Sometimes, I am the staff member who offers to perform the role-play in front of my colleagues. Sometimes, I am the staff member who is found at the school on the weekend, straightening up to make everything "just right". Sometimes, I am the staff member who finds that one interesting tidbit of information or way to help that makes everyone else's lives just that much easier. And sometimes, I am a little too hard on myself. Source: https://womenforone.com/portfolio/grace-meeting-moments-journey-picking-back-humble-enough-learn-not-hard-michelle-peluso/ I have treated this course as a way to relax after an especially hard Monday or Tuesday at work. I have also treated this class as a way to learn at my own pace, under the direction of my own personal interests. These inquiry blog posts have been right up my alley (with the exception of the really difficult post previously). I feel like each week I have carved out a bit of PD time, just for myself. It is too easy to get stuck in a rut, doing the same things over and over again. So this blog post is a celebration of all of the little things I have since made time for, all of the times I have stood up in the rut, looked out, and saw all the other teachers digging and navigating their own ruts and trenches around me. Without further ado, I bring you... Krista's list of Reminders and Learning to Herself to Escape THe Rut
Source: https://sylvaniadigitallearning.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/pd-session-basic-google-literacyg/
I needed to write this post today, because in a number of these courses, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to be better, to do better, to know more, without expressing what I already know. Many of these courses are set up so that it's a competition in the discussion forum for who has a better idea, who is first to respond, the number of responses in a given week is counted toward/against your mark. It's just one big rat race without truly taking the time away to decide what is important for you in your specific circumstance. This inquiry, this phase 2, for me, was liberating and validating in that I am able to communicate what I know, what I have chosen to take on, and manage how it all fits together. References [Google Wormhole of Life]. (2015, October 5). Retrieved October 29, 2018, from https://sylvaniadigitallearning.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/pd-session-basic-google-literacyg/
[LifeVestInside]. (2011, August 29). Life Vest Inside - Kindness Boomerang - "One Day" [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwAYpLVyeFU Kittle, P. (2013). Book love: Developing depth, stamina, and passion in adolescent readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Women For One. (2015, December 11). [Grace]. Retrieved October 29, 2018, from https://womenforone.com/portfolio/grace-meeting-moments-journey-picking-back-humble-enough-learn-not-hard-michelle-peluso/
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This week's topic is incredibly timely and important for our students and our own understanding as teachers and teacher librarians. The knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of how learning literally extends beyond the four walls of our classrooms, and figuratively extends beyond the four walls of our communities is imperative to how learning needs to take place. I follow a Facebook group called HONY (Humans of New York). A number of years ago, Brandon Stanton, the photographer of the photo essay series compiled a bestseller of photos and stories of the title: Humans of New York. Since the release of that book, and a number of years later, HONY has extended itself to travelling to various countries and documenting the stories of people affected by the Rwandan Genocide, stories from veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan (Invisible Wounds), among others. Stanton's current project, documenting the stories of the Rwandan Genocide is particularly heartbreaking. At the time of this post, Stanton has released parts 7/9 of a woman who witnessed her own father's murder and the separation of her family. She has documented a variety of ways she has come close to death herself. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcm6kwWv09o HONY provides updates throughout the day on each of the stories with accompanying photos. The audience never knows which way the story will turn. The current story is agonizing to read, and even more difficult to read when not all of the parts are posted at once, as I am now thinking about what happened to her after her life was spared. What I always find comforting is the discussion in the comments section on the HONY posts, because ultimately, many of the people in the community are left speechless. In the Genocide series, the undercurrent has been through all of the stories, that the names of those who sacrificed themselves so others could live, or those who died without cause and because of their background are to be named and respected. The storytellers have said that by repeating the names of those innocent who died, they will not be forgotten. All of this being said, it is amazing that people across the globe can be brought together to create a community to bring one another up, to selflessly support each other, and to act with others' best interests at heart. HONY uses Patreon, which is a monthly subscription/donation service where Stanton funds his trips and makes donations on behalf of the Patreon members. Through Patreon, the members have paid for childrens' school tuition, for business start-ups, and to non-profit organizations where Stanton has interviewed it's organizer. All of the donations go directly to those who need it, and never to an entire community. However, the result is often that the entire community benefits because the generosity is often paid forward by those on the receiving end. A number of years ago, Me to We swept Canada. The premise was that students in their schools could work to benefit their schools, communities, and organizations across Canada. As the organization grew, the overhead increased, and it's my belief that the percentage of funds raised through the program being sent to non-profits plummeted. While perhaps an excellent idea, I think it ended up falling flat. I'll admit that when I saw our topic about Developing World Libraries, I had a fairly stereotypical image in my head. Given that, I took to the internet. Many images were not particularly helpful (see image below). As an aside: one of the images linked to another student in this course from 2014, so I thought that was neat! Source (google