So…what are you going to do with that?

I majored in creative writing as an undergraduate. Well, okay, that isn’t quite accurate. I was an English major with an emphasis in creative writing (as opposed to an emphasis in literature or rhetoric) so that I had the strong foundation of an English major, which satisfied my parents, while allowing myself to be creative and pursue writing, which satisfied me.  Upon graduation, the most popular question asked of me was, “Huh…creative writing? So, what are you going to do with that?”

Eventually long explanations about dreaming of being a novelist and hoping to be able to find a career that allowed me to use my writing in an efficient yet fun way that still allowed me to work on manuscripts on the side gave way to a simpler, more concise explanation: “Write. Creatively.”

To make a long journey short, I quickly learned that I loved working with students but knew I didn’t want to be a full-time classroom teacher. In speaking to a good friend from childhood, I was sold on the idea of becoming a LMS within about 5 minutes of our conversation. She was finishing her degree and everything she described (even the things she said were “downsides”) seemed to be a perfect fit.

Now, when I tell people what I am doing, I am met with two questions: “Oh, so have you given up on writing?” and, of course, “So…what are you going to do with that?” You’d have thought that people would have gotten a bit more creative in the last few years.

I’m not ignoring my writing. In fact, I’ve been able to tinker with some excellent writing ideas as a mind-break from class work and am excited that my new career will allow me to be creative in about a thousand other ways. I’ve employed my classroom skills, information literacy skills, and information retrieval skills to create a creative writing workshop for middle and high school students that I teach weekly. I’ve been able to help my boyfriend create a much better information system for his grades (he’s a 7th grade teacher). I’ve been using my busy schedule as motivation to find ways to be creative in my reading as well as my writing – when do I fit in Fablehaven amidst the other required reading I do each week? I’ll read as I work out on the elliptical! When can I squeeze a quick exercise in writing? Why, my blog seems to be the perfect outlet!

So, as for that annoying question about what I’m going to do with my degree? Well, I think the answer to this is just about as obvious as the answer the question five years ago: “Everything.”

Reference Desk Observation – Summary

I found that working with Ms. Smith was invaluable to me as a future school librarian. Not only was I able to really see how her day was spent, but being able to pick her brain about every day activities was fantastic. Also, as an enthusiastic teacher, she gave me a lot of wonderful ideas and ways to implement information literacy into nearly any curriculum plans.

I found that while there was a huge emphasis on teaching (rather than answering more reference questions as there would be in a public library) Ms. Smith found many ways to incorporate different information skills into each lesson. Some of what she taught her students to look for were the same things we studied in class – evaluating websites, properly using references resources, and becoming familiar with databases all became major themes in the media center.

It was incredibly refreshing to see a teacher so enthusiastic about teaching and making the environment kid-friendly without being condescending to her students. It was obvious that she was truly loved by the student body and that most teachers valued her opinion and respected her ability to help them with their curriculum.

Reference Desk Observation – Part 5

In the 8^th grade schedule this year, there is an extra period that most students may take an elective like art, music, or shop class. This year, the principal approached Ms. Smith and asked if she’d like to teach an elective on information literacy. Ms. Smith not only jumped at the chance but she decided to change the name to Marketing Strategies and incorporate traditional marketing information to help hold student interest. This week, I had the opportunity to watch the class in action.

Ms. Smith divided the 20 student class into groups of 4 and had them act as marketing agencies, each promoting a different imaginary product that they brainstormed. The first marking period focused solely on print ads, techniques used to pull in audiences, and ways to get buyers to purchase the products. Students used these lessons to create their own print ads and pitch them to the class. The second marking period focuses on both television ads and web ads. Students use Flip recorders to tape and upload their own videos. They use fee online animation sites to animate their print ads for Internet-ready marketing.

While the focus seems to be on advertising, Ms. Smith makes a point of teaching the students that this is how people market products to consumers. These are also techniques that websites use to get more traffic to come to their sites which is why Google is not always the best way to search for information. She teaches media ethics, advertising versus marketing, and why it is important to be smart information consumers – people who don’t take information at face value.

She even follows this through to plagiarism. She explains that quoting anything that isn’t yours is fine so long as credit is given but even quoting a movie without properly citing it is wrong. Ms. Smith says that some students don’t know that any work needs to be given credit, not just books. She equates directors to authors and explains that their work should be given credit.

