Improving Disposition

I have been researching librarian dispositions this semester, and for a recent assignment was asked to narrow these dispositions down to the five I felt to be the most important. If you're wondering what exactly a disposition is, Lillian Katz defines dispositions as a "pattern of behavior exhibited frequently... in the absence of coercion... constituting a habit of mind under some conscious and voluntary control... intentional and oriented to broad goals" that can be caught and taught through modeling. 

Narrowing down to just five patterns of behavior that librarians must exhibit was quite a challenge! As librarians we must be empathetic, hospitable, professional, collaborative, flexible, respectful, reflective, persistent, open-minded, enthusiastic, reliable, trustworthy, ....How to edit down to just five? Through the process, I was able to reflect on the dispositions that are my strengths and those that I can continue to improve. 

So, after much thought and reflection, here are the top dispositions I believe school librarians must have in order to effectively do his/her job supporting learners with the right resources at the right time....

School Librarian Dispositions

Disposition	What does this disposition look like in a school library?	How could a librarian develop this disposition if he/she felt weak in this disposition?
EMPATHETIC	When an educator has compassion, he/she has a core belief that all people can learn. He/she then works diligently to find strategies tailored to individual students. Librarians do this by taking time to get to know staff and students and their interests, assisting students in finding good fit books, and matching resources with timely needs. Librarians use various scaffolding techniques to meet student needs - show and tell, tapping into prior knowledge, allowing time to talk, pre-teaching vocabulary, using visual aids, and pausing to ask questions.	He/she can make an effort to get to know individual students who are struggling. One idea is to have a weekly “lunch bunch.” When relationships are established, then the librarian will have motivation to find creative ways to support these students.
COLLABORATIVE	School librarians participate in school and district-based Professional Learning Teams. They regularly collaborate toward continued improvement in meeting students needs using data, professional experience, and best practice. Librarians have a shared vision for a better learning environment that supports the needs of all students. In collaborative planning, the teacher brings knowledge of subject content and students needs. The librarian contributes a knowledge of resources and technology, as well as teaching strategies.	He/she can reach out to grade levels, asking to join team meetings. At these meetings, the librarian should listen closely to the needs of the teachers and students.
LEADING	The librarian is instrumental in moving the school vision forward. He/she stays on the forefront of trends and has a love of learning. He/she leads by modeling best  practices and innovative strategies. He/she sets up the library environment so that it is the center of learning. Not only is it the place to find resources and creative ideas and to collaborate with staff members, but where staff and students turn for leadership in learning.	He/she can establish a professional learning network (PLN) separate from the school setting. Twitter is one example of a PLN where librarians can find and share ideas, practices, and strategies.
ETHICAL	The librarian seeks equal access for all, respects intellectual property rights, and is committed to intellectual freedom. He/she models and advocates these for both staff and students. For example, while collaborating on a research project the librarian infuses instruction on copyright.	He/she can commit to personal learning about equal access, intellectual property rights, and intellectual freedom. ALA has many helpful resources to support this learning.
REFLECTIVE	On a regular basis, the librarian reflects on his/her practices. Reflective thinking and self-examination takes place during and after instruction in the library. The librarian has many opportunities for instruction, both formal and informal, so the reflective process is continual. Many librarians are blogging as reflective practice.	He/she can commit to posting once a week on a personal professional blog. In this post, he/she can reflect on the week in his/her library - what went well, what needed improvement, what was unexpected, etc.

In which dispositions are you strongest? And, where can you improve? For me, I would like to focus on becoming intuitively collaborative. I need to do a better job of reaching out to grade levels and individual staff members. This is somewhat overwhelming to me, but I will start with just a grade level (or two) and go from there. Be on the lookout for a post on my successful collaboration (hopefully sooner than later!)

Katz, L. G., & Raths, J. D. (1985). Dispositions as goals for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 1(4), 301-307.

