Middle School Workshop Series

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Increase Awareness and Use of Library Resources to Support Individual Inquiry

Enhance Critical Thinking and Creativity Skills

Promote Confidence in Research Abilities

Promote Academic Achievement

Goals of the Program

By the end of a workshop set:

• 80% of participating middle school children will demonstrate that they have a better understanding of the resources the library offers, and 70% of participating middle school children who attended the workshops will be able to list four different type of resources the library offers.

• 70% of participants will be able to articulate at least two methods by which to evaluate the reliability of those resources.

Outcomes of the Program

In the months following the series:

• 60% of program participants will return to the library to use resources or attend programs at least six times in the three months following the workshop series.

Outcomes of the Program

By the end of the 6th grade:

•40% of middle school participants who respond to the online survey will say they have gained confidence in using library resources and believe their grades have improved as a result of attending the program.

•50% of parents of program participants will report that their children have gained confidence in their research abilities as a result of the program and that they believe their grades have improved as a result.

Outcomes of the Program

Learning Programs in the Public Library

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The Kids as Creators Workshop Series is designed to help students develop many important 21st Century Learning Skills—with a special focus on critical thinking and creativity.

Critical Thinking and Creativity

Duct Tape Creators

Game Creators

Comic Creators

SuggestedWorkshop Topics

Project Plan

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• Three Workshop Sets• Two 2-hour workshops 1 week apart• Variety of materials, digital and print

• Registration Required• 20-25 Students• One set or all three• Equitable use of resources• Opportunities for ongoing assessment

• Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning Focus

Project Plan Basics

• Project Sponsor• Library Director

• Project Manager• P/T Library Assistant

• Project Team Members• P/T Library Assistant• Volunteers/Content Providers• Marketing Coordinator• Subject Matter Expert Coordinator

• Steering Committee Chair• Steering Committee Members

• Middle School Children• Parents• Teachers• School Media Specialist• Community Collaborator

Responsible Parties

Communication Plan

TimelineEarlyMay

Mid May

Late May

Early June

Mid June

Late June

Ongoing

Initiating

Planning

Implementing

Controlling

Closing

Ongoing Assessment

InitiatingEarlyMay

Mid May

Late May

Early June

Mid June

Late June

Ongoing

Initiating

• Outline Project Plan

• Agree on Roles

• Outline Responsibilities

• Map Communication Strategies

• Solicit Stakeholder Feedback

• Finalize Plan

PlanningEarlyMay

Mid May

Late May

Early June

Mid June

Late June

Ongoing

Planning

• Refine Project Timeline

• Finalize Budget

• Confirm Project and Workshop Standards

• Monitor and Review Deliverables

• Pilot Test and Solicit Stakeholder Feedback

• Create and Distribute Marketing Materials

• Open Registration

ImplementingEarlyMay

Mid May

Late May

Early June

Mid June

Late June

Ongoing

Implementing

• Communicate Regularly with All Stakeholders

• Run Workshops

• Ongoing Registration

• Discuss Issues and Budget

• Provide Feedback

• Ongoing Marketing as Needed

ControllingEarlyMay

Mid May

Late May

Early June

Mid June

Late June

Ongoing

Controlling

• Communicate with Team and Stakeholders Regularly

• Run Workshops

• Implement Iterative Changes Based on Feedback

• Monitor and Evaluate Effectiveness of Marketing

• Review Assessment Documents and Make Recommendations

• Ongoing Marketing and Registration as Needed

ClosingEarlyMay

Mid May

Late May

Early June

Mid June

Late June

Ongoing

Closing

• Confirm Ongoing Assessment Plan

• Track Evaluation of Outcomes

• Communicate Efforts and Assessments to Stakeholders

• Review Issues and Budget

• Thank Project Team and Participants

• Initiate Long Term Assessment Plan

Ongoing AssessmentEarlyMay

Mid May

Late May

Early June

Mid June

Late June

Ongoing

Ongoing Assessment

• Communicate Regularly with All Stakeholders

• Make Recommendations for Decisions Based on Outcome Assessment

• Repeat the Program• Offer the Same Program• Scale the Program Up• Scale the Program Down• Offer New Themes

• Do Not Repeat the Program

Estimated Program Value $3124Estimated Library Expenses $1244

Estimated In Kind Donations $1880

Library Expenses In Kind Donations Notes

Director $244 16 hours

Staff $940 70 hours

Volunteers $720 60 hours

Subject Experts $540 30 hours

Office & Art Supplies $60 $400 Office supplies for marketing and assessment, as well as donations for art supplies and duct tape

Software $100 Comic Creation and Game Creation software license for 30 participants

Snacks $120 Light snacks and drinks for each of six workshops

Estimated Program Budget

Marketing Plan

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The Kids as Creators Workshop Series is intended to provide a safe, informal, and information rich environment in which middle school

children can apply critical thinking and creativity skills to gain confidence, to improve their grades, and to become more productive members of the

community.

