I’ll introduce myself before I start on this blogging journey. I am a mom of three to a 3 year old, newborn twin girls and a spunky husky/mix pup. I am 36 years old and work as a school teacher. I live in the suburbs of Vancouver, Canada and am currently on maternity leave. This past year I finished up my second Education Diploma (Teacher Librarian) through the University of British Columbia. I am also a certified 200hr Yoga Teacher and worked as a Lifeguard/Swimming instructor with various municipalities for almost 20 years.
My hobbies include running, yoga and spending time with my family. We are adjusting to this new life of parents of three kids, as the twins are not even two months old yet. Our family outings are often at a park so that we can bring our princess Nala (pup) along for the ride, as she does not like to be at home by herself.
I hope to blog about my life as a mom to twins and toddler. I am also hoping to share my breastfeeding journey, and hopefully inspire others as others have inspired me. I am also a strong advocate for post-partum fitness and had a very successful experience after my singleton and hope to have the same success with my journey after the girls.
I hope that this room seems very familiar to you, with the addition of some of our favourite furry friends!
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When I look back on my initial essential question:
How can I inspire my colleagues and students as a Teacher Librarian?
I feel that my journey to become a Teacher Librarian has already started to inspire my students and my colleagues. In my classroom I have been very conscious of doing more Inquiry-based learning because I have been inspired by of all the research that I have been presented with throughout my TL Diploma course work. It seems that every course so far, including this one has highlighted the benefits of Inquiry-based or Student-centered learning. My colleagues are always curious as to what I am learning in my coursework and were shocked when I said that I was going to extend my Certificate to a Diploma. Most teachers complete a Diploma to move up a pay category, but I already did that 10 years ago. This time around the learning is to seek out my desired job as a TL and learn as much as I can before I get there.
My Learning Curation started off with aspirations to be more of a Leader. In this short 2-and-a-half-month Term I kept up with my career goals and led two Pro-D Sessions to my fellow colleagues. They were both VERY different sessions with extremely different target audiences; however, I hope that in each session I was able to inspire my peers to make a difference in their career. It was overwhelming and empowering to know that I was able to connect with over 70 teachers at both sessions thanks to technology and the COVID world that we are living in today. My session on ‘Using Technology to Enhance Storytelling’ had a very high Teacher Librarian attendance, which made me both proud and hopeful for our Learning Commons across our district. If we look back to the beginning of our coursework, we know at the Local Level we need to: “Consider the continued growth of teacher-librarians and learnings commons teachers by providing district library consults and professional learning and networking opportunities (CLA 2014).” I personally have always found Pro-D very rewarding and a gift that we get to explore areas to enhance our teaching. I am just hoping that I was able to do the same for others.
My title page from my Feb. 1st Pro-D sessionMy title page from my Feb. 26 Pro-D Session
My Learning curations then started to discuss Literacy in the Library, which included both critical and digital Literacy. These are very important topics as we grow up in a world where the general population is not getting their information from the nightly news like we all used to during our childhood and adolescents. In present time, “…students have “free” access to an astonishing amount of information, they must be prepared to evaluate the credibility of sources so that they are not completely vulnerable to fraudulent information. Thus, teachers must demonstrate how the media and the Internet can misinform and provide messages that are harmful if taken as fact (Coffey n.d.).” I have been having discussions with the current TL at my school and they are hoping that they can start bringing in more activities on critical, media and digital literacy once they have more access to technology. I already had a close relationship with the TL at my school and it has only grown closer as I seek her advice on various topics that I have questions about.
Through our discussions, I know that each day as a TL can be extremely draining while we get through this pandemic. On the flip side, therefore I feel that it is important that we are teaching to the topics of critical literacy, as some of the information that they are finding on the Internet regarding the pandemic are not always factual, or they need to come from a reliable source. In our wrap-up module, Hilary Clinton said it best, “We need critical thinkers more than ever…. we need media literacy to build an argument based on rational evidence (Clinton 2017).” Although she was referencing the past election, a lot of that statement holds true to what we saw in the 2020 election. There were a lot of discussions in my grade 3/4 class about Trump vs. Biden this year and I always took the opportunity to open these discussions to the class. In the past I have always tried to stay away from talking politics, but this course has taught me that it is important to have those hard conversations with students.
My final Learning Curations discussed the use of Makerspaces and Diverse Learners, two topics that go hand in hand. I often have battles with my instincts when I hear what other teachers are doing in their class. Sometimes I feel as if I am being judged because my students are having ‘too much fun’ instead of the ‘traditional learning’ experience of sitting silently at a desk while they practice reading, writing and arithmetic. I am often reassured that I am doing the right thing when my student offers to help their classmate troubleshoot a problem on the computer, discussing with their friend a script or comic that they are writing, or they are assisting their peer with the best techniques to use a green screen with their Stop-Motion video. These skills can only be learned if they are given the opportunity. These are not skills that I had in grade 3/4.