The fact that this class exists at all is quite amazing, in my opinion. It does not take place in the media center but a classroom, which gives the class some privacy and cuts down on distractions. The class meets once a day for half the school year and then she’ll get a new set of students for the second half. Both she and the principal think that adding this class is helping to strengthen the students’ ability to identify good sources and accurate information.

Reference Desk Observation – Librarian Interview

In speaking with Ms. Smith, the media specialist at X Middle School, she gave me a lot of valuable insight into the life of the school librarian. For her, reference is not the same as it would be in a public library. Most students simply want information on authors or titles whereas teachers’ needs generally require a reference interview. Some teachers prefer to save time by having all the necessary resources already pulled, negating the students’ ability to perform searches within the stacks or on databases Ms. Smith fights this adamantly and is determined to ensure that each student has basic research skills.

Many teachers ask for help with specific databases and Ms. Smith finds that most seem to be afraid of them because they do not have the skills to properly use them. She would like to implement staff training sessions but so far has been met with much resistance; most of the staff would like her to do the work for them and most of the time she is glad to help but some teachers think that her job is to be their research assistant and she simply doesn’t have enough time to do that for each teacher. Instead, she began to book appointments with individual teachers, asking for 2-3 weeks so that she can properly prepare to help them. This has helped to cut down on her stress and has helped teachers to feel she is doing more to support their curriculum.

Recently, a particularly difficult reference transaction Ms. Smith experienced was when she tried to assist a 6^th grade student find an age-appropriate material on concentration camps. Encyclopedias were too broad and the databases yielded material that, in Ms. Smith’s opinion, was a little too mature for the student’s needs. In the end, with some serious searching, the two were able to find some information using a library catalog search for the Holocaust and found reference materials that better described information. Looking back, Ms. Smith thinks she would have started locally rather than in the databases because she finds middle school material hard to find; most is too mature for her students. Most often she uses the Internet and books to help the student body but she believes that all librarians should be familiar with search engines (including those that aren’t Google), databases, and the library’s collection. Knowing your own collection can greatly improve your ability to quickly help patrons.

Most services at the X Middle School take place in person, but teachers will email Ms. Smith questions and request. Students have the option to email her but very often choose to ask their questions live. Ms. Smith uses two major points to evaluate what materials should be kept in the library: does it have educational value and is it current? She is reluctant to throw away reference books but at the same time, anything that is more than 3 years old is more than likely already too old for a good reference. She tries to keep this as up to date as the budget allows. Sometimes when a student’s learning abilities are in question, Ms. Smith will secretly contact the student’s teachers to see if there is any further information that would be helpful when helping an individual student. If, for example, the student has clear issues with reading, Ms. Smith might suggest an Encyclopedia over a denser reference book. Ideally, Ms. Smith would like to never let a patron leave the media center without an answered question or the promise of getting more information.

The circulation desk (which doubles as the reference desk) uses numerous instructional strategies from walking a patron through the process of finding materials to letting the patron “drive” when at the computer. Because this is a school library, learning is the primary goal.  Ms. Smith tries to keep notes on what she’s done during the day and a general log of how many students were in the room each period, but it is nearly impossible to keep track of every question that has been asked.

Ms. Smith had started out as a language arts teacher in the district and decided to try out the position when the previous LMS retired. She received an emergency certification from a local college but went on to get her MLS to fulfill state criteria. At the time, she found that while she loved teaching, she was beginning to burn out and wanted to remain in the school environment. This seemed like an ideal situation for her and she has no regrets about her decision. Her days are completely different and full of surprises. Administration takes up a large portion of her time, as does instruction, but she says that the constant change is what makes it interesting for her.

Ms. Smith told me not to expect to work with teachers and pitch the services I can provide if I don’t understand the state standards that need to be met in each area of discipline. While information literacy is a wonderful skill to teach, it means nothing if teachers won’t collaborate and know that you are supporting their curriculum. One of the biggest services she would like to provide but currently cannot due to internal politics is the morning “Starbooks” café where students could come in early and buy breakfast while they worked on homework or read a book. While students can still come and use the media center before school starts, serving breakfast is no longer an option.

