LIBE 467 Post 3: Situation Critical!

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Critical literacy is not just another skill we need to teach, but rather a mindset that permeates how we teach. If we want students to sift through “the different representations” to thoughtfully “find their way to what is [really] going on,” they need to consider the “larger narrative in which text is situated” (Luke, 2015).

These are complicated skills needed in a complicated world. 🌎

Fortunately, our learners have us. 

In the 21st century, critical literacy is an important component of shaping capable young thinkers. Information is ubiquitous; we must teach young people to be discerning consumers of this information, who can navigate the rise of digital media (and algorithms that create echo chambers) and  be able to distinguish credible information from questionable, biased, or outright “fake” information. We need citizens who have the tools to challenge the narratives they hear, see, and read. It is essential to help students learn to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate with messages in a variety of forms.

The teacher librarian can be the driving force behind meaningful learning in the school. Not only are they the go-to person for research help, but they are “an educator who works collaboratively with other teachers to create and sustain powerful and relevant learning experiences for students” (BCTLA, 2011).

A teacher librarian and the services they offer are an essential component of developing the critical literacy skills necessary to be the “educated citizen” that the Ministry of Education aims for us to graduate. I envision a good TL as the the quarterback in this endeavour. In collaboration with classroom teachers, I would design meaningful, AUTHENTIC learning experiences. In focusing on curriculum design, I have the power to not only provide resources, but facilitate their use. An effective TL will help design inquiry projects to expose learners to “different versions of the world” and help them develop a “curious, skeptical mind that wants to investigate, solve problems, and understand the world” (Luke, 2015). An effective TL doesn’t just live in the library; they go into the classroom. Not only do the students benefit from this, but it also helps build capacity in other teachers as they learn along with their students. As learners engage in these authentic questions, they investigate a variety of texts that challenge them to consider:

  • Who created it?
  • What is the purpose?
  • What is the context of the text?

Working in partnership with a TL is awesome because they have more time to do the leg work in seeking out a variety of texts for students to investigate. Furthermore, an important aspect of the TL role is to have a broad knowledge of resources students can use (Riedling, 2019, p. 90). 

The world is vast and the internet is almost as vast. Fortunately, the TL can bring order to chaos and help students develop their “critical, inquiring minds” (Luke, 2015).

What a beautiful thing.

References

LIBE 467 Assignment 3: Essential Services

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Evaluation Plan for Improving Reference Services in a Rural BC Secondary School

“To spend a day in a school library is to witness what all the research says about quality education in the 21st century: educators and students engaged in research, collaboration, communication, problem solving, and creativity” (Riedling, 2019, p. 4).

Context:

This school had been without a library and a teacher librarian for four years. The fiction books had simply been moved to a large classroom and there were no reference materials remaining. Students could access them, but there were no services provided. This school was the victim of a growing scenario where we have seen “big cuts in teacher-librarian time and, some would say, diminished respect for the role of the teacher-librarian” (Beaudry, 2024, Lesson 7). When a new principal arrived, he rectified the situation and I was assigned the role of TL in this school; given the school size, I only had .375 fte. The library, quite simply, was a blank slate.

Evaluation and Rationale: 

Given that one of the key roles of a TL is to be the “information specialist” and facilitate reference services, this school was not meeting an important aspect of the students’ education. Teachers were working in isolation; there was no coordination, no one acting as a “quarterback” for research. Nor was there any certainty that students were developing information literacy. While there were computers, iPads, and Chromebooks in the school, some teachers rarely used them. It is therefore conceivable that some students graduated with next to no information literacy. Many students learned only from textbooks and teacher lecture. For those whose teachers did include online research in their pedagogy, there is no way of being certain if it was adequate. I recall working with a grade 12 (who I considered to be a strong student), watching her engage in a Google search. She simply made note of information from the search page. She didn’t even visit the site. This indicated to me that she had not been taught how to assess the reliability and relevance of online material- one of the most basic information literacy skills. The students had access to digital tools, but largely lacked instruction to make use of them or to appreciate the scope of what was available to them. Consequently, their independence as learners was compromised and the breadth of their education was limited. Quite simply, they were missing out on all the good stuff mentioned in the Riedling quote above.

My initial focus was on weeding and updating the collection, and then on designing use of the space. The next step is to implement a plan for reference services for this school that had none. Because this scenario was so egregious, I am therefore choosing to devote my limited fte to the development of plan that focuses on the development of a digital LLC and an accompanying continuum of skills to “support the development of student information skills, literacy development and the entire curriculum” (Beaudry, 2024, Lesson 7). The lack of library services in the school went hand in hand with outdated pedagogy; consequently, this focus will further help student learning by facilitating potential for an expansion of inquiry projects. An effective TL will help create “resource-based learning opportunities” that “improve[s] research skills and foster[s] self-confidence in finding information by integrating library skills as part of subject curriculum” (Nolan, 1989, as cited in Partido State University, 2012).

I am focusing on the digital LLC first for two reasons:

  • Starting from nothing, this is where I can have the most noticeable impact. There is a tremendous amount of information online that is available at no cost. Because navigating this vast amount of information is complex, this further underscores the need for reference services. Students need to know how to access what is available to them and to learn that there is a difference between “googling” and “researching.” Besides the scope of what is available, an online LLC is further valuable because students are also able to access it from anywhere at anytime, increasing the utility of what I am working on.
  • In a small school, we have a limited budget and therefore need to be very mindful of how funds are spent. Reference materials are often very expensive and would be taxing on such a limited budget, and “sound decisions related to the selection of resources based on available budgets” is an important aspect of the job (Beaudry, 2024, Lesson 6). That said, there is value in having a thoughtful selection of print materials on hand to meet a variety of learning needs, so this is one area I would revisit in the future. I would not see myself purchasing a set of encyclopedias given the cost weighed against the use they would receive. However, some dictionaries and perhaps targeted anthologies (based on discussions with subject specialists) would be considered (Beaudry, 2024, Lesson 6). Because of the limited budget I am working with, I would include in my planned continuum of skills, orientation with the public library. It is within walking distance of the school and they welcome classes. I would accompany students and familiarize them with the reference materials available to them. For older students, I would orient them with the EBSCO database available to them via the library computers. With a public library card, they can also access it at home. Acquiring a library card would be part of the orientation process.

