Week 10 Reading Reflection

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"

George Bush- Florence, South Carolina, January 11, 2000

How People Learn, Chapter 7

What I found most interesting about this chapter is that none of the teachers interviewed felt that they were done learning.  This is great, but also quite daunting.  I had a sense this morning that not only do I still have so much to learn, but I will always feel the need to constantly learn more.  Returning to college after many years has jumpstarted my brain and I am up for the challenge.

Every teacher has to have expert knowledge of the content they are teaching to effectively teach it.  I was thinking as I was creating my resume and preparing for interviews- that I should only present and express what I know and not what I am trying to remember. As a teacher, the most important gift I can give to my students is to enable them with the ability to make sense of the knowledge being presented to them.  All the facts in the world do not make you any smarter, allowing you to figure out how things work and apply these concepts to satisfy your own needs.  A good teacher provides students with a launching pad built of content knowledge and the tools to make sense of that content knowledge.  I can know everything, but if I don't understand it- then I am only a really good Trivial Pursuit player.

Large class sizes can be a deterrent to interacting with students on a personal level , but solutions to providing scaffolding instruction in a large class setting have already been applied in blended and online learning scenarios.  Our own beloved CTools is an example of how teachers can give individualized responses (and sometimes) instruction and additional instructional tools to help differently-abled learners achieve to the desired level.  Also, our creation and responses to our blog posts helps use to cover a lot more ground that we would if we only had the lecture as our platform for discussion.

This chapter helped me to begin to formulate a model for excellent teaching in any content area (as long as I have the expert content knowledge to present it): 

• Let students drive the direction of the curriculum through questioning and suppositions (guess what- this means you curriculum has to be flexible from year to year)
• Understand the barriers for your content area and know how to help students move past them
• A fun classroom can still (and should) be a learning classroom
• Apply content knowledge to real-life situations to help students understand why this information is important
• Never stop learning and impart this idea to your students through modeling your own experiences

Matos, Motley, Mayer 2010

The term "embedded librarian" is so misleading to me.  To me, "embedded" indicates something that is hunkered down and ready for an upcoming apocalypse.  Anybody ever watch the show "Preppers"?  Maybe a better term for this would be "integrated librarian"?  I can see how both types of "embedding" can have advantages and disadvantages depending on the department that the librarian is serving.  As the article states, the most important issue to consider when developing an "embedded" program is how and where your patrons will actually use you.  Whether online or in person (or a combination of both) the librarian (AND the library administration) need to understand the needs of patrons.  Some librarians try to figure this out through direct contact with students, but I feel (as do others in my blog cohort) that the most effective means of integrating yourself into a curriculum is through teacher contact.  Working with students (through collaborative efforts with teachers) groups at time instead of individually increases contact exponentially and can only lead to an increased use of your services and resources down the road.  Go where your users are, approach them on their terms, and prove yourself invaluable.

Montgomery 2010

As Montgomery points out, webinars are a perfect means to embed library instruction into a teacher's curriculum- providing easy accessibility to library services and resources.  Most of the information provided in this article is pretty obvious- students use the Internet so libraries should be more accessible via the Internet.  This is no surprise, but what I found unique about this article is the focus on webinars as the preferred interactive tool.  Much like chat with a librarian services the webinar provides students with the opportunity to ask questions in order to be provided with a tailored learning experience.  The only problem with webinars is that they usually cannot be provided "on demand" the way a chat service can be.  Would a video chat service make anymore sense?  I'm not sure librarians (or anyone for that matter) would be willing to be "on camera" all day- but providing visual clues to assist with understanding the content of the lesson is always a helpful addition to learning.

Readings

How People Learn, Chapter 7

Matos, Motley, Mayer 2010

Montgomery 2010

Week 9 Class Reflection

What will you do with your "one-shot"?

This week's class was extremely fun AND educational.  I REALLY like how Kristin has mixed-up the lecture format of this course.  We are effectively learning through the experience of "teaching" each other and being "taught" by each other- perfect for understanding how we might function on the job with our patrons.  What I like most about the workshop setting is that even though I already knew a bit about the ideas presented in each workshop- each group made me think about how I would deal with each issue on a day-to-day basis.

