2019-03-22 SPLAT Curiosity Report: Volume 3, Issue 1
Featured Story
MAKE it up: Modeling curiosity-driven questions for maker competencies
Teaching others to ask questions
What does the beginning of your work day look like?
For me, I start by reaching to my side to turn on that first light switch. I turn on computers and the big printer. Then, I sit down and start up my computer to check my emails for the day. If the computer wakes up on the wrong side of the desk, I take its loading time to shuffle around my sticky notes and collect my brain for the day. It’s rote; it’s a process that we get used to over time.
Every week, I teach someone else a new process. Whether that’s a student accessing their student email for the first time or a teacher who needs help making an online reservation for a computer lab (a hot commodity in school library land), I know that my week will involve guiding people through things I do every day. Too often, that means I run when I should be walking, and make assumptions when I should be asking questions.
This habit is not one I’ve only noticed in myself, but also in the students that make up our Library Advisory Board (we call them LABbies). LABbies are adaptive to learning new technology. They make, tinker, and troubleshoot. Coolest of all, they teach. Our LABbies regularly go out to events at elementary school STEM nights, and they take fun maker tools with them. Often, this involves something cool like a Makey Makey (https://makeymakey.com/). When a younger person comes up to them and wants to engage with this interesting new technology, I see a typical pattern: the LABbie will explain, all in one breath, the whole ins-and-outs of how circuits work, and how electricity will flow through them, and how it will only work if they are holding onto this one wire and… Do they have any questions? No? Cool. Just go ahead and play.
There is a lot of good going on there: enthusiasm, confidence in their own understanding, and the desire to help someone else overcome the initial anxiety attached with learning something new. I’ve done it before and understand it. What we’ve started challenging our LABbies to do is to ask questions instead. Provide materials, give an expectation for an outcome, and then spur curiosity. This is not easy. It’s a practice that Click2Science refers to as asking purposeful questions (http://click2sciencepd.org/blog-post/learning-through-questions). Most powerful of all when using this method, asking someone to answer their question through curiosity-driven inquiry, you don’t have to know what you’re doing at all. You are facilitating a learning journey without knowing the destination. As someone who rarely feels confident in the amount of knowledge I have at hand, this is incredibly helpful to me. This recent YALSA blog post (http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2019/02/14/the-liberation-of-not-knowing-all-the-answers/) echoes a lot of the same benefits to asking questions that I’ve felt.
Here are two signs we used to spark that initial curiosity while at STEM Matters! Day at the Capitol. What kinds of questions can you start asking? How might this benefit your programs with students?
Fail Forward
We’ve all been there. You pour your heart into a program, and no one shows up. You try something new, and you fall on your face. Sound familiar? Fail Forward is the place to share your failures, and give you the opportunity to share what you learned from them. Did you promote your program in a different way after no one showed up? Maybe you took a new approach to the new thing you were excited about? Awesome! Share your story via our online form so others can learn, and realize that failure is often part of the process.
Early Literacy Tips: A Guest Article by Julie Patricia
Remembering to share early literacy tips during programs has never been my greatest strength. More often than not, I’ve found myself cleaning up after a program when the light bulb has finally gone off: Oh man, I forgot to share an early literacy tip — again! But over time I’ve implemented a couple of systems to embed literacy tips into my programs, eliminating any chance that I might forget to share those valuable tidbits of information with our patrons.
I always project the words of nursery rhymes and songs onto a large screen to help caregivers participate during my baby lapsit storytime, so it was a simple matter to add some early literacy slides to my PowerPoint file. Before each program, I simply select the early literacy tip of the day and insert it into that day’s slideshow. Voila!
We don’t use a slideshow during my Music and Movement program, so I came up with a more hands-on approach using two flannel boards and a couple dozen laminated cards backed with Velcro pieces. I printed skills on each card such as balance, language development, and rhythm. Before each program, I place a sign on one flannel board that says, Why attend Music and Movement? and on the other flannel board a sign that says, Today we emphasized . During the program, I pause before each song to note the skill that the next song will emphasize, and then move the relevant card from one board to the other. Easy peasy! This system requires me to spend some time thinking about which skills are emphasized by each song in my playlist, which I’ve found to be beneficial because it helps me create playlists that touch on a wide variety of skills during each session of Music and Movement.
These systems help me bypass my imperfect memory to deliver better programs. What systems can you develop to help you cope with the challenges you may be facing?
Crush Corner
Is there a library you follow on social media who is always doing new and exciting things? How about a blog you follow that inspires you? What about a new idea, book, or resource that you want to share? Library Crush Corner is a place for those working in Idaho libraries to share what inspires them, and who or what they’re crushing on… in a professional sense. Share your story via our online form so we can publish it in a future issue!
Boundary County Library FabLab
I’m a lover of Makerspaces and I love to create. While I’m busy at work, running our 3D printers, I have people ask questions about Makerspaces. Where can I do this? How can I do this? Naturally, I say, Here, of course! We can help you! However, the other day, a patron that lives near Canada reached out to us. He inquired about a location that might have 3D printing available that was closer to where he lives. I did a little quick research, and to my surprise, our neighbor to the north, the Boundary County Library, has an amazing FabLab! Bonners Ferry, with a population of less than 3000, services a county of about 12000. They have a pretty spiffy Makerspace that includes three 3D printers, a laser cutter / engraving machine, vinyl cutter, and a couple of CNC machines. They offer online training and quizzes to jump-start the learning process. A more in-depth in-person training is also required but it’s offered several times per week. Once trained on safety and machines, patrons can use the Lab independently during special scheduled hours. I was totally blown away by the Boundary County Library FabLab! I thought it was amazing to see a small town library have such a cool Makerspace and have a great support system for their patrons to learn. I think it’s time for a field trip!
SPLAT explores the ever-evolving library world and supports library folks as they adapt to meet the needs of their communities. Library folk throughout the state of Idaho volunteer to serve on the Special Projects Library Action Team (SPLAT). Learn more about SPLAT at splat.lili.org
SPLAT is brought to you by the Idaho Commission for Libraries and was made possible, in part, by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (LS-00-18-0013-18). The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.