Just had to write... Libraries and Schools - What's Our Role?

While I am primarily focused on academic librarianship and want to work in an academic library (in Michigan), I cannot help but be extremely concerned for the sake of the students in k-12 and public libraries. With the new administration in Michigan comes a new budget - one that is drastically considering cuts to public libraries and schools. This ultimately will affect the students that will be using the academic resources and libraries in which I hope to work.

With news today that Detroit schools will be cutting funding to the point where students might be forced into classrooms with 60+ students, I cannot ignore what this means for the state of libraries. We will be needed more than ever to provide our resources to those who need them most. I am always thinking about the ways that academic institutions, public libraries, and schools can work together to collaborate and share resources, and it seems this is incredibly important now more than ever.

What can we, as librarians - public and academic - do to advocate for appropriate funding and resources for students in our states, cities and counties?  What can we do to help educate our children and ensure that they will have what they need to be successful, contributing young adults? What is our place in this atrocious state of budget cuts? What is our place in providing the tools that our young people need? There are the obvious ideas of protesting and sharing information about this, but practically, what is our role in this? Should we be building relationships across institutions (at ALL levels - between academic universities, community colleges, k-12 schools, and public libraries)? Should we be learning about this in our classes right now? Should SI hold a forum about our duties to the people who will need us in their communities?

I think all of the above are necessary to the success of our country. What do you think?

Book Clubs and Socratic Seminars: Hoffert, Tredway, Metzger and Dalton - In That Order

I decided to read the articles in order this week, something I rarely do but realized I probably should.  It was a valuable strategy for this week's topic: Book Clubs and Socratic Seminars. 

So, I started with Hoffert's "The Book Club Exploded."  Funny, because I just joined a book club about a year ago.  It was an informal way for me to make friends with some women after I moved back into Ann Arbor.  Our reason for gathering was that all of our significant others played rugby and we always found ourselves at the same gatherings but wanted a way to get to know one another better.  This is just a side note, but it was how I connected this weeks' topic to my own prior knowledge.  The idea of book clubs in libraries (oddly enough) hadn't really occurred to me, so Hoffert's piece about the diversity of Book Clubs was really fascinating to me.

I had also never considered a book club where not everyone actually read the same book but instead read books or pieces around a theme, genre or subject.  Her discussion of how this is good for libraries (where the library doesn't have to purchase several copies of the same book) make just TONS of sense.  Not only financially, but also allowing the book club members to explore topics and have truly indepth, active discussions where they would learn more by connecting themes across several pieces of writing. 
The different ways that book clubs can engage - over different types of texts, within different demographics, over meals, with the author - also was a great way to think about book clubs.  However, I thought the most genius idea - especially for public libraries - was to connect book clubs with library or citywide events.  This could be a great way for libraries to "stay relevent" and connect with their communities.  They can bring in new audiences and help create a more active community in this way.

Second, I read the Tredway article on a new term to me: Socratic Seminars.  The idea of such a way to engage students by having a "structured discourse about ideas and moral dilemmas" shows that the Socratic Seminar is far more than a discussion about the plot of a book.  The questions in a Socratic Seminar actually make students think - evaluating options and making decisions - based on what they read.  One thing I really took from this was that the instructor is a facilitator, one who lets students ask their own questions and guides them along the way.

I liked how Tredway discussed the students interacting in "intellectual discourse" by observing their classmates contributions and learning to paraphrase (something that definitely will come in handy as they continue their studies).  Further the teacher's role to guide students toward a deeper understanding and respecting other's points of view are other skills that are applicable in the real world (further education or in work). 
That all of this actually leads to high-end thinking seems most important.

The third piece I read really tied the idea of book clubs and Socratic Seminars together.  Metzger's idea to modify the Socratic Seminar into a student-led empowerment initiave was the culmination of what a good book club (led by the readers) and a formal Socratic Seminar would do.  As a teacher, she couldn't actually see what students were comprehending - even in a Socratic Seminar she saw too much ritualistic question and answer - so she allowed students to engage with and develop their own learning strategies.  She allowed students to facilitate one another and stepped out of the process enough so that students were really engaging with one another (high-level for freshman!) and let them talk out issues without the precsense of the formal adult.

Metzger's piece was inspiring because as librarians, we can do this.  We can easily slip out of the role of a formal instructor and step into a role that facilitates learning through informal deep processes.  We can allow readers a place to engage and we can lead at the beginning, but then really step back and allow the book club, socratic seminar, whatever you want to call it, to happen.  It shows that formal rules can be broken in a good way and that reader conversation can truly develop with a bit of structure and a lot of intention.