The workshop scenario works best when each participant comes to the table with some background knowledge on the topic being discussed.  The key to generating excitement around the discussion is providing new information that participants can consider and bounce off of each other.  This happened quite a bit during our group's workshops.  The topics presented were cultural sensitivity, ethical questions at the reference desk, library marketing through community partnerships, and ethical collection development. All of these topics generated unique questions and new ideas for our group to discuss. What I enjoyed most about the evening was the contributions of others. It helped that we all are familiar with each other, but in a real workshop situation the lack of group cohesiveness would affect the contributions individual workshop participants might actually make- especially with some of the more sensitive topics covered in our workshops. With more time given per workshop- ice breakers (as Kristin suggested) could go a long way in bridging the gap between strangers.

What I liked about our workshop:

• Having a powerpoint presentation
• Providing a handout that made it easy to take notes on

What I didn't like about our workshop:

• We intentionally provided a lot of individual "investigation" time for participants to gain new knowledge on our topic, but this also resulted in a lot of silent reading time. We still had good discussions, though a longer workshop time would have given us more time to generate more discussion.

What I would do differently next time:

• For the amount of time we had, I would have limited the amount of background knowledge that participants had to gather themselves and presented more of it to them so we could have jumped into the discussion sooner.

Week 8 Class Reflection

It's hard to comment on class when you are not there;)

I was excused for a student teaching event. All student teachers enrolled in the School of Education (which includes me) has to participate in a "mock interview event". This involves sitting at a table with three other student teachers as local principals and U of M faculty move from table to table to interview one student at a time. In between the 20 minute interviews we were given the opportunity to provide feedback to each other.

This was an extremely valuable event for me as I have had exactly three interviews in my life- now four.

I just hope my next interview will be for a position as a school media specialist:)

Week 8 Reading Reflection

"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do."  Potter Stewart

Potter Stewart was an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1958-1981.  Appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he was replaced by Sandra Day O'Connor when he left the bench.  A Michigan native, while on the bench he made major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence (guarding against unreasonable searches and seizures).  

Okay, okay... all that information came from Wikipedia.  

I find his quote applicable to this week's readings because- that is the quandary of the librarian.  It is a constant struggle between what we think we SHOULD do, what we MUST do, and what we are ALLOWED to do when it comes to providing access to information for our patrons.  We talked a lot about this in SI 647.  Professor Rieh presented us with situations that posed hypothetically dilemmas and the consequences of providing access to a patron, asking us what we would do and what we thought are our responsibilities would be.  As a result of this exercise, I found myself with I slightly different point of view than my cohorts.  

As a future school librarian- most of my patrons will be underage.  Do I have any responsibility to inform a child's parents if she asks me for a book on suicide?  Should I really provide access to these materials without first asking her purpose for wanting this type of information?  Do I have a right, as a librarian, to ask?  Do I have the responsibility as an adult to be concerned for her well-being?  This is what the ALA Code of Ethics is trying to address.  As the introduction to the Code of Ethics explains, "expressed in broad statements to guide ethical decision making[, t]hese statements provide a framework; they cannot and do not dictate conduct to cover particular situations".  As a librarian serving young patrons, I intend to provide access to all materials requested, BUT if I have concerns about the child's well-being or the safety of others I also have the responsibility as a caring adult to do "what is right to do" and raise any concerns I may have, first with the student, and then (if necessary) address the proper chain of command in my school.  Actually, as a certified teacher in the State of Michigan- I am required to do this.  This responsibility directly conflicts with statements I, II, III and VII of the ALA's Code of Ethics.  How do I reconcile this?  This is where Lenker's article helps me out... my "path must be traveled with care" (p.51).

Lenker's discussions of "vice" and "virtue" and his mini-lesson on theory was a bit dry, but it did help me understand that I DO have a responsibility to my patrons' well-being.  Though he did not specifically address the particulars of dealing with underage patrons, he did address the conflict between blindly providing information to a patron without even considering the implications of doing so and how "complete disregard for the potential moral import of a patron’s intentions amounts to a robotic obedience to a patron’s demands that is best characterized as mindless" (p.48).  I have a responsibility to consider the consequences of my actions.

In addition to the ALA Code of Ethics I HAVE to consider the policies of my library, my school, my district, and my state- because I must weigh the implications to ALL stakeholders as I make my judgements (p. 47).  I believe that I will make every effort to provide my patrons with requested information, but if it is objectionable (in the sense that I feel it might be threatening to my patron or to others), with a degree of tolerance, I should make an effort to determine the patron's intent.  This course of action is a violation of privacy because a patron's intentions could be innocent, but "[c]ooperation with patron requests is not necessarily consistent with excellent reference service" (p.50).  Sigh... it IS a treacherous path.

