This morning, someone on Twitter reminded me of a blog post I wrote a long time ago, “How Long Does it Have to be?” about how students focused on the length of their research papers because they aren’t really engaged in their topics.

As I was thinking about that, Christian Long twittered out the link to a fabulous post by Chris Lehmann about the connection between caring and inquiry.

And somehow those two thoughts combined together for a realization of my own.

Not only do students often not care too much about the topic they are writing about, sometimes we don’t really care what they are saying either. That may sound like heresy, but once you’ve read 40 papers on gun control, the topic begins to pale unless someone has something new to say.   Like our students, we are dutifully participating in the process because research has to be “taught” and the papers have to be done.

I know, I was a teacher.  And I know sometimes my students “learned to care” about the topic they were researching.   But what got missed, what I missed, was the opportunity to learn all my students did know.   We had a prime opportunity to learn from one another as part of the inquiry/research process, but did we?

Which leads me to Chris’s post about his leadership conversation at Educon:

We were talking about modeling these values as leaders and the idea that teachers need to model inquiry for students as well and Ben Wilkoff asked a great question. He said (and I’m paraphrasing,) “I’m concerned that I don’t know how elementary teachers model their own inquiry in their classroom? After all, there are very few times when they really don’t know the answer.”

And I answered, “There’s one question that we always don’t know the answer to — ‘What do you think?’”

And it hit me yet again that too often our research “assignments” are not really asking students what they think.  And that’s why their papers end up being not very interesting (either to themselves or to us).

But Chris challenges us to do something differently, because, as he says:

Caring about our students is about listening to them. About learning about them — from them. It is, as I’ve written before, about understanding that if we hope to be a transformative figure in their lives, we must be willing to be transformed ourselves.

And that starts with a question — “What do you think?” and then listening, fully and deeply, to their answer. That is the ethic of care made manifest in the inquiry process.

What if our research assignments really asked students to tell us what they really think about topics they really care about?

When we do, students “manifest the care’ that Chris mentions.  They approach the assignment with a real sense of inquiry–curious about their own ideas and curious to learn more about a subject from others.    And when students manifest that care, and when they are researching and writing about something meaningful to them, then we become more than dutiful readers or teachers grading assignments, we become learners who care.   We learn about what our students are interested in.  We want to listen because what they are writing about is theirs, and unique.

We are able to listen to them more fully and deeply.

And when we ask them to write about what really matters, then they have not missed the opportunity to know themselves better.  And we as educators have not missed the amazing opportunity that lies in knowing each of them.

P.s:  Listen to the power of another educator who learned from really listening to his student–another great post that was twittered by Jason Kern this morning.

One of our elementary librarians, Linda Fredrickson, at Barton Creek Elementary, has a great program for students in her library.  She has a library council, composed of students, who help with events/plans for the library and meet on a regular basis. It’s a great way to empower students to feel that it is “their” library and that they are a key part of making decisions.

To support the annual Bookspring Read-a-thon which our district participates in to raise money for books for other Austin schools, her library council decided to create their own Animoto video.  

They took the photos, edited them in Picasa, and shared the video at their school assembly.

Great to see empowered elementary students at work!

Haiti.

Following the devastating earthquake, it has been social networking that has facilitated so much of the information and help that aid agencies needed to know to help survivors.

Amazing stories abound, from the man who saved his life during the earthquake with an iPhone, to the amazing photographs tweeted out by @photomorel in the first hours after the quake, to the posts to Twitter by @RAMHaiti each day, to the incredible work the self-organized Crisis Camps around the country are doing–bringing programmers together of all sorts to create apps that may be needed by relief agencies, to the sole librarian who used a blog and Youtube to collect over 20,000 in three days for relief efforts, to a wiki site Lisa Parisi organized to help children of Haiti for classes to participate in.

From large to small, the network has allowed all of us to be a part of the global community–offering aid, gathering news, and extending a hand.   This is why our students need to know how to use these tools, how to connect and communicate with others, and what/when is appropriate. 

It’s an amazing story that will be repeated in newspaper and magazine articles across the world, because once again it drives home the power of networking.   But even more so, it is a message to schools–our students need to be a part of this global community. 

We need to empower them by helping them build the knowledge and skills to truly become globally connected citizens.  And we need to do it now.  So they can know this:

RAMhaiti     “To drive around the whole city of PauP is too unbelievable. Destruction everywhere.”

