Teacher as Learner

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: 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 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…

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… 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

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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!

LIBE 477 Inquiry Project Blog Post #3— The Life of Bryan

emadsen3 Comments

 

 

Meet Bryan.

 

 

 

This is a photo of Bryan at the circulation desk in his North Vancouver high school library. If you know Bryan, you know this is obviously a staged picture. You see, he doesn’t spend very much time sitting behind a circulation desk because he has so much else to do!

Bryan is a very good teacher librarian. What is it that makes him so good at what he does?

I have a vivid picture in my head of my elementary-aged self hanging out in the library (I was a cool kid, obviously) and it was the home turf of a the quintessential 1970s librarian: bespectacled, of course, middle-aged mousy woman with a soft “ssshhh” voice. She was the gatekeeper of books. And I think that’s about it. Seven year old me thought she lived in the library with the books. It didn’t even dawn on me at the time that the woman might actually be a certified teacher. If you wanted a book, she could help you. Other than that, she made sure that the library was a silent hub of inactivity.

Unlike Bryan’s library, where there is so much going on! While it would be fascinating to get a student’s perspective on the library, I’m going to focus on the teacher perspective, something that is for a lot of people “behind the scenes,” so we can see what it is that the the modern TL really does (and should do).

So you’re a teacher. You know ICT is one of those buzzy educational phrases. You know you should be “doing inquiry.” You want to amp up your pedagogical prowess. Why is Bryan potentially so valuable to a hard-working, curious teacher like you?

I think the modern day teacher librarian basically has to do three things well:

  1. Be likeable and approachable
  2. Know their 💩
  3. Be helpful: show what they can offer (and advertise if they have to)

So let’s analyze our friend Bryan.

First of all, he is always good for a travel tip (from Portland, Oregon to Pyongyang, North Korea) or advice for a good place to eat anywhere. (Thank you, Bryan, for recommending Burgers in Paradise in Maui.) That information might not seem pertinent, but it actually is. You see, what Bryan understands is that in order for all his many skills to be put to good use in the school, he needs to first and foremost be approachable and likeable. After all, who wants to seek help from someone who’s grouchy, judgemental and unfriendly?! So it definitely helps that Bryan is funny, friendly and approachable. “Humour…serves to break the tension and provides momentary relief from the hard work” of being a teacher. And have food on hand. Teachers like treats: “Advertise food when you want teachers to join you…” because the offerings help “sustain a community of practice” (Kimmel, 2013) .

 

 

 

Collaboration time is better with ice cream sandwiches!

 

 

Next, now that people like their TL and are happy in his company, Bryan needs to give them a reason to want to spend time in his company. The key to being able to help other teachers develop their professional skill set is to first sharpen his own. As Dr. Kristen Mattson writes, it’s important to be “equipped” because the modern TL needs to;

  • curate content– both physical and digital
  • be the inquiry guru
  • coach people on information literacy– there’s a lot of unreliable garbage out there!
  • be the master of digital literacy and help people navigate both web searches and academic databases because “most of our information has moved into digital formats”
  • be an advocate for the ethical use of information– so darned easy to just copy and paste!

A good TL knows the digital world; they stay “up to date with social media and technological trends” and model and encourage their use “where they are relevant to learning” (Herring, 2017). Your awesome TL maintains a quality library website- his “digital learning commons.” You can follow him on Twitter (@bryanhughes), Instagram (@bryanhughes) and Tik Tok (hint hint, Bryan). A good TL is always learning, playing with new things, attending conferences and workshops and keeping on top of what’s new and relevant.

That’s a lot. But if a TL’s teaching colleagues realize just how many skills they have and in how many ways they can help, then they have the potential for “rockstar collaborative relationships” (Mattson, 2017). We’ve already established that Bryan is the kind of person people want to be around. He knows his 💩.  So how do people discover how helpful he can really be?

He needs to drum up some business! 🥁

A good teacher librarian will seem to be everywhere (except at the circulation desk). They insert themselves into as many contexts in the school as possible. I used to be a little bit judgemental of TLs who left the library at lunch to eat with their colleagues in the staff room. I thought, shouldn’t they be in the library when there’s kids there who need them?! However, now what I see is that the teacher librarian needs to be “where the teachers are” and needs to be part of the conversation and needs to be listening to them and hearing them talk about their day so he knows what their needs are and he needs to be in the conversation so that they can see that he might be able to help them with what they’re doing and they can get a sense of everything he knows and…and…and.  “The teacher librarian does not make instructional partnerships by… waiting to be approached.” They need to “get out [of the library], make friends, and be willing to jump in when a need arises!” (Mattson, 2017).

A good TL is on a constant recon mission 🕵️‍♂️ to know the needs of the school and to find opportunities to engage in discussion to communicate their value. A good TL serves on as many committees as possible. A good TL attends as many department meetings as possible. A good TL invites themselves into any scenario where they might be useful. A colleague and I planned a “lunch and learn” last week so she could give me some help with a new tool. Bryan just showed up too– because he’d heard there was ICT learning going on. I was impressed that he had his ear to the ground and even knew we were meeting. And his presence enhanced the quality of the learning. (Though not the lunching. He didn’t bring food. Bad Bryan!)