search: developing world libraries) Feeling uninspired, I took to reading the results from my search instead. What I came across should not have come as a surprise to me, but it did. The first, non-scholarly result resulted in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, whose goal is "to improve the lives of “information-poor” people while positioning the world’s public libraries as critical community assets for learning, creativity, and community development" (Gates Foundation, 2018). To me, it seems as though this goal is a no-brainer - libraries (both school and public) may not be struggling to the same extent as libraries in developing countries, or developing libraries, but there always seems to be a struggle to accommodate and be of interest to the needs of any community and context. According to the website, "The most successful public libraries around the world are proactively engaging with their communities to understand local needs and customize services to address community problems. What’s missing are the facts and data about how libraries directly improve people’s lives—including impact that advances the global Sustainable Development Goals. Without tangible proof to back up what library leaders intuitively know to be true, libraries will be forever fighting an uphill battle for recognition and resources. The knowledge and tools to measure library impact already exist. Leaders in the field must now commit to making outcome evaluation an integral part of library operations and using it to prove their worth" (Gates Foundation, 2018). I agree that support from those in positions of power, including principals, superintendents, and government bodies must be prepared to support our libraries and learning spaces to ensure that they are protected and valued. Image source: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Global-Libraries I found that while the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is not established in a developing country, it does serve developing libraries. The program is meant to provide opportunities for learning in libraries around the world. What is frustrating is the lack of transparency on their website about what actual physical programs are ongoing within libraries supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Image source: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Global-Libraries In my search, I also came across a website which spoke specifically to the need for electronic learning materials in colleges. While it addresses the need for resources, the article specifically calls out for the need of digital resources for students. The article states that "Having access to digital resources means that students have access to a large amount of information across a breed of topics; a click of a button produces a wide range of information contained in a specific subject area of need" (Baidoo, SAGE Connection, 2017). I often think that districts and high schools without subscriptions to electronic databases simply are not doing a good enough job in preparing their students for University. I get that the cost is extravagant, and I also understand that it is not something necessarily practical in every district. I remember attending University for my first year and having to take an Introduction to Interdisciplinary Writing where I learned absolutely everything about writing MLA, APA and Chicago type writing. I wrote essay after essay, paper after paper, reference page after works cited page, title pages, the whole nine yards, and my professor simply ripped every single sentence, punctuation mark, and mechanic to pieces. That particular course paved the way to my success in later years, because I never learned how to use a database before the class, I knew some of the basics of a works cited page, but never how to actually complete it. My writing is by no means perfect, nor is my formatting, but at least I know enough that I can help my students. When I taught high school, I told my students that the single recommendation I would make to them would be to take a University writing course because they would learn there what I simply did not have access to teaching them at our school. I wrote earlier that I think not providing students access to using a database in their schooling prior to college or University is doing them a disservice. I make this statement out of frustration for those students who were not fortunate enough to take the same course I did, who chose a "fun" elective and later regretted it. If a country who is not considered 'developing' is doing a disservice to it's students, imagine a developing country and what it is not able to provide it's students. According to Wired, "four years ago, the United Nations predicted that more than half of the global population would be connected to the internet by 2017" (Global Internet Access is Even Worse Than Dire Reports Suggest, 2018), which, according to Wired, was not met. According to the International Telecommunications Union, "[the UN] counts a person as using the internet if they managed to get online at least once in the last three months," which is problematic because "The economic benefits of having internet access don’t kick in or become real until you are using the internet consistently" (Ellerly Biddle, Global Voices Advox, 2018). Another problem with the definition of access is that "in some countries there is very fast connectivity, in others you might have a spotty 3G connection that goes in and out, so what you can do with it is really restricted" (Dhanaraj Thakur, 2018). In addition, the technology required for internet access "remains out of reach for many around the world due to cost" (Wired, 2018). Even when there is access to a phone or the internet, "women in many developing countries are still less likely than men to use the internet" (2018), due to affordability, general literacy, and digital literacy. Given all of this dire discussion regarding the limitations currently in our world, libraries in developing communities certainly are going to continue to struggle. To summarize: - Access depends on both affordability and physical access of a device. - There remains a lack of access worldwide to the internet through cell phones and through tablets or other devices. - Women are less likely than men in developing countries to access the internet due to affordability and literacy. - Foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation say that they are helping provide access to technology in developing countries, but are not transparent in their successes beyond a few pictures and videos on their website. - Close to home, students are not equally provided access to databases and services which will aide them in their post-secondary studies. - Online communities can promote inclusion, feelings of empathy and compassion, as well as foster incredible change. - Simply standing by and waiting for change to happen is not enough. - Utilizing and relying on a large corporation may not be the most effective way to create change and provide access. - Technology recycling programs which have been abandoned should never have been abandoned in the first place. With people upgrading to new devices year after year, destroying or repurchasing them instead of donating them is wasteful. References [Cell phone recycling]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwja-oGSxKDeAhXUOn0KHSs5AEMQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https://hobi.com/tag/cell-phone-recycling/page/3/&psig=AOvVaw1J5bLDc9D-R1sYNN8QJ9Gf&ust=1540520470300096
