Kenneth A. Kiewra

Many many professional books concentrate on helping the teacher become a better teacher in front of the class as they deliver content, create assignments, manage behavior and organize their content to meet different learning styles. Kiewra presents his idea that we need to teach the students learning strategies to meet us as teachers half way. Teacher librarian’s contribution to learning is part of teaching students how to learn. We want to co-teach to see that the learning strategies of information literacy are taught in a way that enhances content learning. Thus our interest that here is a book that stresses the balance between how the teacher performs and how the students match the teaching effort through their own learning strategies. No mention of teacher librarians in this book. Kiewra is just interested in the teacher in an obviously closed classroom environment. However, the AASL Learning Standards provide the view of learning activitie when the classroom door opens into the world of information and technology. Like the learning standards Kiewra stresses ideas similar to our dispositions, responsibilities and self-evaluation by the students as they practice inquiry. If the classroom teacher can understand that by opening the door to a new world and to a specialist in the school known as the teacher librarian, magic and wonderful things happen by stressing both content and process learning. Let us assume that your professional learning community is reading this book together and that you are at the table during the discussion. It would seem a simple matter to turn the Kiewra strategy into the idea that two heads are better than one. Try out this book on a teacher or two. Get the conversation started toward elevating both content and process teaching and learning. It just might be the way to get your nose under the tent into the classroom.… (altro)