 

 

Bryan leading the collaborative learning of the PLP team, demonstrating a new tool and driving the conversation on team teaching. A good TL knows who is doing good stuff and joins in to amplify the awesome!

 

The TL’s true secret weapon is TIME. Teachers never have enough of it. If a TL can add an extra set of hands to the work we do, they will be welcome in any scenario. If a TL is “willing and able to contribute,” (Mattson, 2017) who would turn that down?! “I don’t need any help. I can do everything awesomely all on my own!” said NO. TEACHER. EVER.

If you’re a TL (or a fledgling one like me), be Bryan. If you are a classroom teacher wanting to partner with an awesome TL, sorry, but he’s taken!

References:

Herring, J. (2017). The future role of the teacher librarian. http://www.scisdata.com. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-100/the-future-role-of-the-teacher-librarian/

Kimmel, Sue C. “Pass the Chocolate: Planning with Teachers.” Knowledge Quest, vol. 42, no. 1, 2013, pp. 48–51., https://go.exlibris.link/Wn9kHJCs. Accessed 23 Oct. 2022.

Mattson, K. (2018, September 27). The librarian as an instructional partner. Medium. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://medium.com/inspired-ideas-prek-12/the-librarian-as-an-instructional-partner-38b2d374bbec

 

 

LIBE 477 Inquiry Blog Post #2: I get by with a little help from my friends

emadsen7 Comments

This is dedicated to the “Awesome Squad.” We worked together for 4 years in Grand Forks and did some great professional learning together! And we had a lot of fun.

Some days I swear I’d do this job for nothing. Reality, of course, is that not all days are brilliant. Some days are rough. Some days are exhausting. And some days are tear-filled, hair-pulling, sleep-deprived messes. So glad we’re not in it alone.

Like in any aspect of life, a strong support system is essential. You need people who understand your challenges. You need people who celebrate your successes (and who listen when things go south). You need people to laugh with. You need people to vent with. You need people to walk you around the block at lunch when the stress demons are plaguing you. You just need people. So glad we’re not in it alone.

I’ve been a teacher for 24 years, and somehow this job never gets easier. The needs of the kids are still complex. The scope of the challenge is still enormous. And the weight of the importance is still crushing. So glad we’re not in it alone.

But aside from the emotional support, your squad also helps you grow professionally. They give you feedback to improve. They inspire you with their own work. They explore new ideas and approaches with you. They sit and talk teaching and talk learning and talk assessing and talk reading and talk writing and talk counselling and talk coaching… and talk every “ing” you’re responsible for in this profession. They make you better. SO GLAD WE’RE NOT IN IT ALONE!!!

Sometimes the tendency with stuff that challenges us and stuff that isn’t going well is to keep it private. It’s hard to admit it’s hard. Having a squad that you trust and that you know values you, allows you to share. And that is clearly important in terms of moving forward. How do you work out that stuff that isn’t going well if you are insular? That stuff needs to air out. So glad we’re not in it alone.

Collectively we know more and can accomplish more than we can individually. And if we fulfill our potential, then our students are more likely to fulfill their potential. Characteristics of community– trust, shared values, acceptance, communication, commitment, reciprocity, accountability, equity, openness, cohesion, respect, participation—are precisely what drive learning in a classroom. And they’re precisely what drive learning among professionals. So glad we’re not in it alone.

 I am actually quite proud of how I have managed my own personal growth and development as a teacher. In fact, my decision to enrol in this diploma program was spurred on by my principal telling me that I already engaged in the kind of learning that exists in graduate programs, so I might as well be getting paid for it! Obviously I agreed. 💰

What he meant was I read things. I ask questions. I talk teaching. I go to every workshop offered. I join committees. I self-assess and look for resources or advice to help me with what I want to improve. I think my own personality helps. I am a perfectionist; the one thing I value above all else is competence. Seriously. The biggest compliment you could pay me is to tell me that I’m competent. Not nice, not generous, not pretty, not kind. Competent. Consequently, I have always been driven to seek out learning opportunities and networks throughout my career. I also find that I am drawn in this way to like-minded teachers, other people who also wanna learn stuff. When you find your squad, you will find that the conversations just naturally happen, whether at lunch or after school or somewhere else if you are friends outside of school. And these casual conversations can be some of the best professional exploration you do. Furthermore, chances are pretty good that they do all the things you do, like follow great people on Twitter, seek out good articles and quality blogs, and look for pro d opportunities, and then they will share those ideas with you.

My professional squad-ships led me to the opportunity to travel for what were two of the greatest professional learning experiences of my career. First of all I was blessed to do a three day residency at High Tech High in San Diego. Secondly, I was invited to go to the ISTE Conference in the summer of 2015. The best thing about the ISTE experience (and CUEBC locally) was that I learned about some great tools that I could put in my back pedagogical pocket. Later, when I had an idea for something I wanted to do, and was asking myself, “How do I make this happen?” I had these tools and strategies to draw on.  So cast a wider net, if you can. 

