Task 3: Professional Goal Setting
Having experienced the first year of being a librarian I know it’s overwhelming. I didn’t expect that setting up a framework to mentor a new librarian would be as overwhelming as it has been. There are so many areas to cover! The AASL standards doc is more manageable than the book, but it’s still 11 pages long and includes three perspectives and four domains. Add this to the fact that there is so much a new librarian can’t know immediately. How can they know what gaps the students have? Or what is working or not working in their space? I tried to manage the scope by providing organization and trying to break things down into smaller parts.
My first step in creating a draft framework for working with my mentee was to provide a location where everything would live. I chose a shared Google doc as I assume most educators at this point have a great deal of familiarity with the platform. I have some other organizational tools that I like that I would be happy to share with my mentee in the future but wanted to start out in a comfortable environment. My hope is that all of our shared work will either live in or launch from this doc. Right at the top is a link to a doc with our contact information and a shared calendar so there’s no confusion about meeting times and expectations for the meetings. It’s important to me to begin the process with the understanding that we will accomplish concrete things every time we meet. Embedded in this process is a “roses and thorns” reflection before each meeting. I am slightly conflicted about this as I don’t want to overwhelm the mentee with extra work but I also like having them focus on the positive things happening in their library and have a record of these good things as well as see the improvements made on the challenging items. Perhaps it should just be roses and the questions/concerns doc would take care of the thorns? I’m curious what others think.
My first step would be to ask the new librarian to undertake a stream of consciousness reflection about their new space and new responsibilities. I love the idea of keeping this first reflection and having the librarian return to it later to see their growth. I thought we’d go over this reflection together and pull out 1-3 short-term goals, and 1-3 longer-term goals and put them on our questions and concerns doc. Together we can set deadlines to complete the short-term goals and perhaps chunk the longer-term goals. I expect that a majority of these would be very school-specific and procedural to start: What are the librarian’s specific responsibilities? How to order books and supplies? Are new students entered in the Library Management software? I expect much of the mentee’s immediate concerns while important to be less formal than annual professional goals.
As I am focusing on breaking up the broad areas into manageable chunks, I think the mentee should first focus on their space, both the physical and virtual space. While they will definitely discover more as they work in the space, there are probably observations they will have right at the start. I slightly adapted Mentoring Matters Form H with AASL standards to focus solely on the library space.
Next, I think we would look at the evaluation tool that their district uses as well as AASL Standards to make sure the librarian is prepared for observation. If the district doesn’t have a specific tool, I would look at Danielson’s framework for Library Media Specialist or perhaps this one I recently found: Mississippi School Librarian Growth Rubric.
I would then focus on the librarian standards and after a few weeks or so look at the learners’ standards.
I feel much better now that I have this framework for our work together. I look forward to receiving feedback on it.
Your ideas for a framework are spot on. It is overwhelming for someone new to a school library to wonder where to begin. Even a person with previous experience, will encounter the same challenges. In the first few weeks, there is so much to absorb, that may seem like herding cats. The document that you created will be a useful guiding tool for you and your mentee. I can see that it will continue to expand as you work together to determine the best pathways for your mentee. It may be that you might also want to create a shared folder of resources organized for tasks, etc. I have found that the calendar that Nancy adapted from the MM calendar is also a fine way to reference and keep track of progress. Your idea to begin with asking your mentee to share wishes and dreams and personal goals is very validating, and returning to it now and then, keeps it fresh. It is also a starting point for realizing that implementation of a vision for the school library takes hard work and lots of time, and input from others.
ReplyDeleteManageable chunks-that’s the way to go! You have multiple forms and tolls to share as you bite into the chunks with your mentee. Thanks for sharing!