At the elementary level, if a teacher drops off a class and departs before students have entered, they might become rowdy, particularly if it was a substitute (see similar situations at the high school). Depending on the layout of your library, you can forestall chaos by placing yourself in front of the lead student.  Say, “Freeze.”  Then ask, “Who remembers what you do first when coming into the library?”  The question triggers not only your established routines but also a classroom environment. Give them a clue as to what they will doing with you and then let the class progress as usual.

When one student repeatedly disrupt a lesson, most alternatives that first occur to you are equally bad.  Ignoring the student challenges him or her to continue the behavior more frequently.  Stopping the lesson to admonish the child gives the desired negative attention.  Sending the student to another section as a “time-out” usually puts him/her out of your view and can lead to further issues.  So – what’s a good choice? Ask a question of that child based on what you are doing. If he/she can’t answer, have another student help, but then say to the disruptive one, “I know you could have answered that.  You can make good contributions here, even if it’s been a bad day for you.”  What you have quietly communicated is that you recognize the child is angry and frustrated over something that has nothing to do with you (unless you have been actively disrespectful to the student), and has no way to get it out.

The recognition that the disruptive behavior is not connected to you holds true when dealing with students at upper grades as well.  Don’t take it personally.  Try to see it from the child’s viewpoint.  Has s/he been harassed by other students or by the previous teacher? Made to feel stupid and/or humiliated, or is dealing with an upset from home?  There is no outlet for the emotional turmoil.  Students know the teacher has the power and there is little they can do but become a major annoyance to get back at those in charge. When possible at the upper grades, go over to the student and say, “I am guessing you are having a terrible day.  Do you want to get a drink of water, look at a magazine, or go on the computer for a bit?”  Understanding and respect go far.

Disruptive, out-of-control classes are a different challenge at middle and high school because the teacher is present.  On the one hand you don’t want to usurp the teacher’s authority.  On the other hand, this is your space and you are responsible for it.  It’s easier when the situation is triggered by a substitute bringing the class in.  You can simply say to the teacher, “It’s tough for subs to bring classes to the library.  I’ll take care of it.” Then calm the class down by reminding them they have limited time to get their assignment done.

When they are with their regular teacher, you need to move more diplomatically.  Ask the teacher whether she would prefer to get the class settled or would he/she rather you do it.  Don’t say, “Get your students under control, they are disrupting the work of others.”  You are always working to build positive relationships.

It is tempting sometime to send a student to the principal but that should be reserved for the direst situations.  You don’t want to get a reputation for not being able to maintain discipline in the library.  Call security or the office when violence is a possibility.  Otherwise, try to avoid that response.

I am sure you can come up with many other scenarios where you struggled to restore order.  That’s the idea.  Review the ones you have dealt with.  What could you have done differently?  Doing mental rehearsing will keep you one step ahead of students.  Most of the time. And remember – in general there are no “bad” kids or classes.  Only situations to be managed.  You can do it.

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The bottom line is in order to be relevant in todays’ world, our resources must always be accessible, and we as librarians are responsible for making that happen. Students and faculty should be able to access your online catalog, databases, and e-reference from whatever is their preferred device. You are always “open” when you are involved in online collaboration with teachers via Google Drive, participate in blended learning with stations for making audio and/or video presentions, Your website and the content you put on it is still another way you are available 24/7. 

But all this won’t make you an intrinsic part of the 21^st century learning landscape unless you recognize the importance of being a leader in your building.  According to Ann Martin and Kathleen Roberts you need to be able to self-assess, manage people and technology, develop leadership dispositions (attitudes, behaviors, habits of mind, — see the Disposition strand in the AASL Standards for the 21^st-Century Learner for examples), communicate effectively (across all types of platforms), and accept responsibility.

Communication is a huge piece of being Anywhere/Anytime. According to keynoter David Warlick, “every 5 seconds there are 417 tweets, 50 new Facebook members, and 120,370 Google searches.”  YouTube is the second largest website and the #2 search engine. Outside the classroom, our students are constantly learning by asking questions and exchanging knowledge and skills.  They learn complex games without instructions by asking questions and learn to success by getting it wrong.  We need to translate this quest for knowledge and the acceptance of “failure” as part of the process into what happens within the library and classroom.

I urge you to check #aasl14 for the conversations that occurred and some of the great links included, one of them being a 15 minute YouTube video covering 15 of the AASL’s Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and Best Apps for Teaching and Learning.  The Genius Hour was also mentioned by several participants.

Some questions we were asked to consider: How can I make this learning environment talk back to the learner?  How can it require learners to exchange knowledge?  How can I add value for the learner?  And some final words from David Warlick as to what our business is,”…it is not just what you you can be trained to achieve, but it’s what you can resourcefully accomplish, and “It is not a ‘Race to the Top’ but it is a joyful exploring, discovering, and inventing The Future!”

