Learning Curation #5: The Final Frontier

For our final Learning Curation we are required to look back at where we began and reflect on our learning process. I always find this process so valuable but often find myself skipping it when on my own time; I wonder why that is?

To get started, let's look back at the initial essential question. I started my Learning Curation posts without a clear focus, but needing to very quickly figure something out. At the end of my first Learning Curation I had narrowed my essential question down to two options:

1. What does a realistic action plan look like when beginning a career as a Teacher-Librarian?
2. How do you start the process of transitioning a Library to a Learning Commons?

While pleased with myself for creating essential questions that were relevant to me in my situation (a TTOC not employed as a TL who would *hopefully* soon be facing either of these two realities), I hadn't yet hit upon a question that ignited a sense of passion in the pursuit. I contented myself with the fact that my essential question could change if needed, and perhaps something in the Modules would spark some more interest. 

Thankfully, in Module 3 a lightning bolt of inspiration struck. Module three was all about cultivating a love for reading and encouraging life-long reading habits. Eureka! This is exactly what I love about libraries and reading! And wait?! Perhaps I should make this my focus if it was so interesting to me....I re-jigged my essential question to the unoriginal yet inspiring: "How to inspire the school population to be lifelong readers/learners"? Yes! Now this was an idea I could get behind. 

Inspirational Readings 

"Be Inspired" from
ModernMuse Consulting

All the readings from Week Three were superb, but the ones that really stuck out included Krashen's lecture on "The Power of Reading", Neil Gaiman's article "Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming", and Susan Kelley & Donalyn Miller's book excerpt from Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer's Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits. In fact, Kelley & Miller's book resonated with me so strongly that I convinced my mentor TL to purchase it and add it to the teacher resource collection. 

Now that I was inspired and had some readings to pull from, I wasn't entirely sure where to go with my essential question. I returned to my strategy at the beginning of the course which had worked quite well so far - when I was stuck, continue with the weekly modules until something struck me. Lo and behold - it did!

"Multimodal" from
What is Multi Modal Text

The Power of Multimodality

In module four we learned about the multi-modal approach. A multimodal approach is, in short, looking at and presenting texts in different forms. From a classroom teacher perspective this may mean encouraging our students to present their work in a different form than previously, our listening to an audiobook as a class. In offering multiple approaches to a text, students have more chance of being inspired and able to connect. This may mean allowing students to choose a graphic novel for their Independent Study project, promotion of non-fiction works, and/or encouraging diversity in presenting student learning. I was recently working in a classroom where students were working on a non-fiction unit; this teacher understood the power of multimodality because instead of limiting students to a nonfiction book, they also had the option of choosing a documentary for their nonfiction work. Simply providing this choice allowed more students to be interested in their chosen topic rather than completing the task for the grade alone. Read more about my thoughts on the multimodal approach in my blog post here. 

"My Dream Library" from
Omg Tiki Reads

Putting it into Action

The culmination in my essential question - for the time being, anyway - is in my Literacy Action Plan. My choice of term project was to create a Literacy Action Plan for the school library. In this plan I outlined several ideas, events, and a silent reading proposal that would propel the school's approach to literacy. I can see now how much more I could include in the Literacy Action Plan, but the beautiful thing about a document like this is that it is a work in progress and evolves over time. Overall my goal is to have the Library Learning Commons be a go-to spot for learning, reading, and connecting with like-minded passionate learners. A couple of ideas that I would like to add to the action plan are below:

• I believe that multiple clubs should be hosted in the library at lunchtime (it is quite a large space and can easily accommodate this) 
• The makerspace should be expanded to include different types of creations (mostly Lego currently) 
• I think that the website should be updated regularly with student and staff book reviews, and some of these should be displayed in the library

My dream is for students and staff to discuss what books they're reading, and feel comfortable discussing what they're learning with others. A culture of passion for learning is well on the way to this beautiful school - but isn't quite there just yet. 

References

Gaiman, N. (2013, October 15). "Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming." The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming?CMP=twt_gu on Sep. 9, 2018.

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   (Book Excerpt)

Krashen, S. (2012, April 5). "The power of reading." The COE lecture series. University of Georgia. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSW7gmvDLag on Sep. 9,2018.

Stutz, N. (2018). "Mod-Notes, Learning Curation, Essential Question - It's All Happening!" Retrieved from https://readerzjourney.blogspot.com/2018/09/mod-notes-learning-curation-essential.html

Stutz, N. (2018). "Literacy Action Plan." Retrieved from https://readerzjourney.blogspot.com/2018/10/lled-462-63-c-assignment-2-literacy.html

Learning Curation #4: A collection of resources

For Modules 6 and 7 we were tasked with exploring some new tools. 

Module 6: Supporting Learners through the Library: Digital Literacy

The prompt this week was to build a digital toolkit. We were challenged further to do that with a new tool: Symbaloo. Perhaps not new to all of us, it certainly was to me. Symbaloo seems to be a nice sticky board of tools. Quite easy to use, Symbaloo organizes various web-links into webmixes. I created one for this assignment and it can be accessed through this link!

