Now is the time to prepare for next year and to start, take the time to craft a mission statement.  The mission defines your purpose—what you and your library program do.  It should highlight what makes you unique and vital to the educational community and expressed in words laymen can understand.  You can start with the mission AASL gives in Empower Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (ALA, 2009).

The mission of the school library media program is to ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information.  The school library media specialist empowers to be critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers, skilled researchers, and ethical users of information (p. 8).

How it is done is included, but that’s not part of a mission statement which needs to be succinct, between 25 and 50 words. AASL’s statement is 32 words beginning with the word “to.” The reason for the brevity is so that it is easily remembered and can be framed and hung on the wall of the library for all to see.

That mission was written six years ago. Today we recognize an important part of what we do is ensure that students are also empowered to be producers of information.  Despite that important addition, the mission statement should be recognized for its use of strong words. Ensure and empower carry much more weight than “support and enrich” or even “foster and nurture” which frequently appear in school library mission statements. Avoid “can” as in “so students can…”  It will be stronger if you go directly to the next word.

You can borrow wording from the AASL statement and add other ideas important to presenting what you do and how it adds value to the school community.  In lower grade levels, love of reading leading to lifetime readers is a prime focus. While it is equally necessary at middle and high school grades, those you want to see why you are vital do not usually consider it as significant as student interaction with information.  You want to promote what you do but do it in such a way that your stakeholders recognize they need your contribution to the educational program.

Play around with the words you think are important.  Search under “school library mission statements” to find examples others have written.   Are there phrases you want to use in your statement?  Make sure you keep it in the present tense.  Review it.  Are the words powerful?  Does it show how you are unique? Once you get it within the length requirements, start memorizing it.  Print it and find a frame for it.  Proudly hang your Mission Statement on your wall for all who come into your library to see it.  And if you want help… send me an email at hilda@slworkshop.net

Next week – Vision Statements.

The post It’s Your Mission appeared first on SLWorkshop.

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.

The post Managing Students appeared first on SLWorkshop.

Managing the library environment, as I noted, is challenging and many have difficulty with it. The topic is rarely covered in library school and what works in the classroom doesn’t translate easily to the library.  You don’t have a regular seating arrangement, you don’t give grades, and there are many places where students can be out of sight.

The first thing to remember is it’s called “classroom management” not “classroom control.”  It’s hard not to put “do not” rules in place when you are striving to maintain discipline, but control comes from fear.  You are so concerned about not being on top of everything, you clamp down to prevent something from happening.  Management comes from confidence, from trusting yourself and your abilities, and trusting how you are will create a climate that fosters good behaviors. To achieve the environment you want, remember these three “R’s:” Routine, Rethink, and Respect.

Students at all ages are better behaved when routines are in place.  “Entrances and Exits” highlighted routines to use during those key times, but you need routines for transitions.  At the elementary level when a class comes in, once the entrance routine is complete, you need to move them effortlessly into the lesson or story time. To the extent possible, have the area set up, and place yourself so you are guiding them to where they need to go, even without saying anything.  When a middle or high school class comes in and you are working with the teacher, recognize a bit of “fooling around” may occur either as they move to the tables or computer.  If you say something like “I see you are all eager to get started, so …” and give the necessary direction things will begin to move as you need them too.  Trying to quell anything beyond quiet movement will only lead to further disruption as the lesson proceeds.  If you are with one class and another comes in, either notify the teacher in advance as to where you want students to go, or put up a small sign on the back of an easel identifying the location.

Rethinking means recognize your attitude and change it as needed.   You may tense up as a “troublesome” class arrives or anticipate a problem with a student with whom you have had trouble.  Your thoughts communicate without your realizing it and will trigger the behaviors you wish to avoid.  Instead, plan ahead to find something that will engage their interest—ask them a challenging question as they enter – and try “I want to hear what you come up with” as a leading statement.  For a single student, think “He/she is often made to feel stupid or hard work, I can make his/her day better.”  When you speak, you will then naturally smile and say something kind.

Respect permeates throughout if you want to manage the library.  To get respect, you must first give it.  Before you say something to a student, consider whether you would speak the same way or use that tone of voice if you were dealing with an adult. If a teacher or administrator walks in while you are helping a student, don’t say, “I’ll be back right after I speak with so-and-so.” Instead, tell the adult, “I will be right with you soon as I am finished here.” When a student comes up for help while you are talking with a teacher, let the child know how much longer you will be.  It’s common courtesy.

