A Book for Chicago Right Now

Like most educators in Chicago Public Schools, I am feeling exhausted and weary after this incredibly rough year. The strike was one thing, the budget crisis another, and now the 3,000 layoffs. Librarians were some of the main jobs on the chopping block, and our community is beyond angry - just resigned to disappointment in a school system that refuses to acknowledge the need for skilled 21st century educators. But the one thing that I keep being impressed by is how my laid-off colleagues are staying on message. I haven't heard a single educator ask, "How will this affect my pension?" Rather, they ask, "How will this affect our kids?" 

I just finished reading G. Neri's devastating graphic novel Yummy, the true story of Robert "Yummy" Sandifer. As a young member of the Black Disciples, Yummy made national headlines in Time Magazine when he shot and killed Shavon Dean in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood. He was 11, she was 14. The story is told by another boy named Roger, who gives us a complicated picture of Yummy. He's a reckless force who beats up Roger and shoplifts. He's a little kid with a squirt gun and a teddy bear, with a prostitute mother and a father serving time. After the murder, Roger seeks to answer one simple question: Why was Yummy the way he was? He gets answers from his classmates, his teachers, the news, and President Clinton himself - but he never gets a clear answer. Roger's own brother Gary is a member of the Black Disciplines Nation - what happens to his Gary after the story? I was chilled by the comparison given to Yummy by Monster, the leader of the Black Disciples: "Right now he's just a pit-bull puppy, but when he grows up, watch out!" The same gangsters who offered this boy solace end up shooting him in the head, to take the heat off them.

So whose fault is it when an 11-year-old joins a gang? Greg Neri doesn't specifically give an answer, but instead gives readers a large picture of the complicated community our kids are snarled in. I've been building relationships with kids in schools for a long time, and I want to clarify something for the reader: there are definitely "Yummys" out there, more than you know, and their pain is real. I'm just a librarian, and I'm not the person most qualified to discuss the topic, but I do know from my experience that for every "Yummy," there are many "Rogers" - amazingly curious, intelligent, resilient kids with the passion to stand up against a prescribed future. Children are not pit-bulls, they're humans. Please don't walk away from this story with a sense of devastation. Walk away from this story with the knowledge that children are powerful, and they have the power to choose.

Everyone in Chicago must read this, especially against the backdrop of school closings. Schools are the safe havens from gang violence, and often the one stable place in a kid's life. When they're closed, the good work of dedicated teachers is undone and children are endangered within the walls of the new schools. CPS teachers are fighting to give the children of Chicago the tools to build their own futures.

Do me a favor and sign the Daily Kos petition to Rahm Emanuel, telling him you prioritize the safety of our kids over a basketball arena for DePaul.

Extra Resources for Educators
- Vimeo: Book Trailer (AMAZING)
- Interview with Author G. Neri and Illustrator Randy DuBurke

A Love Letter to Neil Gaiman

I first heard Neil discuss The Ocean at the End of the Lane when I attended the 2012 Zena Sutherland Lecture at the Chicago Public Library. Amusingly titled "What the %$#& is a Children's Book?", Neil discussed how he delved into his childhood memories to write a story about a child for adults. In this story, a nameless protagonist revisits his childhood home after a funeral, and remembers the Hempstocks - a group of women with an "ocean"-pond in their backyard and ties to the mystical world. In the lecture, Neil discussed how we are protective of children's books, but that we rarely give children the credit they deserve for facing their fears through reading.

Right now, I am digesting Ocean.  I'll be honest and say it wasn't earthshattering, compared to my other favorites The Graveyard Book and the Shakespeare storyline in Sandman (the one that I could write a dissertation about). I don't really feel the need to pick it apart, but it has left me with a thoughtful note, as his work always does. The story's tone is elegiac, and the style reminded me strongly of American Gods. Neil's stories allow darkness to creep in through your nose like being underwater. He always reminds us that stories rarely contain flat "monsters" and "people." I felt it in Ocean - the characters are always a lot bigger on the inside than they appear. His child-characters are always so resilient too, which I love as a children's librarian. As a kid, I had to retreat into my imagination to deal with the things I couldn't understand to survive. My mind was a shelter from the things I couldn't deal with, and books were the bricks keeping me safe from the cold. As an adult, I sometimes forget the strength in my imagination. My library students are the ones who now bring me back home to that book-shelter whenever I need it. Great authors will always make you remember what's important to you, and give you the strength to fight for it. 

When I met Neil after the lecture, I was too starstruck to do anything other than to blurt, "MY FOURTH GRADERS LOVE GRAVEYARD, YOU HAVE MADE THEM READ." Even if it was awkward as hell, I'm glad I told him that one thing. (What else was I supposed to say? "Everything you write makes me love Humanity, Neil?") Because I love my students, and I always connect to the fact that they must be resilient, more than regular children, and we need more authors like Neil telling them it's okay to use your imagination and fight back against the strange monsters in this world.