"11 Ways to Use Symbaloo in the Classroom"
from the edublogger

I organized the webmix into three main section: the top left section includes ready to use (or nearly) lesson plans and ideas; the top right area includes various digital tools or apps (probably what this week was meant to focus on but I got distracted...) that could be used to represent student work in a different way. I am new to many of these but am intrigued by Powtoon, Padlet and Smore. Finally, the bottom middle section are various support apps that could be incorporated into a lesson - such as Ted - or as useful resources for students such as Reading Eggs. I still need to explore many of these apps further as some require payment / account creation. For now, at least I am creating a snapshot of tiles to investigate! Let me know if you think I am missing anything important!

Mod 7: Teacher Librarian as Educational Leader

In Module 7 we were given the following prompt: "What do we know about Teacher Librarians as educational Leaders?" We were encouraged to try the tool Padlet; since I was still in the middle of creating my Symbaloo webmix I thought this was the perfect opportunity to investigate a tool further. I also thought the prompt lended itself well to a KWL chart so I chose that format for my Padlet. Check it out below. Overall I found Padlet very simple to use and enjoyed the versatility. The free account allows me to make three separate Padlets. I wonder if I can write over top of them once I am finished?

"The Power of Padlet" from edtechteam

Access through this link!

My ideas here on TLs as Educational Leaders are, I'm sure, the tip of the iceberg. In connecting back to my Essential Question: How to use the Learning Commons as a place to inspire lifelong learning (I'm still working on the phrasing...)? Using and showcasing tools like these is an essential component to inspiring lifelong learning. Yes, inspiring a love of reading is what got me on this track but learning is about more than just reading and sometimes we need neat and innovative ways to share our learning to keep it interesting! I love the idea of holding a Tech-Tip-Tuesday or something of the sort in the Library at noon. On these days a new tool, app, or technology tip would be showcased (hopefully by experts other than myself) and students and staff would have a quick way of getting introduced to new technology and how it works. If other teachers are like myself then they want to learn more tools, figure out how to use them and integrate them - but they lack the time to investigate them properly. Quick introductions such as these could really help!

LLED 462 63 C ~ Assignment 2: Literacy Action Plan!

Literacy Action Plan: Penticton Secondary

*Note: As I am presenting this via my blog I have relaxed the tone somewhat. If I were presenting this to my school Administrative team I would formalize the language. 

Rationale: Why Focus on Literacy?

First, I should clarify that for this specific Literacy Action Plan the term literacy refers to students and staff reading - in some form or another - and sharing that reading. There are many reasons that I could provide for why a school and Library Learning Commons should focus on improving their literacy program. For example, it is widely accepted that literacy skills are a strong predictor of future success (Miller & Kelley, 2013). Neil Gaiman even touches on the strong correlation between increasing prison populations and the decreasing literacy rate (2013). One study focused on how reading a chapter of a book a day can literally lengthen your life (Bavishi, Slade & Levy, 2016). Not to mention that reading fiction can make us more empathetic which would make the world a better place all around - not bad, right? (Gaiman, 2013).

While these are all very compelling reasons on their own, it wasn't until I watched Stephen Krashen's lecture on "The Power of Reading" that I knew this had to be my primary focus (find the video lecture below - and watch it!). While the lecture in its entirety is absolutely worth your time, the first fifteen minutes give you the main focus: reading for fun is the best teacher of reading ability - improving grammar, spelling, and overall writing style (Krashen, 2012). If reading for fun is the greatest teacher we have, then we need to encourage kids and teachers alike to read for fun as much as possible.

Goals:

Pen-Hi Library:Historical &
Classic Fiction

Foster a school environment that "loves literacy". Students and teachers alike should be reading for fun in their spare time - and sharing what they are reading with others. The LC will be the hub of this program. Read about my post on how I came to this focus here.

Current Situation:

• An amazing Teacher-Librarian is employed at the Learning Commons of Pen-Hi. She has made some excellent changes in the last two and a half years since becoming TL at this school. These include:
• Genre-fying the Learning Commons. Students are now able to find a book according to genre.
• Providing comfortable and flexible seating that makes the LC a more welcoming environment.
• Having a "rapid reads" section at the front of the LC...and more!
• School library well used for the computer lab and many teachers bring their students by regularly to choose books
• With the exception of this month (as the report was run prior to month's end) - circulation has been  increasing.
• No school-wide SSR - most English teachers do require some reading in class but it is up to each teacher and depends on the day - this may consist of reading for pleasure or assigned book depending on the day.

Action Items:

1. Host a staff Pro-D on the importance of fostering literacy in the school
2. Put together a proposal for school-wide SSR
3. Generate some ideas for promoting reading overall - book doors, email signatures, collective reading count....and create a timeline
4. Writing competitions that are recognized Nationally - advertise CBC National Writing Competitions













Pen-Hi Library:
Graphic Novel Section

5. Hold our own Battle of the Books within Debate Club.

Timeline:

• Overall timeline is a 2-3 year plan to increase Literacy awareness and support including the implementation of a school-wide SSR Program

Year One:

1. Present at a school Pro-D/ within a staff meeting on the importance of fostering a culture of reading. Use some tips from Reading in the Wild (perhaps even do a staff book club on this book) to get things going. Use excerpts from Krashen's lecture. 
2. Challenge staff members to show off their personal reading (and to start reading for fun if they haven't!). Add a signature to their email of their "currently reading". 
3. Connect with Art Teachers to create vivid book displays for each month. 
4. Have staff create their "Book Doors" as an extension of the Pro-D. Any staff who work in the room (ie. EA's, rotating teachers etc.) should participate in the creation of the book door. 
5. On Learning Commons website link to Literacy blogs and teaching material to support both students and staff in the Literacy Initiative. See some resources below. 
6. Host a Learning Commons book club - student driven teacher facilitated. 