The Dalton piece - are we supposed to comment on this? - was pretty interesting - I have a feeling we're using it to model Socratic Seminar in class.  So, I won't comment too much except that I have seen this situation directly at the UM Library.  My previous job was assisting the Director of a few libraries at UM and several of the meetings for which I took notes involved discussion of prices of serials going through the roof, sustainability and Google digitization.   It will be interesting to hear my peers thoughts on this article, as well as open access and the DLPA in class...

Reflection of February 14, 2011 Class

I really liked the engaging nature of last week's class.  Analyzing the McGonigal survey was a great activity to do in a group choosing to be either Dr. McGonigal or the librarian who hosted the event.  My group chose to be Dr. McGonigal (because we liked her hair and boots and wanted to be cool like her) and had fun thinking about the factors that enter into being a presenter at a conference.  It was most interesting to see what people actually took away from the lecture and how that tied into their prior knowledge...

Onto prior knowledge, I actually DID really like the anchor analogy and was surprised that people did not really "get it" or that people did  not necessarily see transfer as part of a librarian's job.  I, for one, spent a few days each summer on lakes and know that those rafts need to be anchored down.  So, the idea of prior knowledge and a transfer to future knowledge being tied to the present place in which a patron or student sits makes sense.  The prior knowledge needs to be there, but without any sort of commonality (the raft), no connection can be made with what they're learning. 

I also thought the discussion of AP was interesting.  I took AP English and AP Calc in high school and don't remember a darned thing from AP Calc (still got an A and took the test so I wouldn't have to take the class exam) but I remember a heck of a lot from AP English which I passed.  The format DOES need to be changed but I don't quite remember my experience with those being quite as intense as others in the class (maybe I'm a little older or just had good teachers...)

The subject of hook questions was great, though.  Gave great examples of how to draw people in in real ways - not just boring questions people will never use.  And the activity that we discussed about Egypt and the French Revolution showed just that and was a great lead into to transfer.  When I saw that activity for high schoolers, I was thrilled because it's exactly what I think students need to learn and understand - REAL WORLD things that they can apply throughout their lives in different ways.  Transfer is an interesting concept that I've not often heard discussed about education, but class last week emphasized its importance and different ways in which to engage with it.  Much appreciated!

EdLeadership & How People Learn Chapter 3

Educational Leadership
The Educational Leadership piece "Put Understanding First" by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe was a concise article that discussed how important it is that when students learn, that they actually understand what they're learning.  The authors list three academic goals for curriculum and instructor to aid in the process of understanding: "helping students (1) acquire important information and skills, (2) make meaning of that content, and (3) effectively transfer  their learning to new situations both within school and beyond it."  Ways that instructors can help learners complete thie process of learning for understanding are through direct instruction, facilitating and coaching.  The article discusses research in congnitive psychology that says that students don't necessarily need to learn all of the facts and basic skills before dealing with concepts or applying the skills in authentic ways.  This is a problem that plagues lower acheiving students.  The article also suggests that curricula need a new sequence for  learning - a meaningful process that helps students really understand what they are learning that involves meaning, acquisition and transfer.  The statement that "we must recognize that the purposeful and effective use of content is the ever-present goal, and we must design all instruction with that goal in mind" is a reflection of what we must do when assisting students in their learning process.

This article was a great discussion of how schools are disconnected from students' experience with what they will encounter in the real world.  Learning rote knowledge and regurgitating it back to a teacher does not necessarily help students learn - they need to be able to connect it with something they will need or perceive they will need to use in the fugure.  I hadn't really thought about the idea of students not needing skills prior to application of a process, but I like it.  It feels more useful and "real" than doing worksheets to identify facts.  It seems this is very relatable to the idea of job training.  When going into a new job, I've always had basic communication skills, but not necessisarily the skills needed to run a database full of relevant information I'll use every day.  But, I can learn this through on the job training because it's applicable to the work I'm doing to do.  The company didn't need to hire someone with all of the skills they were looking for, but rather basic skills that they could build upon during training.  In a school setting, this suggests that students could learn "on the job" once having a foundation of knowledge.  They could learn science vocabulary better after having seen it a few times and then applying it in the lab.  Just one thought/example of how this relates to the real world which students enter after they're done with school.  :)

 How People Learn Chapter 3
The "How People Learn" chapter on transfer was great in-depth supplemental reading to the Educational Leadership article.  The idea of initial learning being necessary for transfer sounds obvious but is a good starting point for understanding transfer.  The discussion of initial learning, abstract representations of knowledge, and prior knowledge was important for my understanding of how transfer is effective.  Ideas of mastering the original subject, taking the appropriate amount of time to learn something, deliberately practicing, engaging in a feedback process, understanding motivation, and contexualizing the learning are critical to transfer of information.

