Thing 21: Taking the Lead: Connecting with your Stakeholders

 Thing 21 was the perfect topic for me this week!  The other two library media specialists and I requested to do a presentation for our Board of Education in early February (during budget season) to highlight our contributions to student learning. So the content was particularly of interest as I read through for supportive information and ideas to include in our presentation.

The following are some highlights and notes I took from the Thing 21 resources:

#1)      Four Steps to self advocacy By Hannah Byrd Little

Quote: “We must speak up for our positions and our students’ need for a school library and school librarian.”

“...look at your school’s test data,  focus on your school’s areas of improvement or gaps in instruction.”

Helpful:

Scholastic list of grants for libraries –  http://www.scholastic.com/librarians/programs/grants.htm

Self nominate for library related awards (examples listed)

Ideas I love:

• Make an advertisement for your library. It can be an info-graphic, a brochure or a bookmark.
• Market your library and yourself online – websites, social media and online newsletters
• Have talking points – “these are six things our library does well at Local High School.”

#2) 10 things classroom teachers need to know about modern school librarians

Nice summary of school librarian role; helps break some of the stereotypes that are sometimes associated with the job description. Particularly liked the sections referencing how we network and are an “ever-changing profession”.

#3)  Three Strategies for When the Going Gets Tough | Take the Lead  By Leslie Yode

A- Be clear about the “WHY” of school libraries in our district

Quote: “School libraries are key to equitable access to quality resources and ensuring that all students have the skills to find and use those resources. We are equity. School librarians are the original personalized learning specialists; they ensure access to current resources aligned to student interests and needs. Most importantly, the information skills that we teach are crucial for college, career, and future readiness. We prepare all students.

Good school libraries offer opportunities and increase achievement for students. They are a part of a good education and thus are a civil right. All students deserve this.”

B- Find out WHO our library supporters are - reach out for support

C- Take care of myself to be the best leader and support for students and colleagues that I can be

#4) Four ways to advocate for school libraries  by Laura Devaney

Quote: “If school librarians want to make a case for library funding, they must demonstrate how they help students learn and prove that they build collaborative instructional partnerships with classroom teachers. Libraries often suffer financially when school administrators are forced to make budget cuts, often because administrators might still have outdated views regarding what the school library actually does.”

Four areas of expertise where librarians can demonstrate to school administrators that they directly contribute to student learning:

1. Instructional partnerships role
   Quotes:
   “School librarians play an integral role in developing materials that help teachers understand and unpack the Common Core, and they work to create documents and warehouses of collaborative materials and research projects.”
   
   “Librarians teach teachers, through direct instruction and through classroom experiences, how to use technologies.”

“Librarians offer unique services when they enter a teacher’s classroom and help the
teacher become more independent not just in technology use, but also in developing and
teaching research skills and other important skills students will need when they go to
college or join the workforce.”

2. Leadership role
   “Librarians play a crucial role in leading teachers through technology training and helping teachers become comfortable using technology tools—and as research proves, if teachers are not comfortable with technology, they won’t use it, and students won’t benefit from those tools.”
3. Information specialist role
   “This expertise concerns resource development and management, such as maintaining an adequate collection of current and relevant databases, or moving to new database services based on state decisions about vendors.Creating a library collection, and being able to meet the learning needs of the community, are essential. An information specialist role also helps connect students to learning opportunities.”
4. Library administration and space creation role
   “Librarians, as educators, create and maintain a welcoming and enriching physical space that welcomes students, staff, and community members, and it is important administrators realize this. Having a space where students can access personalized learning opportunities is especially important in today’s schools.”

#5)  2014 AASL Infographic: Great to use for Board of Ed presentation http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslissues/advocacy/AASL_Infographic_FINAL.pdf

#6) Survive and Thrive! An Advocacy Toolkit for School Librarians
https://sites.google.com/site/caslsurvive/home

Amazing curation of resources and toolkits for advocating to a variety of audiences, including administrators, businesses, legislators, parents, school board,  and teachers.  Although geared towards Colorado school libraries, the information can easily be applied to other states as well. Love this graphic from the article:

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I also viewed the slidedeck presentation & Lady Gaga marketing slideshow and they seemed interesting at first, but I found them too long to actually go through all the way. 

