Inquiry Blog Post 3
Librarians to the Rescue (When You’re Classroom Becomes a Bar Fight): A Guide to Teaching Teachers and Leading From the Library
“Okay children, please put away your lunches, put on your inside shoes, and WALK to the carpet,” I said with authority.
Naturally, Jimmy threw his backpack to the floor and ran, and so did Suzie. They tripped on one another. There was blood. Meanwhile, the rest of the class made it to the carpet, but were now in full brawl mode.
Having begun teaching when there were no jobs, I have taught almost every grade, and I can say with certainty that teaching grade one is tough. Teaching grade 6/7 is tough. Teaching grades 10-12 is tough. Teaching is tough. Some days your class devolves into a bar fight, and you’re stuck refereeing in a portable without a phone.
And the thing is, you do not go home when the bell rings. Instead, you open the laptop and search for a more engaging math lesson.
*All names have been changed to protect identity, and all events may or may not have occurred as they are written.
Teacher librarians should keep this scenario in mind when colluding with their principals to unveil brand new, jazzy technology, or math and reading initiatives. Librarians are looked at as leaders in the school, but in order to be a leader you must first jump into the fray, and share the load. If you want to build capacity with technology, or kick start a reading initiative, you have to first listen to your colleagues and discover what they are most struggling with, and then you have to help them. This might mean building and team teaching a unit, or signing every student into their Google Suite account; however, if you want to share your learning or new resources you must first gain trust and build a rapport with your colleague’s.
Step one in sharing what you have learned:
-Visit the staff at your school and ask the following question: “how can I help?” When the teacher on the other end of the question has no idea what they need help with, offer to co-design a unit, collect resources, help with reading assessments, or demonstrate a technology lesson with their class. Make sure to show up at a teacher’s class prepared with pre-made resources, and don’t underestimate the power of an in person visit.
Step two (which should occur simultaneously with step one):
-As Shannon Miller McClintock and William Bass suggest in Leading from the Library, complete a school culture survey by “becom[ing] an impartial observer [in order] to see interactions as someone outside the building might,” by “ask[ing] questions and listening to students,” and by “observing how common areas are used(37).” Once you are armed with both your colleague’s trust, and with important data about school culture, then you can start building new skills, and acquiring new resources.
Now that you’ve successfully infiltrated your colleague’s classrooms, you know your students, and you have a solid understanding of your school culture…
-Curate a website with instructional videos organized by curriculum and grade. Show what you have done in a staff meeting, and then visit classrooms one at a time to introduce the website. I’ve used Weebly in the past.
-Show up to every PAC meeting. This way you can absorb extra funds when available. Money helps you purchase relevant resources. Many schools have zero dollar budgets for libraries, so you need to get creative to get funding.
-Instead of emails, send video updates, and keep them brief. Include a list of weblinks in your show notes. I like using Microsoft teams to create videos, but if you don’t have teams, you can also use the IMovie app on a school iPad, and then upload the video to your Google Drive.
-I’ve mentioned this before, but become the Professional Development Rep. at your school. I’ve worked in a fair few schools in my district, and it is my observation that teachers do not leap to take on that role.
-Be intentional when you design your schedule. Make sure to allow for large uninterrupted blocks of time that you can book out to classes, or use for dedicated collaboration time. Additionally, create your schedule in shared software, so that teachers can sign up for time from the comfort of their own desks. Continue to bring your schedule door to door, however.
-Vett educational technologies and collaborate with your principal to create an implementation plan, Bass and McClintock state that “As a district or school moves to adopt [tools such as Google’s G suite}, someone… needs to point out the changes that must take place in adult behavior for such initiatives to be effective.” Bass and McClintock go on to argue that a librarian is best situated to take on this challenge, in that they can provide teachers with workshops and instructions on how to convert and compose assignments on the corresponding Google Suite tool.
-Lastly, remember that “the overall goals must remain student learning and meeting the objectives identified by the school community (Bass, McClintock p. 42).” All things considered, to be an effective leader, and to share your learning, you need to be a chameleon, and become an expert at whatever technology is most used in your district in your school whether that is Google G Suites, Office 365, or IPads and Macbooks.
Works Cited
McClintock Miller Shannon; Bass William. Leading from the Library (Digital Age
Librarian's Series). International Society for Technology in Education. Kindle Edition.
Another engaging post that documents your thinking, strategies, and plans for supporting your school community. There are many excellent takeaways for your reader. I appreciate how you continue to bring forward your learning from our text.
ReplyDeleteThis was a highly entertaining way to get at the wonderful points you made! Very enjoyable post, which made it stick better to this reader. Thank you.
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