Year Two:

1. After ground work (above) is laid, propose the adoption of school-wide SSR to administrators. See proposal here. Include staff surveys ahead of time to address potential issues. 
2. Advertise and hold one writing event per semester. See list below for ideas - but teachers and students can suggest original ideas too. 
3. Connect with Debate Club to host our own Battle of the Books - possibly hosting Elementary Schools (inspired by MSS Library Learning Commons' event)
4. Start and maintain the Learning Commons blog that includes a Twitter feed of book quotes, Instagram for the book doors, student book reviews on current reads etc. Find students to help create content and maintain site. 

Resources for Support:

Event Ideas:
- CBC Writing Competitions
- Young Writers of Canada contest
- Other Writing Submissions
- Follow Canada Reads

Blogs:
Edutopia's Blog on Literacy: This blog promotes the use of "Find and share strategies for helping students read for knowledge, write coherently, and think critically about the written word."
Keys to Literacy Blog: "Literacy Lines focuses on the best instructional practices for teaching reading and writing to students of all ages. Posts are by Keys to Literacy staff and guest educators"
Kimberly Tyson's "Learning Unlimited" Blog: focuses on practical tips and strategies for parents and teachers alike in meeting their child's literacy needs.
The Literacy Blog: a blog for "teachers, parents, educational psychologistst and educators interested in literacy". Includes general posts on literacy as well as skill-focused posts.
Literacy Worldwide Blog: Presented by the International Literacy Association, this blog focuses on key issues in literacy such as the best way to promote adolescent engagement in literacy.
Shanahanon on Literacy: Timothy Shanahanon's blog (past president of Interanational Literacy Association). Each post focuses on a thought provoking question such as "Is it really sensible to teach students to read like Historians and Scientists?" 

References

Bavishi, A., Slade, M. D., & Levy, B. R. (2016). A chapter a day: Association of book reading with longevity. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 164, 44-48. 

Canadian Library Association. (2014). Leading learning: Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada. Ottawa: ON Retrieved from https://www.seobrothers.co/resources/clatoolbox_files/llsop.pdf on September 25, 2018

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 (Links to an external site.) onLinks to an external site.

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   

Krashen, S. (2012, April 5). The power of reading. The COE lecture series. University of Georgia. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSW7gmvDLag

Photos of Pen-Hi Library are my own.
 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Mod Notes / Learning Curation / Essential Question - It's All Happening!

Module 4: Learning from Multi-Modal Texts: A Look at New Literacies

The readings for this week were once again fairly inspiring (why am I surprised?) and gave me a chance to frame some of these ideas around my essential question. This week focused on bringing different forms of modality (or multi-modal) to our texts to make our lessons more dymanic. I really enjoyed that Grisham's article "Love that Book" as it introduced both

"Literacy" from
desisaysblog.wordpress.com

bringing multi-modal texts into the classroom as well as having students generate multi-modal responses. Reading this article started generating ideas about how to bring this into my own classroom such as doing an audiobook read-aloud in class.  Perhaps instead of a class-wide novel we could have fifteen minutes a day where we collectively listen to an audio book - something that really brings the story to life like Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book. Logistically this is tricky because they are long -but we could also listen to one chapter and then the students could narrate their own audio book chapter. 

Allowing a multi-modal approach both in the classroom and the Learning Commons would provide more options for students to get hooked on reading; if a student falls in  love with reading graphic novels instead of novels who am I to dissuade them? A key part of this is ensure that the Learning Commons contains a variety of both genres but also modes of literature: novels, quick-reads, graphic novels, audio-books etc. should all be available for students and staff. 


The Learning Curation prompt this week was also neat:
Take a resource you really like and find multi-modes of text, forming a short collection. It can be any combination or grouping (picture book, graphica, novels, digital content, video, web tools, etc.). Tie your grouping together with a short rationale of its theme, big idea, the literacies it addresses and what you can do with the resource.  Reference the readings that influenced you.

Building off the work mentioned above - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, there are

"Identity" from
thegood.co/identity

themes of good vs. evil, as well as identity, compassion and forgiveness to explore. In my teachings I would focus on the theme of identity - and the resources chosen below would reflect that - however an idea for a student project could be to explore another theme of the story and find a resource that reflects that.