Here is an example of a very short clip that my students have filmed during our ‘Makerspace’ time in class which is centered around Stop-Motion animation. They even joked to say, ‘One month of work for 18 seconds of video.’ They are experiencing first-hand what it is like to be an animator or a film producer and solving problems as they go along. The build all the sets, props, and characters themselves with various materials that we could find in the school art room. This is the most engaged that I have seen most of my students. My students are working together better than ever and solving any personal differences with lots of rationale and compromise.
In saying all this, I am going to keep doing what I am doing. I know that what I am doing is going to provide my students with the best opportunities to explore their inquires and be excellent problem solvers and design thinkers. I am going to keep trying to Inspire my fellow educators by providing them with Pro-D opportunities. This will also allow myself to keep current with the latest apps and technologies and learn alongside my students, continuing to be a life-long learner beside them. I will also continue to take risks and follow my student’s inquiries, even if I feel peer pressured by my colleagues to follow more traditional learning styles. I know that these risks have high gains and if I continue to present my projects from my students’ I will continue to inspire others around my district to do the same.
Now, I will shift gears to talk about what I envision my future Library Learning Commons to be if I am ever given the opportunity to work in one. We have learned that “Four decades of research indicates that well-staffed, well-stocked, and well-used school libraries are correlated with increases in student achievement. Well-staffed school libraries have qualified teacher-librarians with qualifications in librarianship, digital technologies, and inquiry-based pedagogies (UBC 2021).” As Teacher Librarians, we need to be qualified and give our school communities the best opportunities to learn. I see my future LLC with a very large Makerspace, a built-in green screen, a tripod, and giant wall full of materials to create. I see a space where students can get cozy and read or discuss their favourite books or authors. I see various devices alongside Micro:bits, Sphero’s, Dash’s, and other robotics for students to tinker around. I see a space for presentations or performances to showcase learning. I see a large projector or flat screen that can assist with performances or presentations. Most importantly I see learning, happiness and students feeling safe, comfortable, and connected within this space.
The following video from the Saanich School district really captures what I envision the Learning Commons to be.
Students come to the Learning commons to have their questions answered and to collaborate in a flexible environment (Saanich District 63). The Teacher Librarians feel that they need to keep learning and constantly adapting, and this is exactly what I want to experience as a TL (Saanich District 63). I am truly inspired when I see that other districts can accomplish their goals and visions for the Learning Commons, which makes me very hopeful that I can do the same in the future.
Any time diversity in Education is brought up, I am always a little weary to see what is going to be covered. ‘Diversity’ can hold different meanings based upon personal experience. Growing up, I always thought of myself as the definition of diversity. I had a Chinese Mother and a Caucasian father and lived in an affluently Caucasian community. As I grew up, I started to question my identity a lot and felt like I needed to pick a side when it came to my culture and heritage, especially throughout my K-12 education. Whenever we did cultural projects, I was always pushed to identify with my Chinese culture, as l I was usually one of the very few students of Asian decent in my class. A lot of the time I felt that my mixed-cultural background was never accepted or celebrated. As an educator, I never want my students to feel like this is any way. To direct this back to my essential questions, I feel like it is important for me to share my story and experiences and make sure that we are not making the same mistakes.
In this Module we learned about the 4 Principles of Student-Centered Learning. If more teachers used these 4 principles of learning, then there would truly be a more student-centered approach to education that would not cause students to feel as if they are to categorize themselves all the time. It is best if we celebrate the diversity among our learners and encourage them to pursue their interests and passions.
To relate this back to my personal experience, if I had been given the option to create a project that celebrated who I was, rather than pick one side of my culture just to have a little ‘diversity’ in the classroom, I would have felt like I was being acknowledged as an individual and not a representation of a minority. If I look at the 4 principles of Student-Centered Learning, I was not given anything in the 4 areas of: Space, Voice, Place & Choice. Some of the most important things that I would have liked to have seen based on these 4 Areas would be:
Space – Emotionally safe & Creative – I honestly never felt that my teachers understood where I was coming from. Many of my teachers were Caucasian throughout Elementary school, and it was only once I hit middle school that there was a little more diversity among the staff.
Voice – That reflects who they really are – I was constantly being told to ‘pick one culture’ when it came to ‘celebrating my background’ but that was not who I was. I identified with both sides of my family. That would be like telling me to choose whether I feel more like my mother or my father.
Place – That honors their history – My history included a story that brought two cultures together. That is something that I always wanted to share, but never got the chance.
Choice – In content & priority – Again, by picking my Chinese side, I felt like I was checking off a diversity box in my classroom. I never got to share about the other part of me.
While researching on the topic of diversity, I came across this video which really spoke to me.
