Brief Reflection

The readings for this week all have something in common, which would be that adults play a major role in determining youth's online freedom and privacy.  The school librarian of course teaches intellectual freedom and privacy.  At home, parents also have a say in their children's time spent online.  Since this is the case, I think it is very important for adults to be on the same page about what they are teaching their children.  The school librarian should take care to inform parents about what their children are learning in the library classroom.  This can be accomplished via email or classroom newsletter.  Also, making sure that the school librarian keeps parents up to date will establish and continue to foster positive parent relationships with the librarian.  Parents will be more likely to appreciate and stand up for the school librarian, and the librarian will be a more effective teacher when teaching with the support of the parents.  When collaborating in educating their youth in online freedom and privacy, adults must be careful to balance online dangers with online possibilities.  Youth must be educated in the technologies of today to keep current, while understanding that there are some issues to be aware of, such as being mindful of posting content under their online accounts.

Freedom and Privacy

Coatney - "Intellectual Freedom" by Helen R. Adams, pg. 43-66
School librarians have a high level of responsibility when it comes to intellectual freedom.  They have to maintain their knowledge about this topic, so that enforcing rules and teaching online freedom and privacy are relevant and up to date.  A lot of what the school librarian does is just provide access and protect the students' right to that access.  This comes into play when parents and/or law conflicts with educating students in today's technology and online tools.  When developing the library collection as a whole, the school librarian must censor herself to not prejudice against any library materials that students may need access to.  The librarian must also set up a solid challenge procedure for when library materials are challenged by students and parents.  This includes planning ahead, keeping the principal informed, forming a reconsideration committee, and knowing how to respond to the media.  In all this, it is most beneficial to the school librarian to build positive relationships and gather support from administration, staff, and parents, so that when the fight comes, the librarian has plenty of back up.

Knowledge Quest, Vol. 39, No. 1, "Teens and Privacy: Myths and Realities" by Francis Jacobson Harris, pg. 74-79
In her article, Harris draws attention the fact that adults are more concerned about the external threats to teen privacy online.  For example, adults worry about sexual predators, and "technopanic," or teens' lack of knowledge about external threats online.  Teens themselves worry more about how they stand in regards to their peers.  In reality, privacy threats are often more direct, including emailing, messaging, and chat, all of which teens are typically smart to avoid an unknown source. Teens should also be more concerned with possible online privacy when it comes to applying for jobs or schools.  Adult figures should teach teens that potential admissions officers or employers can make decisions based on teens' Facebook pictures and other social media sites.  Since social media sites are now a part of teens' lives, school librarians are aptly placed to address these issues.  School librarians can look at school filtering policies, consider alternatives such as mobile devices, online gaming communities, and virtual worlds, and teach safety training that "reflects reality and enables students to develop positive digital footprints to enhance rather than limit future opportunities" (Harris, 78).

Knowledge Quest, Vol. 39, No. 1, "'Tag! You're It!' Playing on the Digital Playground" by Diane de Las Casas, pg. 80-82
Unlike the outdoor playground-loving youth of yesterday, today's youth spend most of their free time using technological devices.  Since her daughter has her own cooking videos and website, de Las Casas monitors her daughter's online presence.  However, schools do not have the same ease in monitoring their students - online access is ruled by district policy and federal and state law.  This results in a battle over online access in pitting teaching technology skills against technology safety and privacy.  As a result, schools should make sure to tailor access appropriately each to the elementary, middle, and high school.  Just like on the playground, adults should teach children to explore and play, while simultaneously teaching them how to play safe.

Class 11

Last class we went to visit another elementary school library.  My first impression was that there were so many books that fit into the smaller space.  The library was set up in a hotdog shape as opposed to a hamburger shape.  This meant that the students began class in one area and then moved to another area to continue their lesson, which may have been helpful in getting some of the squirreliness out.  We sat with the students as they worked on their online comic projects, and then came together as a class after the students left.

The topic of the day was professional development.  I believe that professional development is very important.  It keeps you up to date on what is current and new in the profession, and it keeps you in contact with fellow professionals in the field.  This encourages the exchange of new ideas and best practices.  It is too bad that some folks do not see the value in professional development, resulting in attending events only to gather the required hours for the session.  Also, leadership of professional development conferences needs to be strong to gather support and continuation of the event.  Only if the event is relevant and meaningful to the folks there will it be considered important enough to keep.  When all parts of the professional development puzzle work together, such collaboration can be extremely beneficial to those in the field, if only because it makes us excited to be a part of that puzzle.

Class 10

In class last week we looked at everyone's book reviews.  There are some really cool online resources to take advantage of when publicizing an event or resource.  We saw some animated videos, slide presentations, and comic strips.  Even just in making videos, there are many sites to choose from, and so video styles can greatly vary, which is really nice when you make multiple videos that don't all look the same.  The only downside seemed to be that basic packages which are free don't often allow for a lot of content.  When I made my comic strip, I was only allowed 8 panels.   At first I thought this might be a problem until I realized those 8 boxes would be very time consuming, so I just narrowed down my content and went from there.  As it turns out, if you are forced to narrow down your content or time limit, perhaps your message will be much more succint, and your audience will be more willing to free up time to watch or read. 