When you hear it first hand, what a difference it will make for our students’ understanding that this is all one world, and that they are part of it. 

We know what works for inservice–prolonged coverage of a subject, a mission that people buy into,  small groups, choice, and self-directed learning.  We also know that sometimes a district needs to convey information/techniques/methods to their staff. 

So, how to reconcile those things and still have an effective, productive use of time, so that everyone isn’t just going through the motions and just hoping for a nice lunch?

One word–Inspiration.  Wouldn’t it be nice if on inservice days, that’s what we were fed with our donuts?

Real inspiration–inspiration that makes you go, I can’t wait to get back to my classroom and do this–I can’t wait to see my students–I love what I do.

How do we invite teachers into inservice in a way that lets them know–this is different–we are breaking the mold and what we want to end up with is that you feel inspired?  And is that possible on days when the inservice really is just needed to convey information?

It takes planning to break the mold; a sense of enthusiasm and mission; commitment on both the part of the presenters and buy-in on the part of attendees(buy-in which has to be earned).

It takes true love of your subject to lead/plan such an inservice.  It takes teachers who aren’t tired, sometimes.  It takes giving people a break to learn what they need to know.  It takes interaction and feedback.   It takes care.

But what if–what we wanted to accomplish most of all–was to move our mission forward with inspiration? 

First this has to start with a clear sense of mission.  Over and over I go back to my experience at Science Leadership Academy–a school where you walk in the door and you know the founding principles around which the school is organized.

Everything happens more or less around those vision questions.  And when SLA  held the first Educon conference, it was organized around core questions as well: 

1) Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members.

2) Our schools must be about co-creating — together with our students — the 21st Century Citizen

3) Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around.

4) Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate

5) Learning can — and must — be networked.

What if our inservice year was oriented around core questions–questions our own schools devised?  How would that serve the purpose of inspiration?   How would that move our mission forward more effectively?  How would that improve teacher buy in?

If we make our mission the North Star of our schools–then it will guide everything we do–including our inservice and training.   It will bring that coherence of purpose that inspires, pushes us to try harder, and engages our highest imagination as educators. 

And in both the long and the short run, it’ll be better, more filling,  and more refreshing than donuts.

photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/cindyfunk/2399675950/

Like Joyce Valenza, librarian extraordinaire, I admire his work a great deal.  And I don’t want to come across sounding like some “stuck in the mud” or defensive and staid librarian.  Though there is some merit in his point, I think the picture he painted was a bit misleading.

I found myself wondering why he didn’t seem to get the vitality of many of our “wired libraries” or understand that libraries are(and have often been) the salvation of the economically/socially underserved/elderly/children, especially in this dicey economy.  And that libraries are not just warehouses for checkout but are still widely used for internet access, guest speakers, tech trainings, job hunting, teen hang-outs, reference support, children’s programming, teen mentorship progams,  parent trainings on computer safety,  community meetings,  book groups, social events, and yes, DVD borrowing.   And that many of our websites are twittering, facebooking, meebo-ing and leading by providing tutorials, widgets and links to help keep our customer’s informed and current?

But then I thought if he didn’t understand, then are public libraries, (or school libraries), really telling their stories?   If they were, wouldn’t the average taxpayer know what is amazing about their libraries?  There are libraries that are so clearly vital to their communities like the Seattle Public library or the Charlotte Mecklenberg library that even if you’ve never been there, you are aware of their libraries.  Our local community library is also that way.  I know that because they do a great job of telling their stories.

Now, I do agree with Seth that we need to be helping train leaders as information sherpas and with Joyce’s inspiring message that librarians need to get on the bandwagon and grab the opportunity to lead.

And while it is vital that libraries stay current and relevant, I think it is also  really about relationships and  communication.   If we have a relationship with the community we serve, then we know what is important to them and that’s what we provide.

Because after all, we can complain that our patrons/customers/students don’t come to us, or that we are only providing a narrow service (as Godin notes) or we can get busy finding out what it is our community needs/wants by building strong relationships with the community.  And then we can do it, share it, and then communicate what we are doing.

We have to understand the community we serve.  And that involves talking to them, gathering feedback from them, and marketing to them.   It involves telling our story.   It involves good design in telling our story.   It involves that human relationship conveyed through our policies, our websites, our social networking presence, and our physical spaces.   A library should be an experience.   Like going to your favorite coffee shop, or bookstore, you should “feel” the library’s vibe when you visit their website or walk in their doors.