Plan: 

  • This is a two-year plan to create a basic roadmap for ensuring students at the school receive essential reference services to help develop their information literacy skills and meet their reference needs. The first year would be the consultation, development and curation, and the second year would be the roll-out.
  • As TL, I will begin by meeting with departments to gauge their needs: what topics are commonly studied? What types of projects are they interested in working with students on? This is also an opportunity for me to build strong working relationships, offering to assist with project development, curate resources, and co-teach. Busy teachers appreciate help, and this is the perfect opportunity to build capacity in the teaching staff by offering to help develop inquiry projects (Riedling, 2019, p. 9). 
  • Using my own professional knowledge along with exemplars from other BC TLs (CLA, 2014, p. 35), I will develop a continuum of information literacy skills for students in grades 8-12, with the goal that graduating students would be prepared to embark on post-secondary studies and function as “educated citizens” as defined by the Ministry of Education (Province of British Columbia, 2023).
  • I would then use LibGuides to develop a digital LLC for the school. The cost of just over $1000 a year for the licensing is justified in a cost-benefit analysis in that it will enhance the education of all students, both at home and at school. My initial focus would be on three aspects:
    1. A “How to” page of resources to support them in conducting research, covering such things as citations and formatting, strategies for assessing digital resources, and research tips.
    2. A curated collection of useful resources for different curricular areas (informed by my department conversations), such as World War II resources under a Social Studies page.
    3. Curated resources to support the instruction of the continuum of skills, such as creative commons sites, free databases, and useful resources such as the Canadian Encyclopedia.
  • Schedule in-class co-teaching as an actionable means of instructing the developed continuum of skills. This coaching and mentoring firstly helps in the professional development of teachers, “strengthen[ing] service to users” of the reference resources (Riedling, 2019, p. 8). Furthermore, by targeting a particular mandatory class (ie: Social Studies 8, etc.), I would ensure delivery to all students. Having engaged in this process in consultation with the departments would facilitate planning for this delivery as well as communicate the plan to enhance services. As this is a seismic change for a school with previously nothing formal in place, it is essential to at least engage with all students early on to expose them to the online LLC and provide direction in how it will be of use to them.

To conclude, successful delivery of reference services will “lead the student to appropriate and accurate resources and foster the student’s information literacy skills for socially responsible, lifelong learning” (Riedling, 2019, p. 95). In the 21st century, the ability to access, assess, and avail oneself of information is an essential skill- as important as literacy and numeracy, and is embedded in the BC curriculum. It is therefore inconceivable that a school was functioning without a library for years. I look forward to rectifying this and offering the students of this community the education they deserve.

References

LIBE 467: Assignment 2: Collaborate and Elevate!

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Overview:

One of the most important “competencies for reference services librarians [is] collaborat[ing] with colleagues to provide service to users” (ALA, 2017, as cited in Riedling, 2019, p. 9). This paper will focus on work I have done with two teachers to help them evolve their practice with respect to effective use of reference resources. Because mentorship is a lot like teaching, it is important to “meet teachers where they are” (WSU, 2015), so I will start a description of the colleagues’ context, give my assessment of their stage of concern based on the Concerns Based Adoption Model (Fig. 1), and then outline the strategy I implemented to move their practice to the next level.

Fig. 1 (Elish-Piper, 2015)

Teacher A: “Eva”

 When I worked with Eva, she was in her second year of teaching. She began her career as we were undergoing the shift to the current BC curriculum and was therefore adapting from a more traditional “stand and deliver and test” approach to teaching, to our current competency-based curriculum delivered through a focus on inquiry.

She approached me for assistance in designing an inquiry project for her grade 8 Social Studies class. In particular, she asked about how to help her students find information once they had drafted their own driving questions. She stated that she did not know how to help them move beyond extracting information from the text book or learning from her lessons. As we have a small reference section in our library, she knew they would be looking to digital sources and she was unsure how to help them in this process.

Because Eva’s stated needs focused on her, I assessed her stage of concern in the first three tiers. Based on her need to understand how to effectively use digital reference sources with her students, she was at the “Informational” stage of concern. Because she was actively looking to co-design an inquiry, her level of use was “II: Preparation”; she had “definite plans to begin using the innovation” (Hord, 1987, as cited in WSU, 2015). My role would therefore be to help her learn more about the effective use of digital resources and show her how to start with her learners. An important part of the TL job acknowledges that “Learners also need to ‘learn how to learn’ through deliberate design of opportunities (CLA, 2014, p. 15).

Effective mentorship looks a lot like good teaching. Thus in collaborating with teachers, TLs are “facilitators… designers, and coaches” (WSU, 2015). When people are taking on a new challenge, it helps to feel supported and encouraged. I therefore reacted enthusiastically when she asked for help and communicated that I was looking forward to working with her and her students. With Eva, my strategy was to demonstrate what she was asking me about with her and her students. In so doing, I was able to provide clear and accurate information through my design of a learning activity for the students. I created a slideshow lesson that I felt would be appropriate given my own experience with learners at this stage about conducting online searches and assessing reliability of information. Not only were her students learning, but she was as well. After the lesson, together we then worked with the students as they applied the learning they had just done and engaged in searches for information, coaching and answering questions as a team. In working together with her class on her project, my goal was to help her relate my instruction to her current practices.