Yeates describes herself as a ‘Fasian’ or a ‘Fake Asian’ because she has the appearance of an Asian person, however, she grew up in Australia. I could relate in another sense, in which as I got older and met more Asian people, they did not see me as Asian because I was a ‘Halfie’, and my Caucasian friends always seemed to associate me with my Asian heritage and that is why I was good at Math. It does not feel good to be classified into different stereotypes. If we fast-forward to the present day, we are going backwards. My mom, who has lived in this country her entire life is being racially profiled more than ever as many people are blaming our current world state on Chinese people. Hopefully one day we can live in a world where stereotypes cease to exist, and this begins with providing our students with all the opportunities that we can to open their eyes to these issues.
What can we do as Educators and Teacher Librarians? Give students a voice. As mentioned earlier, we need to give students more opportunity for student centered learning and give them choice when it comes to projects such as ‘study your heritage.’ It is important that we celebrate each student as individuals and value who they are. In another TL course that I took earlier, I was presented with the following infographics about Diversity in Children’s books. There are two visual graphics, one from 2015 and one from 2018. It gives an amazing visual about who is being represented in children’s literature.
What I find a little amusing about the difference between these graphics is that the representation through animals’ doubles, yet visual representation of minorities does not change that much. I can understand that using animals will hit all demographics, however I would be curious to see what would happen if you did the same sort of diversity graphic on the animals themselves and their country of origin. Would they all still be more ‘Westernized’ animals such as bears, dogs, rabbits, etc. or would they represent a larger demographic using Pandas, Giraffes, Lions, etc.
My other curiosity about this graphic is the representation of mixed or blended races. When I did my last Diploma in 2012 on Early Childhood Education, I can remember trying to find mixed raced children and people represented in books and it was hard for me to find them in our school library. I ended up writing my own book titled, “Feeling only Half” which expressed a lot of emotions from my experience growing up as a mixed-race child in the 80’s and 90’s. I was often told that my Dad was not my Dad, or that I was not Chinese or that I was not White, which often gave me a lot of unsure feelings about my identity. I tried to find this book to show some of what I wrote but I cannot for the life of me remember where I placed it. I was able to find a few lists of books for kids that represented and talked about mixed races families. I would have loved to have a few of these books growing up to know that there were other kids that had similar families to mine and celebrated being part of two cultures.
Over 35 years later I am seeing much more diversity in the same neighbourhood that I grew up in and mixed families are extremely common. Therefore, I think I am extremely aware as an educator that “… it is essential to educate my students, so they do not see diversity as a problem, but rather as a strength of our country and community (Ishuzuka 2018).” We all come from different places and that is amazing and something that should be celebrated. I would love to see our libraries and virtual libraries shelve diverse collections “…where young readers can directly encounter the mirrors and windows in which they see themselves in books and others who are not like them (Ishizuka 2018).” I know that from personal experience, it would have been extremely comforting to see myself in books.
Lastly, I also feel that therefore it is so important to develop a PLN as a Teacher-Librarian. Once you are done these courses, now what? How do you stay current with best practice, be innovative and talk out issues that you are having in your own LLC space? Where can you ask others about book recommendations that you are seeking such as the best books with mixed race children. It is also the best way to create a community with like-minded people who can grow and learn together. As we have learned throughout the TL program, it is always best to collaborate and lead by example by being lifelong learners.
This theme covered a lot of material that I have not thought about in awhile as a classroom teacher. Topics such as Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Biographies, Maps and Atlases. Especially being in a job share where I am not the one covering Social Studies curriculum, I have not thought about these types of resources in awhile. I am glad that I was able to learn a little more and from different perspectives.
I am going to discuss some things that stood out to me from our final theme of the course. The first being the Deep Web. I see myself as a more technologically sound educator, however, I was not fully aware of the depth of the Deep web. When doing our readings and research for this Module, I found this infographic which really put the deep web into perspective.
As stated in this Module, “Some grey literature and other resources lay beneath the radar of search engines, not indexed. This reinforces the mind-boggling extent of the universe of information because when you search for information on the Internet using a search engine, you only tap the tip of the iceberg (UBC 2021).” It shows just how much information is missing when we do a simple google search. It is important that we show our students how much information they can access outside of doing a google search. I know from personal experience that many of my students feel that Google will have all the answers, which it has many, but it is important that we are showing them how much information is available such as paid subscriptions through the school or district.
This topic was a perfect lead into our next Module of Full-Text Databases. This was extremely eye opening for me because I had never thought about using databases with my Elementary students. I was curious after reading, “Primary Search database of popular children’s magazines, Newspaper Source articles, from national international newspapers, Professional Development Collection journals and magazines for the K-12 community, and ERIC abstracts and full-text reports (Riedling 2019).” My only experience with data bases if from my personal studies throughout my University career and my Post Baccalaureate studies. In my mind, resources such as ERIC and EBSCO were only useful for adults. When I did a quick search on our District Library resources EBSCO was at the top of the list, followed by the elementary version, being Explora. I did some searching on this database and found that the information was at a readable level and was accompanied by pictures, videos, graphics, and diagrams for more visual learning.