We may be completely ‘virtual’ someday, or become more of a community gathering/information sharing space or be  cyberarians, but even then, it will be about providing what is needed, what will lead people forwards, and what will create safe launching points for the future.

Addendum:   Check out some examples of libraries which serve their communities in these heartfelt responses to Scott McLeod’s blog post.

Do we begin living them?

photo credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/30971624@N00/2483188081/

I’m imagining a killer app similar to “Bump” for the iPhone or Pokemon for the Nintendo DS where you could bump your Kindle or iPhone and  instead of exchanging addresses or a Pokemon character, you could exchange book passages or entire books.

What happens to copyright and ownership then?  Imagine the utility in this sort of app–teachers could “share” key passages straight to their students’ iTouches;  bloggers could share significant quotes with a simple bump of the phone; libraries could “check out” books to their patrons by simply bumping their device.

But what happens economically to the book market with a technology like this?  What would it look like for print libraries?  book stores?

There may be a lot of issues for publishers to work out for this sort of technology exchange, but the truth is that it’s already technically possible.  Are we preparing for changes like this that will knock our socks off?   Can we even begin to imagine the possibilities?

Correction:   Blogger Walt Crawford rightly drew my attention to the misleading wording in my opening paragraph.  Kindle ebooks outsold print books only on Christmas Day on Amazon.  While my wonderings in the rest of this blog post still stand,  I wanted to correct that detail.

We teach students about managing their digital profiles, but are we managing our own?  And are we making ourselves easy to find for both parents, students, and those wanting to connect with us globally?   Creating a more virtual library also means being easily found.

How can we apply some of  the Librarian in Black’s  suggestions to school libraries/schools?

• Get listed in library directories on Google properly.  You can submit your school library site to Google Directory here.  (Google Directory sites come up higher in search results)
• Make sure you are listed in Google Maps as well.
• Ensure that your library has a link on local websites (like perhaps your local public library–what about local businesses that support your school, local bookstores, tutoring centers that work with students?)
• Your school probably has a Wikipedia page.  Why not add resources like your library research page there?
• Of course, create a presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc. (Students may not be on Twitter but their parents might be, and both will be on Facebook, as Buffy Hamilton suggests in her excellent post Pivots for Change.)  Sarah also suggests creating Facebook flyers or apps too, that are cheap but very visible. (I’m imagining a catchy Facebook ad promoting excellent qualities of your school or listing your library’s services).
• What about mailing flyers that can be posted in your local public library or to local nearby businesses serving students with your website and hours listed?
• Set up a “text a librarian” or “chat with the librarian” (meebo) service.  Students tend to have urgent information needs when finishing projects and this kind of “just in time” help could be valuable.   This may require some publicity to get the service used.

Other ideas to enhance your presence–

• What about checking out the school listing on Great Schools, and submitting an enhanced profile about your school, including information about your library, using this form?  This service is highly used by parents looking to move into your area.

• Consolidate your presence using a service or your own website, so all your “contact” information for your library is easy to find.

• Wes Fryer twittered this recent CNN article about digital business cards.  While that might be ‘overkill,’ on the other hand, as Joyce Valenza often asks, do we have some visible way we are branding our library and materials?  I’m still working on that one, but Joyce’s site/avatar provides a great example of how to have a unifying identity for your library.

The point is to take care of our digital presence the same way we would take care of the appearance of our physical library(or our entire school), making easy to access, easy to find, and easy to understand and use.

As Seth Godin points out in his post “The First Transaction“,

” Digital transactions are essentially free for you to provide. I can give you permission to teach me something. I can watch a video. I can engage in a conversation. We can connect, transfer knowledge, engage in a way that builds trust… all of these things make it more likely that I’ll trust you enough to send you some money one day.”

Our goal of course isn’t an exchange of money, but if we want our students or parents to use our virtual spaces and learn from them, we have to make those first transactions ones that are positive.  When our services are visible and easy to find, that goes a long way to building that trust and enticing our ‘customers’(i.e. students) to come back.

If a student can’t find us, or leave our sites frustrated because things are hard to find/use, then they won’t be likely to use our services.  And they’ll possibly carry that negative impression into their other interactions with libraries.  So what we do at the school level matters for them all the way up the chain if we want our students to become life-long, information literate, library patrons.

photo credit:  “Kind Directions”  http://www.flickr.com/photos/theamarand/3824017071/