To further amp up my marketing, I hope to increase my Twitter & Instagram following. I've been using the two social media tools for a couple of years, but haven't built them up to the following within my District that I would like. Most are teachers, parents, and related professions. I want to increase my student following by posting more "student centered" content. 

Overall, I felt that this "thing" was very helpful, and loved having so many advocacy tools curated for me all in one place. Thank you!

Thing 19 REVISED: Social Reading & Book Stuff

Another THING packed with great resources and information! After browsing through the information topics, I decided to explore a few of the resources that particularly stood out to me. I began by reading Edudemic's article "10 Websites to Help Students Connect with Books". I found it so helpful that I tweeted it out to my followers (MCSDlibrary) so that others may also explore some of the sites.

After that I checked out the Reading 2.0 LibGuides site - but I found it to be overwhelming. Too much information in all those tabs made my head spin. I'm sure it's a great resource, and if I have an afternoon to spend browsing through it sometime, I will likely re-visit it.

I spend a fair amount of time looking at the International Children's Digital Library. I love the philosophy of this website, and shared it with my colleague at the elementary level so she can add it as a resource on the District's elementary library webpages.  I also shared it with my Middle and High school foreign language teachers, and two of the three wrote back almost immediately thanking me for sharing the great resource with them.

Some of the resources in this THING were already familiar to me: Overdrive and GoodReads. However, both are things I've just barely touched the surface on.  I have the overdrive app on my iPhone and have knowledge of its use through our local public library system.

For the purpose of this activity, I chose to dig deeper into what GoodReads has to offer. I was intrigued with the idea of creating the widget to add to my library webpage and using it to make book recommendations. I spent some time researching how exactly to add a widget, and determined that it will require the assistance of my tech support guy.  Hopefully he will teach me how to add widgets on my own. I look forward to learning how to use the GoodReads widget on my webpages to make recommendations. Neat idea!

Thing 19: Social Reading and "book stuff”

At the time I'm writing this blog entry, Thing 19 seems to be missing as a link on Track 2 course page. I searched back through my e-mails from Polly and found the notice that Thing 19 was available, and saw from the name that it had to do with social reading and book stuff.

Since I'm not sure exactly what the activities were, for now I am going to write about what I currently do for social reading, etc.  Later, should I see the Thing 19 once again listed and accessible, I will revise/add to this blog with an update.  I was just concerned about not getting credit for all 10 things, and wanted something listed for Thing 19.

For social reading, I'm interpreting that to mean a combination of professional, online, and collaborative reading. Time seems to always be tight, but I find that waiting in my children's parent pick up line is the ideal time to get caught up! I always have a copy or two of School Library Journal, Tech & Learning, School Media Connection, or something similar on-hand in my car.  Right now there is a pile of magazines in my back seat with dog-eared pages waiting for me to come back to them and implement their great ideas!

I've also become a more dedicated Twitter user - following education and library-minded folks and organizations mostly. I use it as a means of sharing news and events in the school libraries as well, and several colleagues have joined, allowing us to use common hashtags for school-related info to keep our online community accessible.  This also allows for a collaborative aspect to take place outside of the classroom - sharing comments and reading each other's events, whether in district or with colleagues around the county, state, country or beyond - definitely something I consider "social reading".

Thing 20 Final Learning Activity

FINAL LEARNING ACTIVITY

1: What did you learn?

I have used SO MUCH of what I learned through Cool Tools! I am fortunate to teach two pass/fail courses in which I have much freedom to try out  new things. My 6th graders love the variety of activities I offer them - all thanks to the new discoveries I make through this online course. Sometimes I have a list in my planbook for ideas to "check out later" because there are so many I am interested in!

I learned that I'm just not an RSS feed kind of girl... this is the second attempt I've made at subscribing to some feeds and I find myself usually deleting the digest e-mails I receive. I don't know why this sort of thing just does not appeal to me.

