So here it is...after hours of linking, searching, posting, asking, wondering, trying (failing) and adding new browser windows into the double-digits... my Future Vision Project!
As mentioned in my other blog posts, this wiki is designed to be a "one stop shop" of resources for teaching students various aspects of digital citizenship. As I look back at my first Reading Review blog post, I am overwhelmed by the amount and scope of resources and information that I have discovered is out there on my topic... My Delicious account continues to grow all the time. I was happy to note that I stayed on course for my original goal, although of course there are still many more questions than answers when it comes to the "how", "what" and "when" of reaching and engaging our students. However, this was one of my goals in creating the wiki... so that it is never complete and always changing to reflect what's new and better. Somewhat like our own practices as teacher-librarians, perhaps?
Deciding how to organize the wiki took the most amount of time... for example, how many pages should I have? Where should I categorize this lesson? What kind of tags do I need? I also wanted to make the content within the pages as organized and streamlined as possible, so I used page breaks and different font sizes to help with this. I tried to put myself in the shoes of a TL hoping to find something quickly and easily... I hope I achieved this! I had a few technical issues with adding photos that kept going in upside down, and adding a widget for a couple of Prezis but nothing showing up! I am still trying to figure this at press time, so in the meantime I have just added links... but visuals are so much better! On that note, I still found that the wiki format is decidedly list-like... I prefer a blog format so that posts can be organized better by date and categories... However, with the discussion forum and the ability to tag now available in wikis, I am happy with my choice of format so that people can actually join the wiki and upload their resources. I've already sent out an email to all Surrey TLs with the link and have been getting feedback already, so I'm excited for the direction this will hopefully take!
This course has been one of the most challenging but also one of the most valuable in my TL diploma. The open inquiry prompts really got my research gears going and allowed me to truly "be" a student again.. in that way I can see what works and what doesn't when I'm teaching my students how to do the same thing. It was also my first real experience with blogging (and thus sharing my thoughts with an even wider audience than just the class discussion forums.) I found the sharing and feedback to be extremely valuable, and it has definitely motivated me to continue to expand my PLN. I think that the rich discussion between colleagues was a key motivator for creating an open and share-able Future Vision... teaching in isolation is NO fun! I feel much more inspired to share my own resources and document my TL practice to a wider online audience (although I do really need to cultivate my Twitter habit, which is one thing I kept forgetting to do more of in this course. Just set up "If This, Then That" to automatically tweet when I post to my blog so hopefully that helps; however, I still would like to share more of my daily adventures in the library and continue to connect with the new colleagues I've me here! A New Year's Resolution perhaps...)
Thank you to everyone for their valuable and encouraging feedback throughout all of our discussions. I truly enjoyed reading everyone's posts and have learned so much. I hope to continue our networking and collaboration in future! Thank you to Aaron for being an excellent guide throughout the course!
The learning curation project has been a very enlightening journey for me. As I look back on my first post and tentative questions, I can see the dual value in being both flexible in your outlook but also keeping grounded in your original goals when it comes to the inquiry process. I also found that taking LIBE 477B at the same time enabled me to delve even further into my essential questions through my own research as well as through the rich discussion provided by two course worth's of wonderful colleagues!
First Steps:
My initial question was "How can we ensure our students are 21st century learners?" with a focus on the learning commons transformation as my school is in the beginning phases. Since I also chose to focus on digital citizenship for LIBE 477B, I found that many of the resources and articles I found on that topic addressed my essential questions. After all, since much of what we teach our students when it comes to 21st century learning involves digital technology then of course digital citizenship skills must be included. I therefore started collecting all of my resources in one place with my existing Delicious account, which has proved very useful for not only keeping track of my resources but also giving me practice in tagging and categorizing and acting as a springboard to other social bookmarking tools that were introduced in both courses and used in amazing ways by my colleagues. It was through this researching that I started to think about my question in terms of not necessarily "teaching" our students to be modern learners but guiding our students in their experimenting and reflecting of their learning. In essence, we as educators must also be 21st century learners and give up the desire to be experts on everything.
Experimenting with Web 2.0
It was in this mindset that I chose my next few learning curations to incorporate tools that I had never used before in order to more fully see their value in the classroom and in my own professional learning. For example, I had always stuck with Delicious as my go-to bookmarking tool (as I used for the Module 3 prompt), but after creating a Symbaloo of different web 2.0 tools, I could certainly see the benefits of using such a visual tool both with students and with my colleagues (students can keep track of their own links while researching, or I could make a collection of helpful sites for a teacher's upcoming unit on mammals, for example.) It's easily shared and simple to create as well! Once I began playing around with some different tools, I began to make real-world connections between them and the teachers at my own schools. For example, "I wonder if Mrs. V. would like to use ______ with her animal project?" In that sense, I started to realize even more that the way to create a true learning commons is to have all staff on board as a united front to improve student learning.
Reaching Out to Staff
For the library to be the learning hub of the school, and for teachers to see the benefits of collaboration on digital learning projects, I realized that I need to advertise it as such! There has been one quote by Terri Hayes (2014) from Module 2 that has stuck with me throughout the entire course: "It is great staff, not great stuff, which is the hallmark of a thriving school library learning commons." Since my current school is limited in terms of getting more "stuff," as outlined more in Assignment 2, working together and pooling our resources seems like the next best alternative. (For example, I was looking at the iPad signout sheet last week and saw that Ms. S has the iPads booked out at the same time I was hoping to use them... this seemed like a good opportunity to find out what her class was working on and ask if she would like to work with me in my collaboration time instead!) For two of the prompts, I decided to make advocacy tools that outline what a learning commons actually is and my own vision for how we could work together on some amazing projects. In addition to being able to use these at future staff meetings, I also got some more practice on using some digital tools that I could suggest to teachers: Powtoon and Padlet. I (and apparently several of my colleagues in both courses, as discussed in the forums) also ended up doing a bit of soul-searching as part of the process of seeing ourselves as educational leaders, which does play a pivotal role in the development of a learning commons. Many of us who are relatively new teacher-librarians are hesitant to share our resources or be that person who stands up at staff meetings to present on a new tool or recruit teachers to jump on the collaboration and RBL bandwagon. However, after using my blog extensively in both courses, getting very supportive feedback from colleagues, and having the opportunity to provide support in return, I realized that I shouldn't be so nervous to share or be in the spotlight. We do that all day with our students, so why not with teachers? In the end, we are ALL learners.
