Pushing Us to Excellence

This post is week 3 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators.

The Prompt: Describe new or additional supports your learners needed this year.

Covid year brought out the need to be intentional in our regular support of learners.  I’m not sure the supports were necessarily “new” or “additional” but rather refurbished and intentional. Why?

I believe all educators want their lessons to be engaging, motivating, and thought provoking.  However, this year, I saw educators (including myself) go to greater heights and efforts to make sure their lessons were “wow”. Perhaps it was the social distancing or online format, but for whatever the reason, it seems that engagement came to the forefront of conversations with educators.

As a school librarian, I stretched myself to create book talks, library programming, digital breakout.edu games, stick togethers, tried choice boards, book creator, pear deck, flipgrid, and kahoots — all to reach the goals of capturing students’ attention and filling their need for thought provoking and challenging learning.  Myself and other educators took more risks with their instruction because our students needed more than ever the status quo.  I grew in my awareness of amazing technology tools and book therapy (the original SEL). It is my hope and plan to continue using these amazing tools and challenging myself to push the barriers of traditional learning to be sure that all students are being met wherever they are  — it is almost a User Design idea.  Gee, that’s not even new either!  So let’s embrace the growth and continue the good because engaging, thought provoking learning is not just for Covid it is for always!

 

Need is the Mother of Collaboration

This post is week 2 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators.

Describe your peer collaboration this year.

Ask any library media specialist and I bet she will say that collaborating with teachers is a priority for her. However, it is typically a challenge for classroom teachers to find the time to meet/discuss all the resources and support we librarians have to offer.

Literally! Our jobs often entails trying to convince classroom teachers who have been taught to be independent in their classroom and who are overwhelmed with no time in the day-to-day school day that we librarians:

  • are teachers,
  • are helpful,
  • are available,
  • are flexible, and last but not least
  • are motivated to collaborate with fellow educators.

After 6 years as a LMS, I would say the 2020-2021 year has been my most most productive peer collaboration year of all time!  Why?

Teachers needed tech.

    • With media in our title you know library media specials know how to do that tech thing! We can rock the zoom, eBooks, finding online resources, and sharing Googley ideas to engage learners.

Teachers needed to talk.

    • At our school, we met face-to-face with students, but classroom teachers were semi-trapped in their rooms for the majority of the day – student lunch in room to recess monitor to specialists coming to room to teach – that meant even bathroom breaks became a strategic issue.  Sure, media time was only 30 minutes with students, but I’m big on choice board and free discovery so I always had a few minutes where I was just monitoring the buzz of activity of students in the classroom.  This is when the teachers would start talking to me.  I had much more contact with teachers than in years past where classroom teacher would just drop off students in library and then leave quickly.

Teachers needed PD support.

Teachers needed student engagement.

    • I love to make learning fun.  From digital Breakout.edu to Quiver app to Jamboard to Flipgrid Live presentations – I’m ready to problem solve and liven up any lesson. With social distancing and no group work, teachers were eager to try new digital engagement tools and strategies.

Teachers needed students reading.

    • Coordinating Global Read Aloud, collaborating to provide a 4-6th grade Battle of the Books Competition (using Kahoot, of course), and bringing in virtual author visits.  My classroom teachers and I became partners working together to grow reading culture at our school.

Summation: my peer collaboration this year was excellent because as the title says: “Need is the Mother of Collaboration.”

Teachers at my school had a need to teach differently and I had the tech skills and hunger for collaboration.  It was a winning combination. I’m sure that teachers at Shell Lake Elementary now have a larger vision of what a well prepared Future Ready Librarian can do to support their classrooms.  However, my mission now is how to sustain the peer collaborations with Elementary School educators and grow this teacher collaboration into the Middle School & High School faculty.  Sounds like a learning opportunity to me!

Summer Blog Challenge – Week #1: Time to Reflect

This post is week 1 of 8 in the #8WeeksofSummer Blog Challenge for educators.

Prompt: Describe relationships with those you taught this year.

This year I truly felt the impact of relationships on my day-to-day teacher-librarian duties.  Upon reflection, relationships with students and teachers was the only reason I showed up to work!

At my rural K-12 school we were face-to-face all of 2020-2021 (yeah!); however,  I lost my K-12 school library space as it became middle school & high school classrooms (boo!). So as the K – 6th grade media teacher, I had to go to where my students were – in their classrooms bringing my 10,000 books with me.  So I jerry-rigged a book cart and began the journey of remote media teacher – librarian work.