Readings:

Code of Ethics of the American Library Association

Lenker, Mark. "Dangerous Questions at the Reference Desk: A Virtue Ethics Approach". Journal of Information Ethics. 17.1 (2008) : 43–53. Print.

Week 7 Class Reflection

What happens in book club... stays in book club

What a fun night!  I have to say I was a little bit nervous about how it would all work out- but with good stories, good conversation, and gingersnaps... how can you go wrong?

What I enjoyed about the book club:

As the evening progressed I noticed a burgeoning camaraderie.  It wasn't that we always agreed with each other, but we all started to understand each other's opinions and responded to each other's thoughts in turn.  Some group discussions remind me of that old theater joke, "Blah-blah, blah, blah.... MY LINE- blah, blah, blah-blah-blah... MY LINE".  That wasn't the situation at all for our group.  We were attentive, we agreed, we disagreed, and we built a conversation around the texts we read- not merely contributing random and disjointed ideas and thoughts.

My biggest surprise of the night:

I was pleasantly surprised with how well all of our choices fit together.  They all had a loose theme of "looking to the future"- whether more science fiction or a hope for a better tomorrow (literally).  In every story, there were decisions made- or to be made- that affected each story's outcome.  Maybe a better explanation of the theme that developed is "the consequences of our actions- good and bad".

What makes a good book club:

-WIlling and interesting participants

-Complex stories that are also enjoyable

-A loosely structured format for time keeping and question asking

-Cookies

What can make a good book club better: 

-A round table

-Name tags

  

My main take-away from the experience:

Looking back, it would have been helpful for all of the groups to provide a quick recap of each story before we jumped into our questions.  This would have helped to trigger our memories and ideas to share before we were asked to share them.  In general, the group was more interested in talking about broad concepts- and not always specific details about the text.  Though I did notice when we became too far removed from the text, someone (usually the text's moderator) would highlight a specific line or a moment from the text.  This was a good tool for getting our group back on track.  Finally, I am reminded of my tendency to ask leading questions- so leading that sometimes I just -ooops!- provide the answer to my question as I am asking it.  I need to be more comfortable with silence . . . . . . . . . . and trust my group's ability to devise their own answers.

I just had a thought, Chris and Amber- were we the only all-female book club?

Week 7 Reading Reflection

Spoiler Alert!

Many well-reasoned and insightful comments ahead...    or maybe not

What a great group of short story collections selected by the "Hearts" group.  I enjoyed all of them and found it interesting how all of them fit into the same theme- a theme of the future and the factors that determine it... both in reality and in the author's mind.

The selection Chris and I chose is a short story by Cory Doctorow, “The Right Book”.  It focuses on a small shop that sells books "today", 75 years from now, and 150 years from now.  Written in 2010, to me it is reminiscent of George Orwell's "1984" with its "big brother" approach to writing and the resultant underground book publishing world.  In "today's" society (in a present that is still a bit futuristic) the only text available is a fanfiction-type group effort called "The Story So Far".  The focus of Doctorow's story centers on a small shop that dabbles in individually published books that are segments of "The Story So Far" and how from humble beginnings- Arthur, the shop owner, becomes the savior of the book selling world- or at least what becomes of it in the future.

This story made me think about the value of books.  At some point, in a printed book's life, it's not the words printed on the page that have any monetary value, but the physicality of the book- the paper it's printed on, the cover, any illustrative plates within, the presence of an author's signature, its edition, etc.  This point came crashing home to me during a trip to the Ann Arbor Kiwanis sale this weekend (as prefaced by the weeding of the fiction book collection at the Dexter High School library for the past two weeks).  I thought I might be able to earn some extra cash by selling used books on Amazon, but after scanning book after book, I discovered that the only money I would be able to make would be on the shipping costs of these books.  Literally a dime a dozen- or more likely 12 cents for a dozen- these penny a piece books as valued by my Red Laser scanner were being sold for more at the source than I could resell them for online.  Is this because there were fewer titles available to me right there in front of me, while thousands of the same titles were available online?  

I feel justified in my opinion that a new book is a lot like a new car... as soon as you "drive it off the lot" it looses half of its value.  At the end of a printed book's life the value of it is simply driven by supply and demand. Where is the value in digital texts?  Is it still supply and demand because newer works are available sooner in digital format?  Do we still place value on the creative effort of writing when we can access it through so many channels?  Now that Oprah doesn't have a book club anymore- what is the main driver of determining a best seller?  Thank goodness for libraries.

