by Carl A. Harvey II, February 2013

Hats come in many different forms—baseball caps, straw hats, stocking hats, even fedoras. I have to admit that personally I don’t like to wear any hat—I find all of them troublesome and annoying. However, even though I may personally dislike hats, I’ve found that as a librarian, I have to wear a lot of hats—professionally. These hats include instructor, resource provider, technology integrator, literacy support, reading promoter, online guide, facilitator, and about anything else. I confess, though, that I prefer some libraran hats better than others, and one of my favorites is professional development provider.

When I think about professional development, I see a hat that can impact many of the other hats that we wear. When we provide professional development, we wear the hat that everyone notices. We can not only share our knowledge, but we can also make connections to school libraries for our staff and administrators.

MANY CHOICES

There are many models and lots of different ways for us to provide professional development.

ONE ON ONE

As we work with teachers to plan, to create, or just to talk about options, we have great opportunities to show them how to do a variety of things. From simple “how to” questions about using a software program to sharing a new book or website, we can give them useful information for their classrooms. Any conversation with a teacher can be an opportunity to provide professional development and a good picture of what the library represents (often without teachers even consciously realizing what is happening!).

TEACHER AND STUDENTS

Working with a classroom teacher and students is an opportunity for professional development that I didn’t think about initially. Anytime a new resource (e.g., hardware, software) is introduced, getting teachers to try it or use it can be difficult, so the librarian can plan lessons or units for the students that introduces the new tool. Often, the teacher goes through the project step by step with the school librarian, as if he/she is the student. The second time, the same activity or project can be repeated, again with the librarian leading, but the teacher should begin to feel more comfortable. By the third time, the teacher feels comfortable doing the project independently. The teacher eventually feels so comfortable, it is no longer necessary for the school librarian to even help. As a result, the librarian is free to try something new or work with another teacher instead.

BEFORE/AFTER SCHOOL

The most traditional way to deliver professional development is a workshop before or after school. Training can be short—maybe part of a staff meeting—or longer where an entire topic or product/resource can be covered. Many schools have days or times set aside for professional development. Sometimes principals are looking for ideas to put on the agenda, which provides an opportunity for the school librarian. Offering ideas for professional development as well as volunteering to lead sessions can be very appealing to an administrator.

Many schools are using Professional Learning Communities as a way for teachers to talk about practice, data, and what is happening in the classrooms. These meetings are typically divided by grade level or content area. They are a perfect opportunity to have a focused small group. Each building structures the time differently. In these small groups, the professional development can be focused on the grade level, standards, content, and specific needs. As a result, the school librarian can make very appropriate connections.

No one way works best for every staff and every librarian. For me, I found whole-school trainings difficult. Covering six grade levels, trying to find examples that would appeal to kindergarten teachers as well as 5th grade teachers was never easy. The span was just too great. So, for the last several years we’ve been capitalizing on the PLC with small groups, delivering professional development by grade level, which has been much more effective.

ONE EXAMPLE

For many years, North Elementary has had a professional development plan. The plan was typically a theme that helped to organize the focus for the year. The principal kept the theme each year a secret, so that it was a big deal and a lot of fun when it was announced to the staff. He NEVER shared the theme with anyone. Not even the secretaries knew what it was. He ordered all the materials and supplies on his own. The focus always connected back to the school improvement plan. While the staff could sometimes figure out little bits and pieces, they never could quite figure out how he would frame it.

For example, one year the staff got a note to wear tennis shoes to the opening day meeting and the first staff meeting was spent playing the amazing race, driving all through the district getting clues and surprises at all the various stops. All meetings for the rest of that year were professional development meetings that were some type of game.

So the point is, secrecy was a big deal. Yet, one year I got an email that said, “I need to meet with you. Please send me some options in your schedule next week to meet for about an hour or so.” Later that week, when we met, the principal said he had decided on the theme and focus for the professional development plan for the next year. As the meeting continued, the principal said, “I’ve decided what we’re doing next year, but I can’t do it. You have to do it.” So, at this point I got really interested in what was going to happen.

The principal had decided that the staff was going to focus on 21st Century learners and tools. He knew this was not his area of expertise, so he was bringing me in to help plan and lead the plans for the year. In fact, the idea originally came from me because I had been funneling information to him for quite a while. He had finally agreed that we needed to move in that direction. So, we began planning.

We opted to focus on information related to blogs, wikis, and podcasts. We designed the theme so that over the course of the year we would cover all three tools. We also set up a plan so that everyone had the time and support to implement what they learned.

At each meeting, a tool was introduced to the teachers. For example, when we introduced wikis, we divided into four groups. We congregated in the gym where on each wall was a story starter. The groups could add or subtract to the story. Each group had a different color marker. After a period of time, they rotated to the next story, keeping the marker with them. They could again add, edit, or subtract. In the end, there was a collaborative story—similar to how a wiki operates.

During the next week, we started with PLC trainings. I met with each team for forty-five minutes during their prep period. We did a quick “how to” on making a wiki and then spent the last few minutes deciding how we might use that tool in our grade level.

Each teacher could decide where to go from there. They had approximately six weeks to integrate the tool into their instruction. I was there to help them as much or as little as they wanted. Some teachers and I planned everything together. Some teachers did most of it on their own. The choice was theirs, but they had to use that tool with their students. For me as the librarian, it was a collaboration gold mine! The professional development lead-in resulted in many projects and opportunities to collaborate. We spent time planning how these tools best fit into the curriculum.

Following the implementation, we had a thirty-minute staff meeting to celebrate. There wasn’t time to share all examples, but several were selected to show the work done at the different grade levels. We had “awards” for each teacher to celebrate his/her great work and success.

We used the same model for podcasts and blogs. At the end of the year, teachers were told to use these same three tools the next year. But, they could determine when it best fit their instructional plan rather than being confined to a prescribed training schedule. It ended up being a very successful approach to professional development.

HATS OFF!

As librarians we wear lots of hats, but the professional development hat can have a lot of impact on the other hats. As a result of taking time to share our knowledge and skills, as well as make connections for teachers, the school library program can have a larger role in the school.