2: What’s next?

As mentioned above, I have a list of things I want to refer back to and try out with my classes in the future. Projects often take longer than I initially anticipate, so I have a "waiting list" of activities to try out - especially the Web 2.0 type of tools. I love that sort of thing!

I also have plans to share some of these cool tools with my administrators and colleagues. We have a great new system set up in our District that allows teachers to voluntarily lead workshops on our Superintendent Conference Days. Other teachers can then pick and choose which workshops appeal to them the most.  I've begun going through the "Cool Tools" to create PD sessions to offer to my colleagues.  I've already taught one which focused on eBook resources.

My other primary thought / concern is access to this course's materials - once the course ends, I am hoping I can still access theses "things" and lists of ideas. Please tell me this is so!

3: Did you like learning this way?

Yes, I really thrive on this style of learning. Not only can I access the course at my convenience, but there is so much flexibility in activity choices that there is really something that appeals to everyone. I love the great variety of tools I was exposed to, and am already looking forward to doing Track 3 next year :-)

Thing 17: DIY - You Pick!

Such as fun "thing"... although too many fun things to explore and choose from after browsing through the "Top 100 Tools for Learning" and "New Tools" articles & links!  Several items caught my eye and were jotted down on my "check these out later" list, but I decided to focus on one in particular.

I've heard my students talking about Kahoot, so when I saw it appear again on these lists, I decided it was time to check out this new tool. What a pleasant surprise! It was super easy to create a free account, and I was able to make my first Kahoot in one sitting! I did spend some time browsing other people's public Kahoots on my topic (Digital Literacy) to see what they had done. I decided it'd be a great tool to use for whole class reviews, so I created one for my 6th grade class at https://getkahoot.com/

I'm not sure if you can view it if I'm offline, but students would go to https://kahoot.it/#/ and enter my game pin # on their own individual devices (phone, laptop, etc.). I used our class laptops when I did it.   At the time I am typing this blog, the pin # is 204834. I'm not sure if this changes each time I launch my Kahoot or not.

This was a GREAT experience all around. Students logged in to my game fine, and loved playing it so much they were begging for more questions! I can't wait to create more Kahoots for my classes, and am considering having students make their own Kahoot as an assessment tool they can administer to each other via whole class activity. Definitely a way to engage the whole class!

Thing 18: Online Learning & DIY PD

As I prepare to write this "Thing 18" post, I just realized I never posted my "Thing 17" blog entry, so that will be coming soon - just out of order. Oops!!

For Thing 18, I will be blogging about a couple of different things. I often register for webinars that allow me to watch the webinar at a later date at my convenience. The most recent webinar I did this for was the "Follett Community webinar, Keeping a Seat at the Table with Google" on March 22nd. I really enjoy these opportunities, although I do not generally receive in-service credit or compensation for this sort of professional development. These are for my professional growth and help me maintain a finger on the pulse of my profession.
 Additionally, I have recently completed two NYSUT online learning programs. I did apply for and will receive in-service PD credit for each of these online courses. The first was called "Sparking Student Engagement, which consisted of the following:

Course Description

In this course, participants will implement and evaluate various instructional strategies such as project-based learning and active learning to promote engagement and participation in the classroom. This course's content aligns with the following framework component: 2b: Establishing a Culture for Learning.

Learning Outcomes

In this course you will:

• Identify the importance of rigor and relevance within your content and as it transfers/applies to a practical classroom setting.
• Explore instructional strategies that actively engage students in the learning process.
• Discover the impact student engagement has on student learning.

The second NYSUT online course I recently completed was called "Types of Learning Activities" and consisted of the following:

Course DescriptionThis course focuses exclusively on types of learning activities that promote deep learning aligned with the goals of the lesson and allow students to exercise some choice. This course's content aligns with the following framework component: 3c: Engaging Students in Learning.

Learning Outcomes

In this course you will:

• Reflect upon current learning activities and levels of student choice.
  
• Explore various types of learning activities that align with lesson outcomes and promote deep learning.
  
