Posted on by hildaweisburg

Can Your Students Tell Fact From Fiction

In the United States, tomorrow is Election Day. For the last several weeks, people in almost every state have been bombarded with news stories, social media posts, political advertisements, and opinions. Some of the information is accurate. Some is misleading. And some is completely false.

How can you know the difference? More importantly, how do your students know?

This has always been an important part of what school librarians teach, but artificial intelligence and social media algorithms have made the challenge even greater. AI can generate convincing images, videos, and articles that look authentic. Algorithms determine much of what we see online, often reinforcing our existing interests and beliefs rather than exposing us to different perspectives.

Recently, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) commended The News Literacy Project for its partnership with the Connecticut Association of School Librarians (CASL). Through this collaboration, school librarians and educators have received free professional learning focused on news literacy, media literacy, civic reasoning, and effective instructional practices. AASL President April Dawkins recognized the partnership for strengthening students’ ability to think critically, ask questions, and become informed participants in their communities.

The need for this instruction is clear. According to a national survey reported by The News Literacy Project, 80% of teens say they encounter conspiracy theories on social media, while 94% believe schools should teach news literacy. Our students recognize they need help navigating today’s information environment.

As school librarians, we have the knowledge and skills to provide that help. But we need to go beyond teaching students how to find information. We must help them determine whether that information deserves their trust.

Where can you begin?

  • Question the source. Teach students to ask who created the information, why it was created, and what evidence supports it. Is the source credible? Can the information be verified elsewhere? Remind students that a professional-looking website or convincing video doesn’t guarantee accuracy.
  • Look beyond the headline. Headlines are designed to attract attention, and sometimes they exaggerate or misrepresent the actual story. Encourage students to read beyond the headline, check the publication date, and distinguish between news reporting, opinion, and advertising.
  • Understand algorithms. Help students recognize that their social media feeds aren’t neutral collections of information. What they see is influenced by what they’ve previously watched, liked, and shared. Discuss how this can limit exposure to different perspectives and reinforce existing beliefs.
  • Recognize AI-generated content. Show students examples of AI-created images or text. Discuss why these materials can be difficult to identify and why checking the original source matters more than relying on appearance alone.
  • Make news literacy part of everyday learning. Collaborate with teachers to incorporate source evaluation into research assignments, current events discussions, and classroom projects. These skills shouldn’t be limited to one lesson or one subject.

We also need to model these behaviors ourselves. When you encounter a surprising headline or an emotionally charged story, do you stop to verify it before sharing? Students learn from what we do as well as what we teach.

The goal isn’t to tell students what to believe. It’s to give them the ability to investigate information, evaluate evidence, and reach informed conclusions independently. This is a lifelong skill with a lasting impact. Tomorrow’s election will come and go, but the need for news literacy won’t. Our students will continue encountering information that challenges their ability to distinguish fact from fiction. What are you doing to prepare them?

Posted on by hildaweisburg

The 5th Law of Library Science

In 1969, Laurence J. Peter proposed what has become known as “The Peter Principle.” It basically states that in the work world people rise to their level of incompetence. They get to the highest position possible and from there, don’t have the skills to advance further. By contrast, in his SmartBriefs article Avoiding the Peter Principle, Paul Thornton says, “Effective leaders do the opposite; they continue to learn and adapt.”  The key, he writes, is adaptability and growth mindset.

To do this, he has several recommendations and I’ve added my usual comments aligning them with working in a school library. I’m saving the connection to the title until the end of this blog. Many of you will have figured it out.

Keep learning – Most of you do this every day as you discover new tools and sources. Thornton points to the value of learning from experience. He says, leaders “see mistakes, feedback and unexpected outcomes as data and ask, “What can I learn?”’ As we tell our students, FAIL can be thought of as an acronym for “First Attempt In Learning.” One more way to keep learning is to be open to learning from your students. They live at technology’s edge. When I was working as a high school librarian, my library council was a font of information. And they loved that they were teaching me. Consider keeping track of what you learn each day. Much is added to our store of knowledge that we don’t realize has occurred. By recording it, you see where and how you acquired the information. The log will also help when you do your regular report to your principal.

Keep adapting – Paraphrasing Darwin, “it’s not the fittest who survive—it’s the most adaptable.” When things go wrong with technology and it’s crunch time, you adapt. When your principal makes a change in your schedule, you adapt. Thornton identifies these traits in leaders who cannot adapt:

  • They dismiss evidence, trends or feedback that suggest a different approach is needed.
  • They become defensive when challenged.
  • They hide behind rules and policies instead of exercising judgment.
  • They discourage experimentation and punish mistakes. 