The Heart of the Learning Commons
Stemming from my inquiry on how to get staff involved, my final submission on social justice issues in the library really got my focus back who is at the heart of my essential question: the students! As I wrote in my first submission, "one of the main reasons why I chose to become a teacher-librarian was my passion for helping students find what they need to succeed. Nothing would give me more satisfaction than showing a stressed-out student how to find that “golden nugget” that would help them in their research project, whether it was a website, a book or a presentation tool. As a result, teaching students to be media literate is one of the essential components of my library program..." Watching the video about "Why Libraries Matter" reminded me of many similar situations I have encountered over the years in school libraries in which students consider the library a safe haven, and desperately need the resources it provides. Indeed, even the title reminded me of the advocacy that we must all do when defending our positions, especially against those infuriating comments like "We won't need libraries in a few years, everything is on the computer." I think that the young people in the video would vehemently disagree with that statement. Even as my own personal learning curation has shown, libraries and teacher-librarians matter more than ever in our increasingly digital world; whereas before there were simply just books to find, now we have a plethora of media through which to guide our patrons, all with their own intricacies, skill sets and even dangers. Whether it's continuing to foster a reading culture, teaching students how to find quality information, or creating richer, more authentic learning experiences with teachers, I think that teacher-librarians are vital in ensuring our students are not only prepared for a complicated post-school world, but ready and excited to take part in it, challenge it, and change it for the better.
For this learning curation, I am responding to the prompt for the video "Why Libraries Matter" A Day in the Life of New York City's Public Libraries.
This video really struck a chord with me, as I can see many similarities between the needs of the patrons of these New York libraries and the students at my school and district. Even in a so-called "wealthy" area of Surrey at one of my schools, I found that there were many students who needed to use the library resources as late as possible since they did not have access to Internet or even a computer at home... I felt guilty for having to kick them out when I wanted to leave! Similarly, like the very beginning of the video, I would arrive at school at 7:45AM and there would still be kids lined up outside waiting to use the library. Because we are in a school setting, it is even more difficult for teacher-librarians to have extended hours like a public library. I would often tell my students to use the local public library, but what happens when it's too far away? Indeed, much like Isaiah in the video, many students simply want a warm, safe and welcoming place that they can hang out in, especially if home doesn't offer those comforts. They also might just want some adult guidance, whether it's homework help or simply having that reassuring grown-up presence. Students seem to have to grow up much faster than than when I was a child (say, twenty years ago); yet they need guidance more than ever, especially those who don't receive much outside of school.
So what to do? Aside from giving up our personal lives and living at our libraries (which I'm sure many of our students think we actually do!) I think that creating a virtual presence can really make a difference in helping students outside of school hours. While that still doesn't address the internet access issue, (a helpful website isn't helpful students can't access it), having that "24/7" presence is key aspect of creating a learning commons... the virtual space is just as important as the physical one.
When I worked at my first long term position at a secondary school, I made a school library website for the first time and and tried to make it simple enough for grade 8 students to access on their own but with enough helpful information to use for a variety of different things, whether it's writing a bibliography or trying to figure out which book is next in the Maze Runner series. Sadly I didn't get longer than one year to promote it, so I never got to see its real fruition; however, I am looking forward to creating a library website for my current elementary school and make it both parent and student friendly, with links to homework help, district resources and reading promotion.
The link to my original site is here.
After watching the video, I started to wonder how else we could use the learning commons model to our advantage when it comes to providing access and opportunity to all of our students. Since our goal is for the library to be the hub of the school, I think that opening up the space for other programs (like homework help clubs, tutoring and after-school programs) would not only be a great way to "advertise" the library but also give students a chance to use the resources. Again, a welcoming, resource and technology-rich space is key, as well as a willingness by the teacher-librarian to give up some control of the space. Is everything going to be exactly as you left it when you headed home for the day? Probably not, but if a struggling student was able to get help from a peer and it involved taking some books off the shelves or moving some furniture, which is more important in the long run? As a perfectionist who hates visual clutter, this has definitely been difficult for me! However, establishing trust and rapport with your students can really help in getting them to think of the space as theirs, and to treat it with respect. At that same high school, I had several students who used the library to tutor, and sometimes I would have to leave before they were done... luckily I had an understanding VP who checked in on them every so often and locked up the library after they left My current school has a large after-school program for our more vulnerable students, and I have offered the library space if required for certain activities.
I was also struck by the segment about English language learners coming in with their children... At Bear Creek, the StrongStart (preschool) co-ordinator asked if her parents and toddlers could come in once per week to read a story and look at books with their guardians. It's been very rewarding to watch grandparents with limited English read storybooks with their grandchildren and learn alongside them!
While there is of course no one solution, and we are only one person with so much time in the day, I think it's important to not get overwhelmed when thinking about how many of our students might be struggling. I think that having a school community that works together to solve problems (students included) is a good way to address social justice and accessibility issues that are right in our own backyard. If students are able to empathize with their peers (perhaps like the group of teens near the end of the video), then they are much more likely to feel inspired to do something about it, whether it's helping in a homework club or simply being aware of socio-economic differences that exist within a school and questioning why they are there. In the end, I feel that a warm attitude, a smile and a genuine sense of caring can make all the difference in helping someone who is struggling feel inspired, valued and important.
As discussed in my previous post, I had decided on a wiki as the platform to curate and share digital citizenship resources with fellow teaching colleagues. After creating the Wiki and naming it "Digital Citizenship Database" I realized how out of practice from wiki-ing I really was! It took me a bit of time to figure out how to create pages, organize the navigation pane, upload documents and make the pages look appealing... I am trying to make the pages well-organized and easy to read, although once I (and others, hopefully!) start adding more items, the pages will get longer and longer.
