My ideal for library teaching is zero-preparation. I like to come into the session, ask the students about the work they have done in the class so far and the work they are now expected to do from this point forward. From there, we look at ways to approach their topics given the resources and time avaialable to them. Not all classes work this way–even I will admit that some classes need preparation to go well–but for an intro class or a class where I have worked with that course in years past, it suits my personality, and seems to work more often than not for the students.

While this means that I don’t spend a lot of time planning sample searches or writing guided activities, it does mean that I think seriously about the best ways to approach a class to make that kind of exchange possible. I may feel free and open to possibilities in my mind, but if that isn’t clear to the students, it doesn’t help.

I first started thinking of this a few years back when I took a class with “regular” students at my college, training to be a writing center tutor. The class was lively and fun with great discussions and arguments. Until we had a guest. Then everyone clammed up. The rapport wasn’t there. The dynamic of the class was one of sharing and discussing, and when the guest speaker came in, it switched to lecture mode, and the class fell into a coma.

I thought of this again when I read Iris’s latest post, I need to stop being such a librarian. She concludes the post this way:

Note to self: There’s no way to teach it all, anyway, so think harder about things that are both practical and imagination-sparking, and then teach those things more consistently. These students like to be intellectually engaged — that’s why they’re here — so go with that. Be a guest lecturer.

This takes what I have observed and comes up with something like a solution. As a guest, I’m not there to run down “how to use the library” or even “how to do this assignment.” I’m there to get them to see how the discipline in question frames questions and creates conversations and new understanding. I’m there to get them to see the beauty and the challenge of doing research and to suggest where they might start.

To do this doesn’t take coming up with new handouts or demonstrating more or fewer features of more or fewer databases. What it takes is making a subtle but significant shift in how I see myself and how I convey what I have to offer to students.