Librarians as Learning Specialists

1. Librarians as Learning Specialists Allison Zmuda, Presenter Meeting the learning imperative for the 21st Century

2. Goals for this session • “Unpack” the status of school libraries in New York • Explore why the school library is more important than ever • Mission of a 21st century school • Evidence of student achievement • Examine six steps for a 21st century school library • Models and reflection

3. Three minute pause • Power of the three minute pause • Summarize key ideas • Add your own thoughts • Pose clarifying questions

4. Quick background about my role in the library world • Education consultant for over eight years • Invited to Treasure Mountain in 2005 • Work with LMS, administrators and teachers

5. What I’ve been up to lately… Allison Zmuda, Presenter zmuda@competentclassroom.com • Made the case that schools are generally “boring” from a learner’s perspective • Sucks the energy out of the classroom • Ineffectual based on what students are actually learning (from a college and employers point of view

6. Nine Pervasive Myths • Myth #1: The rules of this classroom and subject area are determined by each teacher. • Myth #2: What the teacher wants me to say is more important than what I want to say. • Myth #3: The point of an assignment is to get it done so that it’s off the to-do list. • Myth #4: If I make a mistake, my job is only to replace it with the right answer. • Myth #5: I feel proud of myself only if I receive a good grade.

7. Nine Pervasive Myths • Myth #6: Speed is synonymous with intelligence. • Myth #7: If I get too far behind, I will never catch up. • Myth #8: The way I want to be seen by my classmates affects the way I conduct myself as a learner. • Myth #9: What I’m learning in school doesn’t have much to do with my life, but it isn’t supposed to —it’s school.

8. Unpacking the myths • Which of these myths resonate with you? • Read pp. 1-2 • Turn and talk with your colleagues • Focus on student evidence

9. Learner metaphors exercise • I learn like a _________________ because of ___________________________. • EXAMPLE: I learn like a tunnel because things go in one side and out the other.

10. Sample learner metaphors • I learn like a chameleon because I adapt and change to be able to accomplish my goal but there are still things that are too big for me. • I learn like an elevator. Some days I’m up and some days I’m down. It greatly depends on my mood that day and how much I want to apply myself. • I learn like a slightly malfunctioning computer because I can store and absorb quite a bit of information, but it can be a bit temperamental sometimes and not perform like it should. • I learn like a car because when I’m started up I can go places but when I’m off I’m going nowhere. • I learn like a moth. I blend in with the class and keep quiet. I try to go unnoticed. I listen some of the time and look like I pay attention but I may just be worried about staying blended. If I am interested in the topic or if I am with my friends, I flutter towards the light, otherwise I will stay hidden in the dark.

11. Sample learner metaphors • I learn like a camera because I am capable of doing great things, but I need motivation. I need to know why. Just like a camera, I need the perfect light and a perfect moment, then everything is in focus. Without these things, the camera has no use. Without inspiration I am like a camera without film. • I learn like a rock because it is hard to get through to me. • I learn like an elephant because I never forget. • I learn like a dead body because all I do is lay there. • I learn like a ball of clay because teachers can mold my mind into whatever they teach. • I learn like a parrot because after seeing something I can mimic it.

12. Sample learner metaphors • I learn like a three year old because I need people to repeat things for me to really understand it. • I learn like a child because I learn at my own pace and find many things interesting. • I learn like a baby because I have to see how something is done before I can imitate it. • I learn like a dog because once taught I know exactly what to do. • I learn like a fish because I only have a five second memory. • I learn like a sloth because I’m a slow learner. • I learn like a cheetah because I’m a fast learner. • I learn like a tabletop. Things just get piled on top of me and after a while everything gets cluttered. Eventually I discard everything and the process starts all over again.

13. Sample learner metaphors • I learn like a butterfly because sometimes they don’t fly fast. They fly smoothly, steady, just how I learn. • I learn like a vacuum because I suck up all the knowledge and it just sticks to me and I can’t get rid of it until I dump it out. • I learn like a filing cabinet because I can store lots of information in my head at once. • I learn like a construction worker because I try to get the job done. • I learn like a genius because I have a quick way of learning sometimes when I’m showed or told. • I learn like a door because when the key fits it unlocks my true potential. • I learn like a parachute because when I’m open is when I do my best.

14. Unpacking learner metaphors • What patterns did you see in the learner metaphors? • How does that impact their behavior? Achievement? • What if they had a more accurate view of how they learn?

