SCHOOL LIBRARIES:
WHAT'S NOW,
WHAT'S NEXT, WHAT COMES AFTER
edited by
Kristin Fontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton
Foreword by R. David Lankes
Photographs by Diane Cordell
SMASHWORDS EDITION
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Kristin Fontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton on Smashwords
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Smashwords Edition License Notes
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* * * * *
DEDICATION
For all who contributed to this book and to Aurora -- welcome to the world!
K.F.
To Joy Moore Hardy, Mary Ann Fitzgerald, and David Lankes, the three most influential librarians of my life.
B.H.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OVERTURES
FOREWORD: R. David Lankes: Hanging in the Balance
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION: Kristin Fontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton: The Future of School Librarians: Fight, Flight, or Flourish
CHAPTER 1: LEARNERS
Jennifer Stanbro: Learning That Lasts
Tricia Kuon: The Jetsons Have Arrived: 21st-Century Learners Are Connected
Kathleen McBroom: Common Core Standards for 21st-Century Learners: All of 'Em
Shannon Hyman: You Had Me At "Hello"
Walter McKenzie: The 21st-Century Schoolhouse
Sara Kelley-Mudie: We Are All 21st-Century Learners
Mega Subramaniam: The 21st-Century Learning Lab in the K-12 School: The School Library
Robert Baigent: The Fearless Librarian
CHAPTER 2: WHO AND WHEN WE TEACH
Donna Watt: Beginning With One Special Teacher
Jennifer LaGarde: The Future of Libraries is Now!
Stacy Dillon: What Faberge Organics Taught Me About Librarianship
Beth Gourley: The Only Boundaries? Time, Energy, and Imagination
Heather Hersey and Marci Zane: Putting the Teacher in Teacher-Librarian
CHAPTER 3: EMERGING AND MULTIPLE LITERACIES
Laura Fleming: Transmedia Storytelling
Elizabeth Friese: School Libraries and Run-On Sentences
Howard Rheingold: New Literacies and Librarians
Evan St. Lifer: Lighting the Fuse of Inquisitiveness
Adrienne Matteson: New
CHAPTER 4: GAMING
Neil Krasnoff: Chess in the Library: Gateway to Research, the Social Web, and a Life of the Mind
David Meyer: A Place for Electronic Gaming in Libraries
Dan Bowen: Games-Based Learning, Literacy, Engagement, and Motivation
Kimberly Hirsh: Gaming for the 21st-Century Learner
CHAPTER 5: READING
Alida Hanson: Reading 2.0: Deep, Dark Secrets
Kelly Ahfeld: The Future of Reading is Power -- Just Like the Present
Erin Drankwalter Wyatt: Fostering a Culture of Reading: As the Tools Change, the Text Remains
Jesse Karp: How We Learn to Care
Jennifer Colby: The Future of Storytimes: "On With the Show, This Is It!": The School Media Specialist as Performer
Teri S. Lesesne: Elroy Jetson Meets Captain Kirk at the School Library
Kate MacMillan: Athletes as Readers and Leaders
Pamela Jackson: Reading Interrupted: In Pursuit of Passion
Rachel Goldberg: Book Fairs 2.0
CHAPTER 6: PHYSICAL LIBRARIES
Len Bryan: The Physical Library -- Still Relevant
Margaret Sullivan: Planning School Libraries, Overcoming Decision Fatigue
Karen Villegas: The Library's Last Stand
Wendy Steadman Stephens: School Libraries as a Last Hope for Preserving American Democracy
Angela Washington-Blair: Inspiring Physical Library Spaces for High School Students
Margaret Sullivan: Tinkering Around the Library
CHAPTER 7: VIRTUAL LIBRARIES
Linda Straube: Together We Light the Way
Valerie Hill: Virtual World Libraries: A Global Community of Learners
Holly Weimar: Living in the Material World? Well, Virtually I Am
Joyce Kasman Valenza: I Want to Be an App
CHAPTER 8: COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
Holli Buchter: Opening Day Collection for a Non-Dewey Library: The Red Hawk Elementary Library Story
Andrea Dolloff: Deleting Dewey: Elementary Style
Ben Mondloch: The Power of eBooks
Cathy Jo Nelson: Ten Reasons a School Library and Certified Librarian are Vital to Schools
Kathleen Atkin: Best of Times, Worst of Times: Responsible Collection Development in Changing Times
CHAPTER 9: COLLABORATION
Lorna Flynn: Outside and Inside Teamwork
Neil Krasnoff: Cultivating the Next Bill Gates in Your Library: Collaborating with Computer Programming Teachers and Students to Develop Software for Reading Incentive Programs
Diane Cordell: Bridging Space and Time: Collaborating for Learning
Kate MacMillan: Napa Valley School and Public Library Collaboration
Margaret Lincoln: A 21st-Century Collaborative Success Story
Beverley Rannow: Library 101 Sierra Leone Style
Jeanna Walker: They Said Yes!
Leslie L. Morgan: Collaboration with Academic and Public Librarians is the Future of School Librarians
Heather Hersey, Marci Zane, Cathy Stutzman, and Meg Donhauser: Capturing the Voices of All Stakeholders: Teachers, Librarians, Students, and a Supervisor Plan and Assess an Inquiry Unit
Emilia Askari: School Librarians and Journalists - Unite for Digital Literacy!