From our collaborative experience, Eva gained greater understanding of effective use of reference resources in her teaching, thus moving her to the next level of concern: Personal, where she will investigate her role in gaining comfort and proficiency with this part of her practice. Of course as her TL, I continue to be available to answer “questions [she is] asking when [she is] asking them” (WSU, 2015).

Teacher B: “Will”

When I worked with Will, he had been teaching for approximately six years and was (is) an innovator constantly looking to push his practice. As such, he was actively engaged in using inquiry in his pedagogy. 

As we were kindred spirits philosophically, we were naturally drawn to collaborate together. In terms of his use of reference services, he expressed to me a desire to help students be more discerning users of information. He was looking beyond just at a simple “should I trust this,” but towards helping his students broaden their perspective. My response to him was that I would help him by focussing on designing learning activities so his students could develop such information literacy skills as identifying bias, considering different perspectives and voices, and examining context. Because Will was asking about the “it” (information literacy) and working towards mastery, I see him as in the “Task” stages of concern. Will was asking for aspects of Management in that he was asking specific practical questions about information pedagogy (“I need help with x”). Furthermore, he needed help with the specific management problem of curating exemplar resources to dive meaningfully into this aspect of information literacy, and as a busy teacher, felt building this lesson overwhelming in terms of his time. This is why it is important for “school librarians to invest a great deal of time and energy in learning which resources are of most importance” (Riedling, 2019, p. 105). However, Will was also thinking in terms of “Consequence” and the impact of his effective use of resources in his teaching. The fact that he was focussed on “the students” (WSU, 2015) with his desire for them to be functionally (information) literate, shows him moving to the upper tier with his concerns. 

If we think in terms of the “bridge”- the process of mentoring and coaching in order to move people through understanding to independently implementing- this stage for Will was consequential. With my support, he was able to “continue to grow”and not have “implementation problems … overwhelm [him].” The task management support allowed him to take the risk he was looking to take and my help with the lesson development allowed him to progress in his pursuit of innovative practices (WSU, 2015). My experience with him was a key representation of my goal as a TL to see “improved student achievement through the refining of instruction for … research and inquiry … skills (CLA, 2014, p. 13). 

Conclusion:

In my work with Eva and Will, I was able to meet each of these colleagues where they were and provide the support necessary to move their use of information resources forward. Taking steps forward can be daunting, so positive feedback, encouragement, and guidance are an integral part of making the crossing of the bridge “safe” and “positive” (WSU, 2015) contributing to a positive culture of “collaborative engagement” in the school to “cultivate and empower a community of learners” (CLA, 2014, p. 10)

References

LIBE 467: Where’s the best place to hide a body? Page two of Google!

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The role of teacher-librarian is remarkably complex. Beyond the stereotypical pushers of books, they are information superheroes! It is a privilege to assist in the shaping of young minds, but as it has been said, “with great power comes great responsibility” (Raimi, 2002)

source

Our humble TL becomes an information superhero by working to “build information literacy skills and identify appropriate tools” (Riedling, 2019, p. 89).  Those two things are important: it’s not enough to simply identify reference tools that are useful for the school community; the TL is also responsible for reference services. The resources themselves do not function in isolation; rather they work in concert with the reference services as part of a thoughtful continuum of information literacy skills. Ideally the TL (information specialist) works collaboratively with classroom teachers (subject specialists). Together they “prioritize the process involved in doing a research assignment,” (Beaudry, Lesson 5, 2024) and create “resource-based learning opportunities” that “improve[s] research skills and foster[s] self-confidence in finding information by integrating library skills as part of subject curriculum (Nolan, 1989, as cited in Partido State University, 2012).

With this in mind, my 5 essential tools  for a school library learning commons are useful in that they support this desire to not only provide learners with information in a specific moment for a specific task, but to “foster research and the student’s information literacy skills… for socially responsible life-long learning” (Riedling, 2019, p. 95).

 A good LLC has useful student information like this poster in plain sight. My recommended tools help students work through this process.

A rule of thumb of North Vancouver teacher librarians:

If you know 0-25% of your topic, choose a REFERENCE source.

If you know 25-50% of your topic, choose a BOOK.

If you know 50-75% of your topic, choose a DATABASE. (School District 44, 2024)

Tool #1:

The first essential tool is to help our students who are looking to form their base knowledge and therefore reach out to reference sources on the internet. It also serves to help with what I call the ““But I found it on Google…” problem. Part of our information literacy teaching has to be the difference between googling and researching. And this tool ia awesome to help our students become more thoughtful consumers of digital information:

Central Michigan University Online Research Guide

Tool #2:

It is helpful to introduce our students to some reliable information workhorses, sites they know they can go to in order to build their base knowledge. So this “tool” is a two-for-one deal to cover most curricular bases:

The Canadian Encyclopedia

World Book Online

Anyone can access the former site anywhere, anytime. The second connects automatically within the school but requires a login code from home. Communication of this code is important for students to be able to harness its power, so it could also be posted throughout the library, included in the continuum of skills instruction, and available at the circulation desk on slips of paper: Important login codes- please take one!

Tool #3:

Once students have good base knowledge, a book is often the next logical source of research. Unfortunately due to budgetary restrictions, most schools cannot maintain a robust print reference collection. However, it is incumbent on our superhero to possess a strong “knowledge of sources” (Riedling, 2019, p. 93). If the school LLC cannot supply it, who can? In our case, the District of North Vancouver Public Library searchable website is an excellent tool. Furthermore, “tools” can sometimes be people, and my local branch employs a youth librarian- an excellent resource for students to access!

North Vancouver District Public Library

Tool #4:

We do our students a huge favour if our instruction of information skills includes the use of databases. Once our students have decent base knowledge on a topic, this allows them to go deeper into that topic. Like most schools, I would use EBSCO . Like the World Book Encyclopedia, this has automatic access within school, and students would need a login code to use it from home.