[Mashable]. (2013, October 15). This Is The Human Behind "Humans of New York" | Mashable Docs [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcm6kwWv09o Dreyfuss, E. (2018, October 23). Global Internet Access Is Even Worse Than Dire Reports Suggest. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://www.wired.com/story/global-internet-access-dire-reports/ Gates Foundation. (n.d.). Global Libraries. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Global-Libraries Ogut, P., P., & University College London. (2017, October 06). Humans of New York: Platform for social change or sentimental storytelling? Retrieved October 24, 2018, from http://wpmu.mah.se/nmict172group4/2017/10/06/humans-new-york-platform-social-change-sentimental-storytelling/ SAGE Publishing. (2017, April 13). Digital resources in developing world libraries: Supporting research needs and increasing usage. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://connection.sagepub.com/blog/opinions/2017/04/13/digital-resources-in-developing-world-libraries-supporting-research-needs-and-increasing-usage/ I'll be the first to admit that teaching other teachers can be a frustrating process. In my second and third year of teaching I presented sessions at our provincial English teachers conferences. In my short 7 year career (this is year 8 for me), I've presented to well over 800 teachers in two different provinces on a variety of topics. Some of those topics have included technology, others have included literacy. I do not say this to brag, just to provide context to my point that I understand and sympathize with those who teach teachers either for a living or as a hobby (that's a thing, trust me)! One session I conducted early in my career (and likely one of the biggest sessions) was on outcome-based assessment, where I relayed what our school was doing and what I was doing in my classroom. To condense what I talked about: there are 54 outcomes in Manitoba's English curriculum. There was no way I was going to singularly assess each outcome every single assignment in my high school classes. The principal at my school had us choose around 16 outcomes for each class (you can see in the photo below I had 23), and since I taught multiple grades over the years, I chose outcomes we could build on and streamlined the English curriculum. By the end of the 3 years, I had my students addressing each of the outcomes, but I was not assessing more than 5 outcomes each time, or at least was trying not to. That discussion did not go over well with a number of veteran teachers in the audience. However, it's the way Manitoba's curriculum was/is headed, and there were a number of other schools who were about to go down the same path. I was scoffed at - because what does a teacher (in the first 5 years of their career) know about what outcomes are important in the curriculum? Surely I did not know what I was talking about. What the audience members did not know is the disaster my house was, because I had provincial exams mapped out over the last 10 years taped to my walls, I had mapped the curriculum, found trends, and happened to have the data to support just how often other teachers, courses offered through correspondence or BlackBoard Learn were addressing each of the outcomes. And how often each was assessed. I had done my own research to back that up. But hey - I was just a teacher in a small rural community who just so happened to sit on the provincial exam test development committee. I think that teaching teachers is tough. But so is being a Kindergarten teacher who has to teach and remind about nosepicking behaviour. It's just a different kind of tough. Source: https://me.me/i/stop-picking-your-nose-noses-4-price-www-bliayteans-com-%3Cp%3Ebut-there-rsquo-s-22542374 I am eternally thankful that I have such a supportive staff at my school and my heart breaks every time I think about me leaving at the end of this year. Given that I will be leaving, I have to leave my mark on them, quite literally, because they will be on their own for managing their technology and technology PD. I have been trying to pass along all of the information that I can for doing all of the little things I do on a daily basis. I know that no one is going to remember, so I have started a Google Drive Folder for all of what I do to be stored and held. This includes setting up Google Classrooms, resetting student passwords, using Microsoft HUP, and accessing the volume portal for Microsoft. All issues I have addressed in the last two weeks. Yesterday, in the hallway, after spending an hour in her classroom, I shouted down to our grade 3 teacher that I will not answer her phone calls when I am in Victoria as she is asking me to reset her password. Not that I wouldn't want to help her, mind you, but I couldn't because my school account would be inactive. I have been doing my best in my school to get teachers using Google Classroom, set up and roll over Raz Reading accounts and Prodigy accounts. I think it's fairly easy now to justify to teachers that using technology and equipping our students with ICT skills is necessary. I also think that a number of teachers who are not "technologically advanced" do not know what ICT skills look like, sound like, or can even be in their classrooms or content areas. To those teachers, I present... the Manitoba Literacy with ICT framework (link opens in a new window)! I am sure the other provinces have a similar framework, but I am really fond of Manitoba's. Source: https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/teachers/index.html The big ideas in the curriculum are always what I start with when I discuss this curriculum with teachers.