• I would pair this story with the short story "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut - which has been adapted into the short film 2081. Depending on the grade level of the students I could choose either the short story or the film (the film isn't graphic but would be meant for an older audience - a lower-level English 11/12 class would be suitable). 
• Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall is designed for younger grades but focuses on the theme of identity so well, and with excellent images, that it could be included for older grades as well. 
• I would definitely incorporate some technology into the students' representation of their own learning; I was intrigued by the article by Barton & Trimble-Roles where students were able to use PicCollage and iMovie to generate their own multimedia products. I also appreciated the extremely late introduction to Glogster and the neat features it offers (through Grisham's "Love that Book" article) - admittedly, I had previously thought Glogster was just another Blog website...

I envision either teaching these works together as a theme unit, or in the Learning Commons displays around specific themes - and identity would certainly be one of them. Identity is such an important theme at all ages but specifically during adolescence where identity is becoming more formed. One of the potential Big Ideas for these resources is that our identity is uniquely us - and should be represented in a unique way. A focus around these resources is that the theme is being represented in different ways through different modes; to follow that, students would represent their own learning of identity and these works in a variety of ways. I really appreciated the multi-modality approach and feel that this can only better our teaching and learning. 

Resources

•  "2081" by Jow Crowe, Revolution Science Fiction, Retrieved Sep 12, 2018. 
• Barton, Georgina & Trimble-Roles, Rebecca.  (2016). Supporting middle years students in creating multimodal texts with iPad apps. Literacy Learning: the Middle Years, 214(3) i-vii.
• Glogster [software] (2018). Retrieved from glogster.com on Sep.13, 2018.
• Grisham, D. (2013). Love that book: Multimodal response to literature. The Reading Teacher. 67(3), 220-225.
• Hall, M. (2015). Red: A Crayon's Story. New York, NY: Harper Collins. 
• iMovie [software]. (2018) Retrieved from apple.com.ca/imovie on Sep.14, 2018
• PicCollage [software]. (2018) Retrieved from https://pic-collage.com/ on Sep. 12, 2018. 
• Vonnegut, K. (1965). "Harrison Bergeron." Retrieved from http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html on Sep. 12, 2018. 

LLED 462-63A Learning Curation Post #2: Modules 3 Essential Question Development

I am really struggling with my essential question, to be honest. Both the questions that I mentioned in last week's post are fine and would be valuable to research, but aren't quite focused enough to get me interested. In hopes of something else catching my attention and focusing/re-directing my essential question I am going to do some Module responses...

Module 3: Supporting Learners Through the Library: Cultivating Life-long Reading Habits

I have so  enjoyed this module; I really can't get over how good the readings were! Just as I was started to feel a bit bogged down by my Teacher-Librarian coursework thinking of the various tasks that needed to be completed, the information that needed to be acquired, and the readings that needed to be completed....this module comes along and reignites my passion for reading. Not that I haven't been reading for fun - I always have one or two books on the go (usually one audio and one paper book at a time) - but it was nice to be reminded of why I fell in love with the library in the first place. Reading is fun (Kelley, S & Miller, D, 2013), it is powerful (Krashen, S. 2012), it can literally lengthen our life (Bavishi, Slade, & Levy, 2016), it has the ability to change the world as we know it (Gaiman, N. 2013). 

"Reading" from suswanwiggs.com

Before I ramble too much about how the various readings have inspired me this week I wanted to discuss that I believe I have found exactly what I was seeking at the beginning of this post - a more focused Essential Question idea, and one that gets me excited! This week's readings were all about inspiring readers to cultivate life-long readings habits. This is exactly why I went into teaching in the first place first pursuing an English degree, and why that same passion has led me into the Library/Learning Commons: I love reading - and I think others should too! To this end my essential question focuses on how to inspire those around me to make reading a habit of theirs that they love, instead of simply completing coursework or required Pro-D. I want to make the Library/Learning Commons a place where students and staff alike come to get inspired for their next read, they can share what they're reading with others, they can get hooked on new authors -- and more! 

Some Excerpts from the Readings that Led me Here

The readings this week were particularly inspirational; I found that I was constantly scribbling ideas, book names, and reading tips into my notebook to refer back to - a practice I am not particularly consistent with. Some of these are important because they helped lead me to this essential question focus. In Kelley & Millar's chapter on how "Wild Readers Share Books and Reading with Other Readers", I was inspired by the seemingly endless tips on how to cultivate a culture of reading in the classroom as well as with those in our lives (2013). I noted multiple tips such as utilizing Book Commercials as a transition between activities, using read-aloud books such as "Ask Me" by Antje Damm to evoke ideas and conversation, and creating Reading Doors to advertise what we are reading and to inspire students to demonstrate their own learning and passion (Kelley & Millar, 2013). There were so many good tips from this one chapter that I am considering purchasing the rest of the book!

In Krashen's lecture on "The Power of Reading" I was ready to settle in for a boring hour of learning about why reading is important. Instead, Krashen's humorous lecture style and undeniable evidence on the importance of reading for pleasure had me hooked. Krashen's thesis boils down to the fact that reading for fun (or Free Voluntary Reading if we're being technical) is the best teacher for reading ability, improving grammar and spelling, and enhancing our writing style (2012). I just loved the idea that simply being able to read whatever it is that we want to read (including graphic novels) will make us more literate; seems common sense of course but who still has silent reading as a daily part of their classroom routine? Well, once I get a classroom it is going straight back in mine! 