It was at this point that, as a notorious second-guesser, I started to wonder if a Wiki was the best choice after all. Would the pages start to look too long and crowded? I do love the layout of a blog and the embedding and ease of use when it comes to commenting; however, I still wanted a place where people can actually upload physical documents. I also looked a fellow LLED 462 colleague's Symbaloo on a similar topic and wondered if a more visual platform would be better, as opposed to the linear appearance of a wiki. However, there still arose the issue of uploading documents, in addition to being able to add more contributors... In the end, I realized that I really want this to be a living document and promote sharing and collaboration among colleagues. So, much like in a multiple choice test, I went with my initial instinct (When in doubt, pick W for Wiki?)
This has certainly been a learning experience in looking at the different benefits and drawbacks of a variety of different Web 2.0 tools. I think the key is to really think about your purpose and choose the one that will represent it best. I have been working on making the Wiki as user friendly as possible and learning more about how to give it more of a blog type of feel. I hadn't made a wiki in quite awhile and was pleased to notice some new features, like the discussion post option that you can choose to have in every page. I think this is an awesome addition, so that users can explain their contributions (and hopefully get notified when there are updates.... Another feature to look into as I continue working.) I also figured out how to create tags for different pages much like in Blogger, so hopefully that will make the wiki easier to navigate as well.
In addition to technical aspects, I've also been having to make a lot of design and content decisions (and revisions) as I've begun going through my resources. For example, what aspects of digital citizenship do I want to include as page headings? Do I want to include grade levels as separate pages or just within them? Do I need to link to different parts of the pages, or just the one page? For example, Media Smarts has a ton of different lesson plans- which ones to include separately?
Again, I need to look at the project through the lens of my projected users (including myself!) and what is going to make the most sense and be the most accessible when searching for a particular type of resource. To be continued!
As mentioned in my post last week, I am planning on creating a space for digital citizenship resources for teacher-librarians (or any educator, really!) to access, share and contribute to. My reasoning for this is that there is SO much out there and SO many aspects of digital citizenship to consider (information literacy, critical literacy, media literacy, etc etc etc) that it can be overwhelming to figure out an actual unit plan. In addition, there is no one way to "teach" these subjects either. Finally, as many of us have discussed in our blogs, the role of the teacher-librarian can be isolating as we are the only one of us in our schools, and often we are the only ones that are raising these important topics with our students when they come in to do projects because it fits perfectly in with the context of research and online technology. Speaking from experience, a well-organized space that contains resources from the Web as well as homegrown, teacher-librarian-created lessons would be extremely helpful to have in my toolkit.
After some deliberation over what platform would be best, I decided to go with a Wiki. Although a blog can be more conducive to discussion and linking, a Wiki is better for uploading actual documents since once someone is a member, then they can edit the Wiki easily, which is what I'm going for- readily available resources that can be used with Mrs. L's grade 6 class who just booked in at the last minute for collaboration time and you're wondering how best to use those 40 minutes to teach an intermediate class you rarely see about digital citizenship (if you hadn't guessed, this is actually happening to me this coming week...) I think that there is still lots of space for commenting and collaborating on a Wiki as well. I'm planning on doing a shout out to all of the TLs in my district once I have my pages organized to start the sharing ASAP.
Here is my wiki-in-the-making... Not very pretty yet and super sparse but you have to start somewhere! On that note, I decided to spend a bit of time reviewing how to make a wiki and, more importantly, a GOOD wiki.
Here are some articles I found helpful in case your future vision is taking you to Wiki-land as well! What Makes a Good Wiki A Good Wiki Tells a Story
And I'm sure we have all seen this before (hard to believe it was made in 2007!) but I actually found it helpful to watch again before I really got going:
For my 6th learning curation prompt, I decided to use Symbaloo to collect resources for my Web 2.0 Toolkit as part of Module 8.
The link to my Symbaloo is here. I have set up 4 corners of the Symbaloo into 4 different categories, going clockwise: network, present, curate, create. As I'm starting to gather more tools as I hear about them, I'm seeing that some fit into more than one category (awesome!) I'm think that eventually I'll set up different webmixes for each category. As a visual person I definitely like using Symbaloo better than Delicious, which is what I have used to curate articles and webpages. Since there are so many web 2.0 tools out there, I love the idea of having them all in one spot as it can be easy to forget about them!
Experimenting!
After having used Padlet in Module 7 to curate thoughts and resources on networking with colleagues, I began to think about ways I could use this with students, especially the intermediate classes, and how I could relate it to my 21st century learner essential question. Of course, Padlet offers opportunities to share thoughts and digital content, giving students a chance to practice uploading pictures and videos, as well as articulate themselves effectively online. As a basic starter, I thought that I could create a page for the Surrey Book of the Year (or Picture Book of the Year for the grade 4s) and have students write short book reviews/discussions of each book.
I also love making book trailers, and have always just used iMovie, but I like the idea of using Powtoon as an alternative now that I've experimented with it in Module 2. However, the issue of creating student accounts and moderating them all is a bit of a deterrent, so I would like to investigate and see what other teachers have done to make that portion easier.
I have also used Wordle in the past in English classes for various assignments from character sketches to themes; what I have always wanted to do is use Wordle to teach the Dewey Decimal sections and getting students to think about what is included in each category and why.
I am about to collaborate with a grade 2 teacher on an animal project (the new curriculum is including metamorphosis; for example, a baby frog looks nothing like an adult frog, whereas baby humans look like adult humans.) I have used Book Creator on the iPads for an animal project before, in which students wrote a book about their animal with facts and photos, but since we are discussing more about transformation now, I'm wondering if something like Storybird would be a interesting way for students to tell the "story" of how their animal develops, maybe including their thoughts and feelings at each stage. To be continued...
In my other course, LLED 462 School Library Resource Centre Programs, we are required to choose an essential question as cornerstone for all of our assignments. My question is "How can we ensure our students are 21st century learners?" In the first assignment for this course, the Reading Review, I chose a similar lens to center my research on, which was digital citizenship and media/information literacy. As I continued in both courses along these similar pathways, I was wondering how I could incoporate this focus into my Final Vision project. Since much of my coursework in both classes has been about collecting and curating for my teacher-librarian toolkit, whether it's an online educational tool or an article about advocacy for the library, I started to think that it would be really handy to have a space for everything about teaching digital citizenship all in one place that others can access as well. There is a TON of stuff out there, but how on earth would you go about creating an actual unit with it? What stuff do you focus on? And for which grade level? And will this actually work with Ms./Mr. __________'s class? I know that I share these questions with other colleagues in my district (and some in this course!) It can be overwhelming to say the least, as these topics are so important to teach our students.
