I think the statement, "the school develops a reading culture in addition to emphasizing that it is just now enough to read at a minimal level" is a key ingredient to successfully getting students to read. To many, intellect is a scary trait, and some politicians, for example, hide their intellectual abilities, emphasizing how they're "just like the common man." (Okay, some don't have much to hide.) Similarly in school, many kids are afraid to be seen as "nerds" or other derogatory terms. Teenagers do so want to "fit in." So how does one change the school culture. I think one way is for teachers to read -- and not all do. This is modeling during SSR as well as discussing books in casual and formal conversation. Another way, if money is ample, is to custom make READ posters with pictures of school staff and some popular kids reading books. And if the Learning Commons can allow it, video tape kids working with and discussing books; other students can access these discussions and perhaps want to fit in in a more positive way.

I was re-reading this chapter and one thing that I love about page 28 is the chart describing the development of learning literacies. One indicator I really like is to teach students to become "healthy skeptics". I can't count the huge number of students who blindly accept everything they read online as truth. It is so important to teach students to develop their inner skeptic.

When I earn a position as a school media librarian, I will integrate some of my previous practices with ideas from this course to impart a love of reading. Even though I had a classroom reading collection of high interest fiction works, they did become stale to students after a few weeks. I would collaborate with English teachers to create a system for rotating class collections. That will allow greater access to students. I would encourage instructors to allow students the opportunity to read what they want for outside reading assignments within the parameters of the academic subject (ie. newspaper, magazine, and historical fiction for a Social Studies class). I found that more successful in getting students to read during SSR and complete book assignments. Instead of traditional book reports, I will guide teachers in creating blogs or PB Wikis where students can post comments on what they read. This reduces copying & pasting and merely summarizing the novel (boring!). If teachers did not have the time to incorporate these Web 2.0 tools, students could post comments on reading blogs such as Teen Book Reviews or YA Metamorphosis and paste them on a Microsoft Word document.

The action items listed for the Learning Literacies Leadership Team, on pages 32-33, have already been copied in a large font for easy referral. I plan to refer to these as I plan library lessons and collaborative units. I think that if we can all try to get on a staff meeting agenda at the beginning of the school year and show how to utilize technology seamlessly with teaching units and reading, we might be able to spark an interest in our non-collaborative, non-technological staffers. Reading can and should equal fun! Readers' Theatre is always popular with the kids, and performing the play to their parents or reading buddies is so fun for them. Reading groups discussing the latest CYRMA book, for example, or doing reader's advisory for peers, or listening to an audiobook while reading text - these are all fun ways to integrate reading skill and fun.

A lesson I've taken with me from a librarian I once worked with in a public library is this: Never feel guilty about what you read. Reading IS FUN! A person doesn't have to always read books about how to make the world a better place; it's okay to read mysteries or historical fiction, or whatever you like. It is the reading that counts. I try to instill this in my students, their parents and teachers (and my husband). The students are thrilled to get their hands on graphic novels or Captain Underpants; their parents, however, feel these are useless. I need a Krashen quote on my library media center walls to cover this situation!

Obviously, as we've discussed in class, all reading counts towards literacy! Students don't only read fiction and nonfiction books, but they read signs, text messages, MySpace pages, directions to use their latest gadget, etc. etc. etc. Making literacy fun AND building on prior knowledge would include some of these "non-traditional" reading materials. Have students write ads for the next cool thing to have - a hoodie that zips up over the face printed with gold dollar signs, for example. Other students could add to the ad or help edit it - add graphics, colors, etc. Let students talk about their reading, whatever it is, in a classroom or online setting, for points or credit in the class. Have them take a position on a topic that's important to them, not us, and have them write their own opinions and read others to comment on them. Start actual books or blogs (or both) to continue these. A newspaper that is ongoing throughout the school year that documents classroom events and other events important to students is a great way to break the ice at first, then continues to emphasize reading and writing all year.

What I appreciate about Learning Commons is that it is an ideal that all teacher librarians can start working toward now, in ways that suit our school populations. I worry at times when we try to put all of our eggs in the technology basket. I do think that access to technology is essential in the Learning Commons, but access is not universal. Even in well-resourced systems in my area, the computers in the library are scheduled all day long with students practicing test-taking software. Learning Commons gives all teacher librarians ways to start wherever they are on the resource and learning spectrum. Anyone can do something as simple as a way for students to provide suggestions for the collection, while trying to alter policies and make the larger vision a reality.

