Instructional Reflections

As it's nearing the end of the term and I'll be attending the HASTAC Pre-conference Workshop called Alt-Ac: Alternative Academic Careers Workshop in just around an hour (which I'll blog about next week), tonight's post is taken from a draft of a chapter that I'm writing for my Information Literacy course this semester.  For the class, we had to observe 20 hours of instruction and then teach two information literacy-related courses (all of which I did at the UM Library), and then write a chapter about it.  The chapter will part of a book that includes chapters from each student and will be published as an e-book and then also printed by the Espresso Book Machine.  So, with no further ado, here's a portion of my chapter...

What you learned that other people should know about to improve their own practice

Instruction at the library is something many librarians can do by choice.  It’s a requirement for some positions, and is expected that should assistance be needed to instruct or float (walking around to help students stay on track during the session), librarians will step up.  There are library resources for instructors including teaching outlines, informal mentors, and research-based practice on which to draw.  However as a beginning instructor teaching topics on which I needed fluency, I needed to do a significant amount of work on my own.   This pre-work came to be what made me comfortable teaching, and it has played an important role in my teaching effectiveness.  So, to all instructors just starting out (or those who want to revisit their practice), I present to you my lessons learned and recommendations for diving into information literacy-based instruction as an information literate instructor.

1) Observe sessions
I had the chance to observe many types of workshops with different instructors (and one at another local university) and was able to glean an incredible amount from actively observing.  I learned about keeping energy up (especially if you’re teaching undergraduates at 8:30 in the morning), being prepared for the topic, and different strategies such as walking around the room while talking.  Observation time can give you the chance to sort out your teaching style and think about what you like and didn’t care during different types of workshops.

Take the time to sit in on a variety of instructional sessions and don’t be afraid to step out of the box to observe workshops that are in a different field or even location (such as a public library or other university, if you’re an academic librarian).  Ask colleagues in your workplace if you can watch their sessions, or even float if you feel comfortable.  Sit in on technology workshops, citation workshops, database workshops, and other types of sessions that can give you a varied view of instruction.  While you may be teaching workshops on how to format citations, the instructor for that database class might have a teaching style that is more “you.”  By observing different instructors in different settings with different topics, you’ll gain a more rounded view of what instruction means for students and for you as an instructor.

2) Consider your audience
Instructing undergraduates, PhDs, faculty and staff within a few weeks of one another really caused me to think about the audience of the workshop while I was preparing to teach and actually instructing.  Teaching different types of groups requires thinking about the prior knowledge of the participant (while admitting it’s impossible to actually know this - especially when teaching a one-shot workshop), the basic skills they may or may not have, and why they are attending the session.  More specifically, undergraduates may or may not have visited the library before, and one can cautiously assume they are familiar with computers in terms of web browsing, but they quite possibly are only at the database workshop because it’s required for their class.  On the contrary, participants who attend the computer basics workshop are presumably there because they feel they are lacking computer skills and really want to absorb the workshop materials.

3) Conduct background information on previously taught sessions
Most of the sessions I taught had been taught before by many different people.  I was provided with teaching outlines, but this only gave me part of the story.  It was incredibly useful to talk to instructors who’d taught the session before to find out what works well and what doesn’t work so well (for example, some databases might not handle simultaneous use as well as others - and that’s helpful to know!), and how participants might react to the material.  In a database workshop I co-taught, by talking with my co-instructor prior, I knew that one part of the workshop might take longer than predicted, so we needed to keep an eye on the time.  Again, this was useful knowledge to have before getting in front of the class.

Reaching out to other instructors to prep and debrief workshops is an effective way to network with colleagues and improve your instruction.  Looking back up to lesson learned #1, see if you can observe a workshop you’ll teach in the future and then chat with them afterwards to talk through some of the parts that were great or a bit confusing.  Most colleagues should be open to this discussion.

4) Practice, and then practice again (by self and with others)
This might feel like an obvious step to take, but I’ve observed instructors who were clearly not as prepared as they could have been (and I’ve been there too!) - one of the steps for moving through the session was out of place, their designated search didn’t bring up the right results, or they left out a major part of the workshop.  

