How to Survive the Zombie Librarian Apocalypse Survival Tip #4: Share.

Zombie Librarians don't share.  Instead, they hide in their offices counting library fine money while lamenting the fact that no one in the world seems to understand the rigor and importance of their job.  Zombie Librarians feel misunderstood and, as a result, they have mastered the role of "outsider."  They are grumpy, sullen and superior all at the same time.

And this is bad.  Really bad.  And let me tell you why.  

A few years ago, when library jobs were on the chopping block in my district, my principal came to me after a particularly heated meeting and said, "I'm worried that the voices of principals with bad librarians are going to be louder than those of us with great ones."  In other words, principals (teachers, parents, etc) will fight for people and programs they know are valuable while, and this is important, being willing to  compromise the others.  What's more, it only takes a few "zombies" out there to make things really REALLY tough on the rest of us.   We may out number them, but it won't matter if their bad practice infects those with the loudest voices.

So... what's the antidote to this form of Zombie Librarianship?  That's easy.  Sharing.  If it's true that no one in your building really understands your work or how what you do impacts students, well... there's only one person who can change that. (Hint: it's you!)  And if information about your wonderful programming and stellar instruction isn't making it home to parents as a topic of conversation around the dinner table, well... there's only one person who can change that too. (Hint: it's you!) And if your greater community and local power players (think school board members, the mayor and state legislators) have yet to pay a visit to your school's library to see your students in action, again, there's only one person who can change that! (You get the picture).

The good news is, there are tons of ways to share. Whether you rock the school website, create an awesome, (interactive), data wall, distribute an amazing annual report, publish regular newsletters, hold tons of library- family nights, invite the media to cover library events or a combination of all of the above (plus countless other examples), the ways that you can share your work with the world are as limitless as your imagination.

What's more, sharing isn't just a best practice, it's marketing, it's advocacy and in these uncertain times, it brings you one step closer to job security. Obviously, at this point, we all know there's no silver bullet when it comes to stemming the tide of red ink that all state budgets seem to be drowning in, but that can't stop us from doing everything in our power to make sure that libraries top the list of things our principals, teachers, parents and community are willing to fight for.  

And, this is where the rubber meets the road, because sharing our work isn't about keeping librarians off the unemployment line, it's about saving libraries for kids.  As far as I am concerned, every bad librarian (and teacher and principal, etc) out there SHOULD get a pink slip. Further, if I'm completely honest, then I have to say that despite the economic uncertainty of the past few years, I've never feared for my own job - because I knew that even if all library positions in my district were cut, I'd find work somewhere.  Call me cocky, or worse, but I'm smart, capable and, frankly, I'm a darned good teacher.  I'm not worried about me. 

I worry about more important things: like kids not having access to libraries and their skillfully curated collections, like kids missing out on the kind of great collaborations that only classroom teachers and teacher librarians can create together, like kids having no access to the kind of inquiry and essential skills based instruction that libraries can naturally cultivate, like kids having no place in their lives where reading is modeled and promoted as something joyful and pleasurable, instead of just instructional.**  Truly, mass librarian unemployment doesn't hold a candle to these concerns.  So... I became a compulsive sharer because, my students deserved it, and I'm pretty sure yours do too.  Besides, if nothing else, there's no way I was gonna let the zombies win!  

All of that said, since posting my presentation on How To Survive The Zombie Librarian Apocalypse, I've gotten lots and lots of questions about the images I used in the presentation.   Basically, all of the inquiries boil down to 3 questions, which I am going to try to answer here:

Did you draw the zombies yourself?

Answer:  Yes!

What did you use to draw zombies/create the presentation?

Answer:  I drew the zombies using an iPad app called Art Studio, which I have written about here.  (I feel the need to emphasize here that I am not an artist, seriously... I can barely draw a stick figure given pencil and paper, but there's something about the iPad, and this app in particular, that makes it easier for me to create the ideas floating around in my head.) Once the zombies were all drawn, I used Comic Live (a program I learned about from Gwyneth Jones) to create the slides themselves - which I then exported as images and uploaded to PowerPoint.  Sounds complicated, I know, but I promise, it's really not.

Can I use the zombie images in my [insert your project here]?

Answer: Yes!  And why???  Because Zombie Librarians don't share... but I do!  And, in order to make this easier, I've created a "Zombie Librarian" set in Flickr and uploaded all the images there.  These images, like all the stuff I share, are licensed with an attribution, share-alike, non commercial Creative Commons license, meaning a) you have to give credit b) you have to let others use your remix of my work and c) you can't make money from their use.   So... what's mine is yours, provided you continue sharing what you create.

