When it comes shaking up school to draw in students, we find
even the library taking part. Lakeside Upper School in Seattle, Washington took
note that when students would come into common library when looking for
research or something to read, they would rarely (if ever) request help. Heather
Hersey serves as the librarian and partnered with the school’s director, Sue
Belcher to make this change. They flipped the library orientation by
implementing signs and shirts everywhere that read “Just Ask” on them. Tours and
rules of the library were moved online for students to readily access the
information the night before. The librarians then asked students to read What
Students Don’t Know” at home and then respond to the following statements in a
discussion forum: Why “Students rarely ask librarians for help, even when they
need it” and “Today’s students might have grown up with the language of the
information age, but they do not necessarily know the grammar”. After reading
their responses the librarians found most of the students did not even mentally
qualify librarians as teachers and never thought to ask them questions that
they simply ask Google. From there Hersey and Belcher gave handouts to assess
how the students feel in the library and where focus may need to go in
showcasing the library. It is only the second year they have put it in
practice, but already they have seen an influx of verbalized curiosity.
When I was in high school, I served as a teaching assistant
to the library. Aside from orientation day, the only time students wandered
into the library was to play on the computers if they had a free period. Unfortunately,
our librarian was a very difficult woman to approach with any questions and her
orientations often were bland and long. By flipping the classrooms, I feel more
students would voluntarily venture into the library to seek information for an
upcoming paper or project because they would feel more comfortable due to their
understanding and knowledge of the room. I wish this had been thought of and
implemented earlier.
By utilizing the ISTE Standards for students of communication and
collaboration, flipping the library is creating a space for students to feel
comfortable asking questions with Standards number 2 and 3. They are interacting, and collaborating with
their peers as well as the experts (librarians) through working with technology.
In addition, research and information fluency is at work as they learn to
process data; evaluate and select information; locate and organize information from
numerous sources. By engaging in professional growth and leadership, designing the virtual tour of the library, and facilitating as well as inspiring student learning and creativity, I feel Belcher and Hersey met certain ISTE standards number 1 and 5 for teachers.
Hersey,
H., & Belcher, S. (2013-14). Flip Your Library. Learning & Leading
with Technology, 41(4), 22-25.
Wow flipping the library is an interesting concept, but I can totally see the value in it. Come to think of it I did not ask the librarians for help very much and still don't... Perhaps with a tutorial and tours online that could spark some interest, but I think it would somehow have to be incorporated into a lesson or something to ensure the students watched it. I suppose they found a way to get them to view the information since they said they have seen an increase in student engagement. I think it is important for the other teachers to stress the availability of librarians as resources as well otherwise (as we are all guilty I'm sure) they will just ask good ol' Siri or Google.
ReplyDeleteBecca, I enjoyed your write-up of “Flip Your Library.” I found this article interesting, partially because some of the ideas within are a bit foreign to me. During high school I worked in the library for one year. Throughout college and afterwards, I worked for Carlsbad City Library for several years. And I worked for Champaign Public Library for a couple of years when residing in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Probably at least somewhat similar to your experience, I’ve worked with boorish and obstinate librarians who caused students/patrons to walk away with unfavorable opinions about the library personnel. However – and I’m sure I have a biased view here – libraries themselves are so un-foreign to me; I am very comfortable in them. I found it very interesting that “the librarians found most of the students did not even mentally qualify librarians as teachers and never thought to ask them questions that they simply ask Google.” Questions popped into my head after reading that. How did we get to the point where kids are more comfortable with – or just subconsciously default to – asking questions via technology first, before real human beings? Is this so overwhelming true now that we have cater to this phenomenon: get comfortable asking questions through the computer first, and then human beings second? Or, am I looking at it wrong? It is better for kids to first ask questions via computers? If there a benefit to this that I’m missing? This is probably too obscure of a tangent, but it reminds me of that 2013 movie with Joaquin Phoenix, “Her.” The movie is about a man who more easily relates to a computer program/algorithm that resides within his phone, than to a real person of flesh and blood. In any case, it has long been the job of librarians (especially reference librarians) to answer questions for those who are in the library. Students not realizing this to me true has to be a new phenomenon –is it safe to assume that?
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