Mentorship

LIBE 467: Assignment 2: Collaborate and Elevate!

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Overview:

One of the most important “competencies for reference services librarians [is] collaborat[ing] with colleagues to provide service to users” (ALA, 2017, as cited in Riedling, 2019, p. 9). This paper will focus on work I have done with two teachers to help them evolve their practice with respect to effective use of reference resources. Because mentorship is a lot like teaching, it is important to “meet teachers where they are” (WSU, 2015), so I will start a description of the colleagues’ context, give my assessment of their stage of concern based on the Concerns Based Adoption Model (Fig. 1), and then outline the strategy I implemented to move their practice to the next level.

Fig. 1 (Elish-Piper, 2015)

Teacher A: “Eva”

 When I worked with Eva, she was in her second year of teaching. She began her career as we were undergoing the shift to the current BC curriculum and was therefore adapting from a more traditional “stand and deliver and test” approach to teaching, to our current competency-based curriculum delivered through a focus on inquiry.

She approached me for assistance in designing an inquiry project for her grade 8 Social Studies class. In particular, she asked about how to help her students find information once they had drafted their own driving questions. She stated that she did not know how to help them move beyond extracting information from the text book or learning from her lessons. As we have a small reference section in our library, she knew they would be looking to digital sources and she was unsure how to help them in this process.

Because Eva’s stated needs focused on her, I assessed her stage of concern in the first three tiers. Based on her need to understand how to effectively use digital reference sources with her students, she was at the “Informational” stage of concern. Because she was actively looking to co-design an inquiry, her level of use was “II: Preparation”; she had “definite plans to begin using the innovation” (Hord, 1987, as cited in WSU, 2015). My role would therefore be to help her learn more about the effective use of digital resources and show her how to start with her learners. An important part of the TL job acknowledges that “Learners also need to ‘learn how to learn’ through deliberate design of opportunities (CLA, 2014, p. 15).

Effective mentorship looks a lot like good teaching. Thus in collaborating with teachers, TLs are “facilitators… designers, and coaches” (WSU, 2015). When people are taking on a new challenge, it helps to feel supported and encouraged. I therefore reacted enthusiastically when she asked for help and communicated that I was looking forward to working with her and her students. With Eva, my strategy was to demonstrate what she was asking me about with her and her students. In so doing, I was able to provide clear and accurate information through my design of a learning activity for the students. I created a slideshow lesson that I felt would be appropriate given my own experience with learners at this stage about conducting online searches and assessing reliability of information. Not only were her students learning, but she was as well. After the lesson, together we then worked with the students as they applied the learning they had just done and engaged in searches for information, coaching and answering questions as a team. In working together with her class on her project, my goal was to help her relate my instruction to her current practices.

From our collaborative experience, Eva gained greater understanding of effective use of reference resources in her teaching, thus moving her to the next level of concern: Personal, where she will investigate her role in gaining comfort and proficiency with this part of her practice. Of course as her TL, I continue to be available to answer “questions [she is] asking when [she is] asking them” (WSU, 2015).

Teacher B: “Will”

When I worked with Will, he had been teaching for approximately six years and was (is) an innovator constantly looking to push his practice. As such, he was actively engaged in using inquiry in his pedagogy. 

As we were kindred spirits philosophically, we were naturally drawn to collaborate together. In terms of his use of reference services, he expressed to me a desire to help students be more discerning users of information. He was looking beyond just at a simple “should I trust this,” but towards helping his students broaden their perspective. My response to him was that I would help him by focussing on designing learning activities so his students could develop such information literacy skills as identifying bias, considering different perspectives and voices, and examining context. Because Will was asking about the “it” (information literacy) and working towards mastery, I see him as in the “Task” stages of concern. Will was asking for aspects of Management in that he was asking specific practical questions about information pedagogy (“I need help with x”). Furthermore, he needed help with the specific management problem of curating exemplar resources to dive meaningfully into this aspect of information literacy, and as a busy teacher, felt building this lesson overwhelming in terms of his time. This is why it is important for “school librarians to invest a great deal of time and energy in learning which resources are of most importance” (Riedling, 2019, p. 105). However, Will was also thinking in terms of “Consequence” and the impact of his effective use of resources in his teaching. The fact that he was focussed on “the students” (WSU, 2015) with his desire for them to be functionally (information) literate, shows him moving to the upper tier with his concerns. 

