Pew Again

Back In February, I wrote about a Pew study on libraries that revealed some interesting data on Gen Y and how much time they spent in libraries. This survey, conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that young adults aged 18 to 30 frequent public libraries more regularly than older people.

It's just come to my attention that the news Hour with Jim Lehrer highlighted this topic of library usage in the age of personal computers and the Internet, by featuring essayist Julia Keller of the Chicago Tribune, on March 13. Keller reflected on the road ahead for public libraries in the modern era. Go to: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/social_issues/jan-june08/libraries_03-13.html, for the complete transcript.

One remark by Keller that really stood out for me was: "No matter how zippy our computers, no matter how much data is available to us wherever we happen to be, there will always be a reason to go to the library."

Yeahhhh.

Am I Still Making A Difference?

I had lunch with an old friend today. After we caught each other up on our respective spouses and children and others, we spoke about our professions. Melissa is a graphic designer of textbooks. Her husband teaches Biology at Villanova. Our academic connection is just one of the many reasons we are friends. Melissa has always been a great sounding board for me and I've spoken with her many times about my duel professions: librarian and teacher.

I've talked about how hard I have to work be proactive in staying connected to classrooms and other special area teachers. The rigid schedule of classes that we specialists deal with, is not conducive to establishing collaborative practice.

I've talked about budget cuts. It's a challenge to remain visible and vital, but I have to, in order to fight for every dollar. In this age of budget slashing, I'm trying harder than ever to encourage my students and teachers to use subscription databases and spend more time in the library.

I've talked about how hard I've worked to stay relevant: video conferencing, blogging, and podcasts are becoming an increasingly important part of my program.

I've talked about the efforts I've made to offer staff development to acquaint them with the library's resources, in the hopes that they will want to collaborate with me to plan lessons that will enrich teaching and learning.

Am I still making a difference after all these years? No Child Left Behind can be an obstacle to achieving the goals I've set out for my students and for myself. Or it can be an opportunity to shine a light on the library as the information hub of my school. NCLB includes a section that states that libraries are important: "... to improve literacy skills and academic achievement of students by providing them with access to up-to-date school library materials; technologically advanced school library media centers; and professionally certified school library media specialists" (NCLB, 2001).

I'm not a numbers person. I'm math- phobic. Thank goodness when I need to come up with statistics I can use Titlewise (from Follett). I'm never asked to produce data but I produce it every year at budget time. I'm learning to overcome my fear of numbers and plunge into the world of Excel in order to generate the data that I will most certainly need in the coming months and years for grant applications and for administrators who may not understand that the media specialist is still making a difference.

To Read Or Not To Read: A Statistical Study

Too Read Or Not To Read is a statistical study published in November 2007 by the National Endowment of the Arts. It is a study of the reading trends of the American public. This national study was based on data collected from various government agency studies and academic surveys. The study is disturbing because the data makes it clear that even college graduates are reading less. And reading less means we're reading less well. The cultural implications of this trend are alarming. The data doesn't show cause and effect, but the statistics do show correlations, such as reading does result in higher academic and professional success.

It is clear from the statistics, that reading is transformative. "Reading correlates with almost every measurement of positive personal and social behavior surveyed."

One of the many disturbing trends noted in this report is that nearly half of all Americans ages 18 to 24 read no books for pleasure. Another is that reading among elementary students has increased measurably but this progress seems to halt completely when these students become teenagers.

The data contained in this report leads to the following conclusions:

• Americans are spending less time reading.

• Reading comprehension skills are eroding.

• These declines have serious civic, social, cultural, and economic implications.

This study is a must- read for all librarians. You can download the complete report at: http://www.nea.gov/news/news07/TRNR.html.

It is clear from the statistics, that reading changes lives. We librarians and teachers and parents must recognize this dangerous trend and develop plans to stop it.

Why Collaborate?