According to Ms. Smith, the best part of her job is having the flexibility in what she teaches, the day goes by very quickly, she can make a bigger impact with the entire school than with just one class, and the ability to support every other subject taught in the building. The worst part of her job is that she finds that she never stops, she doesn’t get a prep period like a classroom teacher would, and that the rest of the teaching staff often misunderstands her role and how her time is spent.

5 Things I Thought I Knew But Didn’t

Now that I’m about halfway through my first full-time semester, there are a couple of thoughts I had about distance learning that I hadn’t considered before jumping in. None of them are things that would have changed my mind (and certainly not things that make life unbearable) but they are things that while I thought I knew what it would entail, I now realize I had no idea.

1. Class discussions take place on a discussion board.

What I thought this meant: We would post on a discussion board.

What I now realize this means: In addition to all of the readings for class, I also have to read my classmates’ observations, thoughts, and questions.

Explanation: Some discussion posts are easy to read and understand and, therefore, easy to reply to and become involved in the discussion. Others are less so. In a live class discussion is fast-paced and people will generally talk for a few sentences before the person feels they have sufficiently made their point or the professor chimes in. This is not the case on a discussion board and some posts can be quite involved or long-winded. There are benefits to having discussions posted on a forum, however, and I do find myself going back and re-reading previous posts for reference, which obvious can’t be done in class without a recording device. Also, I can read the discussions at a time where I am alert and able to best communicate. For me, this is rarely before 9am but some campus classes can meet as early as 8.

Advice I would give to someone considering distance learning: If you don’t like reading, this is not going to be pleasant but then again, if you don’t like reading, any sort of higher education is not going to be pleasant. On the plus side, that one jerk in class (you know the jerk – everyone has that one jerk) isn’t live and in-person so it’s easier to deal with frustration because that person can’t see you or hear you cursing at your computer screen as you try to decipher what it is they are saying through the piles of extra paragraphs and excessively large words.

2. Your peers are also at a distance.

What I thought this meant: Classmates would not be local.

What it actually means: Classmates are not local, available at the same time you are available, and quite often, have full or part-time jobs.

Explanation: I was expecting to feel as though I was pushing through this on my own without any real classmates to relate to and finding myself clinging to names I recognized but this isn’t so. While I do find that I have to work much harder to connect with my peers, especially if there is any sort of group work that needs to be done, there is a definite sense of community and this is multiplied when you log onto Facebook and see that everyone’s status is, “Freaking out about my paper for 605!”

Advice I would give to someone considering distance learning: Join any and all social networking groups that relate to your program. While it may seem like a cheesy thing to do and I know a lot of people aren’t comfortable putting a lot of information about themselves online, you can control who can see you and who to friend as well as what is seen on your profile. For me, I’ve found FB to be a comfort when I felt I was the only one overwhelmed with work. Don’t be afraid to talk to “strangers” because they’re in the same position you are in. Take advantage of the “boot camp” courses over the summer – I know others have said it before but even meeting people face-to-face once is enough to make a connection. Technology has just helped to keep that connection intact.

3. All of your work will be on a computer.

What I thought this meant: Since we are no longer in the 1980’s, we will be using personal computers.

What it actually means: I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk on the computer watching and reading lectures, reading discussion posts, checking links professors have posted, and doing my homework.

Explanation: Yes, my computer time has increased three-fold but this was something I expected. What I didn’t fully grasp was that I never realized how ergonomically incorrect my desk chair is. Also, while I knew assignments would be turned in electronically, it didn’t phase me that this negates the need to print out a paper or assignment, saving trees, but also, preventing you from having a hard copy backup of your work.

Advice I would give to someone considering a distance program: Get a comfy desk chair. You’ll be in it a bunch. Also, invest in a thumb drive. You never know when your technology will crap out on you and it WILL inevitably be the day a major assignment is due. It’s already happened to me – hard drive failure hours before an assignment deadline.

4. Your schedule is your own.

What I thought this meant: I would be able to continue to work and go to school.

What it actually means: It’s my responsibility to figure out where to squeeze everything in.

Explanation: Life doesn’t stop for school and school doesn’t stop for life. In fact, the constant overlap is what makes distance learning so great – nothing has to stop for the other. This does require some juggling and I find that being organized helps but does not alleviate the feeling that I’m always playing catch up at school, at work, or in my personal life. The three will never mesh easily but since school always wins out (for obvious reasons), something else has to lose to an extent. This does mean that I sometimes feel as though I’m squeezing in a discussion post in between my drive home from work and the start of a friend’s birthday party.