If we think in terms of the “bridge”- the process of mentoring and coaching in order to move people through understanding to independently implementing- this stage for Will was consequential. With my support, he was able to “continue to grow”and not have “implementation problems … overwhelm [him].” The task management support allowed him to take the risk he was looking to take and my help with the lesson development allowed him to progress in his pursuit of innovative practices (WSU, 2015). My experience with him was a key representation of my goal as a TL to see “improved student achievement through the refining of instruction for … research and inquiry … skills (CLA, 2014, p. 13). 

Conclusion:

In my work with Eva and Will, I was able to meet each of these colleagues where they were and provide the support necessary to move their use of information resources forward. Taking steps forward can be daunting, so positive feedback, encouragement, and guidance are an integral part of making the crossing of the bridge “safe” and “positive” (WSU, 2015) contributing to a positive culture of “collaborative engagement” in the school to “cultivate and empower a community of learners” (CLA, 2014, p. 10)

References

LIBE 477 “Future Vision Project” Part One: The Final Frontier

emadsen8 Comments
oFace Killah, CC BY 2.0

I can’t help but think of Star Trek whenever I look at the title for this assignment. Admittedly I think of Star Trek a lot in general, but “future vision”- that is the domain of Gene Roddenberry. He had a vision for the future that contrasted with the normally dark science fiction that centred on conflict and destruction. Roddenberry was optimistic and believed that humans had tremendous potential. I guess that kinda mirrors my educational view for the future. I’m optimistic about the futures of my students and believe they have tremendous potential.

It’s up to us to “make it so.” 😉

Originally I had a vision for this project:

the 21st Century Classroom as realized through teamwork, technology and totally awesome projects 

I even like the alliteration. But the thing is, as I sat drafting ideas, I realized it’s too big in scope for this project. I tend to be like that: ambitious with no consideration for my timeframe, busy life and overall mental well-being. This gets me in over my head sometimes. Often, actually. So for this project I am consciously pumping the brakes a little so that I can give myself a vision that I can actually complete on time while allowing myself the luxury of sleeping now and again.

All along my vision for this inquiry project has been to have it mirror the professional journey I’m on both for pragmatic reasons, as I strive to find my way in a new role, and for intellectual reasons, because I know that the program I’m working in is innovative and a promising path for education. Consequently, I want my project to marry my current teacher life with my student life. So I plan on taking my course learning and explaining it and amplifying it with examples from what’s going on in PLP classrooms in my school. 

Part of the pleasant part of this learning journey for me has been how my UBC requirements are lining up with the work being asked of me in the school. At this point, my grade 8 learners are sharpening their technology skills as a means of expressing their learning by not only blogging (like me!), but learning how to use different tools to create different kinds of texts, such as using Keynote on their iPads to generate videos.  The students in grades nine through 12 are making more sophisticated digital work by incorporating different apps, and ultimately using iMovie. I myself, as their teacher, need to get more comfortable with these tools, so I am going to push myself to create a movie for my final project and learning the tools that my students are learning. Even though deep down I just want to write a paper!!! So that’s the how, the format. Imma make a video. 🤮 Now for the what, the content: What will my technology video include?

I would like to include screenshots to show some of the digital tools in action, and explain how they amplify good pedagogy. 

Also, asking the students what they envision would be an effective classroom in the 21st-century is a good strategy. According to John Spencer, the understanding stage of a project involves “authentic research,” anything we do to learn. And one of the things that we advise students that they should do to learn is ask an expert. Who is a better expert at what makes a good classroom than the people who spend six hours a day in one? And, after all, that is our why. They are why we are designing better schools. So I would love to include their perspective on what classrooms should look like as well as perhaps snippets of their work that demonstrate what can be done if we design good tech-infused programs.  