We need you, Neil. Don't ever go away.

ETA: Did you know that Neil publicly confesses his love for librarians? SWOON.

Learning Management Systems... with GIFs!

UGH, GRADING. (Amirite teachers?) You have a zillion papers in front of you and half of these middle-schoolers didn't write their names. F's FOR ALL OF THE CHILDREN.

                                     

I HATE paper. Who does paper anymore? It's a huge waste for everyone, and it's easily lost - which is no good in these days of the portfolio/data-driven teacher. BUT, technology can fix it!! One of my goals this year is to do a better job at grading - or, like a tech geek, find a way to automate it so I can check myself. This is where Learning Management Systems come in. LMS's are websites where students can submit work and manage their content digitally. (So if you're a recent college grad, you're probably familiar with Blackboard or Moodle.) LMS's are awesome for all three groups in a school:

For Us: They can automate our grading, and collect evidence of learning to share with parents. All of your grades and assignments are easily composed and compiled in one place. AND you can differentiate more easily by sending out different assessments to user groups. HELLO SOMEBODY. 

For the Kids: Make it easier for the kids to track their progress. They get immediate feedback, too! No surprises at the end of the quarter! No excuses for incomplete work! 

For Parents: No more angry phone calls, because they can check child's progress online - often from their PHONE.

Here are 4 popular LMS's that I've implemented: 

1. Flubaroo Scripts for Google: Many school districts use Google Apps for Ed, or integrate Chromebooks. If you send out Google Forms from Drive for assessments and Exit Tickets, you probably have to do a lot of grading still because you have to read the submissions. Add Flubaroo scripts to automate the grading! 

***FREE.

2. Edmodo: I used Edmodo in my library, and my colleagues use it in middle-school stations. This is "Facebook for School", and it has a lot of app integration. The layout is also really manageable for students who are overwhelmed by website layouts. 

***FREE, but first check with your Tech Coordinator to see if your district has a license - we need the special Chicago Public Schools code to use it on our wireless. 

3. Schoology: Schoology is a lot like Edmodo, but fancier. It seems to work a lot better for iOS, and to me, the layout is more attractive for middle-school and high school. 

***FREE.

4. Project Foundry: For those of you with budgets (maybe?), an arts high school colleague just showed me Project Foundry, which is a portfolio project-tracking program/learning management system. It reminded me of IB because it enforces a lot of reflection and planning in the "process." I also like that it seamlessly integrates Google Apps. 

***This one isn't free!!

Now go forth and transform your grading time, super teachers! 

Inquiry Project: Make a Shoe

This Design activity was originally facilitated by Jason Reagin at the Texas IB Schools Workshop, but I'm totally inspired by it (coughSTEALINGITcough) and using it as a big opening for a unit on sustainable materials. :)

My colleagues were divided into groups of three, and given the task: make a shoe that works. Seems pretty crazy, right? I first thought of companies like TOMS, who make simple shoes that support sustainability in other countries. Since IB is about thinking globally, I also made a world connection to how the USA wastes textile materials like rubber. As the Librarian/Tech person, I want my students to think about waste and recycling, and to develop a problem-solving disposition towards this nebulous problem. 

In Jason's session, we were challenged to take on the role of the students and experiment with the IB Design Cycle to facilitate critical thinking. I have written this post as a "reflective lesson plan" that addresses standards/content from the IB MYP Unit Planner, so if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments. I'm also brand-new to IB, so I invite all feedback, even if it's just "hey librarian, that makes no sense."

The Challenge: How can you make a functional and appealing shoe that has at least 1/2-inch sole? (Only parameter!)

UNIT INFORMATION
Key Concept: Systems - making students think about how recycling systems affect the world    
Related Concepts:  PE/Health (adaptation/environment)
IB Area of Interaction: Approaches to Learning
Branch of Technology: Materials
Inquiry Questions:
Factual - What happens to our shoes when we're done with them?
Conceptual - How can we reduce the volume of non-biodegradable textiles in landfills by making more environmentally-sustainable (or biodegradable) shoes?
Debatable - Will people actually buy these shoes?

INVESTIGATIVE INFORMATION: According to The Environmental Protection Agency, only about 15% of post-consumer textiles (such as shoes, clothes, bags and belts…) enter the recycling stream, while 21 billion pounds – about 70 pounds for each person on Earth – ends up in landfills each year. 
Thank you Girl Scouts of Atlanta - this is a great facts sheet!

Measures of Success
1) Function - does it work? and 2) Overall appearance - is it attractive?

Given Materials: 6 file folders, 1 glue stick
When I asked if we could use other materials, our presenter Jason gave me the sly response of, "These are the only materials I'm going to give you." This sort-of winky permission allowed my partners and I to go digging in our bags for other things, which I think would be engaging for kids.
***Added Found Materials!: Stapler, Paper Towels, Scissors

Drafting process.

