many forms, from a fellow educator in a single classroom to a whole school curriculum, district event, or school-wide professional development. The beauty of collaboration is in the options and opportunities!
In the Nov/Dec issue of Knowledge Quest, we have gathered together exciting examples of collaboration happening at all different levels, in many sizes and forms. Collaboration to transform curriculum district-wide, a Comic-Con event organized for five middle schools and a high school, a cross-departmental collaboration with the school librarian, and a school library department-led, all-school faculty professional development day are all highlighted in the issue.
The Key Commitment for the Collaborate Shared Foundation in the AASL Standards states collaboration is to “Work effectively with others to broaden perspectives and work towards common goals.” I hope this issue inspires you to find different perspectives and common goals in your school communities to help cultivate a culture of collaboration.
About the Content Expert
Mary Catherine Coleman is an elementary school librarian at the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, Illinois. She has been working in public and school libraries for fifteen years. She received the 2017 AASL Collaborative School Library Award. Coleman is the author of the book Collaborate about the AASL Shared Foundation. She is always looking for ways to integrate technology, collaboration, innovation, and design thinking into library and school curriculum.
Knowledge Quest, Volume 49, No. 2 – School Librarians Take the Lead Collaborating on Professional Development
Feature
School Librarians Take the Lead Collaborating on Professional Development
Mary Catherine Coleman
Collaboration Articles
Collaborating to Transform Teaching and Learning
Shirley Simmons, Lee Nelson, Kathryn Roots Lewis, Teresa Lansford, Martha Pangburn, Chloe Summers, and Laura Schrank Patterson
Making the Comic-Con Connection: Using Student Interests to Foster Unique Opportunities for Collaboration
Jennifer Sutton and Mariela Siegert
The Zine Project
Jillian Ehlers
Articles
Never a Bystander and Other Enduring Lessons for Holocaust Remembrance
Margaret Lincoln
Departments
President’s Column
Leveraging Collaboration in an Evolving Learning Environment
Kathy Carroll
KQ Editorial Board Liaison Column
School Librarians Are Collaboration Superheroes
Melissa E. Gardner
Columns
AASL Position Statement
The Instructional Role of the School Librarian
AASL Honors 2020 Award and Grant Recipients
Research into Practice Column
The Experience of School and Public Library Collaboration
Jenna Kammer and Denise Moreland
CBC Column
How Do You Mend a Broken Heart? Ask a Librarian
Kate Klise and Sarah Klise
Author: Mary Catherine Coleman
Categories: KQ Content
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