If I’m feeling brave, lol I might even ask students to help me get comfortable with the tools. One of the key aspects of a good 21st-century classroom is the use of feedback for growth, something that our students do a lot of and are quite comfortable at. I think it would be valuable and important to model this with them by seeking their feedback on my work, especially considering that some of them have a lot more experience with these digital tools than I do. I think they might rather find it fun to give me feedback on my fledgling movie work! 🤪

Another key aspect of my inquiry this semester has been to explore the power of mentorship and team in education. So I would also like to include the perspectives of the members of my team in this project. I hope to be able to interview them and include clips of what they say. I think it would be valuable to model my learning on the value of bringing in various perspectives  to strengthen a program.

Potential outline for my movie:

  • The why: goals for the education system (“the educated citizen”) and skills in demand in the 21st century
  • What can be done with tech:
    • Creativity
    • Collaboration
    • Expanded learning options
    • Adaptive advantages/different ways of showing learning
    • Not just learning curriculum, but learning tech skills
    • Authentic: we learn and communicate online
    • Problem-solving
  • Concerns:
    • Helping kids with their executive function 
    • Inequity

This still seems like a LOT for a 3-5 minute video. So I will go into it with the understanding that I might have to narrow it even further. If that’s the case, I think my angle would be the role of technology in levelling the playing field for all kids. But we’ll see. Maybe I just won’t sleep! 

LIBE 477 Inquiry Project Blog Post #5– The Incredible Journey

emadsen4 Comments
Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash

I’m a big proponent of reflection. As John Dewey famously said, “We do not learn from experience; we learn from reflecting on experience.” As a teacher, I have even found that I have gleaned more about a student’s learning from a reflection (when done right) than from the project itself. Because learning is a process not a product. So while this blog is great (ego much?), it’s what has gone on in my head that is truly the magic. And now I shall try to encapsulate it for you!

This process has actually been quite valuable for me and, interestingly enough, not necessarily why I would’ve predicted. I was a little bit hesitant when I heard we would be doing blogging for a section of the course because it does elevate the pressure because you know other people are going to be reading it. But my primary stressor was because I knew it would take me extra time because it was not just information and thinking: it was a skill. I had to learn how to do something on top of the normal research and writing skills that go along with the course. I know how to student. I did not know how to blog. I USED to blog, but it’s been about a decade so I had to re-learn. However, as luck would have it, it has turned out to be extraordinarily valuable, because I am now having to teach and do blogging with my grade eights. (Check out Kennedy’s page— with their permission, of course– to see some of the awesome things the students are doing after only two short months.) And next week they are going to be starting The Geek Out Blog Challenge, so if you look at my blog and you see a page at the top and wonder why it says “Geek Out,” it’s because I am creating a dummy page to work with along with them. So I am definitely further along, prepared to help coach students at blogging than I would have been a month ago!

One of the things that stands out to me the most, and that I kind of find surprising, is the influence of having other people in my small little learning group. I find that I really look forward to seeing what the comments are. This is an important reminder that sharing our thoughts and sharing our learning is valuable. And that everyone benefits from feedback!!! It is also nice to know that there is an audience for your work, and someone is actually reading it. This I connect to the program I’m currently working in because one of the important aspects of project based learning is to have an authentic audience for your students’ work so that they have a purpose for doing it that is beyond just the teacher reading it. This also elevates the work because other people are going to see it. I know I put more time into the assignments because of their public nature. Not only is it visible to our class, but I chose to use my employer sponsored blog, so it’s readily available to my colleagues (and students!). In reading my colleagues’ blogs, I also find it really interesting to see how many different perspectives there are on one prompt, and I think it enhances my learning because then I get to see not only the avenue I decided to go down in my research of my thinking, but I get to learn about the directions that other people discovered. (And I learned about Bored Teachers on Instagram.)