Prior to teaching, I set aside time at least one week in advance to talk with colleagues and then actually sit down to practice working through the material.  I follow all of the prescribed steps for the workshop (“now we’re going to go to the library homepage, and in the main search bar type ‘Children and Media.’  This will bring up a page that...) and talk myself through what I’m going to say.  When time allows or I’m feeling particularly uncomfortable about a topic, I will practice in front of other colleagues or classmates to get feedback.  By practicing , and practicing, and practicing, I’ve learned that being prepared is huge in feeling effective and comfortable in front of a classroom.  I’ve also learned that you can’t predict everything that will happen, but that by being prepared for what you can control, the moments that you can’t are much easier to handle.

5) Co-teach
Not everyone might agree that co-teaching is effective or even something they want to do, but if you can find a colleague with whom you work well, having a co-instructor can be very useful to learning instructional skills and teaching styles.  I found a co-instructor who’s teaching style and prep style both compliment and supplement mine.  It’s been a great experience to work with someone who has his own teaching identity but who is willing to talk through instructional strategies and sessions (part of the practice part in #4!) and who is there for support during the workshop and after to provide feedback (see #7).  Co-teaching can be a great way to start getting your feet wet in the vast instructional waters.

6) Teach!
Dive in and do it!  Until you start teaching, you can’t possibly start to reflect and improve on what you can do better.  When I started teaching, I did not have a teaching style and was merely trying to get through the material.  By working with a co-instructor, having my mentor observe my sessions, reviewing the workshop evaluations from participants, and reflecting alone I was able to get critical feedback that has improved my teaching.  I found that the more I taught, the more comfortable I got with different audiences (making quips about dissertation writing with PhDs, telling undergraduates that this tool will really save them time - because who wants to spend more time on citations then you have to) and the more comfortable I got in general.  And the only want to do this was to start teaching - ready or not!  

7) Reflect and debrief
This may be the most important step, not necessarily to start instructing, but definitely for becoming a more effective instructor.  Having a co-teach or observer at some of your first sessions (and even as you progress) can make all the difference in being a great instructor.  At the beginning of my teaching, I stayed behind the podium and, as mentioned earlier, just tried to get through the material.  After receiving feedback, I started walking around the room, pointing more to the screen and became more interactive in my teaching style.  I also worked through some of the examples in the workshop that simply didn’t work as well as I wanted.  Additionally, reflection has helped me consider what I need to do more of in terms of preparation -- more practice, more background information, whether I want a co-instructor or not.  These are valuable lessons on which to build for each and every instructional session I teach.  Don’t be afraid to do this outside work - take this time in your office to write notes, or wait til you get home and can sit and think for a few minutes outside of the setting.  It will be critical to improving your teaching to debrief each session, even if it’s only for a few minutes.  Think about what went well, what didn’t go so well, and what you can improve on next time.  A couple of bullet points can put things into perspective.  And if a session had a lot of issues, think about how you can prevent them if possible, and more forward to making the next workshop that much better. 

And, We're Back! Realizing and Balancing Capacity

It's been a while... for the last time... I promise.  Last I wrote, it was August, right before the madness that is grad school/work.  Now, school has started and work is in full swing.  A colleague in my same position tonight asked, "how many hours are you working this week?" and my number equaled his and we both said, "too much."  It's not that I mind working a lot, because really, the past month has been amazing.  It's more about taking the time to have time for a bit of reflection and knowing my capacity to do things well as opposed to just doing them.

Between last Tuesday and next Tuesday (7 days), I'll have taught 5 workshops.  Whew.  Might not sound like a lot (and I know people teach that much all the time) but what I didn't consider prior to committing to instruct was the prep time.  Now I've taught before, and prepped before, but usually one workshop a month.  Not two a day :)  So, the reflection part of this - AND - the prep part of this all tie nicely into my thinking about capacity.  I know that in order to be a good instructor, prep time is key.  And, that reflection time is key.  And both of those take time.  Luckily, instructing is my job, and my job relates directly to one of my classes (Information Literacy) where part of my requirements are to observe and, ahem, instruct.  So this is actually all great experience.  But looking back on September (wait, what?  September is over?), I realized that most of what I'd done was prep and teach.  Which is good, but I didn't get much else done (homework, wait, what?). 

So, back to capacity - what is the balance between doing a lot and doing well?

I felt over capacity at work last month.  But then I started reflecting; during the last month, I think I became a better instructor.  It felt at the time like I was doing too much, but in reality, I think I was doing the right things too much.  It felt like I was just flying at an unreasonable pace, but that fast pace actually allowed me to not over think or get nervous, but rather just to do my job.  Prep, instruct, prep, instruct.  Reflect, prep, instruct.  And then, all of a sudden, I'm comfortable instructing.  Not that it didn't take hard work, it was just hard to see how that hard work payed off until the reflection came.