The last Module that I will discuss is one that can be controversial. It seems that the discussion of Encyclopedias vs. Wikipedia is a common topic in the Library world. “Wikipedia, has created a large amount of debate among information scientists, educators and others as format with reliability and validity issues (UBC 2021).” As mentioned on our discussions for this Module, I feel that we should not be fully discouraging students from using Wikipedia. I strongly agree that “Wikipedia is the ideal place to start your research and get a global picture of a topic, we recommend that students check the facts that they find in Wikipedia against other sources (Harris 2007).” I also feel like we should not be banning the use of Wikipedia because this is often the most accessible resources for students. We know that “…if a child comes home seeking help with a research project, it’s most likely that Mom and Dad will turn to the online encyclopedia. Even if they do a basic search on Google for single word topics almost always includes a result from Wikipedia (Harris 2007).” Therefore it is important to educate our students that this can be a great starting point. It is also why we need to be showing them all the other resources that are available to them.
I personally find Wikipedia fascinating and learned so much more from this Module. I knew that Wikipedia could be edited and changed by the public, however, I had no idea that it was comprised of volunteers. “The idea behind Wikipedia is that it’s self-cleaning. If someone posts an article or change that includes an error, the community will find the error and fix it (Berinstein 2006).” I feel that this is also something that we could be sharing with our students about how software communities work and where they could eventually move to with coding. In doing more research about Wikipedia I watched Jimmy Wales discuss the birth of Wikipedia and his ‘rag tag’ crew. Some of the highlights from this talk were that Wikipedia is closely monitored with RSS fees and most garbage is often found right away and deleted (Wales 2005).
Even though Wikipedia is comprised of volunteers, Wales points out that, “People who volunteer to write an Encyclopedia for fun, must be some pretty smart people (Wales 2005).” So, I feel like I have a little soft spot when it comes to Wikipedia. It gets a lot of flak, however, it’s quite an amazing platform. I also do not think that it should be compared to an Encyclopedia. Both resources are very different, even if they have the same intention of sharing information with the public.
I found another video that would be very helpful to show other educators and students. It shows how students should be using Wikipedia and discusses that “Used properly, Wikipedia is an invaluable resource, especially as a launching pad for evaluating online information.”
This final Module was very fluid, and I thought each topic tied perfectly into the next. A lot of the information is highly applicable and gave me a greater insight into the Library reference collection. As a classroom teacher wishing to work in the Learning Commons, I feel grateful that I am learning all this information beforehand, rather than being a fish out of water and trying to figure it out as I go.
As mentioned in our Discussion for this module, I really enjoyed reading the article by Josh Weisgrau, as I feel like it highlights that Makerspaces are not replacing Libraries or LLC’s they are complimenting them. I was in a role where I got to have discussions with TL’s about making this shift and adding in a Makerspace to the Library and many were apprehensive. The general thoughts and feelings were that this Makerspace was going to overpower the Library and take away from the resources. I think that this article really highlights the opposite. The important part of making this change is “Understanding that both libraries and makerspaces are interdisciplinary sites of informal learning, contain physical and human resources to aid in constructing knowledge, and are spaces that build community can be a great place to start (Weisgrau 2015).” A Makerspace will never replace research and the resources needed for that research. A Makerspace will allow learners to be inspired what they researched in a way that may not be possible if they did not have access to the tools that were offered in a makerspace. Maybe the student produces an iMovie about their findings on biomes or an E-book on the states of matter, or a digital collage of the Water Cycle or an automated watering system with a Micro:bit. All these things would not be possible if students did not have an outlet that will allow them to create.
The following video compliments what I have just said and states that, “Innovation would be difficult without access to new Technology.” It is our job as educators to provide a space for students to have access to new Technologies. It became very evident during remote learning that even though I thought I taught in an affluent area, access to technology is still not accessible to everyone. There were families that did not have Wi-Fi at home, and did not have access to devices. It is important that we are doing our best to create equal opportunities for all our students.
Robin Hooker reminded me a lot of my father. He is a legitimate ‘Mr. Fix-it.’ There are not a lot of things that he is not able to fix. He is retired, yet sometimes he is a full time mechanic working on mine and my siblings vehicles. I once asked him how he learned how to fix cars and other machines and he said, “When I was six years old I took apart my bike because I wanted to know how it worked, I was able to do that by putting it back together. When I got older I did the same with my cars. Sometimes it worked out, other times it did not, but that is how I learned, my friends and I spent hours tinkering around with cars, that’s what we did for fun.” Growing up without devices attached for everything allowed him to explore the world around him. As an elementary educator I may not be able to give students a car to take apart, but I could give them similar opportunities in a makerspace to just let them tinker. We need to teach our students that, “The world can be mashed up, modded, repaired, reclaimed….we can transform the world by giving people access to spaces like my Dad’s garage (Hooker 2018).”