• Analyze learning activities that emphasize depth over breadth.
  
• Implement strategies for students to exercise choice, make modifications, and serve as resources for other students.
  
• Evaluate the effectiveness of different learning activities and opportunities for student choice in achieving instructional outcomes that promote deep learning.

And lastly, I just began an intensive online course as part of my IB (International Baccalaureate) training for my high school. I had 7 activities to complete for Module 1 (due tonight). There are several required components and pieces of information that I am asked to create and share. This course will continue for over a month well into April.

I DO believe online professional development options are a good way to learn. For me, the ability to log in at my convenience and work at my own pace make the experiences supremely beneficial. I don't feel rushed, and can take notes or create products that make sense for me. As for trust and accountability, most online PD opportunities require some component of interactiveness, so the accountability factor is a minor concern - requirements are either met or not.  I suppose there's always the chance someone else is taking the class, but that's a lot of effort to get a few hours of in-service credit, and what's in it for the person doing the course without getting credit? The trust component is a bit less black and white to me.  I know that I've personally expended a varying degree of effort on different online PD courses I've taken. Depending on the course content and the reasons I'm taking the course, I sometimes find myself doing minimal work requirements, yet other times going above and beyond to truly embrace the content when I feel it's meaningful and relevant to my own classroom and library.

I assess the success of the PD and my level of learning based on whether I actually use what I learn. The NYSUT courses I completed were more like "busy work" to me - as I mostly was asked to reflect on and "regurgitate" work I'd already done and projects I'd already taught.  On the flip side, the IB course I am currently taking has consumed my thoughts - my mind is swirling with ideas for ways to implement the IB program in my high school library and support the teachers and students this fall. I feel more vested in the IB course.

Finally, I would be remiss to omit this Cool Tools course itself!  I did apply for and plan to receive inservice PD credit hours for this class.  This is another that I spend more time on because I feel engaged with the content. The flexibility we have to choose and complete learning activities that are most meaningful to us make this course invaluable. I use SO MUCH of what I learn through our "Things" tasks, and the resources we are provided with are literally endless! Wonderful!

Thing 16: Digital Tattoo & Digital Citizenship

I really enjoyed exploring the many resources provided for Thing 16 - almost too many to choose from! I will definitely be re-visiting some of them in the future. I watched both videos and found the mind reader video very powerful. I plan to use it with my 6th grade Digital Literacy course and pause just before the tent wall is dropped. It will be interesting to see what the students think is going on, and whether they correctly guess what is really happening behind the scenes. I also watched the common sense media video but didn't find that one as moving.

Another resource that I found particularly interesting was the poster found in the Edudemic article. In fact, I plan to print and post the poster in my school library, and also tweeted it out to my Twitter followers on @MCSDlibrary.  Edutopia also had an excellent list of great resources that I plan to re-visit. I found the idea of an analog Twitter wall a great idea to use with younger students not yet active on social media.

I spent quite a bit of time exploring the resources for managing screen time. There was a sub-link to a site that had downloadable screen time templates to use at home with my own children. My 8 year old would be on his devices 24/7 if allowed, so I plan to modify those templates and implement them in my personal life!

The other major amount of time for Thing 16 was spent exploring the Google Digital Literacy & Citizenship curriculum. As I read through it, I became more and more inspired, and am now updating my own Digital literacy course curriculum to include the Google program. I loved the emphasis that having "digital literacy skills" is not the same thing as being "digitally literate". What a great concept to share with administrators, too!

One Digital Literacy resource that I already use but was not included in this "thing" is the Everfi Ignition digital literacy program. I started using it with my 6th graders last year, and find it to be quite effective with students. Individual logins are created for each student in my class, which they then use to access multiple digital citizenship modules. It is a self-paced course that provides me with quiz grades from each module. There is a culminating game activity in which each student plans a concert simulation for the school. I use this as a competition to see which student can sell the most tickets to their concert (the better they do in the modules, the more tickets they sell). Kids respond well to this program.

Overall, another great "Thing" full of excellent resources I plan to implement and/or refer back to.