You all have various techniques to gain quiet.  These will work better if you are also using the “3 R’s.”  And do realize, some days you won’t behave well.  You are human.  Apologize immediately. You can be a role model for routines, rethinking and respect. Imagine if that spread throughout your school!

The post Classroom Management – It’s Not About Control appeared first on SLWorkshop.

copyright Maurice Sendak

How you begin is usually how things will continue.  Think of students’ entrance into the library. Look at your physical space.  How does the traffic pattern cause them to enter? If it’s wide open, elementary students will have a tendency to rapidly spread out before you can start the lesson. See if you can move some counter height shelving to create a directed flow.  This way you can greet your class as they enter.  Smiling, speaking to them individually, asking one or two to help their classmates with the book return and getting seated will set a tone for cooperation and participation. Once this becomes a routine, students will respond to it more quickly.  Ask different students to assist at each visit—including those you find challenging.

At the middle and high school level, you rarely have problems with the drop-ins, but depending on how well the teacher is at managing, a class can enter being rowdy.  A sense of humor goes far in restoring order. Comment on how pleased you are at their enthusiasm. Some of you use Exit Tickets to bring a library visit to a thoughtful close.  Try Entrance Tickets to quickly focus students on the task ahead of them.

As they walk in, hand students cards, each with one question.  These may be duplicated so you only need three or four.  For example, if the class is going to be working on World War I, you might have cards with the following: “When should the U.S. go to war?” “Chemical warfare was a big part of World War I. Is it ever justified?”  “Does war have rules?  Who makes them?  What should be done if they aren’t followed?” Before starting the lesson, discuss the Entrance questions and get students thinking about their own views on war. This will help them determine what issues they will explore in their research.

Exit Tickets, if you haven’t used them, serve to foster metacognition and “lock-in” the learning. Among the questions to ask, culled from an AASL listserv, are: “The most important thing I learned today was…” “I knew…I now know… and I was surprised to learn…” “I would like to learn about…”  Elementary students can answer as they line up.  Have middle and high school students respond when you call them back together after they have completed their research for the period.

And remember, give yourself a break.  Some days you are not going to be successful.  However if you focus on good classroom management practices, your own confidence level will improve and you will be able to keep the problem days to a minimum. With the school year coming to an end, it is a good time to consider what changes you can make for next year.

What are some of your favorite techniques for managing the school library environment?

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When the recession hit in 2008, many businesses panicked.  They tried to minimize all expenses and for the most part circled the wagons hoping to ride out the crisis.  Most of those who took that approach failed. The more successful looked around and identified what made them or their product unique.  They looked to see who besides their current customers could benefit from it and what changes in marketing would be needed to attract these potential customers.

If your library looks the way it did in the 1990’s with the addition of more computers and a Smartboard, you have not changed.  Having a website and adding e-books doesn’t make you a 21^st century librarian. And certainly it isn’t having a quiet library with kids polishing their Dewey Decimal skills. 

Have you taken stock of what makes you unique? At the end of February, I blogged on how librarians transform student learning.  That’s about change. Do you do those things?  Have you let your administrators know?  How?  Emailing memos and reports is not 21^st century.  Videoing students exhibiting these transformative behaviors and sending those out is 21^st century.

Is your library a place where students find things or is it one in which they create things?  Do you provide opportunities for them to go beyond your walls?  Across the globe? Who are you following on Twitter?  What’s the best idea you got from these outstanding school librarians—and have you adapted it for your library program? 

What do you know about Learning Commons?  Find out how other librarians have transformed their facility, often on a shoestring budget.  Share with your administrator the excitement of the possibilities a Learning Commons creates.

Life is about change.  You are either changing or you are dying.  We have lost too many libraries and librarians.  If you haven’t done so, decide it’s time for a change, and if you need help… I, and many other librarians, are here for you. Reach out!

The post Changes – Either you’re changing… appeared first on SLWorkshop.