Oh, "The Beautiful People" by Charles Beaumont- so diabolical- yet eerily possible.  This short story reminded me of my only experience with watching the British television show "Dr. Who".  I am not a fan of science fiction, but my son loves the show so I thought I would watch it with him one night.  All I remember was this panel of stretched skin that once was a woman, but was now the leader of some race of "humans" and considered "her" the standard of beauty- ugh... I left the room and haven't watched "Dr. Who" again.  Beaumont's 1952 story is amazingly in step with this concept of manufacturing beauty to an extreme point.  In "The Beautiful People" everyone must go through the "Transformation"- a medical process to change them physically into society's standard of beauty.  Young Mary- a few months away from her own "Transformation" procedure declares that she does not want to be beautiful, but instead she wants only to be herself and maintain what everyone else in society has lost- their personal identity.  

In today's beauty-focused consumer industry this story does not seem so far-fetched.  Science has given us the ability to genetically engineer medical imperfections out of unborn fetuses... determining the look of your child is also possible, but society does not accept this yet.  WIll we?  Will our desire to be beautiful override our ethical standards of what man should and should not control?  Other popular novels and movies have addressed this topic, but I have never been introduced to one that has addressed this topic at such an early date.  Beaumont was ahead of his time, but it is interesting to read how his imagination can only go so far.  Yes, he imagines a world without books- somehow everyone still is able to do that- yet in his future there is still television, tapes, printed mail, pencils, and rulers.  The imagination can't always eliminate the known in one fell swoop- the future is still grounded in the past.

That is what struck me with Hessler's "Return to RIver Town".  The shock he felt from the drastic changes the once small community that he knew had experienced all because of "progress"- yet seeing the effort made to preserve an important memory of the past.  The town of Fuling, China- once ignored by the Chinese government is now the center of growth and electricity production because of its location at the Three Gorges Dam.  I think of the small town that I grew up in (and still live in) and how little change (comparatively) it has experienced over the 40 years that I have lived there and understand how the people of old Fuling struggle with, yet ultimately enjoy the rapid sprint to an industrial capital that was literally forced upon it.  Dexter might have assumed that same fate IF Henry Ford HAD decided back in the early 1900's that the electrical producing capacity of Mill Creek was greater than that of River Rouge.  Yet, with the almost instantaneous population growth and the positive shift in cultural attitude towards all things American, an extreme effort was made to preserve a part of the cultural heritage of Fuling.  Though now hidden by 300 feet of water- still visible are the ancient characters carved to mark the hydrological events of the Yangste River long before the Three Gorges Dam was constructed.  History was "preserved" at such a tremendous cost. Fascinating. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/underwater-cultural-heritage/about-the-heritage/underwater-museums/the-baiheliang-underwater-museum/

The "Catbird Seat"  by James Thurber was very crafty.  Entirely expecting a murder mystery, it slowly and smartly transformed into something else I was not prepared for- in just a few pages.  Humans are fickle, but ingenious.  This story highlights how our better selves can shine through at just the right moment, but that doesn't always mean that we are innocent.  Both Mr. Martin and Mrs. Barrows' futures are drastically altered as a result of a split decision that Mr. Martin makes.  Not necessarily a rational one, but a decision that is forced on him despite his premeditated intentions- making this story all the more surprising and entertaining.  The future truly can be what you make of it.

"The Bear Came Over the Mountain" highlights the innocence of not youth, but old age.  This story struck home on many levels.  A story about the long marriage of Fiona and Grant, sometimes the description of Grant's seemingly lackadaisical attitude towards his past extramarital affairs made me wish that Fiona WOULD forget him forever as she progressed through the stages of her dementia.  I also foresee decisions that I will have to make about my own parents in the near future and wonder if I will be as ultimately understanding as Grant reveals himself to be.  Will I be willing to purposefully undermine my relationship with someone I love just because I know it will make them happier in the future?  This story brings up some tough issues close to my heart that I will be interested to hear what a younger crowd thinks about them.

Selected Short Stories:

Short story, “The Right Book” Chapter 3 of With a Little Help, full book can be downloaded here: http://craphound.com/walh/e-book/browse-all-versions

Short Story: “The Beautiful People” by Charles Beaumont  - Full text available at:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36258/36258-h/36258-h.htm

“Return to River Town” by Peter Hessler - Full text available at: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/fuling-china/hessler-text

Short Story: “The Catbird Seat” by James Thurber Full text available at: http://jameshilston.com/pages/reading/catbird_seat.htm

Short Story: “The Bear came over the mountain” The full text available at: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1999/12/27/1999_12_27_110_TNY_LIBRY_000019900?currentPage=1