Senga White: Collaboration: The Key Link Between Librarians and Teachers
Jeff Stanzler and Kristin Fontichiaro: Show, Don't Tell
Amanda Yaklin: The Blink of an Eye
Caitlin Stansell: Jeanna the Queena
Diane Erica Aretz-Kernahan: Librarians are the World's Coolest People
CHAPTER 10: PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
Melissa P. Johnston: Preparing 21st-Century School Librarian Leaders
Nikki D. Robertson: The Unapologetic Twitvangelist
Senga White: Networking and Why We Need to Flock Together
Susan D. Ballard: We're Working on That
Carolyn Jo Starkey: Empowering School Librarians Through Professional Learning Communities
William Cross and Kimberly Hirsh: Legal Education for School Librarians
Violet H. Harada: Conducting First-Year Seminars
Daniella Smith: Champions of Equal Learning Opportunities
Joanne de Groot and Jennifer Branch: A Sandbox for Teacher-Librarians: Learning to Play 2.0
Michael Stephens: Filled with Heart: Characteristics of 21st-Century School Librarians
Alice Yucht: Professional Development is a Professional Responsibility
Dorcas Hand: Reimagineers for K-12 Libraries
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
* * *
FOREWORD: HANGING IN THE BALANCE
The future of school libraries and school librarians hangs in the balance. Every year communities are presented with a false choice: reduce the number of teachers in the classroom or lay off the librarian. A false choice because school librarians are teachers – their classrooms beyond the four walls of the library and extending into every classroom; indeed into every student’s home with resources and assistance. All too often schools are making the bet on the short term, seeking to reinforce traditional classroom instruction rather than investing in inquiry and student-directed learning. At the federal, state, and local level our schools are doubling down on a model of education that seeks validation in test scores, and reifies practices set in place in the industrial age.
That is the story that we tell ourselves in conferences, on blogs, and in district meetings. It is clear to us the way forward. It is clear to us that librarians can unlock the potential of our children by unlocking their passions. We see the future of truly connected students who are literate beyond reading and writing and can move, as Barbara Stripling says, from knowledge to understanding. Yet that message will not escape the conference, nor meeting, nor our echo chamber of LM_NET and blogs unless we evangelize that message.
To evangelize is more than simply reciting the message. To advocate is to go beyond agreeing with a cause. To truly seek change is to live our own message. We, as librarians, must talk the talk and walk the walk. If you see yourself as a vital partner with teachers, you had better have teachers that say the same of you. If you seek to turn students into passionate learners, you must also learn – every day. You must become nothing less than a radical positive change agent. It is not enough to create a haven of true learning in your library -- you must spread that environment throughout the school.
Horace Mann (1859) once said, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” Tall words to be sure. Who was Mann? Mann was a legislator, and the Secretary of Education in the State of Massachusetts at the turn of the 19th Century -- and a librarian. Many credit Mann with laying the foundations of public education in this country. When he talked about victory for humanity, he was talking about how we educate our youth. His victory was not won on a battlefield, or in some remote campaign, but in the classroom.
The future of school libraries and school librarians hangs in the balance. But the final decision cannot be made by administrators or school boards alone. It must be shaped and made by librarians in concert with, and frankly, at times in opposition to those who hold power in our schools. We must shape the future not to save ourselves, our jobs, or some sense of tradition. No, we win this victory for our students.
School librarians have more research supporting their effect than any other library type out there. The researchers have done their work and shown that it is the presence of a certified school librarian test scores rise. The national and state associations have done their jobs. They have set the standards and done what advocacy they can. The real work here is now up to you. This great victory for humanity – the embrace of learning and inquiry over memorization and testing – will be won student by student, teacher by teacher, district by district. We have examples: now we must have the courage to leave the confines of the library and become new examples.
In this book you will read others views on the future and what concerns school librarians. These are the voices of the brave and the concerned. You must add your voice. If you read these essays and disagree, then disagree and suggest another view. If you read these and agree, then voice your support. If you read these and learn, use your learning and teach others. If, on the other hand you read these essays and voices and remain mute, you abdicate the future. Don’t.
Dr. R. David Lankes
Professor and Dean's Scholar for the New Librarianship
Syracuse University's School of Information Studies, Syracuse, New York
rdlankes@iis.syr.edu
@rdlankes
WORKS CITED
Mann, Horace. 1859. Quote from address at Antioch College. Web. <http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/2046.html>
* * *
EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION:
THE FUTURE OF SCHOOL LIBRARIANS: FIGHT, FLIGHT, OR FLOURISH
“Libraries are dead.”
“The future of librarians is that they’re gone.”
“We don’t need libraries in the era of the Internet, much less librarians.”
“We’ve got classroom libraries of our own; we don’t need a school library.”
“What we need is tech integrators, not bookish librarians.”
“You’re just a bunch of shushers.”
If you’re a school librarian, you’ve heard one or all of these phrases before. They pop up everywhere from a Board of Education meeting to a PTA coffee klatsch, a weekend cocktail party with friends or an ed tech blog. And yet you can always point to someone or somewhere where innovative, student-centered practices are deepening engagement, maximizing student skills development, and helping students learn the lifelong habits and behaviors that will help them lead info-savvy lives. It’s undeniable that the number of certified school librarians is on the decline just as it’s equally undeniable that the explosion of digital resources -- in parallel with existing print resources -- means students and classroom teachers need more support than ever before. Right down to the shadow of the guillotine, many of us have invoked Dickens, muttering, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times” (1996, 1).
For many in our profession, it is a daily challenge to promote great learning practices while simultaneously fighting off budget cuts, library staff reductions, dilapidated technology equipment, and outdated job descriptions. One is reminded of those movie scenes where the hero is trying to simultaneously race through traffic while fending off sniper fire. We are in an era of flight or flight. It’s tiring. Do we stay, fight the good fight, and continue to get black-eyed from time to time? Do we escape, knowing that our perspective and resources are valuable for kids and that by abandoning the fight, they may get to college unable to negotiate their professors’ research paper expectations?
And what are we fighting for? A static profession of books? Storytime at the carpet? Deep rigor? Curriculum leadership? Circulation statistics? Whiteboards? After-school tutoring in our spaces or online? Pathfinders? Books? Multimedia? Critical thinking? Laptop carts? Innovative instruction? A place where teachers can requisition batteries and kids can buy poster boards? A large room where quarterly standardized testing brings new learning to a halt?
What is the future of school libraries? More particularly, what is the future of school librarians? At the present time, libraries aren’t being closed in schools; librarians are the loss leaders.
For those of us still working in schools, what are we working toward? For those of us sent back into classrooms or other professions to await a better future, like Eastern European partisans waiting in the forests for rescue after Soviet Occupation, what would life after liberation look like? Both are valid and valuable questions.
