Teaching for Learning: Teaching for Diverse Learning Needs
Update December 2020:
This web page is a companion to the 2016 version of the School Library Program Rubric. NYSED released an updated School Library Program Rubric in December 2020.
Student Snapshot: All students have access to the curriculum, and the library media program ensures that every student makes progress regardless of learning style or needs. test
According to Tomlinson (2014) our experiences, culture, gender, genetic codes, and neurological wiring all affect how we learn. There is no illusion that a single lesson plan will work effectively for each learner鈥 Rather, teachers who practice differentiation accept as a given that they will need to create a variety of paths toward essential learning goals and to help students identify the paths that work best in achieving success.
Furthermore, Koechlin and Zwaan (2008) state teacher-librarians, uber responsive educators, are the magicians that make all this happen with seeming ease. They build inclusive collections, designing physical and virtual work spaces for different kinds of tasks, supporting all students in research and independent reading quests, learning and acquiring the best technology tools, and all the while dancing to the tune of individual teacher, school, district, and provincial needs.
Sources: ASCD, 2014.
Teacher Librarian, vol. 35, no. 5, 2008, pp. 8-13.
Citation for Photo: Muhlbauer, Maria. Spanish 7 Community and Neighborhood Project. 2015.
In Practice
SnapShot: A Day in the Life of a Library
Description: A blog post chronicling, in words and images, a single, hectic day in the life of a middle school library:听 classes, projects, teachers and students. Statistics tell only the barest slice of the story; libraries offer diverse learning experiences and resources for members of a school鈥檚 population.
Resource/Citation: Pioneer Middle School Library Happenings, 9 Feb. 2015.
Welcoming Special Education in the Library
Description: A PowerPoint presentation outlining specific library projects designed to spark the interest of middle school special education students.
Resource/Citation: Pioneer Middle School.
Strategy Guide: Assessing Student Interests and Strengths
Description: This Strategy Guide presents a number of specific methods for gaining a fuller picture of the interests of student learners as well as what students understand, know, and can demonstrate by doing.
Resource/Citation: ReadWriteThink.
Strategy Guide: Making the Reading Process Visible through Performance Assessment
Description: Effective differentiation begins with purposeful assessment.听 In this strategy guide, you鈥檒l learn how to construct an authentic performance-based reading assessment that will give you access to students鈥 thinking before, during, and after reading.
Resource/Citation: ReadWriteThink.
Make Learning Last: How Diverse Learners Process Their Understanding
Description: This blog post outlines the basics of differentiated instruction and provides different tools and strategies to reach diverse learners.
Resource/Citation: Edutopia, 13 Jan. 2016.
iStaff: a judgement-free community
Description: This article is about how students, in grades 6-8, at Pine Grove Middle School work in roles of leadership with the school library.
*Resource/Citation: Teacher Librarian, vol. 42, no. 1, 2014, p. 23.
Teacher Uses a Variety of Strategies to Differentiate Instruction 鈥 Example 1
Description: This video shows many strategies that can be used to differentiate learning in a math class.
Resource/Citation: EngageNY, 20 Jan. 2016.
Teacher Uses a Variety of Strategies to Differentiate Instruction 鈥 Example 2
Description: This video demonstrates how small group work can be used to effectively differentiate learning.
Resource/Citation: EngageNY, 20 Jan. 2016.
Using Technology to Differentiate by Content
Description: This video outlines strategies by which technology to differentiate content delivered to students.听 Leila Moog, a library media specialist, discusses deploying technology such as the text to speech of library databases to individualize learner experience.
Resource/Citation: LEARN NC, Feb. 2011.
In School Libraries, Differentiation through Curation
Description: This video outlines strategies by which technology to differentiate content delivered to students.听 Leila Moog, a library media specialist, discusses deploying technology such as the text to speech of library databases to individualize learner experience.
Resource/Citation: Voices in Education: Harvard Education Publishing Group, 17 Sept. 2015.
