Question Two for OELMA Conference Credit
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Comment on the connection between collaborating with teachers and being a teacher leader in your school?
October 12, 2009
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Yes, I agree that Toni does a great job. Our Funny that your should mention the freshmen teachers because at Findlay High School the Freshmen English teachers collaborate with their team teachers in the Social Studies dept. and are competely data-driven when beginning their research papers. We have each team of two in for 5-8 days working on their research, information finding, internet safety, citation, organizational, and library usage skills. It’s very intense but really pays off in the final product. Now that we’ve added turnitin.com they are forced more or less to really work hard to formulate their own ideas! It’s changed the way most students write completely.
The connection between collaborating with teachers and being a teacher leader in my school are directly linked. Albeit a long and lengthy road to get there it is effective and long lasting because the relationship and trust is grown and cultivated. When I first started at the Middle School I had a HUGE stigma to overcome. The librarian who was in the position for the longest burnt a lot of bridges by yelling at teachers and telling them they were breaking her precious rules which were not posted or handed down by word of mouth, save one. Don’t tick off the librarian. Better yet, don’t even go down there. Right at this point you probably are thinking I’m trying to put one over on you. I assure you, I am down right serious. Okay, so now you know why I treat my relationships with my teaching colleagues like fragile growing plants. But so long as you put in time, tenderness and care that plant will grow, my friend. So, I planted the seeds of collaboration my first year there by asking to come to things like meetings and workshops with teachers. Then started coaxing the seed to grow by asking what I could do to help by way of resources and then providing the resources. The next year came time to see it grow stronger by offering to teach a class here and there about finding resources and researching. Now I’m being asked to set up webinars for electronics resources I have added to the collection. I have been asked how to go about getting equipment to facilitate the learning process. I have now created a hungry monster plant. One in which I am happy to prune, shape and continue to feed. This leads to being asked to be a part of committees and provide resources for several different departments. In doing this I have become a leader of sorts. The Gardener. One who has very different departments who need my resources and input on making the fruits of their labor grow.
Teachers are busy people. They strive to meet the needs of all their students and that often means addressing multiple learner abilities in classes throughout each day. When time is limited and responsibilities are great, teachers may choose to not use, even review, many of the myriad of resources made available to them. Sometimes they simply can’t fit one more task into their day.
Collaboration can ease this issue because it provides a way for information gathering to be shared. Teacher librarians, as information gurus, make great collaborators. They lead in the collaboration process because they know that, through it, the quality and quantity of learning will most likely improve. Teacher librarians, with their big-picture knowledge of the curriculum, have the ability to be attentive to resources that fit the specific needs of teachers and their students. This is especially true after collaboration has begun to occur. Teacher librarians lead in the collaboration process because they strive to connect the right resources with the staff and students who need them.
In tips from the NSLMPY winners, Marcoux mentions that the award winners did not shy away from the onslaught of technology in their schools. I think this is a very important place where Library Media Specialists can be collaborators and leaders at the same time. When we opened a computer lab in our K-1 building, many of the teachers were hesitant to jump right in there. We in the library offered to assist them in the lab the first time they took their classes. We met with the teachers before going to the lab to decide what topic they wanted to investigate while we were introducing the students to basic computer terminology. This was very successful and we still accompany classes to the lab. Tomorrow we are introducing a class to PebbleGo a new K-1 data base. By making all involved comfortable in the lab we have paved the way to introduce more resources to our staff and students.
In her article about past NSLMPY winners, Marcoux discusses the characteristics of excellent library media programs. One of the characteristics that makes these librarians teacher-leaders is their ability to stay focused on the school’s mission and vision. Their missions are the shared goals of the school. With that mission in mind, these librarians worked collaboratively with all building personnel; they also analyzed their collaborations and worked to improve them. The library program was completely integrated into the learning of each student.
This type of integration can only happen when librarians collaborate with classroom teachers. Librarians, the information experts, can teach students how to find and evaluate information, connecting them with the right resources. The process of helping students complete a research project can be shared between the two teachers, giving students more thorough preparation before they begin their project. The librarian leads the collaboration process, letting the classroom teacher know how she/he can help teach students the skills they will need. Marcoux describes everyone’s “depth of planning.” That made a strong impression on me, as I think that is key to implementing a strong collaborative program.
