by Dr. Sara Duvall,
Lead for Media & Technology, Skyline AAPS District Library Department
Chair; Secondary Curator,
TEDxYouth@AnnArbor
Hello Texas School Librarians! I’m up here in Michigan where
the crocus started blooming in February. A chance meeting in an airport shuttle
after an ALA Conference connected me with Dorcas Hand, TASLTalks Editor. And
here I am to offer you some Big Ideas.
School Librarians consistently follow research on the impact
of their work on student achievement and the learning environment (i.e. School Libraries Work,
etc.). We teach a curriculum that
supports 21st century fluencies and stretches students to think critically and
problem-solve. Our impact is
statistically significant even in an organization where we see students only
once a week for an hour or randomly throughout the week. As the District Chair for Secondary Library
Services, I seek out ideas...lots of ideas.
Big ideas. Small ideas. Ideas for
how school librarians can create opportunities for any and all students to practice
self-motivated, responsible inquiry along with the 21st century fluencies (Lee Crockett & Global Digital
Citizens Foundation) - opportunities beyond the release time I am required
to provide for my colleagues. Opportunity.
That’s my focus these days.
Opportunity. How does a school librarian create broad
impact on student opportunity in the school, in the community, in the world? To
answer your immediate question - No, my friends, it’s not a question that’s too
big for us. We have to think like
teachers of the future. We have to BE
teachers of the future, today. I keep
this short poem hanging at my desk. I read it every day.
What
is a teacher?
What is a teacher? A guide, not a
guard.
What is learning? A journey, not a
destination.
What is discovery? Questioning the
answers, not answering the questions.
What is the goal? Open minds, not
closed issues.
What is a test? Being and becoming, not
remembering and reviewing.
What is learning? Not just doing things
differently, but doing different things.
What is teaching? Not showing them what
to learn, but showing them how to learn.
What is school? Whatever we choose to
make it.
Allan Glatthorn from Literacy Is Not Enough by Lee Crockett, Ian
Jukes, Andrew Churches
I am inspired by
Allan’s precise spare poetry. I aspire
to fulfill that vision in the practice of my profession, in the evolution of my
school.
Action. So,
today I want to talk to you about just one of the BIG ideas that I use to
create opportunity in our school, the community and the world for all students.
No kidding. This BIG idea touches all
the standards - ALA, ISTE, Common Core, state, etc. It moves students up to
“Transform” on the SAMR model
of technology integration. It stimulates
my natural role as “a guide.” It insists
upon student choice and promotes self-motivated inquiry. It gives Youth Voice a global platform and
stimulates community participation at many levels. All of this is outside of the classroom.
Whew! That asks a lot of a single good
idea. Here’s the story.
The Activism Committee of our Student Action Senate (student
government) wanted to reach out to kids from the dozen or so public and private
high schools in our town to create a dialog among youth and figure out a way to
amplify youth voice to impact the future of our city. I don’t know about you, but on my Student
Learning Network Resources page I
have always linked “TED Talks - Ideas worth spreading” in the Open
Coursework/Experts category. I watch TED
Talks often and recommend them to teachers as appropriate for the
curriculum. I curated an independent TED
event for teachers in my district to share good ideas and future forward
practice. I had a pretty clear idea of what it would take to organize a TEDx
event. So, I put the idea of an independent TED event for, by, and about youth
on the table. I didn’t give an
“assignment” or defend the idea. I didn’t, in fact, say another word. The kids in the committee pulled out their
devices and began collecting information on how to get a license for TEDx (x =
independently organized TED event). One
of the kids projected his favorite TED talk. They began a discussion of how they
could attract kids from every high school to an organizers committee. Without me saying another word - they took
flight with an idea that intrigued them. This flurry of research and discussion
became TEDxYouth@AnnArbor.
Now in its fourth year, organizers are recruited to
represent every high school (public and private). They form into sub-committees
(Speakers, Tech, Hospitality, Marketing and Design). They plan and carry out every
aspect of a one-day event according to the TED
Guidelines. They audition potential
speakers from all the high schools (this year including middle schools) - all
twenty speakers are students. They
mentor the speakers to develop the talks. The organizers recruit students to
volunteer. They speak with businesses,
museums and the public library to set up active spaces for inquiry and
exploration between sets of youth speakers. They train with the local Community
Television Network to operate the cameras, direct the stage and record and edit
the video for upload to the TED sponsored TEDx
YouTube Channel. They recruit
musicians, dancers, poets - all youth.
They design the advertising, the set and themes. They make an
introductory video. They decorate the venue and sell tickets. They set up a webcast of the event
(webcast.tedxya2.org
April 22, 8am - 4pm). They plan and execute advertising in print, on radio and
online. Then they invite the community, their City Council Members, the Mayor,
business leaders, the School Board, University of Michigan students and
professors and other city leaders to come and listen to what they care about
and what they think is important. The Youth Curator, usually an experienced
senior, proposes and tracks the budget, holds the credit card and oversees the
bank account, motivates grant-writing and fundraising, runs the weekly meetings
and meets with each committee to track and oversee progress. I am the curator
of record with TED, but I encourage the organizers to solve the issues that
arise and point them toward resources. My standard response is, “I don’t
know. What do you think?” Of course, I won’t let them leap off a cliff,
but I do let them try out solutions until they find what works. They keep detailed records each year so they
can learn from past experience. I look
to their safety and encourage creative solutions. I sign papers when they need
a legal signature. Other than that, I sit and watch and stand in awe of the
capabilities and scope of interest of today’s youth.
The enthusiasm is spreading.
This year we are launching our first TEDED
Club at the elementary level. The
club meets for 13 weeks with a TED-planned curriculum to identify an idea the
students care about and create a persuasive talk to share out. The club experience culminates in a mini-TEDx
event at the school with other students and families as the audience and the
kids as the speakers.
Okay. TED. That’s one BIG idea. In my own recently launched blog, Invent the
Future (http://www.a2saraduvall.com),
I intend to highlight more big and small ideas - ideas that I’ve successfully
tried in my iCommons
and ideas that other brilliant school librarians share with me. Inventing the
future of public education and school libraries is my passion. Follow my blog
if you want to join the exploration. Also, follow me on Twitter @a2duvall.
I want to leave my Texas colleagues with one last
thought. No matter our political biases,
the students we guide today are the leaders of our democracy tomorrow. Our
work matters today as it never has before! Our role is to invent ways to
expand our students’ experience, so that they can flex their 21st century
skills into becoming ubiquitous. To open
minds not close issues. To guide not guard. To do different things than our
predecessors to change the paradigm of school library services and promote what
students actually need from their education today. We, individually and
together, CAN make that difference.
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