Tool #5:

I call this the 1-2 punch! Bam! Pow! 

Once students have engaged in meaningful research, the TL (and classroom teacher) need to make sure to instruct the entire continuum of skills of information literacy and help students accurately and effectively cite their sources 📑. This reinforces the importance of a) ethical use of other people’s work, and b) substantiating their work with quality research. So I would provide them with a tool to explain the process and answer questions they might encounter: Purdue University Online Writing Lab,  which can help with both APA and MLA.

I would then provide them with a tool to help create their citations: Citation Machine.

I used both to do this blog- so they are “real-world” useful!

In providing tools, and more importantly, instructing students in the use of these tools, the TL is using their superpowers and helping to “assist students in developing skills in information retrieval and critical thinking so that they may become informed decision-makers and life-long learners” (Victoria School District as cited in Beaudry, Lesson 6, 2024).

Teacher-librarians: fighting the evil scourge of ignorance and the invading menace of intellectual dishonesty. Bam! Pow!

References

 

LIBE 467: Out with the Old and In with the New

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I have arthritis in my shoulder; consequently, investigating the reference section of my school library proved hazardous to my health.

Riedling (2019) defines a good reference source as “one that serves to answer questions and a bad reference source is one that fails to answer the questions” (p. 21). If a book is too heavy for a student to even lift, chances are, they’re not going to use it to answer their questions. 

In my investigation of my school references section, I selected the behemoth below:
*Pop can for scale

Anecdotally, I began my assessment of this resource by showing it to some students in the library and asked them if they would use it as a resource. The most generous response I received was, “If my teacher made me.”  The least generous response I received was laughter. I interpreted that as an emphatic “No.”

I created the attached rubric and will use it to evaluate the resources:

Purpose: This category addresses how a resource would be used. What goals does it help us meet? In determining if a resource will be purposeful for instruction in the school, it is valuable to work in a collaborative role with the teachers in the school (Asselin, 2003, p. 24). Teachers in different subject areas  have the expertise to judge the accuracy of a resource and assess what purpose it fills in their teaching goals (Riedling, 2019, p. 17).

In consultation with Social Studies teachers at my school, their response was that this set is “minimally useful”  due to its age and layout. Their intention as teachers would be to include it in their “continuum of skills” (Riedling, 2019, p. 105), particularly in engaging students in inquiry. Part of their teaching includes helping students build  base knowledge as well as developing students’ information literacy skills (Asselin, 2003, p. 26). They judged it as not useful in meeting these key  goals, as it is not student-friendly and is outdated.

There is value in print resources  for students who find the graphical layout of websites overwhelming and benefit from simplicity (Beaudry, 2024). This resource, however, has dense text and few images. It would therefore be more overwhelming than most digital resources. 

Relevancy: This category addresses the resource from the lens of meeting the students’ needs. I have specifically separated the diversity of student needs from the information needs. The needs of diverse learners overlap with the intended purposes of teachers. Those who prefer print because of its simplicity, would not find that with this print resource (Department of Education, 2008, pp. 10-11). Relevancy also includes student interest (is the source relevant to their lives?), and this old, dense, text-heavy artifact is downright off-putting to students. 

A considerable disadvantage for this resource (and other print resources) is that students’ information needs go beyond the walls of the school (Asselin, 2003, p. 32) and this resource can only be accessed Monday-Friday, 8:30-3:30.

An important part of the selection process is understanding the community needs and preferences (Riedling, 2019, p. 107) and how users of the library seek information. Our community is an affluent one with good access to technology, both in school and at home. Furthermore, we are home to an iPad-based program, so the learners in our school are very much technology-oriented and prefer digital options to meet their learning needs.

The aesthetic value also matters (Department of Education, 2008, p. 10). Just look at that thing!

Click here

Currency: Riedling (2019) makes recommendations for optimal “shelf lives” for different focus areas. She says 15 years is when a Social Studies resource becomes outdated (p. 18). This resource was published in 1988, 36 years ago. Our perspective on history and culture has evolved considerably. In fact, there is no section on Residential Schools!!!

Curricular Connections: This category looks to consider how well this resource serves the school in terms of the provincial curriculum and how many students might have opportunity to engage with or need of this resource (Department of Education, 2008, p. 5). Because this resource is useful for Social Studies at all levels , and it is mandatory for four years of high school, this kind of  resource would be useful for the curricular needs of all students. However, because it is so outdated, as described above, this particular resource does not support the curriculum well. 

Collection Considerations: This category acknowledges the budgetary reality of libraries and looks to balance ⚖️  the value of a resource versus its hit to a limited budget. This is where print resources like this one lose out. They are really expensive, and considering how less likely students are to use print resources, it feels hard to justify the expense. It is nice to have a “one-stop shop” resource of Canadiana; however, that shop ought to be appealing and current. Otherwise it’s just a dust collector using space that could be more appropriately used.

The Canadian Encyclopedia was revolutionary when it was introduced in 1985. It “plays an essential role in providing Canadians and others with accurate, updated information about our people and country” and “a bilingual, national edition produced by, for and about the people of a single country, charting its events, culture, history and landscape, remains rare” (Historic Canada, 2024). However, as an accurate document of our culture, the decision to go digital in 2001 made sense. 

So that is my choice to replace this dinosaur of a resource. I would recommend replacing the Canadian Encyclopedia (dead tree 1988 version) with The Canadian Encyclopedia (online constantly updated version). Not only is this a tremendous upgrade (see rubric below), but it is FREE!

Purpose: Not only would my Social Studies teachers use it, they do use it! Whereas the print version misses the mark as a tool for developing students’ inquiry capabilities, they stated that this resource is very useful: it is easy to navigate, the layout is clean and simple, and the articles are accessible for most readers- reasonably chunked and interspersed with images. Furthermore, students who need it, can use adaptive technology to have the articles read to them. Plus, within the articles, there are links to allow students to explore related topics with a simple click and go deeper with their understanding of a topic.

