On Being a Ninja…
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*A cross-posting from the Re:Generations blog*
So, I taught a class the other day…
And when I say that I taught a class, what I mean is: I taught five (5!) classes (but all of them the same content) in two days. They were all before noon, though. And, well… let’s be honest, library orientation sessions are not always… how should I put this… the most riveting things to wake up to.
Sometimes we just need to say those things that no one really wants to say. I was very worried about putting them to sleep. We were to cover the basics, so, where things are located in the library, here is the library website, here are your subject guides, here is a good database to try out, this is Boolean searching, etc, etc… You get the point. Well, I was also to cover some Google tips, including advanced searching and Google Scholar. And again, let’s be real, we know they are going to Google. So, let’s show them how to do it intelligently…
Let’s make them ninjas!I thought it would be a little bit fun. I thought that it might wake them up a little. I added little ninjas poking heads around screenshots and used ninjas instead of arrows to point out important areas of a slide. I had fun.
But this was not about me (I swear!). What it was about, like I said, was an attempt at engagement. What it turned into was unexpected.
I made them laugh.
Granted, I don’t think that they were laughing with me… But they were paying attention. They were looking up at me. They were probably wondering just how nerdy I really am… but they were rapt.
They stopped texting. They looked up from Facebook. One of them even… are you ready for this(!)… woke up(!).
I don’t have references for you on the practices of information literacy and making your class laugh at you, or citations from academic sources that recommend this as a technique, I can just tell you that it worked for me.
At eight o’clock in the morning we all had a little fun in the library.
And I call that a success.
Kim, I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of months now (never had the nerve to comment, though), but this post really spoke to me. I’m a graduate teaching assistant (have been for six years, dear god), and I’m actually looking at other options aside from university-level teaching. Librarianship is an option that looks better and better every day.
I love this idea of using funny devices not only to convey a point but to, at the very least, get them to look in the direction of the instructor. I’ve chaperoned many a composition class during their library sessions, and I feel so utterly bad for those librarians that can’t get the attention of my sleepiest, laziest, more-important-than-college-libraries-est students. What I love about your method that you describe here is that it takes advantage of one really great potential detriment: it can be applied to different classes across the board (with mixed results of effectiveness, sure) without having a pre-established chemistry or rapport with the students. It must be extremely daunting and challenging to work with a new set of students for these sessions, establish yourself as the day’s authority figure, and require from them that they pay attention and take you seriously. Well done for breaking through that barrier! One of my university librarians here passes around a bucket filled to the brim with candy throughout the entire class period–my students would sit there, hyped up on sugar, shouting out research topics. It was effective…and neither she nor I had to deal with them when they were little sugar-coma zombies. Win-win!
Thanks for sharing this method! I have to teach the MLA style today…maybe I’ll rework my handout to include some humorous elements, too….
Mrs. H,
Thank you so much for having the nerve! (I totally get it). I am really appreciating the feedback that I am getting on this post (see it on the Re:Generations Blog, too!). It’s hard to keep their attention, and even harder when they don’t necessarily value what they are being taught (yet).
Glad to have you reading! Maybe we can turn you to the darkside (i.e. lieberrianship!) yet!
Kim