Finally, let me just say that I created the Zombie Librarians as something of a joke, except not really, if you know what I mean.  Unfortunately, there are still too many librarians out there for whom the term Zombie Librarian might actually be a compliment. However, I believe there's more of us than there are them.  And what's more, we're bringing the awesome!  So, watch out!

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**I want to go on record as saying that I know there are many classroom teachers who strive to cultivate readers (as opposed to test takers) in their classes, who focus on inquiry and participatory learning (as opposed to standardized instruction) because they know its what's best for kids and who have turned collaboration (both within and without the physical confines of their buildings), into an art form.  Further, I do not believe libraries hold the patent on this type of teaching.  However, in my experience, after a decade+ of high stakes testing, I know these teachers are the exception, not the rule AND (more importantly) I believe that these kinds of instructional practices should be the central mission of school librarianship. THIS (and only this) is what school libraries should be about.  It should be the core of our work. (Books, technology and the "stuff" that fills the room are only tools for delivering instruction).  My point is only that if school librarians ARE doing the work they should be, their absence would leave an indelible gap in the lives of students - and that is something worth fighting for.

How To Survive the Zombie Librarian Apocalypse

This weekend I had the honor of being they keynote speaker at the Alabama School Library Association Summer Conference in Birmingham, (not Mobile, but that's another story) Alabama.  From start to finish, I was so impressed by the core group of librarians who run this state association and who put on a small, but impactful, conference that focuses on supporting new librarians while also challenging all of us grizzled veterans.  This is truly a great group of folks and I am super grateful for having had the chance to walk among them for a few days.

Anyway, as part of my trip to Alabama, I was given the task of talking to a group of new librarians (those with 0-3 years experience in the library) from around the state about how they should approach their new adventure.  As it happened, this request came right around the time I was doing a series of workshops in my own state about expectations and being the best librarian you can be - during which I had the opportunity to ask librarians around the state if they preferred Downton Abbey or The Walking Dead.  A silly question, but as I told those being polled, I like to know who I need to stand next to if the Zombie Apocalypse takes place during our workshop.  Anyway, it was during one of those sessions that someone came up to me and said, "well you know, Jennifer, librarians really only fall into 2 categories anyway - zombies and zombie fighters."

I'm not sure if others in the room noticed it at the time, but at that moment a giant, blinking lightbulb went on over my head.  Librarians are either zombies or zombie fighters.  I kept thinking about and repeating the idea. I, literally, could not stop thinking about it. THEN I wondered, what a full blown Zombie Librarian Apocalypse would look like?  AND how in the world do those of us who still walk among the living survive????

And thus, my keynote for the Alabama School Library Association was born.

Honestly, I feel like I've just started to scratch the surface of this idea and I have no idea where it will continue to take me, but for now, I'm sharing my two presentations from ASLA - including my general session keynote about leading from the library.  (An idea that was born out of people constantly asking me, when they meet me in person, where my cape is!)

How to Survive the Zombie Librarian Apocalypse! from Jennifer LaGarde

Cape Optional! Leading from the Library! from Jennifer LaGarde

Again, thank so, so much to all the wonderful Alabama librarians who invited me to be a part of their journey.  I am truly grateful for the experience and am so happy to be able to call you my colleagues, friends and fellow Zombie Fighters!

#brainz

School Library Annual Reports: Connecting the Dots Between Your Library And Student Learning

My last principal used to call May "the month of mayhem." And for good reason.  In the northern hemisphere anyway, May means warmer weather, antsy students (and teachers), testing, testing (and more testing), and a rapidly approaching end to yet another school year.

For me, however, May also meant the creation of my annual report.  Annual reports were never required in my district or by my principal, but after seeing the work of other librarians whose districts did require these types of reflections, I knew I wanted to make completing one for my library a part of my year end routine.

