The Adventures of Library Girl

Reader's Advisory 2.01 - Collaborative Genre Prezis

2012-02-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

Awhile back, I wrote about a reader's advisory project I'd been working on - involving collaborative genre Prezis. At that time, I talked about how Prezi provided a great platform for the creation of online collages where students could add their own work to resources I found about specific literary genres. I also proudly announced that I'd been adding these growing collages to my MARC records so that students perusing the OPAC could happily stumble upon more information regarding specific genres.

It wasn't long after I smugly posted this info, however, before I received an email from another librarian who'd been searching my OPAC, but who couldn't see my Prezis in any records. It took awhile, but after lots of head scratching, hand wringing and tech supporting, I finally figured out how to fix the problem. (That's not to say, however, that I've fixed all my records yet, mind you - so if you decide to go searching my catalog, be patient!) In the meantime, however, I started to explore some alternative options for linking my MARC records to the genre Prezis which were really starting to take off at my school.

But... first things first. While I'm sure all of you are much better catalogers than I am, let me share that the problem with my initial attempt to link our genre Prezis to the OPAC was nothing more than human error. Turns out I was putting the links in the wrong tag. I guess this is the right time to admit that I am an abysmal cataloger. Partly this is because my cataloging instruction in library school was, frankly, abysmal. But partly, this is because I'm a rule breaker. I'm forever adding the wrong thing to the wrong tag in an attempt to make said things easier for students to search/find. Sometimes this works out for the best - sometimes not. Anyway, as I said, I'm sure you're a better cataloger than I am, but just in case, it turns out that not only is the 856 tag the spot to put online resources, but also, you need to use the U subfield in order to make the link "clickable." Who knew? (Clearly, not me!)

Before I figured that out, though, I remembered a resource that library goddess Joyce Valenza shared awhile back that allowed for the easy cataloging of web resources: web2Marc. This handy little tool is basically an online form that allows the would-be-cataloger to enter the URL of choice and some basic information about the resource - including as many searchable tags as you'd like AND even links to the Common Core Standards so that teachers can search your catalog for curriculum aligned resources. I know! Crazy! Best of all, it couldn't be easier. Truly, it only takes a click or two before you've got everything you need to update your catalog with the latest, greatest web resources.

So... which way am I adding our ever growing collection genre Prezis to my catalog? Both, of course! Again, I'm nowhere near having even a respectable chunk of my fiction collection linked to these genre resources, but I've started. AND I've cataloged all the Prezis using web2Marc - which has turned out to be incredibly popular. Last week alone two teachers stopped by to tell me about how they've been pointing students to the Prezis via our OPAC in order to help them search for books by genre. AND more and more student are starting to reference the Prezis when asking for books: either they want to know more about a book they found through the Prezi OR they want to add some artwork or a book trailer or some other stuff to the evolving collage. Either way, I love it.

Admittedly, it's take awhile to get it right, but success is worth waiting for!

Finally, I wanted to share our most recent genre Prezi - which is related to realistic fiction. I'm particularly proud of this Prezi because one of the book trailers it contains was made by some of my students. (What's more, we're currently working on a new trailer that I hope to add soon!). THIS is what I had in mind when I started this project. To me, the best reader's advisory conversations are those that continue over time, that grow based on input from both the teacher-librarian AND the student, and that both parties can take ownership of. What's more, I love that these conversatons now have an online life that continues beyond the walls of my library. So much of learning is social, global and interactive - there's no reason why our reader's advisory programs shouldn't be too.

Have fun and remember everything I post here is licensed under Creative Commons. Feel free to use, share and make this better.

Realistic Fiction on Prezi

What Do You Stand For? Creating a Library Brand That Matters.

2012-02-05T20:51:00.000-08:00

When I started this blog, I picked the moniker of "Library Girl" on a whim. All around me, it seemed like libraries were under attack and although I didn’t know how to stave off the assault, I knew I didn’t want to go down without a fight. And while adding my voice to those who were already talking about what was happening to libraries seemed like a good place to start, I also knew that I didn’t want to just whine about unfair treatment and lament the loss of jobs, budgets and other resources. In short, I didn’t want to bellyache. I wanted to be a part of proving our worth. And thus, Library Girl was born.

Truth be told, in the beginning, I had absolutely no intention of being Library Girl anywhere other than this blog. I didn’t run into school the next day wearing a cape and armed with the promise of fixing all overhead projectors in a single bound! However, it wasn’t long before I realized that writing about what was happening TO libraries was less interesting and far less important than exploring what was happening IN libraries. Therefore, as this space became more and more about sharing and growing my practice than about whooping and fist pumping, it wasn't long before the two worlds began to collide.

The first time someone “in the real world” called me Library Girl, I went red in the face. Although I doubt “introvert” is a word that most folks would use to describe me, at my core, I’m a fairly shy person. So, when such references continued, I was tempted to shrug it off as something I didn’t really care that much about. But I do care about it. A lot. Plus, Library Girl is more than just a poorly made avatar standing on a stack of clipart books or the name at the top of this blog. It's what I stand for. And I want people to know what I stand for. What’s more, you should too.

I am fortunate that I often have the chance to connect with librarians from across my state, region and even the country. One of the common threads in these discussions is the nagging worry about how librarians are perceived by administrators, teachers and even students. They grumble about being underutilized and about being viewed more as a stereotype than as a contributing member of the instructional team. These are legitimate concerns.

But… here’s the thing:

I’ve yet to meet an administrator (or teacher, or student) whose view is one of “I feel so strongly about school librarians that I will never, ever, under any circumstances change my view of them! Never. I mean it. Never. It doesn’t matter what you say. I’m not listening. La la la la la la la la la.”

The hard truth is that whatever our school partners think of us, it’s based on their experience. If they think we are irrelevant, it’s because in their experience, we are. And, more importantly, they've yet to experience something compelling enough to prove that perception wrong. Maybe they were shushed one too many times when they were a student. Maybe they’re still bitter about not earning enough points to make it to the last AR party. Perhaps your predecessor wore a name badge that said “Hello My Name is Book Shelver.” Or maybe it’s the list of students who currently can’t check out books in your library because they’ve lost a book or incurred a fine. Or what about that sign of "DON'Ts" you have posted at the front door? Whatever the reason, it’s up to you to provide an experience that changes what they currently know to be true of school libraries.

In short, it's up to you to make make sure that everyone in your school knows what YOU stand for.

I choose to believe that everyone reading this blog knows this fundamental truth: Our job is not about books. It’s about kids. But ask yourself this:

Does your principal know you believe that?
If asked, would your principal say you care more about curriculum or cataloging?
Do your teachers know that you care and worry about the same things they do?
Do they see student test scores as reflecting on your work in the same way they do on theirs?
Do the people you work with see you crafting lessons and programming that impact learning and then assessing the quality of those lessons?
If asked, would the teachers at your school list you as a member of the faculty or of the staff?
Do your students feel you are as invested in their futures as their other teachers?
Do they see you as someone they can go to when they have a question about something OTHER than a book?
Do your parents see you as a partner in their child’s learning?
Does anyone at your school see YOU as the "go to" person when it comes to developing curriculum, implementing instruction or innovating new practice?

If the answer is no, then they don’t know what you stand for.

But here’s the good news. You don’t need a cape, a blog or even red glasses to show them what you’re made of. All you need is the desire to impact students, a willingness to let go of some of the library barriers that keep us from making kids the priority and an eagerness to do the serious work of embedding yourself in student learning and then assessing the quality of your work. You don’t have to be superhero – you just have to be you.

/rant

All of that said, recently, Library Girl has become a more visible presence at my school. First, someone in our district’s tech department made me a necklace with Library Girl stamped into the metal pendant. When I was away at a conference, she stopped by my school and slipped it in the top drawer of my desk. Needless to say, I love it. And, of course, I started wearing it everywhere and showing it to anyone who would hold still long enough to listen to my blathering. Although I'm not much for library themed t-shirts or the dreaded book adorned sweaters, I'm happy to sport this particular piece of library bling.

Then, our school resource officer made me a candy dish for my desk with none other than Library Girl etched into the glass. Again, I am in love. Plus, now... every time I dish out a chocolaty treat, I'm inviting someone (usually a kid) to ask me about it. Sometimes I make a joke. ("Um. Everybody knows librarians are superheroes. Duh.") But other times we get to talk about some of the ways coming the library is a lot more effective than throwing up the bat signal in times of trouble. (Note: he also made me a cool mug with the same design on it, but I keep that at home lest my husband forget that he's married to a superhero).

THEN, my friend and teaching partner in crime, made me a (nearly) life-size Library Girl! She currently hangs in the window right beside the main entrance to the library. Next to her is a sign advertising what I am currently reading and leading students to my book reviews**. (I have plans for, but have yet to implement, a dry erase board to her right with lots of other info. One step at a time, right?) Again: LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

Whatever trepidation I once felt about donning my super hero persona at school is now gone. Library Girl is my brand. This is what I stand for. And while I may not have chosen this moniker in the hopes that it would become a part of my daily routine in the library, I do want the people I work with and for to know what I believe in, what my priorities are and how the work that I do matters (to them and to kids). And if, along the way, people start to see me as a full fledged super hero… well, I guess I’ll just have to live with it.

Now. If I can just get someone to build me a ~~Bat~~ Library-Girl-Mobile and maybe a secret hideout, I'll be all set! :)

**Note: this idea is not mine, it is yet another great idea that I shamelessly stole from Tamara Cox. (Thanks, Tamara!)

Stepping Up Our Game: School Libraries and Self Assessment

2012-01-29T19:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder why I still subscribe to so many professional journals. It's not that the quality of these publications has diminished so much, it's just that the time I have to actually read them has! Every month, a pile of new professional reading lands in my mailbox and every month I add it to the stack from the month before. And yet, I can't bring myself to cancel these subscriptions. When that elusive free time does present itself, I still love thumbing through the glossy pages, adorning each issue with a rainbow of sticky notes, while lovingly annotating the margins of particularly meaningful articles with scrawled notes and reminders. Perhaps I am showing my age with this confession. [old curmudgeon voice] Indeed, I can't wait to hear future generations of school librarians wax nostalgic when remembering how quaint it was to highlight text on the first generation iPad. [/old curmudgeon voice] *sigh*

But I digress.

My faith in these subscriptions, however, was renewed a week or so ago during the 16 hours (but that's a whole other story) I spent trying to get home from ALA Midwinter. I'm not a good traveler. Don't get me wrong, I love visiting new places, I just hate the travel from point A to point B. I discovered recently, however, that long flights (and even longer layovers) are the perfect time to catch up on the pile of professional reading I was complaining about just a paragraph ago. So now, whenever I go on a trip, I grab a pile of neglected professional publications to dive into somewhere between taxi and touchdown. It's the proverbial win-win.

Anyway, it was during this recent trip that I finally explored the December issue of School Library Monthly where I ran across an article on the school librarian's role in closing the achievement gap for African American males. For me, this was an incredibly powerful read, not only because it highlights the fundamental truth that school librarians MUST care about the same things that all other teachers care about, but it also provides a model that can be used by teacher librarians to support the literacy needs of the African American males they serve. What's more the same model can also be used as a self-assessment tool by teacher librarians who already understand and view their programs as essential components in the school's efforts to serve these students.

Note: I REALLY wish I could find a copy of the entire article online. However the model, outlined by Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Casey H.Rawson is composed of three successive levels, or approaches, of school librarian involvement: the Additive, Transformative, and Social Action Approaches. I like these levels because they provide me with a clear benchmark with which to compare my own efforts.

Let's be honest, this is the level where most libraries start and stop what are likely good faith efforts to support programs targeting struggling learners. We create displays during ___________ (Black History, Autism Awareness, Etc) Month and make sure that all of our reading lists contain some high interest/low reading level texts. But then we stop. This doesn't make us bad people. But it does make our work less impactful than it could/should be.

Again, let me be frank. Prior to reading this article, I felt pretty good about my program and its role in impacting the learning of my school's most at risk populations. However, now I'm pretty sure this is where my efforts land. I definitely involve students in the selection process and create opportunities for discussion that go beyond the stand alone displays, but I can't boast much more than that. Again, that doesn't make me a bad person. What it makes me is eager to step up my game!

Now at this point, I've got to confess two things: first, I don't know many libraries that are at this level and second, I strongly believe that the true value of this model is that it can be applied to student populations other than that of African American males.

One of the things I find myself saying over and over again is that in order to BE ~~viewed as~~ indispensable members of our learning communities, we must find ways to be the answer to the problems that keep our principals, fellow teachers and (hopefully) ourselves up at night. (I stole this line from Deb Logan, by the way). It may be that your school's focus is on closing the achievement gap for African American males - but it may also be that the students who need the most focused attention this year are English Language Learners or those with IEPs. No matter what group of kids needs us the most this year, we must find and (if necessary) create ways to assess our efforts and THEN be reflective enough in our practice to act on those results. Too often, we wait until the end of the year to place our work under the microscope - and then it's too late.

For most of us, January marks the half way point of this academic year - a time for buckling down and (re)resolving to actually do many of the things we promised ourselves (and our kids) back in August. But I think it's also the perfect time to scrutinize the work we've done so far. Instead of waiting for the annual report, (which will be here before we know it), I challenge you to a) consider which group of students at your school is in the most need of what you and your library can provide and then b) find or create a way to assess your efforts to be the difference for those very kids. I know... I know... it can be a hard pill to swallow, but ultimately this process is incredibly empowering. Whether it's this model or something else you've either run across or created, holding our programs up to the mirror of scrutiny may not leave us thrilled with what we see, but it will strengthen the impact we have on kids - which is, after all, what it's all about.

Snapshot of a 21st Century Library Program

2012-01-25T18:56:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, I have the privilege of sharing some of the things happening in my library with about 60 school librarians and tech facilitators from all around southeastern North Carolina. I love these kinds of things - mostly because it's a wonderful and rare opportunity to connect, face to face, with some of my counterparts. Even so, when I was asked to present a "snapshot" of the kinds of stuff that keeps me on my toes on a day to day basis, I struggled with how to organize my thoughts. On any given day, there's lots going on at my busy, suburban school, but having sat through too many disorganized and woefully irrelevant staff development sessions over the years, I wanted to make sure my thoughts were not only coherent, but also meaningful.

Also weighing heavily on my mind was a recent discussion I'd had with a group of teachers at my school about the formal ways in which teachers are evaluated. It seems like our country is at a crossroads when it comes to how teachers are not simply assessed, but also viewed. After a year full of extremes, (both in rhetoric and policy), I'm looking forward to (what I hope will be) the inevitable voice of reason: one that puts students first and agendas, politics and money second. (I know... I know... but a girl can dream, right?)

Anyway, all of this got me thinking about how school librarians are evaluated, or more specifically, what people expect from us. I've written many times before about how I feel one of the major problems facing our profession is that of "terminally low expectations" that, sadly, some of our colleagues live up (or should I say down?!) to. For a long time, school librarians have flown under the radar - a nebulous position: clouded by the specters of stereotypes and camouflage by the knowledge that absolutely no one else in the building has a clue what we're supposed to be doing. Truth be told, there are still plenty of teachers and, worse yet, administrators who don't know quite what to think of or expect from us. What's more, while some librarians have thrived in this environment - others have taken advantage of a situation in which little was expected and, thus, little was delivered.

It's unfortunate that it took the near collapse of our economy to make people take a closer look at school libraries and their impact on student learning. (And by closer look, I mean in some cases a complete decimation of existing programs and staff). Clearly, I believe in the work I do and know that a quality library program can have a tremendous impact on a student as a reader, thinker and creator. However, not everyone believes this or has even witnessed it. Therefore, it's up to us to shine a light on the good and important work we do: the work that directly impacts kids and furthers the learning goals of our schools - to reboot the concept of library and change what people expect from school librarians.

And thus, I found the lens through which I wanted to share my programs with my colleagues.

So... I dusted off my "Librarians Are Ready" flyer and began plugging in some examples of how my library lives up to the expectations I espouse. Honestly, even if Thursday's presentation didn't happen, this has been a good exercise in self-assessment for me. By examining the qualities of a "21st Century School Librarian" and trying to find concrete examples of how I fulfill them, I was forced to a) evaluate the merits of much of what I do, b) face the gaps in my work and c) think about how to fill them. All in all, a very valuable exercise. What's more, it's one I hope to replicate in my presentation.

Rather than just stand up there and say "oooooooh! look at me!" I hope my colleagues will spend some time thinking about their own programs and, in the process, discover some examples of how they are raising the bar for the rest of us AND maybe even leave with a few ideas.

*fingers crossed*

In the meantime, here's the Prezi I'll be sharing with my new friends on Thursday. As always, anything here is licensed under Creative Commons - so please feel free to use, share and change this as you see fit.

Librarians Are Ready: A Snapshot of A 21st Century Library Program on Prezi

From Tech Trend to Teaching Tool: Taking the QR Code Plunge!

2012-01-05T18:01:00.000-08:00

This post is a shout out to a group of fantastic teacher librarians who are “lunching and learning” this Friday in Fayetteville, NC. Because I couldn’t be there in person (or virtually, for that matter) to share in the fun, I promised I’d put together a post about my use of QR Codes in the library for those in the group who are QR curious. I know these fantastic ladies (and gents!) are going to have a great time today learning and sharing together. What’s more, I’m thrilled that I can be a part of the experience in this way. (Thanks, Julian, for inviting me!) So… let’s get started.

What are QR Codes?

img src: http://ow.ly/8jtxo

First, some basics: Even if you’re not familiar with the term QR Code, chances are you’ve seen these funky, pixelated squares popping up all over the place! Technically, a QR (or Quick Response) Code is a 2 dimensional barcode that, when scanned, links the user to additional information. Often this is a website, but can also be a text document, an image, video or audio file – the sky is the really the limit. If it can be hosted online, it can be linked to via a QR Code.

Where do QR Codes fit into the library?

I know what you're thinking. So what? Well, as I’ve written before, I was something of a QR Code skeptic when they were first brought to my attention too. To begin with, I struggled with how to make such things work in my school – where we are decidedly lacking in handheld devices and where students are not allowed to use their own smart phones during the instructional day. More importantly, however, while I couldn’t deny the QR Code’s inherent “cool factor,” the link between these 2 dimensional barcodes and student learning seemed fuzzy at best. I’ve written more extensively about what changed my mind here, but for now, let me share a few examples of how I am using QR codes in my library and/or how others are using them effectively in their corners of libraryland.

img src: libgirl365.tumblr.com

QR Codes as Book Barcode Bling: Books all over my library are adorned with QR codes that link to all sorts of stuff: book reviews (mine and students), book trailers, author interviews, student projects and countless other web resources that either help pique a student’s interest in the book or extend their learning once hooked. Kids LOVE scanning the QR Code on a book and checking out the related information. What's more, they love suggesting websites for future QR codes. Truly, as I've said before, the first time I saw a group of students huddled around the computer taking a 360’ tour of the Sistine Chapel that was linked (via QR Code) to a book on Michelangelo, (which they then fought to check out), I knew I’d hit on something big.

QR Codes As a Means of Updating Outdated Library Materials: I don’t know about you, but each year I struggle with the fact that I have no money to replace out of date non-fiction resources. This year, however, I’m using QR Codes to update out of date books. I’ve written more extensively about this project here, but essentially, I’ve partnered with social studies and science teachers to link student created projects on specific topics, to QR Codes. The students then help me find spots in our print resources that contain outdated information - once a spot is located (and believe me, there are plenty to choose from), we affix a QR Code that, when scanned, brings the student to new, better and updated info. Within just a few minutes, an outdated print dinosaur is transformed into an up to date, INTERACTIVE book. Amazing!

img src: http://ow.ly/8jABk

QR Code Library Scavenger Hunts: My BFF and mentor, Gwyneth Jones (TheDaring Librarian!) has written about her use of QR Codes as part of a libraryscavenger hunt – particularly with students with special needs or for English Language Learners. As Gwnyneth writes, QR Codes provide a visual clue and context for students as they explore library resources – not only does this help those students who might need a little extra scaffolding, but also, these visual connections make it more likely that ALL students will remember what they’ve learned through the lesson. I love it!