I have been inspired by several of my family members this week. First it was my father and then my son. As I was reading the article on Sketchnoting, my son, as always was very interested that I was ‘colouring’ so he wanted to join in. He sees me making notes and highlighting my work and interprets this as something fun because I am using colours. As a 2 year old, he has no ego or judgement, he just does what he does and I love it. I think there is a lot to learn in the sense that nothing has to be perfect. As Baughcum states, “Whatever fear, doubts, worries you have about your abilities to doodle…get over yourself! We all have the power and ability to doodle. It is the doodle that has the power not the art of it.” I think that’s the best part of a doodle, is that it does not have to be perfect, it is not an art project, it is an expression of thought and creativity. A lot of the time doodles are not for anyone but ourselves and that is an important part of the doodling process. I have included my son’s doodle (with a few of my own from his request) below.
The last article that really interested and excited me was David Loertscher’s article, ‘Makers, Self-Directed Learners, and the Library Learning Commons.’ The reason that I enrolled in the TL program was to have a Learning Commons with a well established Maker Space. I thought that this would be a such an amazing job to foster this type of learning with our school community. I strongly feel that if we foster a Maker Space culture in the Learning Commons, “…curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and work-arounds become a normal and natural part of education. The learner has the ability to knuckle down and get work done in an intended way but is often focused on new ways to accomplish a task more efficiently , and productivity increases (Loertscher 2014).” I have seen this first hand with the students in my grade 3/4 class. Right now we are producing stop motion movies with Smoovie. We have been working on this project for almost a month and only one group has started the ‘filming’ process. They are realized that there is a lot of behind the scenes work if they want to see their desired result in the end. They are delegating tasks to each other and utilizing different strengths.
To start this process, I showed them a documentary episode on part of the filming of ‘Nightmare before Christmas’ and they were absolutely fascinated and inspired. We also watched the full length movie so that they could see the intricacies in the final product. As we work through, I have some students who are fulling embracing the process and some who are focused on getting the product done. I had one student come up to me to say that there was nothing else to do, however, they had only taken 8 pictures for their entire movie. When we sped it up they realized that this was not even one second of film. This group had completed an elaborate script, so I asked how they would get that all out in less than one second. This is when the wheels really started to turn and they realized what stop motion really was! They were freeze framing on a scene and describing the one picture that they took instead of taking multiple pictures to create animation of their characters.
I feel that this is why Makerspace is so important for students to experience. For my one student who is very brilliant and is always focused on ‘What’s next?’ it slows them down to be more present and think about what they are doing and be more in the moment. They are learning that it’s about the process, not the product (Pghmakeshop 2014). It’s about the troubleshooting and problem solving, rather than the flashy end product. Students learn to work together and solve problems as they work and realize that, “We need to fail, it’s ok, everyone does it (Pghmakeshop 2014).” It’s how we face the failure and learn from it that is the most valuable.
If I were living in a perfect world, I would be TL and have the most outstanding Maker Space available for my students. It would be a place where students can work collaboratively with their teachers and their classmates. It would be a place where they can create and make with tools that they may not have access to at home. It would be a place with endless materials and inquiry possibilities. I found the following Makerspace which would be an absolute dream for a TL and students. My favourite aspects of this space is the built in green screen so that students are able to film and create without the set up. The 3D printer is also such an amazing tool for students to invent and design. This space is absolutely amazing and I hope that every Elementary Learning Commons would have a space like this to offer their community.
I end this Learning Curation with one of my favourite quotes from our course so far, “
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people whoa re crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. –Apple Computer (Loertscher 2014).”
This quote captures how I feel a lot of the time as an educator in my own school. It is exactly the reason why I love to present on Technology at Pro-D’s because my colleagues are genuinely interested in what I am presenting, or else they would not have signed up for my workshop. When I present to my own staff, I often feel like they are looking at me as if I’ve grown a horn from my forehead. Researching and reading on Makerspaces always makes me excited as I think forward to my future career goals to become a TL and become a model Learning Commons. This is my aspiration and how I wish to inspire my fellow educators and TL’s. I will continue to present Pro-D sessions to both my staff and district wide sessions because I know that if I can inspire a few teachers at a time, I am doing my best to provide more students with different learning opportunities.
I created a Symbaloo to build my ‘toolkit’ for this week’s module on Digital literacy. I used the advice from our Learning Curation prompt and started with the Mediasmarts website as a ‘base’ of my curation and then expanded from there.
In BC’s Digital Literacy Framework model, Digital Literacy is defined as, “Digital Literacy is the interest, attitude, and ability of individuals to use digital technology and communication tools appropriately to access, manage, integrate, analyze, and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, and create and communicate with others (BC Ministry of Education 2016).” My vision for this Symbaloo was to match this definition as best as I could through my curation.
I can see this as a very useful tool moving forward with my essential question of, “How can I inspire my colleagues and students as a Teacher Librarian?” I am constantly being asked by other educators what the best sites and resources are for various aspects of teaching Digital Literacy and Implementing Technology. I could also see myself creating various web-mixes to accommodate for different staff and student purposes.