Moving from classroom to classroom wheeling books to students resulted in the following:

  1. HUGE motivation for me.  Sure the loading/unloading of books and time spent moving from classroom to classroom could have been a drag, but for students my arrival was like Christmas!  Kids were so excited to see my cart in the hall and then coming into their rooms with books for checkout.  How could I not be happy/motivated when my book cart inspires that much excitement?!
  2. Extra time finding that “just right” book.  Without having immediate access to the 10,000 books in the library, I found I listened better to what kids wanted and liked to do so I could make connections to books that I would bring to them later in the day  There was so much information to track, I would take notes daily for example:
    • “John – minecraft & get #3 in Wings series”
    • “Kayla – loves cats and wants to be a veterinarian – try Kitty Vet series”
    • “Justin – reluctant reader, likes fishing – try Jake Maddox/Kevin Lovegreen books”
    • “Una – loves to draw!”
    • “Lily – avid reader – likes mystery and thrillers”, etc…
  3. Huge increase in my reader advisory research. I used TeachingBooks and Novelist to fit kids with “just right” books.  Both the active listening to students and research for them really built my relationships with students.  We always had shared the “in the library, let me get you a book” relationship, but this year I went deeper and really got to know students in their classrooms, meeting them where they were at, remembering their requests and following through on finding the books they need.  I think the time I took to research and find matches for kids really impressed upon my students how much I care about them and their reading life.  This trust we built and my acts of service for students strengthened our connection.
  4. More teaching time spent on finding digital reading resources.  Kids had 1:1 devices (first time ever for our school) and the student motivation to learn how to put books on hold and use eBooks to get the books they needed was very high.  Results: more time spent learning how to access Destiny catalog, Sora eBooks, and other digital resources (PebbleGo, Brittanica, KidsDiscover, Brainpop, etc.).
  5. More Library Programming – My desire to provide joy for students in this time of stress  resulted in my actively setting up inter-classroom Kahoot games, Battle of the Books competitions, You’ve Been Book’D program, finding virtual authors that would zoom with classrooms, and coordinating March Madness Typing Contest, etc.  All this programming was geared to engage and connect more with students.
    • Interestingly, this extra time and effort with library programming resulted in collaborations with teachers!  BEST year I’ve ever had with teacher collaborations! Maybe we need the stress to say – Hey, let’s work together?
  6. Started 6th Grade Tech Squad. To support the explosion of technology use (and misuse) by students, I collaborated with 6th grade teachers to start and facilitate a technology club for students to learn and use their devices more powerfully. (These devices are about active creation not passive consumption!)  Students decided the focus for their club which resulted in members’ building their marketing website, solving and/or working on teacher technology requests, and creating the first ever Shell Laker News show.  The trust, growth mindset, and safe-place-to-take-risks environment of the Tech Squad Club was a reflection of my growing relationship with students and the resultant impact on student learning.

We’ve all heard that to make a diamond, you need heat and pressure.  While I can’t say I’d ever chose to do a year like 2020-2021, the fact is the pressure of Covid resulted in a beautiful result of deeper and more meaningful relationships with my students.  My concern for the mental health of students and my belief in book therapy resulted in personalizing my book recommendations for all students.  The fruition of this extra time and attention was amazing.  It also extended to fellow staff as we pulled together to support our students in this trying time.  I can honestly say this has been the most meaningful school year in my 15 plus years of teaching.  Who would have thought it?!

The Power of Reflection

Per John Dewey,

“We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.”

If this statement is true,  then it should follow that educators would allow time and space for students to reflect on their learning in the classroom.  Sadly, the truth is that reflection is not only difficult, but also “gets overlooked as teachers rush to cover content in an already overcrowded curriculum” (Holly Clark, The Infused Classroom Blog).

Holly’s blog post Reflection Ideas for the Classroom provides some solid ideas on how to build systems of reflection into the classroom.

image 5 Reflection Ideas for the Classroom

Awesome ideas for the classroom teacher; however, perhaps too daunting for my 30 minute, once-a-week library media class?

No, I believe these ideas may be integrated into library media instruction.  For example, #5 Press Record can be addressed by using Flipgrid.

Need other ideas? Check out TeachThought’s 15 Reflection Strategies (i.e. Pair-Share!).

Image of 15 Reflection Strategies

These resources not only expanded my understanding of the role of reflection in my students’ learning , but also reinforced my commitment to my own reflection via this digital portfolio.  After all, what better way to engage in consistent reflection than through weekly blogging?

Reflection is Learning!

