This is the second in a series of posts relating to Katie Martin’s book Learner Centered Innovation which I am reading as a part of #IMMOOC 4 Each week I will be targeting suggested blog prompts and reflecting on how the ideas in #LCInnovation resonate with my teaching experiences.
"Yes Day"
Have you heard of this idea? I've heard of grandparents and parents doing this for children as a special treat. No matter what is asked, the goal is to find a way to say yes to any and all safe and possible requests. There is also a picture book with this title by one of my favorite author/illustrator pairings, Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. Following this week's reading - chapters 2-4 of #LCInnovation- and considering Katie Martin's words on designing a learner centered culture of innovation and exploration, I think my ultimate dream goal as a School Librarian is to make every day "Yes Day".
Yes, we have a book on that.
Yes, we can find you a book on that at a nearby library.
Yes, we have a database to connect you with that information.
Yes, I can help you get in touch with that expert online.
Yes, you can choose that for your research project.
Yes, you can come to the library whenever you want to read, research, reflect, contemplate.
Yes, you can build that here.
Yes, you can meet here to work, collaborate, discuss.
Yes, those resources are for students, or teachers, or administrators, or anyone that needs them.
Yes, you can check out extra books on that topic.
Yes, we can help you with that technology equipment.
Yes, to everything you want to know more about because this is a library and that is what we are here for and it's all about YOU the learner.
There are so many challenges every day - scheduling challenges, funding challenges, curricular challenges. I want to be able to say Yes to everything positive that is asked.
I want all my students and staff to see the Library as the land of Yes. Yes we have that, Yes we can help you find that out, Yes we can help you make that, Yes you belong here whenever you need to come and learn something.
The other day I had a teacher comment that it would be nice if a student who wanted a break from the classroom to read could come to the library and have a place to just sit and read any time they needed to. It was one of those moments when I realized that the perception is still often that library is a class. That it happens at a certain time. I want to shift the cultural perceptions as Katie Martin talks about until everyone thinks of the library as a PLACE, not just a class, and it's everybody's place whenever they need it. As @pamlibrarian Pam Harland says, the library should be the kitchen of the school- a place where everyone tends to gather to create, and discuss- as opposed to using it as a grocery store- a place to grab and go. Granted, when you are on a fixed schedule it can be hard to promote that style of library. There are some students who make it easy. I have a few students who come in daily to get things but I have this one student who comes in sometimes multiple times a day when his class is having reading time. He's almost always done with whatever he was reading and needs something new so he comes to the library and just sits on the floor next to the graphic novels and reads. He'll go through book after book until he is ready to go back to class. If needed, the teacher will send someone for him at which point he'll check out whatever book he's on and take it back to the classroom. I love it. It makes me feel calm and relaxed to see him so comfortable in that space. At the same time though, I'll have other student come in for a book and a teacher comes looking for them with comments like, "hurry up and pick something". Or they are sent to us with the directive "you have 5 minutes to pick out a book". I know they are trying to keep to a schedule but I worry that sometimes they think they are supposed to hurry in and out on our account. Can you tell if a book is going to meet your needs in 5 minutes or less? I sure can't.
I feel as if the idea Katie Martin shares about building a learner centered culture and making my personal teaching practice more learner centered are entwined in this idea of the how the Library exists as a unique space within the school. A place where individual classes happen but simultaneously a place where learners are coming and going fluidly as their information needs require it. I have struggled for some time with this juxtaposition and creating an environment where both needs flourish. After reading Martin's ideas on the 10 Characteristics of Learner Centered Experiences, I wonder if the key is in shifting my teaching practice. If my regular daily teaching habits consistently support experiences that are personal, authentic,collaborative, and inquiry based, then perhaps that's a first stage in how the school community views the Library and its place in our learning ecosystem.
My initial plan is to focus on improving my classroom practices to match the learner centered perception I want for the library. More open, more authentic, more student driven, more personal for each learner. More "Yes".