Saying Thank You for TexQuest

By Dorcas Hand and Gloria Meraz

As summer ends and we head back to in-service and students in the next few weeks, Texas school librarians are thankful for many things. The national scene is a topic for another day, but our own Texas legislature improved our funding for TexQuest and for the State Library. In order to encourage further increases in the next biennial (2017), we need to strengthen our relationships with our elected representatives so that they already know what we do and why we matter when we show up in Fall 2016 to ask for support.

What better way to begin than to send your reps a thank you note.  TLA’s Gloria Meraz offered the template below as a starting point. Take full advantage of the opportunity to personalize your letter: you are a voter, as are your student’s parents and possibly some students. You might even ask some of them to write letters as well.

As Gloria suggests, add an example of how TexQuest supported student achievement during the last school year; mention how the addition of Britannica will further strengthen student options for this new year. Be sure you tell them how important this state funding is to the local campus and district budgets.

Gloria offered a couple of other suggestions how to embed in your letter information that encourages deeper understanding of why school libraries matter in strong education. A sentence or two is all you need in any of these spots – brief is good.

2015-16 is an “off” year, meaning a year without elections to state office or a legislative session. It is a great time to consider inviting your rep to visit campuses in your district. That invitation will require permission from the district and campus leaders, but it allows everyone to show the best your district offers. Reps enjoy reading to students in the library, walking through to see student projects or artwork on display, or any or many other ideas you and your colleagues may have. Be sure you have your elevator speech ready: why your library is important to student success and strong test scores, how you are collaborating with teachers to strengthen classroom teaching, or even how your library expands the classroom collections in support of differentiated and free choice reading. Deb Kachel offers a great article with details: “InvitingLegislators into School Libraries.” 

Thank you notes seem such a lost art, but who doesn’t like to receive them. Take a few minutes to let your legislators know that you appreciate their work in the statehouse. Send it now, while you are excited to begin the year ahead. Later in the year, you might send a little photo or notice of activities happening in your library. Keep them thinking positive thoughts about strong school libraries. While you’re at it, drop a note to your School Board Rep – it can almost be the same letter! We are a big state with legislators from all over who need to vote on what matters to them and their constituents. Make sure they know that school libraries matter especially to student success and achievement.

TEMPLATE LETTER

Dear Rep. X/Sen. X 

I want to thank you for your support of Texas libraries during the 84^th Legislative Session.  The increase in funding for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission translates into needed support for digital learning resources that benefit students in our public schools and communities across Texas.

The additional funding of $6 million (or restoration really, given the cuts back in 2011) to the TexQuest/TexShare digital library program mean that students can explore xxx [describe how these resources are used/benefit teachers and students in your school].

With # students in my [campus/district], these resources provide equity for all our learners. [You may want to describe a bit more about your campus demographics or give a personal story of how one child used the resources.]***

As you know, school libraries are an essential part of the educational process. School librarians (certified teachers themselves) instruct students everyday on [xx, xx, etc. – provide a brief description of the ways you foster student learning in critical areas –reading, STEM, etc.]***

[If you’d like, you can share some information on your local students’ success rates or state or national studies on the impact of school libraries.]***

I invite you and your staff to visit our school library. We will be happy to demonstrate the use of statewide library resources and the unique and critical role they play in the education process. I would welcome the opportunity to share with you the successes of the wonderful youngsters in our district !

As we look forward to the next school year and beyond, I encourage you to consider the benefit of ensuring that all the children of Texas benefit from strong libraries in their schools and communities. In additional to digital resources, libraries are pressed for increased availability of programs and professionals to help students, parents, and community members thrive.

Thank you for your service to Texas.

Sincerely Yours,

XX

Easy ways to Build Leadership at the Campus Level

by Donna Kearley

Summer is flying by and many of us are beginning to think how to begin the new year from a position of strength. Donna Kearley to the rescue with Part 3 of her thoughts on advocacy. In Part 2, she discussed using Social Media to build leadership skills through your PLN.  This week, in the last of this series, she discusses ways to build your leadership with your administrators and district level administrators. 

Try something new on your campus:

●     Give teachers a written statement of your objective for the day’s lesson and what TEKS were covered.  Make sure to place a copy in the principal’s box. 

●     Post your objective, in student friendly language, somewhere in the classroom section of the library.  Ideally, you want the objective to be visible throughout the lesson such as on a chart or sign rather than a PowerPoint slide.  Remember, slides may not be visible when an administrator walks through – and the poster reminds students what they’ve been learning, even suggests to other students what might be a useful approach. Build the display over the year - what a great bulletin board! Maximize your teaching! 

●     Submit a list of objectives taught that week to your administrator.

○       Back those up with lesson plans especially if you aren’t required to.  This shows the principal you are a teacher and behave like a teacher.

●     Make sure you assess student learning.  Teachers assess and reteach as needed; we need to model the same professional behavior and level of exemplary teaching. 

○       Have students assess their proficiency with the skill being taught. Then combine your professional assessment of their proficiency and share both with the teacher. Work with the teacher to reteach if necessary.  

○       I ask students to share a Stair (something to strive for) and a Star (something they do really well). (*Chappius) This doesn’t mean a formal test.  It can be simple tools such as an exit ticket or using a Web 2.0 tool such as Socrativ or Kahoot to determine what students learned. 

○       Not sure how to start?  Try the free TRAILS  assessment to determine what students know.  You can pre- and post-test student progress.

●     Market your program to all stakeholders: not just teachers, but students, parents, and  administrators.