Inquiry Process: Flummoxed with the materials, my team started with Google Images as a tool for inspiration. My team had two people with a fashion background and engineering, which gave us a small leg-up on the beginning part of the inquiry process. My background in graphic design wasn't helpful at this point, because we were focusing on functionality, not aesthetics. We first decided a target audience (who the shoe would be for), and also the function of the Shoe. These were important inquiry questions before even starting, and a facilitator may have to guide middle-schoolers to think about this before starting. We decided on making some comfortable menswear, since everyone else around us were making elaborate sandals.

Next, we had to struggle through the 1/2-inch sole parameter - how do you accomplish that with paper? So we experimented with "springs" made out of file-folder cardboard, but found that they weren't strong enough to sustain the weight. I think we experimented too much here, which could eat up students' time.  However, we jacked some paper towels from the bathroom (found materials!), and found that rolling them had a similar "airwalk" quality that the springs had.

Failed springs, composition of the sole. 

Final Prototype: We decided to market our final product as "Cloudwalkers" - a reference to our base material. Easy to slip on after working out - walking on a cloud, weathering the storm! To model the product, our whole session had a fashion show to show off our products, which could be an awesome culminating activity for the unit.

You KNOW you want to buy these!

Formative/Summative Assessments: I would strongly focus on the Year 1 "Investigate" criteria when assessing, because it's my content area as a Teacher-Librarian. I want students to effectively frame the problem, because my kids often have zero background information for global issues. They need that info before they even begin to solve the "problem," which is that we produce shoes that aren't biodegrading in landfills. The Formative Assessment would be plugging in the research, which I would likely have the kids submit to me through Edmodo. The Summative would be developing a design brief, which is where I would plug in my Element of Choice. Giving students choice in design brief gets those aesthetic students on board if they're not good at physically making the shoes, like me. I obviously blogged for my design brief for this assignment, but another group made a fabulous iMovie with their iPad. 

- 2 minute iMovie
- Google Presentation

Reflection/Overall Impression of the Activity: This is a super high-engagement unit I would definitely want to implement. I totally see this activity translating from adults to middle-schoolers. The inquiry process is a critical part of the lesson, it's an authentic design task, and it has so much potential to connect to global topics.

For a Library?: Projects like this transform School Libraries into Makerspaces, which is a great direction. It positions the Teacher-Librarian as a facilitator, not a gatekeeper (!!), and gives them the opportunity to support STEM content. (Since everyone thinks we all read picture books.) The 21st-Century T-L can use both devices and books to drive the research process: they can put students on computer-based research, and also put out nonfiction texts about shoes, cultural dress, or engineering material.

Wondering: I wonder how the activity changes if you add more "parameters," so to say. The instructor will likely get more creative results if they give fewer parameters, but some students really need the parameters to stay on task.

PD Time: Texas IB Schools Conference

Greetings from fabulous Austin, Texas - the furthest South I've ever been in the continental United States. (I was told by the Southerners Florida doesn't count. Must be its own beast.) The humidity/heat is destroying my delicate vampire librarian skin, but Texans seem to love frigid air-conditioning.

Anyhoo, my colleagues and I are here for the Texas IB Schools Workshop, because our school is an IB school! Because IB is super-nebulous, here's a brief FAQ.

What is IB?
That acronym stands for "International Baccalaureate" - an international school curriculum that "aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect." It emphasizes holistic learning, to produce students who are "world citizens" through the Learner Profile.

What am I here for?
Schools get IB-certified by the organization, and ours happens to be one of them. I am implementing the Technology content of the Middle Years Programme (soon-to-be-renamed as "Design") in my classroom.

Where does a librarian fit in?
I'm the only librarian in my session, but there are several different contents represented here: Consumer Ec, traditional Tech, Humanities, Math, and Science. How cool is that? School librarians are natural collaborators, and it's awesome to be in a room with of all these people to hear about how I can better meet their needs.

For the confused people, this content area isn't about necessarily about applying "devices" - it's about inquiry. (A librarian's natural domain!) IB's Tech/Design content is about using your brain to solve big challenges. It's about saying, "We don't know how to do this yet. So how can we collaborate, use prior knowledge, choose tools, and follow through on responsible action to solve the problem?" 

Why am I excited?
I am SO pumped to bring this to my middle-schoolers, and emphasize more project-based learning in my Library. For me, it's about making my Library into a Makerspace.  I get to completely redesign my practice and emphasize that Libraries are welcoming places for all ideas. I get to tell students, "When you find your passion, you're unstoppable. You can solve any problem if you look hard enough for an answer." What could be more exciting for an educator?

Things to Share/Best Practices
* We watched this brilliant short film called Solve for X, which was about problem-solving. The humanity-loving part of me gets choked up over these things. Great thing to share in a classroom.
* Colleagues showed off two projects: the Mousetrap Car and the Shoe Inquiry. Both of these are cool enough for their own blog posts, and I'm TOTALLY stealing both activities.