When we are asked to do more with less we often feel stressed, overwhelmed and perhaps even resentful.  We also have the option to sink or swim.  We may not be able to get accomplished all that we had planned prior to the budget/personnel/program cuts, or we may not be able to do things to the high quality that we are accustomed to, but we can choose to do our best in the midst of any less-than-ideal situation.

I strongly believe that facing such changes first and foremost requires a positive attitude.  This does not mean that there won’t be days when you want to have a pity party, or that you can’t get frustrated or angry.  Rather, it means that we must hold our heads high, pull up our bootstraps, perhaps even put on  our big-girl panties and face the challenges head-on.  Secondly, we must “clear our plates,” by figuring out what commitments, responsibilities, tasks, etc. we can let go of.  It means we must determine what are the most important aspects of my job, what has to get done, what must I continue to do because it greatly impacts student achievement.

Facing a year without an assistant, in a school with a growing student population, and having to share my workspace with the parent community and other staff members (both personnel and materials), I have had a challenging start.  I choose to take the challenge in stride, to be as pleasant and flexible as I can, to use this as an opportunity to grow (although I admit that I’ve had a few “Viola Swamp” moments).  I have figured out that I can rely on volunteers to shelve books, make copies and set up displays, that displays do not have to change every two or three weeks, that running overdue notices does not impact student achievement, that I don’t have to answer the phone and that I can’t do it all.  Instead, I am focusing on doing that which impacts students the most.  I have continued with my plans to increase teaching and collaboration by filling my “flexible” schedule to the point that in the first month of school I taught an average of 85% of the school day, leaving myself with a 25 minute “planning period” (which I used to check email, my mailbox in the office, visit the restroom and such) and a 30 minute lunch break (which usually ended up being 20 minutes by the time the last class left 5 minutes late and I needed 5 minutes before the next class to get set up).

There have been days when I feel overwhelmed -  like when there are 20 students in at the moment for open circulation, parents are wanting me to set them up for volunteer registration, the PTA ladies are in my office, a teacher has sent a student down for help with the LCD projector or their overhead bulb has blown, I have 5 minutes before my first class of the day comes and I realize I’ve not fixed my cup of tea or visited the restroom, the phone is ringing off the hook and I’ve just received an email from the principal requesting something for which I have no information or time in my teaching schedule to manage.  But . . . when I see students using the media center, finding new books, hear teachers say how much they like the lessons I’ve been teaching, I know that I am doing what I am meant to be doing.  And, when I meet with my two professional learning teams with other school library media specialists, mentor displaced media specialists, continue my involvement with my professional organizations, get asked to write articles for professional journals, I realize I am moving.

I am not treading water.  I am doggie paddling.  I may be moving slower than I used to, slower than I’d like to, but I am still moving forward.

There are some basic questions to ask oneself when reflecting:

• What about this worked well?  Why?
• What about this didn’t work so well?  or maybe why did it not go the way I thought it would?  Why?
• What could I have done differently?
• What will I do next time?  (same or different)

There are other questions that you might think about:

• Why did I do what I did?
• Was that the right reason for why I did what I did?
• What factors did I not have control over and how did that affect the outcome?
• How could I have responded differently to those factors?
• How can I better plan for those factors over which I have no control?
• What are other resources or people I can use next time to improve?

By reflecting we can see our strengths, weaknesses, accomplishments and those areas where we may just be mediocre.  Then we can determine what we need to work on.  It can be something you do on  your own or something you do with a colleague or friend.  For example, each year I compile a notebook of documentation for my administrator for my end of year evaluation.  At that time I look at each objective of my tool (MCPAI) and note which areas I wasn’t so strong in or perhaps I didn’t spend a lot of time working on .  I talk with my administrator about those areas, why I think I wasn’t superwoman in relation to those objectives, any ideas or plans I may have to improve them, and any suggestions she may have to offer.  Then when it is time to write my Professional Growth Plan at the beginning of the next school year, I already know what one or two of my goals will be based on my reflections of the previous year.  By using that reflection and discussion with my administrator I am able to create a map of my future, where I’m going to focus and improve for the upcoming school year.