Relevancy: As outlined, this source meets the learning needs of diverse students; it is so much easier to use. Students can either browse 👀 the helpful topics or input their subject of query into the search function. Furthermore, it is in line with the community preference for digital tools. It allows students to look for information how they actually look for information. Finally, the digital platform has allowed The Canadian Encyclopedia to continually expand, and it now hosts over 25 000 articles, meaning it conceivably offers information on whatever our students are looking for. The website also allows for regular feature updates to reflect current areas of interest and highlight diverse sections of the resource. For example, there is currently a curated section honouring Black History Month. 

Currency: It’s constantly updated. 

No more gaping holes in our collective history:

Curricular Connections: This maintains the “every student learns Canadian history, geography and culture in Social Studies” advantage, while shedding the “how can I teach Canadian history with no mention of Residential Schools” problems.

Collection Considerations: This resource, when included in the purposely curated school digital learning commons, adds tremendous value. It gives students that reliable “one stop shop”  for Canadiana, updated, and AT NO COST- just some TL time to add it to the LibGuides and promote its use.

Needless to say, it is beyond time to get rid of this artifact of a bygone era and a bygone Canada. No one uses it. And why would they?

I used this set when I was in high school. And as I said, I’m now old enough to have arthritis. 

References

LIBE 467: The Reference Book Dilemma: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

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Take a trip back in time.

source: https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2023/08/best-second-world-war-books

For a course last spring I was tasked with assessing my school library’s reference books in support of a commonly taught curricular area. I selected World War II because a) I was teaching it; b) it’s super interesting 🪖, and c) I figured that would be one of the more robust sections of the non-fiction collection. Hahaha 😂- I just used “robust” in a sentence talking about reference books! While there were certainly more WWII books than most topics… it was still very limited. I consequently struggled with the assignment. It’s tough to show your ability to assess a wide variety of things when there isn’t a wide variety of that thing.

But the reality is, it’s 2024, and our teacher-librarian has a realistic view of the needs of our school community and has tailored the collection accordingly (Riedling, 2019, p. 107). Our print collection primarily addresses the recreational reading needs of our students, and 99% of information services have gone digital. And that’s a good thing. ✅

I am a literature-loving, information-hungry bookworm 🤓 and am therefore just as nostalgic as anyone for the libraries of the past. However, it is not the past and the days of pouring through books 📚 to complete research papers 💾  have gone the way of the leg warmers and neon I would have worn while doing it. We need to teach our kids how to acquire information in 2024.EBSCO Mobile on the App StoreLogo, google, g icon - Free download on Iconfinder

Wikipedia logo - Wikipedia

The dramatic shrinking presence of the “dead tree” (my TL’s phrase of choice) in the reference section of the LLC in no way diminishes the value of a good teacher librarian. In fact, our students need us more than ever. Back in my day (said like a screechy old woman 👵🏻), the challenge was locating information, but once I found it, I had faith in the publishers that I could trust it. Today, information is ubiquitous; it is no longer a challenge to find it 🔎. The hard part is sifting through the vast amounts of garbage and determining what the good stuff is. Capable librarians can sift through garbage, so our jobs are safe. Kids need “school librarians with skills in searching, accessing, using, and evaluating information efficiently and effectively” (Riedling, 2019, p. 105). 

The way we access information has changed and consequently a library’s “information services function will become increasingly important” (Riedling, 2019, p. 108). Our reference book section has shrunk, but OUR importance has grown. We want our students to benefit from all the greatness the internet 👩🏼‍💻 allows: the most up to date information, a vast amount of information and a wide variety of perspectives, multi-media learning, access from anywhere, and interactivity (Beaudry, 2024). Therefore an important aspect of our information services includes a strong focus on a continuum of skills for our students. We cannot just ditch the books and let the Internet do the rest! 😳 The ability of students to access information from home further highlights the power of a good teacher librarian. Strong curation of “garbage-free” digital resources on the school virtual LLC is another way our information services are expanding (Riedling, 2019, p. 106). The “reference section” is now the whole world. Cool!

Are there still reference books in our library? Yes. In honouring the diverse needs of our learners, we recognize that the sometimes “confusing graphical layout” of digital resources presents a challenge for some. Furthermore, all students in general can benefit from the simplicity of something like an encyclopedia in building basic background knowledge as they embark on their research (Beaudry, 2024). It’s a great example of the UDL mindset that can make us more effective educators: needed by some and good for everyone (CAST, 2024).

source: https://resoluterecords.ca/products/the-clash-london-calling-new-vinyl
The print reference section is smaller, but it’s there for you like a reliable fiend 🙂. The computer access to digital reference sources is at your fingertips 🖖; work alone or with friends. The reference services are amplified: the TL is amazeballs! 🤪 And your reference needs can be met anytime, anywhere- even at home in your leg warmers while you rock out to The Clash.

References

LIBE 477: It’s the End of the Course As We Know It

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How many times do teachers say to themselves, “I can’t believe it’s December already!” 

Well, I can’t believe it’s December already.

It has been an insane school year so far. After 24 years of teaching and becoming (somewhat) comfortable and confident, I jumped off a cliff and joined a new district, a new school and signed on to a program with new pedagogy, new technology, new courses, new assessment practice and new structures. And I took this course. Insane.

However, the bright spot has been how much my course learning has complemented my professional life. I had to blog in this course. I had to teach blogging to my students. I had to create a digital artifact for my final project. I am having my kids create digital artifacts. I am learning about the role of a teacher librarian while being mentored by a teacher librarian. So, insane, but connected and valuable.

