The Fresh Bard

By Annette Griessman, Media Specialist, Jefferson High School, Averagetown, Indiana.

 Collaboration, and how to foster it, has always been a concern for me in my role as library media specialist. In my previous position, developing a good collaborative atmosphere had been fairly easy, for the teachers already had a good collaborative relationship with the media specialist I replaced. In my new position at Jefferson High School, the issue was more problematic. The library had not had a regular media specialist for three years. In those three years, due to funding constraints, one media specialist had divided her time to serve Jefferson High School’s library (which also served as a resource for Jefferson Middle-School) as well as two elementary schools located at some distance from Jefferson High. When I started working the teachers smiled at me, but otherwise, you wouldn’t know I was there. How to let teachers know of the resources and instruction I could provide to them?

It all started from a simple comment from a teacher as she came into the library to check out a DVD—this one, Romeo and Juliet. “I hope,” said Mrs. Turner, “that the students will find the movie more enjoyable than reading the play.”

“They don’t like the play?” I asked, curious, for I had been at Jefferson High for only two months, and was still familiarizing myself with the English curriculum.

“No,” she said. “They don’t. And I’m not very good at teaching it, I’m afraid. I think I find the language as intimidating as the students do.”

Mrs. Turner’s comment resonated. While, as librarian, I knew she was on the right track with bringing a visual representation of the story in to help with learning , and in fact, I had helped her track down this particular DVD for just this purpose [1] , I also felt that there must be some other way I could aid her. Being new at this school, I was eager to find ways that I could collaborate with teachers, and help them add to the development of their curriculum through the use of library resources [2].

One of my first ideas was to research some teaching resources that might help Mrs. Turner in teaching Romeo and Juliet. Through the public library, I was able to obtain two books on teaching Shakespeare, one titled “Teaching Shakespeare,” by Rex Gibson, and the other “Shakespeare Set Free,” by the Teaching Shakespeare Institute [3]. I presented these materials to Mrs. Turner, and we discussed them at length. “I just wish,” said Mrs. Turner finally, “that I could do a better job of connecting Romeo and Juliet to the real world.” I took a deep breath as she said that, knowing that I had to find a way to help. The American Association of School Librarian's new standards suggest that it is my job to help students make a connection to the real world as well. [4] (AASL standard 2.3, URL below.)

Mrs. Turner, it seems, was already having students write papers on the culture of Shakespeare’s time, yet for the past four years, the papers had been uninspired. I quickly went online, and within moments, found a Wikipedia article stating that two of the most significant screen adaptations of Romeo and Juliet were “West Side Story” and “Romeo Must Die.”

“Too bad I can’t show the Jet Lee version in class,” complained Mrs. Turner. “It’s rated R, but the kids would sure watch Jet Li.” I then started looking for a video substitute—did we have the best version of Romeo and Juliet for the classroom? While browsing, I ran across a website that offered a video teaching aid for Shakespeare, which rightly stated that most of the people watching Shakespeare’s plays in the Globe Theater in 1603 didn’t understand all the language either. Why did they enjoy it so much? Primarily, this site claimed, because it was performed live.

“They should perform their own live versions of “Romeo Must Die,” I said to Mrs. Turner. She liked the idea immediately, for she could tie this type of assignment—that is, writing a play or skit—into her educational standards [5].

I promised to help by providing as many online, video, and print resources to her class as possible, providing pathfinders to culture in Shakespeare’s time, and also resources to help with writing a play or skit [6]. We agreed that students would spend part of their class time in the library, using these resources, and that I would help instruct them [7] in what the resources provided to them.

Mrs. Turner and her class read Romeo and Juliet over the course of a two week period. They then viewed portions of a DVD version of the film, one where the actors presented the play without any modernization. While they studied the play, I put together the Shakespeare and writing resources I had promised. I also took the liberty of putting together a montage of “Romeo and Juliet” themed clips, taken from various videos and movies. I even found some fun Romeo and Juliet video parodies online, including a parody movie made by a group of high school summer students. In addition, I acquired a copy of "Romeo and Juliet (Picture This! Shakespeare)" by Philip Page. This book told the tale of Romeo and Juliet in a graphic novel format.