 I have no problem with recognizing that habits of mind such as persistence, initiative, and self-direction need to begin early.  I can agree with many aspects of Common Core such as deeper reading, critical thinking, and doing research on focused questions (hopefully Essential Questions promoting inquiry-based learning).  I don’t believe the tests promote those objectives, and I think good teachers have been doing this all along.  Teachers –and librarians—have been blamed for poor student performance when poverty, unsafe schools, and limited access to a print rich environment play a far more significant role.

 Having first graders think about college is not a bad thing in itself.  Just as they know middle and high school will follow elementary school, they should be aware that college is an important next step—although not necessarily a path they all must follow.  What concerns me is the College Readiness mantra permeating all of education.  Our children are becoming automatons programmed in a single direction.  Anything non-academic is being stripped away.

 A kindergarten teacher with twenty-five years’ experience once told me her students know much more than those she had ten years ago—except how to play. We have reverted back to the days when children took on adult work as soon as they were able.  We are eliminating childhood and the cost may be great.

From the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario

 Children learn through play.  You need only to observe the animal world to see the truth of that statement. In play they test themselves, without getting a grade. In play they discover what they enjoy, without pressure.  They follow their interests.  They learn because they want to find out more, not because it is needed for the high stakes test.  Play helps develop a sense of wonder, a vital “skill” every creative person needs.  And creativity is what keeps a society moving forward.  Replicating the past leads to stagnation, not innovation.

 John Dewey, probably the most progressive educator, said early in the last century “There is no such thing as educational value in the abstract. The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts and truths possess educational value in and of themselves is the reason why traditional education reduced the material of education so largely to a diet of predigested materials.” (Experience and Education).  We are still giving students predigested materials and blaming them and the teachers when they are bored and disinterested.

It’s time to give our students back their childhood so we benefit from their adulthood.

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You don’t need a 3-D printer. They are great, but the odds are most of you don’t have the budget—although you could write a grant with your local education foundation.  You don’t need a table saw.  (Which would probably be a scary proposition with young elementary kids).  What you do need is a bunch of supplies: scissors, Legos, fabric, yarn, duct tape, origami paper, popsicle sticks, perhaps Arduino, LittleBits, and Minecraft—and whatever else you have on hand or get people to contribute. You also need bins to store everything when not in use.

Makerspace at Detroit Public Library

From a presentation at NYLA, one of many I have seen recently on Makerspaces, given by Rebecca Buerkett, Ana Canino-Fluit, and Gail Brisson, I discovered you can start your program on a shoestring. One had a grant, the others funded the project from their own pockets and the aforesaid donations.  To be specific, they have Maker Clubs rather than Makerspaces.  Kids get to make stuff only at set times rather than having continuous access.  What you need most is a bit of daring, and a willingness to learn as you go. Kids who have a level of expertise in one area will teach others and you.

Why should you commit time and effort to a Maker Club or Makerspace? Unlike a craft activity, kids aren’t following a specific set of directions to create a set product.  They are experimenting, imagining, making mistakes and adjustments to plans, and discovering where their imagination can take them.  They develop resiliency, do out-of the-box thinking, engage in authentic learning, do problem solving, work in collaboration, exhibit leadership, and in the process become lifelong learners.  These are goals for you library program. They are what Common Core is seeking to achieve. Makerspaces are a natural connection to STEM programs and help produce innovators, and producers of new knowledge.  And all the while the kids are having fun.

You do need to publicize your Maker club and which activity is scheduled for an upcoming meeting. Look for teacher volunteers or older students to help out. You want at least one other person with you if possible. Set up rules and guidelines, but have the kids come up with them. How will they deal with conflict? Most likely you will need to show them how to be economical in the use of supplies (don’t cut a square from the middle of a piece of fabric), and to recognize the leftover from their project can be recycled into someone else’s work.

Among the Maker activities to consider are: Garage Band, Robolox, photography, robotics, origami, Minecraft, knitting and/or sewing, and whatever else the kids are interested in.  Ask them for suggestions, and then plunge in.  Have fun.

Click the image to the left to find out more about how the Detroit Public Library created their Makerspace. Do you have a Makerspace or Maker Club in your library?  Let us know know what you have learned and what you do.

The post Stop, hey, what’s that sound… Maker Spaces are Going Round appeared first on SLWorkshop.

