You need groupies
Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 06:39AM
Groupie [noun] 1: a fan of a rock group who usually follows the group around on concert tours; 2: an admirer of a celebrity who attends as many of his or her public appearances as possible; 3: enthusiast, aficionado <a political groupie> from Merriam-Webster.com
Groupies just aren't for rock stars. Librarians and tech integration specialists need them too.
This was sent to me by a classroom teacher in our district:
Dear Mr. Johnson,
The week before Christmas, four students from my classroom were selected to spend a week studying any topic they chose. They were excused from Reading and Grammar for one week and allowed to work on their project. They also had access to the library and the internet.
Yesterday, the first child presented her report on Popcorn. I have attached her presentation to this email. I want to draw your attention to the professional look, pictures that reflect the text, the citation, grammar and spelling of this piece.
I wish to thank the media curriculum team and my media specialist for teaching Powerpoint to my students. I also want to express my appreciation to my media specialist for allowing my students to present their power point presentations to their classmates. This procedure allowed my student to successfully complete a very enjoyable and informative lesson on her own. I did not assist with anything. She knew what to do.
Please consider me an advocate for the importance of having a media specialist within a school.
Sincerely,
MAPS Elementary Teacher
This library media specialist has a groupie - some one who is an ardent fan of her work, her abilities and her vision. Someone who is so appreciative of the librarian's work that she will have an ally when the next round of budget cuts come.
We all need groupies. How do you cultivate them? How do you keep them? How many do you need?
What do you do that makes you a rock star in the eyes of your students or staff?
Reader Comments (6)
If only we also had the glory and riches of rock stars, as well! In response to your closing question, I don't have anything specific to offer in terms of what I do to make me a rock star, but I do keep track of and advertise (ahem, advocate) the feedback that I get about library services both on my blog and on my reports to administrators and staff. Example here.
I do it because a) it gives administrators a good idea of the positive return on their staffing and budget investment in the library b) makes teachers think, "hey, I should use library services more often since everyone else is!" and c) because, really, we all like to brag, right?
How do you cultivate groupies?
Groupies are cultivated by doing your job exceptionally well, then going above and beyond your job description to help "your people" in any way possible. Today I stepped in to lead a group of administrators on a tour of our building. One of our assistant principals went home sick, and our associate principal immediately thought of the librarians as her "go to" people. I was happy to step in and help; leading tours of our brand-new facility is one of my favorite activities. I spent over an hour today talking with different 10th grade English teachers and showing them career resources for an upcoming unit. I taught 2 copyright, citation, and resource lessons today. I delivered classroom dictionaries and thesuari to 12 English teachers. I requested computers for 2 labs, and started videos for dance classes. It was a full day of doing many of the things I love. People who are passionate about what they do collect groupies like pockets collect lint.
How do you keep them? See above. Just keep being awesome and doing awesome work!
How many do you need? There is no magic number; the more the merrier!
I don't know if "my people" think I'm a rock star. I do know that they depend on me, and that this school would be a radically different place without the library program. I ensure the library remains central to the campus by working hard, staying involved, and remaining passionate about what I am doing.
I learned some good lessons about groupies from my former colleague at ISB, Tara Ethridge. She walked into a difficult situation and was able to win over frustrated colleagues with her exceptionally calm, approachable and supportive manner. Basically, she did pretty much anything teachers asked of her - even if it was outside her job responsibilities, and she did it in such a friendly way no matter how difficult the situation might be. As she says, she "kills them with kindness."
I like to think (I hope) I have taken some of those qualities on board here at YIS, generally meeting people where they're at, making sure they feel supported, and doing everything I can possibly do to make teachers lives easier. I know your post is really referring to libraries, but we have some work to do in the tech department as well. In general tech people are notoriously unhelpful and constantly speaking in technobabble. Avoiding both of those things has helped quite a bit.
I do think having groupies is really important. Back in November our school worked on the next phase of our Self Study for our Accreditation process and almost every team mentioned how important it is to have a technology coach in each division. If teachers didn't feel supported by me, they wouldn't see the need for more people in my position (which I think is really important for our school). Having those groupies could make the difference between the funding for a position or not.
Hi Megan, Len and Kim,
Wonderful advice. I sense there is also something about recognizing our own value and somehow transmitting that to those with whom we work that helps create groupies...
Thanks,
Doug
Rock stars get groupies by being honest, passionate, and true. People can smell insincerity even if they can't verbalize it. I never make tech issues bigger than they really are and I never underestimate how frustrating a minor (to IT people) problem can be to a user.
As a leader of teachers, you have to model the techniques to get groupies. Show them how.
Hi J.,
Well said. Thanks for adding to the post! Passion certainly can attract others.
Doug