QR Codes as Library Marketing/Parent Contact:

img src: http://ow.ly/8jCUK

Once again, this is Gwyneth’s idea, but I think it’s so great that I'm thrilled to shamelessly share it with you. In this instance, Gwyneth created a QR Code tree and posted it outside the library just in time for back to school night at her school. Parents are the target audience here, but anyone walking by with a smartphone can scan one of the codes on her tree and be taken to a website related to the library! It's difficult to see in the photo I stole from her blog, but if you visit her post, (as you should), you'll see that each QR Code links to a different library resource: the library website, its facebook page, twitter feed, etc. As Gwyneth writes, it’s a great way to hook those parents who don’t necessarily want to stop by the library on open house night, but who, with a quick scan, can be instantly connected with the library's resources. Genius!

HOW Do I Get Started?

Our QR Code Station!

A few posts back I shared what the answers to what I called “QR Code FAQs.” The answers to these questions provide you with specific steps for generating QR codes and setting up a QR code station if, like me, you are making magic at a school that has yet to join the wireless world or that has no handheld devices. I would also suggest checking out Gwyneth’s comic tutorial on creating QR Codes. She and I use different code generators, but the idea is the same and her tutorials are always fantastic! The important thing to note here, however, is that you don’t have to be working in a school this side of The Matrix to make QR codes work for you and your students. Trust me, if I can do it, you can. Where’s there’s a will, there’s a way!

Taking the First Step:
Although I’m sure none of you are old enough to remember them, (cough!) the marriage of QR Codes and libraries always reminds of those fantastic commercials from the 1980s for Reeses Peanut Butter Cups - in which unsuspecting peanut butter and chocolate lovers would accidently bump into each other on the street or in the roller rink, (seriously, who walks down the street, never mind roller skates, eating peanut butter out of a jar??), only to discover the genius of combining these two individually remarkable ingredients. Just as unlikely a pairing, might be the library and the QR Code, (an idea that was originally conceived by Toyota to help track vehicles on their assembly line). And yet, when put together, what a tasty mash-up they make! That said, the best way to get started, I think, is to spend some time thinking about the potential for QR Code mashups in your library. For example...

Think about your online bookmarks. What resources have you been saving as favorites or to Diigo in the hopes that someday you’d get to share them with students/teachers? How often do you email a fantastic resource to teachers only to get, if you're lucky, a trickle of response? Is there a way that you can connect these resources to a QR code? And then, what’s the most impactful and effective way to make those codes available to your kids?
Think about your collection. Are there resources in your library that could be updated through the use of a QR code? Are there some old texts collecting dust in your non-fiction that COULD be relevant again if linked to an updated map, atlas or other information? Have you found a book on a social issue that only presents one side of the story? How could your students benefit if an alternate view was, literally, just a scan away? What about your books on Careers? Do they really contain info that will help prepare our students for the jobs of the future? How might a strategically placed QR Code transform these outdated texts into updated resources?
Think about your students’ use of your library. Are they getting the most out of its resources? Do they really *know* how to find things in your carefully and lovingly curated collection? How could you use a QR code scavenger hunt, like Gwyneth’s, to really CONNECT your students to their library?? Also, how could QR Codes make the library more fun? I’ve got several QR Codes linking to THIS hidden in my non-fiction! I'm not sure what they're learning from this scan, but I know it's a whole lotta fun!
Think about how you spread the gospel of library. Are YOU the only one visiting your library’s website? How do you currently get information about library programs and resources to parents, teachers, administrators and students? Is there a better and more effective way to bring your message to the masses by using QR Codes?
And most importantly, think about your students’ needs. What are the issues facing your kids that keep your principal, fellow teachers and (hopefully!) you up at night? I’ve know doubt that your library collection and programs are designed to be the answer to those questions. Even so, is there a way that QR Codes can help you effect more change for your students and school? If so, I hope these resources will give you the tools you need to get started, but if you have more questions, feel free to drop me a note at jennifer-at-librarygirl-dot-net. I'll do my best to fill in the gaps.

In the meantime, everything I post on this blog is licensed under Creative Commons, so if you want to snag the QR Code Flyer I created or use my bookmarks to solicit student suggested QR Codes, please feel free to do so. What's mine is yours.

Have fun and happy learning!

Flubaroo: A Teacher's Resolution Revolution!

2011-12-31T17:42:00.000-08:00

About a month or so ago, I ran across this video on Flubaroo, bookmarked it, and then went about my merry way. Fast forward to winter break - you know that special time of year where teachers all around the world put up our feet, drink hot toddies and laugh at all the poor chumps who actually have to work for a living - or, in my case, a fleeting 2 weeks when I try to catch up on several month's worth of work during my "time off," while also entertaining family, eating way too much and trying not to go into debt. One of my projects this year was to create some quick, basic level assessments for my school's Battle of the Books team, which led me back to Flubaroo: a slick little app that, when combined with a google form, actually GRADES, teacher made assessments. You heard me right, it grades your assessments. So... here's the lowdown:

The Good:

It does the grading for you!
It generates reports that flag the questions that were most often missed.
It will email grades directly to students (or parents!?)
It's free!

The Not So Good:

It's pretty much limited to multiple choice assessments - unless, of course, you're a math teacher and your "short answers" would be exact numbers that the script could recognize.
It may be a little complicated to set up for technophobic teachers.

Possible Uses:

As I said, I'm using it for some quick, basic level assessments for our Battle of the Books team, but it could also be used as...
Quick, "ticket out the door" assessments.
In small group instruction, students could take quick quiz before moving onto the next station.
Any assessment in which you just need to know that students have a basic understanding of key concepts.

I gotta tell you, I love it! And since this is the time of year when we're all resolving to do things faster, better and more efficiently, Flubaroo may be able to help.

So, as I always try to do when introducing my staff to a new web tool, I've added it to our tech wiki and created a step by step tutorial for my teachers to follow. Then, I'll do a 5 minute intro at a staff meeting in January and follow it up with more training as requested and needed.

As always, please feel free to use, share and change anything I've created to suit your own needs. Oh, and Happy New Year! Though it's kind of a footnote to this post, it's no small thing to say that 2011 has been one of the best years of my professional life. Thanks to each and every one of you for encouraging and inspiring me in this year - here's to an even bigger and better 2012!

Flubaroo Tutorial

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Video: "I Love My Librarian" Award Ceremony

2011-12-21T12:06:00.000-08:00

Since I couldn't take you all with me, I thought I'd share the video from the I Love My Librarian Award ceremony which I blathered on about a few posts ago, but which also remains one of the most magical nights of my life. Seriously, I'm still pinching myself! It's over an hour long, but if nothing else, I'd suggest you at least listen to Caroline Kennedy's remarks. They are very good. As are those by Vartan Gregorian. Come to think of it, the remarks from the other nominees are really great too, so you might as well watch the whole thing. Enjoy!

Wikilicious: Collaborative Portals for (Life Long) Professional Learning

2011-12-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

Several years ago when AASL came to Charlotte, I wandered into a session called Gadget-A-GoGo! - starring Gwyneth Jones, the Daring Librarian. That session rocked my world in so many ways, but one idea that I got from Gwyneth that day was the notion of creating a tech wiki for my staff - a collaborative portal to help teachers - whether they're technoPHOBES or technoFABS - incorporate technology into their learning. Now, Gwyneth's wiki is, truly, a marvel, so you're not allowed to compare my work to hers, (because there's no comparrison!), but I did want to share the collection of resourcse that I've been slowly piecing together for the last couple of years.

http://web2-grove.wikispaces.com/

I'm sure many of you have heard of the "21 things" approach to staff development that provides teachers with bite sized exposure to new concepts over time - allowing them to explore new resources and dive into those that particularly interest them - as opposed to prescribed, lecture based workshops that we all know and love so much. Anyway, for the last couple of years, I've led a similar yearlong staff development at my school in collaboration with our computer resource teacher whom I love and adore for so many reasons, but mostly because she always knows the "hows" of my always big, and often crazy, ideas. Essentially, we take 5 minutes out of each faculty meeting to introduce the staff to one cool new tech tool. That tool is added to the wiki, along with a video tutorial and other related info as I find it. (Note: up to this point, the video tutorials I've posted are just those I've found on youtube, but if I can get my act together, I'm planning to do at least one or two of my own this year in homage to The Mighty Little Librarian (Tiffany Whitehead)'s Tech Tuesday's video series!) As the year progresses, I offer longer, completely optional, more in depth sessions for teachers who are interested in learning more about a specific tool or who require a little extra help getting started. Then, at the end of the year, whether you've participated in an optional session or not, we offer an opportunity for staff members to earn renewal credits by implementing one of the tech tools listed on the wiki, submitting a lesson plan and writing a reflection. Bam!

Now, I have no idea how many "things" we go over in a year, but over time the wiki has grown in to a living resource that not only includes my own write ups of the tech tools, but also video tutorials, .pdf instructions to FAQ tech questions and even a running bibliography of professional reading for those teachers who haven't joined twitter, but who are still interested in what's happening in the Edtech world. As always, you are more than welcome to steal, share and change anything you find on my wiki. Just remember, like all wikis, ours is a work in progress and will likely *never* be finished - but that's kind of how learning works, no?

PS: Everything on the wiki is formatted to look AWEsome on the old school square PC monitors we have at school (after all, my target audience is there) - so if you've got a shiney new on your desk or are lucky enough to have something equally impressive at home, the proportions may look a little off. Plus, there's definitely some Flash-love happening on the wiki, so if you're scoping it out on your iPad, you'll be sorely disappointed. But trust me, if you ever come to my school, it'll rock your socks. :)

A Night To Remember: The 2011 "I Love My Librarian" Celebration

2011-12-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

Nerd Alert

I'm not really sure how to start this post, so... I suppose I'll just start at the beginning.

November 16th was a busy day in my library. I had back to back classes scheduled, a calendar snafu (my own doing, of course), that needed fixing, and a district wide staff development to prepare for. So, when the phone rang just as a group of 6th graders were piling in, I was sorely tempted to just let it ring. Then, when I did answer it, and heard someone on the other end tell me that they were calling from the American Library Association and wondered if they could put me on speaker phone, I have to be honest, my first thought was "Uh oh. What did I do now?"

What happened after that is kind of a blur.

I can't remember the exact order of how things went, but I do know that in the five minutes that followed I a) cried b) spilled my coffee and c) was told by a student that I "looked like I'd just won the lottery" which is sort of true, because in fact, I'd been chosen as one of this year's winners of the American Library Association's "I Love My Librarian" Award - a fact that I still find entirely surreal even as I type it out. If you're not familiar with this program, it's an annual award which is sponsored by The Carnegie Corporation and The New York Times. And, in my opinion, it's really special because it affords library patrons with the opportunity to recognize the contributions of their librarians. This year, 1700 librarians were nominated. Ten were chosen for the award.

In the weeks that followed, there were travel arrangements to make, photos to submit and speeches to prepare, all while keeping the whole thing top secret (which, let me just tell you, was the hardest part of all!). In that time, I was (virtually) introduced to the nine other librarians who were also chosen for this award - an insanely talented group that had me HUMBLED at hello. Then, finally, last Thursday, I got to meet them in person during the award ceremony in New York.

Voguing with Saundra Ross-Forest

Because nominations are taken from library patrons all around the country, our gang of ten is a pretty diverse group. And yet, funnily enough, there was one thing we all had in common. As we sat in the "green room" waiting for instructions, we nervously made small talk (turns out two of us earned our library degrees from Appalachian State - Go Mountaineers!) until someone admitted that they couldn't bring themselves to read the nominations that had been written about their fellow recipients - a confession that was met with a chorus of "I know!" and "Me too!" Now, I can't speak for anyone else, of course, but just a few sentences into the only nomination I attempted to read and I felt completely out of my league - which, at the risk of sounding cocky, isn't a feeling I have all that often. (Note: I feel starstruck and fan-girl impressed by other educators all the time, but inept and completely unqualified? Not so much). The fact that they all felt the same way was somehow reassuring.

Since then, I've taken the time to read about my fellow honorees and I was right to be impressed. These women are fierce! And what's more, they are vibrant, funny and incredibly generous. As each one of them took the stage to accept the award, I grew more and more attached to them and their stories. From Venetia's impassioned advocacy for patrons with disabilities to Barbara's proclamation that winning the award made her feel like being crowned "Miss Indiana," I gotta tell you, I teared up during each and every one of their remarks.

Geek Chic w/Michelle Luhtala

The rest of the night was equally as magical. I got to meet Caroline Kennedy, Vartan Gregorian (who called me fiesty!) and some true library royalty like Sara Kelly Johns and Nancy Everhart. THEN, as if that wasn't enough, I got to hang out with Michelle Luhtala, (whose likeness is on a lunchbox for crying out loud), and be interviewed by Rocco Staino for SLJ. Seriously, it's all down hill from here.

When it was all over, my husband and I wandered the streets of the Big Apple, checking out the holiday lights and drinking hot cocoa. At the risk of sounding goofy, it was like something out a dream. The whole night, I kept expecting someone to shake me awake and ask me to fix their overhead projector. But that never happened. Finally, somewhere around midnight, we realized we'd never eaten dinner, (we'd spent the whole day in the air and I'd been too nervous to eat during the reception), so we stopped at a street vendor and ate a giant pretzel in Columbus Circle. We were frozen, but very, very happy.

Now, I know this is the part when I'm supposed to say how humbled I am to have been honored in this way, and I am, truly. However, if anything, I emerge from this experience, (as we are wont to say in the South), fired up. Throughout the night, people kept asking me how it felt to win the award. And no matter how many times I tried to think of something witty or charming to say, the thing I kept coming back to was the idea that being honored for quality service is really just a confirmation of something I already know to be true: that what we do is worth fighting for.

As I said during my 90 seconds on the stage, it's been a tough year for libraries. What's more, I know sometimes we feel powerless to do anything to change the things that have made the last (and next) few years so challenging - but that's wrong and dangerous thinking. The one thing we all have control over, is also the thing that's the most powerful: the quality of our work. We can't control our budgets or the whims of local (or federal) politicians, but we can control the impact we have on our patrons, the environments we create for them and the opportunities we provide them for learning. Every last one of the ladies I met on Thursday could use a bigger budget (or one at all!), more staff and a magic wand - and yet none of them let the lack of those things diminish the quality of the work they do. So, yes... I'm humbled. But I'm also empowered by the knowledge that no matter what hand we are dealt, how we play it is completely up to us.

Update: Since this post, ALA has added some information to their page about the award that I wanted to share. First off, if you're interested in reading Caroline Kennedy's remarks about libraries (which I found quite moving) they are posted in their entirety here. And secondly, if you're interested in conveying your congratulations or warm wishes to any of the recipients, you can do so here. ALA has set up a separate page for you to share your thoughts with the honorees, which I think is kind of a neat thing. Enjoy!

A List of Absurdly Talented Librarians... and Me

2011-12-05T18:30:00.001-08:00

When I cast my virtual ballot for this year's Edublog awards, I talked about how, even if you never vote, the Eddies are a great way for you to beef up your PLN - and I meant it! Each year, around this time, the list of folks I follow on Twitter or who share space in my RSS feed grows dramatically, and that's all because of the Eddies! Every educator can benefit from exploring the list of folks who made the Edublogs "short list" of nominees. Each category is chock full of great people to follow and learn from/with - a fact I state with absolute humility considering the fact that this blog made the cut in the "Best Librarian/Library Blog" category.

I'll be honest, this is the point where I'm tempted to beg for your vote - after all, I've never been one to shy away from self promotion -but looking at the list of people nominated, that just seems silly. I mean, really, look at the folks on this list. There's so much talent there, it's almost embarrassing! And yes, I know it's cliche to claim that "I'm just happy being nominated" but I have to say, I really am. The truth is, just being included in this list is not only surreal, but also incredibly satisfying, (which is kind of a strange thing for me, the girl who thinks "2nd place is just another name for the first loser," to be saying!)

So, instead of trolling for your vote, I'm just going to encourage you to use the Eddies as a chance to widen the reach of your PLN - by all means, vote (even for me!) if you're so inclined, but remember, no matter who ends up with a new badge to sport on their blog, the real winner is our community of learners whose connection grows stronger with each click.

Update: Who needs shameless promotion when our tribe is so freakin' generous? Big thanks to my friend, mentor and inspiration, Gwyneth Jones, who gives so much to our community - including her tireless cheer leading and support. Be sure to check out her latest graphilicious Edublog post!

Also, I just really wanted to point out some of my fellow North Carolinians who are represented in this year's Eddies! First, my pal and presenting partner, Jennifer Northrup, whose blog, The Candid Librarian, is nominated for Best New Blog. Second, Steven Anderson, of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, who is up for SEVERAL Eddies including one for Best Ed Tech Blog, and third, Bill Ferriter, of Wake County, who is nominated for Best Individual Blogger for his work on The Tempered Radical. Oh yeah, and my blog was nominated for Best Library/Librarian Blog (Woot!) Congrats to my fellow Tar Heels for their outstanding contribution to the field of education. You make me proud!

List of Absurdly Talented Librarian and Me.

A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet - Julie Greller
A Year of Reading -
Aberfoyle Park Campus Resource Centre - Jo Schenkel
Adult Books 4 Teens - Angela Carstensen
Adventures of Library Girl. - Jennifer LaGarde
Bulldog Readers Blog - Mrs. Hembree
Cosy Corner - Mrs Howlin
David Lee King -
Hey Jude - Judy O'Connell
Liberos - Roger Michelena
Librarians are go - Staceyt
Library Grits - Dianne McKenzie
Library Matters - MRC Juniors
Lucacept - Jenny Luca
Never Ending Search - Joyce Valenza
Read It 2011 - NSW Readers Advisory Working Group
Read@UTS -
Readers in the Mist - Blue Mountains City Library
Tales from a Loud Librarian - Elizabeth Kahn
Tame the Web - Michael Stephens
The Daring Librarian - Gwyneth Jones
The WebFooted Booklady - Lesley Edwards
Tipperary Library News - Tipperary Libraries
TLC = Tech + Library + Classroom - Tara Ethridge
Try Curiosity! - Sarah Ducharme
Unquiet Librarian - Buffy Hamilton
Van Meter Library Voice - Shannon Miller
Watch. Connect. Read. - Mr. Schu
What Adrienne Thinks About That - Adrienne Furness

Professional Development that Matters: Library World Smackdown

2011-12-02T15:01:00.001-08:00

Last week, I had the opportunity to watch The Mitchell 20 with a group of educators from my district. I have to admit, I went into it feeling a little dubious. After all the hullabaloo surrounding Waiting for Superman, I was prepared to be unimpressed. And while I didn't leave the theater inspired, per say, I did leave with an overwhelming feeling affirmation - as if something I've long known to be true was being validated up on the screen.

We all know there's a lot wrong with education. No matter where you teach, things at school are getting tougher, not easier. Increased poverty decreased funding and a national dialogue that is decidedly anti-teacher are heavy burdens for even the strongest among us to carry. And while The Mitchell 20 doesn't gloss over or dismiss those realities, its main focus is on a frank and open discussion about teacher quality and, more significantly, on the lack of relevance, collaboration and reflection in the professional development that is available to most teachers. In my opinion, this is a discussion that needs to be had.

