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hey hale kula admin,
hope you folks donʻt mind but mrs. iwase asked me to check out your wiki way back when and ive been seeing some discussions on school librarians with some of the principals on their wiki. im in a bit of a unique situation and thought id share with you what we are doing at the wheeler middle school library.
we decided to change the role of the librarian and the library. first the responsibility of the librarian is to pass along to both students and teachers the ability to access relevant information to learning. that information is no longer found in books. the information in books donʻt change, they get old and out of date. information that is relevant to learning and current is found on web. and it is the role of the librarian to teach both teachers and students how to access that information.
the second role of the librarian is teach teachers how to use the computer. if the information we want our students to learn is found on the web, then our teachers need to know how to access that information for students and for their own lesson planning. but who in the school is responsible to teach teachers about technology. tech coordinators canʻt do it. they dont have time to teach teachers. their too busy trouble shooting and teaching technology lessons. so we felt that the librarian should fill that role. we just started our one to one teacher program here. as the librarian i sit with four teachers a day, one to one and i help them with their tech concerns. everything from showing them how to cut and paste to supporting their lessons by showing them what technology to use to enhance their lessons.
and finally we changed the way the library is used. we wanted the students to feel like the library was thereʻs. a place for them to come and explore, relax and socialize. there is no library voices in our library. we have a place for students to eat home lunches in our library. we have couches and lounge chairs for student to "chill" in our library. we even have a store in our library for snacks and knick knacks. we are slowly expanding our book collection to include manga or comic book style books of classic titles like huck finn and shakespear. we hope to get 30 ipads for our students to check out at recess and explore. we also encourage classes to sign up and use the library as a learning center. not just to do research, but just to come in and use the open space. sometimes we have up to three different classes all being taught in the library.
im not sure this is the future of school libraries or librarians but its something different that weʻre trying and thought id share it with you, which of course is the purpose of a wiki.
chad nacapuy
wms librarian

Another article
When I started reading the article, I tried to put myself in the mindset of a teacher whose students aren't progressing as well as we'd like. I can see the initial reaction being defensive but it is written well enough that the reader can feel good about being a teacher and, perhaps, wanting to learn more. So in short, yes, lets send it to all and if it gets just a few to want to learn more about "All Kinds of Minds" then it was worth the effort. I know I will be :-) Aloha, A.

Another article
I'm thinking of sending this to the teachers. How do you think they'll react?

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/02/22/23barringer.h29.html?tkn=XMUFhfQn3apPF63NtcWjfd56gQgU2DRh%2Bx5z∫c=es

Great teachers
The article states very eloquently what I have always thought... it's not the school or the district or the state... the most important factor on whether a child succeeds or not is the individual teacher. I especially liked the motivator & the manager... again, I'd love to be able to have our teachers watch and discuss. Closed circuit TV? Special "bonus", for instance, what if you watched/read an article and wrote a comment....then your name goes into a weekly or monthly drawing for 1 free recess duty. I'd be willing to do the duty it it would get more teachers reading inspirational articles. Just a thought :-) Aloha, Agnes

Motivation
Absolutely! Yes we should share with teachers.
Too bad we don't have time for faculty meetings where we could have teachers read & discuss this article. I always find it frustrating that the teachers who need the lessons most, are the very ones who are least likely to actually read it :-( Still... we have to keep trying :-) Aloha, A.

Great teachers
Hope you have a chance to read this excellent article. How might we apply best practices to Hale Kula?

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/201001/good-teaching

Motivation
Thought this was a great article -- clear and concise -- re. motivating students. Perhaps we should share with our teachers since report card grades indicate lower averages for GLO #1. What do you think?

http://www.eduratireview.com/2009/05/sailing-7-cs-of-motivation.html

"Wisdom of Wolves"
Agnes,
I'm sorry you're having challenges with your postings. No, you're not destined to communicate via email. The value, in my opinion, of a wikispace, is that we can have a discussion in one place instead of having to search for the emails. Unless I place them in a folder right away, I'm constantly searching for an email pertaining to a certain topic, and with the number of emails we receive daily, well, it's not an easy task. This is why I want to learn to use wikispace more effectively.

Although reward and punishment are basic motivators, we know that unless someone wants to change, we cannot make them change especially if they're not willing to change their attitude. I believe this is what makes leadership so challenging!

"Wisdom of Wolves"
Unfortunately I just spent a fair bit of time composing a well thought out reply and hit post only to find my reply not posted. I do get very frustrated with this web site - perhaps I'm the dinosaur who can't get beyond emails :-( I will try to remember what I wrote....... I do get the Motivation in a Minute & did enjoy this article. Sadly while I love words and find quotes very motivating, I don't believe that is true for everyone. Wolves are motivated by survival - it's in their genetic make up; human beings, in their highest form, are motivated by self-actualization or at least Maslow thinks so:-) Wolves also weed out those who don't or can't support the survival of the whole pack. Hummmmm! Actually, I think the last line about attitude is the most relevant in our world....how do we as administrators motivate others to give their best; how do we change a negative attitude? There are two basic motivators punishment and reward... punishment may work in the short term but rewards provide the most long lasting results. By the way Jan, I purchased the 212 degree book and DVD that we may want to show at our next staff meeting ;-) Aloha, Agnes

"Wisdom of Wolves"
This was sent to me from "Motivation in a Minute." I believe Agnes receives these emails as well. This is the introduction to a book, and I thought it was interesting. Reminded me of the one I read awhile back about geese. What does this have to do with school leadership?

The Introduction from
Wisdom of Wolves
by Twyman Towery
The attitude of the wolf can be summed up simply: it is a constant visualization of success. The collective wisdom of wolves has been progressively programmed into their genetic makeup throughout the centuries. Wolves have mastered the technique of focusing their energies toward the activities that will lead to the accomplishment of their goals.
Wolves do not aimlessly run around their intended victims, yipping and yapping. They have a strategic plan and execute it through constant communication. When the moment of truth arrives, each understands his role and understands exactly what the pack expects of him.
The wolf does not depend on luck. The cohesion, teamwork and training of the pack determines whether the pack lives or dies.
There is a silly maxim in some organizations that everyone, to be a valuable member, must aspire to be the leader. This is personified by the misguided CEO who says he only hires people who say they want to take his job. Evidently, this is supposed to ensure that the person has ambition, courage, spunk, honesty, drive - whatever. In reality, it is simply a contrived situation, with the interviewee jumping through the boss's hoops. It sends warnings of competition and one-upmanship throughout the organization rather than signals of cooperation, teamwork and loyalty.
Everyone does not strive to be the leader in the wolf pack. Some are consummate hunters or caregivers or jokesters, but each seems to gravitate to the role he does best. This is not to say there are not challenges to authority, position and status - there are. But each wolf's role begins emerging from playtime as a pup and refines itself through the rest of its years. The wolf's attitude is always based upon the question, "What is best for the pack?" This is in marked contrast to us humans, who will often sabotage our organizations, families or businesses, if we do not get what we want.
Wolves are seldom truly threatened by other animals. By constantly engaging their senses and skills, they are practically unassailable. They are masters of planning for the moment of opportunity to present itself, and when it does, they are ready to act.
Because of training, preparation, planning, communication and a preference for action, the wolf's expectation is always to be victorious. While in actuality this is true only 10 percent of the time or less, the wolf's attitude is always that success will come-and it does.