Unfortunately, if it’s the administration that has those traits, we must adapt by developing strategic plans to move them off their negative mindset.

The payoff – As Thornton rightly says about those who keep learning and adapting, “They spot opportunities more quickly, respond faster to changing circumstances and make smarter decisions.” Equally important for us, he says, “In addition, people are more willing to follow leaders who demonstrate a commitment to learning and the courage to keep evolving.”

And now to turn back to the title of this blog. If you have a degree in Library and Information Science, you learned about S. J. Ranganathan who in 1931 published The 5 Laws of Library Science which are:

1. Books Are For Use
2. Every Reader His/Her Book
3. Every Book Its Reader
4. Save The Time Of The Reader
5. The Library Is A Growing Organism

All are still valid, but in this case, it’s the fifth law we must remember. An organism that isn’t growing is dying. We need to use every tool and skill we have to keep growing, adapting, and learning. When we do this, we continue to rise and live into our Vision.

Posted on by hildaweisburg

More Leadership Tips

Being a leader, as cliché as it might sound, is a journey, not a destination. Even though you already are a leader, there is always more to learn. As librarians, being lifelong learners comes naturally to us. However, we must always be on the lookout for new places and spaces to learn from.

In this blog, I frequently bring in leadership lessons from the business world. A few weeks ago, I even posted a reference to how Taylor Swift can be a leadership role model for us. Today, I’m returning to Smart Briefs and the article, “Adaptive leadership: How women can lead through uncertainty” from Maria Doughty who shares about leading when “life gets ambiguous.” Although the title says it’s targeted to women, men will find these suggestions equally helpful. You may be doing several of these, but there is always something new you can use.

Here are her eight tips along with my comments on how these relate to school librarianship.

  1. Define goals and stay focused – Just as it is in the business world, our priority is our Mission and Vision. By now you hopefully have both, but when whenever you are feeling uncertain, it’s a good time to review them and see if they need tweaking or expanding.
  2. Be nimble and be ready – Necessity has made us experts at pivoting. What worked yesterday, might not work tomorrow. Stay alert. Read professional journals. In addition to school library ones such as Knowledge Quest (KQ) from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), your reading should include EL (Educational Leadership) from the Association of Supervisors and Curriculum Developers (ASCD). Keep current with what might be next in technology through ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) starting with their numerous blog posts.
  3. Stay calm and lead with empathy – This can be challenging to do given the current political and politicized climate and how it impacts school libraries and librarians. But panic doesn’t lead to rational decisions. Breathe. Ask: Who in the school community is also stressed out? Your principal? Teachers? How can you support them? Then stop to consider who can support you? Parents are one important source, particularly if you prepared for this possibility by establishing communication channels with them. Teachers may be as well. Even older students have also proved they can be strong advocates for the school library and you.
  4. Project strength — and vulnerability – While sounding like opposites, they can work well together. Project strength by leaning into the areas where you feel confident. Draw on your values and how capable you are at teaching students what they need to know for today and tomorrow. Teachers are also feeling the effects of the political climate. Let them know you understand and what you are doing to not let it keep you from bringing your best. Share the resources from our national library professional associations and take the opportunity to learn from theirs.
  5. Stay curious and commit to learning – As I stated at the beginning, a commitment to learning is natural for us. Avoid getting so concerned about what is happening in your school that you don’t see the very big picture. Keep aware of what other industries are doing – schools, colleges, and beyond. Notice where you might be prone to tunnel vision about changes, such as AI. Look for where you can adapt and grow.
  6. Maintain inclusivity and engagement – Everyone is busy, but the more people work together – and with the library – the more interwoven you are with your audience. Consider hosting an after school coffee and chat (with snacks if possible!) for teachers to share ideas across disciplines with each other. Perhaps you can schedule something for parents such as students sharing their recent projects. This has the advantage of allowing students to show their growth as they discuss what was the toughest part of the project, what was the best part, and what did they learn.
  7. Take care of yourself – I can’t stress this often enough. These leadership tips take time and energy. Growing, learning and changing isn’t easy. You need TLC to keep going. Whatever relaxes you and/or gives you pleasure – make time for it!
  8. Find your tribe -As Doughty says, “you don’t need to have all the answers yourself.” This is where your Professional Learning Network (PLN) is a great resource. The hive mind invariably can give you the answer as well as new ideas to try. Ask the scary questions. You never know who else is having this challenge or who may have found a solution.

We are living in challenging times. Yes, that’s another cliché that is all too true. You can let it break you, or you can grow as a result of how you lead yourself and others through. Your growth sets an example for others. The future of our students depends on us rising to the challenge and being the leaders they and the rest of our school community need us to be.