We also went shopping for technology - specifically interactive whiteboard with computer vs. document camera, printer, computer, iPad, and projector.  The second option was the cheaper.  Plus it would be really cool to have students use the technology as well, which means the second option is also the more flexible.  It is really important, as we discovered, to take advantage of all options available to get the most bang for your buck, and as it turns out, a better deal!

MAME Conference

The Michigan Association for Media in Education held their conference at the University of Michigan School of Information this past Saturday.  Presenters spoke about what video games have to teach us about learning, creating an information literacy scavenger hunt, and using cell phones in classrooms.  

Barry Fishman was great, as usual, talking about how video games can inform our educational practices.  A couple things that are interesting about this: when kids play video games, they are excited for new challenges, and they are OK with failing.  In fact, they even attempt to fail in order to figure out the parameters of the game and see how they can better complete the task at hand.  If only students could feel free to fail in school in order to connect with the material better.  This way students would also probably be more excited about learning, when they are not focused on getting a good grade.

Meggan's and Jill's workshop on the information literacy scavenger hunt went well.  I helped four librarians around campus, and they were pretty willing to engage in the tasks.  I was also impressed how many of them had iPhones.  Meggan and Jill did a very good job going through how to make the scavenger hunt online, and most of the audience was following along, making their own hunts for their schools.

The cell phone talk was the most interesting to me, because it was my first time hearing the information presented.  How cool that you can create "cells" for classes online and conduct polls and other classroom activities all online.  Also, to have students call in and leave messages online is a great way for students to have easy access to the teacher without the teacher giving away his personal phone number.  I did talk to two teachers about this afterward, and they both said it was an interesting idea, but they would never use cell phones in the classroom - they explained that as soon as students would receive this privilege, they would find a way to abuse it.  

Class 9

We met at the Brandon Center in the School of Education.  It was quite the impressive space, with multiple areas for collaboration and a free drink machine.  If SI had a lounge like that, I would be in there all the time.  The Brandon Center was a suitable space for our discussion on technology.  With a large touch screen, and a sound system, we were perfectly equipped to explore some technology standards, new technology such as the Raspberry Pi, and examples of student work using technology.

The student projects on Glogster were really interesting.  On the one hand, I was impressed that students enjoyed the technology enough to create posters on geography outside of school.  On the other hand, the students were having a hard time with the amount and type of content they placed on their online posters.  The content was mainly copy/pasted from other websites, and there were no clear labels as to what links led where.  The librarian really has her work cut out for her when teaching learning with understanding, especially if the students have previously only completed projects such as these examples from Glogster.

The Raspberry Pi is a neat little thing - just a computer that you can plug into a monitor, mouse, and keyboard.  But it has a lot of uses!  First, kids can see what a computer looks like, and that it is not magic, but a machine.  This may make the computer seem less scary.  Also, Raspberry Pis are cheap.  Schools can keep their old monitors for students to plug their Raspberry Pis into, and this would cost a lot less for those schools struggling financially.  Second, this little computer can do a lot - including programming, such as Scratch for kids.  I think kids would also enjoy having their own little portable computer, and yet parents can still exert control - such as unplugging their kid from the monitor before bed.

Staff Development

The first thing that struck me in the "Teachers and Librarians Collaborate in Lesson Study" article by Linda Bilyeu was the mention that this method of Lesson Study is core in Japanese schools.  This made me very curious about school librarians in other countries.  How do school librarians across the world compare?  Are they valued differently by their schools?  Do their teaching methods vary greatly across countries?  Do other countries even have school librarians?

The second interesting thing about this article was that teachers take a whole day for Lesson Study.  I think this is a great way to really delve in and think deeply about one lesson plan.  Teachers have enough varying activities throughout the day - planning, observing, and reflecting - to hold their attention, and yet all these activities funnel into making one lesson plan the best it can be.  And most importantly, such a group effort really creates an opportunity for collaboration, in which all teachers, including the librarian, are placed on the same level to help each other with the lesson plan.

As I began reading the Bishop and Janczak article, "Conducting Effective Staff Development Workshops," it seemed to immediately bring up the question of how to balance staff development with regular teaching.  In the midst of a lot of teaching, can it be difficult to justify staff development at the expense of more teaching? The article does eventually get to that question, but only to point out how to advertise the workshop.  Perhaps the article should also make a point of justifying how teachers can stand to take time out of teaching - for example, because they will gain skills to better equip them for teaching.  Otherwise, the article was really informative, talking about all the prep work for a great staff development workshop.

I thought the most interesting piece from the Gilmore-See essay in Coatney's book about the librarian's role in staff development (probably because we just talked about technology in class) was about the librarian as technology trainer.  Because the librarian is most likely to have and teach technology in her library, she is responsible for keeping up to date with new technologies, and probably also for purchasing most of the software and hardware for the school.  I think this is a great role for the librarian.  She needs to stay on top of technology to provide her students with the best education in information literacy.  But she can also keep her staff up to date.  Perhaps this is a solid reason why librarians are so important - they keep current, and they are adaptable to change, whether in technology or otherwise.