While the film holds up National Board Certification as a model of high quality professional development because of its emphasis on rigor and reflection, as an NBCT myself, I don't believe being Board certified is only way to skin this particular cat. If relevance, collaboration and reflection are the keys to transforming professional development from a waste of time to a game changer, then it's up to all of us to take control of our learning and embed ourselves in professional development that both matters and makes a difference. What's more, I believe this is totally doable. Indeed, if there's one overwhelming message to be taken from The Mitchell 20, it's that there's really nothing a group of committed, quality teachers can't do.

Which leads me to the TL Virtual Cafe. As Teacher Librarians, we are so lucky. When I was a classroom teacher (which, I promise, wasn't that long ago), I never felt as connected to or supported by my professional community as I do now. We have many opportunities to engage with our colleagues, to reflect on our practice, share our successes and scoop up new ideas. The TL Virtual Cafe is one such opportunity.

And, as luck would have it, there's one coming up!

So, whatever you've got scheduled for Monday, cancel it and pencil in the TL Virtual Cafe Smackdown. This is an open mic session, hosted by Joyce Valenza and moderated by Gwyneth Jones, where you'll not only be wowed by the mad skills of your library homies, but you'll also have the chance to take the mic and impress all of them as well. It's going to be super fun and incredibly impactful. Here are the details.

Monday December 5th - 8pm EST

Joyce will share her top discoveries of the year.
Get ready to share your faves too and help us build an interactive resource book.

At the TL Virtual Cafe on December 5th, 8PM Eastern, we’ll be hosting a tlvirtualcafe/Open_Mic|Learning Tools Open Mic/Smackdown/Karaoke. We’re planning to get ready by building a crowd-souced presentation/book. Please feel free to grab a slide (or several) and be ready to grab the mic on the night of the event and share your faves. We’ll leave the evening with our own dynamic, growable resource book. Participant Link

It looks like serious fun, right? I hope to "see" you there!

Readers Advisory 2.0 - Collaborative Genre Prezis

2011-11-26T10:14:00.001-08:00

One of the things I get asked to do each year is to talk to students about literary genres. Not only do many Language Arts teachers at my school have students complete genre related independent reading projects, but often genre is a great way to either hook a new reader or start a readers advisory conversation. Over the years, I've tackled this in different ways - doing book talks, creating bibliographies, showing book trailers, etc. This year, however, I've decided to take this readers advisory standard to the next level by creating collaborative projects where students contribute to our collective knowledge of each genre.

As I have the opportunity to speak with students (both formally and informally) about genre, I invite them to contribute to the growing collection of Prezis that are being generated related to different types of books. Students can add book trailers, reviews, artwork, fan fiction or you name it. And now that Prezi affords users the opportunity to collaborate on projects, the sky is really the limit. (I'm thinking of this as sort of a free version of what the Pottermore site promises to be - only without all the hassle of trying to make a bajillion (more) dollars).

Obviously, my role includes tempting students to contribute and moderating what they do share, but I've also started including links to our curated genre collages in my marc records. Lately, I've been adding a 599 tag (which is a searchable local note) to related records and adding the link to titles in the specific genre. For example, the other day I added 2 new copies of Divergent by Veronica Roth, and when I did, I made sure to add the link to our Sci Fi prezi in the 599 tag. I already advise students to click on the subject headings when they find a book they like in our OPAC, so this seemed like a natural extension. A few kids have already stumbled across them without my prompting. It's fun to watch them discover it - like a hidden treasure.

Anyway, here are a few of the genres that we've been working on. I'm excited about the potential in these projects and about the ability to make my reader advisory program a bit more substantive. Further, even though Prezi is a favorite tech tool of teachers at my school, I've never thought of it as a curation tool... that is, until now! As always, what's mine is yours. Feel free to use, remix, share and make these better. Just keep in mind that they're a work in progress!

Fantasy Fiction on Prezi

Science Fiction on Prezi

Historical Fiction on Prezi

I Worry About Students Like Me

2011-11-20T08:39:00.001-08:00

Image Source: http://ow.ly/7zvGw

For a long time now, I've been waiting for a revolutionin education. I'm talking full fledgedanarchy, followed by a rebuilding from the ground up. I'm still waiting.

Today's so called ed reformers toss around words likecreativity and innovation, but I worry that this year's "new math" still favorsthe compliant pleasers in our classrooms: those students who come to school every day, ask few questions and who figure out, early on, that school is almost always a product over process game. This, while at the same time, offering few, if any, paths to success for students who don't come to school, who challenge thestatus-quo, who behave badly and/or who simply don't fit into the rows we create for them.

I worry about these students because I was one ofthem. My own school story is one ofpoverty, substanceabuse, domestic violence, homelessness and academic failure. I know now that, because they were a part of mine, these things were also a part of my teachers' stories. However, as challenging as school was for me and, conversely, as Iwas for it, I worry that today's climate of high stakes testing is even moretoxic for kids like me.

I often give the credit for the fact that I even graduated from high schoolto my 10th grade English teacher - a woman who simply refused to let mefail. Although I can't remember a single task she assigned me, or even what skill deficits she was determined to fix, I do know that hers was the first classroom where I felt I deserved a place at the learning table. She didn't make me feel like the smartest kid in class, but she made it okay not to be that kid. To me, this is the saddest part of my story - or at least the part thatcauses me the most worry- because it makes me wonder about all the other kids whose paths never cross with that teacher.

Don't get me wrong, there are lots of great teachers outthere. I've had to the privilege to work with a host of educators who both inspire and challenge me. For these teachers, teaching is more than just a passion, it's a calling - in every sense of the word. And I know that many in this group seeteaching, as I do, as the repayment of the debt they owe the person who saved them. But for every great teacher there are countless more students like me.

And I worry about them.

Don't Let Apathy Be Your Kryptonite!

2011-11-17T17:10:00.001-08:00

Image: http:lizardlad.blogspot.com

I have to tell you, I'm a little disappointed. Just about 2 weeks ago, Joyce Valenza asked the world to show their support for school libraries but signing a petition. That's all. She didn't ask for blood, a first born child or even a cup of sugar. And yet, here we are, 2 weeks later and we don't have nearly enough signatures.

So... here's the deal.

If you think that any school receiving Federal funds should be required to have a credentialed School Librarian on staff full time with a library that contains a minimum of 18 books per student, and I certainly hope you do, you should sign this petition.

Bottom line? We need 23,500 signatures to get this petition to the President's desk - keeping in mind that this is the same kind of petition that helped fuel recent changes to student loan laws. This is important. What's more, it's entirely doable, but only if we get off our duffs and a) sign the petition and b) ask our friends, family and colleagues to do the same.

When Joyce issued her call to arms, there were a little over 1,000 signatures. Two weeks later, we should have well over 23,000, but instead, as I write this, we're barely touching 8,500.

As I said, I'm a little disappointed.

I started this blog because I believe that my students deserve the highest quality library services. I believe they deserve access to a fully funded library and a highly qualified librarian to learn from and with. Two years ago, when the educational world started to turn upside down and I saw libraries/librarians as first on the chopping block, I knew I couldn't wait around for someone else to save libraries for my students. I knew that I would have to step out of my comfort zone, start speaking up on behalf of my students and be my own superhero. Thus, library girl was born.

So... I've signed the petition. I've asked my friends and family to do the same. I've posted it on twitter, facebook and even a listserv or two. But I can't do it alone.

So, grab your cape, hop in the book mobile and do your part to help save libraries. Deep down we're all super heroes. Don't let apathy be your kryptonite!

Sign. Post. Tweet. Repeat.

The Edublog Awards: A PLN Win-Win!

2011-11-15T15:15:00.001-08:00

I love the Edublog Awards. Every year, around this time, the blogosphere and twitterverse get to honor their own by giving a shout out to their favorite bloggers, tweeters and virtual leaders. Then, when the winners are announced in mid December, we all get to add a bunch of fabulous names to our twitter and RSS feeds. See how that works? No matter who takes home the shiny edublogger badge for their virtual mantelpiece, we're all winners!

So here's what you gotta do:

Write a post with your nominations for the different categories on your own blog (or a website – anywhere public)
Send a link to your nomination post via this form.

That's all there is to it. Easy peasy!

So, in keeping with the of the awards, which is to promote and demonstrate the educational value of social media, here are my nominations:

Best individual blog: Doug Johnson - I feel like I learn so much from Doug. He is a prolific blogger and, what's more, his posts are always meaty, well written, and brimming with a "students first" philosophy. I <3 him.
Best individual tweeter: TIE! Steven Anderson AND MaryAnne Reilly - I favorite more tweets by these two individuals than anyone else. Steven always shares tons of great resources and MaryAnne frequently gives me reason to pause and consider an idea or issue from a different angle. They are both fab.
Best new blog: TIE! The Candid Librarian AND The E-Literate Librarian - I learn so much from these girls and while they've each been blogging for a little over a year, I feel like this is the year when they both found their voices and established themselves as rock stars. I love learning from them!
Best ed tech / resource sharing blog: Blogging from the Web 2.0 Classroom AND The Daring Librarian - I can't think of two more generous bloggers. They share, share and share. And then, when they are done, they share some more.
Most influential blog post: Settle In, It's a Long One AND 2000 Hours - both posts rocked my socks.
Best twitter hashtag: #edchat
Best librarian / library blog: This is so hard. I read so many great librarian blogs. I could list so many here, but I'm gonna call it a tie between: Never Ending Search and The Daring Librarian. This year, their blogs have had a huge impact on both my practice and my life as a blogger.
Best School Administrator blog: The Principal of Change - George is my latest brain crush. He's got so many great resources and ideas to share. I'll come work for you any time, George! :)
Best open PD / unconference / webinar series: TL Virtual Cafe! Um, duh!

There are lots of other categories, but those are the ones I'm tossing my two cents at. So... now it's your turn. Take a few minutes to share the love with those people who have influenced your thinking and practice this year. I can't wait to see who other people nominate and to add bunches and bunches of new people to my already amazing PLN. Yay!

Where To Next?

2011-11-11T06:44:00.001-08:00

Back in October, Tamara Cox, (The e-Literate Librarian), shared an idea for a library display modeled after the directional signs that I always associate with M.A.S.H.. (An aside: I realize that reference will betray my age, but I was already taken down a peg or two earlier this week when I made a reference to Eddie Haskell, only to realize that the young teacher I was speaking to had no idea who that was. Ouch!) Anyway, Tamara's sign was so fantastic, that I knew right away that I had to create one of my own.

One of the goals I've had this year is to do a better job of making my library more visually interesting. My library was built in the early 80s and just about everything in it is original. And although I've made some progress sprucing it up, I decided that this was the year to really put some muscle into making the aesthetic match the creative and lively work that goes on in there. Of course, if I had my druthers, I'd pull up the carpet, tear down a wall, buy all new furniture and hire some muralists. (I have an amazing mural idea based on the poem "The Greatest Nation" by Allan Wolf that I really *will* make happen some day.) But until I stumble across the big barrels of money I'd need to make all of that happen, I'm trying to make smaller, but impactful changes, when and where I can. Of course, it's not just about aesthetic, it's about generating interest and creating an atmosphere of wonder (or as Buffy Hamilton calls it, enchantment) in the room where so much learning and collaborating takes place. Tamara's directional sign is one such project.

While Tamara enlisted the help of her shop teacher and some students, I found assistance (and assistants!) in my sweet husband, some amazing students & teachers and one really fantastic parent. If you want to create one of your own, check out Tamara's blog for some step by step directions on how she made her cool, decoupaged, letter collaged signs. Meanwhile, this is how I made mine.

Supplies:

Balsa wood.
Magnet tape.
Paint (& brushes).
Printer (& paper).

Here's what you do:

I went to a local craft store and bought several planks of balsa wood - the kind that those snap together glider airplanes are made of. I chose this because rather than finding a wooden pole to nail the sign to, I knew I'd end up using one of the 3 metal power/ethernet supply poles that are scattered throughout my library) - and this wood is incredibly light weight. I suggest getting planks of different widths to add interest. At the same time, I also bought 5 small tubes of craft paint and a few brushes and a roll of magnet tape. (Total cost for all the supplies was under $30.00.
Next I asked my husband to cut the wood into arrow like shapes for me. He also sanded down the rough edges.
Then some students painted the signs different colors. It was funny just how seriously the students took this process. They were intent on getting everything just right.
Meanwhile, because I am a fontaholic, I started searching online for fonts that thematically matched the fictional places they would be pointing to. I have to say, this is the kind of thing I could spend HOURS doing - taking way too much time choosing between one font or the other when, really, both were just fine. I have a sickness. Really.
However, once the fonts were finally chosen, I'd create the lettering (in just the right size and shape) in a word document, print it, and trace it onto the sign with a fine point sharpie or, depending on how it would be filled in, etch the outline of the font with an etching tool.^**
Once that was done, the letters could be painted in.
Finally, once everything was dry, I slapped some magnet tape on the back and stuck the sign to the pole. Voila!

**Truth be told, my fantastic parent volunteer did much of this part for me.

Now, all of that said, I should mention that we're not finished! The signs we have so far are for: Neverland, Camp Halfblood, The Glade, Bluford High, Narnia, Middle Earth, Forks, Panem, Emerald City, Hogwarts and Ember. The signs that are still being made are: Underland, Terabithia, Alagaesia, Rusty Ruins, The Fayz, Blackbird Pond, Lorien, The School, Mercy Falls, Mossflower Woods, Camazotz, and the Hundred Acre Wood

The thing I've loved most about this project is the conversations it's generated. It's funny how, when you're TRYING to think of something, you're mind can go completely blank. For example, just as I got to the point where I needed to start coming up with the fictional settings for these signs, I seemed to completely forget every book I've ever read. Luckily, there was no shortage of ideas from my students, teachers and even well read facebook friends who were happy to toss in some ideas. Already, kids are excited to see if they know all the books represented in the sign, with high fives going to those who've read the most. What they don't realize, however, is that those who don't recognize all the places, are the real winners. With so many fictional spots left to visit, they're journey's just begun!

Rock Star Advocacy: Proving Your Worth In Tough Times

2011-11-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

Oh. My. Stars.

I am unbelievably honored and thrilled to have been able to host tonight's session on Rock Star Advocacy in TL Virtual Cafe. It was, simply put, a joy to be able to share and learn from a group of so many amazing folks - many of whom I admire greatly. Yet another item checked off the professional bucket list!

As promised, here are my slides from the presentation:

Rock Star Advocacy: Proving Your Worth In Tough Times

View more presentations from Jennifer LaGarde

In addition to the "tips" I mentioned, there were a number of GREAT suggestions posted in the chat. Even though I promised I'd post them, there turned out to be just too many to mention here, (this is a good problem to have!) but a few that stood out were:

Have a social media night to both education parents and help ease their concerns. "My daughter is tweeting, should I be worried?" Great idea!
Volunteer to help your principal with building level staff development.
Volunteer at local events like "early voting" or "clean sweeps" - great way to take the message of library to the people.
Hold Tech Tuesdays or Tech Petting Zoo events to become a resource for teachers.
Hold a new teacher breakfast at the beginning of the year to let new faculty know what you can do for them.

Again, so many excellent ideas were shared. For those who missed the session, be sure to check out both the audio and the chat archives. Lots of nuggets of goodness in there.

Also, there were some requests in the chat for links to various things. So here they are:

My annual report.
Librarians are ready flyer.
My data wall. (I'll be posting more pictures of this soon).

And, of course, I would be completely remiss if I did slap a big, juicy, virtual kiss on both Gwyneth Jones and Tiffany Whitehead as thanks for their help this evening. I would call them the wind beneath my wings, but they are soaring right there next to me. Thanks, girls!

Finally, if there's one message I hope the people attending tonight got from the session, it's that advocacy isn't about libraries or librarians. It's about kids. When we spread the gospel of library, it has to be about student learning and the impact we have on kids. Otherwise, we're little more than the proverbial snake oil salesmen - schlepping a product that might look good or sound good, but when push comes to shove, is essentially worthless. So, get out there and spread the good word, folks. Your kids ~~are worth~~ DESERVE it.

Kids First. Everything Else Second.

2011-11-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

This recent post from Doug Johnson about circulation policies that favor books over kids and learning has been wedged in my brain like that silly pea in the fairy tale about princesses and legumes. I certainly felt it nudging at me the other day when a student brought me this still damp, molding and completely falling apart copy of 12th Grade Kills by Heather Brewer. This normally talkative frequent library flyer could barely meet my eyes when he handed over the ruined book and I gasped in horror. "What happened????" I asked. "Well..." he said, slowly. "It was so good. And I didn't want to stop reading. But then my mom said I had to take a shower. And...."

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't have money to replace this book. And, clearly, I can't put it back on the shelf. But, what I can afford even less is to lose this student, (for whom English is a second language and whose family, I know, doesn't have a lot of money themselves), as a reader by scolding him for loving a book so much he had to bathe with it. And so, I marked the book lost and sent him to the shelves to find another, reminding him to take a shower BEFORE he started reading the new one.

Fast forward to this afternoon. The same student comes to see me, this time grinning from ear to ear. When I asked him if he'd finished the new book already he said "no, but I wanted to bring you this" - a brand new copy of same book that had been lost at sea just a few days prior. When I told him I was thrilled, but that he didn't have to replace the damaged book, he said, "yeah... I know, but I wanted other kids to have a chance to read it."

Mission accomplished.

Of course, I'm not saying we shouldn't hold students accountable for lost books. And I absolutely believe that we must be good stewards of the funds we are given to purchase materials. But in the end, our mission is to serve kids, to establish policies that best meet their needs and to break those same rules when they are not in the best interest of the child looking up at us. Kids first. Everything else is second.

Doug's post ends with the statement that he hopes kids who are forbidden to checkout books when they forget or lose them grow up to "run for school board or become a principal at this librarian's school as an adult." And while that's not the best reason to make our policies kid focused, it's a valid point. Every interaction we have - whether it is with a child, a parent, an administrator or the governor - is a chance to spread the gospel of library. Like it or not, we are all advocates. And, now more than ever, we have to make sure both the message and the messenger convey a sincere dedication to kids and learning - not to books, due dates and terminal quiet.

Which reminds me.

I am thrilled and honored to be hosting a webinar next Monday (Nov. 7th) titled "Rock Star Advocacy: Proving Your Worth In Tough Times" as part of the TL Virtual Cafe series. It's going to be a big ol' juicy hour of tough love, with an emphasis on the love. So... I hope you'll join me. The fun starts at 8:00pm EST and I promise to (at least try to) make every minute count.

QR Codes, Prezi and Angry Birds (Oh My!)

2011-10-31T21:52:00.000-07:00

Last week, while so many of my pals were in Minnesota taking in the sights and sounds of AASL, (I'm not bitter, really), I was home, holding down the fort and ever so quietly fanning the flames of a QR Code revolution. As I mentioned in a previous post, QR Codes have taken a new and exciting turn at my school, as students use what they're learning in their Social Studies classes to transform some of our out of date print resources into up to date, interactive texts.

The latest examples connect my library's print books on South Africa to student made Prezis which contain all sorts of photos, audio and videos providing up to date geographic, social and political information, along with some really cool connections to the novel No Turning Back by Beverly Naidoo, which is set on the streets of Johannesburg on the eve of South Africa's first democratic elections AND which these students just finished reading. Seriously, it's crazy cool.

The first time I ever saw Prezi in action might have been in 2008 during a session by David Warlick at my state's annual technology conference. No matter what year it was, though, I remember a) thinking it was incredibly cool and b) excitedly sharing it with the teachers I work with the moment I returned. And, while I don't use Prezi for every presentation, I love the way it helps both the presenter and the audience see the connection between concepts - something that a linear powerpoint simply can't do. These days, Prezi is a regularly used tool at my school - particularly with the Social Studies teacher who is currently helping me take over the world, one QR Code at a time. I love the way he describes student Prezis as "an updated KWL chart" - an opportunity for students to share what they know, explore what they'd like to know more about and make connections between the facts they've absorbed and their analysis of those ideas. Again, it's cool. Seriously.