I have divided my Symbaloo into the following categories based upon the definitions and subcategories of the BC Digital Framework and thinking about how I would teach a year in the computer lab.
Digital Citizenship:
“Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behaviour (BC Ministry of Education 2016).”
I started to look at different sites which help teachers, parents and school age students increase their knowledge on digital literacy. From here I found similar resources such as: Common Sense Media, Social Media Internet Education, Kids in the Know, Ignition – Digital Literacy Curation and TED Ed. All these sites address how to teach Digital Literacy at a wide range of grade levels. Many of the sites offer lesson plans that are ready to go and could be taught right away. Some of these lessons are accompanied by videos or online activities to complete.
2. Communication and Collaboration:
” Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others (BC Ministry of Education 2016).”
I included some sites that allow students to ask questions to clarify their understanding, along with sites that would allow a teacher to see if their students are understanding.”
I have included some platforms (padlet, SurveyMonkey and Kahoot!) that would allow staff and students to work together and ask questions. These platforms can also be used to gauge understanding and know what areas can be improved upon.
3. Creativity and Innovation:
“Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology (BC Ministry of Education 2016).”
The whole right side of my Symbaloo applies to creativity and innovation. I feel strongly this is one of the most important areas to educate students so that they are successful moving forward.
The top right half focuses on ways in which we could present our information to others, along with tools that aid us in following proper copyright when it comes to inputting images into presentations.
4. Technology Operations and Concepts:
“Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems and operations, and develop computational thinking skills (BC Ministry of Education 2016).”
I am always getting asked for more coding sites from students and teachers. There are a lot out there, some better than others. I included some that are the most credited. I personally like using Scratch, it is also a very good bridge to start with more coding for Micro:bits and Code Builder in Minecraft Education.
I can see using this as a ‘homepage’ or creating a widget on an iPad so that staff and students have a go to when it comes to sites that are best suited for classroom use. The Internet has a lot of mixed reviews; however, it is such a powerful tool if our students are using it properly and making good choices. When searching for some pros and cons on children and the use of the internet, I came across this video which was extremely eye opening. I see a lot of parents giving their young children devices when they are at the doctor’s office or in line at the grocery store and it is often on YouTube. This is something that we need to be careful about and I am often concerned about my students who do this in their free time on their devices.
My grade 3/4 students have often told me that they ‘saw something bad come up on YouTube’ and this is exactly why. We need to start educating our students (and their parents) how to be responsible digital citizens and use these tools wisely. As we can see, even watching ‘Children’s shows’ on YouTube can lead down a very disturbing path. Hopefully by starting off with some sites and lessons on digital literacy, students can start making executive choices when it comes to their internet use.
If educators can provide a tool, such as a Symbaloo to guide their searches, hopefully they are able to see what a reliable resource is and how this may differ from an unreliable one. Small things such as pop-up and countless advertisements are often a sign that the resource should be questioned, and they should seek an adult for help.
I end this Learning Curation with a powerful message from a colleague who is extremely passionate about teaching digital literacy after experiencing the loss of her daughter, who took her life because of cyberbullying. It is a constant reminder that our students are growing up in a world that is much different than that of our childhood. We need to be doing our best to prepare them for this world in both social and academic settings. A quote from our reading encapsulates how both educators and parents need to have these conversations with students in which we need to, “Be present. Be engaged. Listen (Kang 2015).”
I think that the nature of this Learning Curation is right in line with what I see as a ‘definition’ of Critical literacy. Before I started this course, I had been introduced to Critical Literacy in other TL courses and my understanding is that we need to always look at the sources of where we find our information, what bias may appear in writing, and how personal experience or connection may play a role in our thoughts or reactions to different sources of media. I was also aware that is a very close connection between digital/media literacy and critical literacy (UBC, 2021).
I have created and Canva Image that captures my thoughts on Critical Literacy. I hope that it does not need an explanation, however, short and sweet, it depicts that we should always be thinking critically about what we read and learn, no matter how trusted the resource may be. It is important to look at bias and then question why something may have published. Just because we saw something published, or a trustworthy source provided us with information, does not always mean that we need to believe it to be true.
As an educator, I hope that I practice and model Critical Literacy to my students. As a fresh-faced student teacher, I can remember my first incident with a piece of writing that my practicum class was using in Social Studies. It was about the Canadian Pacific Railway and how it promoted trade in Canada. The content about the railway was not the issue, it was how they addressed how the railway was built. I can still remember that there was one sentence which said something along the lines of, ‘the railway was built by Chinese immigrants and some of them died in the process.’ That was it! Now, this is where my understanding of Critical Literacy comes forward. I have a Chinese background and my grandfather (Gong Gong), and grandmother (Popo) immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong. My personal connection to this statement had a strong reaction and that sparked my Critical Thinking when it came to this piece of text. Now, I feel like my feelings to this text are supported by Coffey’s definition, being: “Critical Literacy is the ability to read texts in an active, reflective manner in order to better understand power, inequality, and injustice in human relationships (n.d.).” My experience with this piece of text brought up feelings of social injustice and inequalities (Coffey, n.d.).