In Theory
Assistive and Adaptive Technology Resources
Description: A listing of resources and website links pertaining to assistive and adaptive resources.
*Resource/Citation: Knowledge Quest, vol. 39, no. 3, 2011, p. 70.
Differentiating for Multiple Intelligences: A Study of Students鈥 Understandings through the Use of Aesthetic Representations
Description: A study exploring the intersection between differentiation and Gardner鈥檚 idea of Multiple Intelligences as it pertains to educating students.
*Resource/Citation: Issues in Teacher Education, 2013, vol. 22, no. 2, p. 69.
Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn鈥檛 Fit All
Description: This book reviews the aspects of education that can be differentiated, and details why educators should differentiate their lessons. It includes tables to organize information and a model of how to plan differentiated instruction.
*Resource/Citation: Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn't Fit All, 2013.
Libraries and Autism: We鈥檙e Connected
Description: A PowerPoint presentation discussing how libraries can best serve patrons who are on the autism spectrum.
Resource/Citation: 澳门特码王 Department of Health, 28 Mar. 2012.
Library Media Standards
Description: The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization formed in 1987 to advance the quality of teaching and learning by developing professional standards for accomplished teaching. Their NBPTS Library Media Standards include Standard I: Knowledge of Learners, which says, 鈥淎ccomplished library media specialists have knowledge of learning styles and of human growth and development.鈥澨
Resource/Citation: 听 National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2012.
Introducing an Information-Seeking Skill in a School Library to Students with Autism听Spectrum Disorder: Using Video Modeling and Least-to-Most Prompts
Description: Noting a lack of existing literature on least-to-most prompting and video modeling in a library setting, Markey considers the experience of five children who worked with this method and suggests that it can be valuable in teaching students with autism to use library materials.
Resource/Citation: School Library Research: Research Journal of the American Association of School Librarians, vol. 18, 2015, pp. 1-31.
Reaching All Learners: Understanding and Leveraging Points of Intersection for School Librarians and Special Education Teachers
Description: Perrault conducted interviews with six librarians and six special education teachers in order to understand how they work with students with disabilities; they discussed adaptive technologies and inclusive education practices. Her article includes an overview of the current educational climate, a chart of points of intersection between the educators, and an analysis of the educators鈥 shared concerns.
Resource/Citation: School Library Research: Research Journal of the American Association of School Librarians, vol. 14, 2011, pp. 1-13.
Multimodal Resources for the Education of All
Description: A listing of resources aimed to help librarians learn about disabilities and remove barriers to information.
*Resource/Citation: Knowledge Quest, vol. 39, no. 3, 2011, p. 36.
School Librarians of the 21st Century: Using Resources and Assistive Technologies to Support Students鈥 Differences and Abilities
Description: Practical tips for selecting technologies to support all learners and learning tasks.
*Resource/Citation: Knowledge Quest, vol. 39, no. 3, 2011, p. 64.
UD and UDL: Paving the Way toward Inclusion and Independence in the School Library
Description: An article discussing how principles found in Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning can be used to assist students with disabilities.
*Resource/Citation: Knowledge Quest, vol. 39, no. 3, 2011, p. 48.
Building Strong Readers: Increase Strength and Confidence through Complex Text
Description: A discussion about the different ways complex text can be used to enhance student learning.
Resource/Citation: Literacy Today, vol. 33, no. 5, 2016, pp. 46+.听
3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners: What Teachers Do
Description: A blog post outlining ways in which to differentiate content, process, and product.
Resource/Citation: Edutopia, 23 Jul. 2014.
Consultant
Name: Maria Muhlbauer
Email: maria.muhlbauer@gmail.com
Bio: Maria is a school librarian at Pioneer Middle School in Yorkshire, NY. She has an interest in providing unique experiences to meet the needs of all learners. Maria is the Past President of the School Librarians鈥 Association of Western New York and currently serves as an Adjunct Instructor for the University at Buffalo Department of Library and Information Studies.
*To access restricted database articles speak with your school librarian or public librarian.