Keeping our Children Safe Online

Media and Tech Specialists in my county are abuzz about an article in today's News and Observer - Mom says Wake schools not doing enough to control Internet porn, violence. As I read comments on the article and emails flying on our listserv, I can't help but to feel anxiety.  In my role as a parent and educator, it is my job to keep children safe, but more importantly to teach them how to be safe. Sometimes I feel that the easiest route with the internet would be to shut it all down. But, then I am reminded of all of the strong 21st century teaching and learning going on at my school. Our students are becoming collaborators, communicators, problem solvers, and critical thinkers...often with innovative uses of technology. Many are becoming independent and confident enough in their technology skills that they are applying their skills at home. While this is everything we hope to see, it comes with tremendous added responsibility for teachers and educators.

Step one in fulfilling this responsibility is for us to go where our kids go (online.) I strongly encourage parents to spend time with your children online. Ask them to show you all of the cool things learned at school! If he/she has an email account or uses social networking (Facebook, Google+, texting, etc.), periodically look over your child's communications. This is not being nosy, it is keeping our children safe while guiding them in making good choices. Trust me (and I speak from experiences), we can find many "teachable moments" as our tech-savvy children share their email communications, texts, and social networking posts.

It is also necessary to touch base on an important issue that escalates with our increased use of social media  - cyberbullying. We've all heard stories recently in the news (or in our own lives) about cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is the use of technology to tease, harass, embarrass, or threaten another person. It can include sending messages anonymously, spreading gossip via social networks or email, pretending to be another person, or sending/posting harmful messages.

As parents and teachers, what can we do to keep our children safe and to help them make good choices online? Let me share an analogy  - Think of water safety....When a child is an infant, the adult carries the child in the water. As the child grows, the adult teaches the child to swim, yet is always an arm's distance away. As the child grows to be a better swimmer, the adult moves farther away, yet is still at the pool with his eyes always on the child. We should do the same when teaching our children how to use the internet - We would never throw our non-swimmer into the pool and assume they could swim - yikes!
Additionally, whether or not we like the water, we know it's imperative to teach them how to swim.

There are many resources available to help our children learn to be safe online. Hopefully these are helpful to you ... 

Digital Citizenship Resources

I am thankful to be at a school where the staff strives for a safe environment, both at school and online. 3rd - 5th grade classes participate in lessons about digital citizenship - internet safety and cyberbullying - at the beginning of the year. Teachers reteach making good choices online as technology is integrated into much of our students' learning; we encourage parents to do the same by continuing to be aware of their child's activities online.

And, to my dear Underwood families....if you have any questions or concerns about your child's digital citizenship skills, you know that I am always available to talk. Together we can safely move our students through the 21st century! 

Promoting Creativity

I was recently asked if promoting creativity should be a goal of librarians. Yes, yes, and yes! Sir Ken Robinson's well-circulated TED Talk, Schools Kill Creativity, gets my juices flowing on the subject....

Robinson brings up many points about human creativity and our children's capacity to learn. We are curious creatures who like to learn. Robinson says that, although our intelligence is diverse, dynamic, and distinct, our education system does not support our intelligences. The system's hierarchy - math/languages, humanities, and then the arts is geared towards academia and academia only. Robinson's story about Jillian Lynn, who choreographed Phantom and Cats, emphasizes this. I wonder, how many students have I told to sit down or settle down? As librarians, we should rethink the traditional principles on which we educate our students. When researching a topic, do we encourage thinking outside the box in ways such as self-selected topics and student-generated guided questions? Do we allow our students to conduct a search for the impossible? Do we not only tolerate mistakes, but also guide students in reflective discussions of these mistakes? When thinking about creativity, I am reminded of Kiran Bir Sethi's words - "a shift from 'the teacher told me' to 'I am doing it." (To see Sethi talking about teaching kids to take charge, see her TED Talk at http://bit.ly/VqPTmo)We should not be spoon feeding information to our students - 1. they most likely won't eat or digest it and 2. this is not preparing them for the future. We do not know what specific information our children will need for the future, but we do know that they will need to be creative thinkers.