Thank you for coming along on this reflection journey with me.

 

Welcome to My Portfolio – A Blog Reboot

This blog post is a continuation of my writing 2 years ago (Yes, 2 years ago!) with the Innovator’s Mindset Book Study. Sadly, life hit and I did not complete the Book Study as planned.  However, with the help of George Couros’ Digital Portfolio Master’s Course, I am ready to roll with reflection and personal growth through use of a digital portfolio.

Although starting a Masters in Administration for Principal Licensure program at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, I feel I am not ready yet to consider Administrative Standards so instead will use The Future Ready Librarian framework for my categories of standards.

Future Ready Librarian Gears

Future Ready Librarian Standards:

    1. Literacy
    2. Builds Instructional Partnerships (Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment)
    3. Empowers Students as Creators (Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment)
    4. Curates Digital Resources and Tools (Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment)
    5. Facilitates Professional Learning (Personalized Professional Learning)
    6. Ensures Equitable Digital Access (Technology and Infrastructure)
    7. Invests Strategically in Digital Resources (Budget and Resources)
    8. Cultivates Community Partnerships (Community Partnerships)
    9. Advocates for Student Privacy (Data and Privacy)
    10. Leads Beyond the Library (Collaborative Leadership)

However, ISTE standards are also important to my teacher/librarian work, so l will reference the ISTE Standards for Educators / Future Ready Librarian Crosswalk when determining Future Ready Librarian categories.

Although I am seeing this as a personal development challenge, I also believe there is a collateral benefit of being able to use my growing knowledge of digital portfolios with my students.

Students don’t get all the fun, right?

Thanks for reading.

#IMMOOC Season 4, Episode 4: How can I create conditions that empower my Asian American learners?

8 Things to Look For in Today’s Classroom a Sketchnotes created by @sylviaduckworth adapted from bit.ly/gcouros8

As my school serves a 95% Asian American population, I believe that the ethnic culture of students is impacting implementation of these “8 Things”.
Last week, as the school librarian, I read Thunder Boy, JR by Sherman Alexie to K-5th grade student to 18 classes.

 

Thunder Boy, JR by Sherman Alexie

This story focuses on the frustration of Thunder Boy, Jr. who does not want to have the same name as his father, Thunder Boy, Sr.  For pages, Thunder Boy, Jr. considers better names he could have been given, but alas, he is left with Thunder Boy, Jr. He loves his father, but he doesn’t want his father’s name. How can he tell his father?  

I stopped at this point to ask students to Pair Share–What can Thunder Boy, JR do?   80% of the 18 classrooms agreed that Thunder Boy, Jr should just “be quiet”, “don’t tell anyone”, “keep his mouth shut”, etc.  This “you have no voice, you have no choice” belief prevailed with the majority of classes. Was this due to a cultural norm?

Our students have incredible respect for authority. Indeed, compliance is expected (by teachers and parents) and given (by students) without much of a second thought.  Considering my K-5 read aloud experience against the “8 Things”– I am wondering about how Voice & Critical Thinking components may be influenced by ethnic culture.

How does a teacher give “voice” to students who want to (or think they have to) stay as a group and conform? How can I be culturally sensitive, but also encourage and create room for student “voice” in the library?  Just asking students to share is not necessarily enough as blank looks and silence is quite overwhelming at times.

If critical thinking involves questioning:  asking why, being skeptical —isn’t this a bit like questioning authority? Even if questioning the content over the speaker, I am wondering if students may feel they are overstepping their cultural role of student by questioning who is presenting the information i.e., teacher or a website.  How can teachers encourage critical thinking while being culturally sensitive?

FYI-the administration acknowledges there are cultural issues at play at our school, but is unwilling (unable?) to address educators’ requests for PD to address these issues.  Any comments, suggestions for Asian American (specifically Hmong), culturally sensitive practices that empower these amazing learners would be most welcome. Thanks!

 

#IMMOOC Season 4, Week 2: How do you embody the characteristics of the Innovator’s Mindset?

IF I am feeling comfortable with the principles of a growth mindset then it should be an easy jump to take these ideas further and be set for the Innovator’s Mindset, right?

Screen Shot 2016-05-02 at 10.26.22 PM

George Couros: The Innovator’s Mindset

However, I think my years of public schooling is showing as I look to others to show that creative spirit. Of course, I am hugely interested in reading others ideas and trying new things, but I’m not sure that these “new” things are always created by me and (if they are) I’m not sure that my ideas are exactly “better” ideas.   I really do want to leave a positive post here, but I have to admit that I am not sure I am very far along on the Innovator’s Mindset.