Which brings me back to the QR Codes. As students are finishing up their South African Prezis, we're affixing them to outdated books in the library. It's a super fun process because, while I pull the books that are in need of a time machine makeover, I'm letting students decide which Prezi should be linked with which book, as well as what page in the book the QR Code should call home. Having them locate out of date information, as well as decide which resources best fill the current gaps in these books, is an amazing thing. And, frankly, I just can't get enough of it.

Meanwhile, just as all this crazy cool super learning is taking place, I've been receiving a bushel full of questions about how QR Codes look at my school. Which I am going to answer now. But before I do...

It's important to note that I wouldn't know anything about QR Codes if it weren't for a math teacher pal of mine who came running into the library one afternoon, commandeered my computer, and breathlessly began singing the praises of Steve Anderson: a fellow Tarheel who not only blogs and tweets about all things techie ed, but who also co created the #edchat series of tweet-chats that thousands of people follow each week. In short, he's phenomenal. Anyway, just about everything I've done, in terms of implementation, he did first, so if what I describe doesn't make sense, check-out his work which may very well be much clearer than mine.

QR Code F.A.Q.

Q: Don't students need a hand held device (like an iPod or iPad) to scan a QR Code?

A: No! In fact, my school has no hand held devices. None! We do, however, have computers and webcams. That's all you need. Here's what you do:

Attach Webcam***
Install Adobe Air
Download and install QR Reader.
That's it. You're done. Really.

One thing I did end up doing, eventually, was having many of the superfluous programs taken off the computers that I use as QR Code stations. Typically, the codes we create link to an online resource, a video, podcast or some other student made product which is housed online, I decided to free up a little memory/space by removing any programs that don't relate to that function.

Now you're ready to scan!

Q: How do you make a QR Code?

A: There are a bajillion QR code generators out there, but I use QRStuff. Honestly, there are likely better, fancier choices available, but I just haven't done much searching. QR Stuff was the first one I happened upon when I started creating them, and I've been happy, so I've stuck with it. That said, all you have to do is type in the url to the website that you’d like your QR code to link to, follow the steps to either save your code or print it or both. Then, once it’s printed, affix it to the book (or whatever) and test it with your webcam. Note: be sure to use the built in URL shortener – this will result in a cleaner, easier to read, QR Code. If you choose a different code generator, just be sure to use a URL shortener before creating your codes. Also, Gwyneth Jones created an uber cool comic tutorial outlining how she creates codes which provides an easy step by step tutorial. And...although it's not nearly as cool as Gwyneth's, here's a link to the QR Code flyer that I created and have posted at my stations.

Q: Do you ever sleep?

A: Not really.

But that has nothing to do with this project. In fact, this project has taken up little to no "extra time." Instead of prioritizing the project based on the resources I felt were in the most need of updating, I created goals based on the already established learning targets for students. In short, if they're studying South Africa, then that's the area we'll focus on. When they move onto Africa, I'll move there too. Rather than creating new lessons to accommodate this technology, the technology exists solely to enhance student learning. To me, this is how it should be all of the time. Kids first - then technology. Kids first - then books. Kids first. Otherwise, what's the point?

*** One last note about the webcam. In my typical MacGyver, ductape and a prayer, style, I attached my webcam to a spare circulation scanner stand. Essentially, this was to keep kids from playing catch with the camera which, let's face it - I teach middle school - was a legitimate concern. However, I realized almost immediately that scanning the code wasn't as easy as just placing the book under the camera. You'll see once you set yours up that there can be a split second delay between the image on the screen and your movements below the lens. Plus, for some reason, my kids seem to think that in order to make it scan, the code has to be touching the camera (which actually has the opposite effect). Honestly, this was a source of great frustration for both me and my students until I created an X marks the spot label right below the camera that shows would-be scanners precisely where to place the bar code. If you follow none of the other advice I fling your way, follow this. Really.

And finally, even though this post may actually be the longest post known to man, I just had to share a new display that only exists because a) I shamelessly copy Tamara Cox whenever I get the chance. (Seriously, my library is going to start looking a lot more like hers very, very soon). And b) because Gwyneth Jones is crazy generous.

Quick like, here's the scoop: Series books are so popular with middle school kids that, for awhile now, I've been toying with the notion of shelving (at least some of them) separately. Then Tamara did it and yes, if Tamara jumped off a bridge.... Fast forward to my mailbox and a package containing 4 uber cool Angry Birds, (courtesy of one incredibly daring, red headed librarian who shall remain nameless), and voila, a display is born!

Once the shelving was done, I downloaded an appropriate font, created some signage and away they flew. The kids love it AND while this picture doesn't show it, I've also created some themed shelf talkers that help kids figure out which books comes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. (Here's an example, that you are welcome use, change, share, ignore, etc).

It's been good fun and, best of all, it's a testament to the power of community. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I can't help but believe that not even the very best of us is as good as we all are together. So I continue to borrow and steal and create and share. After all, my kids (and yours) are worth it.

(Thanks, girls!)

Free eBook: School Libraries: What's Now, What's Next, What's Yet to Come

2011-10-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

School Libraries: What's Now, What's Next, What's Yet to Come

I am unbelievably honored to be a part of this "crowdsourced collection of over 100 essays from around the world about trends in school libraries written by librarians, teachers, publishers, and library vendors." This amazing collection of thoughtful and thought provoking essays on what the future holds for our profession is currently available through Smashwords in formats that allow you to read it both on your computer and/or a mobile device. In just a few weeks, however, you'll be able to also download it through several of the major eBook Stores (like iBooks and B&N).

The credit for this amazing work really goes to KristinFontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton who conceived of and edited the final product. Their vision, diligence and hard work shaped this into the unique resource that it is. Bravo, girls!

Again, I'm unbelievably humbled to see my name listed among so many wise and generous colleagues. I can't wait to read all the other contributions! I sincerely hope you'll download this important work for yourself and share it with your friends, colleagues, administrators, school board members, etc.

QR Codes to the Rescue: Transforming Print from Out of Date, To Out of This World!

2011-10-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

I've written about QR Codes before, but I'm on the heels of a new project that has my students using them in new ways. And I just couldn't wait to share!

First a little background.

Over the summer, I decided that this would be the year that I finally took the plunge and genrefied my non-fiction. That is to say, I'm gonna ditch dewey.*** There are many reasons for this, and soon enough I'll write at length about this decision. For now, however, I'm in the midst of a deep and thorough weeding, in the hopes that cutting the fat NOW will help make the next steps a little easier.

That said, despite the fact that I'm a fairly brutal weeder, I'm still coming across some truly scary sections of my collection: spots where I have multiple titles, but most (if not all) are shamefully out of date. This is especially true in my geography and history sections. Take this gem, for example: A Family in India circa 1982. Now, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure some things have changed in India over the last 29 years.

This is discouraging for several reasons, not the least of which being that I have absolutely no money to replace these titles. And yes, I know there's a zillion places online where students can look for more current information on India, but... we are not a 1:1 school where every student has a laptop and our 3 computer labs are always booked weeks in advance, which makes our print resources an important part of the research process for my students. So... for weeks now, I've been generating a pile of non-fiction books that really, really need to go, but that I simply can't replace.

Enter QR Codes.

Since last year, I've been using QR codes as a pre-reading activity: a way for students to learn more about a title before reading it, (by affixing QR codes to books that link to trailers, author interviews or other related information) or as a culminating activity (by affixing QR codes to books that link to student book reviews, glogs or other projects). With this project, however, I'm matching out of date titles from my collection with Social Studies classes that are studying the corresponding topics. As part of their coursework, students find or generate resources that provide more current details about the information in the book. QR codes linking to the new, better info are then peppered throughout the print title - strategically placed near and around suspect/out of date information. And viola! Just like that, my out of date dinosaur of a print resource is magically transformed into an up to date, interactive book!!

I love this project for so many reasons: First of all, I love what it requires students to do. In order to make this happen, kids have to think critically about the text - identifying bits of information that might be outdated or incorrect. Then they have to locate new and better sources for that same info, think about the similarities/differences in the two sources and match the information together. To me, this is resource evaluation at its very best.

Secondly, I love this project because it provides students with a relevant reason for their research. Now, when my young researchers ask "why do we have to do this," I have a GREAT answer! Not only will their work save the library money (which we don't have!) but it will also ensure that future researches have access to better information when they search our stacks. In short, their research will leave a lasting legacy at our school.

And finally, I just love the fact that this project is going to give these old books a new life. As much as I love new toys, new tech and new print, I always feel terribly guilty having to toss (or even recycle) old titles that don't get swiped from the discard bin. (And yes, I know I can transform them into beautiful art, but I'm just not that creative). (An aside, I call my discard bin "The Island of Misfit Books" in the hopes that students will feel sorry for, and therefore take home, discarded titles like The Secret Art of Pantomime and 101 Uses For Your Overhead Projector). In the end, I believe this product (because of the process that goes into creating it) will be greater than the sum of its two parts. Plus, there's something about this marriage of old technology and new technology that feels a little bit like steampunk research: and what's not to like about that?

--------------------------------------------

*** I want it noted for the record that even though I am breaking up with dewey, I am still, and will always be, a super groupie to uber cutie library rapper mega star, Melvil Dewey - who rocked Gwyneth Jones and my collective socks at NCSLMA this year. Just sayin'.

Web 2.Uh Oh! Making the leap from technoPHOBE to technoFAB

2011-10-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Today I had the absolute joy (pleasure! honor!) to present a preconference session at my state library association's annual conference WITH the incredibly fabulous Jennifer Northrup (aka: the "candid librarian.") Jennifer and I joked, as we were setting up this afternoon, about the fact that today was actually the first time we'd ever met. Which is true. She lives in the mountains of NC and I live at the beach (I'll trade her by the way). And though we'd been collaborating for some time, we'd never met face to face before today (and only about an hour before we were slated to wow a group of about 50 librarians from all around the state, I might add). A recipe for disaster, you ask? Perhaps for lesser mortals, but we had a GREAT time - due in large part to the amazing group of librarians who piled into our session to participate, collaborate and goof around. We had fun, learned a lot and made a few mistakes (think tron girl!) but made a lot more, what I hope will be, lasting connections.

Here's our session description:

Are you ready to take your practice to the next level, but feel overwhelmed by all the web 2.0 tools and technology gadgets being thrown your way? Do you want to engage today’s digital learners in meaningful, technology rich lessons, but still need help mastering these resources yourself? If so, this session is for you! Bring your laptop and a desire to learn! Hands-on experience using the latest cool, often free and ALWAYS impactful technology resources will not only make you the envy of your colleagues but will also ignite the curiosity and enthusiasm of your 21st century learners. Take the skills you learn back to your school to increase your impact and promote your value and the importance of the media center.

Here's the symbaloo of resources that we created before and curated DURING the session:

Here's the incredibly good looking people I had the chance to connect with today. And here's a few of the things they asked me to post links to in this post. (Ask and you shall receive).

Librarians are Ready Flyer.
Interactive Librarians are Ready Flyer.
My library webpage.
My school's universal "permission slip."
(6th grade/7th-8th grade)
Finally, here's the wallwisher we used for feedback. (If you were at our session, please feel free to continue contributing by adding stickies to our board!)

As we were packing up this afternoon, one librarian said to me, "this conference is the one time of year when I get to connect with other librarians... I always leave so inspired!" I know this is true of so many of us in libraryland. And while I'm thrilled to be a part of what inspires, it also makes me a little sad. So... to all those librarians out there who feel isolated throughout the year, please accept this post as an invitation to stay connected with me and your colleagues during the other 362 days of the year that AREN'T filled with concurrent sessions. Times are tough and our time/resources have never been more limited. But, we're lucky. We can count among us some incredibly talented colleagues who have mountains of knowledge to share. Don't wait until next fall to share what you've learned and what you're doing. We need each other, folks.

Show Me The Data: Part Deux - Data Walls as Library Advocacy

2011-10-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I wrote about the value of data walls as an advocacy tool in the library. Since then, a month of school has gone by and I've had a chance to fill my own walls with numbers. I actually just put up September's numbers today and the response was immediate. Within minutes of the data going up, students were coming in to the library asking questions: They wanted to know more about the number of books that were circulated, what the busiest time of day was and even where they could find some of the (gulp!) non-fiction selections. (One of my goals this year is to increase non-fiction circulation, so these last inquiries felt like a big, BIG victory to me!) But students weren't the only ones paying attention. Several teachers came in to comment on the biggest readers for September (the top dog being a shy, sweet ELL student) and a couple even asked about the most popular books. I love it.

It's difficult to see, but to the side of my data wall, I post questions and answers. (I dream of painting a murel on that wall containing the famous Neil Gaiman quote about how Google can help you find answers, but librarians can help you find right ones - but that's a few paint cans away). Most of the time, they are questions that someone really asks me in the library (like, where (geographically) was Charlotte's Web set?) but sometimes they are questions of my own design. That said, there's been so much interest already in the numbers I posted that I asked a math teacher pal to help me create some math problems related to September's library numbers - the kinds of questions the kids might see on later tests. I'll post these on the q/a wall and see what kind of response I get. (I always offer "fabulous prizes" to the scholars who come up with the answers first). It seems like a fun way to get students interested in library data - plus, as someone who has spent her whole life avoiding math, I'm always looking for new ways to get kids to do the calculating for me.

In the meantime, I'm learning a lot from my numbers too. For example, I was totally shocked to learn that the most popular book last month was actually The Test by Peggy Kern - a recent addition to the ever popular Bluford Series. I knew these books were popular, but if you'd have told me this little paperback would beat out Darth Paper, Origami Yoda, Wimpy Kid and the Hunger Games, I'd have scoffed. To be fair, The Test only edged out these other great books by a circ or two, but still, I love it when the little guy wins. Way to go, urban fiction!

All in all, it was a big month for our students and the library. I checked out just under 5,000 books, worked with 63 classes, served 1785 drop in students, hosted a book fair and managed not to lose my mind. These are important numbers to share, but they've got me thinking about other, more curriculum driven, ways to make meaningful use of library data. I've got to chew on this further, but I have a feeling this is just the beginning of how I spread the gospel of library throughout my school. That said, I'd love to see other data wall examples. If you're collecting and sharing library data this year, please let me know where I can ooh and aah at your offerings.

Speaking of sharing....

It seems like these days, all library news is bad. We hear time and time again about jobs being cut and budgets being slashed. And while it's important not to turn away from such facts, I have to tell you, it feels good to be sharing some library joy. Which is part of why I was absolutely thrilled when my local paper ran a FRONT PAGE (yes, you heard me!) story about our recent Darth Paper Party. The angle of their story had to do with how teachers are having to be creative when it comes to funding special projects or buying basic supplies for their classrooms. I love that even though they did a good job of highlighting the hit libraries in my district have taken in the last few years, their primary focus was on the positive - showcasing how teachers and librarians are willing to do whatever it takes to serve students.

To me, this is the exact message I want to get across as I seek to share information about my library and the students I serve. Honestly, I just can't get into the whole "whoa is me" victim mentality that times like these often produce. Not only is it no fun, but, frankly, it just doesn't work. Yes, times are tough. And yes, that means we all have to be creative when it comes to providing our students with the resources and services they need. However, our students deserve quality programs and quality programs need support. This is the message we need to be sending. Libraries have a positive impact on students and, therefore, deserve support. The end.

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PS: Some of you may have noticed that the gator on my data wall has received something of a face lift. After spending a great deal of time lamenting my last effort as turning out to be something more akin to an aardvark in lederhosen, as opposed to a parachuting alligator, I decided to try my hand at drawing a gator using my iPad and a free app called Art Studio. Now, while I fully admit that this gator took me significantly longer than his freehand counterpart, this one also makes me look like a cartooning prodigy. It's amazing how much better I am at drawing alligators (and everything else) with the iPad - proving once and for all, perhaps, that I am an artist in need of assistive technologies. (How did it go from the iPad to my bulletin board, you ask? Well, once the image was finished, my friend projected it onto the wall and traced it onto construction paper one afternoon when I wasn't looking. All I had to do was cut him out and run him through the laminator - a harrowing experience, I can assure you).

SC Librarians are Ready!

2011-09-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago the SC Association of School Librarians asked if they could publish my flyer "Librarians are Ready!" My copy arrived today and I'm thrilled with the result. Several other people have asked to use it, but I've yet to see it "in the wild" anywhere, (although my CTO did send a copy to all the principals in my district, which was a pretty humbling moment). Anyway, big juicy thanks to my neighbors in South Carolina for wanting to use my work. I'm unbelievably honored.

All in all, not a bad Thursday. :)

May The Force Be With You

2011-09-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

A year or so ago I started soliciting photos of young adult authors reading in various locations for this project: a google map showing all the places people read. It's called "Gators Read Everywhere" - an homage to our school mascot - and it's one of my most favorite projects ever. But this post isn't about that. It IS, however, (at least partly) about Tom Angleberger, the author of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, who was one of the first YA authors to share a photo of himself reading for the aforementioned project. From the beginning, Tom was the picture of generosity. Not only did he send me his own photo, but he also ran around various author/librarian/teacher conferences stalking other authors and taking their pictures for me. And since he's a world famous author himself, there wasn't anything creepy about it at all. :) Now, I don't know about you, but Tom's books are INSANELY popular in my library. I've got a bajillion copies of each and the reserve list is still a mile long. I simply can't keep them on the shelves. So... when his latest endeavor Dark Paper Strikes Back debuted about a month ago, I knew we needed to have a premier party.

Book premier parties are something I *love* to do. Last year, we had one when Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay came out and it was big fun. For last year's event, I decided to hold a costume party: both kids and adults alike dressed like their favorite character from the Hunger Games Trilogy and we partied like the next day was the reaping! At the time, Hot Topic was selling lots of cool Hunger Games paraphernalia and I was able to get them to donate some stuff for our party as prizes. Barnes and Noble also gave me some books to give away and a local real estate company helped provide the food. The whole idea behind the event was to generate excitement about the books, so I held trivia contests the entire week before and recruited teachers to play it up in their classes. Truly, it was a blast. And, besides, how often do I get to wear false pink eyelashes and a 3ft tall pink beehive w/a blinking tiara to school?? (Answer: not as often as I would like). (Bonus points to the Hunger Games fan who can guess who I am!)

Fast forward to this school year. Since I couldn't break out my beehive for this party, I decided to ask Tom Angleberger if he would skype with us during the event. I'd already heard that he was super fun to skype with from several colleagues including library wonder boy John Schumacher, and since I follow him I twitter, I knew this was something the Origami Yoda creator sometimes did. Once that was scheduled, I went to work planning the event - starting with food which included Yoda Soda (Sprite + lime sherbet), Darth Paper Pizza and 250 chocolate dipped Pretzel Light Sabers - prompting Beth Redford to call me the "Martha Stewart of Star Wars themed food." In the end, the plan was simple: 1) eat 2) skype 3) make Origami Yodas/Darth Papers 4) make money for the library.

Which brings me to the point where I need to admit that not all of my intentions when it comes to these events are noble. While the primary focus is on getting kids excited about a book, I also ALWAYS schedule them to coincide with a book fair. And while I never charge students to get in, I DO say stuff like "it sure would be nice if you bought something at the book fair." Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. This year, however, my fundraising expectations were far exceeded due in large part to the same local real estate company who not only helped us buy some of the food and books to give away (and put in our library), but they also underwrote a 35% discount at our book fair for everyone who came to the party that night. I'm still in awe of how generous they were.