○       Talk about the skills you bring to the table such as the stages of the research process, digital citizenship, website evaluation, reading genres.  Matching the right book or skill to the right student at the right time is just one strategy we use so make sure we share multiple ways students benefit from librarians.  

●     Use several methods to deliver your message including social media, newsletters, your website elevator speeches AND EVEN library displays around campus.

●     Lead workshops on campus, in departments, grade level meetings or PLC’s.  Once you begin your reputation will precede you.  One year, my principal said to me, “What are you presenting this year at campus staff development?”  Um, I’ll get right on that. And I did.

●     When someone asks you to do something, find a way to say yes.  If it is something you absolutely can’t do such as a violation of copyright, find an alternative solution.  But make sure they leave with a solution.  If a sub has no lesson plans, they don’t care that showing a movie is a violation of copyright.  They just need something for the class to do.  A digital citizenship or website evaluation lesson would be fine. 

●     Ask for time at each faculty meeting.  You probably won’t get time each week but you’ll get some.  If they only give you a couple of minutes, teach one tip to make their lives easier.  Examples:  Techno Tuesday; Build background before a biography research unit by showing a short video clip asking what makes someone great? (Show the first two minutes of “On Getting Up Again”). This sets the tone for the entire research project.  Explain that now instead of copy and paste answers you have activated the thinking of students about what makes someone great.

●     Use Social Media or even email to reach teachers.  One librarian in my district said she started a library Facebook page and she is amazed how many parents are reading it.  She said it has generated more positive feedback for her program than anything else she has ever done. 

Summary

Throughout the three articles on leadership we have tried to offer ideas you can implement to enhance or build your district’s knowledge of your leadership skills. Look back at the previous posts for the ideas you may have forgotten over the summer; with a rested brain, you might see how to adapt a few to your particular situation. Not all of these activities will work for every campus, but hopefully everyone can pick up one (or a few) new idea(s) to implement.  

While we might be uncomfortable “tooting our own horn,” we can and should proclaim loudly the skills and processes librarians bring to our students.   Our students need us to be the town criers helping them with the digital skills and processes needed to be successful digital citizens.

Now that we have “talked”, please share what you are doing to build your leadership skills so we can highlight them in a future TASL Talks.  Sharing ideas of what works helps all of us become better leaders.

*Chappius, Jan. Seven Steps to Assessment for Learning.  Pearson Corporation. c2009.

Build Your Skills: Put Classes, Conferences, and a PLN to Work for You

by Donna Kearley, Coordinator for Library Services, Denton Independent School District

Last month (before the 2015 TASLA conference), we discussed statewide options through TLA and TASLA to build leadership skills.   Here, in Part 2, we continue our discussion with regional and social media options for professional development. 

Your regional service center and social media provide many opportunities for building leadership.   This cornucopia of ideas may be overwhelming, so just try them until you find the one that fits your personality and your school’s culture.   No one person can use all of these tools - well, at least not at the same time!

Your Regional Service Center.  Look to see what is offered from your regional service center.  Most have someone whose position is to build leadership and another person who trains Instructional Coaches.  Many of those workshops are open to a wide range of job titles.  Check to see what is offered in your area.

Social Media is a good way to build your Personal Learning Network.  

• Find someone you admire Twitter and follow them.
• Participate in #TXLChat and/or #TLChat
• Follow other school librarians on Facebook or Linked In.
• Look for ideas for lessons and leadership on Pinterest or Instagram.

Webinars.  There are several sources of webinars including AASL, Edweb, School Library Journal and other providers.  The  webinars on EdWeb have been fabulous. The topics range from inquiry, PBL, Flipped Learning, Databases (Joyce Valenza), and Brain Based Learning.

American Association of School Librarians every Fall.  AASL offers a biennial conference just for school librarians – in 2015, it will be in Columbus OH. Attend Experience, Education, Evolution for practical skills and inspiration. In the other every other years, AASL puts together a 2 day Fall Forum covering a current topic. Recent topics have been "Transliteracy" and "The Anytime, Anywhere Learning Landscape."  I’ve attend these two and both were fabulous; attendees are friendly, inclusive and enthusiastic about the same things you are!.  

How do you begin?  

Start small.   If Social Media is uncomfortable to you, choose one application and learn to use it well before moving on to something else.  No one can be an expert in everything.   

Find a mentor.  Find someone who is an expert in the skill you are learning.  Ask them to mentor you until you are comfortable using it on your own.   

Instructional Videos.   You can find a teaching video on just about anything.   Look for ones teaching you leadership, skills, as well as instructional tips and tricks.  

District Level Activities :

• Stay up on practices like Digital Citizenship.  Digital Citizenship is a federal mandate as part of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).  How can you show your administrators you are meeting their needs in this area?  Are you covering all 9 areas of digital citizenship? If not, you might wish to look at Common Sense Media to see sample lesson plans.
• Learning Commons.   Have you explained to your administrator what a Learning Commons is and what it brings to your student’s learning?  Put together a 5 year plan to transform your library into a Learning Commons.
• Know your district’s goals and how you fit into them.  Present a plan to your administrator of ways you are supporting their goals.
• Invite School Board Members and District Level Administrators to judge competitions, read to students, meet with your student advisors.  They love to be out in the buildings and it gives you an opportunity to make your program visible.  But don’t blindside your principal.  Keep him informed of when Board Members and/or Administrators will be in the building.  
• Create an infographic on your Library Snapshot Day activities and share with people who have the ability to support your program.  

All of these ideas are easy ways to demonstrate leadership and skills.   Stay tuned for Part 3 later in the summer to learn about specific ways to build leadership with your administrators.