Marketing Positioning Statement

Key MessagesTarget Audience Key Message

Middle School Children Let your mind go wild!Create original content, have fun with friends and unleash your creativity.

Parents Your children will hone their critical thinking and creativity skills while they have fun creating original comics, games, and duct tape creations at the library.

Teachers Encourage students to hone their critical thinking and creativity skills and increase their confidence in using library resources while having a great time making original works.

Community Partners Join us in preparing our children to be active creators in our community’s future.

Members of the Community Learn more about preparing our children to be active creators in our community’s future.

Target Audience Method

Middle School Children Word of mouth, school visits, social networking (through parent accounts), through leaders of social clubs and other out of school activities

Parents Library signage and take-home materials, library web site, social networking (especially Facebook), and word of mouth

Teachers Direct conversation, e-mail, brochures, classroom visits when possible

Community Partners Direct contact through phone calls or in-person visits, invitations to library events

Members of the Community Newspaper, community television channel, word of mouth

Marketing Methods

Brochures

Signs

Flyers and Posters

Assessment Plan

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The assessment plan for this program relies on integrated forms of assessment that serve as both learning tools and assessment indicators.

KWL Charts, Graphic Organizer, Online Surveys, Focus Groups, and Semi-scripted Interviews will combine to provide a comprehensive evaluation of

whether or not the program is meeting the outcomes in support of the workshop series goals.

Assessment Plan

• Meeting the outcome• Continue the program as planned• Monitor and adjust to improve program

• Within a reasonable range of the outcome• Review outcome statistics to assess and propose revision• Deploy revisions to better meet objectives• Monitor to assess effectiveness of program changes• Take appropriate action

• Failure to meet the outcome• Review outcome statistics to assess whether outcome is inappropriate or the

means of attempting to reach the outcome is appropriate• Collaborate to determine whether revisions to the program implementation,

deployment, or staffing may effectively change program effectiveness• Monitor to assess effectiveness of program changes• Take appropriate action

Result Scenarios and Decision Making Indicators

Timeline for Continuous AssessmentAction Responsible Party Timing and Frequency

Create measurement plan Program Manager with input from Facilitators and Library Director

April 22-May 2

Communicate plan to staff, offer opportunity for feedback, address staff concerns

Program Manager May 2-May 9

Train Facilitators to administer and evaluate assessment tools

Program Manager May 9 throughout program as needed

Pilot Tests Facilitators, Program Manager April 25-May 16And ongoing throughout program and post-program assessment

Approve Action Plan with any adjustments determined necessary after the pilot test

Library Director May 16 (At Program Planning Meeting)

Record and Interpret Data Program Manager, with some input from Facilitators

May - June

Report to Library Director and Staff Program Manager May 27, 2013-June 2015

Monitor and Adjust Facilitators, with oversight from the Program Manager

May 23, 2013-June 2015

Report to Stakeholders Library Director, with support from Program Manager

June 2013-July 2015

Conduct Follow Up Assessments Program Manager June 2013-July 2015Three-month survey, and end-of-school year surveys

Workshop Sets

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Sample Workshop Set Schedule

The times listed below should serve as a guideline and remain fluid to retain theinformal nature of the learning atmosphere. The elements addressed in parenthesis represent the stage of Inquiry Based Learning the activity supports. Workshop 16:00-6:15 Greet (Connect/Wonder)

6:15-6:45 Present Ideas and Show Examples and Tools (Connect/Wonder)

6:45-7:00 Have students share ideas and try out a variety of tools (Investigate) 7:00-7:15+ Guide to choose project and appropriate tools/Investigate (Construct) 7:15-7:45

Facilitate where needed (Construct)

7:45-8:00 Share project progress with each other (Express)

Workshop 26:00-6:15 Greet (Connect/Wonder)

6:15-7:30 Continue to work on projects and facilitate where needed (Construct)

7:30-8:00 Share projects and talk about what they learned (Express/Reflect)

Supporting AASL Standards

American Association of School Librarians (AASL)

Standard 1: Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge. Standard 2: Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge. Workshop planners can access information regarding 21st Century learning outcomes and support systems at the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website athttp://www.p21.org/overview/skills-framework and at the New York State Education website’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers page at http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/21stCCLC/.

Example ofResources Needed

For Comic Creators WorkshopText-a variety of age-appropriate comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, and novels that incorporate comics as a main element Digital-a variety of digital comic examples and a demonstration and tutorial of the comic creation software chosen by the Project Team as appropriate for this lesson Materials-a variety of art supplies for students to create a paper comic strip, sheet, or book

Questions

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