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?