I think, rather than selecting one topic that resonated with me, I would focus on an observation that I made: the interconnectedness of it all. The independent journey that I’m on, for example, is influenced by the team that I am working with, and down the road, hopefully this learning, both through my UBC program, as well as my own development as a professional, will be a benefit in influencing others around me as I look to be a resource to them. I suppose, however, if I had to pick a topic, it would be the last one where I explored the issue of inequity within our province. I spent way more time on that assignment than any other, so that indicates my level of interest. Furthermore, it was a topic that was particularly close to me because of my professional experiences.

All students should be this lucky!

I also think it connects to that bigger picture of the types of schools we want to create both as teachers and teacher librarians for 21st-century learners, so I think that this topic was important for me in terms of going forward in this course, because as I look to my final project of my vision for the future, I know that my vision requires equity. All the great pedagogy and mentorship and collaboration among professionals in the world is not useful if the infrastructure isn’t in place.

In terms of development in my current practice, the part of my learning so far that resonates with me, and is steering my inquiry, is the realization of the strength of the team that I work with. I, despite having been a teacher for 24 years, feel like a beginner, because there is so much new to me in my current role. I have made progress in terms of learning how to use new digital tools, and in understanding and developing project based learning units. However, as I wrap up my first project of the year, I know I have a lot to learn. Fortunately, I have a lot of great people around me with experience. The best thing I can do is lean on those willing and able to help me! When I first started thinking about my inquiry project, I knew that I wanted it to mirror the experience I was having as a professional for obvious practical reasons. Acknowledging that I still have a lot to learn, I think this was a wise choice. I think, however, as the school semester has unfolded, my focus has narrowed. I am less interested in the tools and the pedagogy because those are, I think, less complex. I am more interested in the collaborative dynamic and the concept of mentorship. I also happen to believe that as a teacher librarian, that is one of your most important functions in a school. Therefore, I think it is the topic that I am most interested in exploring further.

 

 

Onward on the journey!

LIBE 477 Inquiry Project Blog Post #3— The Life of Bryan

emadsen3 Comments

 

 

Meet Bryan.

 

 

 

This is a photo of Bryan at the circulation desk in his North Vancouver high school library. If you know Bryan, you know this is obviously a staged picture. You see, he doesn’t spend very much time sitting behind a circulation desk because he has so much else to do!

Bryan is a very good teacher librarian. What is it that makes him so good at what he does?

I have a vivid picture in my head of my elementary-aged self hanging out in the library (I was a cool kid, obviously) and it was the home turf of a the quintessential 1970s librarian: bespectacled, of course, middle-aged mousy woman with a soft “ssshhh” voice. She was the gatekeeper of books. And I think that’s about it. Seven year old me thought she lived in the library with the books. It didn’t even dawn on me at the time that the woman might actually be a certified teacher. If you wanted a book, she could help you. Other than that, she made sure that the library was a silent hub of inactivity.

Unlike Bryan’s library, where there is so much going on! While it would be fascinating to get a student’s perspective on the library, I’m going to focus on the teacher perspective, something that is for a lot of people “behind the scenes,” so we can see what it is that the the modern TL really does (and should do).

So you’re a teacher. You know ICT is one of those buzzy educational phrases. You know you should be “doing inquiry.” You want to amp up your pedagogical prowess. Why is Bryan potentially so valuable to a hard-working, curious teacher like you?

I think the modern day teacher librarian basically has to do three things well:

  1. Be likeable and approachable
  2. Know their 💩
  3. Be helpful: show what they can offer (and advertise if they have to)

So let’s analyze our friend Bryan.

First of all, he is always good for a travel tip (from Portland, Oregon to Pyongyang, North Korea) or advice for a good place to eat anywhere. (Thank you, Bryan, for recommending Burgers in Paradise in Maui.) That information might not seem pertinent, but it actually is. You see, what Bryan understands is that in order for all his many skills to be put to good use in the school, he needs to first and foremost be approachable and likeable. After all, who wants to seek help from someone who’s grouchy, judgemental and unfriendly?! So it definitely helps that Bryan is funny, friendly and approachable. “Humour…serves to break the tension and provides momentary relief from the hard work” of being a teacher. And have food on hand. Teachers like treats: “Advertise food when you want teachers to join you…” because the offerings help “sustain a community of practice” (Kimmel, 2013) .