So. How did it go? Well...

our central office forgot to leave the A/C on, so it was about 300 degrees most of the night. And...
the Skype was pretty much a disaster. We saw Tom for about 25 seconds - during which he was charming and funny, but still.

On the other hand...

about 200 kids showed up.
many of them brought their parents.
we sold more in one night at the book fair than we did the entire rest of the week (making it our best book fair ever!)
after the #skypefail kids gathered around the tables and watched as I taught them the fine art of the Origami Yoda/Darth Paper folding.
the next day, one student after another rushed in to a) show me their copy of one (or both) of Tom Angleberger's book(s) and/or the bajillion origami Star Wars figures they'd made after going home and b) to ask me when we were going to do it again.

I guess that's spells success. :)

So, what's next? Well, first and foremost I'm looking forward to finally meeting Tom Angleberger face to face at this year's NCSLMA conference. I owe him a big thank you and/or a drink. After that, I need to figure out how to make Skpe work at my school. There's just too many great video-chat opportunities out there for me to give up now. (If you've got advice, let me know). After that??? Well... I'm thinking we may need to have a book premier party for Allan Wolf's new book The Watch That Ends The Night: Voices from the Titanic - I'm just hoping one of the characters sports a pink beehive.

NCSLMA 2011: A Love Story

2011-09-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

The dates for this year's NCSLMA's annual conference have been on the books forever, but it wasn't until tonight that I started to really get excited about this year's event.

In part, this is because the schedule of sessions was just released today and it is AMAZING. Not only are there some great people presenting (including the fantabulous Gwyneth Jones as our keynote speaker), but the presentations themselves look meaty and relevant in today's school library environment/education climate. For me, THIS is just what the doctor ordered. As I head into a year in which the expectations for my contribution and impact are higher than ever, but the support I receive (financially and otherwise) is at its lowest point on record, my professional soul is starving for camaraderie and nourishment. It's early enough in the year that I'm still energized and excited, but I need to feed off the combined strength of my colleagues to keep the momentum going. Seriously, I need this. And I suspect I'm not alone.

My excitement also stems from the fact that this event will mark the official unveiling of NCSLMA's new website, which I designed and co-created with an uber-fabulous colleague and friend (who really needs a library blog so I can link to it). This Extreme Makeover: Website Edition came about because our long-time webmaster decided to step down from the position and, simply put, nobody else stepped up to the plate. So, in the spirit of turning lemons into lemonade, we decided to ignore the fact that we both already have entirely too much to do and create the website of our dreams. That is to say, one that was still packed with all the great info our old site had, but that also offers spaces for professional learning, collaboration and member contribution. There's still a long way to go, but the foundation is pretty much finished and we went "live" a few nights ago. The reaction has been wonderfully positive, but now I'm chomping at the bit to add the final and most important touch: the contributions of our members. What I want most is for this to become a dynamic and living resource where librarians from across the state share and grow as a result of our combined knowledge and strength.

If there's one thing I know for certain, it's that now, more than ever, we need each other. Together, we are stronger and better than even the very best of us is alone. Conference and, hopefully, our website are opportunities for us to lean on, learn from and grow as a result of our combined knowledge, enthusiasm and strength. Every day, I am grateful for the opportunities I have to connect with my friends in library land, whether it's through twitter, this blog or face to face, I'm convinced that THAT connection is the key to my success - or at least longevity. And listen, I know... times are tough and monies for professional development are pretty much non-existent. Still, I deeply hope that everyone reading this will make professional development and connecting with colleagues a priority this year. It's times like this in which that connection is most important.

And if you're in NC, get your hiney to conference. Seriously.

My Cup (and Ceiling) Runneth Over

2011-09-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today, in the middle of a class, it started to rain - INSIDE my library.

Since school started, we've had 2 tornadoes, 1 waterspout and a hurricane - all of which left my library unscathed. Then today, we were undone by the air conditioner -which decided to spring a leak. Naturally, I didn't have time to capture the event on film as it was occurring, but I did get a shot after the initial gush had soaked a bank of 6 computers, filled 2 trashcans and dwindled to a trickle. Oi.

When it was all over, a student said: "Mrs. LaGarde, this is the most exciting spot in the whole school!" Then his friend said, "yeah, even when water isn't pouring out of the ceiling!" And I'm inclined to agree.

Since school started, I've seen 46 classes, checked out just over 1,000 books, taught 2 workshops and plotted countless collaborative schemes with a gaggle of classroom and library teachers alike. As busy as it's been, I can tell that this is going to be a great year.

Even so, I can already feel myself getting a little overwhelmed. The challenge for me will be to not end up like these ceiling tiles: split open by the weight of everything I have to carry. I don't know about you, but I suffer from the disease of not only wanting to do everything, but of also wanting to do *everything* perfectly - or at least better than it's ever been done before. Some people call that over achieving. Others call it annoying. Either way, I know it's not sustainable.

So, this year as I attempt to take over the world, (with no assistant and no budget), I'm going to try to remember the day the ceiling burst open. Hopefully, that image will remind me to:

Set realistic goals.
Cut myself some slack.
Ask for help when I need it.
Breathe.

In the meantime, I'm grateful for an exciting start to the school year and a (mostly) dry library that refuses to shrink in the face of one disaster after another. I'm not sure what the rest of the school year will bring, but I say "bring it." I'm ready.

An Xtranormal Orientation

2011-08-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

Library orientations are one of those tried and true traditions that you can practically set your watch by. The school year stars and kids pile into the library to learn all about the four Rs: Rules, Regulations, Reading and Resources. (Usually in that order). This year I'm going to try to switch things up a little w/ a two part orientation. I'll start with this video I made using Xtranormal. I love Xtranormal. There's just nothing else like it. Then I'm planning a qr code scavenger hunt. Essentially, students will scan QR Codes that lead them to specific resources, where they'll learn some stuff and find more codes, etc. It should be fun.

One thing to note about the video is that I am planning to pause it after each question - using the answers as a springboard for discussion. (What I'm trying to say is that all those pregnant pauses are intentional).

So... what are your orientation plans? What do you do that works? Ready? Set? Share!

Show Me The Data: Developing Plans for Library Transparency

2011-08-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

A recent post by Doug Johnson, in which he posits that librarians are often regarded with distrust by teachers/admins, has gotten me thinking about how and why I share data.

While I like to think of my library as incredibly open, I recognize that I'm not "great" at sharing data throughout the year. Like most librarians, I create an annual report in the spring and share it with teachers, admins and, really, anyone who will hold still long enough for me to hand them one, but my efforts to share data throughout the remainder of the year are inconsistent (at best). This year, one of the ways I'm combating my previous half-hearted attempts is through the creation of a data wall: a place where I can publicly follow some of Doug's advice about transparency:

Don't wait until the end of the year to file an "annual report." Keep a running list of total numbers of items circulated, students using the library, classes you've taught, etc. Make it public. If the statistics raise questions, ask them.

To be honest, I decided to do this last spring, when budget talks were running at a fever pitch and I was looking for new ways to prove my worth. To my way of thinking, transparency is a form of advocacy. The distrust that Doug speaks of in his post is what leads budget cutters to our doors. Doing good work simply isn't enough; we also have to make the world aware of all the good work we're doing.

Despite the fact that my gator (our school mascot) looks a whole lot like an armadillo in lederhosen, I'm pleased with the final result because it provides me with the first step in system for getting information out there. While I've never tried to hide data about what's happening in the library, without publishing mechanisms in place, sharing it became something that I did only when a) I thought of it and b) I had time (and we all know how often that is). What's more, my guess is that many librarians are in the same boat. Without a system for sharing, it simply doesn't get done.

So, along with all the curriculum and collection planning I'm doing these days, I'm also constructing a data sharing plan. In addition to my data wall, I'll be posting more information about what I do, how I do it and who I do it with on my website, our MTAC's wiki and through submissions to our school system's monthly newsletter. Additionally, I'm planning to hold some contests throughout the year in which students make predictions about how many books we'll be able to buy with the amounts we're allotted or how many classes the library will see in a given month, etc. We'll have to wait and see how it all pans out. The one thing I know for sure, however, is that, (for me anyway), it will take more than just the desire to be transparent in my practice to make it happen - it will also take a plan and a process for sharing data in order for me to realize that goal.

All of that said, I'm the first to admit that I am no expert. I'd love to hear about how other folks share data and create a transparent library environment. If you'd had success in the past or are trying something new this year, please let me know. I firmly believe that when we share, we're all made better.

What If School Was More Like This?

2011-08-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

I ran across this video a couple of weeks ago and it has been rolling around my head ever since. I love its wordless, captivating, 75 second message - it's been the perfect accelerant to the cognitive kindling I've been trying to spark for weeks now. As summer officially draws to a close for me this week, I've been trying to light a fire under the mountain of to-do lists that I keep making for myself, and I think this might just be what the doctor ordered.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Every time I watch it, I think... "what if school was more like this?" What if?

What if every time we created an environment/opportunity for students we were guided by the desire to make magic; to create an experience our students will never forget; to create learning that is:

active
participatory
messy
inquisitive
authentic
joyful

What if?

Obviously, we can't travel the 38 thousand miles, or to the 11 countries, it took to create this video as we tackle a new year with our students. And clearly, it's tough to make magic on a fixed schedule, with no assistant, no budget and [insert obstacle here]. But, frankly, the alternative strikes me as quite a bit harder to swallow.

When I was a first year teacher, my mentor teacher asked me what I thought about giving my students the opportunity to veer away from the whole class novel in favor of choosing their own reading. I can remember distinctly sitting on the sofa in the back of my room and saying, "I don't think I can do that." Without judgement, she simply said, "Ok. Let's talk about what you can do, then." It would be years before I got to the point where I could give up a prescribed common text, but her wisdom has stuck with me.

Recently, Buffy Hamilton has been speaking and writing about enchantment as a force for learning in the library and I believe this a branch from that same tree. Her message of tapping into student passions as a means of fueling learning is one that resonates deeply with me. That said, while I may not be able to make every learning experience look like the ones in the video or fill every lesson with enchantment, I'm definitely ready to start thinking about what I can do.

5 Things Every School Library Website Should Have

2011-08-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

I ran across this article the other day outlining the 5 "essentials" that every school website should have. Naturally, it got me thinking about my own library's web presence.

I'm one of those nerdy people who actually really loves tinkering with web design. Don't get me wrong, I'm no code writer, but given a little time and a few tools, I can make, if nothing else, a ~~huge mess~~ good effort. Additionally, I probably spend more time than I should poking around other school library websites too - just trolling for inspiration and such. It's easy to spot the sites that only get updated once per year. Typically, these sites contain only a few sad elements: there's a list of the library's hours, a brief bio of the staff and, if you're lucky, somewhere between all those virtual cobwebs, you might find a description of the library's various subscription databases. Zzzzzzzzz.

Now, I've been doing this long enough to know that the librarians who built the website described above are probably working their bifocals off. Just because they've got a boring website doesn't mean they've got a boring library. I know that. I know it because I work in a school. I know it because I visit other libraries. I know it because I have the opportunity to peek behind the boring website to find the brilliant teacher. I am an insider. And I am not your website's target audience.

That said, who is?

Seriously. Who is looking at your library's website? And if the answer is nobody, who do you WANT to be looking at it? Your students? Your (current and prospective) parents? Teachers? Principal? District administrators? Other librarians (like me!)? Elected officials? Other tax payers who vote on education bonds, etc?

More importantly, though, once these folks arrive at your site, does it provide them with an accurate and complete picture of what your library is all about? By clicking your links, do they get a taste of how the work you do actually impacts student learning? If not, it's time for a redesign. Which leads me to...

5 Things Every School Library Website Should Have:

A focus on teaching: If teaching is what you do, your website should reflect it. Whether you do it through a a library blog, a teaching/learning wiki, a collection of slideshows, or any number of other elements, your site should showcase the LEARNING that takes place in the library. Everybody already expects a library to have books. Your website should show them something they don't (but should!) expect about school libraries/librarians and how they impact kids.
Examples of student work: One sure fire way to get parents to visit your site is to make it a gallery of student work. Posting student work on your site not only provides the student with an opportunity for real world publication but it also emphasizes your role as an instructional partner within the school.
Opportunities for participation: If teaching students about digital citizenship and the ethical use of information is part of your mission, then your website should be an online laboratory where students get to put those skills to work. I know. I know. It's scary to give kids control of your library's public face, but you don't need to hand them the keys to the kingdom to do it. There are lots of interactive web 2.0 tools, from Wallwisher to ThingLink, that provide students/parents/teachers with the chance to contribute to the library's web presence. By making your website a collaborative space, you're also inviting your visitors to take ownership of your programs and the work that is created there.
Evolving resources for your evolving audience: If we want our libraries to be thought of as THE place to find the most up to date, the most relevant and the most cutting edge resources, our websites need to contain resources of equally high quality. Tired lists of out of date links will not cut it. The resources we share on our websites need to a) be updated frequently to reflect student needs b) be directly linked to student learning and/or our school(district/state)'s mission and c) be a part of our own practice in the library.
Flavor: Finally, your website should give visitors a taste of the library experience that you have created. If your library is a fun, noisy place filled with opportunities for kids to grow and learn, your website should reflect that. Every library is different as a result of all the people who spend time there learning and creating, your website should offer visitors a taste of the flavor that is unique to your school library experience.

So... am I practicing what I preach? Almost. Since I started thinking about this, I've been working on giving my webpage an overhaul. Although I'd already updated it with some summer reading stuff before donning my vacation gear, there were still plenty of remnants from last year cluttering up the corners. I've still got some work to do, obviously, but that's the thing about websites: they are a perpetual work in progress. Even so, it's almost ready for showing off at open house in (gulp) 1 week. Obviously, some sections won't take off until students arrive and we all roll up our sleeves, as it were. But for now, it's starting to take shape and represents the beginnings of what I hope will be a collaborative, teaching and learning focused webspace that offers my visitors access to great resources as well as a snapshot of what my library looks like in action.

As always, I welcome feedback if you decide to take a look. What's more, I'd love to see other examples. What's your favorite school library website? And what makes it so special? Please, please, please share! I'm anxious to see the work that inspires you!

Would You Hire me?

2011-07-31T06:45:00.000-07:00

My husband and I disagree.

One of my goals this summer was to update my resume/CV - I'm not looking for another job or anything, but it seems like more and more of the grants I look at require an updated copy, and I'm woefully behind at adding stuff to mine. So, as summer quickly draws to a close, (and I realize just how many of the things on my summer to-do list AREN'T going to get crossed off), I decided it was time to tackle this project.

The problem is, resumes are boring.

Seriously, I could barely stay awake, never mind remain energized as I dusted the cobwebs off mine. What a snoozefest. The more I tried to bullet point the highlights of my professional life, the more I thought this would be a lot more fun as an infographic - which leads me to my husband, who is the director of career services for a nearby college: in essence a guy who spends much of his life critiquing resumes and helping people put their best foot forward when looking for a job.

Me: "I'm thinking of making my CV into an infographic."
Hubs: "It's a fad, don't do it."
Me: "But... I think people in the library field might be open to it."
Hubs: "It's a fad, don't do it."
Me: "But..."

You get the picture.

In the end, though, I just couldn't shake the feeling that if we could use infographics to teach people about our services or convince others that we are relevant, surely this tool could be use to sell, well... ourselves too! And I'm not the only one who thinks so. In tackling this project, I found lots of other infographic resumes out there - but nearly all of them were for a) graphic artists or b) web designers. (If you know of other librarian resumes that are done this way, please share!)

So, anyway, here it is. My ~~stubborn~~ attempt to visually convey my professional journey thus far. Keep in mind, this is really just a first draft - in the words of Lisa Yee, no proofreaders were harmed in the creation of this document. Also, for obvious reasons, I think, I deleted some personal information and left my reference place holders blank for this version. However, I'm at a point where I'm just looking for feedback - what would you think if a resume like this came across your desk? Would you see it as innovative and creative? Or would you round file it for being silly or for seeming like a less than serious attempt?

View more documents from Jennifer LaGarde

PS: It's okay to be honest. You won't hurt my feelings. And if you do, I bounce back quickly. :)

Collaboration: Nourishment for the Professional Soul

2011-07-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

Like a lot of teachers/librarians who benefit from having "summer's off," I always head back to school earlier than I should. We don't officially start back until mid-August, but I've spent the last couple of days there trying to shift my brain back into school mode. Time at school without other teachers and students can be productive because while I still run around like a madwoman on those days, I get to be the sole director of that madness. Truly, as someone who sometimes thinks "rolling with the punches" should be listed at the top of her job description, the idea of working uninterrupted can be absolutely intoxicating. However, it doesn't take long before the work I do during those days of solitude reveals itself to be tedious and, ultimately, unsatisfying. Saying it's too quiet may seem like a throw away remark, but really it's hitting the nail on the head, because the noise we make in the library is evidence of the collaborative relationships that make our work so meaningful.

In her AMAZING Ted-style talk at ISTE this year, (I'm still in mourning that I wasn't there), Buffy Hamilton talked about creating enchantment for our patrons through the relationships we build with them. She rightfully pointed out that one of the problems libraries face in our efforts to rebrand ourselves is the fact that we are so often associated with things (be it books, databases or eReaders) instead of people and relationships. (I believe we contribute to this problem in a number of ways, but that's a post of a different color).

In my experience, "collaboration" is a term that librarians most often toss around to describe the work we do with classroom teachers. However, I think we sometimes leave out the other important collaborations we share with students and with each other. Perhaps we're all so worried about defending our jobs that we tend to focus on the collaborations that can most easily be tied to student achievement. Or maybe it's because those "other" collaborations are so fulfilling, so nourishing to our professional souls that they seem too luxurious or frivolous to be really valuable. Hmmmm. Something to chew on, certainly.

Anyway, a few of these other collaborations have recently resulted in some products that I wanted to share.

First, although I've posted this before, I neglected to point out that one of the presentations I did for the Teaching Fellows Conference was actually the product of a collaboration between me and a former student. Several of the photographs I used in this presentation are hers - used not only with permission but with discussion before and after about how and why they could be, and ultimately were, impactful. While I'm glad that this provided her with the chance to extend the reach of her work, I am absolutely in love with the notion of today's students helping to shape the practice of tomorrow's teachers.

Bibliotherapy 2.0

Secondly, while I didn't work on this video, I got to see a sneak preview of it at the P21 institute last month. On the face of it, it's a delightful piece about encouraging kids to collaborate, communicate, think critically and create. However, what makes it even more special to me is the knowledge that the product itself is the result of a collaboration between some unlikely co-conspirators in the #edreform revolution. Educators, politicians, business and non profit leaders all teamed up with the folks at FableVision to make this happen. Again, I am smitten by the knowledge that this product couldn't have been created without the very ideals it promotes. Plus, its one size does NOT fit all message is just lovely. Also, just as an FYI, there's a downloadable poster that accompanies this video here.

Finally, I was absolutely knocked for a loop last week when so many people asked if they could share the flyer I made about what teachers/administrators should expect from their school librarians. But my humbled shock morphed into pure inspiration when Donna Baumbach transformed the flyer into this amazing collaborative document using the tool ThingLink. I am amazed. Not only are people sharing some amazing resources/work/examples, but now I simply can't wait to put ThingLink to work in my library.

I end this post with the same feeling I have each year when a new school year approaches: abuzz with ideas. Ideas that I wouldn't have had, had I not indulged in the frivolity of collaboration.

Librarians Are Ready, Are You?

2011-07-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

Having not been able to shake the "I had no idea librarians could do this!?" reaction I received at last week's Teaching Fellows Conference, I decided to create a flyer that I could share with program administrators at both the K-12 and collegiate levels - something flashy and fun that might, if nothing else, plant the seed that school librarians are more than just book hoarding shushers.

