Innovation in the Library

I am really excited about seeing innovation happen in the library this year!  In order to facilitate these opportunities I have created "zones" in the library; areas that are dedicated to different focuses, so students can learn and explore in different ways.  One of the zones I have created is a gaming zone, where students have access to puzzles and strategy games to encourage critical thinking and support other common core standards based on both content and skills.  Students are truly loving this area, and utilizing it in very appropriate ways.
Another zone, and perhaps what I am most excited about seeing grow this year, is our MakerSpace.  This is an area where students can design, create, build, and explore in a hands on environment.  So far, I have been providing a rotation of challenges to invite students to check out this space.  We have had a duct tape challenge, a lego challenge, and a cartooning challenge.  In order to make this a space designed with students in mind I have invited several students to work with me in an advisory role, to develop and suggest different project ideas.  I hope that they will also share their knowledge with other students in a coaching role.  I am looking forward to supporting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) in the library.  In addition, as this area grows I would love to invite "resident experts" (students and teachers) to come and teach us how to create or build something in our shared MakerSpace.

Innovation - Planned and Unplanned

The number of times that things didn't go as planned in the classroom certainly outweighed the times that my lesson plan went "seamlessly."  However, the seamless lessons were not always the successful ones.  I'm not sure that these experiences can rival the numerous innovations we read about, but they often led to knew understanding and growth - for me and for the students.  Most of these experiences with unplanned innovation occurred when I gave students choice.  Regardless of the topic or time and extent of a project, the students always blew my expectations out of the water when I left the choices up to them.

As for attempting to plan for increased opportunities for innovation, I am focused on providing teachers with these opportunities.  As we move to a weLearn environment throughout the district, I've been thinking about our Classroom 21 rooms.  These rooms have been led by true innovative teachers willing to take risks and trust in themselves and their students.  I do not want to lose the opportunity to support these innovative teachers.  I am inspired by the Albermarle County Public Schools that we read about in chapter 4.  I believe that their idea of inspiring teachers by funding their innovative ideas with seed grants may be the perfect solution for continuing to grow Classroom 21 innovators in a weLearn environment.

Snapshot of Part Two

Quotes to Remember Part 2:
(Compiled at our second book discussion)

"If there's a superpower shared by today's innovators, it may be their ability to see opportunities where others see only problems or despair.  They excel at reframing problems."

"Failure's only bad when it's repeated."

"Playing a game for as little as 90 seconds can change how you feel for 24 hours."

"The transition to more active learning doesn't happen overnight."

"Not giving up is a big thing I learned." (Quoted from a student)

"Work on their weaknesses through their strengths."

"Have choice built in.  There's not one right answer."

Some Key Ideas:

• Design thinking is a deliberate way of solving problems that emphasizes empathy along with creativity
• It's important that design thinking doesn't feel like an add on or something extra
• Doesn't compete with standards, but compliments
• Having students learn empathy is a valuable skill
• Give students opportunities to investigate issues of global importance or community concern
• A clear vision for innovative learning sets the stage for deliberate action steps
• Interdisciplinary thinking

Snapshot of Part One

Quotes to Remember:
(Compiled at our first book discussion)

"Many of today's  students will likely enter careers not yet imagined and make use of technologies not yet invented".

"We consider the process of making as important as the perfect, finished product".

"The ways we design learning experiences must reflect the growing importance of innovation and creativity as professional skills".

"We don't hire people to bake brownies.  We bake brownies to hire people".

"Engaging students passions may be our best strategy for bringing innovation to school".

"Helping students learn from failure is a key strategy for innovation".

"When you're finished changing, you're finished!"  ~Ben Franklin

"The 1st step in teaching students to innovate is making sure that educators have opportunities to be innovative themselves".

"Innovation is the idea of taking something and making it even better.  It's about deepening and enriching!"

"Because innovation creates a new normal, it's often only in hindsight that we can see the wisdom of breakthrough ideas".