I often hear librarians complain their principal has no idea what they do.  But whose fault is that?  It’s our job to let administrators know what we do –and to what purpose.  The challenge is doing it in a way that they listen to it.  Memos are pretty much a dead form of communication – unless your administrator doesn’t handle tech well.  Emails are not designed for length messages, but can be useful if used properly.  So how do you reach them?

First a big Do Not .If and when your supervisor or principal drops by the library, if you are not in the middle of working with someone greet her and ask if she wants/needs something.  Do not use this time to bring up any problems or concerns you have. The last thing you want is for her to associate you with complaints. If you are helping someone, excuse yourself briefly, check in with the administrator and let her know you will get back to her in a few minutes. For some reason principals seem to have a sixth sense and show up more often when the library is almost empty.  Quickly explain the “lull” and say, “If you want to see the library as it usually is, I can send you a list of classes who will be coming that you might want to watch.”  (That’s one good use of e-mails.)

The way to let your principal know what you do — and bring concerns to her attention is visually.  Use a resource such as Animoto or, even better, Issuu to make your reports.  And yes, you need to do reports even if they are not required.  Monthly is usually too difficult but you should strive for quarterly. Focus on activities based on student learning (and how these connect to Common Core).  Include short videos of students at work.  Use graphs and other visuals to illustrate statistics.  Don’t limit these to circulation figures.  Look for more meaningful ones.  How many students came to the library before school? After school?  How many classes came?  Highlight one or two outstanding projects, giving the name of the teacher.  At the middle and high school, show how many different departments used the library.

Address concerns by highlighting what you are trying to achieve and why.  Briefly explain what needs to be done to get there, and identify your suggestions for dealing with the obstacles. Brevity is key in all this.  Avoid going into too much detail.  If your principal wants more information, she’ll ask.

The beauty of this approach is that when your report is interesting, your principal will likely include it, or at least information from it the Superintendent and from there to an important group of stakeholders most librarians forget –Board of Education members.  Although not always seen in the school they ultimately play a life or death role in the library program.  It is good advocacy to get to know who they are and what their chief concerns and interests are. A number of participants in my ALA Editions e-course decided to make the Board members a focus, planning to attend at least some meetings and targeting one board member a year.  Do inform your principal before sending something to a Board member, but opening that channel of communication will result in more stakeholders knowing the value of the library program?

Does your principal know what you do?  How well do you know Board members?

The post Do You Know Your Stakeholders and How To Reach Them appeared first on SLWorkshop.

As an ASCD member, I get their monthly Education Update.  The lead in the July edition is called “When the Screen Goes Blank: Helping Students See What They Read.”  Research done by Jeffrey Wilhelm of Boise State University shows that poor readers see only the words in their heads.  They don’t form pictures which limits their understanding of text.  As librarians we know that reading is so much more than decoding.  It’s about making meaning (comprehension) and often reading is a means of making connection with the subject matter.  You can’t connect and certainly you can’t get new ideas if all you are seeing are words.

What is interesting about this study is one big cause of students’ inability to visualize what they are reading is they had little or no contact with picture books.  Sad and obviously damaging.  And it is one more reason why students desperately need to have elementary librarians in their schools.  I have noticed non-librarians tend to read picture books to kids differently.  Many of them read a page, then flash the picture.  They may ask a question or two about it, but there is a small disconnect.  When I was an elementary (and a children’s) librarian, I held the book with the spine in my palm, angling it so I could read the text while keeping the pictures in constant view. I practiced and became smooth at passing the book to my other hand without a break in the story to be able to read the facing page.  At all times students were focused on the pictures, not on me.

As a high school librarian, I can remember having fun with a purpose by reading picture books to my much more sophisticated students to set the tone for a unit.  Patricia Polacco’s Pink and Sayserved as a prelude to a study of Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage.  They needed both emotional and visual connections to that time period to aid in their comprehension of the story.

Kathy Barclay of the Rowland Reading Foundation says students need to read with all five senses, identifying what they smell and feel in addition to what they see. In writing my YA fantasy, Woven through Time, I found pictures to help me focus better on what I was envisioning in my brain.  I realize I was also smelling salt water when they neared the sea and the woodsy scent when my characters were in the forest. To fully “get” the story, students must become a part of it.

What techniques can you suggest to students (and teachers) to help poor readers at all levels learn to visualize what is happening on the printed page?

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