There were other excellent reads such as Neil Gaiman's article on "Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming" (2013) which read nicely with Krashen's lecture on the importance of reading to escape and have fun. Also of note is Bashivi, Slade & Levy's study on how reading books can lengthen your life by approximately 23 months - even when accounting for other factors (2016). That one blew me away. However, the reads that were more practical of nature and therefore more interesting for me were the two I went into above. 

"Developing a passion for Reading" from blog.bjupress.com

Response to Module Prompt: 
Since I was so inspired by the readings of this module I also wanted to respond to the prompt that was provided. I chose to respond to the Elementary Prompt:

Elementary Scenario

A grade two student comes into the library, on his own, to choose books. He is usually an enthusiastic science book fan (insects, tigers, sharks). He looks sad and defeated and says: “My Mom says that from now on I have to have take out chapter books to help my reading and they have to be a 2.4”. 

What do you do/say? How do you help this student? Who do you involve? How do you turn this dilemma into an opportunity?

Note: On the back of some books there is a lexile measure grade equivalent (e.g. 2.4). It is a measured test based on text and proposed reading levels. Look it up if interested in more detail. 2.4 would mean not quite half way through grade 2. (Schembri, N. 2018)

After completing the readings of the module and with that knowledge in mind, I would need to address this situation in the moment but also create a longer term plan. Right away I would suggest to the student that they choose something that would appease their parent and would work on their reading skills, but then they should also choose something that they would enjoy reading. This would allow the student to choose some reading for "homework" but also choose something for their own interest. Depending on my relationship with the teacher/parent I would also consider placing a phone call home to discuss the comment and the parent's concerns. Perhaps the parent doesn't understand the lexile system and thinks that their child is below grade level, or is worried that their child is falling behind in other ways; either way touching base with the parent to understand their perspective is always a good idea (though this may be more suitable for the classroom teacher). 

For a longer term approach I would want to do some outreach to create more reading awareness. One of the resources that I could turn to for this is the chapter in Kelley & Millar's book that we read this week (2013). Some of the examples included such as sending home a reading newsletter that includes home reading tips could include information about the power of simply reading for pleasure (as discussed in Krashen's lecture (2012)). By adding a "currently reading" book to my email signature I could demonstrate the importance of reading for fun in choosing fun Fiction reads rather than solely educational reads. 

These are just a couple of thoughts to address this tricky situation; I'm sure there are many ways to come at this kind of issue but based on the readings this week I actually feel empowered to do so instead of possibly feeling stuck - as I may have previously. 

Note: Even though I have only tackled one module here I feel that I have made good progress in my essential question so I am going to cap this Learning Curation here. Until next time readers. 

Resources

Bavishi, A., Slade, M. D., & Levy, B. R. (2016). A chapter a day: Association of book reading with longevity. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 164, 44-48. 

"Developing a Passion for Reading." [image] Retrieved from blog.bjupress.com on Sep 9.,2018.

Gaiman, N. (2013, October 15). "Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming." The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming?CMP=twt_gu on Sep. 9, 2018.

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   (Book Excerpt)

Krashen, S. (2012, April 5). "The power of reading." The COE lecture series. University of Georgia. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSW7gmvDLag on Sep. 9,2018.

"Reading." [image] Retrieved from susanwiggs.com on Sep.9, 2018.
 (Links to an external site.).Links to an external site.

Schrembi, N. (2018). "Module 3: Supporting Learners through the Library: Cultivating Life-Long Reading Habits." [course notes] Retrieved from https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/14652/pages/module-3-supporting-learners-through-the-library-cultivating-life-long-reading-habits?module_item_id=576461 on Sep.9, 2018. 

 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. on 

LLED 462-63A Learning Curation Post #1: My Essential Question?

Week One: Creating your Essential Question

When starting a new Teacher-Librarian course I am always excited to dig into whichever new topic we are covering; this time, admittedly, I was a bit confused. The course is titled "School Library Resource Centre Programs" (rather broad), and like my other recent courses is more of an inquiry style course, which means that we are able to explore areas of interest rather than being designated specific topics. We are tasked with completing a Learning Curation which documents our learning through the course themed around an essential question. So, in an effort to maintain my blogging style of demonstrating the difficulties I encounter in my own learning journey....here are my initial thoughts (please keep in mind these are very rough first thoughts....the raw research process at its best!).

• When starting new in a library what should the action plan for the year include realistically? 

  

  "Inquiry and the Research Process"
  from Edutopia

• There are so many potential areas of focus - what needs to be figured out/ dealt with first? The administrative tasks alone could be overwhelming but I would want to be able to dig my feet into something more creative as well
• If a library is not already a learning commons - how to begin that transition? If it is how to continue the transition
• I love the notion of moving to a learning commons but if a library isn't already there....how do you start?

For a brief moment I saw the potential for a TL position this year and the above questions were what weighed the most on my mind;  however the school year has begun and I am back on the casual list so I have been gifted the opportunity to think deeper about these questions. After glancing at our first couple of modules I see that the transition to a learning commons is addressed, so for now I will focus on the first question with one caveat - this will probably change. I think this is a good broad question, however I am very open to the idea that something else grabs my attention during the course and moves me in a different direction. 