In the near future, I think the greatest opportunity I have two develop and explore exist right within my own current role. As the newest member of an Apple Distinguished School project-based learning program, I have a LOT to learn. 😂 But the best part is, I have the right people beside me. A new squad. This is a tremendous group who really strive to develop the best program we can for our learners. We meet together every Wednesday after school, we are constantly talking during the school day, particularly in the 45 minute tutorial block where we all work in the same room, we have a group chat on iMessage, we collaborate and build our curriculum on a shared platform (Craft), and when one of us has questions or wants to explore something new, the others are more than willing to get together at lunch and co-learn and co-explore.

My new squad

I know there is also a lot of great stuff going on in cyberspace. For example, last year I was invited to attend a Saturday virtual unconference with a grassroots group exploring assessment. (As usual, someone in my squad told me about it.) In my own school district, I joined the mentorship team and worked virtually with other mentors exploring strategies for how we could help newer teachers. I joined a virtual book club exploring the impact of trauma through The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog. And, of course, our schools brought us virtual pro D events. My favourite was Katie White. I learned a lot in these experiences, and I am grateful for them. But it just wasn’t the same as a real conference. After two years of the Covid Zoom universe, I am really excited to be back and doing my professional learning in person with real people.

Tweeted by @NVSD44

So glad we’re not in it alone.

Find your squad!

 

 

 

LIBE 477 Reading Review Part C: Navigating the Rabbit Hole

emadsen1 Comment

I sense a theme emerging in my observations: despite my age, being a learner is transporting me back decades… too bad it didn’t also cure my arthritis. 🤪 (Or advise me to buy Moderna stock.)

 Even though I’m old and learned how to learn the old fashioned way- from lectures and books- my brain has been co-opted by the Google, and exactly like my adolescent charges, I just want to find the answer!!! I want to type in the search and copy and paste whatever Google spits out from its convoluted algorithm. Alas, that is not effective, discerning research, so I was forced to actually think and try to make sense of all the digital goodies waiting for me down the rabbit hole.

As far as my ability to find articles goes, I found it started quite slow but then got more efficient and effective after I’d learned a few things:

  • Primary observation: I needed to get more specific with my search terms, otherwise my searches were yielding far too many potential candidates for me to consider in a reasonable amount of time, and I was having to sift through things that were not necessarily pertinent to my inquiry. For example when I was searching the UBC library database, I needed to specify secondary teaching because I was encountering a lot of articles specific to college and university teaching. And there were THOUSANDS of them, so even reading the overview was futile.
Bonus points if you get the reference!!!
Source: startrek.com

 

  • Another obstacle I had was that I was very specifically looking for information that was going to help me in my current professional context. What that meant was that I wasn’t learning about the topic in general like I traditionally do when I’m learning something new, where I do the learning and then ultimately down the road apply it to a given context. In this case, I really very much wanted to find resources that were immediately applicable to what I am doing, so that made the search process more complicated. (I guess this is more evidence of my Google-addled brain: I crave instant gratification!) Consequently, as I was painstakingly conducting my research through the lens of my own inquiry, I found resources that I think are quite relevant indeed.
Source: medium.com

 

  • I was also reminded that we often have resources available to us in human form that can help us with research and recommendations. It wasn’t until I was nearing the end of my research that I remembered that my teacher librarian colleague had already curated a number of resources that were very specific to my pedagogical context and therefore relevant to my inquiry. How much time could have been saved if I’d turned to the information master of my universe sooner…
Source: thegeeksdaily.com

 

  • Another observation is that when you know exactly what you are looking for, obviously it is easier to find it. For example, I was looking for videos on YouTube about High Tech High in San Diego. Obviously I quickly and easily had a successful search. And obviously that doesn’t happen much in the world of online research…
I googled “Worf I protest I am not a merry man” and got EXACTLY what I was looking for!
Source: tvtropes.org

 

  • I found it quite easy to locate current information on my topics in my broad, general Internet searches as opposed to the UBC database where I was encountering information that was outdated. When, learning from my mistakes, I included dates in the parameters of my search, I came up with very little. Obviously when you are looking for resources on the integration of technology into learning, something that is over 10 years old is no longer going to be that valuable a resource. Therefore, I would say that I was more challenged trying to find scholarly literature on my topics as opposed to still very valuable (and I would argue “scholarly” given those involved in their creation) resource websites such as Edutopia or ASCD.
When science borrows from science fiction
Source: cbc.ca

 

To conclude, my key “big picture” observation: Becoming a learner again gives me empathy for my students. One of the challenges is managing distractions. That includes environmental, like things around me that take my attention away, such as cats that want to be played with. There is also the temptation of the wider Internet and notifications coming in. (Extra difficult when searching on YouTube, the ultimate rabbit hole!)  And lastly- and who knows if this is a challenge that any of my students have- 🤪 is the need to stay focussed on the task at hand and not get lost reading stuff that is interesting, yet not directly relevant to the assignment you’re working on. I can only hope my students have that level of intellectual curiosity! 

Literally hovering on my shoulder because she’s being ignored.

 

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