Reading and traditional literacy will always be a part of our mission. While we support and foster traditional literacy we have great potential to be a gateway to the full spectrum of literacies. This is one of the things I love about teacher librarianship - we have an impact on student achievement but stand just a little bit outside the overwhelming concerns of test scores. We can offer more flexibility than many of the other classrooms in the building. Our collections can include every mode and format of information, and we have a variety of guides and coaches to guide students through understanding how different kinds of texts work, and can work for them. Inviting other specialists in to create a true collaborative space is a great idea. I have often seen the library referred to as the "hub" of the school but I think the Learning Commons ideal really takes that to a new level.
I also think that having faculty learning themselves in front of students is a powerful model. Staff development shouldn't be scheduled while all the kids are at home. What a great example of lifelong learning - to let students see their teachers practicing, creating, and learning right along side them.

"The commons is the center of reading and other literacy initiatives for the entire school." YES. To me this seems to be the essential ingredient if the learning commons is to begin to live up to its potential. Without migrating literacy initiatives of all stripes (and, boy, if those of us who've worked even a few years as teachers or librarians were to drum up a list of all the literacy initiatives that have come down the road....) to the learning commons, making it the host/repository/primary resource for this work, then it risks being just what it's aimed at replacing--the library website that everyone bypasses. I can think of the two big literacy initiatives in my school over the last seven years and they are absolutely natural fits for a learning commons environment. Because we don't have anything like it, these initiatives go their own way at each school division and even within each grade level and classroom. There is little happening collaboratively, little exchange of ideas and little student-led participation, other than when initiated at a classroom level. I noted during our last class that part of the work of the librarian in promoting the learning commons is going to be to allay fears that it is replacing reading and replacing the ongoing work already happening. It will be an interesting sell, and making a disparate group of faculty comfortable with it is essential. So, yes, we can evangelize for a learning commons, and should, but we also have to be mindful of what it will take for successful buy-in, making sure that we are addressing that as well, with all the fears, reluctance and just stubbornness that may accompany it. (For ex., there are a handful of teachers in my high school division who've been at our school for 25+ years and who refuse to use e-mail for dissemination of day-to-day agenda and information exchange--they insist on being handed a hard-copy!)

I think its really important to spread the news about 21st Century standards. I'm glad they are included in the book. I find that teachers aren't aware of ISTE, or NCTE and least of all AASL. I really like the AASL standards and pull them out constantly to serve as a checklist to help guide my planning. Using 21st century standards as a guideline to curriculum development and instruction could help all teachers improve their teaching and expose students to opportunities to develop literacies and become life-long learners.

I have come back to the illustration on the first page (26) of the chapter over and over (learning literacies + need to understand, apply & communicate = Learning to Learn). It is seemingly so simple, but it is the key to so much: not just reading (which is also an important part of the puzzle), but taking in and being able to use all these different literacies. And the different delivery systems and technologies that develop so rapidly make the ability to learn a real skill. It seems as though many people (including teachers, parents and administrators) consider many of the recently developed tools and forms of communication as just “fooling around on the computer.” If we, the adults and educators, don’t help the students develop the ability to adapt to the many changes, sift through the information, and use good information in an ethical manner, they will waste time, not learn critical thinking/ evaluation skills, and not be able to adapt to the rapidly changing technology. To teach them how to learn these things will allow them to take this skill (learning to learn) and apply it for many years after they’ve left our learning commons

Empowering the Teacher--p.30 states that we can empower them by having team members help out. These team members are the teacher librarian, reading coach and a technology specialist. My district is extremely well off. The parents at my public school contribute thousands of dollars to the school. They pay over $1,000 per child for class-size reduction and classroom expenses. Yet even with all of the parental contributions, the 2008-2009 school year may be the last year we have teacher librarians. Reading and technology specialists don't exist at my school. How is the classroom teacher empowered when these vital team players don't exist?

It's important for secondary teachers of all academic disciplines to make reading a priority. It can no longer be the sole responsibility of English teachers. Instructors can incorporate blogs, wikis, online journals, and other multimedia to enhance the reading skills and academic contents of their students.

Making reading "fun" and learning "fun" is so important, because it can be fun. Over the years I have learned to try not to be judgemental and ask for feed back from the students on what they like to read, what is popular, etc. When I first started working in an elementary school library I had all of these preconceived notions of what were "worthy" read. Everyone is different and everyone gets turned on by different genres, technologies, and so forth. So, to make reading and the library fun I have made an effort to be open minded and try to accomodate everyone's needs. For example, I know absolutley nothing about graphic novels, but one of our math teacher "geeks" recently donated over 300 graphic novels to my library because I have built a working relationship with him. I am sure (once I get them all processed!) that they will be circulated widely among a ceratain student population.