Advice I would give to someone considering a distance program: ORGANIZE! The more organized you are, the easier it is to find time to do (most) everything you want to do. You’re still going to have to make some concessions but the more you are aware of where your priorities need to be, the better. Your day planner will be your best friend.

5. This is going to be fun.

What I thought this meant: Claiming that graduate school will be fun is a crock. This is the sales pitch that pushes those teetering on the edge of deciding whether or not to go to school over the edge.

What it actually means: No, this is actually a lot of fun!

Explanation: Yes, it’s a lot of work and yes, I’m tired and stressed but at the same time, I have a great network of supportive friends I’ve met through the program and I really do feel like we’re in this together. While there are subjects I enjoy more than others, overall each class I’ve taken has had a great deal I’ve enjoyed learning about and I’m constantly jotting down ideas for implementing what I’ve learned in the real world. I’ve found that the mental workout really enjoyable (admittedly, I am a self-professed nerd) and I’ve never once regretted my decision to continue my education.

Advice I would give to someone considering a distance program: Go in with an upbeat attitude and allow yourself to get excited about going through your program. The hard work really does pay off when you look back and realize how much more you know and how useful it will be.

Reference Desk Observation – Part 4

It’s the day before the school’s Halloween and the school is definitely alive with energy. In the library, students keep running in to tell Ms. Smith what their costume will be because she’s offered a prize to the student with the most creative literature-inspired costume: a $10 gift certificate donated by the local Dunkin Donuts.

Ms. Smith, in the meantime, is working on her budget for next year which is due in to the school board by December 1^st. She explained that in order to order any new materials, all orders needed to be anticipated the year before.  She may not need specific titles in mind but she has to allocate funds specifically for purchasing materials. She keeps a suggestion box where both students and faculty can request titles or materials. She uses these suggestions to build her collection and ensure that it’s up to date in terms of what her patrons want or need.

While we were discussing budget, a number of students came in, all mostly looking to see if the library had specific titles or authors. Ms. Smith told me that about 90% of the reference questions she gets from students is about the availability of books. The remaining 10% is about getting fast answers to homework questions. In both cases, Ms. Smith strives to teach rather than tell.

This led us to a pretty intense discussion about web instruction and the importance of teaching kids both safe surfing and the value of understanding how to evaluate websites. Ms. Smith is presenting at the next ALA conference with a number of her peers on specific lesson plans that they use to teach such skills. One of her favorite lessons is to have a class edit Wikipedia entries by placing random words in the article and then check to see how long it takes before the article is corrected. This really illustrates to students why it’s not necessarily a good thing that anyone can edit these entries. She said it once took over a month for someone to take the word “dog” out of an article on botany. Once the kids complete the project, most really begin to use better sources, using pathfinders in the library for guidance.

Reference Desk Observation – Part 3

Today was a relatively quiet day in the media center. There was a class working on an ongoing project with a teacher on the Mac lab computers, about 15 students who came in during their lunch to read and work on their homework, 2 teachers using the teacher area, and a teacher providing some extra help for a student who had been absent.

During this time, Ms. Smith went about fixing spine labels on some older books while updating her computer system to ensure that all materials were accounted for. The previous librarian and assistant had each cataloged information without checking for duplicates which often leads to confusion when students or teachers look to see if an item is in. As she explained, not only does this make the media center inefficient, but it tests the patrons’ trust in the library. Even though Ms. Smith has been the media center specialist for 5 years, the staff is just this year has been able to thoroughly clean the system

While we were chatting, a 7^th grade English teacher came in to talk to Ms. Smith about a project she’d like her students to work on. Ms. Smith conducted this interlude much like a reference interview, sure to understand exactly what the teacher’s intentions were, what she expected of her students, and even suggested other methods to achieve the goal.

In the end, the teacher wanted the students to research local folk tales and write their own, based on events in their own life. Ms. Smith suggested some local history sites, some possible project results that were more interesting than making posers, as well as organizing a Skype session with the local historian who may be able to tell some local folk tales as a treat.