Elevator Speech

Based on "A Place for Electric Gaming in Libraries?" by David Meyer
From the book School Libraries: What’s Now, What’s Next, What’s Yet To Come

Mr. Brown, high school teacher: Do you have a minute to discuss our plans for Tuesday's class?
Me: Sure! One sec, just finishing up here...
Mr. Brown: Oh, I see you have some computer games out...? 
Me: Yes, some students stayed after school yesterday to play some games - unfortunately they didn't pick up after themselves.  But hey, the library was getting used!
Mr. Brown: You let students play these kind of computer games here?  Can't they do that at home?
Me: Well, gaming and education can really complement each other.  While playing electronic games, students have to plan and problem solve, sometimes under time constraints.  Also, gaming is a social activity, which means students are learning about how to win and lose, fair play, sportsmanship, and teamwork.  And they get to do it with their friends!
Mr. Brown: Hmmm.
Me: You don't seem convinced.  You know, gaming also includes an element of play, in which kids just have fun while developing planning skills and problem solving.  This is rather like all those science experiments you design for those students in biology and chemistry.  And you know how students like to hang out in your classroom after school, letting their curiosity guide their learning while experimenting for themselves?  This is kind of the same thing.  In fact, there could even be some games out there that could benefit your science program.  Would you like me to look into it for you?
Mr. Brown: Well, it couldn't hurt...sure, if you have the time.  I'd be curious to see what you come up with.
Me: No problem.  Shall we talk about Tuesday's class next?

Class 8

This past class we skyped with Peg Sullivan, a consultant for school library design.  She spoke about the AEIOUs of design:

A - Activities
Design the library around the activities that occur there.  If students want to eat, make sure the place has wipe-able surfaces and perhaps tile floors (as opposed to carpet).  If students want to study, make sure there are private and group study areas.  Just make sure the space caters to the activities it houses.

E - Environment
What sort of environment should your library facilitate?  Calm and soothing?  Bold and bright?  Care must be taken when choosing colors, shapes, and artwork.

I - Interactions
The library is a place or interactions.  How will you promote these social interactions in your library design?  Perhaps you can situate furniture accordingly, and make sure that your office is easily accessible for students and teachers.

O - Objects
What objects will be in your library - furniture? technology? desks? shelves? displays?  I think to the libraries we have visited which displayed student artwork, and how nice it was that the artwork was brought in from another discipline showing that the library is a place for all disciplines.  Also the displayed artwork enables students to take ownership of the library.

U - Users
Always focus on the users and their needs.  Users include students, but also parents, school administrators, and fellow teachers.

And last, but certainly not least, ensure the library is set up for growth.

Technology

The blog Free Technology for Teachers seems like a great place to glean new ideas about using and gaining new technology for the classroom.  First, it is a blog for all teachers, not just school librarians.  This means that school librarians can not only use the blog for their own purposes, but they can see how all teachers in all subject areas are making use of technology.  This may help when school librarians wish to collaborate with their fellow teachers in the school.  Second, this blog not only highlights new technology, but it gives tutorials on how to use the technology.

In the NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) for Students (2007), point #5 is "Digital Citizenship."  When I was in elementary and high school, I was never taught this stuff.  To this day, I am still foggy on the legal use of technology.  I do appreciate that letter c. under Digital Citizenship is "demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning."  I find it interesting that "lifelong learning" is situated here - does this mean that lifelong learning is only in regard to digital citizenship?  I rather think it might belong under #1: "Creativity and Innovation," since this a more encompassing category to include the expansive "lifelong learning."  Also, in the teacher's NETS, lifelong learning isn't really mentioned under teaching Digital Citizenship to students.

As authors Fontichiaro, Moreillon, and Abilock point out in "How Do School Librarians Fit In?" the NETS*T maps to the "School Librarian's Bill of Responsibilities."  That's pretty neat - and shows that the roles of teachers and school librarians do line up.  This really promotes collaboration between the two...and perhaps does it sadly suggest that this is one area in which teachers could take over the role of the school librarian?

In her chapter "Pride and Prejudice and Technology Leadership," Fontichiaro writes that "the joyful core of technology leadership is deciding on an adventure, envisioning it, and then empowering others to see and share that vision" (102).  Approaching technology as an adventure is a good way to go about exploring it.  Technology is always changing and offers new landscapes to explore, as well as new buddies to explore it with.  An adventure can be partially planned, but travelers must be prepared for a bit of spontaneity.  Planning and evaluating new technologies is important so that teachers and librarians make sure the technology is educational.  Spontaneity is needed when the technology does not work the way you thought or wanted.  But if a new technology is fun and educational, then all the adventuring has paid off.  The technology can then be incorporated into (or even inspire) a lesson plan.