• Step outside their own perspective and see issues from multiple viewpoints...
• All or nothing... students need to experience failure
• Inviting community participation
• Innovation means good ideas
• Collaboration!
• Service learning
• "Breakthrough" project rubrics

My Strengths and Weaknesses as an Innovator

I believe I am an innovative educator. My passion of integrating technology into instruction has certainly helped in leading to new innovative ways of engaging my students. "Innovation on some level is evolution not revolution. It's the idea of taking something and making it better. It's about deepening and enriching." (Boss, p. 14). This meaning of innovation really resonates with me so much that it is a driving force in my work.

In reading over the section, Innovation Profile, I found many qualities I can relate to as well as some that I need to continue to develop. I believe I am action oriented. I enjoy trying out new tools and rarely like to teach the same thing the same way more than twice. I am a life long learner and am always looking to try something new. This attitude also makes me a risk taker. I know full well that sometimes a new approach/tool/idea may not always be successful. I like to think- what's the worst that can happen? I definitely plan things out as best as I can, but some outcomes you cannot always anticipate. When trying something new it is important to assess how things are going, reflect and regroup. The final quality of the Innovation Profile that I can relate to and view as a strength is helping good ideas grow. Collaboration through social media tools like Twitter connect educators easily more than ever before. By fostering a Professional Learning Network (PLN), collaborative learning opportunities unfold.

One area that I will continue to develop is overcoming obstacles. Bumps in the road are expected, not everything is smooth sailing all the time. Sustaining the momentum of an initiative, unit of study, or project can sometimes be challenging. I need to work on creative ways of overcoming obstacles to avoid conflict.

To define what learning to innovate means to me, I can relate to a passage on page 4.
"Any teacher who has succeeded with project-based learning knows that personal engagement is what keeps students motivated during challenging projects. If a learning experience also helps them discover their passion, it can last for a lifetime."

For the past two years, I have given the Art 8 students the opportunity to choose their own subject and medium for a final project. This year, Colin Fitzpatrick chose a project which also used his skills in Technology. It was great to watch him figure out how to paint, cut, and attach all the squares. It took him three times to figure out how to hang the piece on the wall. It was even better to see him get Student of the Year in Technology. He took great pride in his work and worked hard during study halls to complete it. He keeps coming in now to see if it has fallen down!

While this unit keeps me very busy, as the facilitator, with twenty different projects at a time, the students really enjoyed this project and are very pleased with the results.

The Innovator in Me

So, I have never really considered myself an innovator, although I have a huge appreciation for those who are.  Reading this section on "Your Innovation Profile" I was able to identify with several of these characteristics though.  How exciting to be able to relate to this field of innovation, for which I have such respect.  I feel like I get to add a new facet to my identity!

Here is the ranking of how I relate to each of the innovation characteristics listed in this chapter:

Helping good ideas grow

Know how to network

Overcome obstacles

Action oriented

Willing to take risks

Able to look ahead

Helping good ideas grow is almost what I would define as my job description as a Teacher Librarian!  I love any opportunity to help students, teachers, or really anyone, take their new ideas and dig deeply.  This is the joy of being in an information rich environment- people come here to further their ideas.  Innovation always starts with an idea.  

I am in the process right now of transforming the physical space of our library, and our vision for how it should be used.  I want it to become a hub of creativity, of innovation, of new ideas.  We are starting from a good place- our library is a hub of learning, it is recognized as a good place to be.  I want to continue to expand this understanding with new opportunities for thinking and exploring in increasingly hands on ways.  This is how I will continue to help good ideas grow.  