Collaboration is needed to enhance student learning. Integrating information literacy skills into the curriculum is the goal of collaborative teaching practices on the part of the media specialist and the classroom teacher.

I've decided to be more specific about why collaboration is important is important. I'm hoping that this list will help me persuade more teachers to collaborate.

I collaborate ...

1. To enrich and enhance student achievement
   
2. To integrate the library program with other curricula
3. To provide more productive student activities and learning experiences in the library
4. To make sure that library resources support student assignments
5. To enrich and enhance the curriculum
6. To promote the library program and resources
   

Taking Stock

I've been doing lots and lots of professional reading: Web 2.0 tools, media specialist as information literacy cheerleader and staff developer, collaboration, and other timely topics that concern our profession. The readings have helped me define and refine my role as an elementary media specialist.

For the past two months, I've been sharing a particular address in the blogosphere with other media specialists taking a professional development course on library advocacy and critical issues facing our profession. I've learned how diverse our school environments are- Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kuwait. I've learned that our challenges are similar- and different. I've learned that we are all problem- solvers, willing to learn new skills in order to enhance teaching and learning.

People outside the world of libraries don't seem to understand the role the library media specialist can play as an educator. Unfortunately, these outsiders often include our principals and administrators- the very people who should be standing in our corners, cheering us on.

We work hard NOT to be invisible. We do this by providing staff development, participating in curriculum development and revision, becoming members of technology committees and collaborating with our colleagues in the classroom to enhance student achievement.

I was a teacher first- English, grades 7- 12 and then elementary classroom teacher. The readings and especially the lively discussions that I've participated in during these last 2 months have helped me understand the other hats I wear: as instructional partner, as information specialist and as staff developer.

As I reflect on what I've learned lately, I come back to this fact: as I strive to learn new skills, I have to integrate only those technology tools that best support learning, rather than adopt a technology because it is the latest thing.

An Early Morning Visitor

This is how my day started ...

It was my typical harried morning-- gulping coffee, turning on computers, checking in books, checking out books, gulping coffee, looking at my plan book, returning phone calls, making copies, helping a colleague use the scanner, gulping coffee ... Suddenly, I hear unfamiliar footsteps. Then, "This library always looks beautiful!" I look up from my computer screen.

"Well, hello, Dr. Kerr! Welcome to the library."

It's the boss of bosses, the chief of chiefs, the Big Cheese. It's the Superintendent. "You know, it's a really beautiful space. I don't have to do much ..."

"On the contrary. Your little touches make all the difference. I love your wall decorations and the beautiful books on display And the fish tank is great."

"Well, thanks!" Shes' walking out the door. We wished each other a good day.

I fixed a paper jam, gulped coffee, sharpened pencils, checked my email, double- checked today's schedule, time to get more coffee ...

A Good, Old- Fashioned Lesson

Since September, I've been at a loss to figure out how to reach my 3rd grade classes. (You know the kind of students I'm talking about- there must have been something in the water that year!) Frankly, I haven't known what/how to teach these kids since they were in kindergarten.

Today, we had a red letter day. The kids felt successful and they learned something. How did this happen? I selected several volumes of the World Book Encyclopedia and wrote the name of a woman on a 3X5 card that I tucked into the volume. I told the kids that ,working with a partner, they were going to look up and read about the woman whose name was written on the card inside their encyclopedia. Some of the kids struggled just to locate their woman, but we persevered, and they were anxious to share what they had learned. One thing that helped is that by this point in the school year, I know who the struggling readers are and I gave those students shorter encyclopedia articles. For instance, Tyrell and Charlie had Babe Didrikson Zaharias. The first line of the article states that "she is considered the greatest female athlete in sports history." They didn't have to read the whole article- the information they needed to share with the class was in the first sentence. (But they were happy to tell us that she was great at basketball, swimming, track and field, and golf.) Carly and Natalie had to read about Eleanor Roosevelt and, needless to say, there was a lot more text to read.