So, back to capacity - in the end, I've realized that doing the right things a lot can be very valuable, but that reflecting on that experience is just as important.  My prior knowledge of instruction, paired with my whirlwind month of September did  help me realize that teaching 5 classes in 7 days is not sustainable, but that now I can feel more comfortable teaching in general and helped me realize that I need to reflect to evaluate, learn, and move forward to continue gaining new skills.

Reflection of March 28, 2011 Class

Class last week was kind of a whirlwind - lots of topics, engagement, and interesting discussion.

First, what a treat to have Paul Courant in class.  It was too bad I was totally and utterly swamped the previous weekend through last Wednesday and sat in the back of the class for the first time all semester.  I'm just going to go on the record and say that I think that Dr. Courant is the person to look to for issues in the future of libraries.  I think his economic background, connections across UM and the world, and his realistic and optimistic views of what's happening today and what needs to happen are pretty spot on.  Not that I agree with absolutely everything, but most of it - and most of all, I respect his progressiveness.  It makes me want to be him one day!  (Look for me, circa 2035 Dean of Libraries? :)   I truly appreciated that he took time out of his incredibly busy schedule to engage with us.  However, what I took away most from his talk was his suggestion to be optimistic and don't list the reasons something is hard to accomplish.  I've actually been struggling with this idea this semester.  I've got some big, wild ideas for libraries (school, public, and academic, and communities) but every time I mention them to someone inside the institution, I'm brushed off.  People will say "well we tried that, people weren't interested," or "too many logistics involved..." stuff to that effect.  I will take his advice and keep it with me as I move around the library world and not let those things stop me!  Anything can be done if it's done right with the right people.  So, there.  :)

After Dr. Courant's informative talk (which I did enjoy - learned a lot about the Google Settlement and DPLA, and more), we discussed embedded librarianship.  This was a pretty interesting discussion, many ideas thrown around and it became clear, once again, that we all have different views of what this means.  Maybe its a good thing!  I think embedded librarianship gives people a chance to define their roles in libraries - something that is continually happening more and more and is needed for us to "stay relevant" (boy I'm getting sick of that terminology :)  Our discussion showed that the embedded librarian term can mean so many things and really opens lots of possibilities.  What's to say people won't be come entrepreneurs in this field?  Create this field?  Work from home and become consultants to people who've never thought that librarians could be useful to them (we even discussed an embedded librarian in the mall...).  Pretty exciting stuff... and lots of opportunity here.

Finally, we talked webinars and found our groups.  I'm pretty excited for this... we've got a diverse group and chose to focus on institutional repositories.  Should be fun and challenging.  As I wrote last week, I've not been a huge fan of webinars in the past, so I'm excited to make a good one.  :)

In short, a busy week (filled with sorrow for Prof Frost, overloaded grad students, and interesting topics) that is leading up to the end of my first year of grad school.  Already can't believe it and am excited to move into continuing to use the skills I've learned in this class in my professional practice.

Reflection of March 14, 2011 Class

Class last week was a blast and so helpful to think about issues which will be upcoming (presentations) and that are current (HCOD).  It was extremely useful to discuss the presentations (one-shot workshops) both in the sense of what we could do long-term (icebreaker-type activities) and what we could do with our classmates.  I learned a lot about what to do when it really is a one-shot workshop and that is the only time that I would have with participants such as the basics (bathrooms!), activities to help folks get acquainted, different ways to help people learn material (connecting it to prior knowledge, activities that will help them process what they've learned, and wrapping up/evaluations. 

What I kind of walked away with, was that the content is actually a fairly small piece of the puzzle.  That's not to say the content isn't important, but it seems like what is more important is how I choose to present the material - not just an hour or 20 minutes of information, but the ways that I intend for participants to be introduced to, and process material.  To me, this means MORE planning, stronger objectives, and more intentional learning.  When Kara and I were planning, we kind of said, well, we know we can talk about this, so how do we want people to learn it?  Anyone who is at at workshop could probably talk about the content for as long as needed (especially with Q and A time) so I learned on Monday that we really need to think hard about the focus of the workshop and what we want our participants to truly walk away with (probably 2 or 3 things that they can actually use!)