My biggest challenge is not a new one: biting off too much. When I look at the topics and research I did early in the course, that same word pops into my head: INSANE. You can’t dive into all that AND be a full-time teacher in a new context. 

But something did click for me in terms of focus when I did my research blog post on equity: this may be my most important role as a potential teacher librarian: advocate for greater technology equity (or “tequity” as I call it in my project). I have worked among the have nots and I am currently working among the haves, and the gulf is tremendous. My favourite part of my final project is the lunch hour I spent interviewing three of my grade 8s about their use of the iPad in their learning. THEY ARE THE REASON THIS MATTERS. Because they’re awesome. But so are the thousands of of other students around the province who graduate thinking it’s acceptable to say, “I’m not really comfortable with technology.” (I heard that all the time in my before life. It’s hard to get comfortable with something when you use it only sporadically.) All these awesome kids, regardless of where they live and who their parents are, deserve to be set up for success. And we as a society NEED them to be set up for success. (My curious brain took me to the OECD website. Suffice to say, our current context is not good enough for the demands before us.)

So where does good advocacy start? It starts small and close to home. As we learned in Leading from the Library, the teacher librarian has a powerful role to play in building the professional capacity of teachers to meaningfully implement technology into their practice. Teachers are busy and overwhelmed; having a colleague say “let me help!” is not a hard sell. And purchasing all the hardware in the world is meaningless if the teachers don’t know how to use it. That has been a big part of my professional learning curve this semester: increasing my skill set at a fast enough rate to help my students. Thank goodness for my teacher librarian coach!

For my final project, in true Erin style, I bit off more than I could chew. While stressful, I’m kind of glad I did. Despite the many times I said over and over, “Why can’t I just write a paper?” I recognize the value of the experiential learning I was doing. Not only was I thinking about the learning and putting together my research, I was learning how to use some important technology tools (specifically Keynote and iMovie) that are important in both my current context as well as my potential role as a teacher librarian. This was definitely an exercise in empathy: putting myself in my students’ shoes, learning the tools, challenging my skill set. I also used technology to keep notes on the process: grab my phone and dictate some thoughts into a Pages document because you never know when and where inspiration will hit. 

My own ambition, of course, came up against the reality of a busy teacher and I just couldn’t accomplish all I wanted to. (I will have to learn Keynote animations over winter break!) However, what was most valuable is the realization that technology can do for me everything that I preach that it can do for my students. If it increases their creativity, it increases my creativity. If it increases their reach and ability to share their thoughts and work, it increases my ability to increase the reach of my thoughts and work. 

I definitely didn’t have time to devote to the actual movie making skills and create the published piece that I would’ve liked to have seen. This film is a DRAFT. It is not ready for its intended purpose. But it’s a start, a prototype in the parlance of PBL. But I like the concept and I’m proud of what I did accomplish in a short time. Going forward, I would love this idea to be made better in student hands!

Working with the technology is definitely engaging. My natural preference would have been to write a traditional paper. It would have been easier and quicker. But while I worked longer and harder, I enjoyed the process. I liked the creativity and I appreciated the feeling of accomplishment. Huh. Isn’t that precisely what we want for our students? ALL students.

Click for movie

 

Thank you to Matteo, Neko and Kennedy for generously giving me their time and for speaking so passionately about their education. It only cost me a box of donuts!🍩🍩🍩

 

Video References

LIBE 477 “Future Vision Project” Part Two: Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Gathered Here Today…

emadsen3 Comments

… to consider the future of your children.

I have narrowed my focus. Or maybe I shifted it a little? I dunno. Maybe I just clarified it in my head.

Regardless, this is what my focus is: How does technology amplify student learning and how can we increase equity to ensure all learners the same level of opportunity?

You can tell that I am swimming in a PBL pond by the fact that I wrote it as a driving question. (Either that or I think I’m on Jeopardy!) But even after all the thesis statements I’ve written in my life, I have come to appreciate the value of questions: they demand to be answered. So my video (gulp!) will endeavour to answer that question.

First, an explanation for what precipitated the narrowing/shifting/clarifying of my focus. It’s simple: I was watching my kids work. And I was digging what they were doing. And I was digging their enthusiasm. And I was digging the progress they were making as creators, as thinkers and as problem solvers. This is what school should aim for.

So my attention then shifted to the decision I’d been asked to make this week: who is my target audience and how will my project be crafted for that audience?🎯 As an English teacher, I drill home the importance of identifying audience and purpose because they guide all important decisions when crafting a piece of communication. So I know this is an important step. The problem is, it wasn’t as easy as I thought.

I was going to target parents with my project because my purpose was to convince them to get behind good, innovative programs: why they want their kids enrolled in them, and why they should pressure schools to innovate. This idea works great for my current context (ie: affluent, involved parents), but it would not really work as well to my former school community. Since part of my learning this semester has involved equity, I definitely want my project to advocate for improved classrooms for all students. So I am envisioning, instead of focusing on my audience, focusing on my purpose. In so doing, my audience becomes “stakeholders,” specifically those making school decisions and steering the direction of schools. In some districts (like mine) that might very well be parents who are vocal and empowered. But it also takes into consideration the small rural district where the boards (and to a lesser extent) teachers are the ones advocating for better learning situations. 

Since purpose is the key focus, I need to be sure of it: my purpose is to communicate the magic that can happen when we harness the power of technology to amplify our pedagogy and tie what results to the Ministry of Education goal of graduating “educated citizens” as well as real-world research about what the world is looking for in our graduates. What are the qualities and characteristics 21st-century employers are looking for? What does the world need from my students? And after I’ve convinced my audience of the magic, I need to call to action to bring that opportunity to more students.

Essentially, my audience is ideally parents, as who better to advocate for the children of this province? But there has to be an acknowledgement that there are students out there who don’t have that voice, and there needs to be somebody taking their interests up and advocating on their behalf. In some cases that might be teachers, and in some cases that might be board members. Or it might be the students themselves. 