Those are some of the question we posed to the extended school librarian community. What is the future going to be like? What do you see? What can you hold up from your own practice as a lantern to illuminate the way for others? These questions are too big to be answered by any single librarian, district, organization, or task force. They take collective thinking. And so we made an unusual overture: all voices would be heard, regardless of experience, reputation, or perpsective. (We drew the line at muckraking and fingerpointing; for our original guidelines, visit http://bit.ly/ebooksubmissionguidelines.)
As we began to envision this book, both of us were acutely aware that print books, the bread-and-butter of libraries for hundreds of years, were undergoing a dramatic format shift. Like the tablets and scrolls of societies past which had given way to bound print titles, the deckle-edged pages are now ceding to eBooks, eReaders, and digital text. Will print books, like the document formats of the past, disappear from our shelves? Or will print and digital texts co-exist, like microwave ovens and stoves, each providing affordances that the other cannot match? Or will yet a new wave of developments take over? No one knows for sure. Ownership and licensing arrangements are in nascent stages. Some librarians fear eBooks, worrying that eReaders remove bookstores and libraries as the traditional “middlemen” between reader and word. How do we deal with such fears while simultaneously moving forward?
Libraries. Librarians. Text. All in flux, reminding us of the apocryphal (but untrue) story that the Chinese symbol for crisis is made up of the symbols for danger and opportunity. How we interpret that apocryphal character depends on our context and our mindsets.
So we decided to tackle these issues -- fight or flight in libraries, and the digitization of resources -- head-on. But not alone. We are both interested in digital text and experimenting with it in our learning spaces. And we had recently discovered that publishing and distributing an eBook -- even getting an ISBN and getting the title distributed to major eBook retailers like Apple’s iBookstore and Barnesandnoble.com -- could be done for free. Liberated by the space, time, and cost of traditional publication, what if we tackled all these issues together? As a profession? With adequate space for all voices -- from the never-published practitioner in a small town to the university ivory tower, from the publisher to the furniture vendor -- to be heard?
What new inspirations could we gain from one another? What new questions might arise? What might help us gain strength and inspiration from one another, even as our roles and duties expand and our job security and salaries decrease?
Social media helped propel this project forward, and we thank the many librarians and colleagues who tweeted, Facebooked, emailed, talked, shared, and twisted their colleagues’ arms to participate. Thank you to Diane Cordell for her cover photo and to Paul D. Storrie (http://www.storrieville.com) for his title suggestion. We thank all those who screwed up the courage to put pen to paper, finger to key, pixel to screen and shared their hearts and intellect with us. We didn’t have a big publisher behind us -- just a simple Google Site and a handful of Google Forms. Thank you for believing that a publication philosophy of “everybody in, nobody out -- unless you’re mean” could work. Thank you for sharing your stories. Stories of struggle, courage, blossoming, realization, growth, resolution, and accomplishment. Calls to action, manifestos, and visions.
Libraries. Librarians. Text. Flux. Crisis. Danger. Opportunity.
Welcome to our opportunity. Welcome to our profession. Despite all the odds, we still have something worth saying.
Kristin Fontichiaro
Clinical Assistant Professor
School of Information
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
http://blog.schoollibrarymonthly.com
@activelearning
Buffy Hamilton
The Unquiet Librarian
Creekview High School
Canton, GA
theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com
@buffyjhamilton
WORKS CITED
Dickens, Charles. 1996. A Tale of Two Cities. New York: Pocket Books. Print.
* * *
CHAPTER 1: LEARNERS
LEARNING THAT LASTS
When I look into my future life as a school librarian, I don’t see massive upheavals or revolutions. I see students who are very much like the ones I see today, who are learning to move from the unknown to the known.
I began my career in education as a technology instructor but later moved into libraries because I saw that the librarian tapped into the enduring core of what a strict focus on technology could only circle around with its endless stream of upgrades, inventions, and applications. I saw the skill my students needed was to be able to construct meaning and communicate effectively with any tool that happened to be at hand. The tools and media formats are constantly changing, but the processes involved and the habits of mind engaged remain the same.
Sure, the school library will look different physically and the media formats will change. The technologies we use will get smaller and more portable. Our physical collections will shrink and our virtual collections will grow.
The libraries in my district are doing away with most of our reference materials. We are designing flexible spaces and installing digital whiteboards. Our libraries can sometimes seem more like video production studios, art rooms, or teenage hangouts. We have evolved from desktops to laptops and are now flirting with tablets. Our curriculum conversations contain words like transliteracy and infographics. We are talking about how we can deliver services across distances and after hours. When I present to administration, I talk about teacher librarians as agents of change.
But in my heart I know that I am really performing the same timeless task that teacher librarians have been doing for years: I am clearing a path to new knowledge and experience. I am building a space where people can explore available forms of art and media in solitude or with others. As librarians, we open doors with information. We deal in the art of accessing, constructing and presenting knowledge.
On the surface, it might seem like we are a whole new profession. In fact, I have sometimes heard my colleagues described as “more than librarians” or “not really librarians” because they do so much more than hand out books. But “librarian” is not a misnomer for those who embrace collaboration, adapt to new technologies, and serve as leaders in schools. We do not need a new title. We don’t even really need a new job description. We are and will continue to be librarians.
Jennifer Stanbro
K-5 Library Information Integrator & K-12 Library Coordinator
South Portland School Department, South Portland, ME
stanbrje@spsd.org
dreaminglibraries.blogspot.com
@jenstanbro
* * *
THE JETSONS HAVE ARRIVED:
21ST-CENTURY LEARNERS ARE CONNECTED
I was recently eating dinner out with my husband and five children who range in age from 16 years old down to 8 months. I was holding the baby and playing pat-a-cake with her and stopped for a minute to look around to see what everyone else was doing. My 16 year old daughter was on her phone talking and using face time with her iPod at the same time (talking to two different people). My 13 year old daughter was reading Manga on her iPod Touch. My 11 year old son was playing Words with Friends on my iPhone with my friends (he actually Googles hard words and scores more points than I do) while my 4 year old son was looking up YouTube videos for the Nick Jr. show Backyardigans on the iPad. My husband was on his iPhone reading about football online (he is in two separate fantasy football leagues).