There are definite time constraints on organizing projects with teachers, so after the initial reference interview, the teacher had to go back to class. Ms. Smith said she would begin to put resources and pathfinders together but that she would also email the teacher to further discuss possible plans. Ms. Smith then told me that while it’s taken a while for teachers to collaborate with her, the results have been quite impressive. Ms. Smith is even trying to create a 3-year information literacy program that would work with the curriculum and build each year so that by the time the students graduate to high school, they are well prepared to understand how to conduct good research.

Reference Desk Observation – Part 2

The eighth grade music classes at X Middle School are in the midst of a research project wherein groups of 2 students create a webpage that fully explains the life of famous composers. In order to do this successfully, students must use encyclopedias, print materials, and Internet sources to answer questions their teacher has specified. Today the class is focused only on print materials and encyclopedias.

Before the class comes in, Ms. Smith has already pulled a number of resources they may use and organized them on a cart. The students are only allowed to use one item on the cart; all other sources must be found in the media center’s stacks. Ms. Smith believes that this gives them an opportunity to begin their research before hitting frustrating points that would prevent the students from wanting to continue.

Ms. Smith has also prepared a pathfinder for her students. As the class arrives, she hands each student a piece of paper with a description of the kind of information that can be found within. She tells me that some students have never had experience even with encyclopedias so the pathfinder, while it won’t give information that is specific to this assignment, can help the students determine which materials to use.

Because the emphasis was predominantly on print materials, Ms. Smith spent about 10 minutes of the 40 minute period discussing how to use indexes and TOC’s, which was great to hear. Some of the students’ basic questions about research included:

“How do you know it’s the right person?”

“How do you look up his father’s name in the index?”
“Where is the table of contents in a magazine?”

“What if we can’t find anything on our composer?”

Instead of answering each of these, Ms. Smith turned the questions back to the students and asked for their input which not only drew the students in but also kept them thinking creatively and drawing them to their own conclusions which proved to be a very effective tactic.

During the rest of the class period, the students buzzed about the media center working together to find the best information on their composers. Ms. Smith and the music teacher were both present to help guide the students to the right resources without being overbearing. No student was given the “answer” and each learned to properly use indexes and TOC’s in encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers, and reference books.

Killing Creativity

I had the opportunity to see Ken Robinson speak at a New Jersey arts education collaboration about a year and a half ago. What he has to say about creativity, intelligence, and the importance of letting ourselves be wrong is something I really hope I can personally bring into my own teaching methods. If you have 20 minutes, take a gander. He’s really funny so it goes by quickly.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-4964296663335083307

Reference Desk Observation – Part 1

The X Public School System consists of 2 K-4 elementary schools, a 5th grade intermediate school, the middle school that houses grades 6-8 and the high school. Unfortunately, the 5th grade school does not have a media center or library to rely on so all incoming 6th graders have lost a year of library experience. Therefore, this past week, all 6th grade Language Arts classes were invited to the Media Center for an orientation and tour.

Ms. Smith is the sole librarian in the school but is supported by Mrs. Jones, secretary. Until last year they had two part-time aides but these positions were cut when budgets came up for review. Instead, there are a handful of parent volunteers who come in to help with some basics like shelving and checkout.

As we were waiting for a class to arrive, a very teary 7th grader came into the Media Center, explaining that he needed to find a book and he left the one he already borrowed at home. Ms. Smith later explained to me that this student was having a bit of a personality clash with one of his teachers and was frequently sent to the Media Center to calm down. Ms. Smith asked him what he liked to read about and was answered with a shrug. She then changed her tactic and asked what his favorite kind of movies were. He said he liked Harry Potter but had already read them all but thought he might want to read Steven King. Ms. Smith replied that they didn’t have his books in but they had books that were similar. She led him over to the fiction section and showed him that all the books were alphabetized by author but that all of the horror books were in their own section. At this point the class arrived so Ms. Smith handed the student off to Mrs. Jones to help him pick out a book and sit quietly for a while until he felt better.

Ms. Smith had an agenda planned for the 6th grade orientation and carefully went over all of the basics as well as handouts that listed all of the rules and policies. Each student received a copy of the agenda, the list of rules and a new bookmark.