Part I: Setting the Stage

As I sat in my car watching the rain pour down at my oldest daughters lacrosse practice, I finished reading Part I of Bringing Innovation to School. I hadn't planned to read the entire time. I figured I would read a little and then go for a run for part of my 1.5 hr. slot of time I had. However, once I started reading I found myself highlighting, circling, writing in the tabs, and posing questions. I guess you could say I was close reading. Why was I so engaged? It could of had something to do with the fact that I didn't really want to run or it could of had something to do with the fact that I am passionate about trying to create innovators and critical thinkers. As Boss, says "Helping students (me, in this case) discover their passions is a critical step in the process of encouraging innovative thinking" (46). This is definitely my passion, that is why I was so engaged and why I think this book is going to help me reach my goal of becoming a good innovator.  

I would certainly love to be able to say that I am an innovator. I think I poses many of the qualities Boss refers to in chapter 2, but I certainly have many areas of weakness that I need to improve on.   So when Sarah asked us to, "Consider your own strengths and weaknesses as an innovator", I would have to say that I truly think I poses all of the qualities on some level. However, I need to focus on improving in each of those qualities.

One of my strongest qualities is networking. I am willing to share anything. I participate in blogs, add to wikis, attend webinars and PD, and tweet. I also currate and collect ideas that I share with teachers, committees and administrators.  In thinking about how I could improve on this though, I feel I should do more blogging like this with members of the LG team. In fact with the roll out of weLearn this is the perfect time to start sharing with others our successes and failures. Our conversations could be powerful and helpful for everyone as we embark on this together.

As far as risk taking is concerned. I think we all have a little risk-taker in us. We are willing to take on the weLearn initiative and try new instructional approaches in order to create the best opportunities for student learning. As I continue to improve on the risk-taker in me I hope to be able to embrace my failures and not let them hold me back.

Being action-oriented is a huge part of my job. Since I do not have students come to me on a regular fixed schedule, I reach out to classroom teachers and meet regularly with Ginny and Megan to find and create learning opportunities for our students. I am always looking for those opportunities and continue to search for the right outlets for doing so. This will always be a challenge of mine and something that I will always be able to improve on.

When it comes to looking ahead, I definitely try to stay up to date with what is coming ahead. I try to embrace new technologies and approaches. I think all of us do. Staying ahead is always the hardest part. Teaching approaches, ideas and technology are continually changing and trying to predict what "wave" to jump on can be hard. I am trying to remind myself to always go back to my vision and when new approaches, ideas and technologies come along it seems to make it easier to know what "wave" to jump on when I think about whether it is going to take me closer to that vision.

The thing that is the hardest for me is overcoming obstacles. I am not worried about the "messy" part, as that is part of inquiry. I am not afraid of "yeah, but...thinking". It's how do I make this happen in a set time frame that I have with the students. It's hard to allow for that "yeah, but... thinking" when I have standards that I am trying to meet within a small window. That is where I need to improve. I need to be more creative and dynamic.  I have become better at this over the past few years, but I feel that I need to do more thinking outside of the box when it comes to this.

Well, some of you may be wondering what activity I was trying to procrastinate in order to find the time to type my reflection. That would be sleep. If I am going to be an innovator in the morning, I suppose I better sign off. I look forward to hearing about all of your innovative qualities.

Creativity Expert

The book talks briefly about Sir Ken Robinson, calling him a "well-known creativity expert" (15).  If you have not watched his TED talk on "How Schools Kill Creativity" it is well worth the time.

He is entertaining, and very positive, despite the seemingly negative title.  He values both educators and students, and the possibilities for each.

One of the statements that stood out to me is "My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status."  

Do you agree with this statement?  Why or why not?  Share your thoughts here in the "Comments".

Welcome!

Welcome to our weLearn PLC book group!!  

We are looking forward to reading and growing together.  Although this is a no pressure group, we do hope that you will participate in all three discussion sessions, and share some thoughts here on this blog.  This is a safe place to share your thoughts and experiences as we take risks and try new things through our weLearn initiative.

Some of the things in this book you might be able to try tomorrow, and some may seem like an impossibility.  Either way, the author will get us thinking about our students and how we teach in a different way.  We might even look at ourselves in a different way.  In what way is each of us an innovator?  How can we train our students to ask questions, explore new possibilities, and solve problems?