Now, I found it kind of funny that we were all sitting together to have dinner, yet everyone was connected to their electronic gadget … and then I decided to look around to see what was going on at the tables nearby. I started to laugh when I realized that the scene at our table was also the scene at almost every table in the restaurant!
As a child, I remember watching The Jetsons and thinking how cool it would be to be able to see the person you are talking to on the phone. Of course, that possibility is now a reality. The Jetsons are here. They are in our classrooms and our libraries, and I think that we should embrace the possibilities available as a result of this wonderful phenomena.
You are probably saying to yourself, “She is going to say we need more technology in the libraries but technology is so expensive and we don’t have money.” Actually, it would be wonderful to have more technology owned by the library. However, in hard economic times, we could allow students to use the technology they already own.
Almost every child, and I do mean child (including my 4 year old), owns an iPod or smartphone. Rather than banning use of these wonderful inventions at school, we could show students how to use their gadgets, or toys as the case may be, to learn.
Last May my daughter learned in her first period class that she was going to have a quiz in her 5th period class after lunch. She texted and asked me to go to her teacher’s website, copy the study guide questions and answers, and paste them in a text message to her so that she could study during lunch. It took me about one minute to do this for her , and she aced the quiz. Later, she said if they would just have WiFi available at school and let her use her iPod, she could have retrieved this information herself.
The availability of these electronic gadgets opens up a huge number of possibilities for us as educators. In the future, I think schools will embrace allowing students to use their iPods and cell phones in class and we as librarians will help by showing teachers and students the many uses of these wonderful technologies.
Tricia Kuon
Assistant Professor
Library Science Department, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX
tav005@shsu.edu
* * *
COMMON CORE STANDARDS FOR 21ST-CENTURY LEARNERS – ALL OF 'EM
One of the main justifications for the Common Core State Standards is the premise that all students across the United States will be held to universal standards. The geographic aspect of the “all” designation tends to get the most attention in that the movement seeks to eradicate the differences between existing state expectations. However, another application of “all” refers to individual students, including children who are members of subgroups. “All” encompasses each and every child, including those who are economically disadvantaged, qualify for special education services, or are English Language Learners. All these children will be held to the same rigorous standards. Teachers will be scrambling to locate appropriate support materials that allow them to scaffold instruction. Teachers will need to ensure that every student has access to foundational background knowledge that levels the playing field. Teachers will need differentiated material that explains and reinforces fundamental academic vocabulary. Teachers will need multiple reading selections that reflect increasingly sophisticated text complexity for all students, no matter their starting point.
These challenges present unique opportunities for school librarians to strut our prowess in finding engaging and accessible information resources. We have always included readers’ advisory as part of our repertoires. It is not that much of a stretch to extend that aspect of our job to “researchers’ advisory” – connecting the right child with the right resource at the right time. Databases that compile sources in multiple formats and multiple reading levels, including Lexile designations, are just a starting point. Our familiarity with nonfiction, graphic literature, picture books, photo-biographies, primary sources, pop-up books, e-zines, avatars, digital data, Web 3.0, gaming, blogs, media, and other nascent modalities will be a boon to beleaguered teachers. Our ability to integrate differentiated learning experiences, such as using technology to conduct research and create and publish results, will expand formative and summative assessment options, allowing students additional opportunities to demonstrate mastery of content. We are perfectly positioned to offer solutions to teachers who are reeling from the implications of ensuring that “all” students meet evolving and demanding common core standards.
We can cross content areas with ease. We can offer subject area support because of our knowledge of publishing trends. More importantly, we know what will engage students. We have the skill set to match students to information sources that will make content relevant, interesting, and accessible.
School librarians need to reach out to these students and their teachers. Current best practices support mainstreaming and co-teaching scenarios for special populations, and many schools still feature self-contained classrooms or pull-out support services. No matter the configuration, we need to find out who these students are, and establish ourselves as their allies and advocates. We need to expand our client base. We need to show that we are full partners in the educational process, and that we can help all students learn and grow.
Kathleen McBroom
Coordinator, Compensatory Education & School Improvement
Dearborn Public Schools
Dearborn, MI
mcbrook@dearborn.k12.mi.us
* * *
YOU HAD ME AT “HELLO”
In our fast-paced, information-saturated, over-stimulated world, we have to engage our students the moment they arrive. Otherwise, we risk losing their attention at best, and possibly shutting down their natural curiosity at worst.
It’s Monday morning. A seventh-grade class files into the library to begin their inquiry for an expository research paper. The librarian greets the class warmly, reviews the assigned topics, discusses the research process, shows the students a variety of resources, and demonstrates how to search and cite in the school’s awesome databases. What happens next?
A. Students dive in, voraciously seeking information to answer self-created burning questions. The room buzzes with collaborative conversation and discovery.
B. Those students who have not fallen asleep are thinking of how to get a hall pass or catch up with friends.
If you picked “B,” you're right. How do we get to "Option A"? It’s simple. To meet the needs of our 21st-century learners, we have to think like THEM! How do we do that? By providing engaging, high-interest connections designed to awaken prior knowledge and linking it to the research ahead we will jump-start the creation of new, authentic, and globally-shared knowledge.
It's easy: keep your finger on the pulse of what is happening now in the lives of teens. What is important? Grabs their attention? Makes them wonder or laugh? Frightens them? In many cases, answers can be found by tapping into the world of social media and pop culture.
Imagine an inquiry lesson where students research a controversial topic in order to write an expository paper. Start with a high-interest, easily-debated question. For example, ask, “Beyond age, what skills should a person have before being allowed to drive?” This high-stakes question usually brings enthusiastic responses. One student suggests needing to pass a driving test. Jump on it! Open up the laptops, navigate to the state DMV site, and take a five-minute practice test. Afterwards, ask if their scores have impacted their confidence in driving; then return to the original question to explore other opinions. Many students will suggest that future drivers need to understand how a car works, as well as be able to focus and drive safely.