Making these flyers is always fun. However, the entire time I was putting this one together, I was keenly aware of the fact that I was once a classroom teacher who thought school librarians were irrelevant - until someone proved me wrong. During my ten years in the classroom, I worked with 4 different school librarians at 3 different schools - add those numbers together and it might double the number of times I took my own students to the library during my entire tenure as a classroom teacher. To this day, I have no idea if the librarians at my schools wanted to collaborate with me. While I knew they were all smart, funny and charming people, I couldn't tell you if they were master teachers, technology innovators or even reading pied pipers. They may very well have been all of those things too, but if they were, I didn't know it.

Looking back on it now, I can see several possible reasons why I didn't get the message that, as a profession, school librarians were not only capable of working with me, but they also very much wanted to.

Teacher Isolation: As a classroom teacher, I was deeply entrenched in my own world. I spent so much time worrying about what was happening inside my classroom, I sometimes forgot there was a world spinning outside of it.
Teacher Education #Fail: If my own teacher education program emphasized instructional partnerships of any kind, I forgot to sign up for that class. Collaborating with other professionals was not a skill that I was taught in teacher school.
Librarian #Fail: This message was not being sent by the school librarians I worked with. Or if it was, not very effectively.

Whatever the reason, however, the bottom line is I had no idea I could and should be working with school librarians - and a result, regardless of how great I was, my students missed out.

Again, it all boils down to this: I was once a classroom teacher who thought school librarians were irrelevant - until someone proved me wrong. No flyer, regardless of how fabulous it is, will change the minds of those who see us as outdated and ineffective. For me, it wasn't until a dear friend of mine decided to leave the classroom and wander into the library that I started to think about school librarianship differently. What's more, it wasn't until he started to share with me the things he was doing with teachers/students that I began to see myself in that role.

As much as this graphic is a love letter to new teachers and principals (and anyone one else who might see it), it's also a reminder to those of us who live in libraryland already: Just about all of us will encounter someone this year who believes, for whatever reason, that school librarians are irrelevent. Are you and your practice ready to prove them wrong?

I hope so.

View more documents from Jennifer LaGarde

As the attribution information suggests, I took inspiration from Carl Harvey's work in Library Media Connection. (Without question, there are aspects of what we do that I missed. However, with limited space and a desire to not overwhelm my target audience with info, I tried to capture the aspects of librarianship that the future teachers I worked with last week seemed the most shocked by.) What's more, I don't think it's possible to be a librarian who creates comic style flyers and not, even subliminally, be inspired by Gwyneth Jones - so, big juicy thank yous to both those folks.

Finally, as always, everything here is licensed under creative commons so please feel free to take, share and make better to your little heart's content.

UPDATE:

Thank you so much Donna Baumbach who transformed this flyer into a collaborative document using ThingLink! I am unbelievably humbled and inspired! PLEASE scoot on over to her newly created wiki and contribute to this fabulous collaborative effort! #ihavethebestjobever

New Paths in Library Advocacy: Reflections on the NC Teaching Fellows Jr. Conference

2011-07-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today I had the amazing opportunity to work with some of my state's most valuable resources: new teachers. The students in the classes I taught today were (roughly) one year away from completing their teacher education program as part of the NC Teaching Fellows Program. (An aside, our legislature voted to zero out funding for Teaching Fellows this year - a travesty you can learn more about here).

I've been nervous and excited about these presentations for weeks now. Nervous because it always feels a little strange to play to an audience outside of libraryland and excited because I often wish my own teacher education program had offered the opportunity learn from and about school library media specialists and how they could help me (as a classroom teacher) and my students. To this day, although (in general) I feel like my own teacher education program perpared me fairly well for what I would experience in the classroom, I don't think I'm alone in the lamenting the lack of emphasis on the instructional team I would NEED to be a part of in order to truly provide my students with everything they would need. Indeed, I can't remember anyone talking to me about the school librarian and what he/she could do for me (my kids).

And so, to be honest, I couldn't wait to get in the room with these eager, fresh faced, soon to be teachers - if for no other reason that I felt I had a golden opportunity to fill a gap for them that was not, until much, much later, filled for me. Advocacy is a topic that seems to be on the tip of every school librarian's tongue these days. To that end, while I think many of us are becoming quite savvy when it comes to sharing what we do with those who have the power to impact our budgets and positions, I fear we may be missing the boat when it comes to embedding ourselves in education of the next generation of teachers/admininistrators.

In the end, however, I can't help but think that I got just as much (if not more) out of the experience than they did. While I feel the sessions went well and I received great feedback afterwards, between the two of us, I feel like the big winner. Not only were the students funny and smart, they asked great questions, were willing to try new things and were filled with that new teacher spark - the perfect mixture of idealism, optimism and the unstoppable drive to make a difference. Ah... if only I could bottle that spark. I'd keep most of it in a special, glass case labeled "In Case of Emergency." The rest I'd load into a one of the supersoaker squirt guns and take aim at those people we ALL work with who really need a good soaking. But I digress. Even without the bottle (and squirtgun), I couldn't help but feel nostalgic being around them. Nostaligic and inspired. As much as I hope I was able to help shape the image that these "youngsters" (I nearly cried when the second section informed me they were not alive when I was in middle school) will have of school librarians when they land in their first classrooms, the shape of my world was changed too by their contagious energy and endless enthusiasm - just a little of which rubbed off on me.

The following are my presentations from today's sessions. As always, everything posted here is free for you to use, share and make better.

View more presentations from Jennifer LaGarde

It’s a Small World After All – Developing Personal Learning Networks for Students AND Teachers Using 21st Century Techno on Prezi

PS: Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to these presentations! Your input proved invaluable! Here's some proof:

Future teacher: "Will this symbaloo be available after this session?"
Me: "Yes. It will be available forever."
FT: "Really???"
Me: "Yes."
FT: "Really???"
Me: "Yes."
FT: "Thank you! Thank you! Oh Thank you!"

New Tools for New Teachers

2011-07-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

As I prepare for some sessions later this week during which I will get to work with new teachers on the fine arts of collaboration and personal learning, I've been busy making stuff.

The first is the "Bibliotherapy 2.0" wiki that i solicited help for a few posts ago. Though I ended up deciding to make the wiki more of a web/conversation curation tool than an actual bibliography, I will be adding the titles so many of you suggested to the discussion portion of the wiki. THANK YOU! In the meantime, I'm ready to share the product as it currently looks. I welcome feedback and will happily grant requests to join if you'd like to be a part of contributing to this resource for new (and not so new) teachers.


http://bibliotherapy20.wikispaces.com/

The second is a webmix of tools to help new teachers create and contribute to a Personal Learning Network. This was a lot of fun for me to put together, but I'm sure I'm missing one or two or twenty resources.

http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/toolsforplnbuilding

Some points of conflict for me are these: a) I had originally planned to group the content of the webmix a bit more systematically, but I'm still chewing on that. b) I'm also on the fence about including must read blogs - once I start that, where do I stop?

For now, I'm just anxious to roll up my sleeves and start making mischief with the group of new teachers I'll be working with this week. Until then, please feel free to make suggestions for improvement or addition. Your feedback will not only help me but also the fledgling teachers I'll be ~~corrupting~~ working with soon.

Takeaways from the P21 Institute and 21st Century Skills Best Practices Forum

2011-07-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (p21) Institute in Stowe, Vermont. To be honest, I’m still unpacking a lot of what I learned during this event, but here are a few takeaways that I am ready to share:

Vermont Loves QR Codes:
Everywhere I went, I saw QR Codes! They were in the hotel, on receipts I received and in window shop displays. The most helpful ones for me were contained on a “cell phone walking tour” of beautiful little Stowe, Vermont. Small placards, like the one pictured, are located all over Stowe.   As an accidental tourist who was on the hunt for postcards, but had no idea where to look, I *loved* being able to scan a qr code and learn about this gorgeous New England town as I explored – all the while thinking about how I could create my own “walking tour” of the library. What fun!

World’s Collide. And It Might Just Be Okay:
For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Partnership For 21st Century Skills is, truly, a diverse group of education reformers. The group is made up of business leaders, heads of non-profits, politicians and, of course, educators – but, to be honest, the more time I spent talking to the people at p21, the more difficult it was for me to figure out which was which. In the end, despite their diverse backgrounds, everyone there had one incredibly important thing in common: a shared desire to make education better for today’s students. I bring this up because so much of the talk in education reform these days appears to pit educators against non-educators (and vice versa).   It seems like there’s some pervasive themes in the stories that cover the collision of these two worlds: a) big business is trying to take over and privatize education b) people who are not teachers know nothing about teaching/learning and c) card carrying educators should be both afraid and suspect of anyone who is not a teacher but who wants to contribute to the conversation. Now, I don’t claim to be an expert on any of this. Furthermore, I can totally understand (and even relate to) the fear. However, in the end, I find myself reminded of that episode of Seinfeld in which George Costanza’s two worlds ("relationship George" and "independent George") threaten to collide – the result, in his mind, being absolutely catastrophic. What I fear is that, like George, many educators are so afraid of what will happen if the education world collides with the business/political one, that they’re missing out on opportunities for conversation and collaboration. To be honest, I don't know if this is a zero-sum game, but it seems to me that an "us vs. them" mentality only results in one loser: students.

Connecting The Dots:
While I have some issues and (several) questions regarding p21’s framework for 21st century learning, I do think its focus on non-cognitive skills is right on the money.   Today’s assessment driven/bubble the right answer model of education leaves little room for inquiry, discovery, innovation and failure. That said, one thing that p21 gets right, in my book, is an emphasis on creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration, or the “four Cs,” which they stress as being essential in preparing students for life beyond the classroom. What’s more, p21 not only recognizes, but also actively promotes the library media center as an important player in developing these critical skills within the school. How refreshing! As part of this effort, p21 has put together a tool kit which aligns their framework for 21st century learning with the new Common Core Standards. In other words, what the tool kit seeks to do is provide teachers with a resource that shows them how to teach the standards through inquiry based learning that emphasizes the “four Cs.” While I haven’t had a chance to really unpack the whole thing, I can already see lots of connections between what I do and what they have outlined. If nothing else, I see potential to use the tool kit as a way to help teachers connect the dots between the Common Core Standards and the learning that takes place in the library. (The tool kit should be available for download soon – I will link to it as soon as it is).

A Foursquare Victory:

Lately I’ve been questioning my use of social geotagging services like Foursquare. While I’ve never been afraid that someone will see that I’m at Starbucks and decide to burglarize my home while I get a latte, I have been a little concerned about what contribution these services make to the noise in my (and other people’s) lives. Even so, I did a lot of "checking in" while I was in Vermont - which not only resulted in free ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s (you get a free tour if you show them your check-in) but these virtual map pins also afforded me the chance to meet and spend a few minutes with library superstar @bethredford who saw that I was having coffee in her hometown before hopping a plane homeward. After a couple of quick tweets, she and I were chatting like old pals in the Vermont sunshine before I headed south. Without foursquare this wouldn’t have happened, so I might stick with it for a little while longer. (My apologies to those who don’t care where I am).

Finally, as Doug Johnson recently reflected after returning from ISTE this year, "the best part of [attending conferences] always has been and always will be catching up with old friends, getting to know colleagues better, and meeting new people the professional networking." Even though this was a decidedly non-library event, I did get to meet a few really REALLY smart, funny and talented librarians who I hope to bump into again soon. Librarianship is an incredibly generous and increasingly connected profession. I look forward to watching the seeds that were planted in Vermont blossom into lasting professional connections in the future.

Sharing the Power of Books with New Teachers (With Your Help!)

2011-07-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

cc image from http://ow.ly/5APci

In a few short weeks I have the tremendous honor of presenting to a group of soon-to-be-teachers who are a part of the NC Teaching Fellows Program. I'm super excited because not only does this provide me with an opportunity to take my message outside the echo chamber of library land, but it also gives me a chance to broaden new teachers' understanding of how school librarians can, and should, be their instructional partners. I like the idea of school librarians being a part of the inservice training of new teachers and, (dare I hope?), new principals. Of course, I'll post more about these presentations as they take place, but for now, think of this post as a plea for help.

One of my presentations is called Bibliotherapy 2.0 - Using eBooks (and print ones too!) to Reach and Teach Diverse Student Populations. Given the recent hoopla surrounding YA Lit and its, according to some, inherently dark message, I'm really looking forward to showing new teachers how putting the right book in a young person's hand can, literally, change their lives. (And how eReaders afford teachers/librarians the chance to create personalized libraries for students). Anyway, for this presentation, I'm compiling a bibliography of titles that could be used to help students work through problems, conflicts, etc.

This is where you come in.

While I like to think I have a pretty good working knowledge of childrens/young adult literature, (and I've certainly got lots of ideas) I've spent my whole career in middle school (plus one really short stint in high school early on), so I'm afraid my perspective is just a bit skewed.

So... will you help me compile this bibliography for new teachers?

Essentially, I'm looking for recommendations of books that you believe have the potential to help kids/young adults work through problems, issue, conflicts, etc. If you can help me, please leave your recommendations in the comments including (if you can) the title, author, issue dealt with and what age group you think it's appropriate for. An example might be: Cut by Patricia McCormick: Deals with self mutilation; I recommend it for grades 7-12.

Thanks you so much for helping me help these new teachers (help their students)!

Changing the World: One App at a Time

2011-07-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks, this TED Talk, in which Daniel Tammet explores how perception impacts learning and understanding, has been rolling around in my head. From the moment I saw it, I knew I needed to add it to my list of “must watch” TED Talks for school librarians, but that didn’t seem like enough.

Not able to shake the feeling that there was more for me to learn, I checked out Tammet’s memoir Born on a Blue Day from the public library and devoured it in an afternoon. While much of the book is a pretty linear recounting of Tammet’s experiences living with high-functioning autism and savant syndrome, there are moments of stunning beauty in which he describes how he sees the world. For example, the section in which Tammet explains his perception of prime numbers - numerical expressions so beautiful, peculiar and constant, that he often turns to them for comfort in the face of an uncertain and frequently cruel world - is incredibly moving. I’ve read that section several times, tearing up with each new passing. Plus, as someone who has spent her entire life avoiding math, I couldn’t help but think that if Tammet had been my math teacher in elementary school, my life may have taken on a whole different trajectory, but I digress.

What may be most remarkable about Tammet, however, is not his mastery of languages (he learned conversational Icelandic in one week) or his ability to calculate complex math equations without so much as a number two pencil. Rather, what strikes me as really extraordinary about him is his choice to live publicly and share generously the details of this deeply personal journey. In the book, Tammet discusses his need to have a bowl of porridge each morning that weighs precisely 45 grams (he weighs it every time just to make sure) and how changes to his routine make him nervous and agitated –and yet he goes on book tours and speaks to a room full of geniuses at TED. I mean, let’s face it, most of us aren’t that brave or generous, and our brains don’t freak out if our morning corn flakes are underweight. Tammet’s mission is singular: to open us up to the idea that there’s different ways of thinking and knowing things – and that those differences effect how we learn. By sharing how he learns, Tammet hopes we'll think more about how others do. What’s more, this message is so important to him, he’s willing to experience personal discomfort in order to spread it.

At this point, I’m tempted to ask if we, as educators, consider and appreciate the various ways our learners perceive the world and how that impacts their learning or even if we're as dedicated to our mission as Tammet is to his. However, I’m afraid I know the answer.

Anyway, as fate would have it, just as I’ve been engrossed in all things Tammet, I also stumbled across a photography app called WordFoto. Essentially, this fun little app provides the user with the ability to create, (what can be really lovely), image/text mash-ups: a digital marriage of self selected words and pictures that I just love. My first experiment with the app was one I created using a found image of Tammet and prime numbers. It started off as creative therapy, a way to produce something from all the ideas that were bubbling inside me. However, the more I found myself referring back to his book to help me make decisions about colors and shadows, etc., the more I started to think about how this process might look in the school setting. Soon, my mind was buzzing with ideas about students using WordFoto to create images for book jackets, thematic displays or as part of the research process.

Then boom! I get this tweet from super-fab elementary school librarian Beth Redford who was not only reading my mind, apparently, but who had taken the idea to the next level with a creative commons licensing component. So cool!

But really, all of this is just the tip of the, proverbial, iceberg. For awhile now, I’ve thought I understood the benefits of mobile apps in education. Had I been asked, I would have touted their portability, their relatively inexpensive cost, the ease with which they allow schools to access up to date technology and how they help prepare students for using such devices in the real world. But I’ve been missing the boat… at least in part.

What I’m just now realizing is how mobile apps provide us the opportunity to explore and honor the different ways in which students perceive the world, by giving them chances to interact with and change it. Let me give you an example: Whenever we ask students to locate, explore, discover or create [insert concept/product here], and then give them a stack of resources that we’ve either physically collected or curated online, their responses and creations are limited by our imaginations, perceptions and biases. No matter how good our intentions, no matter how many online options we offer, even the most expertly crafted opportunities for inquiry that tether students to a single room, (even if that room is filled with computers), offer a finite number of outcomes. In the end, more than just bringing the world to our students, mobile apps allow us to bring our students to the world – prompting a messy, but important, collision of ideas and perceptions. Even if that “world” is just our own campus, the insertion of our students into it, (along with their individual ways of knowing things), not only creates an infinite number of possible outcomes, but also, (and more importantly), sparks conversations and interactions that change that world for the next explorer.

I know I must sound like a broken record, but I believe this is an exciting time to be a school librarian. While much of the discussion surrounding our field focuses on reinvention, (and believe me, some of that is needed), I don't think our overall mission has changed that much. School libraries have always been about connecting our students to the world. Back in the day, we did it only through books and other print materials. Then the internet helped us exponentially expand those connections with just a few clicks. Now mobile apps present us with the challenge of rethinking those connections and the relationship between our students and the world they explore through research and inquiry. Instead of just bringing the world to our students, these digital marvels allow us the opportunity to bring our students to the world - and as a result, neither will ever be the same.

UPDATE:

Even though a link to these can also be found in the comments, I wanted to share these AMAZING shelf labels that my new hero, Eliterate Librarian, made using WordFoto. They are an incredible addition to her new shelving adventures -sans Dewey that is. I love these and would steal them, but since she's also licensed them under Creative Commons, there's no need. Bravo, girl!

Holy Bodacious Barcodes: Using QR Codes to Extend Learning and Promote a Love of Reading

2011-07-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

QR Codes are one of those subjects that I’ve been meaning to write about forever. To be honest, I was something of a QR Code skeptic when they were first brought to my attention last fall. To begin with, I struggled with how to make such things work in my school – where we are decidedly lacking in handheld devices and where students are not allowed to use their own smart phones during the instructional day. More importantly, however, while I couldn’t deny the QR Code’s inherent “cool factor,” the link between these 2 dimensional barcodes and student learning was to me, fuzzy at best. Then, as is so often the case, a few cosmic dominos fell - in just the right order - to make me a QR Code believer.

First, a math teacher at my school (a dear friend, muse and teaching partner extraordinaire who REALLY needs a bigger online presence), bounded into the library one day, commandeered my computer and said, “you have to see THIS!” (“This” being Steven Anderson’s post on creating a desktop QR Code station). Immediately, the wheels upstairs started to turn and it wasn’t long before I had a machine or two, some webcams and all the extension cords I would need for a QR Code revolution. The only thing missing was a REASON to do it.

That reason came a day or so later when I learned that our library had received a $6,000 grant to purchase art (visual, performance, decorative, etc) related print materials. One of the requirements of the grant was that I provide evidence of marketing the new materials to students in an innovative way – enter QR Codes! In the end, (though I didn’t plan this way) linking my QR Code experiment to a single project turned out to be incredibly beneficial.

