How I Snagged a Math Teacher

How I Snagged a Math Teacher

This article appeared in MSLA January 2013 Forum 

                                                        http://maschoolibraries.org/content/view/1080/691/

 Proximity and Relationship Building

For six years I longed to include the Math teachers into my library program. I call it a desire rather than a goal, because I was not actively seeking them out, but after six years I finally snagged a math teacher. The title of this article indicates that I actively lured this math teacher to the library, but that isn’t exactly true. The relationship began when Jodi Farrell was assigned a duty in the library to cover my prep period. She was a first year teacher who had transitioned to the classroom from her position as a paraprofessional. So I knew her, but not well. As a result of seeing each other every day we developed a relationship. The tipping point came one day when I was highly stressed trying to finish a project. She came to relieve me, and before I could get to my office she asked “Rachael, do you know anything about Excel…specifically how to graph a linear equation that shows the trend line?” Did I mention I was really busy! I wanted to brush her off and say “No” and just get to my office to finish my project, but my gut was screaming “this is your chance to break into the Math Department!”  I turned to her, and said, “I know the basics of Excel.” That period I put my research aside. She showed me what math problem she wanted graphed, I showed her how to get the graph, and after watching a YouTube video together we figured out how to display the trend line. The next day, I taught each of her five classes how to graph a linear equation.

Build On a Good Thing

The collaboration didn’t stop there. Several weeks later she had another project where students needed to graph a range of data, this time with two lines again with the trend lines visible. Together we figured out how to graph a quadratic equation, and again I taught her classes. Later in the year she had her students do a “Math in Real Life” research project. She wanted students to take a passion of theirs and show how math applied. They could choose any topic: sports, beauty, art or do biographical research on a mathematician. My first weeding task six years ago when I became the librarian was the 500s section, so this year even though my book budget has shriveled to nothing, she was raving about the math collection and how it was perfect for this project.  At the end of the year when all the seniors had gone, she had her remaining students create children’s math books. As she was telling me about this, I got all excited and said “we should publish them online!” I then showed her www.scribd.com and we immediately set up an account for her class. This time, she taught her classes how to use Scribd for one of her administrative observations.  At the end of the year she was telling me that her students were upset to be using the same textbook as years past, and I was able to suggest an E-book provided by the state: Real Life Math as part of the Gale Virtual Reference Library. My commitment to universal design led me to create a screencast video tutorial on how to graph linear and quadratic equations in Excel. This fall I still taught her classes live, but then emailed the links to the video tutorials which she posted on School Loop (our student learning management system) for students who needed more instruction, and for students who were absent.

Feed the Lunchroom Chatter

I have found that if the library can get worked into the lunchroom chatter then other teachers get inspired. Jodi shared her library success, and that led other teachers to ask for help. So after five years of numbing silence from the Math department, all of a sudden I had the statistics teacher asking about finding research studies for his students to analyze, and the Geometry teachers inquiring about resources on MC Escher, all because I knew how to insert a graph in Excel.

This I Know This Much is True

Modern school librarians are so busy it’s hard to stay focused on one’s GOALS when the daily To-Do list is demanding attention.  My goal from the beginning has been to teach and collaborate. My gut was screaming “remember your goals” when Jodi first asked for help. COLLABORATION is built on friendliness and trust, so first I had to build a personal relationship allowing Jodi to feel safe enough to ask for help.  PROXIMITY has been the key to many satisfying collaborations. If we don’t already have it, we need to find ways to spend time with teachers. Teachers love to talk about teaching and that’s where opportunities arise. Reach-out to NEW TEACHERS, their filing cabinet is empty, and are more likely to accept your assistance. SEIZE AN OPPORTUNITY, the day the Excel question came I was so busy and I could easily have brushed Jodi off, but my goal has been to teach and collaborate and in that moment I decided that collaboration was more important than the committee research I had planned to finish. Lastly, it’s ACCEPTABLE not to know everything; it’s UNACCEPTABLE to not be willing to learn something new. I could do basic Excel functions but I’m a librarian! I know how to learn, how to connect, and how to teach.