Then, onto our HarperCollins discussion with Bobbi Newman.  WOW.  What an incredible experience.  To have such an expert talk with us in such a professional way was pretty amazing.  I am not sure I could have learned everything I did in another way, without reading incessantly for weeks.  Her opinions, facts, and relatively neutral point of view were extremely valuable for me to learn about the issue and hear how professionals discuss such issues.  To be able to ask questions to Bobbi, and really discuss with her this topic was incredible and I appreciate very much the opportunity to do so.  It was also really cool to see our class on the twitter feeds of other well-known folks in the field.  Yay!

As I saw on the syllabus, there were no readings?  So I think I'm good on this part of blogging for the week... :)

Reflection of March 7, 2011 Class

Book club week!  And boy, was it not only a good learning experience, but it was fun!  After breaking up into our separate book club rooms, we had to find someone to kick off the class session.  No one was speaking up, per se, and Kara and I had brought candy and had an activity planned to go with our Hansel and Gretel story, so I volunteered us to go first.  While our reflection will go into more detail, I felt we did a great job in our book club (this sentiment was also found in our evaluations).  The candy and drawing activity went over well, and it felt like those two things energized the group - good for the first book club of the night.  We had no issues with getting people to talk, and in fact one of our criticisms on our evaluations was that we cut people off.  This was partially intentional - the time for our club went incredibly fast and we wanted to make sure we had discussed enough topics.  All in all, the book club was enjoyable and fun.  One thing we did differently than every other group was split our discussion up; half was us discussing the story and the other half was discussing how we would use this in a youth book club as YA librarians.  It was a unique twist on the book club and one which I thought worked well.

The other book clubs, those of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, The Landlady by Roald Dahl, The Four Habits of Highly Effective Librarians by Todd Gilman, and the Nightingale and The Rose by Oscar Wilde, all went really well.  It was interesting to see how others approached their story or article, and interesting that only one group chose to discuss an academic article as opposed to a children's story.  The largest challenge I saw for all groups was the issue of time (wanting to get questions in and going over, or having to modify plans as we did while going along).  Each book club was unique, however and I felt we delved into all of the topics thoroughly.

Overall, it was a great activity and I definitely learned what to do differently next time - especially on issues of timing and bringing out more voices in the discussion.  It went well! 

Reflection of February 21, 2011 Class

Ah yes, it seems so long ago, the month of February and our wonderful guest speaker Vicki Brown, and our discussion of book clubs and socratic seminars.  But, what a great class.  Vicki was a tremendous asset to our topic and brought such practical knowledge it is hard to imagine what just reading about library book clubs in a book would be like.  I learned a lot of valuable information from her and her handouts.  The book club kits were a new idea to me and I found myself thinking of lots of ways that communities could engage via this type of book club format (across disciplines, workplaces, schools, community centers, etc.). 

One thing I'm particularly focused on right now is engaging teens with libraries which is why Susan's question was interesting to me.  I am a HUGE believer that we need to empower youth however we can, and was slightly disappointed to hear that the teen book club program was primarily run by librarians instead of teens.  I understand why at least it would need to start that way but see the book club as a way for teens to bring one another into the library instead of librarians leading all the time.  Of course the librarians can still promote and monitor the sessions, but I think teens can do anything and should have the opportunity to.  Other than that (which wasn't even part of Vicki's presentation) I loved it and learned a lot!

Our discussion about book clubs and socratic seminars was also very interesting.  It was helpful to learn about the types of questions, and then employ this while developing our own book club questions.  It was also pretty awesome to hear the socratic seminar modeled in class... it was a great way to see the possibilities involved in this method in a real way.  I did not ever really participate in such an activity in my schooling so it was helpful to both read about and see this in action!  Now, I'm excited to run our book club!

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!

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.

Screencasts and Last Week's Class - How to control your privacy settings and lists of friends on Facebook!

Update!  My screencast, embedded:

Since I added SI643 after the first class, last week's session was my first.  I enjoyed the energy of the class, as well as the interaction.  The mix of focus on the assignments, readings, blogs, and hands-on activities was invigorating and helpful for staying engaged over a three-hour period.  I really enjoyed the progression of the class - it displayed much of what we read about successful instruction for week 1.  As well, our discussion of experts and novices was a helpful supplement to the reading.

The screencasting activity was extremely helpful in guiding my work for the screencast assignment.  Not only was it *fun* to look at other's screencasts and evaluate them, but it was very educational.  In my screencast below you'll you'll see application of the many of the techniques we learned.

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