As teachers strive to make sense of and implement knowledge of creativity that is available from the research community, school librarians are called upon to help turn rhetoric into reality. Developing the creativity habit is far more meaningful and effective if the classroom activity is representative of the real-world problem-solving process.…

The Common Core raises the bar for states struggling to decide what should be taught or tested. As low-performing schools strive to improve instruction, the blueprint has been defined. The Common Core defines the curriculum in enough detail and specifies ways to teach that content creatively and innovatively, to produce graduates who are problem…

Which potato chip is healthiest: (1) regular; (2) baked; or (3) sour cream and onion? This problem requires critical and numerical skills in order to read and compare nutrition labels. The question has applications in mathematics and science classrooms but also in teachers' lounges and school cafeterias. It is a problem that addresses the five…

"AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner." New standards for library media programs! What does it mean to practicing library media specialists? Does this mean they must abandon all the strategies, activities, and lessons they have developed based upon "Information Power's Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning" and create all new…

School librarians occupy a space rich in resources and numeracy. They are thus positioned to offer resources and standards that promote inquiry, drawing conclusions, real world connections, and aesthetic enjoyment. Part of their task with teachers is to create those connections with curriculum and students. School librarians' collections are aswim…

The United States no longer has a workforce dependent on operating machinery and performing repetitive tasks. Educators are therefore challenged to change the way students learn and to provide a workforce that is innovative and that has the ability to design new jobs. To do this, students must learn to be problem solvers, to create products that…

Some of the author's most valuable experiences as a library media specialist (LMS) were not in a school library. Rather, they were on the streets of Chicago, in community gardens, and on the rooftops of buildings in Humboldt Park, where she was hired by the University of Illinois Community Informatics Initiative as a graduate assistant and LMS in…

A little imagination, a little drama, a little mystery. Using the guided inquiry model in this updated, second edition, students become detectives at Information Headquarters. They solve a mystery-and enhance their problem-solving and literacy skills. Middle school is a crucial time in the development of problem-solving, critical-thinking, and…

This paper describes a project that underscores the critical role of this nation's museums and libraries in helping citizens build such 21st century skills as information, communications and technology literacy, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, civic literacy, and global awareness. Recognizing that every individual requires these…

Describes Brock's Information Intermediary Process Model, which focuses on the role of the library media specialist as information intermediary. Highlights include information seeking and use; use of the model by teachers and librarians as well as their collaborative roles; guidelines for use of the model; and problem solving and use of time. (LRW)