First, it provided me with an obvious hook with which to tempt and recruit teacher collaboration. Art + technology and the offer of snacks brought several people to the table. Then, once I explained that all they needed to do was grab a stack of books and help me find some resources to either pique student interest or extend their learning, a party was born.

Secondly, it helped focus the scope of the project. Believe me, once you start creating QR Codes, it’s hard to stop. Dreaming up book + resource mash-ups for the purpose of student enrichment is positively addictive, so having a specific goal and focus helped keep me on task.

And, finally, when we were finished adorning the art books with barcode bling, it was easy to collect some data regarding what, if any, these little square labels had on students at my school. I was able to compare circ stats of books on the same/similar topics, but that were not branded with a QR Code to those that were. Surprise, surprise: those WITH the QR Codes were showed a great deal more love than those without. (About 40% more as a matter of fact). HOWEVER, the first time I saw a group of students huddled around the computer taking a 360’ tour of the Sistine Chapel that was linked (via QR Code) to a book on Michelangelo, (which they then fought to check out), I knew we’d hit on something big.

And I wasn’t the only one who knew it.

Soon students and teachers were clamoring to contribute to the QR Code fun. By the end of the year, we literally had thousands of books that are linked to additional resources via QR Code. These links include student created works like podcasts, Glogs, video book trailers, etc., but also consist of really neat resources that I’ve either stumbled across or, more frequently, that teachers/students have brought to my attention.

In fact, I started receiving so many student/teacher book+resource mash-up suggestions that I created a special bookmark to help me keep track of them. (Students take the bookmark when they checkout the book and put it in the suggestion box when they return it).

And to me, this is where the rubber hits the road when it comes to QR Codes (or any technology for that matter). I simply LOVE the idea of kids spending time in the library, exploring new ideas and checking out new material based on the opportunity for inquiry provided by the QR Code. However, when this activity is followed by a reading experience that is informed by the student’s desire to find more, new and BETTER resources to be linked to the title their reading, well… that’s when QR Codes make the switch from just being a fun fad or cool gadget to a meaningful tool that can not only extend learning but also help cultivate a love of reading in our students.

Nuts and Bolts:
Here’s the desktop QR Code Reader I use. Again, big smooches to Steven Anderson for leading the way.
Here’s the QR Code Generator that I use. I know there are a billion others, but this is the one I landed on and I like the different options it provides.
And finally, Here's the tutorial I created and posted throughout the library for students. Obviously, it is heavily influenced by (though greatly inferior to) those created by Gwyneth Jones. As always, anything I have posted here is free for you to use, share and make better. And what's not to love about that?

QR Code Tutorial

View more documents from Jennifer LaGarde

5 Conversations [About Libraries] I Don't Want To Have Anymore

2011-06-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

The other day I ran across this post about educational conversations that have run their course. That is to say, ed-chat (not to be confused with #edchat) topics of discussion that have been discussed to death. We've all heard of educational "sacred cows," well... these are their "dead horse" companions. Naturally, this got me thinking about a similar list of library related conversations that I am tired of having. Don't get me wrong, I've spent plenty of time talking about these things myself and will probably be roped into talking about them again. What's more, I am not at all sitting in judgment of those for whom these issues remain compelling and important. Listen, if you're actively involved in dialogue about libraries, education and how librarians serve the needs of students, to you I tip my hat and say a hearty "bravo!" It's just, I guess I'm ready to see these conversations evolve. For me, at least, it’s time to either move these conversations to the next level, or send them out to pasture. Ok. Here goes:

I don't want to talk about copyright anymore. Rather, I want to talk about creative commons, "thanktribution" and the importance of sharing expertise and resources to make, not only better products, but ultimately a better society too. Without question, it's still important to help kids understand that lots of people make their livings and feed their families from the work they create and, as such, have the right to ask for compensation/attribution. However, I find conversations with kids about the process of creating and choosing to share and/or license their own work to be far more meaningful. Rather than just telling kids it's wrong to steal, I'd like to see this conversation move towards helping students add their own works to the collective while also empowering them to license those works in the most appropriate way.
I don't want to talk about "21st Century Skills" anymore. Seriously. It seems like I can't be involved with any educational conversation these days without being hit with the importance of 21st Century Skills. That's fine, but I'm ready to talk more specifically about what these skills really are. I want to see school librarians initiating and engaged in conversation that both identify specific skill sets and acknowledge that while the information landscape, and indeed the world, has certainly changed since the last century, many of the skills we should feel most compelled to develop in our students, (content curation, global awareness/citizenship, the ethical use/creation of information, etc.), are not exclusive to the 21st century. “21st Century Skills” is a convenient turn of phrase and, at one time, an impactful one. But that time has passed. Let’s move beyond the label and on to identifying, prioritizing and teaching the skills that will best prepare our students for life in this century and beyond. (Yes, they are going to live a very long time).
I don't want to talk about the "digital divide" anymore. Okay, that's not really true. The digital divide is an issue that is important and that needs to remain a part of our collective conversation. HOWEVER, I want this conversation to move beyond issues of simple access. There is no question in my mind that access is important. Having spent much of my career working with students for whom school is the only connected, digital space they inhabit, I understand how access and equity go hand in hand. Still, if there's one thing my time at the reference desk of the public library has taught me, it's that ONLY providing people with access to computers/the internet is not enough. Our efforts to put computers in the homes of families who don't have them, to start "one to one" initiatives at schools with high populations of students with limited/no access beyond the school day, or the ever ambitious (and noble) goal of extending broadband access to areas where there is none, will only be effective if we couple them with instruction. It may seem as though our students are born with digital devices in their hands, but that doesn't mean they know how to use them. I want to see school librarians leading the charge to shape future conversations about the "digital divide" to include an emphasis on both access and education.
I don’t want to talk about eBooks replacing print books anymore. I don’t believe this is going to happen. And it’s not because I’m a romantic who believes nostalgia will win the day. Rather, it’s because I understand that once the dust settles and the “new gadget” effect has worn off, schools will ultimately spend their limited monies on the resources that most impact student learning. To that end, I don’t just want to see school librarians acting as the voice of reason in these conversations, I want to see them emerge as curriculum and technology experts who understand that there’s room on the library shelves, and in student backpacks, for both traditional print and e-ink titles because both options address different instructional goals. In the end, I want to see this conversation become part of a larger, more important, dialogue revolving around how to best meet student needs – and this, my friends, is the conversation we should all be clamoring to be a part of.
I don’t want to talk about protecting students from the evils of social media anymore. If any conversation on this list needs to evolve, it’s this one. Conversations or initiatives that seek to make a student’s digital footprint invisible are outmoded and, frankly, dangerous. Our students live in a digital, connected world. As fast as we think of ways to block social media, they figure out ways to circumvent the filter. This conversation must evolve to the point where our goal is to help students develop a safe and responsible online presence. As school librarians, I want to us to ask more questions like “what happens when a teacher is not there to keep a child from visiting a “bad” site?” Or “what happens when students are asked to submit personal information for an online profile, but they’ve never been taught how?” Or even better, “how can we expect students to make good choices when we’re not there, when they’re given NO choices when we are?” Filters are necessary. But conversations about helping students create a safe online presence, (one that allows them to take advantage of all the GOOD social media has to offer), are important too.

Since starting this post, I've placed and deleted this image multiple times. I keep changing my mind because I’m not sure the connection between this work of art (by graffiti artist Borf) and my thinking is clear. In the end, I worry about the conversations we are having in education. Not because I feel they are the wrong ones to be had or because I’m afraid the wrong people are having them. In fact, if I'm honest, then in general I'm heartened by the amount of discussion that's being generated by and about educators/education these days. School librarians have long been part of the quiet and polite crowd in the corner, heads down, doing our work, but not making a big fuss about it, so... believe me when I'm say I'm thrilled to see so many of my tribe kicking up the dust and (dare I say it?) showing off. If anything, I'm just nudging the conversation forward a little, because I, for one, am ready to see certain conversations evolve to a point of greater relevancy - lest they (and we) become obsolete.

Take That! Using Wikis To Pop Filter Bubbles!

2011-06-22T16:59:00.000-07:00

Today I had the honor of learning and sharing with educators from Southeastern North Carolina at the New Hanover County Summer Technology Institute. Today's session was on using Wikis as a tool for content curation - a skill I believe both teachers and students need to develop as we become more and more saturated with information. This was a wonderful experience for me for several reasons:

First, this was the first time I was able to trot out an updated version a presentation I've been giving for some time now on wikis. Lately, I've been thinking about wikis as a tool for content curation - an opportunity for students and teachers to think about how the internet works, about how information is filtered before it comes to us, about who edits it and why. In the past, I've taught wiki workshops which focused on the benefits of collaboration and the idea that multiple brains are better than one. This presentation, on the other hand, emphasizes how using wikis for "collective curation" can help students/teachers burst what Eli Pariser refers to as "filter bubbles" while also collecting the very best of what the internet has to offer. It's my own small attempt at transforming research into a metacognitive process in which researchers (of all ages) consider not only what they are learning about the research topic, but also about how their research skills are influenced by external factors. (Big thanks, by the way, to Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano whose post on Students Becoming Curators of Information pointed me towards some powerful images which I used - with attribution - in this presentation. Thank you!)

Second, this was a non-library crowd - while everyone in the room was an educator, I believe I was the only librarian. I find that this kind of experience is good for me because it forces me to look at my message through new eyes, to see how it plays outside the echo chamber of library land. That said, everyone was so receptive and open and willing to go along for the ride.

Finally, this was an incredibly good looking group of people. Obviously. :)

Tomorrow I get to do a two part session with a colleague on eBooks. Again, this is an updated version of a presentation I've given a few times before. It should be good fun because it will be the first time that I get to do the presentation where the focus isn't simply on eReaders but on meeting student needs (instructional, developmental and emotional) through eBooks (both the eReader kind and the subscription kind).

Lately, I've been feeling a little sorry for myself because I won't be attending ALA or ISTE this summer - but today's crowd helped me feel good about the learning and sharing I get to do right here at home. Thank you!

PS: My #2000hour spreadsheet is filling up.

2000 Hours

2011-06-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

This summer I am starting 2000 hours project. 2000 hours is the brainchild of a teacher named Chuck who is fed up with the popular misconception that teaching is really a part-time job because, after all, we get to leave at 2pm and get the "summer off." To dispel this myth, he decided to log the number of hours he spends working during both during the school day and during his time off. I love this idea. I'm not sure I will continue it for an entire school year, the way Chuck is, but I am definitely ready to commit for summer. For one, I too am becoming grumpy with pundits and politicians who have never set foot in a classroom/school library, but who feel they have the right to comment on what an easy job we have. But also, I'm just interested in finding out how many hours I really do put in during the summer months. (An aside, my husband is always complaining that I'm really a 12 month employee who settles for 10 month pay, so this summer we're going to see if he's right!) Anyway, I'm so geeked out over this project that I created a couple of items to help chronicle my (and maybe your???) journey.

First, I created this badge for my blog. If you're gonna log your hours too and want to plaster a badge on your blog, feel free to use it, change it, share it, etc. (The image is my own - one I took for my 365/Image a Day Project. The text I added using Picnik.)

Second, I created a spreadsheet to track my hours. I used Google Docs to create the sheet and will use it as my "time card" for this project. This way, I can access it if I am away from my home computer but still "working." Plus, this way all the world can keep track of my hours. Perhaps someone will even start a pool and take bets on just how little actual "life" I have. :) Anyway, in addition to figuring out exactly how many hours I will spend working this summer, I'm also looking forward to seeing what type of work I do during the (almost) 2 months I have away from school.

However many hours I actually log, I feel like this is a good exercise for me - both personally and publicly. I can only imagine that being honest and reflective about the amount of time I spending working when I don't really have to will be a good thing. Plus, like the creator of this project, Chuck, I'm anxious to dispel a few myths myself.

So... how did I spend the first day of "summer break?" I updated the library webpage to include a summer reading project and a super cool culminating video for our year end Food for Fines project. Then I sent out a year end letter to parents inviting their students to participate in said summer reading fun and emailed my principal with an update. All told, it took me just shy of 2 hours.

Anyway, if you're planning on clocking a few hours this summer, consider this a personal invitation to join the 2000 Hour Club. In addition to whatever updates I post here, I'll also be tweeting about it using the #2000hour hashtag. So, c'mon! Join me! (You know you want to!)

It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's Our Annual Report!

2011-06-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a fair amount of (friendly) grief this week as I've been toiling away on my library's annual report. Why? Well... because annual reports are not required in my district. Apparently, to some people (and you know who you are!) crunching numbers, making graphs and reflecting on school years past (when you don't actually have to) is tantamount to madness. But the truth is, I love this stuff. Digging through data, discovering correlations and proving (or disproving) that what you believe, in your heart, to be true about your work is, well... fun!

Of course, my joy and naivety related to this process may be (at least partially) attributed to the fact that I've never done one before. Yes. This is my first annual report. And since there was no one around to tell me how I should do it or what to include, I got to make up the rules as I went along, which was great, because it made me REALLY think about who my audience was going to be. In the end, I realized that the group I most wanted to target with this information was administrators - both at my school and at central office, which reminded me of one of the first budget related conversations I ever had with my current principal (who is super supportive, by the way). I remember going into her office armed with file folders full of evidence and research, ready to blow her high heels off with data proving that whatever I wanted deserved her time, attention and (most importantly) money. After about 2 sentences she stopped me and asked "what's the bottom line?" She wanted, what I might now refer to as, a tweetable budget request: Short, sweet and to the point.

So... I wrote my annual report with this personality type in mind, making certain that:

All data is organized into bite sized chunks.
It's visually interesting and fun.
The "bottom line" is easy to recognize
What few narratives there are, are short, sweet and to the point.
I tried to focus on data they would actually care about. (For example, instead of bemoaning the state of my 400s or shouting about the number of times A Diary of a Wimpy Kid was checked out, I focused on student impact, the relationship between library services and academic success and how our library meets the identified needs of students at our school).

And finally, I took a page from the book of Gwyneth and decided to, if nothing else, lend a comic nudge/wink to my report. I didn't use Comic Life (as Gwyneth swears by) and I'm nowhere near as talented as she is, but I did try to capture the spirit of her SPECTACULAR comic tutorials, in the hopes of making this report fun and easy to digest.

And who knows, Batman! Somebody might actually read it! :)

MGMS annual report 2010 11

As always, everything I do, this is licensed under Creative Commons, so please feel free to use, share, mash-up and/or make this better. Also, it's worth noting that lots of other FANTASTIC annual reports can be found here. Have fun!

(Professional) Beach Reading

2011-06-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

My summer office has a GREAT view!

I am very fortunate to live at the beach. That means I spend lots of my summer complaining about the masses of people who descend on my little town for vacation each year - while, secretly, not being able to blame them. It also means that when my school district asked me to compile a summer reading list of professional titles for teachers, they referred to the final product as a "beach reading list," which I find endearing.

I don't know about you, but the pile(s) of books I've been "saving for summer" has grown beyond what I'll ever be able to tackle. Each year I look on, longingly, as many of the superstars on my PLN take on the "Book A Day"challenge that Donalyn Miller issues every summer. But I know my limits. Despite my love of the sport, I'm a fairly slow reader and will *never* play in the big leagues. A book a week, maybe. But a book a day? Oi.

Even so, I love passing on the challenge to others and encourage everyone within the sound of my tweets to play along. As Donalyn rightfully points out, this challenge is as much about connecting with a community of readers as it is about the books you get to mark as "read" on Goodreads. So, to those who can do it, think they can do it, or at least want to do it, I say go for it! I'll be sitting on the sidelines cheering you on!

As for me, well… soon the lights in the library will be clicked off for the duration, but only after I've made several trips to the car with boxes and bags filled with summer projects. What I'm looking for this summer is balance. Rather than making work OR play a priority this summer, I’m shooting for that place in between where I can do the following, if not in equal, then at least in healthy measure.

"Balance" http://libgirl365.tumblr.com/post/5284825815

Heal: It’s been a tough year for all educators and I need to make time to tend to my wounds. I’m pretty sure most of us will emerge from this school year with scars.
Connect: Both virtually and in person: whether just having coffee or as part of an online book club, I need to cultivate some old and new relationships.
Rest: I will sleep 8 hours per night. I will. Really. No, really. And I will nap too. So there.
Share: I’ve got a few presentations lined up for summer. I haven’t overbooked myself, but I’ve got a few opportunities to be a part some great conversations this summer. Can’t wait!
Create: I’m not artist, but I like taking pictures and building webpages – I hope to do lots of both this summer.
Disconnect: This might be the hardest of all my summer goals, but I know I need to unplug and go “off the grid” for awhile. I’m starting to dream in 140 characters; that can’t be good.
Play: Enough said.
Advocate: I will bedocumenting the hours I spend on work related projects as part of the 2000hours project. If you are in education,you MUST do this.
Learn: There’s so much to learn. I know I'm a nerd, but this is the part of summer I look forward to most. (This and the napping). Reading, whether online, on an eReader or in the pages of an old school book, summer is a great opportunity to lose yourself in words.

Which brings me back to “beach reading.” This list is a combination of some titles that were already on my reading list and those that my fantabulous PLN suggested. I got the idea to crowdsource the list from my friend and mentor Buffy Hamilton who constantly seems to be blazing trails for me to tread. If you contributed to the list, please accept my humble gratitude. (And if I didn’t include something you suggested, it’s only because I was limited to a certain # of words by my “editor.”)

A couple of titles that did not make the list that I'm sharing with my district, but that I will for sure read personally are: The Atlas of New Librarianship by R. David Lankes and The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins. It's exciting to think about all of these as being part of how I grow and change as a librarian, an educator and as a person this summer.

All that said, no matter how you spend your summer… whether your toes are in the sand, you're breathing the mountain air or you're simply lounging in your favorite chair, remember: you’ve earned this break, you deserve whatever pampering you indulge in and after a year spent taking care of everyone else, it’s time to take care of yourself.

When Life Hands You A Lemon...

2011-06-08T15:54:00.000-07:00

Lots of state library associations sponsor kid-lit book awards – that is to say book honors that are decided by readers, as opposed to a panel of bespectacled judges. I love these awards because they open up lots of discussion among students (and teachers) about why certain books are nominated and what criteria should be used to pick the “best” out of the list our little readers have to choose from. Often, to get teachers involved in the promotion of these books, I create curriculum and multimedia materials for each book. I also compile existing resources to share with students. This year, I am really excited because a high interest, moderate reading level work of urban fiction made the list: A Boy Called Twister by Anne Schraff (who is responsible for several of the books in the incredibly popular Bluford High Series). This is great for some of my students who don’t see themselves as readers or who are intimidated by the 600 page Harry Potters of the world.

But here’s the rub: in comparison to most of the other “big name” titles on this year’s list, Twister is a small book and there’s just not a lot of resources out there. No fun webpages with interactive games, no interviews with the author and no book trailers. So… we decided to make one.

Here’s how it went:

I started by passing our one copy of the book to a few students who I thought would enjoy it - saying that I had an idea for a movie that I wanted them to star in. Soon, other students were clamoring to be a part of it. I only had 2 rules for my budding movie stars: 1) I needed permission from their parents to share the finished product on the interwebs and 2) each student had to actually read the book. It wasn’t long before I had a small, but mighty, group of 8 students ready to for duty.

Our pre-production meetings occurred during our 20 “enrichment” period at the very beginning of the day. After getting off the bus, students grabbed breakfast in the cafeteria and met me in the library where we talked about the book, created a list of all the details we felt were important to include in our trailer and then cobbled together a VERY rough story board.