I've been using Delicious a lot to keep track of my links (and it's been great to have different filters), but I don't find all that conducive to collaborating. (Maybe I'm missing something!) In LLED 462, I was introduced to Symbaloo which is basically a more visual version of Delicious and Diigo- as a visual person (and avid Apple product user :P), I liked the idea of arranging different types of links by category (called webmixes) on different tabs. While you can share your webmixes with others quite easily on Symbaloo, I still wasn't sure if this was the best way to do it.
In this initial stage, I'm leaning toward creating a Wiki (I feel like it's an oldie but a goodie in terms of platforms) with a collection of resources for teaching digital citizenship, perhaps organized by grade level and topic. I also want to make the Wiki shareable so that other TLs can contribute their resources, as well as share their experiences- I think that this is the key for me here, in that there seems to be a myriad of stuff out there, but does it actually fly in the real world? As TLs I feel like we are naturally flexible and often have to adapt something to suit a class/student/teacher/school to make it work. In that sense, I'm wondering if a different platform would work better, such as Blogger, where commenting is so easy to do. I've used Wikispaces before, and there are also a few wikis in our district created by and for TLs in elementary and secondary. However, I am hoping to create something specifically for digital citizenship as, unlike teaching Dewey decimal system or how to use the library catalogue, this subject changes all the time and there seems to be always something new to check out. In that sense, I hope to make this more of a living document that can be added to and modified as trends come and go... and hopefully one that can reflect the new curriculum.
In case anyone is interested, here are the links to the two wikis mentioned above.
Having not done a ton of blogging before, Phase 2 was a really great experience in practicing how to create a quality blog post as well as practicing different ways and modes of research. I often found that one quality resource would beget another, whether through links on a blog or webpage or through an article's own bibliography. It was also a very valuable and inspiring experience reading about others' inquiry processes and personal experiences in their practices. I see now more than ever how important it is to have a PLN especially since being a teacher-librarian can be isolating at times.
I feel that I learned a lot about different aspects of libraries from my own research and through my colleagues and have come away with a substantial toolkit of ideas for promoting literacy, teaching digital citizenship and edtech, collaborating with staff members and taking charge of our own professional development.
I found it especially interesting to learn about how to promote a reading culture in our schools, since it is indeed the cornerstone of what we do as TLs. I was surprised to find so much literature on the importance of expressing our own reading habits to our students... we model everything else we teach, so of course we must model reading- and make it look AWESOME! I also enjoyed reading about colleagues' strategies for getting kids into the library, particularly Christopher Hunt's post abut creative cataloguing and good signage. I've been wanting to make the library at my school more accessible and I think this is a good starting point; I went to two sessions about genrefying my intermediate fiction section at the BCTLA conference and I am excited to get started! I also got some good ideas for Drop Everything and Read day this past week, and I am happy to report that it was a success! I kept it simple and gave "ballots" to classroom teachers to fill out inviting students to share what their favourite book is. Entries were collected into a draw to win one of 3 Chapters gift cards. All of the classes participated which was great, and my principal ran around the school with me helping take pictures of everyone reading.
I also enjoyed reading about everyone's actual physical spaces and how they have made them welcoming and dynamic.
Drop Everything and Read Day at Bear Creek Elementary!
Another topic that resonated with me during this Inquiry process was the teacher-librarian's role in creating professional development opportunities for their staff. I feel that there are so many other topics that stemmed from this, including advocacy and collaboration. It seemed that a lot of other colleagues felt the same way as me in that establishing solid relationships with our staff and showcasing what we do are key steps in becoming a school leader and garnering respect from teachers. However, many of us, as outlined in Jackie Lam's post, feel nervous about presenting our ideas or teaching tech to our staff, whether it's because we are new TLs or simply not always comfortable being in the limelight. However, I was struck by Jackie's suggestion that we "coach" instead of "lead;" after all isn't that what we tell our students when they're nervous to try something, that they don't need to be an expert? Isn't that what we tell ourselves when we feel we need to be experts on a tech tool before we introduce it to students, that it's okay to learn alongside them and let them take the reins? Again, the awesomeness of having a network to share ideas; having those "aha" moments when you hear something put in a way you hadn't thought of before!
Overall, I look forward to continuing to establish my PLN (whether online or in person) and also garnering some courage, letting go of my perfectionist nature and sharing with the wider TL community about what's happening in my library and in my practice. Since every one of us has had a different teaching and librarian-ing journey, we all have something unique to share and can hopefully help out another colleague!
When reading the module outline for this week's Inquiry, I was immediately reminded of a book I read in the Fountas and Pinnel guided reading system last year with some of my students in LST. It was about the Biblioburros, in which a teacher in one of the poorest parts of Colombia decided to create a mobile library with 2 donkeys and bring books and literacy to remote villages. (It really goes to show that you never know when and where you'll read something interesting that will impact you later!). I had never heard of this before, and both myself and my students found it very interesting to learn about. I think it gave the students a little perspective on how lucky we are to live in a prosperous country like Canada and where free education and access to libraries is simply a given (although I explain later in this post that this was definitely a generalization!).
"Have books, will travel"
The man behind the Biblioburros is Luis Soriano, an elementary school teacher who decided to spend his free time travelling to Magdelan Province's most remote and poverty-stricken villages with his own collection of books to share with the isolated people there. Soriano had noticed that many of his students had trouble finishing their homework because of lack of access to books in their home villages (if they were able to make the long trek to school at all.) He has attracted worldwide attention since he began the project in the early 1990s, with donations flooding in to help him expand the worthwhile (and often dangerous) project. I found a trailer for a PBS documentary about Luis that was made in 2011 here. (The embedding code wouldn't work!) You can also read about the project on this blog. I am in the process of trying to find access to actual documentary, as it looks awesome! This quote from the filmmaker Carlos Rendón Zipagauta appears on the PBS website: "I thought this would be a magnificent story to tell, for what it says about human goodness and inventiveness and for what it reveals about the dignity of the Colombian people, especially the poorest among them" (2011). There is also a picture book about Luis by Jeanette Winter called Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia, published in 2010. (Adding it to my shopping list for school!)