Why in the world would I want to add this to my already full end of year plate?  Several reasons:

1. Assuming others know what you do is stupid silly.  As librarians we constantly lament that we are the only ones who understand our jobs.  But, if we don't share the scope of that work and how it results in student outcomes, if other people don't get it, we kind of have no one to blame but ourselves.  An annual report represents an effective way to share what we do.
2. Our work doesn't matter if it doesn't impact students.  The annual report is a great way to draw a line between what happens in the library and student outcomes.  Once students have worn their number 2 pencils down to their nubs, comparing testing data to library data is the only way for us to know if our work made a measurable difference.
3. "We're in this together" is a message we cannot send too many time.  Using the annual report to reflect on student and library data shows teachers and administrators that we are just as invested in student growth as they are.  Instead of running around fretting about our inventories, the annual report gives us the opportunity to show that we are fretting about the same thing every other adult in the building is fretting about at the end of the year: student achievement.
4. Reflection makes us better.  Period.  Think of it this way: would you rather your own child be taught by a teacher who reflects on his/her work and strives to make instruction better as a result of that reflection OR would you hope your child's teacher simply pulls out the same lessons year after year, regardless of their succes?  Exactly.

Needless to say,  this year, I won't be able to complete an annual report for my own library.  However, I have been able to work with other librarians as they tackle this type of reflective practice for the first time.

As part of this process, I shared several examples of school library annual reports in multiple formats - some are documents, some are webpages and some are videos. An aside: I'm finding Edcanvas to be a fun and effective tool for sharing multiple web resources like this.



After reviewing each of the reports, I asked the librarians to give each a grade (A-F) based on the following question:  how effective is the report in conveying the scope of work being done in the library AND how that work impacts students?

As you might expect, there were a wide variety of grades along with lots and lots of dialogue.  It was really gratifying to hear the librarians talk about what they liked about the examples and what they thought could be improved upon.  Full disclosure, two of the reports in the examples are mine AND trust when I say neither received an A+.  That's okay, though, I can take it!

Finally, given their response to the example reports, I asked the librarians to  contribute to a collaborative Google doc, listing what they thought were the essential components of any school library annual report.  I asked them to imagine an annual report that would earn an A+ and then list the components that perfect report would contain.

When they were finished, I plugged their thoughts into a word cloud generator with the following results:

I gotta say, I'm a fan of what they came up with.

As we chatted about their thoughts, two themes rose to the top:

1. Make it about students not stuff.
2. Create it with the audience in mind.

I couldn't have said it better myself.  The only thing I would add is that it must be shared.  It's not enough to just do this work, you've got to share it with your community.  Give it your principal.  Put it on your webpage.  Send a link to the PTSA Prez for inclusion in their newsletter, tape a copy to each stall door in the faculty restroom.  Whatever you gotta do, get it out there.

And, perhaps it goes without saying, but I find myself wanting to add that any annual report is only as good as the work it reflects.  No report, regardless of how flashy, fun and full of data it is, can hide a library that has yet to reach kids.  The report reflects the work, so the work has got to be great.  But if it's not, the report will help you identify weaknesses and adjust accordingly.

So while I'm not creating a report of my own this year, helping other librarians with theirs has been a gratifying process.  I know that no matter what format these folks choose in creating their first annual reports, they'll be better for having gone through the process.  I can say, without a doubt, that I became a better librarian as a result.

Finally, since I get lots of questions about what I used to create my annual reports, here's the skinny.

For my 2010-11 report, I used good old fashioned Microsoft Word.  No kidding.  Some of the images within it were edited with Big Huge Labs.  But that's it.  Promise.
For my 2011-12 report, I used easel.ly - a tool for creating infographics that I still use all of the time to share data.  It's easy AND fun.

A Rather Large Amount of Gratitude (Paying it Forward)

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.”   ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

There are good days and then there are the other kind.  Today fell into the latter category.  

And then this came in the mail.

An unexpected card from someone far away.  Someone I've never met but who knows me through this blog, twitter and various other ways that I've built my PLN. Someone from whom I've learned just as much, if not more, than she has learned from me.  Someone who took a few minutes to make my day.

I'm sharing it here because this, taking a few minutes to say thank you, is something I need to work on.  

There are so many people to whom I could have sent this very card - and meant every single word.  I've been super lucky.  The number of "mentors" in my life far exceeds the nay sayers.  And I know not everyone can say that.  Plus, I've got this massive, amazing group of virtual friends and colleagues, my PLN, swirling around me every day: teaching me new things and cheering me on.  

Seth Godin was right.  There really is something magical about having a tribe.

Which is why I promptly came home and wrote  a few thank you cards of my own - to the people who have empowered and inspired me.  The people who make me want to be a better teacher and person.  MY mentors.  MY tribe.

In some ways, writing those notes and "paying it forward" felt even better than receiving a note of my own (even though receiving this note was made of awesome!) and I know sending them tomorrow will feel even better.  

