More Kudos for SC’s School Library Programs

So I know many of you have seen this February article from Scholastic’s Administrator titled “Meet Your New School Library Media Specialist: Not Your Grandma’s Librarian…” I’m pretty sure I saw it when someone published it on the SCASL list serv, but I had already seen it in Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk blog too. SC received some really good kudos in that article, particularly for our LMS ADEPT program. What I did not realize was that the AASL Blog had president Sarah Kelly Johns had posted her thoughts on the article in February as well, and best she directly expressed an intrigue with our ADEPT instrument used to evaluate South Carolina Media Specialists.

I know many who actually worked on the development of the instrument, and I’ve had the chance to sit on evaluation teams (as many of you know, ADEPT is not done by a sole administrator, but rather a team of no less than two evaluators, one an administrator and one a peer.) With many of us being “singletons” in our schools, that peer is usually another practicing LMS from a neighboring school. I’ve been involved in the evaluation of LMS’s a couple of times using the instrument, and I must say it is a fair instrument that really reflects today’s school library media program. As a matter of fact, I’ve used my presence on these teams to “educate” principals on the vernacular of a current best practice library, and gotten some of them look at their program compared to best practice, hoping to be a catalyst for change in a school (i.e. showing how a fixed schedule does not really fit the evaluation instrument–that only an open or flexible schedule fits the evaluation instrument.)

Have I been able to make changes for the schools where I served on the team–particularly ones using a fixed schedule and a librarian as a planning period? No, I cannot say I have. I did though get the last school that I served on the team with to increase the school library budget so that the LMS would not be cited in the instrument on the collection when no monies had been allocated at all. I am proud of that instrument too, and hope that our administrators will take a second look at it now–particularly now that we are getting attention from a national perspective. I am also glad to know that activists in our organizations like AASL President Sarah Kelly Johns and Doug Johnson are giving our state kudos for the evaluation program we use to assess LMS’s. Do I think it will be a catalyst for major change? No. I will continue doing my part in educating administrators when I serve on evaluation teams, I promise. But we all know some things look good on paper, and that ometimes the reality bites. I wonder how many LMS’s in our state that have been required to do ADEPT have passed with flying colors, even though they have pathetic budgets, outdated collections, and no time for true collaboration (b/c they are the planning time for teachers)? I would wager many. Also let’s not forget the only LMS’s who have to go through the evaluation program are LMS’s who enter the profession as a first year educator, experienced LMS’s who move into South Carolina (and that is not every district or school, even), or LMS’s who work under progressive administrators who see the program and want to strive for change (and hope that the evaluation will be either a cure-all or cause a vacancy to fill.) Either way it is viewed, I still think the LMS Adept program deserves the merit and attention it is getting, and it makes me proud to work as a teacher librarian in the state of South Carolina.

One more note–for those of you who are using blogs for personal professional development, please note that the AASL Blog has relocated and renovated. Update your feeds to this address. Check out the new and improved AASL Weblog at http://aasl.ala.org/aaslblog or http://aaslblog.org

ALA wants it to be EASY to make leglislative contact

Click on this site (a part of the ALA site) to be able to EASILY make contacting your legislators about library issues! If you haven’t contacted them about the SKILLs Act, and your excuse was you didn’t exactly know who to contact, well ALA is addressing that excuse.
What is the SKILLs Act?

On Tuesday June 26, 2007, Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) introduced the Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act that guarantees students across America will be served by highly qualified, state-certified school library media specialists and will have the library resources they need to succeed.

Best, the site also let’s you know about issues that need ACTION now. Visit the site today to take action. All that is required is a few fill in the blanks and clicks. SO SIMPLE!

Classrooms and Libraries for the Net Gen

I went to a session at NECC by Doug Johnson called “Classrooms and Libraries for the Net Gen” that I really enjoyed. I read Doug’s blog, and so a lot of this content he had shared previously in his Blue Skunk Blog or other writings. But he is a captivating speaker too, and since he promotes literacy and libraries, I support him and attend whatever he is involved in when I can!