This thought leads directly to the other challenge to solve this week: what is the plan for sharing this project? How can it be put to meaningful use?

Kids!

As I said in my draft plan, I want to incorporate my students into this project, both using samples of their work to show what’s possible as well as getting their insight into what a quality classroom looks like. But this is also a great opportunity to plant an important seed. Our goal as educators is  not just to engage our students, but to empower them. So maybe that’s the ultimate goal. If by showing them their voice matters by including it in my project, maybe I inspire them to help me further?

Some idea I had initially for publicizing (now that I just can’t Twitter…) were to communicate directly to parents. In my program, we frequently invite them into the school (for learning sessions, for exhibitions of students work), so I have a captive audience there, which is especially effective if my video highlights how what their kids are doing is great stuff. Parent “buzz” is pretty strong in our community, so this is a great way to get more people talking in hopes of bringing more “believers” into the “we can do better in schools” conversation. I also know that often PACs are all too happy to have teachers come to their meetings and share what is going on in their schools, so this is another avenue to explore, especially as I start to look at moving beyond the walls of my school.

And in the back of my head, of course, I’m thinking about equity. I’m thinking about those students who don’t have vocal, involved parents. In my previous district, at every monthly board meeting was the opportunity for a presentation of what is going on in schools.  These are ultimately the people steering the decision-making for districts, so who better to reach? This is where it’s useful to have forged connections with other teachers as I myself (from North Vancouver) can’t do it. But what I can do is create a tool that other interested educators can use to advocate for progressive programs for their kids.

This brings me back to the kids. They should ultimately be the best, most powerful means of communication. How powerful would it be to have kids make the presentation at the PAC meeting? Or the board meeting? I have seen kids present at conferences (including ISTE in Philadelphia 2015 and right here at CUEBC’s PSA day or the IT4K12 conference hosted by the former ERAC, now Focused Education Resources), and they are the best spokespeople. In teaching my students how to persuasively communicate, I focus on the art of rhetoric and teach them the importance of the marriage of pathos, logos and ethos, or emotional appeal, logic, and “believability or credibility” of the speaker. 

In terms of achieving my purpose of increasing equitable access to transformative learning opportunities through technology, the pathos is easy: appeal to the “why.” The kids. On an emotional level, everyone- parents, educators and hopefully policymakers alike,- all respond to thoughts of doing better for our kids, and hearing them speak for themselves (about their needs, about their learning, about their success), is more impactful than listening to an adult speak about them. It’s also inspiring to see them take the risk to speak to an audience. The logos comes in the use of student work to support good research. My video makes the case that technology engages students and amplifies their learning, and then the student work shows that. So maybe the video is a teaser and then kids talking about their learning and sharing their projects is the main course.
Certainly demonstrated success checks the “credibility, believability” box. 

This demonstration of student awesomeness then hopefully helps me with my puzzle of how to reach non-empowered student communities. Those who are in the audience (whether at PAC meetings or conferences) certainly want this level of student empowerment and awesomeness for the own students. Amiright?!

LIBE 477 “Future Vision Project” Part One: The Final Frontier

emadsen8 Comments
oFace Killah, CC BY 2.0

I can’t help but think of Star Trek whenever I look at the title for this assignment. Admittedly I think of Star Trek a lot in general, but “future vision”- that is the domain of Gene Roddenberry. He had a vision for the future that contrasted with the normally dark science fiction that centred on conflict and destruction. Roddenberry was optimistic and believed that humans had tremendous potential. I guess that kinda mirrors my educational view for the future. I’m optimistic about the futures of my students and believe they have tremendous potential.

It’s up to us to “make it so.” 😉

Originally I had a vision for this project:

the 21st Century Classroom as realized through teamwork, technology and totally awesome projects 

I even like the alliteration. But the thing is, as I sat drafting ideas, I realized it’s too big in scope for this project. I tend to be like that: ambitious with no consideration for my timeframe, busy life and overall mental well-being. This gets me in over my head sometimes. Often, actually. So for this project I am consciously pumping the brakes a little so that I can give myself a vision that I can actually complete on time while allowing myself the luxury of sleeping now and again.

All along my vision for this inquiry project has been to have it mirror the professional journey I’m on both for pragmatic reasons, as I strive to find my way in a new role, and for intellectual reasons, because I know that the program I’m working in is innovative and a promising path for education. Consequently, I want my project to marry my current teacher life with my student life. So I plan on taking my course learning and explaining it and amplifying it with examples from what’s going on in PLP classrooms in my school. 

Part of the pleasant part of this learning journey for me has been how my UBC requirements are lining up with the work being asked of me in the school. At this point, my grade 8 learners are sharpening their technology skills as a means of expressing their learning by not only blogging (like me!), but learning how to use different tools to create different kinds of texts, such as using Keynote on their iPads to generate videos.  The students in grades nine through 12 are making more sophisticated digital work by incorporating different apps, and ultimately using iMovie. I myself, as their teacher, need to get more comfortable with these tools, so I am going to push myself to create a movie for my final project and learning the tools that my students are learning. Even though deep down I just want to write a paper!!! So that’s the how, the format. Imma make a video. 🤮 Now for the what, the content: What will my technology video include?

I would like to include screenshots to show some of the digital tools in action, and explain how they amplify good pedagogy. 

Also, asking the students what they envision would be an effective classroom in the 21st-century is a good strategy. According to John Spencer, the understanding stage of a project involves “authentic research,” anything we do to learn. And one of the things that we advise students that they should do to learn is ask an expert. Who is a better expert at what makes a good classroom than the people who spend six hours a day in one? And, after all, that is our why. They are why we are designing better schools. So I would love to include their perspective on what classrooms should look like as well as perhaps snippets of their work that demonstrate what can be done if we design good tech-infused programs.  