So... thank you to the person who sent me this note.  (I asked her if I could blog about it, but did not ask if I could use her name, so I'm going to leave it anonymous for now).  And thanks to all of you for being a part of my journey.  There are simply not enough cute cards and forever stamps out there to express my gratitude.

Like I said, there are good days and there are the other kind.  The next time you're having one of those others kinds of days, may I suggest thanking someone who's made a difference in your life?  

Trust me.  That simple act of gratitude can make all the difference.

Libraries as Cultivators of Creativity: There's an App for That!

I am not an artist.  But when I created this blog, I knew I wanted an avatar that would come to be synonymous with "Library Girl."  I figured, if I was going to don a virtual super hero persona, I would, at minimum, need a cartoon character version of my self who, if not able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, would at least sport a cape.

So... I started hitting up my artsy friends.  Alas, none of them were interested in creating a comic ME for which I could pay them exactly nothing.  Go figure.  Which left me with nothing to do but rely upon my own skills.  Let me repeat:  I am not an artist.

I am, however, a librarian.

And soon I'd discovered Mii creator, where I cobbled together a reasonable facsimile of myself, which I then popped into Microsoft Paint where I added red glasses, a cape and a pile of books.   And, boom!  Just like that, library girl was born.

Now, several years later, I'm still very fond of her.  Lately, however, I've been feeling as though it's time for a change.  Which brings me back to the fact that although I am not an artist, I am a librarian - which means I'm an explorer, a risk taker, a mistake maker, a leaner and an evolver.

Qualities, I imagine, many artists would use to describe themselves as well.
Qualities that I fear aren't cultivated as lovingly or as frequently as they should be at school.

In my experience, too often, school is about finding answers instead of asking questions.  It's about coloring inside the lines instead of creating new boundaries.  It's about finding the right answer instead of learning from mistakes.

Which is a sad thing.  But also an understandable one.  I was a classroom teacher for a long time before I became a citizen of libraryland, and I understand the pressure of showing measurable, quantifiable growth each year - pressure that leaves little time for things that aren't going to be "on the test."  And while as a librarian, I still feel that pressure and I'm still deeply invested in student achievement, I also recognize the opportunity and obligation to make the library a place where kids can discover, create, share and grow - a place where mistakes make learning possible.  A place where kids can take risks and be all the better for it.

Whether it's in our physical spaces or the depth of our instruction, the library should be a spot where kids use its resources to make new stuff.  As Joyce Valenza says, "the library should be more like a kitchen than a grocery store." It's not a place for kids to simply fill their carts and leave.  It's a place where they should be using the resources in the library to concoct whatever they can imagine.

All of which leads me back to the purpose of this post, which is to share some of my favorite APPs to help spark student creativity.   If you're lucky to have access to mobile devices in your library, these would make some great additions to your APP collection.   And if you don't have such access, they are worth exploring anyway - to consider what they provide students with the opportunity to do and then to think about how you can provide students with those same opportunities with or without a gadget.

Note: all of these apps are for iPad (though they likely have android counterparts).  And not all are free.    They are not listed in any particular order.

What is it?  Felt Board allows kids to create characters and stories using a really simple, but beautiful, interface. There's a wide variety of characters and settings to encourage creativity and imaginative play. Fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination are also honed while dragging, placing and pinching objects to scale. There's all sorts of shapes, numbers, colors and settings for kids to manipulate and discover while sharing their stories.

How can I use it?  I love this app as a way for kids to communicate an idea or create and share their own narratives.  I would use it in station/center work to allow kids to recreate the ending to a story given an "imagine if this had happened" twist.  I might also use it to let kids create book reviews, recreate a moment from history or to talk about a traumatic event in a safe environment.

Difficulty Level:  1.5 Super Easy

What is it? Draw Quest is a fun collaborative APP that centers around daily drawing challenges for which there are no "right or wrong answers."  Every day a new challenge, or "quest," is issued and the fun comes when kids have the opportunity to collaborate and share.  Kids can star their favorite challenges and watch instant replays of other drawings. It's meaningful for kids to see how others tackle the exact same challenge.   For example, one daily challenge might be "draw what you want to be when you grow up."  Not only do kids get to see how their classmates answer that question, but they can, through the replays, watch all the lines that were erased and redrawn before the "quest" is finished. 

How can I use it?  I would use it as part of a creation station or maker space, allowing kids to finish a challenge and view a few others.  Then I might have students write or record a reflection on what they learned about their classmates or themselves from the challenge.  I might also just let kids do it for fun.  (I know! Heresy!) 