Raving techno-geek that I am...I still have to acknowledge that literacy is self-generated. Students have literacy skills. The fundemental question is do we respect those skills or question their value and authenticity? I always think to myself please let there never be a time when I echo the negative comments of some teachers who bemoan "my kids can't do that."

A colleague in LIBR200 brought to my attention a SLJ article by Anatasia Goodstein regarding Generation Y, marketing and how school librarians interact with these patrons. The fundemental focus of this class is a shift from librarian generated information to student constructed information. The major focus is on Generation Y's desire to participate in building the library as a learning commons and their ability to multitask through a number of web 2.0 applications that adults often consider just fooling about.

This made me consider the AVID program. For nine years, I coordinated AVID at my high school and taight the AVID classes. By teach, i really mean I learned to guide not lead. The fundamenal goal was to reach a point where AVID students had so defined and expanded their own learning communities that I, the teacher, was on the sidelines. I want to be able to present a library that is the contribution of its users. By building they are demonstrating a literacy more advanced than traditional methodologies.

Goodstein, A. (2008, May). What would Madison Avenue do? Marketing to teens. School Library Journal, 54(5), 40-43.

Broadening the definition of literacy to include "textual, digital, visual, media, informational, cultural and global" skills goes hand-in-hand with the re-visioning of the library media center as the Learning Commons and the Experimental Learning Center. The Internet has brought awareness of the world outside our personal and community boundaries; this awareness needs to be translated into those literacy skills not just for the success of the students we are working with, but really for the good of the entire global community. The more students comprehend both how disparate the world's cultures are and that it is incumbent on them to learn how to work with those different cultures, the more peaceful and productive a society we (they) will be able to achieve.

BTW, using a wiki to comment on chapters of a book is very different for me, but very user-friendly. I like it better than Blackboard!

One thing that saturates the content of this class is...the student! And how important that the student user is the starting point for learning and literacy. Do the standards put the student first? Or should I say, do the traditional teaching methods of the standards put the user first?

Page 32 has some interesting concepts:
-collaboratively build a print-rich environment for students
-design learning experiences to focus on reading for meaning
empower students to develop their own learning lifestyle (love the phrase lifestyle)

This is truly a recipe for a life-long learner, something most schools have in their accreditation ESLRS. So how do we as educators work with the standards in a way that empowers students to take control of their own learning?

"Learners know that no matter the culture, the skill level, the interest level, the language ability, the disability or the super ability, the Learning Commons is the cool place where what they need and want is in abundance. They feel ownership because they help build the collection." (page 31)

This is a valid description of most of our school libraries (soon to become Learning Commons!) today. We serve children from all walks of life, from a variety of cultures, languages and skill levels. Our job is to make everyone feel welcome and confident that this place belongs to them. We do this first with our attitude. We need to portray a sense of wonder and excitement towards learning. This excitement for learning needs to carry over into our physical space. It should be clean, organized, and ever-changing so our patrons are presented with new learning opportunities whenever they visit. Students need to be included in the ownership of this place by having their involvement in activities and acquisitions. Our collection should reflect our students and expose them to the unknown. The school library/learning commons should be the hub of the school, "the cool place" to be!

I thought the statement that learners "know how to learn anything they need to learn" was empowering. I think it's important to stress that to kids (and adults) because we lose sight of this. As we have been discussing, it's important to guide students to learn in creative ways. Some ways that students might collaborate and make use of technology available might be getting on MySpace and creating a page for a character in a novel, creating a YouTube video reenacting a scene from a book, getting on Teen Second Life and having a book discussion, or simply joining Library Thing. There are also apparently sites that students can get on and "become" a character in a book and interact with other characters. This really enables them to get into the mind of the character and really be creative.

insert.... "how fascinating for Marzano to have analyzed it out..."

Wow! I've always felt that it was impossible to fit all the content standards for one year of instruction into those tiny 36 weeks, but how fascinating for to have analyzed it out... 22 years to master what we typically try to cram into 13. No wonder teachers and students are stressed! As our knowledge base as a society grows (more and more discoveries and information to be learned), how much greater our need then becomes to learn how to learn and where and how to seek information. Enter libraries and teacher librarians!