“Shooting” occurred at the same time. Often students were taking sips of orange juice or downing a blueberry muffin between takes, but we managed to shoot every scene and take every picture in a 2 week period. Early on, the crew decided they wanted their movie to be primarily in black and white and to consist of both still and video shots. Every picture and every video segment was blocked, directed and/or shot by a student.

Our post-production regiment (which happened mostly during lunch/recess or whenever I could find a few minutes with the kids) utilized (all but one) free resources, including Picnik for photo editing, Windows Movie Maker and Pinnacle Studios (our one paid for resource) for video production and YouTube and Wix for online hosting. Although I did the video editing, students edited 99% of the photos and sat with me as I stitched together the video, giving me strict instructions as to the order of the footage and their vision for the finished product. Then they chose a teacher to narrate the script - which they wrote. Finally, we talked about where/how to host it and licensing their work under creative commons so that others could use and share it. (Then I burned them each a DVD to take home).

To say that I *love* the finished product is an understatement. I am so proud of these students and what they have accomplished – and not simply because many of them are struggling readers, but because what they’ve created is just plain good. I’m proud to share it with others and look forward to future projects with my new crew of book trailer creating READERS.

I have to be honest, this has been a tough week for me professionally. But these kids have reminded me of why I do what I do. Connecting kids with books, helping them discover new interests and talents, and teaching them that along with the privileges and benefits of the connected world we live in comes also the responsibility to contribute (positively) to it – these are heady and intimidating responsibilities. But they are also joyful and incredibly rewarding.

Enjoy!

Beyond the Pie Chart: When Learning Can't Be Measured

2011-06-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

F4F Flyer 2011

Like many libraries around the world, mine holds a Food for Fines event each year. In fact, I got the idea from my local public library which held one 3 years ago, but then stopped (I’m not really sure why). For us, Food for Fines equates to a one week event in which students can pay off library fines by making non-perishable food donations. While lots of students take advantage of this opportunity to clear their accounts, the vast majority of the donations we receive, are from students who DON’T have library fines. This is because the event is heavily promoted, integrated into the curriculum, and used as a conversation starter between kids and adults about poverty, social justice and how the purpose of knowledge is to inspire action.

Overall, our donations were down this year. Although I’m a little disappointed, I’m not really surprised. In addition to the economic turmoil that we’re all facing, my school is experiencing the (often exciting and wonderful, but also sometimes messy) growing pains of redistricting. And the fact is that our new population simply isn’t as affluent as those of years past. Even so, there are plenty of other numbers indicating that this event was a success:

100% This is the number of classes that participated in the event this year.

No matter how small, every class gave something.

84 This is the number of boxes of food that will be donated to Mother

Hubbard’s Cupboard in Wilmington, NC.

55 This is the number of fines that were paid.

21 This is the number of homeless students at my school who will benefit

from donations given to our “back pack buddies” program.

9 This is the number of classes I worked with to discuss and discover

information related to poverty in our area.

2 This is the number of school buses it will take to deliver our donation.

1 This is the number of students who were utterly shocked to learn that

both peanut butter and tuna fish are considered protein (we have the

students sort the food into food groups so that we can make a nutritious

donation). Ok. I admit this number may actually be much larger.

"Busy Hands" http://ow.ly/59RZi

But the really important outcomes can’t be measured. I don’t know about you, but at this time of year, when I’m trying to make sense of end of year data, I sometimes find it tempting to rethink projects that can’t be defended with a pie chart or a bar graph. However, this is wrong and dangerous thinking. The conversations that grew out of this project, the seeds of empathy and philanthropy that were planted, and the understanding that once you know a thing, you can’t unknow it, (you can choose to ignore it or choose to act on it, but you must choose) – these outcomes cannot be measured – but that makes them no less important than those that can be.

As school librarians, we are in the business of impacting student learning. And like all teachers, that means we have to be concerned with academic success, growth and proficiency. However, this week has reminded me that knowledge is best cultivated in an environment of dialog and participation – of conversation and discovery. And while those environments are often discordant and produce results that are difficult to quantify, they are the ones that are most likely to help our students grow into thinkers, questioners, innovators and (big, big social) problem solvers.

As I always am at the end of Food for Fines week, today I find myself both exhausted and grateful. Not only am I pooped by the sheer effort it takes to pull the whole thing off (not that I do it alone, by any stretch of the imagination) but I am also utterly humbled to be a part of a profession whose very mission is rooted in making the world, and the people in it, better.

When the Crazies Come Knocking, Will You Be Ready?

2011-05-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

"Interrogation" cc images from http://ow.ly/4UG6x

I first became aware of "The Disgraceful Interrogation of L.A. School Librarians" when Neil Gaiman tweeted the link along with the note "this makes my blood boil." Within hours, my twitter and facebook feeds were full of responses, one of my favorites having to do with how clearly the crime rate in LA must have dropped to something less than miniscule proportions. How else can you explain school librarians being interrogated like criminals? Anyway, soon I was led to this blog post that recounts the experience in LA first hand followed by this letter to the editor in my local paper (from a former principal!) which (although unrelated) basically says fixing my state's fiscal woes is easy because we don't need school librarians (or guidance counselors or nurses!) anyway.

Needless to say, it's been a rough week for educators, and for school librarians in particular. And lots of (really smart) people have been writing about it to express their outrage and frustration. Unfortunately, however, while this is an extreme example to be sure, it's only one in a long line of beatings that all educators are currently taking from lawmakers and a populous who want to balance state checkbooks without taking any of the blame for mismanaging the funds. I hate to say it, but I think this is only the beginning of such "interrogations." While, hopefully, most of us will not be dragged down into a basement and forced to prove our worth under hot, and really unflattering, florescent lights - rest assured, we WILL be asked to prove our worth.

I guess the question we have to ask ourselves now is: can we?

Now is the time of year when many in libraryland start thinking about end of year reports. And gosh, there's lots of really cool examples out there that showcase the work that goes on in our libraries. This year, however, as I put these numbers together, I will be thinking a lot about how to draw the line between the data I've collected and student learning. This year, whatever form(s) my report takes, its ultimate purpose will be to prove that my work is a) the solution to the problems that keep my principal and superintendent up at night b) directly linked to student achievement and c) an indispensable part of our school culture and mission. More than ever, I think these reports need to take the extra step of bridging the gap between simply presenting the facts and linking those facts to student achievement.

Along those same lines, if you're anything like me, then this time of year also leads to endless prognostications about how I'll do things "next year." It's funny, but I can remember, being told my first year teaching "not to worry," that after five years I'd "get my groove" - which in this case meant that after 5 years, I'd have a cadre of resources at my fingertips and I would no longer have to create new things every year. Unfortunately, if that's the definition of getting one's groove, I've yet to achieve this zen like state. Rather, I'm the kind of teacher who is constantly reinventing the wheel. No matter how successful or enjoyable or impactful a program/project/collaboration may be, I seem to always be able to think of ways to make it better. And this year is no exception.

Even as I start gathering together the fruits of this year's labor, I am overcome with thoughts of how I will collect data next year. I'll be writing about this in more depth later, but for now I think it's well worth mentioning that if I am lucky enough to still have a job next year, I'll be taking extra care to ensure that I collect data that spotlights the impact of my work. Not only because it's the right thing to do, but because when my seat in the basement is ready, I want to make sure I'm prepared.

6 TED Talks all SCHOOL Librarians Should Watch (and Why!)

2011-05-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

Recently, Andy Woodworth posted a series of TED Talks that he felt all librarians should read (and why!). I'd seen a couple of his choices before (like Ken Robinson's incredibly influential talk about how Schools Kill Creativity) and really enjoyed watching the ones I'd never seen. In particular, I loved watching William Kamkwamba's 6 minute talk "How I Harnessed the Wind." As Andy points out, the underlying message from this talk is that information access matters - and it does. It really, really does. If you've only got time to watch one of Andy's selections, I'd watch that one. (Ok. You should watch Ken Robinson's too). (And since you're already there, go ahead and watch the others as well).

I guess it goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) that I love TED. Not only have some of the Talks they've captured influenced thinking around the world, but they've both inspired and justified the ideas that a) it is really cool to be smart and b) sharing your ideas is essential to the evolution of our species. No matter what your, profession, I think there's something to be learned from TED.

That said, since Andy's post, I've been thinking about some of the other TED Talks that librarians, specifically school librarians, should watch. So... I've compiled a list of my own. And here they are (in no particular order):

Adora Svitak: "What Adults Can Learn From Kids."

"the way progress happens is because new generations and new eras grow and develop and become better than the previous ones. It's the reason we're not in the Dark Ages anymore. No matter your position of place in life, it is imperative to create opportunities for children so that we can grow up to blow you away."

In Creating Minds, Howard Gardner posited that one of the common traits that all geniuses possess is the ability to look at the world in the way a child does. Specifically, Gardner suggests that somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we lose the ability to ask fantastic, foolish questions - intimating that it is schooling and adult expectations for "grown up" behavior that ultimately kill the very intellectual curiosity that sparks discovery, creativity and invention. In this talk, Adora Svitak challenges all adults to rethink their of definition of what it means to be "childish" and to allow kids the opportunity to think like, well... kids. As school librarians we need to ask ourselves if we are cultivating a culture of participatory experiences for our students - experiences that encourage them to learn by asking questions, solving problems and dreaming big. If not, what are we cultivating?

Adam Sadowsky: "Engineering A Viral Music Video"

"So what did we learn from all this? Life is messy. It took us 85 takes to get it on film to our satisfaction. Of those 85 takes, only three actually successfully completed their run. We destroyed two pianos and 10 televisions in the process. We went to Home Depot well over a hundred times. And we lost one high-heeled shoe."

The big take away for me, from this Talk, is the idea that success requires planning, patience, tenacity and a willingness to see failure as a necessary part of the process. Plus, there's an amazing Rube Goldberg machine at the heart of the Talk, which I find to be the perfect metaphor for teaching. Think about it. Every lesson is like a Rube Golberg machine - as teachers, we push down the first domino - which, with any luck, sets the bowling ball into action, which knocks over the can of marbles which... well, you get the picture... until somewhere near the end a light bulb comes on - preferably right above a student's head! But what if it doesn't? Do we just scrap the idea and head to the vending machine for a Diet Coke? Do we toss out the first plans and redesign the thing from start to finish? Or do we cock our heads and try to figure out exactly where the connection isn't being made? As school librarians, what we can take away from this Talk is that learning is messy and we rarely get it right in one take.

Diana Laufenberg: "How to learn? From mistakes."

"...if we continue to look at education as if it's about coming to school to get the information and not about experiential learning, empowering student voice and embracing failure, we're missing the mark."

I love this talk because it tackles the culture of "one right answer." In her unique (I'm so excited to be a) teacher voice, Diana Laufenberg recounts her own journey as an educator - celebrating her failures and successes and encouraging all teachers to let go of the notion that there has to be a "right answer" in order for real learning to take place. In the end, I think this short Talk is an important one for school librarians because if we can learn to accept and even embrace our own missteps then surely we can do the same for our students.

Eli Pariser: "Beware Online Filter Bubbles"

"...your filter bubble is your own personal unique universe of information that you live in online. And what's in your filter bubble depends on who you are, and it depends on what you do. But the thing is that you don't decide what gets in. And more importantly, you don't actually see what gets edited out."

This talk, was put on my radar by Buffy Hamilton, who tweeted and blogged recently about its importance. Watching it reminded me a little of the InfoWhelm video that explores the amount of information being produced today and the skills needed (by both kids and adults) to interpret and analyze it. However, what this Talk effectively illustrates is that it's not simply the amount of information that our students have to sift through that makes information literacy important, it's the bias that's being built into the very search engines we use to access it that makes viewing the process with a critical eye absolutely essential. As Buffy put it on her blog, "merely providing students access to the Internet is not enough." This is an especially important Talk for school librarians because it illustrates just how essential it is for us, the information experts at our school, to emphasize critical thinking as THE skill when teaching our students to evaluate not just information, but the means by which we access it.

Alisa Miller: "The News About The News"

"Last year, Pew and the Colombia J-School analyzed the 14,000 stories that appeared on Google News' front page. And they, in fact, covered the same 24 news events. Similarly, a study in e-content showed that much of global news from U.S. news creators is recycled stories from the AP wire services and Reuters, and don't put things into a context that people can understand their connection to it. So, if you put it all together, this could help explain why today's college graduates as well as less educated Americans know less about the world than their counterparts did 20 years ago."

This, under 3 minute, TED Talk blew my mind. If there's one thing the Internet is credited for, it's busting down the walls around information - allowing anyone with a computer and a modem the ability to learn about the world without someone like Ted Koppel acting as the go between. Unfortunately, as Miller points out, while the delivery method may have changed, the same filters continue to limit what and who we learn about. For school librarians, this provides another great example of why we must teach our students to ask bigger, tougher questions about information than the standard "how do I find _______?"

Gever Tulley: "Life Lessons Through Tinkering."

"Nothing ever turns out as planned ... ever. And the kids soon learn that all projects go awry -- and become at ease with the idea that every step in a project is a step closer to sweet success, or gleeful calamity."

And finally, I just love this Talk because it's so full of joy. In his "aww shucks," deeply understated way, Tulley reminds us that a) there is a huge difference between learning a thing and being taught it and b) when teachers provide guidance and encouragement instead of just knowledge AND kids are given the freedom to explore, create and problem solve.... magic happens. If we let this be (at least one of) our guiding principle(s), our libraries will truly make the shift from that room with all the books to the laboratories of learning that our students need and deserve.

/end

Anyway, as Andy said at the end of the post that inspired this one, there are probably a bajillion other TED Talks out there that could/should inform librarianship. Given my love for TED, I'd be thrilled to hear about the ones I've missed.

--------------

Ok. This one is just a bonus.

Erin McKean: "Redefining The Dictionary."

"Now one of the perks of being a lexicographer -- besides getting to come to TED -- is that you get to say really fun words, like lexicographical. Lexicographical has this great pattern -- it's called a double dactyl. And just by saying double dactyl, I've sent the geek needle all the way into the red."

Though there's a case to be made for this Talk being important to librarianship because it explores the evolution of a beloved, and dare I say, oft romanticized information source, I'm including it simply because it's just so geek-a-licious! Not only do Erin McKean and I have the same glasses, but she's quirky and snarky and a wonderful example of why geeks rule! Enjoy! :)

Some Reflections on Sharing

2011-05-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love most about our profession is how generous so many people are with their resources, creativity and expertise. I was a classroom teacher for many years before donning a library hat and even though I loved that part of my career and remember those days with great fondness, I never felt as supported or as much a part of a community as I have since moving to libraryland. I truly believe that when we share, we all become better and our practice, as a whole, is strengthened. What's more, it's fantastic to be part of a profession that truly understands and embraces that philosophy.

Whenever I talk to kids about citing their sources and giving credit where credit is due, I strongly encourage them to, whenever possible, use resources that are licensed under Creative Commons - not because this will keep them out of the hot seat or to prevent the dreaded copyright police from knocking in the night - but rather because it shows them how much better we all become when we share. My hope is that they'll not only learn about attribution, but that they'll also grow up to become generous contributors to whatever fields they choose to tackle for work or pleasure. Sometimes I feel like we miss the boat when talking about copyright by focusing more on the law and/or the bad feelings that can result from someone else pilfering your work(s). Those things are important, of course, but I find I have better results from stressing the positives of sharing your talents and of using the works of others who are willing to do the same.

But, that's a post of a different color.

That being said, it was truly an honor to be a part of the sharing that went on during the TL Virtual Cafe Session on Adding eReaders to your Library Program. Honestly, I am still pinching myself.

And, in the spirit of sharing, here are my slides from the presentation.

Diving Into Digital Books: TL Virtual Cafe 5/2/2010

View more presentations from Jennifer LaGarde

Coincidentally, some people were asking about the images used in the session - I'm actually pretty stoked (do people still use that word?) because every last one of those images was my very own! I tackled a 365 photo project this year that has turned out to be decidedly non-library related (but a great creative outlet!). So... when I learned I'd need to do a Power Point for the TL Cafe session, I decided to break out the camera instead of trolling the internet. It was great fun and helped me realize that Power Point doesn't have to be a substitute for Ambien. And, of course, all the photos (that do not contain students) are licensed under creative commons, so please take, use, alter and share. What's mine is yours. Similarly, some folks in the room expressed interest in the list of dystopian novels that I mentioned in the session. Feel free to email me at jennifer[dot]lagarde[at]nhcs[dot]net and I'll share the google doc with you! Finally, if you weren't able to make it to the session, an archived audio version as well as a text version of the comment thread are housed here.

Thanks again to everyone who shared their time, talents and experience with me last night. It's amazing to be part of a profession that embraces the philosophy of sharing for the benefit of the whole. I know I'm much better at my job as a result of this generosity.

A Rose by Any Other Name

2011-05-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

The image above is my response to Joyce Valenza's Action Figure Meme. It's gone through a lot of changes since I created the first version, as people share more and more school librarian synonyms for me to include. At this rate, I'm going to need a much bigger chalkboard - which got me thinking about all the different monikers we wear.

As a profession, are school librarians in the midst of an identity crisis? I don't think so. Rather, I think we're experiencing an expectation crisis.

Since I joined this profession (just under 5 years ago) my title has changed three times. I began as a school librarian, was switched to a media coordinator and am now a media specialist. Or maybe I'm a school librarian again. I can't remember. Oddly enough, my name has changed, but my job really hasn't.

I've had this conversation with other residents of library land before and I've come to the conclusion that all this name changing has nothing to do with trying to decide who we are, but is rather an attempt to change how others view us or, more specifically, to redefine our role as something more exciting and, let's face it, more valuable than the bespectacled stereotype of librarians past (and unfortunately, in some cases, present).

One of the most common complaints I hear from other librarians is the oft lamented fact that people (particularly those who control the purse strings) "just don't understand what we do." Truth be told, there *is* a lot of that going around, but I don't think renaming our profession is the answer. Think about it. We could take the list above, add a hundred other ideas, form a focus group, discuss, debate, weep, wail and gnash our teeth until one name emerged victorious and, in the end, it would still be incomplete. Bottom line: we're never going to find one new word or phrase that perfectly encompasses all that we do.

So... instead of continually looking for a new name, why not change what people expect from our old one.

Just recently I had the opportunity to introduce some of my colleagues to a long time library friend. I introduced her in the typical way, I guess, by name and then by saying that she was the school librarian at such and such a school. Later, she said, "you know, I really have a problem being called a school librarian. We're just so much more than that." Although I didn't say it at the time, I disagree with my pal. In the end, I think the real problem is that people don't expect more from librarians.

Librarianship is suffering from a case of terminally low expectations.

Sure. You or I may feel the pressure of some pretty high expectations within our own buildings or districts. And I've no doubt there are plenty of other individuals out there who work with students/teachers/administrators who have come to expect a lot from them - but to the general public, librarians and superheroes are not synonymous.

Your principal might expect you to use student data to design library programs that meet targeted instructional goals, but in general, people don't expect librarians to impact student learning.

The teachers you work with might expect you to help them use technology to expand the walls of their classrooms in order to help students become responsible global citizens, but in general, people don't expect librarians to be on the cutting edge of the constantly changing technological landscape.

Your students may expect you to know exactly the right book for them at exactly the right time, but in general, people don't expect librarians to change lives.

And therein lies the quandary.

How do we take the successes that so many of us have built within our schools and districts and expand them to our profession as a whole? How do we get our teachers and principals to stop seeing us as the exceptions to the rule and to start expecting what we do from all librarians? How do we parlay individual victories into a global change of expectations?

Although I can't remember the name of the session now, (I'm getting old), I attended a workshop led by Doug Johnson last year in which he said (and I'm paraphrasing here) Twitter and the digital divide aren't going to save libraries. He's right.

We need to figure out a way to change what people expect from librarians.

And then we need to prove them right.