If I’m feeling brave, lol I might even ask students to help me get comfortable with the tools. One of the key aspects of a good 21st-century classroom is the use of feedback for growth, something that our students do a lot of and are quite comfortable at. I think it would be valuable and important to model this with them by seeking their feedback on my work, especially considering that some of them have a lot more experience with these digital tools than I do. I think they might rather find it fun to give me feedback on my fledgling movie work! 🤪

Another key aspect of my inquiry this semester has been to explore the power of mentorship and team in education. So I would also like to include the perspectives of the members of my team in this project. I hope to be able to interview them and include clips of what they say. I think it would be valuable to model my learning on the value of bringing in various perspectives  to strengthen a program.

Potential outline for my movie:

  • The why: goals for the education system (“the educated citizen”) and skills in demand in the 21st century
  • What can be done with tech:
    • Creativity
    • Collaboration
    • Expanded learning options
    • Adaptive advantages/different ways of showing learning
    • Not just learning curriculum, but learning tech skills
    • Authentic: we learn and communicate online
    • Problem-solving
  • Concerns:
    • Helping kids with their executive function 
    • Inequity

This still seems like a LOT for a 3-5 minute video. So I will go into it with the understanding that I might have to narrow it even further. If that’s the case, I think my angle would be the role of technology in levelling the playing field for all kids. But we’ll see. Maybe I just won’t sleep! 

LIBE 477 Inquiry Project Blog Post #5– The Incredible Journey

emadsen4 Comments
Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash

I’m a big proponent of reflection. As John Dewey famously said, “We do not learn from experience; we learn from reflecting on experience.” As a teacher, I have even found that I have gleaned more about a student’s learning from a reflection (when done right) than from the project itself. Because learning is a process not a product. So while this blog is great (ego much?), it’s what has gone on in my head that is truly the magic. And now I shall try to encapsulate it for you!

This process has actually been quite valuable for me and, interestingly enough, not necessarily why I would’ve predicted. I was a little bit hesitant when I heard we would be doing blogging for a section of the course because it does elevate the pressure because you know other people are going to be reading it. But my primary stressor was because I knew it would take me extra time because it was not just information and thinking: it was a skill. I had to learn how to do something on top of the normal research and writing skills that go along with the course. I know how to student. I did not know how to blog. I USED to blog, but it’s been about a decade so I had to re-learn. However, as luck would have it, it has turned out to be extraordinarily valuable, because I am now having to teach and do blogging with my grade eights. (Check out Kennedy’s page— with their permission, of course– to see some of the awesome things the students are doing after only two short months.) And next week they are going to be starting The Geek Out Blog Challenge, so if you look at my blog and you see a page at the top and wonder why it says “Geek Out,” it’s because I am creating a dummy page to work with along with them. So I am definitely further along, prepared to help coach students at blogging than I would have been a month ago!

One of the things that stands out to me the most, and that I kind of find surprising, is the influence of having other people in my small little learning group. I find that I really look forward to seeing what the comments are. This is an important reminder that sharing our thoughts and sharing our learning is valuable. And that everyone benefits from feedback!!! It is also nice to know that there is an audience for your work, and someone is actually reading it. This I connect to the program I’m currently working in because one of the important aspects of project based learning is to have an authentic audience for your students’ work so that they have a purpose for doing it that is beyond just the teacher reading it. This also elevates the work because other people are going to see it. I know I put more time into the assignments because of their public nature. Not only is it visible to our class, but I chose to use my employer sponsored blog, so it’s readily available to my colleagues (and students!). In reading my colleagues’ blogs, I also find it really interesting to see how many different perspectives there are on one prompt, and I think it enhances my learning because then I get to see not only the avenue I decided to go down in my research of my thinking, but I get to learn about the directions that other people discovered. (And I learned about Bored Teachers on Instagram.)

I think, rather than selecting one topic that resonated with me, I would focus on an observation that I made: the interconnectedness of it all. The independent journey that I’m on, for example, is influenced by the team that I am working with, and down the road, hopefully this learning, both through my UBC program, as well as my own development as a professional, will be a benefit in influencing others around me as I look to be a resource to them. I suppose, however, if I had to pick a topic, it would be the last one where I explored the issue of inequity within our province. I spent way more time on that assignment than any other, so that indicates my level of interest. Furthermore, it was a topic that was particularly close to me because of my professional experiences.

All students should be this lucky!

I also think it connects to that bigger picture of the types of schools we want to create both as teachers and teacher librarians for 21st-century learners, so I think that this topic was important for me in terms of going forward in this course, because as I look to my final project of my vision for the future, I know that my vision requires equity. All the great pedagogy and mentorship and collaboration among professionals in the world is not useful if the infrastructure isn’t in place.

In terms of development in my current practice, the part of my learning so far that resonates with me, and is steering my inquiry, is the realization of the strength of the team that I work with. I, despite having been a teacher for 24 years, feel like a beginner, because there is so much new to me in my current role. I have made progress in terms of learning how to use new digital tools, and in understanding and developing project based learning units. However, as I wrap up my first project of the year, I know I have a lot to learn. Fortunately, I have a lot of great people around me with experience. The best thing I can do is lean on those willing and able to help me! When I first started thinking about my inquiry project, I knew that I wanted it to mirror the experience I was having as a professional for obvious practical reasons. Acknowledging that I still have a lot to learn, I think this was a wise choice. I think, however, as the school semester has unfolded, my focus has narrowed. I am less interested in the tools and the pedagogy because those are, I think, less complex. I am more interested in the collaborative dynamic and the concept of mentorship. I also happen to believe that as a teacher librarian, that is one of your most important functions in a school. Therefore, I think it is the topic that I am most interested in exploring further.

 

 

Onward on the journey!