Teen speak – or you know you work with teenagers when ….

Let me count the ways – with a little bit of help from a blog post over on TLT: Teen Librarians Toolbox.  Have a look at their post

English: SPOG students (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

and then if you are a secondary school librarian you might want to add a few of your own.  Here are some from me.

1. You greet student librarians with Yo G!  Or it’s alternative What up G!  Instead of Hello there sweetie!
2. You know major players in various bizzarre sporting codes despite having little to no interest in anything remotely related to sport.
3. You are as obsessed with 4 Pics 1 word as your students and you are constantly being asked for help, “cos Miss you know everything right?”
4. Given that the library is gossip central you know the details of far too many teenage relationship breakdowns/startups/on holds, and constantly surprise the students by saying “oh yes I know her Mother!”
5. You have become incredibly sick of telling the students to “Go ask your Mum if you can borrow her copy of 50 Shades of Grey, because no, we will not be having it in here!”
6. You have to guard your Mockingjay pin because even though other staff have no idea what it is, you know that if you take your cardigan off with the pin still on it, you may not ever see it again.  In general you are prepared to have your fashion sense critiqued every day by the fashionista crew who are always hanging in the library – at least that is how it seems at our school.
7. You are well aware that even though the adults may have moved on from vampire romance that is isn’t dead in the hearts of some of your most loyal clients.
8. You know exactly how cool you are if you show year 13 students a clip that they haven’t seen yet, but which is ridiculously funny.
9. You keep having to tell the students that “versing someone is quoting them poetry, not going against them in a match!”  This is a pet bugbear at the moment.
10. Your students stop you in the street and say “hey Miss remember that time when …..”  and you laugh and laugh.

Who sees what you do?

Reading this article in the School Library Journal reminded me of a recent conversation with some English teachers at a conference where I presented on the topic of How To Get a Kick Ass Librarian. Those teachers told me that they really didn’t understand what it was that their librarian did all day. They told me that mostly their librarians were in their workroom and mostly sitting at their computers, even when there were classes in the librarie, and that they wouldn’t think of asking them for help finding them or the students resources, they didn’t seem to think that their librarians would want that.  Frankly, I was shocked!

I asked the teachers what they thought the librarians were doing on their computers and they told me that they had no idea.  One even told me she had worked in the librarians office for a period of weeks in order to find out what the librarian did all day and at the end of that time was no wiser. They told me that the librarians very rarely came out of their workrooms and then only to tidy shelves and maintain the library.  They said they thought there was a complete lack of understanding of what librarians did.  I think there is a complete misunderstanding of what librarians can do!

This is a problem though.  I investigated further.  I spoke to English teachers at our school.  I asked them if they had experienced ‘the librarian is in the workroom and is staying there syndrome’  and there was an overwhelming yes response to that.  They suggested that it is not normal practice in schools for librarians to be out in the library assisting them and their students.  So, all the current talk in SLANZA circles about EBP and proving how what you do makes a difference to teaching and learning in your school is for naught if school librarians are not out in the library and making that difference, but instead are sitting in front of their computers doing …. something that is probably very useful to them, but not to the students and teachers they are supporting.  And we are support staff, we are supposed to be supporting those people.  Yes through resourcing the library (perhaps that is what some of that computer time is about) but also through working with the staff at your school, alongside them and therefore alongside the students – you know the ones whose learning you are supposed to be making a difference to.  You aren’t going to make any difference to them at all if you sit in your office all day.  Yes you have to do the cataloguing, the processing and all those other library business things, but you have to make a difference and the only way you’ll do that is to get out there and be with the people using the library.

Image: ‘Lego Blogger Picture’
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25969181@N00/375779781
Found on flickrcc.net

Now I’m not suggesting that you are a teacher, or even a teacher aide.  I am suggesting that you are the best resource in the library.  That you know heaps of stuff about what you have in there, where you can get more, that you are a key person with a distinct role in the school, come on folks, talk yourselves up, get out of the office and live up to the talk.  You know your school needs you, needs your skills, needs the resources you provide.  Get out, sell yourself, sell your services and get out of that workroom.  You can do the workroom stuff when classes are not in the library.

