Handout accompanying day two keynote of 2011 WebJunction <a>"Trends in Library Training and Learning"</a> conference: Session Description: Whether or not "instruction" appears in our job titles, librarians of all stripes find ourselves in the position of teaching and training our users, colleagues, and peers, and often more frequently than we ever expected to. Despite this reality, we ourselves don't often fully perceive this changing role. At a time of massive transition in the profession, the library's teaching mission must be integrated more meaningfully into the learning communities we support. Developing instructional literacy is key, and reflective practice suggests viable strategies for the on-the ground library educator.

1. 1 : Instructional Literacy
a | Reflective practice is the act of understanding and shaping your skills and abilities
throughout the teaching and training process. Metacognition is the internal element of
reflection, while collaboration is its external element.
b | Educational theory provides evidence-based insight into teaching and learning. It
consists of learning theory (how people synthesize information and create meaning from
instruction), instructional theory (teaching methods in on-site and e-learning contexts), and
curriculum theory (content knowledge specific to subjects and audiences).
c | Teaching technologies are the tools and media that facilitate learning in face to face,
online, and blended instruction, as well as methods for evaluating and selecting
them effectively.
d | Instructional design is a learner-focused method for integrating reflection, theory, and
technology into your teaching and training approach.
2 : Qualities of Effective Instructors
> List three adjectives that describe the best and worst educators you recall from your time as a learner.
Best Instructor = _______ _ __ ___ _ ____ __ ___ _ ____________
Worst Instructor = _____ _ ___ ______ _ ___ ___ ____________
> These are the qualities you yourself most likely try to replicate and avoid (hopefully in that order).
3 : Reflective Strategies
Metacognition includes activities as simple as observing learners in the moment, doing
three-question reflections after teaching interactions (what went well? what bombed? what
should I follow up on?), concept/curriculum mapping (mindomo.com), and building teaching
portfolios.
Gleaning is capturing and documenting aspects of your teaching and learning environment
that are significant or inspirational, from discussion capture or recording to taking photos of
events or styles and materials that inspire you. Attribution is key to gleaning: give credit
where credit is due.
Collaboration takes many forms, such as mentorship, peer observation, co-teaching,
skillshares, professional development resources, recognizing the accomplishments of
colleagues, and bonding and team-building activities. All of these build communities of
practice.

2. 4 : Th e USER Method Char Booth , 2 0 1 1
1 | Understand. Become familiar with the learning scenario.
a | Start by identifying a problem that instruction can solve by assessing needs.
In this step, you ask, “What is the challenge learners face, and how can I help them
meet it?”
b | This is followed by analyzing the scenario, which involves considering the
conditions and constraints of each element of instruction – learner, content,
context, and educator.
2 | Structure. Define what you want learners to be able to accomplish as a result of the
interaction, and the strategies you will use to present active and learner-focused content.
c | Begin by creating targets – goals, objectives, and outcomes – that help you
streamline your instructional messages and evaluate if learning has occurred.
d | Brainstorm methods to a) involve learners using differentiated delivery
techniques, technologies, and activities, and b) extend the interaction through
scaffolding and support.
3 | Engage. Create your instructional objects and deliver the learning experience:
e | Develop the materials you will use to instruct. This begins with creating
prototypes, gathering feedback, then revising and finalizing your learning objects.
f |Deliver instruction by capturing learner attention, presenting streamlined
instructional messages, and communicating your teacher identity.
4 | Reflect. Consider whether learning targets have been met and how you might improve
your instructional product.
g | Assess your impact by determining if participants have met the desired
learning targets.
h | Based on this assessment, consider ways to revise and reuse your content in
the future.

3. 5 : U SE R I n st ruc t io n Pla n n i n g T e m p l a t e
1 - Understand
a Id e n tify p ro b le m
b A n a ly z e S c e n a rio Learners - ______________________________________________
Context - _______________________________________________
Content - _______________________________________________
Educator - ______________________________________________
2 - Structure
c D e fin e T a rg e ts Goal - __________________________________________________
Objective - ______________________________________________
Outcome - ______________________________________________
d C re a te C o n te n t
3 - Engage
e D e liv e r M e s s a g e
f In v o lv e & E x te n d
Involve - ________________________________________________
Extend - ________________________________________________
4 - Reflect
g A s s e s s Im p a c t
h R e v is e & R e u s e
Revise - ________________________________________________
Reuse - ________________________________________________
Excerpted from Reflective Teaching Effective Learning by Char Booth, ALA Editions, 2011 | charbooth@gmail