The joys of inquiry!

Week Two: Recipe for a Successful Library (in regards to Literacy and Learning anyway)

For this week's post we were challenged with coming up with our own recipe for learning inspired by Terri Hayes' article "Library to Learning Commons: A recipe for Success" (2014). I loved reading the article and found that each of Hayes' points really resonated with me, but I didn't just want to copy her points. After giving the article some breathing space I jotted down what I thought were the main components of a successful library and I surprised myself by narrowing it down to three:

• Collaboration - the ability to successfully work with students and staff in a variety of ways
• Flexibility - being able to quickly adjust your approach as necessary, and for the space to be able to meet a wide variety of learning needs
• Culture of Learning - for the library to be the "hot-spot" for learning for both students but also educators, and to promote a sense of lifelong learning for all patrons

After I came up with these three points I decided to try a presentation tool that was new to me called WordArt. Here I input my top three words but also added other words that fit my ideal library. I was able to choose the shape that I wanted the words displayed in and other details to generate the image below. 

In the process of brainstorming the words above and creating the image of a successful library I thought of another potential essential question - using the library to successfully foster an environment of learning for educators too. I love the notion of the library being the true resource hub of the school for both students and staff and other than physically (and digitally) housing the resources....what is the best way to go about promoting that? Something to ponder on...

Resources 

Hayes, T. (2014). "Library to Learning Commons." [online] EdCan Network. Available at: https://www.edcan.ca/articles/library-to-learning-commons/ [Retrieved 5 Sep. 2018].

"Inquiry and the Research Process." Edutopia. [image] Available at: from https://www.edutopia.org/article/inquiry-and-research-process [Retrieved  Sep.5, 2018]

"WordArt." (2018). WordArt. [software] Available from wordart.com/create

And Then We Were Done....

"Brain Storm" from iStockPhoto

Suddenly, much more suddenly than I expected, this course is now complete. However I will take away so much from this course going forward. First, this course is truly an excellent example of scaffolding and beginning with the end in mind.

Our first blog post had us brainstorming words and ideas surrounding Library and Education that interested us. I found this process to be so freeing - we could really explore whatever interested us? Some might find this too open-ended and prefer a choice of topics, but it was nice to figure out what we wanted to examine ourselves. One of my key words from my brainstorm was collaboration; I feel like I have so much to learn in teaching and in the Library world, and I know that I do not learn best on my own so I am always looking to collaborate. My desire to collaborate isn't always met with success however, so I had it in the back of my mind for my final digital artifact that I wanted to make collaboration easier. The seed was planted!

The following weeks of exploration including digging into some resources that could be helpful for the project, and examining some general topics such as Fostering Reading Culture in our schools. Through examining resources and other topics I learned about careful selection of resources, as well as how to summarize my thoughts effectively for each blog post. I think it is safe to say that I learned just as much from reading the blog posts of my peers as I did from my own posts. I appreciated how at times we would each interpret a topic so differently; sometimes we found similar resources and sometimes our resources were very complementary. I really liked the ex
perience of being able to see the learning of others as well.

I found it very helpful that we were told what our final project would be right at the beginning of the course so as we explored other topics we could keep that end goal in mind. As such it was a comment on this blog post of mine that further cemented my final project idea. A peer of mine mentioned having an online portal for the TLs in the district; what a neat idea! I loved the thought of having an online community to share, collaborate, discuss and learn from one another. I immediately contacted the district tech person to see if they could create a Moodle page for me which I would then enroll the district TLs in and we could all add some resources to. After some time I was informed that the district was no longer using Moodle but a new platform called Scholantis. Working with this new platform has been interesting. At first I was happy with the seemingly adaptable interface and pleasing appearance. For example, it was quite simple to add a new app and to organize it on the page. However, I have since encountered some glitches that have made things more difficult. This is the reality when working with new tools - a bit of a rollercoaster in progress. Sometimes things go quite smoothly and then suddenly you will encounter a road block. That is one of the main points of creating this online digital portal for the TLs in the district. All of the TLs are working with the same Library software, so it is makes sense to create a new discussion topic should a software issue arise; using the knowledge and experience of others will help us all progress.

I am so grateful that this experience has pushed me to make something of value. It would have been will see use by the TLs in the district, and I have added something else to my resume. Not to mention - I have made something that I am proud of. Thank you for the nudge to do so!

"Value" from Blog

very simple to just complete a project that means little and move on without a second thought. However, because we have been pushed to create something valuable I went the extra step to do so. It wasn't quite as simple as I made it seem in my summary above when contact the district and sorting out access to the portal. For awhile I thought that I would be making a model of the project in Google Classroom which I would then hope to transfer over at some point. I managed to persevere and have created a group page that the TLs in the district are already working with me to add more resources and material to. In doing this I have been introduced to the TLs in the district (SO valuable as a TTOC who has been on maternity leave recently...), started the online portal which

Introducing the Final Digital Artifact

Introducing....
Our final 'capstone' work for this course is to create a digital artifact - something that we are proud to send out into the world and could truly make a difference. No big deal, right? Wrong. First, let me say that I love that we are spending our time creating a product that will actually have some value. However, the fact that it is has value makes it that much more intimidating.