So who does see what you do?  Is it only you?  Who would notice if you didn’t do what you do?  How many of those things you’ve always done are vital to the students and teachers experience of the library?  Have a think about it.

Dewey 398.2

Oh yes, myths and legends!

I love this Thinglink from Librarians On The Fly.  My new fave blog.

There was a question recently on the listserv about how to choose books for senior students, there was a deluge of responses with suggestions of ways and means.  This image has some answers to that question.  Also, in the ‘This irritates me constantly department’ I always resent it when people assume that I have time to read during paid work hours.  Seriously?  Haven’t you looked into my workroom, that mass of paper, books half processed, projects half completed, displays half put up, planners all over the show, timetables being adjusted.  Oh and look I’m not in my workroom, I spend at least half of every day out working with teachers and students in their classes.  Oh how I’d love the time to sit in a cosy chair and read at school – oh wait that is what I set it up for the students to do!  Lucky sods.

School Libraries and Diverse Student Needs

Dr Ross Todd discusses school libraries and diverse student needs.

What to do with weeded books

You could try this with your weedings for the year!  I’m feeling inspired to issue a challenge and wondering what the boys would do.  I think it is awesome.  It is from Cathy Jo Nelson whose blog is always full of good ideas.  I found it as I was reading about censorship here.  Another great post.  I’m just heartily recommending Cathy Jo.

The State of Wikipedia by JESS3 – Celebrating 10 Years of Wikipedia

“The State of Wikipedia not only explores the rich history and inner-workings of the web-based encyclopedia, but it’s also a celebration of its 10th anniversary. With more than 17 million articles in over 270 languages, Wikipedia has undoubtedly become one of the most visited and relied upon sites on the web today.”

The video features the co-founder, Jimmy Wales as the the narrator.

Very clever, interesting and relevant, and very well done.

Wise words to take into 2012

It is great when you read something early in the year which you can carry with you in your toolbox of  ‘useful stuff’ as you begin the year.  As you begin the process of indoctrinating your new students to the ways of a new library, helping them to see the value of the library, the services you offer to the school and the students, and getting new staff up to speed with what you do.  Judy O’Connell has posted on Hey Jude a wise and thoughtful writing which made me feel inspired and enthusiastic for the coming year.  I heartily recommend to all school library staff that you head over and have a read.  It is called The Time For Libraries Is Now.  The slideshare is fantastic!

There is a video embedded in the post, which I can’t get to  embed here which is a Core Video in which Lisa Oldham from the National Library Services To Schools, whom many of us have met and it is a great promotional video of the sorts of things that many school libraries in New Zealand are offering, could be offering, best get on and offer!

 

 

The Edublog Awards

If you were looking for new and exciting or old and trusty or deeply wonderful and educationally fulfilling blogs to hook up with, then the Edublog Awards time of year is made for you.  This has always been the time of year I find out that my love of certain bloggers is shared by lots of others, and that the sparky blogs you found by accident and happy chances of happenstance are also sparking thought and action for other people too.

Over on the Awards blog they have helpfully made a table with all the blogs nominated on it for your viewing pleasure.  Head on over to here and find yourself some new PLN people.  (View it as a webpage here)

Online Safety – some shocking stats

Are you a parent of young children?  Do you parent teenagers?  Do you work in a school library?  Teach children using online tools?

The video below, which came to me from Judy O’Connell’s Scoop-it makes some scary watching.  Especially when you think about how often kids are online, and how nobody feels confident to teach online safety.

(SNS stands for Social Networking Serivce)

Virtual tour of Australian school libraries

OH WOW!

Judith Way – one of my library heroines (read more about her here) has achieved this grand feat. A fantastic inside view of lots of Australian School libraries.  Just WOW!

I found out about this from here (another great blog I follow called Brave New World – it’s all kinds of awesome too)