This inevitably leads to a passionate discussion about the things that compete for drivers’ attention, complete with first-hand (primary source!) accounts of older siblings (and parents!) driving while texting, eating, chatting, and scrolling though iPods. Here is your next chance to capitalize on the excitement: Challenge the students to another type of quiz: The Awareness Test. Invite students to watch a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfA3ivLK_tE) and follow its directions to count basketball passes carefully. Here is where the hook comes in: while viewers are carefully counting passes, a bear dances through the game -- unnoticed!
The students are shocked by what they miss and absolutely raucous with laughter over how easily they can be distracted. NOW the students are ready to enthusiastically dive into their research, voraciously seeking information to answer self-created burning questions about controversial topics that interest them. What could be better? How about the number of students who go on to seek not just articles and websites for their topic, but also interactive resources such as video and primary source interviews?
Our library program uses tweets, podcasts, movie trailers, television commercials, music videos, blogs, and more to connect students to the inquiry process. High-interest introductions can awaken prior knowledge and set the stage for engaging, participatory learning. Capture your students’ attention from the start. Get ‘em at “Hello” and you’ll empower them with the curiosity and confidence to be lifelong learners.
Shannon Hyman
School Librarian
Byrd Middle School: Henrico, VA
schyman@henrico.k12.va.us
http://blogs.henrico.k12.va.us/byrdlibrary
* * * *
THE 21ST-CENTURY SCHOOLHOUSE
It’s a bright, sunny Tuesday morning, and students are entering Roosevelt Elementary school with excitement and energy. No backpacks. No luggage on wheels. Just lunch bags and handheld devices.
As they enter the renovated 75-year old building, students find places to settle in. No homerooms. No morning announcements. Everyone busily logs in to the network system using their personal devices, indicating they are present for the day, reading school announcements, and reviewing their individual schedules for the day.
No bells. No hall passes. No tardy slips. The student body shifts and resettles as small groups come together to work on their first project of the day. Original classroom walls have been taken out to create larger collaborative spaces with a lot of light from multiple sets of existing windows. There are throw rugs, chairs, couches, coffee tables, high-legged stools, and larger work tables arranged and rearranged to meet the needs of ad hoc groups, as students busily delve into their work.
Teachers move through the open spaces, listening, questioning, coaching, and mentoring. No content commandos. No task masters. No clock watchers. Everyone is interacting and engaged as a low, purposeful buzz fills every nook and cranny of this once very traditional school. Files, documents, and artifacts are captured and uploaded on the school network, which is fully secure and authenticated yet open to all student devices, much like a college campus network.
After a constructive set of meetings disperse, students reconfigure themselves in new groups based on interests, research, and projects. Imagining, brainstorming, videoconferencing, immersion excursions, and deep dives proliferate as students meaningfully engage one another, their parents and extended family, fellow local citizens, students from disparate geographic locations, and subject-matter experts from around the world. Before they know it, the morning is spent and it is time to break for lunch and get some fresh air and exercise.
Returning to work, students opt to use their time after lunch for online journaling about their work, publishing results of recently completed projects and proposing new work to solve problems and create new products in the process. Teachers are partners, equally invested with the students in finding meaningful research to do, accomplishing identified goals, and sharing the fruits of their work with other schools, universities, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and private corporations.
The focus in this environment is not on teaching and learning and measuring success, but on contributing meaningfully to a growing global body of knowledge around pertinent, high-interest topics that help improve society both online and off. Journaling and publishing give way to gaming and virtual reality labs as students immerse themselves in activities that stimulate all the intelligences.
Each part of the day flows into the next, and as the afternoon winds down, students huddle together in small groups to review their work for the day and discuss what tomorrow holds when they once again return to the Roosevelt campus. Devices sign out and log off of the school network as students prepare to head home and pursue their interests remotely. No homework per se; just ongoing interests fueling the desire to understand, internalize, and innovate.
School environments can look very much different for students in the future if we are willing to let go of the trappings of schools of the past. No worksheets. No one-size-fits-all texts. No computer labs. No classrooms. No grade levels. No age cut-offs. An educational career that begins at home, flowing through public education and then into higher education and the workplace.
Walter McKenzie
Director of Constituent Services
ASCD
wmckenzie@ascd.org
@walterASCD
* * *
WE ARE ALL 21st-CENTURY LEARNERS
Every once in a while I’ll read an article or blog post about what the current generation is like, and I think, “Yep, they totally nailed it. We’re just like that.” And then I have this moment where I realize that I’m not actually part of the current generation. So why is that I so often feel like articles describing the “current generation” are also describing me?
I think part of it is that working with young people keeps you more connected with the mindset of young people. It also makes it easier to remember what you felt like at that age.
More importantly, I think that even though we often think of the current generation as somehow “other” in their facility with new technologies, these new technologies highlight what teachers and learners of all generations have in common.
The demands placed on 21st-century learners—to explore, learn, and incorporate new ideas and technologies—are not new, but the pace has increased exponentially.
And while there are many of us who, as 21st-century educators, find our professional and personal lives enriched by these technologies, there are still those who claim they don’t “do” technology.
Part of me can’t blame teachers and librarians who are wary of engaging with new technology, and I think part of their hesitation follows naturally from some of the rhetoric that has surrounded the discussion of “digital natives.” We speak of younger generations as if they come naturally to new technologies; the implication is that there is a steep learning curve ahead for those who are not “natives.” The language of “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” implies a divide, and by focusing on what separates us, we make the idea of engaging with emerging technologies analogous to moving to an entirely new world—which is exciting, to be sure but can also be terrifying and overwhelming.
I believe that rather than focusing on what sets one generation apart, it is far more valuable to focus on what connects us as teachers and learners. The things we have in common—and the issues we’re concerned about—pre-date the technology we’re working with.
Shakespeare (and Sophocles) understood the power of and need for entertainment and the arts—and the gladiators understood that our tastes in entertainment have not always been refined. Van Gogh and Michelangelo understood the drive to create. Melvil Dewey was debating spelling conventions long before instant messaging and texting came along. Anyone who has ever brought home a paper or picture or paper to post on the fridge (which I would bet is most of us) understands the desire to share accomplishments. And as a five-year-old standing outside a neighbor’s house calling for a friend to come out and play, I understood the need for social connections; my desire for social connections was disturbing the neighborhood long before Facebook entered the picture.