 

 

 

Collaboration time is better with ice cream sandwiches!

 

 

Next, now that people like their TL and are happy in his company, Bryan needs to give them a reason to want to spend time in his company. The key to being able to help other teachers develop their professional skill set is to first sharpen his own. As Dr. Kristen Mattson writes, it’s important to be “equipped” because the modern TL needs to;

  • curate content– both physical and digital
  • be the inquiry guru
  • coach people on information literacy– there’s a lot of unreliable garbage out there!
  • be the master of digital literacy and help people navigate both web searches and academic databases because “most of our information has moved into digital formats”
  • be an advocate for the ethical use of information– so darned easy to just copy and paste!

A good TL knows the digital world; they stay “up to date with social media and technological trends” and model and encourage their use “where they are relevant to learning” (Herring, 2017). Your awesome TL maintains a quality library website- his “digital learning commons.” You can follow him on Twitter (@bryanhughes), Instagram (@bryanhughes) and Tik Tok (hint hint, Bryan). A good TL is always learning, playing with new things, attending conferences and workshops and keeping on top of what’s new and relevant.

That’s a lot. But if a TL’s teaching colleagues realize just how many skills they have and in how many ways they can help, then they have the potential for “rockstar collaborative relationships” (Mattson, 2017). We’ve already established that Bryan is the kind of person people want to be around. He knows his 💩.  So how do people discover how helpful he can really be?

He needs to drum up some business! 🥁

A good teacher librarian will seem to be everywhere (except at the circulation desk). They insert themselves into as many contexts in the school as possible. I used to be a little bit judgemental of TLs who left the library at lunch to eat with their colleagues in the staff room. I thought, shouldn’t they be in the library when there’s kids there who need them?! However, now what I see is that the teacher librarian needs to be “where the teachers are” and needs to be part of the conversation and needs to be listening to them and hearing them talk about their day so he knows what their needs are and he needs to be in the conversation so that they can see that he might be able to help them with what they’re doing and they can get a sense of everything he knows and…and…and.  “The teacher librarian does not make instructional partnerships by… waiting to be approached.” They need to “get out [of the library], make friends, and be willing to jump in when a need arises!” (Mattson, 2017).

A good TL is on a constant recon mission 🕵️‍♂️ to know the needs of the school and to find opportunities to engage in discussion to communicate their value. A good TL serves on as many committees as possible. A good TL attends as many department meetings as possible. A good TL invites themselves into any scenario where they might be useful. A colleague and I planned a “lunch and learn” last week so she could give me some help with a new tool. Bryan just showed up too– because he’d heard there was ICT learning going on. I was impressed that he had his ear to the ground and even knew we were meeting. And his presence enhanced the quality of the learning. (Though not the lunching. He didn’t bring food. Bad Bryan!)

 

 

Bryan leading the collaborative learning of the PLP team, demonstrating a new tool and driving the conversation on team teaching. A good TL knows who is doing good stuff and joins in to amplify the awesome!

 

The TL’s true secret weapon is TIME. Teachers never have enough of it. If a TL can add an extra set of hands to the work we do, they will be welcome in any scenario. If a TL is “willing and able to contribute,” (Mattson, 2017) who would turn that down?! “I don’t need any help. I can do everything awesomely all on my own!” said NO. TEACHER. EVER.

If you’re a TL (or a fledgling one like me), be Bryan. If you are a classroom teacher wanting to partner with an awesome TL, sorry, but he’s taken!

References:

Herring, J. (2017). The future role of the teacher librarian. http://www.scisdata.com. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-100/the-future-role-of-the-teacher-librarian/

Kimmel, Sue C. “Pass the Chocolate: Planning with Teachers.” Knowledge Quest, vol. 42, no. 1, 2013, pp. 48–51., https://go.exlibris.link/Wn9kHJCs. Accessed 23 Oct. 2022.