This past school year my library media PLT discussed collaboration between teachers and media specialists.  We began collecting data.  While our discussions and data collection were not that far in depth, I began thinking more and more about the topic.  Add to that the knowledge that my evaluation tool is being revised and in a year or two the focus on teaching and learning will increase dramatically over information access and delivery and program administration.  Over the course of the last two months of school I began thinking, “How can I increase my collaborations with teachers at my school?”  And while my PLT”s goal for the upcoming school year is to simply increase number of teachers collaborated with by 10%, I began thinking not just of a percentage, but about finding a way to collaborate with every teacher in my building, even if it’s just once in a school year.  (because obviously there are those teachers who will want to collaborate every week if given the opportunity)  Eventually I sat down and started working on a map for next school year, drawing out each grade level and brainstorming lessons or units or projects that I can do with each one.  I looked at collaborations I’ve done in the past that have worked really well.  I considered collaborations that had been done with an entire grade level, with a couple of teachers from the same grade level, and those done with just one teacher.  I talked to colleagues – friends and grade level chairs – to get their input.  Then I looked at the entire last school year and collected data – how many times had I a) collaborated with each teacher, b) done single-session collaborations, c) done multi-session collaborations, and d) seen each class [whether for a collaboration or not].  This will be my baseline for tracking increases in collaborations next year.  I’m sure there was some more reflecting in there but at the moment I’m blanking on what else I did.  Of course, now I have to wait all summer vacation for the fall, which is when I get to put my map, my plan of action into place.  I am hoping that all of that reflection and hard work will pay off.  It does mean more work for me, but I see it as a way to move forward.  To improve not only my media program, but even more importantly to have a stronger impact on student achievement.

So, what have you reflected on lately?  Do you already know of an area where you need to improve or work on?  Where do you excel and where are you a bit like a turtle?  Do you have a map for your future?  If so, where did it come from?  Did you use a reflection on your past to help create it?  How can you look backwards to move forwards?

Evelyn Bussell

A Moving Force

Having been raised in a family that stressed living within your means and saving money, and having been a Girl Scout, I have always thought of myself as one of those planners, savers, looking ahead to the future and long-term kind of people.  I have a savings account, a money market account, an IRA and a 403b.  I don’t hit the mall every week, but I regularly look at sales racks and good deals for clothes that I could use next season or next year if it’s going to save me a lot of money to purchase it now.  When managing my library collection, I take into account what needs to be weeded now and how that will affect student and teacher needs, what type of budget requests to make of my administration to be able to improve the collection not only during the current year, but down the road.  For example, it’s unlikely that I’m going to get funding for 35 new overhead projectors – not that I need that many right now because I don’t – but it’s more likely that I could get funding for 5 if I have a long-term plan to replace those that break or go to AV heaven each year.

However, this past week I realized that I am guilty of not having been a planner, a saver, an investor that I should have been.  I man on occasion “toot my horn,”  but I haven’t been doing it to the right people or with the full force that I should have.

For a brief moment (which seemed to last forever though it was really only a few days), there was a proposal being discussed to eliminate 40 media specialists from my school district.  Of course I’d heard of the Crisis Toolkit from AASL, even looked at it once or twice when trolling AASL’s website.  Did I ever think I might need it?  that my district might need it?  Ha!  Of course not!  I work in one of the largest districts in my state, one that has at least in my lifetime (because I am a true native) has been supportive of school librarians, and even when the principal said cuts were made, it usually meant fewer reams of paper for the copy machine.

I was happy to see many media specialists in my district started piping up, sending emails to each other, to the school board.  Some even went to the school board meeting to speak.  I realized that I needed to get involved as well, and wrote my own letter to the school board.  I also sent an email to my school’s PTA president and president-elect, who immediately sent out an email to our entire PTA membership.  Several parents and staff members mentioned to me they saw the PTA’s email about the proposed cuts.  Only one said they took action and wrote the school board.

So I’m not the investor I thought I was.  I should have been advocating to parents, staff, the school board, the county commissioners, the state legislature and the governor before now, before the crisis came.  That doesn’t make me feel good, especially considering I want to be a “mover and a shaker,” an investor, save for a rainy day, prepared for anything that comes my way.  Guess I’m going to have to change, because budget crises and cuts to programs and personnel must be dealt with, met head-on.  I, and other media specialists must become forces to be reckoned with.  We must fight!  We must advocate!  We must build support for our programs, our students, our schools, our positions.

I am inspired by my colleagues in my district – their letters to the school board and local newspaper.  I am encouraged by my staff and parents.  I am encouraged by Jamie Greene’s testimony to the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.  But mostly what encourages me, and should be, or rather is my motivation for advocating for school libraries and certified personnel are my students.  They are the ones who will suffer without us.  They are forces that must be reckoned with.  They are the leaders of our future.  If we are not there to teach them, to guide them, to prepare them for the world and responsibilities of tomorrow, what will our world look like?

I’m still working on my plan of action, but be sure my voice will be loud and clear.  I hope you are doing the same.  Don’t wait for a snow storm to try to buy a snow shovel.  Prepare.  Invest.  Advocate.  Toot your horn.  Let others know why it is so important for your students, our students, our future to have well-funded school libraries and certified school librarians.  Be the voice heard even if your program, your district, your state isn’t facing reductions in force or cuts to programs and services.  By doing so, if and when that time comes, the decision makers will hopefully take into account all that you do; because it’s easier to cut things – programs and people – that they know nothing about.  Be the moving force, the force to be reckoned with and just maybe “they” will listen, fight with us and for us, and keep us around to impact our students’ lives today and tomorrow.