Assignment+1

= Assignment 1: Selection of Curriculum Area, Grade Level, and Rationale =

Curriculum documents for the grade level and subject
The original pdf of the Integrated Resource Package for Biology 12 is here Below is a copy of the Prescribed Learning Outcomes (PLOs).


 * Biology 12 is divided into 3 major units: Processes of Science, Cell Biology and Human Biology**

The Cell Biology Unit is broken down into 6 components:

(a) Cell Structure, (b) Cell Compounds and Biological Molecules, (c) DNA Replication, (d) Protein Synthesis, (e) Transport Across Cell Membrane, (f) Enzymes

The Human Biology Unit is broken down into 6 systems

(a) Digestive, (b) Circulatory, (c) Respiratory, (d) Nervous, (e) Urinary, (f) Reproductive



Rationale
After four years of TOCing in Surrey School District, I decided it was time to head back into the classroom. My head was swimming with ideas on how to improve my teaching after entering the hundreds of different classrooms and taking on the Teacher-Librarianship Diploma. When the T-L position popped up last December, I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to test the waters in the field I want to grow in. While I am enjoying my time immensely in the library, I feel inadequate in knowledge and experience. This course, Selection of Learning Resources I, will help me fill some of the gaps I have.

While I still have some time at my school library, I thought it would be worthwhile to choose a section that I could promote eventually. Since this first assignment determines my focus for the remainder of the term, I chose the Science curriculum. Science is one of my teaching backgrounds and I am most comfortable in this area. I have previously taught Junior Sciences and I covered the Biology 12 and Chemistry 11 classes for one of the Science teachers at my school for several weeks prior to becoming the T-L. Due to my brief experience in the classroom teaching the subject and my interaction with the Science teachers and students, I decided to choose Biology 12 as my subject of interest. I want to create assignments and research projects that could possibly promote library use for this course in particular. Basing my assignments on this subject would help me build a stronger collection in order to obtain my goal. Furthermore, Biology 12 is essentially an in depth version of the biology unit for the junior Sciences 8 and 9. This means that choosing Biology 12 also helps in other subjects.

According to Kay Bishop, part of building the collection includes “knowing the community” and “assessing needs” (2007, p.10,11). From my short time in the library at my school, I have observed the different groups of classes who come in and incorporate research and technological skills with their subjects. Certain teachers incorporate the library more than others as part of the student learning. This is partially due to the teacher’s choice but also in content. This school has a few new teachers who are covering maternity leaves and are busy trying to ensure they teach all the PLO’s before considering the library. Some teachers are returning from their leave and getting back into the groove of things. Finally, there are teachers who are unsure of what the library can offer and feel that they would be intruding.

As I mentioned, content also plays a factor. For senior level courses that are content heavy like Biology 12, teachers are hesitant in bringing their classes to the library in fear of losing time to teach all the PLOs. It is my job to break those barriers and show them how our collaboration complements what they teach. This falls under assessing needs. The collection the T-L develops is meant to serve its users. I want to overcome all those obstacles listed above by providing different types of resources that can support the Biology 12 curriculum in such a way that would make the library the optimal and essential part of their studies.

Asselin talks about the important role the library plays in providing the necessary skills for students to become information literate. She states that,

// Access to information and ideas is essential for students to become critical thinkers, competent problem solvers, and lifelong learners who contribute productively and ethically to society. The collection is to be designed to encourage free inquiry and to provide multiple points of view. // (2006, p.25)

It is my job as a T-L to “help students develop skills in accessing, evaluating, and using information from multiple sources” while “[working] with classroom teachers and administrators to help them develop skills in information literacy, including the uses of information technology (Bishop, 2007, p.5). For me, these are vital aspects of being a T-L. The students at the school take Biology mainly because it is a requirement for entering post secondary, particularly if they want a career in the health profession. They are interested in the content but easily become overwhelmed by it. There is a lot of vocabulary and concepts to learn and understand. A library collection of various forms of resources would make the course even more meaningful and applicable to their lives. To a large extent, I chose this subject area and grade level because I want to help them achieve a greater overall understanding of their choice of the elective and become lifelong learners.

Work Cited
Asselin, M., Branch, J., & Oberg, D., (Eds) (2003). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian School Library Association & The Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada.

Bishop, K. (2007). The collection program in schools: Concepts, practices, and information sources. (4th ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.