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It seemed a bit self-indulgent to use this blog to ruminate on procrastinating and feeling lazy, but we all have to deal with days when focusing on tasks seems like very hard work.  How do you turn it around?  What can you do to re-charge yourself?

My first rule is to accept where I am.  Trying to argue myself out of what I am feeling is not going to change anything.  I mentally congratulate me for how much I have accomplished in the past several days.  I earned a bit of a break.  With this mind set, I can enjoy not working for a bit rather than ruin it with self-deprecating thinking.  That only extends the time it takes for me to return to the tasks in hand and makes me unhappy with who I am.

Next rule is to do something I enjoy for a while.  I may take an hour to read or thirty minutes to play solitaire on the computer (a personal addiction) or fool around on my Facebook page.  Do I adhere to the time limit I set?  Not always – particularly if I am playing solitaire.  But after a while the time off feels complete and I am ready to return.

It struck me this has implications for us as librarians on the job.  There are days you are worrying about some personal problems or the commute to work has left you frazzled.  Unless you give yourself a break and acknowledge where you are, you are apt to find the students are acting up and the teachers are being demanding, and basically you feel as though you are always giving and never receiving.

Decide to whatever extent is possible, that at least for a while you will look for the fun.  If you are an elementary librarian, choose a few humorous books for storytime.  With older students try to give a twist to your lessons.  For example, you can point them to this Search Engine List and suggest they try one of the ones they have never used (or heard of) and then compare their results from it with Google. By altering course, you will get back on course more quickly.

And finally, put a smile on your face–even if you don’t feel like smiling.  Others will smile back and it will lift your spirits.

Here’s to putting sunshine back in your life –and mine.

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The tasks won’t go away, but they, and your time, can be managed better.  Instead of going through life with a fire extinguisher and duct tape – putting out fires as they come up and patching problems – look at your life and tasks as a whole.  Divide your responsibilities and interests into two –family and friends, and your job.  In both cases you need to remind yourself of your priorities.  List the two or three top ones.  More will drive you crazy.

This is what works for me.

Before you go home each day or first thing in the morning—whatever works best for you—create a list of what needs to be done. (For some this is best done on a weekly basis, for me it’s usually for today and tomorrow.) Pen and paper or digital doesn’t matter.  Again, it needs to meet your needs.  Subdivide them by area.  For example, it might be classes (teaching and preparing), communicating (updating website, blogging, reports to administrators), and, hopefully, outreach (group or person you are targeting for collaboration and/or building a relationship leading to advocacy.  Your personal list covers shopping, time with family (homework with kids, dinner out with spouse), and self-care (exercise, TV-watching, or whatever relaxes you – many of you know of my solitaire addiction).

Place an asterisk next to the two most important items on your list.  Then start your day.  Although you might not get to them immediately, knowing they are most important, you will attend to them. You probably won’t get to everything on your list in the time you allotted.  As noted earlier, too much to do, and too little time to do it and new things are always popping up.  You are likely to find that some you didn’t get to become a high priority a bit down the road.  That’s fine. If you need to, note what got in your way—a teacher or student needing immediate help that takes more time than expected or a crisis at home. Life has a way of upsetting our best plans.

Don’t beat yourself up for what didn’t get done. Look at what you did accomplish.  My life is filled with deadlines.  I have accepted the fact that no matter what I do there are only 24 hours in the day.  I do need to sleep and being sleep deprived makes me less efficient.  Some days I am lazier than others, and that’s OK.  I am human.  And the most important lesson I have learned, is “everything important will get done—it always does.”

Do you have a system that works for you?

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On the other hand, I am fairly disciplined.  One way I manage my tendency toward procrastination was to pack a lot into each day.  I usually can’t put much off until tomorrow—it’s already heavily booked.  Producing School Librarian’s Workshop is ongoing with very little in the way of time off.  In addition, I do workshops and presentations and have ALA and AASL committee responsibilities.  My days are wonderfully full.  My to-do list is a constant reminder of what needs to get done – what I want to get done.

But the paradox is, I am still a procrastinator.  Which I’ve decided is OK.  It’s part of who I am.  I do meet all my deadlines, and I have learned there is a time and place for procrastination.  Sometimes I don’t have an idea for a department in School Librarian’s Workshop such as what to do for a Puzzler.  Other times I know what the topic will be but haven’t come up with what students should do with it to produce the most critical thinking and the deepest learning.  Scrolling through Facebook or other distraction can sometimes lead to the ah-ha I’ve been needing.

Creativity doesn’t work well on a time clock.  Stepping away and doing something mindless, seems to free my brain (hmm, is that why they games are called mindless?).  Random thoughts related to what I put aside flitter through my head.  When I get back to writing, the ideas flow.

So there is a positive side to procrastinating.  Now if I can only get better at setting a time limit on how long I play solitaire or Bejeweled.

Are you a procrastinator too?  What distracts you?  Are your breaks from work positive or negative? Or a combination of both?

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