The Bubbly Librarian

Over the past few years I’ve noticed more and more that things I teach in library are also being taught in the classroom.  Not as a result of collaboration, but simply because these skills are now part of the ELA curriculum.  This week I was walking down the hall after replacing a VCR and noticed a wonderful chart paper with all of the features of nonfiction that had been created in the classroom.  Last week, as I was introducing the term ‘author’ to my kinders, they not only knew it already, but went on to tell me what an illustrator does.

Which leads me to wonder… how long will it be before the powers that be decide that I am redundant? It’s time to re-think our curriculum and focus on 21st century skills.  The days of teaching “traditional library skills” are past.

Rather than teaching what an author does… we need to use new tools to encourage our kids to BE authors.  Get out the flip cameras and teach digital storytelling.  Use digital cameras to illustrate. We have the luxury of not having to teach to the test…we can take chances and be innovative without risking the dreaded test score.  We need to take advantage of this luxury.  We need to be the innovators or we risk becoming extinct.

I joined a book discussion group at my local BOCES this fall.  We’re reading the book Grown up Digital by Don Tapscott.

During the time I was reading the first chapter my husband needed help setting up a playlist in iTunes and I needed more than a little reassurance that I was correctly managing the DVR.  Kids to the rescue! A couple of weeks ago I paid my daughter to download President Obama’s speech to my thumb drive because I couldn’t seem to make it happen.

My husband and I reflected on the fact that our parents never relied on us as the experts and how things are so different in our own family.  Do our children respect us any less than we respected out parents?  I don’t think so.  In fact, I wonder if they might respect us more.  Teenagers have thought their parents “stupid” for ages, but this generation has proof.  However, by admitting our weaknesses,  I think it’s possible that we GAIN credibility.  I don’t disrespect a lawyer because he can’t fix my broken arm. I respect her area of expertise.  Now, if my doctor offered to represent me in court, I’d find another.

As educators, I think we need to let go of the need to be all-knowing and accept that there are some things the kids just do better than us. If we want to develop collaborative workers and learners, then we have to be willing to be a part of that collaboration and let the experts help us along.  That doesn’t mean handing over control.  We are the experts on the content, but if we need help utilizing the latest technology to get that content across, let the kids help.

Think about it this way:  Who do you respect more?  The lost driver who refuses to ask directions or the one who admits he’s lost?  When it comes to technology, you are the driver and the kids are your passengers.  Which driver are you going to be?

Have you seen ImageChef?  It’s an application you can use to create images for your blogs or webpages.  You are limited to a few words, so it’s not as versatile as wordle, but, if you can condense your message, it’s another option.

So, I will be starting at my fourth school in four years in just over a week.  I’ve been trying to think of more interesting ways to get to know my students, so I’ve been experimenting with Wordle.net. I typed in my name and several words that either describe me or that I enjoy.

If you aren’t familiar with Wordle, it’s really easy to use. You simply type in your text and it does the rest.  The more frequently you type a word, the larger it appears. You can select your font and color scheme and you can also have the text scattered about the page.  I think this will be a great tool for the kids to show who they are.  To answer one of Will Richardson’s questions – What did you create today? I created an image of myself in words. (I just wish colored ink wasn’t so darn expensive so I could allow then to use color for the full effect.)

I am also stealing an idea I read about in the TL in the classroom blog. This librarian was excessed from her librarian position and is now teaching 7th grade language arts (God bless her!).  She’s blogging about her experiences and she had a great idea for using Google Forms to collect contact information from parents into one place with almost no effort on her part.  And no unnecessary paper use.

I created a library survey to use with my third-sixth graders which will give me a snapshot of where they stand in terms of computer use and reading preferences. The best part is, all of the data will be compiled for me in one place that I can access from home or school.  I won’t be lugging hundreds of sheets of paper home with me and the district will save a ream of paper. I can see so many potential uses for this application! I would be remiss if I didn’t also give credit to Polly Farrington for initially teaching me about Google Forms and Spreadsheets.  She just taught us so much that day that I forgot about it until it saw it applied.

I think this is going to be one of the best years ever!

School starts in 11 days.  I wrote some lesson plans in early July when the weather was miserable, but I haven’t written any since.  I really need to get on that.  My biggest stumbling block is that I have too many ideas and I’m finding it hard to focus.  Will Richardson’t most recent blog post What did you create today? has given me a different lens through which to view my plans.  Mr. Richardson goes beyond the basic “What did you learn today?” to create a list of questions that he hopes parents will ask and children will be able to answer.  Questions that measure the depth of learning.  Questions that we as teachers should ask ourselves as we plan.  Are we giving our students tools to create meaning? To create change in the world? Are we empowering them by encouraging them to ask difficult questions and helping them find the answers?

It’s an almost overwhelming task, but these questions will help me narrow down my ideas.  Time to get to work.