Difficulty Level:  2 Easy

What is it?  Art Set is just exactly what it sounds like: an absolutely beautiful virtual art set that puts a plethora of mediums at kids finger tips as they create just about anything they can imagine.  It's like having an entire art studio at your disposal where kids can create using chalk, pastels, countless paints and brushes plus fun stuff like stickers and glitter.  If they can dream it, they can make it.

How can I use it? I would use Art Set in the same way I would use any visual arts component of a lesson.  Whether pulling out the descriptive passages of a text to illustrate the author's words or using art to make sense of figurative language like mood or tone, this APP could be used to help students bring their thoughts to life.

Difficulty Level:  3.5 Medium - Challenging

What is it? Let's Create! Pottery HD is an amazing APP that allows users to shape, decorate and share gorgeous and ornate clay vessels and pots.  Seriously, the products are absolutely beautiful.  The interface is easy to use and, if activated, the creations can be shared and ranked on the Let's Create website where artists share the story of their work, earn badges and other artists can comment on and rate their work.

How can I use it? I would love to use this APP with students studying ancient Egypt or Native American/Aboriginal cultures.  What fun to talk about how ancient artisans created pottery that conveyed very specific messages through its shape and decorations and how that pottery was especially meaningful when created specifically for a person's burial and journey to the afterlife. After learning about various Egyptians, from the very wealthy and powerful to the very poor and even enslaved, I would have kids create pottery to be placed in their burial chamber.  What messages would they want to convey and how would they do it?

Difficulty Level:  2 Easy

What is it?  Sock Puppets is a super fun APP that allows kids to create their own puppet shows.  The interface is easy to use, kids get to choose their puppets, can record their own narrations and then save/share the products for playback later.

How can I use it?  Sock Puppet shows could be used for book reviews, to tell the story of a field trip, to explain the steps in a science experiment, to explain an event from history, etc.  It's a great way to get kids communicating and collaborating! The finished products can also be uploaded to You Tube, embedded on a webpage or shared with parents/grandparents.


Difficulty Level:  1 Super Easy!

What is it? Comic Life is the APP version of the web tool that lets students create super fun comics with just a few easy drags and drops.  There are a number of preset styles, or kids can start from scratch - either way, the process of creating gorgeous comic strips is super easy.  And once finished, the products can be saved and shared.

How can I use it?  I would use comic life to help kids explain complex math problems, create propaganda from various points of view during a specific time in history or share their own stories.   Back in the day, I used to do a project with kids who were reading The Grapes of Wrath in which I would ask them to create 2 advertisements - one that depicted the idilic life in the west that the "Okies" were hoping to find once they got to California and then one that depicted the reality they found once they go there.  I would love to go back in time and let kids recreate these assignments using a tool like Comic Life!

Difficulty Level:  1.5 Way Easy!

What is it?  Art Studio is very similar to Art Set (see above): it's a full suite of drawing tools that allow kids (or adults) craft custom drawings.  However, Art Studio is not quite as complex, offers fewer options (though there's still plenty to choose from!) but is a little easier for the non artists among us.

How can I use it?  If you've made it all the way to the bottom of this post, you may be wondering what in the world my blathering about the Library Girl avatar at the beginning had to do with the price of rice in China.  Well, I started this post by admitting that I am not an artist.  And yet, I created Library Girl Redux using the APP Art Studio.

She's not perfect (much like her creator) and I may find that I want to go back to her predecessor at some point.  However, given the freedom to experiment, the right tools (Art Studio is my personal favorite drawing APP.  I just find it easy to use.), the knowledge that it's okay to make mistakes and the ability to start over (and over and over), I was able to create something I'm okay with sharing - which, for a self described non artist, is really saying something!

In the end, although it may sound cliche to say, the product is not what's important, nor are the tools you use to get there, it really is the process that matters.  Providing kids (and adults) with the freedom to imagine what something could be like, the tools to try to bring those wonderings to life and a safe place where, not only is it okay to stumble, but there's also someone there to help you back onto your feet, is crucial and all too rare - both in school and in life.

As librarians, we have an opportunity and an obligation to create spaces and instruction that cultivate our students' creativity.  Our spaces, our flexibility and our skills make the library the perfect place to turn kids loose: to give them the chance to imagine, explore, create and share.  Along the way, they'll make mistakes and plenty of messes, but that's how we all learn.  We may not all have access to the APPs I've shared in this post, but we've all got access to something far more important:  kids.  All of whom are eager and ready to get started!