15. Students have their job wrong… • “Many students emerge from high school as passive processors who simply sop up intellectual input without active response. Some passive learners, although able to scrape by academically, endure chronic boredom in school and later suffer career ennui. Their habit of cognitive inactivity can lead to mediocre performance in college and later on the job.” -- Mel Levine (2007)

16. … and it has been wrong for awhile now • “When the child gets into the schoolroom he has to put out of his mind a large part of the ideas, interests and activities that predominate in his home and neighborhood. So the school being unable to utilize this everyday experience, sets painfully to work on another tack and by a variety of [artificial] means, to arouse in the child an interest in school studies.” -- John Dewey (1907)

17. Impact on our students Disengaged Compliant

19. Awakening the power of students to transform the world

20. What learning can become • Joyful • Engaged • Creative • Intrinsically motivated • Focused on real-world, meaningful application

21. What I’ve been up to lately…“Six Steps to Saving Your Library School Program” • School Library Monthly, February 2011 • Grounded in health and optimism • Grounded in the uniqueness of the library program and LMS as learning specialist • Grounded in the need for 21st century skill development

22. What we need to teach in the library • identifying appropriate inquiry questions • navigating multiple information networks to locate relevant information (print, images, data, video, music, talk, et cetera) • applying critical thinking skills to evaluate information sources and content • synthesizing information and ideas from multiple sources and networks • crediting and referencing sources of information and intellectual property • communicating new understandings to others, both face to face and over distance

23. Making national headlines…

24. From Gwyneth A. Jones… • A revolution is at hand, and we need to be nimble, daring, digital and shift both our practice and the way the world thinks of school librarians and libraries. • We are not expendable because we are guiding the minds of our students to lead them to become life-long learners, curious searchers and good digital citizens. Librarians must teach Google ed and social media ed because we know kids are gonna connect and create online, better they do it with knowledge, discernment, responsibility and ethics. We must shift our language, adding words like attribution, tagging, widget, Creative Commons, transliteracy and authority.

25. From Jessamyn West • In older models, the librarian was more of a selector, protector and a preserver of resources. Now a librarian, or school media specialist, is more of a discerning cultivator and a matchmaker between people and the widely varied resources that meet their information needs. Media and technology literacy is more important than ever, but the integral role of librarians isn't always obvious from the outside; as a result their contributions can be undervalued.

26. How do we engage this student?

27. Transforming how we teach so they are more engaged • Boredom • Performance anxiety • Lack of relevance

28. Short video and assignment • As your watching…. • Identify the major differences between 20th century and 21st century education • After you finish…. • Put a * next to the places that you agree with in the 21st century • Circle the places you disagree with in the 21st century • Use this as fodder for conversation at your table

29. At your tables now… • How does the library program honor this 21st century view of education? • Where did you disagree with the video? In what ways is 20th century education still relevant?

30. What 21st Century Learners NeedConference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, The Society for Human Resource Management • Critical thinking / Problem solving • Information Technology Application • Teamwork / Collaboration • Creativity / Innovation • Diversity

31. What 21st Century Learners Need From Wagner’s Global Achievement Gap (2008) • Critical thinking and Problem Solving • Collaboration • Agility and Adaptability • Initiative and Entrepreneurship • Effective Oral and Written Communication • Accessing and Analyzing information

32. Illuminating quotation from Global Achievement Gap (2008) • Ellen Kumata: “You have to be able to take in all sorts of new information, new situations, and be able to operate in ambiguous and unpredictable ways… You have to be thrive in this environment and deliver results. Our system of schooling promotes the idea that there are right answers, and that you get rewarded if you get the right answer. But to be comfortable with this new economy and environment, you have to understand that you live in a world where there isn’t one right answer, of if there is, it’s right only for a nanosecond. If you’re afraid, you can’ think clearly”(p. 31-32).

33. Use an increased focus on 21st century skills to promote the learning goals of the library • Preparing students for the challenges of college and the workplace has highlighted the need for information literacy and technology to be a meaningful component of curriculum designs and instructional practice. • Engaging all learners in authentic, complex tasks that mirror the real world has elevated the research process from a procedure that is carried out in the library to an inquiry-based framework that supports learning in all subjects. • Creating tailored learning experiences and resources to optimize learning for each child has become a technological and pedagogical reality.