Good News?  All hope is not lost as I am encouraged to know that the “innovator’s minset starts with empathy for our student” (p.41, Couros).  Empathy? Mmm…I can rock that!

As a high school drop-out who hated school, I was very hesitant to return to the public school area even after I got my elementary education license.  Indeed, after my student teaching all I wanted to do was avoid the institutionalized halls.  So I spent years homeschooling my own children and teaching in adult basic ed or educational co-ops. However, now I find myself as an empty-nester with full time employment in a public school.  Granted, I ran to the library (as the library media specialist) to avoid the testing burden of most teachers; however, I can still feel its sting through the building.

So “YES” I have empathy for students and now am beginning to understand that this empathy may not be the bad think I once saw it as–after all, it was empathy that kept me out of public schools for long. However, now I see that empathy may be a tool for change and my means of entering the more advanced innovator’s mindset.

I don’t have to die slowly because of the mindless curriculum I am suppose to teach, but rather can, dare I say it, innovate and rejuvenate my assigned curriculum by putting students’ first, placing their learning before schooling, and practicing engagement over conformity.  The possibilities are very exciting.

 

#IMMOOC 4: Week 1- How are you embracing change to spur innovation in your own context?

I believe I am embracing change when I pick up The Innovator’s Mindset and take a chance on new ideas that challenge my current practices.  Of course, there is no assurance that the challenging ideas put forth in this book will change my teaching practice.  However, after just reading the introduction I am feeling uncomfortable, yet inspired, which I believe is good sign.  I can play it safe and not grow or I can see this change (brought on by exposure to innovative ideas) as a way to do something amazing in my teaching practice.

First and foremost, I need to be an “innovative educator” who inspires curiosity and wonder in her students. I believe working on my curiosity and wonder — taking time to let myself learn and sharing my growth with my students will model the mindset that will help them succeed as well.   I love the grandious ideas; however, I need to be a bit more concrete so I am also going to focus on making real change in my day-to-day teaching.

My goal is to refocus on making the The 19 Book Challenge a success.  I put this “read a book a week” challenge out for my 8th grade Media Literacy classes who just started 2nd semester end of Jan.  However, I was beginning to lose motivation as I got distracted (yes, challenge was only 1 month ago!) by the constant “have to teach this”, “got to test that”, “we are behind” daily, numbing grind of public school teaching. However, I am embracing innovation by committing to staying strong by valuing the time set aside for students to achieve in the 19 Book Challenge.

My two classes (an A/B split) meet for only one semester and is not a “reading” class per say; however, only 25% of my students are reading at or above their grade level. Using Pernille Ripp’s blogpost as a model, I challenged my 8th graders to read one book a week for our semester together (i.e., 19 weeks). Students were told this is a challenge and not a grade.

Students were given free choice to read whatever they want (i.e., graphic novels are GREAT, nonfiction is fine, romance, adventure, picture books, etc.).  Using Pernille’s “Uncovering Yourself as a Reader” survey, I found out that majority of students feel they don’t have “time” to read or are distracted by phones or noise.   Therefore, as a class we decided the first 10 minutes of EVERY class is silent reading.   Also, I have found out lots about students’ past reading successes, interests,  and so I am using my skills as a licensed librarian to stock the “book browsing” table with reads to meet students’ interests.  Supporting choice and giving time for students to explore books of interest to them (no minutes counted or reports to fill out!) is a way of bringing a growth mindset and validation to reading as a personal pursuit.

This small change in practice (cost of only 10 minutes a class) is a way to embrace innovation as I challenge myself to apply current educational research which clearly shows the power of reading choice to inspire reading for pleasure for everyone (teachers, too!).

 

 

 

Hello world!

I just signed up to participate in the 2018 #IMMOOC (Innovator’s Mindset Massive Open Online Course) and am already feeling more innovative!

First and foremost by starting a blog–definitely a new thing for me, but can I maintain it?

As a full time school librarian who is also a grad student finishing MA in Library Media, I am not sure I have time to read another book.  However, I am also beginning to feel disenchanted with the day-to-day realities of public school librarianship. I cannot blame the “system” for my discouragement.  Well, maybe I could, but what good would it do?  So I am wondering about changing the way I see the problems in public education and empowering myself to take control of my work life.   I do not want to school students. I want to support learners.  Staying true to a growth mindset — I am taking a risk, starting a blog, and opening myself up to new learning with the Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros.

How exciting is that?