I was still curious about the situation of Colombia's libraries in general after reading this, and found that there are several non-profit groups in the country that promote literacy. One of these is Fundalectura, whose mission is to make Colombia "a country of readers." One of their projects was to create "mini-libraries" in parks all over Colombia, especially in areas where access to books is limited. An article about the project can be found here.
I am always reminded of oft-quoted statement of "the library is society's great equalizer." Just as we are trying to bridge the digital divide in our schools on a more local scale, other countries struggle to provide even simple access to books to all of their citizens. In my opinion, education plays such an important role in a country's development. As stated by Soriano in this CNN article, "For us teachers, it's an educational triumph, and for the parents [it's] a great satisfaction when a child learns how to read. That's how a community changes and the child becomes a good citizen and a useful person. Literature is how we connect them with the world" (2010).
In this article, Stuart Hamilton makes the argument that promoting and investing in public libraries is key in ensuring that a country's citizens will have access to information. Because the physical institutions are already in place, ensuring that they all have internet access is the next step in keeping people connected. According to the article only 35% of the world's population has access to the Internet! (Hamilton, 2010).
Restriction and Isolation within Abundance
Looking back at my first musings in this blog post, and how my students and I considered ourselves lucky to live in a place where access to school libraries was possible, it got me thinking more about Canada itself and how there are of course still many areas and populations within our country that could be just as isolated as a remote African village and experience the same problems with access to information and technology, such as places like the far North or some Aboriginal communities. I found an interesting article about a call for the federal government to step up and provide more funding to build libraries in Aboriginal communities. According to the National Aboriginal Public Library Organization (NAPLO), "less than a third of the 614 First Nations bands in Canada have an on-reserve library, and most of those have only a part-time librarian and severely inadequate resources" (2013). Because funding for Aboriginal education is also less than for the rest of Canadians, Aboriginal youth in remote places get a bit of a double whammy of lack of resources and access. The full study by the National Reading Campaign on the state of libraries in Aboriginal communities can be found here.
I suppose I deviated a little from the subject of digital devices and bridging the gap, but I got very caught up in learning about these grassroots movements to ensure access to even the most basic library technology. I think that the idea of BYOD and expanding WiFi is a great way to increase access in developing nations; cell phones are cheaper than ever before and usage is high in even the poorest of countries. According to this article, here are almost as many cell-phone subscriptions (6.8 billion) as there are people in the world! In another study, it was found that 62 % of respondents claimed increased readership because of the ability to read online on their phones (Rayman, 2014). Since cell phones are often easier to get than an actual print book (and sometimes even cheaper!) it makes sense that promoting mobile readership and making it easier to do (better and more prolific WiFi, for example) is good step in increasing literacy in developing nations as well ensuring information access. (The full study can be found here.)
Clearly, the digital divide is a global issue, not just a classroom one. Perhaps getting students involved in learning about these problems to access (especially in their own backyard) would be an effective way to encourage students to think globally and apply their critical thinking skills in creating possible solutions. Inquiry-based learning at its finest?
When reading the module for this week, I found that it echoed how I often describe my job to non-teachers when they ask what I do in an average day: resource-finder, tech-fixer, space-provider, team-teacher, co-collaborator (conspirator?), and educational leader. One of my colleagues says that a big part of her job is "hooking people up," whether it's with a resource, a project idea or another teacher in the school who is an expert in ____________ and can help them out. I also always say that one of the best parts of my job is the fact that I get to work with everyone and everything- different teachers, different subjects, different grade levels and different students. It's certainly never boring!
Because we are (hopefully!) in the learning hub of the school, I think we have great opportunities to reach out to teachers as understanding and helpful colleagues and be school leaders in terms of professional development focus.
I think one of the most important ways to be educational leaders is to foster positive relationships with staff and build a solid rapport, much like how we do with our students. Indeed, just like our students, the library can be a sort of "safe haven" for staff as well. I can't tell you how many teachers would come to my office on their prep just to take a break, chat and relax for a minute. In addition, many new teachers who didn't have their own classroom counted on the library as a workspace during their prep time. Even the secretaries would come in on their lunchbreaks to read a book as a change of pace from the office! In that sense, the learning commons not only has to attract and cater to students; we have to make it welcoming and usable for our staff as well. Staff members who don't get a warm reception will be unlikely to want to come back with their entire class to collaborate on a project. I also found that making sure I had lunch with different groups of teachers (in a big secondary school, not everyone eats in the lunchroom) to talk informally about what they're doing in their classrooms, who their students are and see if there was anything I could do to contribute. In this way, the TL can provide that "just-in-time" support that can be really game-changing. If your school has that kind of dynamic, after-school "library meetings" at the nearby pub was also a great opportunity to connect with colleagues that you may not otherwise see very often! (Definitely informal and relaxed!) One of the best projects a Humanities teacher and I did all year was brainstormed in this way.
Unlike the typical stereotype of a teacher-librarian as being quiet, reclusive and "shushy," I feel like today's TL has to be a bit of a social butterfly! I remembered a great infographic I had seen outlining this very quality:
Teacher Resource Sections:
Having a learning commons that is welcoming to teachers of course means having actual resources for them to check out. Having worked in 7 libraries in the past 4 years (and TOC'd in many more), I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly in teacher resource sections. Like anything else in the library, access and visibility are key. In my current library, the resources are housed ad hoc on a random shelf, and the DVDs are on a high shelf in the back office (which I barely use myself.) Terrible! My plan is to put actual signage on the section and have some shelf-markers so teachers can actually see what's there. I've found that most teachers in many schools have their own personal resource sections in their classrooms, due to the fact that the TR section in the library is outdated. At my little school (100 students!) where I teach once per week, the library underwent a massive renovation, in which all of the teacher resources were boxed up. Apparently no one missed them, as I just discovered them this year hiding in an empty classroom! Needless to say, I did some extensive weeding, and with the new shelving and open concept was able to put them on a prominent, easy to access shelf so that teachers can easily just grab what they need when I'm not there (which is unfortunately most of the time.) Again, being able to connect with staff and find out what resources they need is of course key to building a great TR section.