What?
The one theme that I haven't been able to shake throughout this whole course is the notion of collaboration and sharing our works. In my very first blog post for this course I brainstormed some ideas that I wanted to work with further and one of my key terms was collaboration. I've always felt that collaboration is key to making us all better educators, sharing with your neighbour or colleague down the hall can take a project to the next step - but how can we do it on a wider level? The digital world has made it much easier so I knew that a key component of my final project would include collaboration.

"Collaboration" from RedBooth

Referring back to our text for this course, Will Richardson's excellent eBook "Why School", his very first tip for "relearning" (p.89) is to share everything - or at least something (Richardson, 2012). I wanted to take the idea of sharing something that we are already doing and pair it with collaboration in a meaningful way. The spark was lit with a comment on this blog post of mine where a classmate mentioned an online portal in their district for TLs. Aha! I wanted to create an online community for the TLs in district.

Why?
My main goal for the digital artifact is to create a single space for TLs in the district to go for access to resources, discussion, blogs to follow, display ideas and more - in short, a collaboration space. Our in-district TLs should be a core part of our Personal Learning Network as each district can vary slightly on policy and values. I explored the importance of the Personal Learning Network in this blog post, but Lisa Nielson's blog digs a little deeper into how transformative the Personal Learning Network can be.
As to why collaborate in the first place - a quick Google search on collaboration in education will yield millions of results (147 million, to be precise) with results such as "44 Benefits of Collaborative Learning", "6 Benefits of Teacher Collaboration", and "The Advantages of Collaboration in the Classroom". The results were pretty clear - collaboration is powerful, so we should be making it happen!

How?
I was initially planning on creating an online Moodle classroom for the TLs to be enrolled in that would host resources, discussion threads and so on. However, I was informed that the district was phasing out Moodle and moving towards Scholantis - a new-to-me software.....but what the heck, I'm up for a challenge! After learning about Scholantis I was actually pretty excited about what it has to offer, however I am getting off track so you can read about that on your own time here.

"Learn Something New" from Teacher Created

I connected with the TLs in the district and have asked them what they would like to see in their online portal through a discussion post on the Scholantis page. For now, the page isn't as populated as it will be because it is a true work of collaboration. There are real Teacher Librarians and Library Assistants enrolled in the group already who have real resources and documents that they wish to select and display (or have me display), and I am going to respect their wishes. For now, my focus has been to establish the structure of the site including embedding useful links, creating separate resource sections, and adding features such as the Twitter feed. One of my first projects in September will be to create a rotating slideshow of each Library in the district, or a featured spot on one Library each month - I will let the TLs choose! In discussion with a TL at one of the high schools, we discussed how powerful it would be for the rotating Library Assistants to have all of the necessary resources in one place, and have some more consistency across schools. We also discussed that the Scholantis group page would be a good place to store documents such as the TTOC-how-to folder that could be updated as necessary. As the TLs are already on board for this project I am so excited to see where it leads!



Where?
Access the portal here - keep in mind that this is very much a work in progress !

Works Cited

"6 Benefits of Teacher Collaboration." (2016, November 29). Retrieved from http://blog.brookespublishing.com/6-benefits-of-teacher-collaboration/

Nielson, Lisa. (2010). "The PLN matures, the evolution of the personal learning network." [blogpost] Retrieved from https://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/08/pln-matures-progression-of-21st-century.html

Richardson, W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Information and Learning are Everywhere. [ebook] TED Publishing. 

Srinivas, H. (n.d.) ""44 Benefits of Collaborative Learning." Retrieved from https://www.gdrc.org/kmgmt/c-learn/44.html

Stutz, N. (2018). "LIBE 477 - Special Topics Reading Review Part A." [blogpost] Retrieved from http://readerzjourney.blogspot.com/2018/05/libe-477-special-topics-reading-review.html

Stutz, N. (2018). "Developing our own ICT Skills and Pedagogy." [blogpost] Retrieved from http://readerzjourney.blogspot.com/2018/06/inquiry-blog-post-2-developing-our-own.html

Inquiry Blog Post #4:Developing World Libraries / Mobile devices

Developing World Libraries

In my exploration of this week's topic I came across many fascinating stories and creative use of ICT. I learned about the RIA Learning Innovation Project making technology accessible to thousands and education them on its proper use. Listen to the interesting clip below...

What's interesting about Libraries, however, is that they already have the infrastructure needed to bring  access to technology. As discussed in this article, public libraries are facilities that already exist in the government framework which incorporate technology and the expertise to connect the public with the technology. Given that powerful combination - there are some fascinating initiatives to bring technology to the public. I learned about the International Federation of Libraries Associations and Institutions which is the "global voice of the library and information profession", the role of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Global Library Initiatives, and more. However, one of my most interesting finds was EIFL: "EIFL is a not-for-profit organization that works with the libraries to enable access to knowledge in developing and transition economy countries in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America".