Mrs. Turner, to facilitate the skit-writing process and to make the task more manageable for students, decided that the class would be broken into 6 groups of 4 students each. Each group could pick a scene or portion of a scene from Romeo and Juliet, translate it into a more “real world” version, and then present it in a skit that was no longer than ten minutes in length. Students came to the library to view the resource videos, and to use the pathfinder resources. Mrs. Turner asked that I help one group in particular who seemed to be struggling with coming up with a skit idea, by providing some help with ideas, and how they might present them [12]. I spent about an hour after school with the group, and after a round of brainstorming and some focused online browsing for Shakespeare ideas, we ran across a mention of a Saturday Night Live Skit where an SNL cast member claimed that the story of Romeo and Juliet was the start of the game show “Family Feud.” The group members liked this idea, and I was able to provide additional help by finding online vocabulary lists of Shakespeare words from the play they could include in their game [8] [9].

As the project progressed, some of Mrs. Turner’s students ask if they could film their skits, rather than perform them live. This was an intriguing idea, and I offered to loan out the school’s two digital cameras, as well to offer the use of our Moviemaker software available on the library computers [10].

Three of the skits were filmed, and two of them performed live. The students doing the “Family Feud” concept asked that they be allowed to let the class participate in the game. Afterwards, Mrs. Turner and I evaluated the project, as well as evaluating the students' interest and performances [11]. Mrs. Turner was very pleased with how the students had managed to tie Romeo and Juliet into the modern world through their skits [4], and also commented on how well I was able to target the resources to the learning levels of her class [13]. The collaboration was considered such a success that Mrs. Turner asked if I could provide resources to assist her in her creative writing unit [14]. She felt the library resources, and their multimedia format, provided a level of freshness to the material, and helped it appeal to a wider range of students. Of particular note, she felt that multimedia resources appealed to those who had less of an interest in reading [15]. She was particularly impressed with how the boys in her class enjoyed the Shakespeare graphic novel, and hoped I could provide more such resources. [16]. She felt that the students were more engaged when they were able to use such library resources [7]. Also, the group discussions and work time in the library seemed to help spark student creativity [17], due to the fact that students were able to work outside of a strict classroom environment.

Afterwards, two other teachers approached me concerning similar collaborative projects. One teacher wished to have students investigate the history of the Vietnam War and the culture of the 1960s by using a multimedia approach. This class, the AP history class, was a small one, and he was interested in letting the students decide their topic of interest in this area. That is, he wanted the students to be able to learn informally about this era [18]. I promised to aid his students in any way I could, on an individual basis [19].

Another teacher needed help in locating and providing resources pertaining to Indiana history [6], and showed an interest in incorporating these resources into a guided, Indian history webquest [20]. However, of particular concern to this teacher was that his students also learn online searching skills, as he would expect them to have such skills for an upcoming project related to an analysis of the presidential election. Using the Indiana history webquest would not necessarily provide the online searching skills he desired. I then asked for more detail on what he was going to expect from students in researching the elections, and promised to instruct his students in these areas.

Mrs. Turner came back to me a month later, and asked what I knew about creating podcasts, and what resources our library offered for creating them. Her interest was for creating poetry podcasts, where students read their favorite poems, and then told why they liked it. She wished for these podcasts to be included on a class website. Since I knew very little about podcasts and the technologies required to produce them, I was reminded that learning never stops, even for the librarian. Perhaps, after I learn what this technology is, I can produce my own instruction in this format. Perhaps one of the students can provide some instruction to me!

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[1] Learning and Teaching Principles of School Library Media Programs, Principle 7: The library media program supports the learning of all students and other members of the learning community who have diverse learning styles and needs. 

[2] Learning and Teaching Principles of School Library Media Programs, Principle 3: The library media program models and promotes collaborative planning and curriculum development. (Information Power 1998, p.58)

[3]  Learning and Teaching Principles of School Library Media Programs, Principle 10: The library media program is an essential link to the larger learning community. (Information Power 1998, p.58)

[4] Learning and Teaching Principles of School Library Media Programs, Principle 2: The information literacy standards for student learning are integral to the content and objectives of the school's curriculum. (Information Power 1998, p.58)

[5] Keyword: Standard. Here is where the library media specialist is able to aid the teacher in not only teaching the English curriculum based upon the academic standards, but also to apply AASL standard 2.3, making a connection to the real world. According the Daniel Callison, students who combine knowledge of these AASL/AECT standards along with a wide understanding and ability to impliment inquiry methods, student performance assement and techology management will be ready for positions of educational change and leadership (Callison 2006, 106).