Time is NOT on our side!
Professional development can be a tricky endeavour. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has gone to an in-school Pro D Day, listened attentively, and then tucked away the workshop notes in their Pro D binder, not to be looked at again. In my opinion, Pro D needs to be practical, applicable, repeated and hands-on. I know that if I don't try something out on my own then I'll be less inclined to re-visit it, almost like sensory memory. Teachers (as we know) are incredibly busy and do not have a lot of time to spend on their own personal learning, as much as they would like to. Our scheduled pro D days are wonderful opportunities, but if they seem unconnected, then it can be like learning something in a vacuum. Therefore, I think that offering intermittent "lunchtime learning," staff meeting presentations or short after-school workshops is really effective in getting teachers learning something together, and perhaps continuing the learning that took place on the formal Pro D day. I've never personally served on a Pro D committee or been a Pro D chair, but I think it would be a really great way to further connect with teachers, see what their needs are, and create a Pro D program (and essentially a school vision) that will cater to those needs. Again, since we in a position to work with everyone, then we are able to further solidify our opportunities to "hook people up."
In my research for this week's topic, I came across an awesome e-book called Becoming and Being: Reflections on Teacher-Librarianship by _____________. According to the book, "teacher-librarians have a whole-school view and model lifelong learning for their staff and students (p. 231)". It was interesting to read about what makes effective professional development; according to research, teachers need "1) ample time and resources for learning, implementation and reflection, 2) opportunites for colleagues to work together in peer collaboration, and 3) school-or site-based learning that relates directly to curricular outcomes and increasing teacher's knowledge of content material (p. 231). In addition, "the leadership role of librarians as technology experts gives them the ability to provide in-house, contextually situated professional development on an ongoing basis in their schools" (p. 235). There is also a great companion website to the book with even more articles and links found here.
Short and Sweet
In addition to to formal, face to face workshops, sending out "library updates" with one or two cool things to share (new apps, interesting articles, blogs to follow) is also a quick and unobtrusive way to help colleagues in their professional learning. Whether it's through a Twitter account, the library blog/website or just an regular old email, the TL can reach all staff without a lot of effort. I also used to put things in teacher's mailboxes for those colleagues who aren't as electronically connected.
Of course, we can't help everyone. In reality, there are some teachers who will never bring their classes to the library. However, as TLs trying to create hubs of learning with our learning commons, I think it's simply in our nature to try our hardest to make connections. Now that I'm looking back at my post, I'm seeing that advocacy and explaining what we do is a crucial part of reaching out to staff and creating a professional learning network at the school level.
On that note, here is a funny infographic that I'm sure we've all seen but it still makes me chuckle:
I was first introduced to the notion of a personal learning network through Twitter, when a colleague/mentor for whom I TOC'd in my first library job encouraged me to join in order to get some ideas for the remainder of the school year. Although I found it overwhelming at first, I soon realized how helpful it could be for sharing resources and experiences. Initially I just "lurked" and explored different hashtags, but once other Surrey TLs starting creating their own accounts (both personal and for their libraries), it became easier to send out more tweets. I have to admit that I'm not as vocal as I would like to be, as I am still sometimes hesitant to share (my inner introvert showing itself) and also haven't made it a habit to go on Twitter. I am hoping to change that! Nonetheless, I've discovered some amazing websites and individuals (like Edutopia) over the past few years simply by following a few leaders in education and then seeing who they follow.
The TL mentioned above is Lisa Domeier de Suarez, and she did an amazing presentation at the BCTLA 2012 conference introducing the basics and benefits of joining Twitter. The presentation can be found here:
[On a "candid learning" note, I wasn't sure how to embed a Slideshare, but I found a how-to video that explains it really easily. Who knew I could actually do something in the HTML format...)
One of the reasons why I am sometimes hesitant to share is my thoughts of "I'm still so new! What do I have to share in comparison to these TLs who have so much experience and have done so much awesome stuff??" I think the quote by Chris Lehman in the presentation really hits the nail on the head: "It is no longer enough to do powerful work if no one sees it." Even something small, such as an idea for furniture set-up or a different way to catalog, is worth sharing with the world. I think about how many ideas I have gotten from Pinterest and realize that perhaps something I have done in my library could help another newbie like me. In fact, I was thrown for a loop last week when a former student teacher I worked with last year asked if she could come into my library and get some ideas in order to prep for an upcoming interview. It was a bit of an "Aha" moment where I realized I could certainly pay it forward and share my experiences in a more public/digital way, whether through Twitter or maybe my own blog. As we try to tell our students, learning is messy and ongoing and being the expert isn't necessarily the ultimate goal anymore. I ended up co-presenting with Lisa at the 2011 BCTLA conference, and although I was terrified to present to TLs who had years of experience on me, the experience was great and provided an opportunity to connect further with more TLs from around the province. (Our presentation slides on re-vamping the library can be found here.)
The "Personal" in PLNs
As TLs, our jobs can be very isolating as we are the only one of "us" in the school. Having a network of people to touch base with is crucial to staying current and also staying sane! I can honestly say that I don't think I would have survived my first year in the switch from secondary to elementary without the close-knit community of teacher-librarians in Surrey who are always ready to help. I had always connoted PLN with the digital world, but after forming a group of new-ish TLs at the end of last year and meeting up in person over the summer to collaborate, I realized that although it's not always possible, actual face-to-face discussion is a crucial aspect of a PLN.
Why make a PLN?
I wanted to find some literature on why it is important to have a space for professional learning. I feel that professional development happens best when it's informal and driven by something that you are truly inspired by. I found a video featuring Will Richardson's thoughts on PLNs, and he points out that a PLN is a much more complex process than simply attending a seminar or having an in-school Pro D Day. He also puts a PLN in the context of how it impacts our students, in that young people often already have their own learning networks, so it's important that we as educators understand how to create and use them effectively and safely (a bit of a digital citizenship piece that I hadn't really considered when thinking about my own professional learning.)
Video: Richardson, Will. Personal Learning Networks. (7 December 2007). [Video file] Retrived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mghGV37TeK8.