As seen in the video below, it is ok for students to acknowledge these feelings, and then apply that to how other may have experienced injustice in different situations. It is also a great way to gain connections through stories and having shared experiences. I would be curious to see what is happing in current classrooms with the BLM gaining increased awareness over the past year.
As educators, we need to allow our students to experience learning and not simply fill their brains with information, “teachers who recognize the possible value of developing critical literacy do not view their students as vessels to be filled, and instead create experiences that offer students opportunities to actively construct knowledge (Coffey, n.d.).” When researching more on Critical Literacy, I came across this TED talk about creating critical thinkers through media literacy. I feel that this supports a lot of my view on using critical literacy skills with students.
In other readings for this module, Critical Literacy is defined as:
“…a way of thinking that challenges the inherent meaning of information and, by extension, life situations. Critical literacy is rooted in a rich history of approaching language and communication from a questioning and analytic standpoint. Critical Literacy goes beyond simply decoding and understanding texts; it emphasizes in-depth study in which messages and viewpoints are questioned and the power relationships – both in text and between the author and readers – are considered (Roberge, 2013).”
For me, this is what my understanding of Critical Literacy is all about. It is giving students the tools that they can use to read texts and media using different lenses. We need to give opportunities to interact with different media that may or may not be true and analyse and discuss viewpoints and why it would have been published.
The last part of Critical Literacy is being literate. We have discussed how this has evolved over time and what it might mean to be literate in the 21st Century. One can be critical of anything that they read, and that may not always result in the best-case scenario. I remember one of my students back in June 2020 talking about mask wearing (back when it was not mandated in all indoor public spaces in BC) and how they saw a picture online of a person wearing a mask that said, ‘I can’t breathe’ and they laughed and said, “Well why don’t you just take off your mask?!” At first, I was shocked to hear this, but I know that a lot of my students just scroll through YouTube and the web without reading the story to go with it. I also had a little bit of background information on their parents view of the Pandemic, which also played a role in how this student reacted to this photo. Yes, this student was thinking critically about this image, but they did not have the tools to look and see the origin of this image. They had a personal bias, however, they needed to be taught the skills to acknowledge those biases and maybe look to see the other side of the story.
Now, on a lighter note. I will provide you with an article that literally ‘fooled’ me when I read it. I think I just wanted it so much to be true that I believed it! I am such a Disney nut, that it was not until I got to the end of the article and realized the date that I had been tricked! I think it is just a great example of how a bias can make you believe something is true, even if it is not. We are living in a world where many will simply read headlines on their newsfeed and then translate that into ‘News’ which is the exact opposite of being critically literate.
Overall, I feel that critical literacy is something that can be taught. It is the idea of doing research on what you are reading and knowing who and where to get our information from. It is also understanding that even our most trusted resources may hold some bias and it is ok if we question that.
Works Cited:
Chan, K. (2020, February 07). Urbanized. Retrieved from https://dailyhive.com/toronto/disneyland-toronto-islands-resort-canada
Coffey, H. (n.d.) Critical literacy. See Library Course Reserves for link.
Sandford, A. (2020, June 07). George Floyd: Protests continue in Europe despite virus restrictions. Retrieved from https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/06/black-lives-matter-protesters-take-to-streets-in-europe-despite-pandemic-restrictions
TEDxTalks, Andrea Quijada. (2013, February 19). Retrieved March 07, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHAApvHZ6XE
The University of British Columbia. (2021). Module 5: Supporting Learners Through the Library: Critical Literacy. In LLED 462: School Library Resource Centre Programs. Vancouver, BC: UBC.
Ubcotv. (2018, August 01). Retrieved March 07, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuamzeQX6c4
Redefining Teacher Librarians and ‘Library’ Spaces
In this theme we looked at both the role of the Teacher Librarian (TL) and Reference resources, collections, and services. As we move further along in this course, it is evident that the shift from the Library to the Library Learning Commons (LLC) plays a big factor in both the role of the TL and the reference services. I feel like Riedling stated it best “As school librarians, we must embrace the continual changes, not resist them. We must move forward to make the school libraries of tomorrow purposeful and exciting. We must make information gathering effective and efficient–and create information-literate, socially responsible, lifelong learners (2019).” The Library is no longer the musty place where the TL is the “keeper of the books (UBC, 2021).”
As most of us in the course have experienced, this change will not happen overnight, and this shift is something that could take years for schools to adapt and accommodate. As you can see in the video below, the concept of a Learning Commons has been introduced to BC for 10 years and many schools are just now making steps towards shifting their space to an LLC.
A lot of these constraints come down to time and budget. As more and more cuts are being put towards our education system, the harder it is to make this shift and maintain a current resource collection. This is often a hurdle that we come across in the education system and many TL’s are doing their best to get over this hurdle, however, it takes time.