[6] Learning and Teaching Principles of School Library Media Programs, Principle 5: Access to the full range of information resources and services through the library media program is fundamental to learning. (Information Power 1998, p.58)

[7] Keyword: Integrated Instruction. According to author Patricia Montiel-Overall, a important Teacher and Librarian Collaboration (TLC) model, identifies types of interaction and communication that take place among school librarians and teachers which may have different effects on teaching and learning. It specifies four facets of collaboration: coordination, cooperation, integrated instruction, and integrated curriculum (Montiel-Overall, 2007).

[8] Keyword: Facilitator. According the Daniel Callison in The Blue Book, when the library media specialist moves from the limited role of facilitating resources options and access and into the cooperative facilitation role with other teachers of prompting selection and use of evidence, the librarian becomes a true teacher of inquiry--an instructional media specialist (Callison 2006, 379).

[9] Learning and Teaching Principles of School Library Media Programs, Principle 4: The library media program models and promotes creative, effective, and collaborative teaching. (Information Power 1998, p.58)

[10] Learning and Teaching Principles of School Library Media Programs, Principle 9: The library media program integrates the uses of technology for learning and teaching. (Information Power 1998, p.58)

[11] Keyword: Reflection. According to Terrence Pon, in School Libraries in Canada, reflection and revision within the creation process will
create the additional benefits of self-awareness and awareness in other educators of the complex role of the teacher-librarian. This enhanced awareness by all stakeholders leads to quality and effective school library programs.

[12] Keyword: Idea Strategies. Callison, in The Blue Books, says that strategies for ideas and composition help the maturing, information-literate student deal with the complexities of the communication process. Idea generation involves no only "what do I want to learn and what do I infer from this new information," but also "what do I want to convey to others and how? (Callison 2006, 387)

[13] Keyword: Audience Analysis. According to Daniel Callison in The Blue Book, audience analysis is an important part of teh communication process in any field. Not only does correct audience analysis increase the chance of being heard, but more important, increases the chances of being understood (Callison 2006,  287).

[14] Learning and Teaching Principle of School Library Media Programs, Principle 1: The library media program is essential to learning and teaching, and must be fully integrated into the curriculum to promote students' achievement of learning goals. (Information Power 1998, p.58)

[15] Learning and Teaching Principle of School and Library Media Programs, Principle 6: The library media program encourages and engages students in reading, viewing, and listening for understanding and enjoyment. (Information Power 1998, p.58)

[16] Keyword: Gender. Andrews Kitchenham says "What reading content males tended to choose versus what females chose was another gender difference. When given a choice, the males in the PISA sample, reported that they would prefer to read comic books, web pages, and newspapers while the females reported that they would rather read novels (Kitchenham, 2002).

[17] Keyword: Creative Thinking. Callison, in The Blue Book, says "Information fluency involves the ability to employ critical thinking to derive evidence from information and creative thinking for the expression and application of that evidence to decision making."

[18] Keyword: Free Inquiry. In The Blue Book, the authors state that free-choice is a powerful motivator for learning and exploring for all age groups, and this also applies to free inquiry learning through the school library media and information literacy program (Callison 2006, 399).

[19]  Learning and Teaching Principle of School and Library Media Programs, Principle 8: The library media program fosters individual and collaborative inquiry.

[20] Keyword: Webquests. According to Bernie Dodge, a professor at San Diego State University who coined the term, a WebQuest is "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet."  (Minkel and Junion-Metz, 2002)

Other resources:

American Library Association. Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning, Chicago: American Library Association, 1998.

American Association of School Library Literacy Standards, retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/AASL_learning_standards_2007.pdf, retrieved November 12, 2007. 

Callison, Daniel. "Integrated Instruction." School Library Media Activities Monthly, 17, no. 5 (2001), p.33.

Callison, Daniel, and Leslie Preddy. The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction, and Literacy. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006.

Kitchenham, Andrews. "Vive la difference, Gender, Motivation and Achievement," School Libraries in Canada, 22, no. 2 (2002), p34-38.

Minkel, Walter, and Gail Junion-Metz, "World Wide Webquests." School Library Journal, 48, no. 7 (2002), p29.

Montiel-Overall, Patricia. "Research on teacher and librarian collaboration: An
examination of underlying structures of models," Library & Information Science Research, 29 (2007) 277–292.

Pon, Terrence. "Professional Development/Performance Evaluation model: Evaluation tools for teacher-librarians," School Libraries in Canada, 24, no. 3 (2005), p1-23.

Graphics obtained from Discovery School's Clipart Gallery, found at http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/.