34. 21st Century Learning. What students say. Friesen and Jardine (U of Calgary) • We want to do work that makes a difference to me and to my world. • We don’t want to remember, recall and regurgitate. • We don’t want to learn for the sake of tests. • We don’t want learning made easy; rather, they want it to mean something. • We want to learn with the media of our times. We want to do work that is relevant, meaningful and authentic. • We want to be engaged intellectually We want stronger relationships with their teachers, with each other and with their communities locally, provincially, nationally and globally.

35. 21st Century Learning. What students say. Friesen and Jardine (U of Calgary) • We want teachers to know how we learn, to take into account what we understand and what we misunderstand and use this knowledge as a starting place to guide our continued learning. • We want to be able to work with others in the classroom, online and in our community. • We want to be able to pick up our information anywhere, anytime. • We want indepth learning. We need feedback in time to help us learn and in time do something about it.

36. Student Advice to Teachers • Let us see what we’re aiming for. • Break down what we need to learn. • Give us lots of ways to understand. • Teach us to critique and revise everything we do. • Assess us all the time, not just in high-stakes ways. • Chart our small successes. • Ask us to work as an expert team. • Help us extend our knowledge through using it. • Use performances to assess our academic understanding.

37. How far away are you from this vision? • Reflect with colleagues at your table… • What primarily drives assessment and instruction at your school?

38. Creating 21st Century Skills as a District • Worked to create this document in five different school districts • Representation from varied subject areas and grade levels • Representation from administration • Representation from parents, employers in the community, members of the board • Each time, one of the final 21st century skills was information literacy

39. Sample from Virginia Beach City Public Schools, VA Can be accessed at vbcps.com

40. Sample continuum: Information literacy (OCM BOCES) Information and media literacy Access and evaluate information and sources critically; apply information to complete the task in an ethical and legal manner EMERGING NOVICE EXEMPLARY PROFICIENT

41. Sample from Simsbury, CTUtilize current research tools appropriately to access and use information for authentic tasks. • Completely independent • Some guidance and redirection but generally independent • Consistently dependent on the teacher

42. Another sample for you to review • Packet pp. 7-8 • Westhill, New York’s 21st Century Skills developed along a K-12 Continuum • Think about one of the great performances that happen in the library and try to connect it both to the skills and the level at which they are accomplished • Share your examples with the group

43. What I’ve been up to lately…“Six Steps to Saving Your Library School Program” • School Library Monthly, February 2011 • Grounded in health and optimism • Grounded in the uniqueness of the library program and LMS as learning specialist • Grounded in the need for 21st century skill development

44. Step 1: Begin with a mission statement framed in terms of student learning goals. • Describes specific, long-term goals for learners • Goes beyond specified knowledge and skills to address larger aims of schooling • Provides enough specificity to be addressed through curriculum, assessment and instructional design • Key stakeholders are willing to commit to the scope of the mission statement

45. Source of authority and collaboration • Mission drives the work of the school when it creates strong internal accountability for student learning. • Staff believe they are responsible for student performance. • Staff collaborate with one another to analyze student work as well as each other’s instructional practice. • Staff learn new knowledge and skills based on what the students need and what the mission requires.

46. Proposed Phrases to Unpack in the Library Mission, Pike Township, IN • The Pike Township Library Media Program exists to cultivate and inspire: • Enthusiastic readers • Critical thinkers in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom • Risk-takers and innovators in novel thoughts, products, and performances • Collaborators who work to achieve a common goal • Effective users of existing, emerging, and evolving technologies • Interactive users of varied and stimulating print and electronic collections • Ethical users of information and ideas

47. Connection to Library Mission and District Mission

48. Where they are headed now: Translating mission into a K-12 Vision

49. Showing the mission matters • The library walls should showcase models of exemplary work: exemplary because of its alignment to mission goals and because of quality of student performance. –– Zmuda and Harada, 2008

50. Examine these mission statements statements • What words/phrases contain the general learning goals for students? (MISSION) • What words/phrases contain evidence of their learning (VISION) • What words/phrases contain action that the library is doing to promote vision and evidence? (ACTION) • Our mission is to enrich the lives of students with quality literature and ensure that students are effective and ethical users of information in a variety of formats to prepare them as life-long learners in an information-rich society.  We strive to model our school's core values of commitment, safety, open-mindedness and respect.