The point is, the entire class enjoyed this activity and asked if we could do it again.

Whewwww. That's me, breathing a sigh of relief and satisfaction because these rascals (did I mention this grade is very boy- heavy?) were engaged in active learning and their desire to continue down this path really is gratifying.

Upon further reflection, I realized something else: the hardest students to reach were engaged in a learning activity that did not involve technology of any sort. It was a good, old- fashioned let's-look-it-up-in-the-encyclopedia activity. Bulls-eye!

Inventory

Each elementary school in our district has the following equipment:

• 4 desktops in every classroom -- Well used, well- maintained
  
• 1 PC based computer lab -- Well used, not as well maintained
  
• Distance Learning mobile kiosk -- Little used
  
• 2 iMacs for digital video editing -- Little used (Most teachers don't know where they are!)
  
• 1 mobile laptop cart -- Little used (mostly used by me and the Gifted teacher)
  
• 8 desktop computers in library -- Well used, well- maintained
  
• Classroom projectors -- Getting more use, but .....
  
• Digital still and video cameras -- Well used, often returned missing accessories

I would LOVE to add an interactive whiteboard to that list. One of those would really facilitate active learning!

All computers in the district are networked and have a high-speed connection to the Internet. Educators and students have the opportunity to view educational videos over the Internet via video-on-demand services from the Delaware County Intermediate Unit.

Professional development that models integration of technology with curriculum would improve usage. I am planning on initiating professional development workshops utilizing the following technologies:

• Distance Learning Opportunities (virtual field trips)
  
• Blogs, Wikis (writing, journaling)
• Destiny (Using Web Path Express instead of Google)
• Online databases and PowerLibrary resources

I would love to partner with a teacher with whom I've worked, because a workshop that is presented collaboratively will be more meaningful and productive, I think.

Skype

I was reading the March edition of School Library Media Activities Monthly, and noted that there was an article about Skype, by Kristin Fontichiaro.

Last spring, one of my colleagues went abroad for several weeks, as part of her sabbatical. We talked about starting a wiki for daily communicating but then I remembered Skype.

Skype is free, web- powered software that uses the Internet to let users talk to other users. One of my techies told me that we could actually talk to each other- for free! He set me up with the software and we were off! Our computers had built- in web cams and we used headsets, so we were able to have an audio and video connection.

Basically, it allows you to communicate without typing. Our high school students who were on a foreign exchange program this past fall, used it as well.

I wonder if it's going to be used in schools as a distance learning tool. Fontichiaro thinks it should enrich the 21st century learning environment.

Walk - Through Rubric

I've been thinking about the Walk- Through that will take place near the end of the year. It's a time for all of us to smile big and show off.

I've created an imaginary rubric for this event. (Frankly, I have no idea what they're looking for and which students they will interview.)

These are the questions they should be asking:

• Can students and teachers use the library before and/or after school?
• Are the library's computers on and available for students during library hours?
• Can students find the information/books they need and can they ask for help?
• Are the library's materials current?
• Do the library's materials meet the diverse needs and reading levels of the students?
• Can students find resources appropriate to their needs (i.e., books, web sites, on-line databases)
• Are students actively engaged and focused in the library?
• Is the librarian available to assist individual students (when she's not teaching)?
• Is the library a welcoming and friendly environment?
• Does the librarian provide information regarding resources and events (brochure, web page, blog)?
• Does the library provide handouts to assist students engaged in research?
  

Primary Season 2008: A Teachable Moment

Media literacy is an important component of information literacy. The rapid progression towards negative campaign advertising on the part of the Clinton campaign, as well as the results of yesterday's voting led me to the decision to teach a series of mini lessons on media literacy.

Focusing on the bias inherent in all political campaign ads and the probability that we will be deluged with these ads for the next 6 weeks leading up to the PA primary, I shared this website from the Museum of the Moving Image:

http://livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us/index.php

We watched Johnson's 1964 ad with the little girl and the A- bomb as well as a terrific Bill Clinton ad from the 1992 campaign. The kids were horrified by the first ad and applauded the 2nd ad.