David Loerstcher states that PLNs (or PLEs, Personal Learning Environments) "are driven by a need to make sense of the vast world of information and ideas and take advantage of technologies and tools available. In addition, they tap into the knowledge and expertise of others in order to learn, to build knowledge, to create, to collaborate and to share within their specified community and the broader learning environment" (2011).
Now that I've done some research into the topic, I can see that there are many ways of creating a PLN, some of which I already do but hadn't considered it as such. For example, I had forgotten about two wikis I had joined in years past that have been extremely helpful in our district http://tech4tls.wikispaces.com/ and http://t-lshare.wikispaces.com/. Again, sharing small things that have worked for you can have a big impact.
Kathy Schrock has an amazing page on her site Kathy Shrock's Guide to Everything that outlines the How and Why of PLNs and contains perspectives from a variety of educational leaders. Very enlightening and inspiring!
I feel lucky that I get to be an educator in an age with so much opportunity to connect and collaborate with others. I feel that my practice can only continue to get better as I look to what others have done in similar situations, as well as share my own experiences (and hopefully get over my fears!)... after all, don't we often tell our students that the best way to learn something is to teach it someone else?
References:
Domeier de Suarez, Lisa. (19 October 2012). Twitter: Best Professional Development in 140 Characters. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/lmdsuarez/twitter-best-professional-development-in-140-characters
Loertscher, D. V., & Koechlin, C. (2011). Personal learning environments in the learning commons. Teacher Librarian, 39(2), 23-26. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/915254353?accountid=14656
Richardson, Will. Personal Learning Networks. (7 December 2007). [Video file] Retrived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mghGV37TeK8.
I think that to establish a true reading culture in a school, everyone- teachers, EAs, administration and students- has to be invested. In addition to having whole-school involvement, I think that teachers must model their reading behavior to students and consistently explain their "why" when it comes to reading. If a student were to ask me, "Why do you read?" I would have lots of different reasons, depending on the medium. To stay informed. To learn about different people, places and things. To get lost in a great story. To identify with a character. And, of course, just for fun! I've seen a number of schools that highlight their teachers and administration reading, with pictures on the walls of staff reading their favourite books, or having teachers write little book reviews on the school website, or inviting teachers to share their favourite books with different classes. I found a great article highlighting a discussion about the ways teachers share their reading with their students and how it inspires them. The article quotes Mem Fox in that "The passion I am asking for from teachers is a passion beyond the pay cheque. It's a passion for children's books, as well as for their own reading, for if teachers don't love to read, why on earth should children?" (National Library of New Zealand, 2015).
By doing this, we demonstrate to students that reading is everywhere and is simply just part of living a fulfilled life. Some students who struggle with reading might think that reading must involve sitting quietly with a thick book in their hands, but it's important to show them that reading includes lots of other things as well- sharing, creating, discussing- and that there are many different ways to read. In that sense, being able to help students establish their "reader identity" is a crucial way to encourage students to regard reading and their choice of reading materials as a part of who they are as individuals. Indeed, "when we promote books to children and share our reading lives with them, we offer more than another great book recommendation or reading cheerleader: we invite them into a society that reveres reading and readers" (Miller, 2013). In addition, we also must address new literacies (ebooks, for example) to encourage those students who struggle with "traditional" reading but who might excel with a more multi-modal format. Inviting students to share their thoughts on what they've read is also a great way to get them to take ownership of their learning and express themselves (and, if they are using social media, learning a new skill at the same time!) Finally, allowing students to explore what interests them (whether it's non-fiction, current events, or a specific author) will illustrate the importance of reading simply for satisfying their own curiosity. As a teacher-librarian I am happy to see a student reading anything; I think that having a variety of genres and materials (books, magazines, graphic novels) in various levels and formats is key in making the library relevant and appealing. (More of my thoughts on reader choice and establishing lifelong reading habits can be found here.)
[Writing about this topic made me think of an assignment I had my library monitors do in one of my secondary schools: Write a book review in 140 characters and post it to the library's Twitter account. I don't have that account anymore but here's a general example. ]
Possible Strategies?
Having worked in a variety of elementary and secondary schools over the past five years, I've seen several initiatives to promote reading, some of which are more successful than others. It seems to be more difficult to have school-wide activities at the secondary level than in elementary, since there are more students (many of whom leave campus for part of the day), and more differentiated classes. One school I TOC'd in had SSR built into the daily schedule, as the first 20 minutes of the second block. Everyone- teachers, students, admin, EAs- are supposed to read something for that time period, whether it's a book, a magazine or a newspaper. However, I noticed that not all classes did it, which undermined those that did: "But Mr. ________lets us do this instead!" I suppose this might be easier in an elementary school, but again, if everyone isn't on board then it will lose its momentum quickly.
Some schools are using Raz Kids to try to encourage their struggling readers; I worked with a few such students last year and they would come to our sessions very excited after having gotten "100%" on one of the activities the night before. For students who struggle and and have been consistently labelled as a "reluctant reader" throughout their school lives, this kind of encouragement is invaluable. I also think that the learning commons transformation is helpful in this respect; many students feel that the library is "just for the smart people" or "just for reading and being quiet," but if the space is more open and flexible for other uses, and teachers bring in their classes more often, then those reluctant students might feel more inclined to come back on their own.
I also feel that author visits can do a lot to garner excitement among students for reading, as they put a human face to the book. Indeed, doing author studies and getting students to find out more about who wrote the story they just read, and the motivation behind it, can do a lot to peak students' interest and help them identify with the author. They might think, "Hey! _________ is kind of like me, and he wrote a book!"
Surrey also has 3 "Book of the Year" programs which I usually promote heavily: Surrey Picture Book of the Year (K-4), Surrey Book of the Year (Grades 4-7), and Surrey Teens Read (Grades 8-12). I think these programs allow teachers to promote a community of sharing and collaboration, since all students have access to the same books. Having served on the Surrey Teens Read two years ago, I can tell you it's not an easy feat choosing ten books that have been published in the last 2 years and that represent a variety of different genres to appeal to a variety of different tastes! I do booktalks to all classes, as well as show them the book trailers, the website and explain how the voting works in May. This is always successful in garnering excitement over the books, as students generally run to the books afterward to get the one that appealed to them most. Since I had a chance to read most of the books over the summer, I was also able to share my reactions to the books which, as discussed above, is a powerful way to motivate students. Indeed, I shared with students that one of the books was so frightening I couldn't read it at night (true story), and that one flew off the shelves first!