New technologies do not create or fill some new need; they allow us all to express needs that have existed for generations. We seek connection, we seek to understand, and we seek to feel understood. That is not something that separates “digital natives”—it is something that connects us all.
It is not about the technology; it is about the goals and desires that we all share. The desire to share and create is not something new; the impulses are the same, the tools are new. And yes, the tools require new learning, but when we focus on what connects us, we all become 21st-century learners. Together.
Sara Kelley-Mudie
Director of Library Services and Research Instruction
The Forman School, Litchfield, CT
Librarian.skm@gmail.com
@skm428
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THE 21ST-CENTURY LEARNING LAB IN THE K-12 SCHOOL:
THE SCHOOL LIBRARY
Imagine creating a science artifact in the school with scientists from MIT. Imagine developing a new approach to information search with research leaders from Google. Imagine modeling a hurricane projection path with meteorologists from NOAA. Imagine creating music education previously not seen before with professionals from Carnegie Hall. Imagine bringing children to environmental education with the vast resources and expertise of the United States National Park Service. Imagine engaging students with materials from the Library of Congress and NARA. Imagine students interacting with exhibits at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History from their classrooms. Imagine if these content experts and resources came together in a living, learning lab school for the 21st-century – the SCHOOL LIBRARY via the creative endeavors of the school librarian.*
So, one may ask, given that we live in a nation so focused on high stakes testing and making sure that our children are on par with other developed nations in terms of test scores, can the above actually take place in our nation’s schools? If there is one place in school where this learning environment can materialize, it will indeed be in the SCHOOL LIBRARY. “Why?” you may ask. The anecdotal stories that follow I have heard from school librarians and they inspire me to think that we are well on our way:
* A school librarian from a public school in Maryland tweets that his student has designed 33 games by himself using SCRATCH programming, and he only gets to do this in the school library because it is the only place where he has access to a computer.
* A school librarian from a private school serving students with special needs in Maryland tells me, “My principal asks me to design the library for the average special needs student. I have never met an “average” child, and I don’t think I will ever meet an “average” special needs student. I want the school library to answer the need of every child in my school”.
* A school librarian from a private school serving students with autism spectrum disorder in the mid-Atlantic mentions that some of her high-functioning students build apps with her guidance during lunch hours in the school library.
* A school librarian in a public school in Washington D.C. created a collection of graphic novels to encourage his middle schoolers to read, and he now opens the library after-school because the students complain about not being allowed to read graphic novels during instructional hours.
* A school librarian collaborated with her students at a public school in Maryland to publish a book on organisms that grow in the wetlands at the school’s backyard. They consulted with a biologist from a science research center during the project.
* A group of school librarians in Washington D.C. metro area will be pioneering a virtual peer network (working around the technology policy in schools) where children will read science fiction books and watch science based movies, and participate in science infused multimedia storytelling activities that allow them to create characters and stories revolving around the themes and characters that they have read or watched.
…and I can go on with many more examples.
As I hear these stories, I realize that the concept of a living-learning lab is already taking shape in school libraries. There are several unique strengths that school librarians offer to their students, and leveraging their expertise will ensure that the living-learning lab becomes a reality. To build and sustain the learning community of the future as envisioned in the beginning, I see librarians functioning at three major roles in the school (in addition to the five outlined in our new standards): technology ally, learning specialist, and diversity ambassador in their schools. Embracing these roles should be the next step for school librarians for the 21st-century.
Mega Subramaniam
Assistant Professor
College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
mmsubram@umd.edu
http://www.terpconnect.umd.edu/~mmsubram/
@mmsubram
Introduction inspired by Allison Druin, Associate Dean for Research, College of Information Studies, University of Maryland
* * *
THE FEARLESS LIBRARIAN
Students are accustomed to being able to find anything they want at the click of a button. Want the answer to your homework question? Simply type it into Google and see what comes up. It’s a fearless approach to searching for information that reflects the comfort students have in the online world. But as we know, information literacy is more than just search and hope. The websites students find can be disreputable, misleading. or outright lies. Certainly there might be some quality amongst the dross, but students often lack the stamina, wherewithal, or patience to sift through what they find.
Luckily (in New Zealand) there is a solution: AnyQuestions.co.nz!
AnyQuestions.co.nz (and its companion sites UiaNgāPātai.co.nz and ManyAnswers.co.nz) is a free online reference service for New Zealand school students. The service is staffed by friendly librarians from around New Zealand and is funded by the Ministry of Education to provide information literacy skills. Operators don’t find information for students but rather assist students in developing information literacy skills so they can find the information for themselves. The service exists to supplement the great work that school librarians do already, and since 2005 the service has helped over 80,000 New Zealand school students.
In many ways AnyQuestions is the future of librarianship, a decentralized service that students access as and when they need.
Yet many AnyQuestions operators are uneasy in this space. There is a definite sense that the online environment is a space where students have the power. After all, in the real life physical library, a Librarian is perceived as having arcane knowledge and that he or she is the Information Specialist, yet online, students are perceived as being the experts; this space is where they are comfortable and navigate with ease.
Of course this argument that the students have the power is fundamentally flawed. Students log on to AnyQuestions.co.nz because they don’t have the skills to find the information they are looking for, skills which the librarian does have.
Perhaps more relevant to some operator’s unease is that they never physically meet the students they are engaging with. Tone after all is extremely hard to gauge in the online chat environment. Operators cannot judge how students are reacting to the information they have been given in the same way that they would be able to in person.
A considerable component of our training and support of AnyQuestions.co.nz operators is around making the operators feel comfortable and at ease with the online environment. We have scripts for the entire process of the reference interview which help ensure that quality transactions occur.
However increasingly on AnyQuestions.co.nz we are finding that we are being asked more and more challenging questions. The old homework sheets that dominated in the early days of the service have vanished, replaced by much more complex and difficult questions that require much longer to research or even to help the student to understand.
What we have found is that the ideal AnyQuestions.co.nz operator is a librarian who is fearless. They will essentially jump into any transaction regardless of the topic. In the absence of library as place, the virtual librarian has learned to be as fearless as the students. Also by following the best practice that we have established, students for the most part will respond, and quality transactions will ensue.