We know that this is going to take more than switching up furniture, adding technology and creating Makerspaces in a library. It also does not mean that we get rid of all the reference material in the library, however, it will make us look differently at the collection and how it serves the students and staff in a school. Access plays a huge factor when it comes to reference materials. The increase of E-books and online resources make it much easier for staff and students to access resources 24/7, rather than their scheduled Library block. One of the big factors that I see in this shift is getting everyone one staff in the know and looking to those resources and knowing that they are available to them.
Following these lines, the entire school needs to be on board with the transformation of how reference services are used. Using an Inquiry based approach, students will use reference materials and then express their understanding through their own choice of media. “The learning commons philosophy is a means of increasing student engagement and improving student achievement. The learning commons promotes personalization, inquiry, and the integrations of technology through the implementations of innovative curricular design and assessment…Within the learning commons, technology supports the construction of new understandings by the learner rather than the learner passively consuming information (CLA 2014).” One model that this is based off is the BCTLA’s Points of Inquiry.
The teachers are no longer seen as ‘all knowing’ and are learning along with students. This is an approach that needs to happen for the LLC to be successful. I have seen many TL’s struggle a lot with this concept. Many educators are used to being in control and knowing the outcome of every lesson planned. The Inquiry approach is much different in which students can take information and construct their own experience. If the LLC is truly seen as ‘the hub’ of the school, this type of learning will have a trickle-down affect and more of the staff and students will be on board. It can be seen that “…the energy, caring and commitment devoted to changing the climate of one room can be a catalyst for transforming and entire school (Usalis, 1998).”
I was drawn to complete my TL Diploma based on the new LLC model. I love to make connections with students and get to know them on a personal level. My experience with technology is also another factor that has made this space a place where I strive to work. When I have told people outside of Education that I am taking this Diploma, they often give me a puzzled look. They know the experience that I have with technology and it does not always register. I have to explain how the visual of a ‘Library’ that they have in their head is not the same LLC that I wish to work in. The job is no longer just maintaining a print resource collection, rather being in the know of all the reference resources that are out there for our students to use for their own Inquiries. I feel that the following video captures so much about what we have discussed in these modules and how the role of the TL is so important in a school community.
The role of the TL is so exciting and I truly cannot wait until I can transform or take part in my own LLC one day.
A Recipe for a School Library as a place of Literacy and Learning
This is the second time that I have come across ‘PowToon’ in my LIBE Diploma courses. When I was first introduced to it in the summer, I was hot spotting my phone at my summer house, so my Wi-Fi connection was spotty and was not the best space to be learning a new online tool. I was drawn to this type of presentation that one of my classmates had shown and I had made a mental note to try it in the future, so here I am now. I am so glad that this tool had crossed my path again and that I would have the time to explore it.
I can hammer out a PowerPoint quite quickly, as I have had a lot of practice, however, I found this a lot more challenging than any PowerPoint that I had ever created. I used a lot of the pre-made ‘scenes’ as each one is quite complex and reminded me of a simpler version of scratch, but still involves a lot of moving pieces to make each scene look seamless. I also did not complete my PowToon in the four-day trial period of the Pro version so there are watermarks on this presentation since I did not want to get rid of the work that I had done. I also decided to video my entire screen to show my staff that this was created in a way that is similar to a PowerPoint, that way it still looks familiar to them.
I feel like I could take this example and post it to our school Teams Library Channel to show two things:
How the Library is evolving to the Student Library Learning Commons
A new tool that they could use for teaching or allowing their students to explore this platform for presenting their inquiries.
I chose to show my recipe as a PowToon to follow along with the theme of the Library Learning Commons and being a lifelong learner. I have included several quotes from our reading to back up my ‘recipe’ for the library as a place of literacy and learning. This is a platform that I have never used before and stumbled along to get a finished product (It took me WAY longer than I thought it would!). I feel that this is such an important philosophy to take on as a Teacher-Librarian and a Teacher. We are not ‘all-knowing’ and are constantly learning new things if we chose to. TL’s and teachers can become complacent if they have been at the same school and been in the same position for many years, however, we are learning that this is not the way that we should be teaching. We need to foster inquiry and encourage critical thinking with our students.
It is also important to recognize that the Library Learning Commons (LLC) should be a place where students feel safe and have a strong connection with the Teacher Librarian. As educators we know that “Successful learning communities require cultivation, and … a lot of time to forging relationships with students and helping them connect with each other (Kelley & Miller, 2013, p. 89).” I feel my recipe shows that a trickle-down affect of all the staff working together should show that the school community is strong and that students should feel comfortable in the LLC.
I hope that my PowToon shares the message that for the Library Learning Commons to be the hub of the school and a place of literacy and learning, there needs to be a lot of support in place. The transition will not happen over night and it will take time, along with a lot of help from others. This is not a job that should be done alone by the Teacher Librarian. This is truly a community project which involves everyone trying to achieve the same goal.