* Library Policies:
Students are allowed 2 books for 2 weeks at a time.
There is a late fee of 5 cents per day unless you are absent from school.
If your late fee accumulates to more than $1 it will hold up your report card and you cannot take out any books until it drops under $1.
Magazines can only be borrowed for 1 week.
This is not a quiet room (indoor voices encouraged) but you cannot be too loud or you may be asked to leave.
You can come to the media center any time during the day as long as you have a pass. These passes double as the media center’s attendance sheet in case of a fire drill.
You can come to the media center during your lunch period but you have to go to the cafeteria and eat your lunch there first.

* Book Selection
How do you find books on the shelf?
How are shelves organized (Left to right and top to bottom)
What is different about finding fiction from non-fiction?
Make suggestions if there are books you want to read but we don’t have them!
All middle school Language Arts teachers require that you read at least one independent reading book per marking period.
Students can use the PC computers anytime but the Macs are for class projects only.
The media center is open before school at 8:15 every morning.
The media center is open late Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays until 4:30 and students can take the late bus home.
Reference books are different from non-fiction books.

* How to use the catalog (searching by author, title and keywords)
The catalog give you the book’s call number, the number of pages, a summary and tells you whether or not it is currently in.

* How to check out books
Every student assigned a personal ID number.
The circulation/reference desk is where you check out your books

* Brochures
Past students have helped to make up a number of brochures that suggest titles. For example, if a student knows he likes scary books, there is a brochure that lists different authors and titles that student may like. Since past students have recorded their favorite books, the information is not coming from an adult and new students are more likely to be interested.

* Programs
Accelerated reader: Every book that has a dot on the spine is an accelerated reader book and students may take a short, computerized test for points. There are various prizes throughout the year and the student with the most points in each grade will win a $100 savings bond at the end of the year.
Lunchtime Book Club: 10 books are selected at the beginning of the year and students can sign up each month. They do not have to read every book and therefore can sign up only for the months where the book seems interesting. On the 15th and 30th of each month the group will eat lunch in the library and talk about the book. Ms. Smith does not lead the discussion so students are free to talk about any part of the book that they enjoyed.

After going over all of this information and taking some questions from the class, Ms. Smith had a scavenger hunt prepared to get the students familiar with the layout. On one side of a handout, she had a basic map of the media center. On the other, she had 12 squares with different areas of the room listed. She had set up small pieces of paper near these various sections each student initial on this paper to prove they had found that section. The room was quickly abuzz with 35 students racing around to be the first to find all of the sections. As soon as they were done, they were free to pick out an independent reading book to take home.

With this many students and only 4 adults (including myself) in the room, everyone jumped to action to ensure that each student was given the opportunity to find a book that interested them. There was a special needs student who was having a lot of difficulty locating the different sections for the scavenger hunt as well as remembering the title of the book she thought she wanted to read. Ms. Smith patiently helped her navigate the room without giving her the answers. She asked many probing questions like, “Do you remember when I said I wanted to read a book about Abraham Lincoln and why he is on the penny? Do you remember where I went to find that book?” and in the end, the student was able to find each section on her own.

Admittedly, I couldn’t stand by and let the other adults struggle to help this many students so I helped a few students use the library catalog, helped another recall the alphabet so that she could find an author’s last name, and showed another how to find a book about pro-wrestling even if he wasn’t sure that one existed.

While this may not have seemed to be a traditional “reference desk” experience as would be typical in a public library, it was clear that having an orientation was important. Not only did it give the new students an opportunity to learn how to use the media center’s resources, but each student left with a non-school book to read which helped to excite them about both reading and using the media center. Most of the questions asked were about whether or not the library had any more copies of Twilight but here is a small sample of some others that were asked during the orientation:

“Are the computers online or can we only see what is in the school?”
“How do you know if the reference book you have has the right information?”
“What is a keyword?”
“What if I don’t know of a book but it has facts about Japan that I want to know. How do I find the book?”
“Can we stay after school to do homework?”
“Which bathroom do we use while we’re here?”
“What happens if I loose a book?”
“Are we allowed to take out any book we want?”

Ms. Smith handled each question and student individually and never seemed shocked or amused by any question. In fact, she seemed happy to be getting so many questions and she pointed out that the media center is where you come when you need to find answers.

Afer we checked out all 35 students in a matter of about 7 minutes, Ms. Smith concluded by telling the students that if they ever have any questions about anything, all they would have to do is come to the media center and ask, even if it was a homework question.