At the heart of the matter is good customer service. This is a lesson that can be taken into all aspects of librarianship – if we provide a consistently engaging quality service then there will continue to be a demand for us!
Robert Baigent
AnyQuestions/UiaNgāPātai Service Manager
National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, Auckland, New Zealand
robert.baigent@dia.govt.nz
@anyquestionsnz
@robxoda (personal)
* * *
CHAPTER 2: WHO AND WHEN WE TEACH
BEGINNING WITH ONE SPECIAL TEACHER
Knowing who and when to teach is a key problem for school librarians everywhere. Should it be just-in-time learning or blanket programs with a one-size-fits-all ethos? Should we focus on individual students and curriculum areas, or should we work with the teaching staff to develop their skills in the hope that the learning will flow on to students? You may find it easier to start with just one teacher as I did.
My chosen teacher, whom I will call “William,” was an experienced teacher of biology and a willing adopter of technology. He was liked and respected by staff and students, was actively involved in mentoring beginning teachers, and was leading professional development for teachers using interactive boards in the classroom. Even more importantly, he was a confident practitioner, managing behavior in the classroom effortlessly, and he engaged with students effectively to build relationships and facilitate a constructive learning environment. He also happened to be the teacher representative on our governing board.
All of those characteristics made William an obvious choice. The most important factor, however, was the open nature of his practice. His confidence allowed him to try new things without fearing failure, and he was comfortable with the concepts of team teaching and reflective practice. We could discuss what had worked, what hadn’t, and plan for improvements and next steps with no risk of treading on professional toes.
One of our most successful collaborations was with a group of senior students studying genetically transmitted diseases. Traditionally, this project would have been a fact-gathering mission that amounted to cut-and-paste with little evidence of real engagement or learning. We brainstormed ways of delivering the information gathering process that would increase student engagement and make the learning more personal. Eventually, we decided to put the students in groups of five, assigning the following roles: a person with the genetic disorder; the parent who had passed on the gene; a medical professional; a sibling who did not have the gene; and a presenter who would interview the others on video.
The assessment required that the students explain the condition and how the genetic process worked; students were required to use reputable book and online resources and include information from a ‘support’ website for people with the disorder. The first few lessons were team-taught in the library with William teaching the science while I taught the information process, helped access resources in all formats, and modeled critical literacy practices.
The defining moment came when William phoned me from the science lab a week or so later, asking if I could come down and witness what was going on. Arriving at the science lab, he led me around the various groups of students who were filming their interviews. There were students arguing the science of genetics, writing all over whiteboards as they “proved” their case; there were siblings explaining how hard it was to be the “healthy” one and distraught parents describing the grief of having passed on a defective gene. The learning was deep, and the student engagement was all encompassing.
Seek out that special teaching practitioner. Look for a teacher with experience and a willingness to work collaboratively, a teacher who is looking for a new challenge. Avoid the brand new enthusiast, who will likely be overcome by the challenges, and in particular, avoid the jaded. If you select well and execute with grace and precision, this teacher will likely become your strongest advocate. Nurture this teacher; your future may depend on it.
Donna Watt
Manager, Technical Services
Invercargill City Libraries, New Zealand
Communications Leader, SLANZA
donna.watt@ilibrary.co.nz
halfpintofwisdom.wordpress.com/
@donnarae9
* * *
THE FUTURE OF LIBRARIES IS NOW!
It’s an exciting time to be an educator and, in particular, a school librarian. As budgets, staffing, physical spaces, delivery methods, and collections evolve to meet the needs of 21st-century learners, the only constant is change. More than anything else, perhaps, that change is exemplified in the future librarian herself: a highly skilled teacher who is an instructional chameleon. Dynamic and adaptable, her mission is simple: meet the needs of students.
The future librarian understands the developmental and academic needs of students and spends her days planning, teaching, and evaluating their learning. She is a curriculum expert, who works with classroom teachers to craft inquiry rich lessons that require students to communicate and collaborate, to think critically and creatively.
The future librarian recognizes that technology alone does not meet the needs of the 21st-century learner. He does not make choices between eBooks or print books, between digital or analog; rather, he chooses the right resource for the right student because it is the right instructional tool. The future librarian plans and delivers relevant staff development to help his colleagues integrate technology in ways that are seamless, pervasive, and driven entirely by student learning. He understands that technology enhances good instruction; technology does not replace sound instruction.
The future librarian is an instructional leader and partner who works with teachers and administrators to build school-wide collections that are accessible beyond the walls of the library and that defy traditional delivery methods. She builds a library presence centered around both physical and digital spaces for conversation, creativity and collaboration. She and her students blog, Tweet, and share their work in collaborative online spaces. The future librarian embraces social media and uses it to build a bridge between students, teachers and the world. She understands that in order to meet student needs, the library must be accessible anytime, anywhere.
The future librarian is creative, flexible, and willing to do whatever it takes to engage students. He is an active member of personal learning networks and, what’s more, he thinks reflectively about what make learning joyful and exciting for him. Then he applies those lessons to the library. The future librarian provides opportunities for wonder and experimentation. He promotes reading for pleasure and learning through play; this librarian knows that all instruction must be both relevant and riveting.
The time for the future librarian is now. Though we live in exponential times, the world of education has struggled to keep up. For school librarians, there has never been a time of greater uncertainty or opportunity. As what it means to educate the 21st-century learner evolves, school librarians have the opportunity to claim our place as instructional leaders in this new educational landscape. Today’s students cannot afford to wait for the “future librarian.” And, frankly, neither can we. Their world has changed. And so has ours. We must change, too.
Jennifer LaGarde
Lead Media Specialist
New Hanover County Schools, Wilmington, NC
jennifer.lagarde@nhcs.net
@jenniferlagarde
* * *
WHAT FABERGE ORGANICS TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIBRARIANSHIP
When I was a kid growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, I was somewhat obsessed with television commercials, so it really should come as less of a surprise to me that one such commercial really frames what I think about good librarianship; specifically about who librarians should teach and when. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcskckuosxQ)
My idea of librarianship in the school setting has changed over time. When I first arrived at my school, I was quite adamant about carving out my own time and my own curriculum. Sure there could be some overlap with the classroom, but I had discreet skills to teach my students. The reasons I had for wanting to do this was primarily to justify my place on the faculty. If I had my own classes, my own curriculum ,and my own column on the report card, perhaps I would be seen as a “real” teacher.