When the chapter discusses that learning should be done in multiple ways and allow for a flexible representation of knowledge makes a good deal of sense.  Psychology tells us that people learn in different ways, and putting knowledge into a context that is applicable to student's understanding seems a simple way to do this.  However, schools are not tying information learned in schools to what students already know or will need to use in the their lives.  The section on previous experience was fairly eye-opening: thinking about how to activate knowledge and interpreting it in a way that is meaningful through using tools, group problem solving and abstract knowledge are all things I know I've used in the real world but never really thought about in terms of schooling.  But John Dewey's quote on page 77 really says it all - students should be taught life preparation in school.  Facts are important and a good foundation for knowledge but they don't help problem solving and day-to-day interaction.

It's clear that our students are not being taught things that they feel are useful - some students are becoming less and less engaged in school because it doesn't use the tools or technology they use in their everyday lives.  This is one area where librarians can help - we can work with people's previous knowledge and help them discover what they can do with that knowledge either through articles, books, or community resources.  I see this as a place we can really help people understand what they're learning.

Reflection of February 7, 2011 Class

Last week's class was, yet again, engaging, energetic AND useful to my knowledge as a future librarian.  The way that the session was broken up into different types of assessment really helped me think broadly about the term and connect it in ways that I will use in my profession. 

Watching Jane McGonigal's Ted Talk was valuable for several reasons.  First, I learned a lot about gaming and the potential's it can have for students and our world.  While I am not a gamer, I hope to work with young people in some capacity as a professional, so knowing that gaming is more than gaming will be very useful as I consider connections and activities for youth.  Secondly, it was a great way to show a type of assessment that we will be doing very often in the library world - at conferences and in our own spaces - surveys/evaluations.  The examples and discussion of evaluations was great because I got to see examples of what to do and what not to do when creating one.  At the UM library, learners must evaluate sessions after every class they take, and when I begin to do instruction, this lesson will help me form an evaluation that meets the needs of my assessment.  PLUS, it was really pretty awesome to see the survey results from Jane's Ted Talk.  People were all over the place in their answers and it just gives a sense that, while we are in a graduate program, people all still have opinions and different lessons learned.

Next, the discussion of question classification and the accompanying activity was interesting.  It really reminded me of 501 affinity walls (which wasn't fun) but doing the walk-around was fun (can't remember the term used in class to describe it but "walking the wall" wasn't it...).  It was interesting to see how different people thought about different questions, and our further discussion on question formats was very useful, as I said earlier, for thinking about evaluation. 

Overall, it was great to see different types of summative assessment because I'm always caught up thinking about standardized tests when, in fact, there are many other ways to assess a final product.

Finally, our discussion of formative assessment in the context of libraries was really useful.  I have been working on the reference desk for a semester now, and definitely feel like I'm giving formative assessment each and every time that I do a reference transaction.  This idea, though, is interesting because in the reference class I'm taking now, we've had a few librarians speak, and our discussions keep turning to giving our patrons "good enough" articles for their inquires.  It mostly comes out of not making people feel like they have to sit and get a lesson at the ref desk when in fact all they want is an answer to their question (I think mainly to encourage them to keep coming back...)  That's a mini-rant. 

The real discussion of formative assessment in library instruction helped me think about ways to do this when I start teaching.  Another way that I've seen this done at the library is through having a "floater."  The floater is generally a student who is familiar with what's being taught and walks around making sure the learners are caught up with the lesson.  It seems pretty effective especially when people are in a workshop that fits their skills.

Overall, I appreciated this lesson on assessment because it helped me think outside the box of what I generally think when I hear that word. 

Also, our discussion on space was VALUABLE!  we actually talked about that in my reference class too.  Hope we get back to it at some point :)

How People Learn Chapter 6 & Sadler

How People Learn Chp. 6
I find "How People Learn" to be such an engaging text to read. It is straight-forward, clear, and to the point. Yet, it's full of practical and interesting information.

Chapter Six on "The Design of Learning Environments" not only gave valuable inforamtion about different learning environments, but it also made a great deal of sense. That's easy to say, but when discussing such an important topic, that the text is coherant and complex is very refreshing. Chapter Six discusses the different ways that learners should be engaged. Through a mix of learner-, knowledge-, assessment-, and community-centered, one can see how people could truly becoming high-level thinkers who can analyze their own work and build up on it. That the authors started with learner-centered made me happy (OK, I know readings for class shouldn't and won't always make me happy, but its' nice when they do...). I have always thought learner-centered environments where the learner's backgrounds and prior knowledge are considered, has been the only way to educate. We are not in factories, as the system is designed, we are in a learning environment! One can only really learn if they can connect the material to their own lives and what they want to do.