Mattson, K. (2018, September 27). The librarian as an instructional partner. Medium. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://medium.com/inspired-ideas-prek-12/the-librarian-as-an-instructional-partner-38b2d374bbec

 

 

LIBE 477 Reading Review Part C: Navigating the Rabbit Hole

emadsen1 Comment

I sense a theme emerging in my observations: despite my age, being a learner is transporting me back decades… too bad it didn’t also cure my arthritis. 🤪 (Or advise me to buy Moderna stock.)

 Even though I’m old and learned how to learn the old fashioned way- from lectures and books- my brain has been co-opted by the Google, and exactly like my adolescent charges, I just want to find the answer!!! I want to type in the search and copy and paste whatever Google spits out from its convoluted algorithm. Alas, that is not effective, discerning research, so I was forced to actually think and try to make sense of all the digital goodies waiting for me down the rabbit hole.

As far as my ability to find articles goes, I found it started quite slow but then got more efficient and effective after I’d learned a few things:

  • Primary observation: I needed to get more specific with my search terms, otherwise my searches were yielding far too many potential candidates for me to consider in a reasonable amount of time, and I was having to sift through things that were not necessarily pertinent to my inquiry. For example when I was searching the UBC library database, I needed to specify secondary teaching because I was encountering a lot of articles specific to college and university teaching. And there were THOUSANDS of them, so even reading the overview was futile.
Bonus points if you get the reference!!!
Source: startrek.com

 

  • Another obstacle I had was that I was very specifically looking for information that was going to help me in my current professional context. What that meant was that I wasn’t learning about the topic in general like I traditionally do when I’m learning something new, where I do the learning and then ultimately down the road apply it to a given context. In this case, I really very much wanted to find resources that were immediately applicable to what I am doing, so that made the search process more complicated. (I guess this is more evidence of my Google-addled brain: I crave instant gratification!) Consequently, as I was painstakingly conducting my research through the lens of my own inquiry, I found resources that I think are quite relevant indeed.
Source: medium.com

 

  • I was also reminded that we often have resources available to us in human form that can help us with research and recommendations. It wasn’t until I was nearing the end of my research that I remembered that my teacher librarian colleague had already curated a number of resources that were very specific to my pedagogical context and therefore relevant to my inquiry. How much time could have been saved if I’d turned to the information master of my universe sooner…
Source: thegeeksdaily.com

 

  • Another observation is that when you know exactly what you are looking for, obviously it is easier to find it. For example, I was looking for videos on YouTube about High Tech High in San Diego. Obviously I quickly and easily had a successful search. And obviously that doesn’t happen much in the world of online research…
I googled “Worf I protest I am not a merry man” and got EXACTLY what I was looking for!
Source: tvtropes.org

 

  • I found it quite easy to locate current information on my topics in my broad, general Internet searches as opposed to the UBC database where I was encountering information that was outdated. When, learning from my mistakes, I included dates in the parameters of my search, I came up with very little. Obviously when you are looking for resources on the integration of technology into learning, something that is over 10 years old is no longer going to be that valuable a resource. Therefore, I would say that I was more challenged trying to find scholarly literature on my topics as opposed to still very valuable (and I would argue “scholarly” given those involved in their creation) resource websites such as Edutopia or ASCD.
When science borrows from science fiction
Source: cbc.ca

 

To conclude, my key “big picture” observation: Becoming a learner again gives me empathy for my students. One of the challenges is managing distractions. That includes environmental, like things around me that take my attention away, such as cats that want to be played with. There is also the temptation of the wider Internet and notifications coming in. (Extra difficult when searching on YouTube, the ultimate rabbit hole!)  And lastly- and who knows if this is a challenge that any of my students have- 🤪 is the need to stay focussed on the task at hand and not get lost reading stuff that is interesting, yet not directly relevant to the assignment you’re working on. I can only hope my students have that level of intellectual curiosity! 

Literally hovering on my shoulder because she’s being ignored.

 

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