Now, that's a teachable moment.

Job Interview Questions and Answers

I've been asked by a principal in another elementary school to be on the committee that will be interviewing prospective librarians for that principal's building. He has asked me to put together a list of questions I would like to see each candidate address. I started jotting down some notes but suddenly I had an idea. I could remember interviews that I walked out of thinking: these people STILL don't know who I am or what my capabilities are. They asked lousy questions. So, I set about compiling a list of questions that would have allowed me to demonstrate my knowledge and proficiency. These are the things I want to know about the candidates- I've included the responses I would be looking for.

Here goes ...

1. How did you prepare for this interview? I checked out your school district's web site. I was interested to see teachers' web pages, the resources you provide for staff and parents and the library web pages of course.
   
2. Why did you become a media specialist? Because I love the following (in no particular order): kids, literature, getting kids excited about reading, technology and research.
   
3. Do you prefer working in an elementary, middle or high school? Each has its joys and challenges. I love working in high school libraries because I love the opportunity to work one-on-one with students doing research. Middle School students are developing the skills that will lead to independent research. It's exciting to see their growth. Elementary school is the place where I get to really satisfy my yearning to teach and the littles really are my best audiences when reading aloud and storytelling. They hunger to hear a great story and I'm pretty sure that many of them are living in frantic homes, with overworked parents who find it difficult to make the time to read with and to their children.
   
4. What professional organizations do you belong to? The Pennsylvania State Library Association, The American Library Association, The American Association of School Librarians, and the Keystone Reading Association. I am also on the Education Committee of the Arden Theatre, a small, non- profit theatre in Philadelphia. They produce many wonderful children's shows!
   
5. What are you reading now? I am reading The What is The What, by David Eggers. It is a powerful fictional story about the Lost Boys of the Sudan. I have also been sharing Brothers In Hope with my 4th and 5th graders. It is a picture book that depicts the horrors endured by these so- called Lost boys. The kids are deeply moved by their story.
   
6. Describe your ideal job. I would love to work in a school with a principal who is determined to prepare students to be life- long learners. This means recognizing that information literacy is a pivotal, school- wide goal. I would love to work with teachers who challenge me to help them create authentic learning experiences for their students. I would love to work with a parent community that wants to be partners with educators. I want to work in a place that rewards creativity and energy.
   
7. Describe your role in the learning environment. I am a leader and a team player in the fields of literacy and technology.
   
8. What is your greatest strength? I'm flexible and I challenge myself to learn new skills. Weakness? I'm impatient.
   
9. If we were to speak to a random group of your current students, how would they describe you? They would tell you that I do funny voices when I read. They would also tell you that I love it when they teach me something new.
   
10. If we were to speak to a random group of your current teaching colleagues, how would they describe you? They would talk about how excited I get when new books come in. They would tell you that I offer support with respect to technology in the classroom. I have guided many teachers through netTrekker and video streaming. I know that they appreciate how hard I work to acquire the books and other materials for the library that support curriculum and their classroom activities.
    
11. How important is technology and how would you integrate it? Technology is a very important part of being a 21st century learner. It opens up our world. It enables us to acquire information that is current and it enables us to acquire a world view. There are many ways that technology can open up a child's world, but so can reading books. There needs to be both. There needs to be balance.
    
12. Tell us about a collaborative project you worked on and what your contribution was. I am currently involved with the 5th grade teachers in establishing research protocols. Every January, these students embark on a great adventure: their first research project. The fifth grade teachers and I work together to develop the parameters of this project, with my emphasis being on the model of research students must follow as well as the method of citation. Every year, we tweak it and make it better. This year, I provided a pathfinder to conducting research in the library that the students use when they come into the library or go the computer lab.
    

That's all for now. I reserve the right to add/edit this list in the future!