Library at BINcA

For this assignment I chose Helene Blowers article reflecting on her experience creating and leading her Learning 2.0 program, 23 Things. Part of the reason why I chose it is reflected in her opening paragraph – “23” is a prime number and therefore catchy. It sounded interesting and I am thinking about how to make PD more interesting. The clip art looked like people having fun and I know I have to up my clip art game if I am going to get teachers interested.

Our library is just starting out. We are a baby library (for high schoolers) and I know that decisions I make now will set the tone for how we move forward. I want to create a library aesthetic that is quirky but not so idiosyncratic that it feels like a personal domain. I want the teaching staff to know I am here to help them but also that they are actually the best helpers for each other. The first page of the Blowers article hit all those notes – fun, purposeful, respectful of colleagues and encouraging. A little bit of not so humble brag. I liked it. For my assignment this week I want to create the beginnings of a similar program. I won’t create anything nearly so elaborate but I want to lay a foundation I can build from. These 10 tips will serve me well.

The main idea of Helene Blowers Learning 2.0 plan from 2006 was to get teachers, even reluctant staff members, to try new technology tools. She thought that teachers would choose to learn new things if she made it a little fun and gave them the time and space to do so. I would also like to create a platform to introduce our staff to new tools as I find them. Ms. Blowers provided 10 tips to consider if you are trying to replicate her self directed PD program. The tips are so good I am going to list them:

• Encourage networking and the learning will follow. – I will try to connect experts and not-so-experts and see what happens.
• Allow participants to blog anonymously. – This is a good idea but I am not sure I can get the BINcA staff to blog. Still thinking about how to make anonymous commenting a thing.
• Use 1.0 methods to communicate – Love this! Planning a real bulletin board of teacher products.
• Encourage group discovery. – Hoping to get teams to sign up by content area.
• Design the program for late bloomers – I am a late adopter myself so if it’s paced right for me, it should work for most.
• Focus on discovery, not skill building – So important! I do not have specific goals. I just want staff to poke around and see what works for them.
• Reward staff for learning – My principal says we can offer rewards. Plenty of BINcA swag possibilities.
• Online means hands-on not hands-off – By creating something self-directed I am forcing the staff to move through at their own pace. They are clicking through on their own.
• Enable transparency and practice radical trust – I think this is so important but I am not sure I have figured out the mechanism for this.
• Continually encourage staff to play – It’s the continually part I am thinking about. I want staff to come back again and again, hoping to find new tools and new ideas.

This Learning 2.0 program was designed for the whole staff of a school district – elementary, middle and high schools. The custodians were doing it! The concept of self-guided online learning spread all over the world and many schools and libraries created their own “23 Things”.

I would love to create something that would be of use to our teachers and our staff including the custodians and the lunch staff. I have a few ideas but none of them are quite universal enough. I’m working on it, though. One note: I really hate blogging (sorry Prof!) so I am trying to think of other ways for participants to share and comment on one another’s work. I love the idea of a bulletin board as a comment space. Thinking…