I agree with the above comment about the teachers being so busy in a work day that they cannot fit another task in. That is where we Media Specialists have to step up and show our leadership. I have collaborated with many of our teachers just by asking them what topic they are working on and giving the teachers some resource ideas. They appreciate the help and love getting new book, web, and technology ideas without having to spend more time planning. I think that we have to be our own “advertisers” about our skills because people just don’t know about all our talents for resource finding. What did we spend graduate school learning….? I think that most teachers really have no idea about it all. We have to be active and give in a nice manner. That’s what I have experienced.
Thinking of myself as a “leader” has always been difficult. I’m the type of person who quietly works in the background getting done all the things that need to be done. When I became the LMS for the combined middle and high school, I replaced a LMS who was shared between the elementary, the middle and the high school. There was little collaboration done with the teachers. I was lucky enough to have a fulltime aide; this allowed me to begin working with the teachers. Over the years I’ve done units with quite a few teachers in a variety of subject areas. The more I’ve collaborated with teachers; the more trust and respect I’ve gained with the entire faculty. I’ve noticed that now I’ve become the “expert” on all sorts of topics. “How do you cite webpage?” or “What’s a good short story to read aloud for Halloween?” ” How do you make lists in the new e-mail program?” My ideas are sought by not just by the teachers, but also by the principal and different committees. I have credibility with the school board and the community. When I make a suggestion people actually listen; my idea might not be accepted, but it gets heard. Now I go about my day quietly leading in my school.
Part of the leadership and genius of David Loertscher is to challenge our concepts of the “tried and true.” In the article “From Library to Learning Commons: A Metamorphosis,” he follows librarian Valerie Diggs as she recreates her program and space @ Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Ironically, David had been researching/writing a book on the learning commons idea while Valerie had been creating one on her own. This process took time and began with a good program already in place before the re-conception began. Valerie Diggs had the collaboration piece secured before she moved forward in transferring ownership for her space. This was and is a new idea and a risk.
One of the guiding principles of the learning commons is that it is client-centered and client-owned. Students and teachers are just as responsible for creating the space as the school librarian is! Part of this process is a “letting go” of control which can be very difficult for educators to do. It is a scary proposition, but risk in inherent in change, in leadership and in learning. The ability to try something new to benefit students /teachers is a leadership element school librarians must embrace.
By approaching a teacher with whom you have not worked, there is risk for the librarian, the teacher and, ultimately, the students. One might worry; “What if things go wrong?” or “I am not well-versed in that subject,” or “What if the technology does not work and I look dumb?’ If the collaborative effort is not fool-proof, one must remember that failure is an opportunity to grow and learn. We don’t give ourselves permission in school to fail. Success has become too important in our test-driven environment to nurture the new understandings that occur with less-than-perfect outcomes.
As a school leader, I have always tried to keep my failures/lack of knowledge/learning curves out in the open as much as possible. I think it builds trust for the work I do with both students and teachers. Learning how to learn is what we should all “do” at school! To make the process of learning transparent takes time and confidence, something I did not have when I began my library career. Students and teachers will see the school librarian as an educational leader, even a “quiet leader,” as Mary Ann Christopher states, when we are confident enough to take on new people, new technologies, and new ideas without the fear of failure! Then we will find success.
Librarians become the unanticipated leaders in their buildings when they put teacher and student needs before their own agendas – better yet, teacher and student agendas become the librarian’s. I share the sentiment that collaboration only occurs after librarians have nurtured their relationships with teachers and students. For me, it began by asking students what books they enjoyed and teachers what topics they were studying and suggesting book titles or online resources that would enhance learning. Like Kathy Halsey mentioned, being transparent and demonstrating that I too was learning along with the visiting class, opened lines of communication and formed relationships. As teachers became more comfortable with me as a colleague, they became more comfortable in using the library as place to extend learning. My leadership evolved as teachers realized that I was a teacher also with resources and skills and my desire was to serve them and their students.