Here is the blogged content from another attendee (Karen Fasimpaur of Mobile Musings):

The session focused on various characteristics of the Net Gen and the consequences of those for schools. Here are some observations I took away from the session:

– Doug reeled off a long list of statistics of how the Net Gen is different from boomers or even Gen X. This made me feel old, but also to be happy to be living in a time of so much excitement, energy, and positive change.

– Students in the Net Gen WANT TO LEARN. They just may want to learn different content and with different methods than schools traditionally offer.

– It was suggested that the Dewey Decimal system is losing relevance. (This inspired defensive indignation in the crowd of mostly library media specialists in the audience.) Doug talked about user/student-generated tags as a more relevant system of organization. This is definitely a trend at NECC this year. Are organizations beginning to tag analog content like library books?

– Like others here, Doug encouraged us to be more flexible in allowing students to bring electronic devices, like iPods, handhelds, and even cell phones, to school. Again this is a theme here this year. Doug suggested including students on school and district planning committees to help administration understand the new paradigms of learning of this generation.

– On the subject of filtering, Doug says, “Safety comes from education, not blocking.” Doug’s site and handouts give some thoughtful ideas for how his district is handling these issues.

– Physical place is important. Schools need to be more comfortable and even fun environments. It strikes me that this could be done for little or no cost. I was at a university earlier this week that has done a lot of things like adding nicer student spaces, etc. while simultaneously generating revenue for the school. An associate dean there pointed out to me a Starbucks in the library and said that, while students love it, the librarians were not so happy with it.

– Librarians have a central role to play in information literacy and learning in the future.

See his web page for more thought-provoking details.

posted by Karen Fasimpaur at 8:14 AM

Information Fluency Meets Web 2.0 — Joyce Valenza’s NECC 07 Presentation

This media guru always knows exactly what to say to make me feel I am right there with her! The media guru of the century, Joyce Valenza, admittedly calls herself a 1.8 person, not quite 2.0. She considers herself still in beta, but proclaims to all that it is okay to still be in beta. We are, after all, lifelong learners!

Valenza starts with a a pix of the soldiers from the story Stone Soup. Many want to believe they scammed the village, but in reality, if looked at a different way, they were instead an inspiration for change and a catalyst for collaboration in that village.

With the increase in Web 2.0 tools, our students are living in a very rich media world. As literacy teacher librarians, we should be embracing these tools to teach responsible use. We can model the use of these tools as well through our instructional practices. An IDEAL way to model is to change the way we do pathfinders, and instead of publishing static webpages, make wiki pathfinders! Of course this is just one way, but what a way to jump right in!

Joyce Valenza created a wiki for this presentation that can be easily accessed, and she welcomes its use for us to teach our faculty and staff, and yes, even students. There are some GREAT examples of end products of project based learning here as well, and a ton of ideas for us to start small (while we are still in beta) and grow to become authentic 2.0 users and contributors.

Remember the intro with the analogy of the soldiers and their stone soup? We as professional teacher librarians can be the soldiers of Web 2.0. We can model the use of web 2.0 tools in our own instructional practice, and help teachers integrate their use as well through solid collaboration. I left this session so inspired! Check out her avatar–I’ve got to find where this was made so I can make my own too!

The LMS Portfolio

What should be in the professional portfolio? How do you think it should be arranged?? I wrote an absolute epistle in a response to another blogpost today from a favorite (Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog). And those who know me know I can get really wordy….maybe that’s why i never could get the A in senior English? But I am curious about his question.

In googling this, I did find one who dares to use the www for her portfolio & resume. Her name is Tanya Grant. See what she has created to serve in this capacity.

What tools are LMS’s using today to secure employment? Do you use a portfolio? Is it in a binder, or is it electronic? And above all else, what’s in it, how is it organized, and why?