Another strategy I hope to try this October for Canadian Library Month is DEAR (Drop Everything and Read), which some teachers already do in their classrooms daily much like SSR. Our district usually promotes this event quite strongly:
Province of BC (22 October 2012). Drop Everything and Read. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUCnQnif5k4
This is a video made by Johnston Heights Secondary students for DEAR... Hilarious!
MisterBegg (16 October 2012). Read me Maybe. [Video File] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX4np25k5m0
Has anyone done this at their school before? Was it successful? I would hope to make it more of a year-long initiative, rather than just a one-day event...
I feel like I've discussed a million different things and raised more questions than answers (in addition to making myself overwhelmed with the infinite number of possibilities for encouraging reading...oh, the Internet....) but I suppose that's the point of the inquiry process! Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has to say!
Canadian Library Association. (2014). Leading learning: Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada. Ottawa: ON
Kelley, S., & Miller, D. (2013) Reading in the wild: The book whisper’s keys to cultivating lifelong reading habits. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. p.88-128.
Module 3: Supporting Learners Through the Library: Cultivating Life-long Reading Habits The scenario in Module 3 of the dejected second-grader being told he had to read only certain books really struck a chord with me, as I have seen countless reluctant readers at the secondary level claim that they "don't like reading because it's boring." Having never taught elementary before last year, I often wondered what had happened between K-2, when most children are beyond excited to get their hands on books, and early secondary, when these same students would only come to the library twice a year to get a book for an assigned novel study for English (in essence, the grade 10 student in scenario 2.) What had suddenly changed for them to make reading "boring?" Now that I work at the elementary level, I can see how crucial those first years are in fostering a life-long love of reading and making sure that children are not inadvertently turned off of it. As an individual who has always loved reading and was lucky enough to have grown up in an encouraging, "reader's" household, I feel that I must constantly foster my skills in enticing those students who do not have this same passion for it. As pointed out in Reading in the Wild (2013), "When parents don’t model reading, teachers grade and control everything kids read, and communities and schools close or defund libraries, we communicate to children that reading isn't something that our culture values as a life activity." If students don't have practice in reading for pleasure, and aren't allowed to actually explore what interests them, then of course they will not find it enjoyable. In that sense, I am the type of librarian that is happy to see a child reading, no matter what the medium, especially in the youngest grades. Indeed, one of the standards of an emerging learning commons is that students are able to self-select from the collection and read for pleasure (CLA, 2014). I connected with many of Neil Gaiman's comments in his article, particularly that "fiction is the gateway drug to reading" (2013). However, I was reminded in the discussion module by one of my colleagues that for some children, non-fiction is their gateway drug to reading.
As discussed in my post for this Module, I have often noticed how interested children are in non-fiction as they are naturally so curious about the world around them. I can remember my 4 year old self wanting to learn everything I could about animals and dinosaurs. I enjoyed reading chapter books as well and escaping into a world of fiction, but there was something about discovering a new fact about something tangible in my real life (why my cat Tigger had whiskers, for example) that was so exciting, and also made me want to SHARE that information with others. (Perhaps if I had attended elementary school in 2015, I would have been given the opportunity to do just that in a digital way!)
For this situation, I would certainly wish to talk to the parent and try to seek a solution that would make both the child and the parent happy. Perhaps the student could take out a fiction and a non-fiction book. However, I wouldn't want the child to think, "oh, I guess I have to put away my fun book and read my boring book now." I would definitely want to find some realistic fiction for the student with topics that interested him. I would also wish to explain to the parent that non-fiction reading is an important skill indeed, and that neither is better than the other. I found a great article that outlined the benefits of reading non-fiction, so sharing some literature like that with both the parent and the child's teacher would be a good way to advocate encouraging children to discover their own passions. For example, "informational text offers the potential
for increased engagement by students. [By] adding these books to the menu of
reading opportunities in a classroom is a simple means of addressing individual
interests to foster active, engaged readers. This increases the amount of time
spent reading, which ultimately contributes to comprehension" (Barnatt, 2010). The article also has some great videos showing how engaged students become when reading non-fiction, and also points out the importance of developing students' critical thinking skills in reading informational text; for example, if it's written down as history, does that mean that it is true or actually happened?
Video courtesy of: Learn NC. (2015, March 10). The elements of informational text. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brrRYfKMmFY
I knew that I wanted to explore this prompt further because the situation speaks to why I became a teacher-librarian in the first place (fostering life-long learning and a love of reading); however, I wondered how I could connect it to my tentative essential question of "how can we ensure our students become 21st century learners?" After channeling my thoughts and investigating the topic of reader identity further, I realized that of course these two issues are connected. Because the world is changing at such a rapid rate, students must be self-motivated to learn the skills to mirror those changes if they are to be successful post-school. Being able to comprehend informational text and find the answers they need is a basic life skill that apparently many of our students lack (Barnatt, 2010). Therefore, being able to read multiple types of text, as outlined in the above article, is definitely essential to being a 21st century learner. In addition, and perhaps most pertinent to this prompt, is that students have to want to read to learn and have that sense of curiosity that comes so naturally to young children. Looking ahead to Module 4, I am interested to continue this thread of inquiry into 21st century learning by further investigating multi-modal literacy.
References:
Barnatt, Joan. (2010). The Power of Non-Fiction: Using Informational Text to Support Literacy in Special Populations. LearnNC: K-12 Teaching and Learning from the UNC School of Education. Retrieved from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/every-learner/6554
Canadian Library Association. (2014). Leading learning: Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada. Ottawa: ON (p.17) (Book Excerpt).
Gaiman, N. (2013, October 15). Why our future depends on libraries, reading an daydreaming. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming?CMP=twt_gu
Kelley, S., & Miller, D. (2013) Reading in the wild: The book whisper’s keys to cultivating lifelong reading habits. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. p.88-128.
Learn NC. (2015, March 10). The elements of informational text. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brrRYfKMmFY