However, I think I often don't regard the other parts of this chapter as as important as the learner-centered part, so it was great to read about how although knowledge-centered environments are necessary, they too can become more learner centered. The idea of "progressive formalization" (pg. 137) was a new concept to me, and one that completely makes sense. That students would progress during the learning process only seems obvious (though it doesn't always happen that way).

Further, assessment is something I've always been skeptical of because I have never believed that tests are the way to evaluate learning, it was interesting to read more deeply about what makes a formative assessment good and what makes it work. That students receive feedback throughout their learning process so that they can gain understanding and not just facts, that it is continuous and self-monitoring, means that students can truly engage with material and actually learn (not memorize).

Finally, the section about community-centered learning was something I was so glad to see in this reading. Part of my background is in afterschool, and the idea of "Learning Beyond the Classroom." To my earlier point, students cannot really understand material that doesn't make sense to them or their lives. I believe this is our current education system's biggest downfall - what students learn in school does not relate to the lives they lead outside. Community-centered learning where learning is coordinated and cooperative through the community (e.g. bringing in mentors from the community to help students learn) can only help learners become more engaged citizens, which is good for everyone.

The alignment of these will allow students to truly gain knowledge while becoming real "thinkers" where they can analyze and actually use information they learn.

Sadler
 Sadler's piece on formative assessment was also a useful text to read in the context of learnign and instruction. That learners are assessed by means of multiple criteria and have the ability to self-monitor their work means they can be more engaged and empowered during their learning process. Sadler's discussion of what it takes for a learner to be self-monitoring was very in-depth and interesting. That a student has to "(a) possess a concept of the standard(or goal, or reference level) being aimed for, (b) compare the actual (or current) level of performance with the standard, and (c) engage in appropriate action which leads to some closure of the gap" (p. 121) is very relevant to the "How People Learn" discussion of feedback. Further, that assessment should be guided but direct and authentic as well as cooperative gives instructors many ways to allow their students the opportunity for formative assessment and self-monitoring.

Reflections
This week's readings on environments and assessments was very personal for me - I've always felt that the environment in which one learns can affect everything they learn and that assessment is done in the completely wrong way for students.  From experience, I've seen how engaging, trusting environments can foster student growth and learning.  That students receive feedback and that their experiences are acknowledged is a very important part of my educational philosophy.  Further, that students are allowed to learn and not recite seems critical to a true learning process.  That education is plagued by federal and state laws that place emphasis on tests and that they do not have the time or resources to always provide formative assessments would be two things I am passionate about changing in the future of education.

Reflection of January 31, 2011 Class

class Last week's class was a great mix of information and practicality. Starting off with viewing screencasts and providing feedback to our peers was a great way to start. The screencast was such an interesting project that I really liked seeing others' work and hearing opinions. Plus, the feedback part fortuitously led into this weeks' reading about formative assessment (constructive feedback!).

Secondly, the discussion of information literacy was very useful after having picked our own articles to read and reflect on. Creating our own definition was thought-provoking and engaging. It was definitely useful to create our own version of what information literacy MEANS and then see how emerging professionals would define it as well. I learned a lot about information literacy last week and am excited to move forward in this field with the appropriate knowledge.

The information provided in class about the psychology of the research process was, however, the most interesting part for me. I haven't thought much about research lately (because I have yet to write a research paper at SI) and found Kuhlthau's research and model extremely relevant to the work of libraries. Knowing the science behind people's feelings about research can only be helpful when working with someone on a research project as a librarian. When people come up to the reference desk, it's often visible to me how the patron is; most of the time I can tell they are extremely frustrated or in a time-crunch. Those are surface level feelings; Kuhlthau's research about how people feel throughout the process will help me to more appropriately deal with people in my work. Knowing where they are in their process can help me determine how I can really help them.

Further, Barb Stripling's Inquiry Model was so simple that it's amazing to now have this in mind as I consider how people ask questions and what they really want to know. CWICKER (love it!) is a great way to think about the information people need to synthesize what they want to know. The process of connection, wonder, investigation, construction, expression and reflection can be applied to any inquiry process, and it is one that I will consider as I both continue learning and someday, provide instruction. Knowing that these steps will help one get where they need to go in their thinking process will allow me to tailor instruction and my own learning to the appropriate needs of the user.

embedding swf on blogger?

So, Sunday night when I was ready to turn in my assignment, I really wanted to embed my screencast (saved by Jing in swf format) in my blog. I googled and googled and found some "solutions" that didn't work. Anyone know how to do this/is it possible?