An excellent example of EIFL in action was a community project in San Javier-La Loma. The community library wanted to serve the needs of the community but the most recent map of the area was completed in 1971 - very outdated for the current community needs. This library utilized the people of the community, computers, digital cameras, voice recorders and helium balloons to crowd source a map of the area. Read about the fascinating project here.


Mobile Devices in Education 

Mobile use in Classrooms from distance-educator.com

The use of mobile devices in education has been a point of contention for many educators. In fact, whether mobile devices should be banned or used in school is such a hot-button topic that it is one of the top debate topics on debate.org. While the default for many years has been to ban public devices from all schools, I believe that the pendulum is starting to swing the other way. Wired Magazine calls BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) the future of education (Wired, 2013). A study by the Pew Research center finds that nearly 80% of teens 12 to 17 have cell phones for personal use (Oregon Live, 2013). 

Being able to harness students' personal devices for educational use has some serious potential. For years schools struggled with sharing laptop carts, overbooked computer rooms, and unreliable technology. Now, allowing students to use their own devices in a responsible way allows so many more possibilities for education. A study by Science Direct found mobile devices to be more effective than desktop computers in student learning, and mobile devices were found to enhance student learning (Sung, Chang, Liu, 2016). 

Given these factors, school libraries should allow the use of mobile devices. Setting up mobile charging stations and having mobile logins for the reference material would increase the potential power of mobile devices in the hands of students. 

Resources

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Global-Libraries

EIFL (n.d.) Creative use of ICT in public libraries. Retrieved from http://eifl.net/eifl-in-action/creative-use-ict-public-libraries-5

Debate.org (n.d.) Should mobile phones be banned in schools. Retrieved from http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-mobile-phones-be-banned-in-schools

Hamilton, Stuart. (March 12, 2013) Stamping out poverty as well as books?How libraries can support development. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/mar/12/libraries-power-global-development

Hammond, Betsy (2013). Nearly 80 percent of teens have cell phones; more likely than adults to use mobile internet. The Oregonian. Retrieved from https://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2013/03/nearly_80_percent_of_teens_hav.html

Molinari, Aleph (2011). Let's Bridge the digital divide! [youtube] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaxCRnZ_CLg 

Panagos, Tim. (2013). The future of education: BYOD in the classroom. Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/insights/2013/09/the-future-of-education-byod-in-the-classroom/

Inquiry Blog #3: Supporting Teachers’ ICT Curriculum and Pedagogy: On-going Professional Development

This week's blog post is all about supporting the ICT professional needs for the communities within our school. As a Teacher-Librarian this becomes much more important as we strive to uphold the Learning Commons as the hub of the school. I have come across a few ideas that I think are fantastic and are worth sharing.


Book Club

Image courtesy of edson&area 

In my local school district, SD67, there is an ongoing Aboriginal Book Club that any member of faculty can participate in. The purpose of the book club is to expose people to excellent Aboriginal Literature for their own personal interest or for help integrating it into classroom teachings. Each month a new book is decided upon and participants meet informally at a local cafe and discuss the book - sound familiar? It is run like most other book clubs that you've either heard of or participated in. The book club platform translates quite well to professional development reads as well.


Expert Evenings

Image courtesy of blog

As a lot of our professional development now centers around new tools and technology, book club could easily be adapted to Expert Evenings; this gives staff members or other experts in the community a chance to come in and share their knowledge surrounding a particular tool, method or practice. This could be organized so that one person is the expert and teaches those around them, or as a group a new tool/ skill is picked and worked with for the month before reporting back about their experiences. This gives people a low-risk chance to explore new tools and ideas with those around them.


Professional Blog/ Website

Image courtesy of
CrenshawCommunications

Sometimes we can't attend a book club or an expert evening so it becomes very important to keep a reference of all of this fantastic learning in an accessible spot! The Teacher-Librarian's blog/ website could be a good option for collating this wealth of information for others to refer to and peruse at their leisure. An excellent example of a blog that chronicles innovation in learning is the Through a Different Lens blog from SD67. Here, teachers from the district (and other districts) post sample lessons and explorations of how they are exploring learning from a different angle, or lens. The blog has become so popular and well utilized that it has been organized into various sub-headings such as Secondary, Math, or Place Conscious. Many of those in the district wouldn't be aware of the fantastic ideas going on around them if it weren't for this blog. This goes back to Will Richardson's idea of how important it is to "share everything" and the simple notion of blogging our practice can help elevate the teaching profession (Richardson, 2012, p.32).

These are just a few ideas that I have come across or heard about that will assist with on-going professional development. I'm sure there are so many more....what are your favourite ways to share your Pro-D?

I want to end with the fine words of Sir Ken Robinson...while not discussing professional development specifically he is addressing the need for innovation in education, and quite simply, there is no innovation without sharing our learning.

Resources

Richardson, W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Information and Learning are Everywhere. [ebook] TED Publishing. 

Robinson, K. (2010). Bring on the learning revolution! [video file] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I

Through a Different Lens (2018). [Blogpost] Retrieved from http://differentlensblog.blogspot.com/ (Links to an external site.Links to an external site. TED Conferences Publish