Now, after 10 years in the school library arena, what I want is almost 180 degrees away from my former idea. While I still think that it is necessary for students to learn to use the library effectively, browse books for study and leisure, and learn systems and reference materials, I think there is a better way of doing it. Take me off the fixed schedule plan.
Librarians can be more effective when they can be in the classroom to help teachers navigate the growing world of information – from both the gathering and dissemination ends of the learning process. Librarians should be in the classroom whenever there is research going on. Librarians should be a part of guided reading circles. Librarians should be not only a part of social studies lessons, but of science, math, world languages, and technology lessons as well.
Are we experts in all of those areas? Of course we are not. But we can be (and are) experts in the new (and old) tools of finding, evaluating, and disseminating information. Most teachers do not have time to explore all of the new technologies for these tasks that pop up over time. If librarians make use of our wide professional networks, we can bring just the right tool into the classroom to facilitate learning. And if we do it well, word will spread.
A teacher will tell two other teachers, who will tell two administrators, who will tell two parents, and so on, and so on about the importance of the school librarian to the fabric of the school; hopefully, this sharing will lead more of us to the flexible schedule and to teaching students, teachers, administrators and parents how to use the best tools to the best ends.
Stacy Dillon
Lower School Librarian
LREI, New York, NY
smdillon@lrei.org
http://blog.lrei.org/lslibrary
@lrei_lib
@mytweendom
* * *
THE ONLY BOUNDARIES? TIME, ENERGY, AND IMAGINATION
For the past thirteen years I have been teaching in international schools in China, and the experience continues to provide exceptional opportunities concerning who and what I teach as a teacher-librarian. My only boundaries have been time, energy and imagination.
In the international school setting I work with students, classroom teachers, learning specialists, assistant teachers, administrators, staff, and parents. In the Chinese community I have worked with adults learning English, migrant children, college students, Tibetan students and teachers; and in the professional community— other librarians and integrationists.
I have worked with a wide spectrum of students—pre-kindergarten to adults—some who have never seen a computer to students who are highly computer-literate. I have worked with students who have no English to those who are eloquent speakers. I teach students on-line, in packed auditoriums, classrooms, group settings, and one-on-one. I have taught students who are in some of the best school facilities money can buy to students who are in some of the poorest. But more importantly, the students are best described as curious, disciplined, and respectful.
I am a storyteller, information curator, database expert, extended essay supervisor, book group coordinator, wiki specialist, transliteracy coach, interdisciplinary-information literacy collaborator, approaches-to-learning leader, guided inquiry mentor, curriculum team member, open-access advocate, one-to-one and mobile device promoter, reading champion, and accreditation team member.
To put it more succinctly I'm a librarian who has the flexibility and support to provide dynamic learning opportunities.
Beth Gourley
High School Teacher-Librarian
Western Academy of Beijing, Beijing, China
@beahgo
* * *
PUTTING THE TEACHER IN TEACHER-LIBRARIAN
Last October, we heard some fantastic news! Teacher-librarian extraordinaire Buffy Hamilton was named one of "20 to watch" for Education Technology Leadership by NSBA’s Technology Leadership Network (TLN). However, as our friend and colleague, Cathy Stutzman noted, she was not named "20 to watch" for instructional support in technology. Nope, Hamilton was clearly named as an educator, and her role was stated as media specialist/teacher.
What’s surprising is that many people would not equate her with being a teacher because she is indeed a librarian. Having been classroom teachers, we realize that our role is different. Still, when we decided to pursue librarianship, the thought never entered our minds that where budget was concerned, we'd be considered support staff. We never thought that colleagues would say it was sad that we weren't teachers anymore or, even worse, that friends would say we were lucky we weren't teaching anymore.
Still, we chirped back, "But the library's our classroom," or "I know we don’t currently have grading, but we’re working on ways to bring assessment into the library." However, the chirping is not working anymore - for us or for our profession. In a time when budgets are shrinking nationwide, and consequently, library staffing, teacher-librarians need to change. We cannot simply support the curriculum anymore. We cannot wait for people to see our worth. Yes, part of our job is to support the staff and students, but we can also teach them and improve student learning directly.
In fact, we have been and still are teaching staff. In the past three years, we were one-to-one computing instructors for teachers new to the program, we were members of our faculty planning committee, and we co-taught several short skills sessions and courses to teachers on Web 2.0 technologies, the information search process, and 21st-century skills. These classes were the sparks to some amazing collaborations for us.
Yet, we still had difficulty forming true partnerships when it came to working with students. Many researchers have written about levels of librarian collaboration. In "Where Does Your Authority Come From: Empowering the Library Media Specialist as a True Partner in Student Achievement," Allison Zmuda (2006) describes what true partnership is and details changes that must occur in order for this to happen.
However, we are challenged to find time and to explain to non-librarians how we can be integrated into the curriculum. Possibly, an analogy can be made to the “writing-across-the-curriculum” movement: While English teachers are seen as experts in writing, all teachers are expected to infuse writing instruction and assessment into their classes. We, too, have an expertise to share and a right to claim it as our own. We know about information…how to find it, evaluate it, and use it, regardless of format. We also have studied learning theory, the affective and cognitive domains of learning, and how to provide interventions at appropriate stages of the research process.
Given these challenges, how do we form these partnerships and share our expertise with students? Do we work as partners with:
* just one grade level?
* one or two subjects?
* five or six projects?
Sadly, we really don't have an answer, but we are ready and willing to question and reflect our way to some possibilities like focusing our time on working with teacher who want to form true partnerships, communicating that work to administrators to let them know how we can improve student achievement, collecting evidence of practice beyond circulation and classroom statistics, and continuing to be involved in professional development as a teacher and learning leaders.
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