Taking that role as leader in the relationship is often the key to collaboration with teachers. They are so overwhelmed with all the meetings and other teachers that they are required to collaborate with (such as intervention specialists), that we have to step up and be proactive—showing them that we care about what they are trying to teach. I’ve found that “one step at a time” is important in facilitating a collaborative relationship with teachers, especially those that have become “comfortable” with the units and teaching processes they’ve used year after year. As Sharon Coatney stated in her article Learning to Lead, one of the ways media specialists act as leaders is by “envisioning the future, always looking for new and better ways to promote student inquiry and build a more effective learning community” (p. 43). Teachers need to understand that you aren’t trying to fix something that is broken, but rather enhance it to ensure the highest level of student engagement and learning. For example, I created a pathfinder for a teacher who I knew had an explorer research unit coming up in her class. She was so excited about it that I was able to take the next step of facilitating a collaborative conversation about teaching the research process to her 5th graders. She has since approached me to collaborate on other units she teaches throughout the year. As Coatney addresses in her article, teachers will see you as a leader when they know that your goals align with theirs.
As a new LMS or one who is new to a district or building, collaboration with teachers can indeed make you a teacher leader. It is a process that develops over time and it begins with establishing a relationship with a teacher. Once you can talk comfortably with a teacher, the LMS can approach the idea of collaborating on an instructional unit. Once that cycle is completed, both will undoubtedly do it again and again. The teacher is grateful for input to the learning of his/her students, maybe in an area where they themselves are not comfortable (i.e. using EBSOHost). It then starts to catch on with other teachers, either with teachers talking to one another or the LMS initiating further collaboration. The LMS can say to other faculty members, “when Sue and I worked together I guided her students through EBSCOHost, how to set up an account, how to use the advanced search and how to narrow searches by selection of keywords.” Once teachers hear it was successful for that teacher, they are more apt to try it and turn some of the teaching over to the LMS. Once a group of teachers are pleased with the experience, they will regard the LMS a leader in teaching. They appreciate the willingness of the LMS to work with their class. They recognize that the students benefit from another voice, another perspective. I recently had one teacher tell me that a group of teachers were talking to each other and they agreed that I was very knowledgeable. Once you have the respect of the teachers and are willing to collaborate with them, they will regard you as a leader. As Angela Gess wrote in her article, “Collaboration: Finding the teacher, finding the topic, finding the time,” “The right teacher is eager to collaborate, values your role as the LMS, sees the need for integrating technology into the curriculum, and understands that both the library media specialist and the collection can aide in the preparation for standards for learning assessments.” That is an important aspect, teachers “valuing your role as a library media specialist.”
Initiative. Being willing to suggest a joint effort such as collaboration takes initiative which is a quality that all leaders have. I cannot count the number of times that I have noticed a student working on a project and took the initiative to suggest resources or ideas to the teacher or the student – although this is not a formal collaborative effort it usually becomes one the next time the project comes around. I also know that I have a vision for our library program that is undergoing a metamorphosis – much like the Learning Commons spoken of in Loertscher and Diggs article. I recognize that I cannot do it alone and will need to take the initiative to build more bridges than I currently have. I also know that I should not aspire to totally replicate Valerie’s library but build what is needed for our school at the right time. I want our library to “…become central to teaching and learning because our mission is tied to the mission and ideals of our school and district”. Through being a collaborative leader I believe this can happen.
As another who has stepped into the position of retired librarian, I am also looking for ways to change the staff’s view of the role of teacher-librarian. When coming here a year ago, they saw the librarian role as a traditional one – check books in and out, move a TV from here to there, and watch students on the computers to make sure they weren’t “playing games.” Very little collaboration was happening. Since I have been here, I have made an extra effort to listen to teacher needs and offer my help on anything a teacher needed help on. This year my efforts are paying off. So far I have collaborated with an English teacher on implementing a true research model into her class and just this past week I had a (very non-tech) social studies teacher as me to help her create a project. We went from her comfort zone (PowerPoint) to web 2.0 tools (Glogster). I am so excited! Just as the articles talk discuss, we as teacher-librarians are the ones in the schools who need to take an active role in seeing the growth of the “plant.” As we tend and fertilize the plant, we produce better, effective learners.