Teachers typically sigh a lot after I go over what the curriculum states. Not out of frustration, but out of relief. What the ICT curriculum asks teachers to do is no different than what they have been doing - except it just looks different (using technology), and it might feel different (uncomfortable) if they aren't familiar with using technology themselves. I believe I was in a discussion group in another class (sorry if it was someone else's post in this group!) and my colleague stated that she felt a lot of pressure to teach coding to her students. She ended up learning the basic language and letting her students go with it. I think that for those uncomfortable with using the technology themselves, being open to learning about it, and letting the kids kind of figure it out, and putting their trust in the kids is perfectly acceptable. We can't all be the best at everything (a pill I personally have found hard to swallow lately). The best part starts around 1:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjYj0Tpwjo Overall, I think there are some things that TL's can do to support teachers in their journey with learning about and using ICT in their classrooms:
References [Stop picking your nose]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2018, from https://me.me/i/stop-picking-your-nose-noses-4-price-www-bliayteans-com-but-there-rsquo-s-22542374
[Teacher2Teacher]. (2016, September, 7)., Kid President's Pep Talk on Teacher Togetherness [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjYj0Tpwjo Manitoba Education. Literacy with ICT for Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2018, from https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/teachers/index.html Mardis, M. A., & Bishop, K. (2016). The collection program in schools: Concepts and practices. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, An imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC. Disclaimer: I turned 30 this year. I am married, without children, have four cats and one dog. Currently, I live alone in Alberta while my husband builds a life for us (with the animals and his parents who live with us) in Victoria. The reason for the disclaimer is this: my thoughts and perspectives are not going to be the same as anyone else in this group or class. Making friends, connecting with colleagues, and learning together is not going to look, sound, or feel the same as any other person. When I moved from Manitoba to Alberta, I had one friend who I knew lived in Edmonton, about 30 minutes from where I moved to. We have known each other since high school, and are both teachers. We also play a game called Pokemon Go (yes, it's still a thing, and yes, 2016 was a very long time ago thanks for asking). Image Source: cdn0.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/shutterstock_568034230-796x398.jpg I received a contract for a grade 5 position in an independent school connected to my church's congregation. This means that I teach at a faith-based school where we go to chapel every Wednesday, have Christian Studies classes each day, and pray three times a day: devotions, lunch, and the end of the day. I did not know if I would love this job, because I did not know how I felt about integrating two pretty important parts of my life together so closely. Also, previously I taught grades 9-12, and I have a bit of a dry sense of humour, but it turns out I do love it - grade 5, working with people I see on the weekend regularly, all of it. Part of the reason why I love what I am currently doing is the support and the people I work with. This week we are being asked to discuss developing our ICT Skills and Pedagogy. When I taught high school classes, I taught a computer course to grade 9 students. The teachers in the school wanted our students to become fluent keyboard users since they were transitioning into 1:1 Chromebooks. Since moving to Alberta, I became the co-director of technology for our school. Let me be the first to tell you that our little school is a small fish in a great big pond... and dealing with Apple (or even getting in touch with someone from the purchasing in Education department) is no easy feat. For two years, I tried to hand Apple thousands of dollars, I filled out credit applications, sent many emails (if I said hundreds I would be lying), and played phone tag for weeks. Finally, this year, after two long years of phone tag, emails, support people, and the like - I was able for Apple to finally recognize us as a school, get us credit, and allow us to pay for apps. I told them a few times that I wanted to go about this the honest way, instead of purchasing apps and putting them on ten different iPads (the way sharing works in a household). They finally listened... the heavens opened (pun intended), we can purchase apps! Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-uvyL-sAHY I do not think I have ever had such a difficult time trying to give someone (or a company) money! I am considered the technology person in our school, so that means that nearly every day I have someone coming up to me in the hallway, outside the bathroom, while I am on a prep period, or leaving the school at my car asking me to take a quick look at something. Most of the time it is a quick fix, and other times it takes a bit of time on my part. I receive 40 minutes a week to work on technology in my school, but I do not usually get the full time as I wait for coverage for my class. I am not complaining, because I do get that time. However, it also means that I am the one to fix and troubleshoot everything. We have a class set of iPads, and two class sets of ChromeBooks in our school. We are trying to purchase another class set of iPads, but Apple still will not let me purchase a charge cart through them (please, just take my money)! Given my position, I do not have anyone else to go to to fix anything, run ideas off of, or receive any kind of help from. Google has become my best friend! GIF Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/black-and-white-text-google-xePnbnJiehT1e The great thing about my school is that if there is a need, administration is really supportive. Myself and the other technology co-director have gone to the Technology Summit in Edmonton for PD, and come back with some valuable tools and networking experiences. I would do that again, and I would also consider doing the Google Certification. I value the Facebook groups I belong to as well - because I belong to a number of teacher groups and technology groups for teachers. Often, I find new ideas there. I did not know about the streamlining of Google Classroom after I completed my survey at the end of June, but early to mid-August, sure enough, someone posted about the new features in Google Classroom. When the principal of my school started showing the staff how he planned to use it, I was able to help him by saying "this is a new feature" and "only within the last few months" to a number of things he touched on (do not worry, I was asked to interrupt and shout out my support for what he was showing). I think that taking classes of any kind help connect teachers to what is current or going on in schools. It can be isolating being in an independent school, because we really have no one to collaborate with. The newest teachers in our school come from the public system and are bringing in new ideas, which help with updating how things work within the school. I know that my UBC classes have certainly helped me in envisioning something great for my career and also for my school. I am excited to continue learning in these courses. I do not typically share anything on my Facebook news feed related to teaching, technology, or what I am doing in my classroom. At one time I might have, but I feel like with privacy issues and wanting to create a separation between personal life and career life, I need to avoid making those posts. I do contribute to Facebook groups, but do not update my profile. I belong to a Grade 5 Teachers in Alberta group that I am constantly bouncing ideas off of. I find that group (with it's focus) is so valuable! I think that it would also be valuable for someone to create a BC (or Canadian, so I could join) Teacher Librarian Facebook group, because I could not find one when I searched at the beginning of this course. If someone is interested in making it I would co-moderate! That being said, at the start of my career, I was fairly active on Twitter as it was part of my professional growth plan. I grew tired of notifications and trying to keep up. I hated feeling like I was "always on" and "always thinking about school", so I let that slide. Trust me, my conversations with my husband are no longer all about school, they also include hobbies, interests, and current events. I prefer it that way. Here are my take-aways or my summary of my thoughts on this topic:
Given all that I've said, some days I just feel like I need to pull a Ron Swanson. References [Amit Xavier]. (2013, December 13). Hallelujah Chorus Silent Monks funny !!! [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-uvyL-sAHY
i don't know idk. [GIF]. Retrieved from https://giphy.com/gifs/black-and-white-text-google-xePnbnJiehT1e Mobile Payments. [GIF]. Retrieved from https://media.giphy.com/media/9tvgtoRFLtTwY/giphy.gif [Pokemon Go]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2018, from cdn0.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/shutterstock_568034230-796x398.jpg As a general studies teacher in a small school known for it's high expectations, I run a pretty tight ship. Every day, I use an agenda on the SmartBoard. If I come back from break and see my students without having their supplies ready, I ask them the question: "who can read?" We are nearly five weeks into the school year and still, I have students looking at me, hands in the air, volunteering like I am asking them to read something for me. By grade 5, students in my school are fairly adept at problem solving: if they cannot read the agenda, they ask someone next to them or follow what the rest of the class is doing. I am also sensitive to the fact that if I were teaching in a different environment, I would not dare ask this question. By me asking this question, I am telling my students daily that reading is important. It is ingrained into what we need to do to function in our society. When I ask my students to complete surveys at the beginning of the year asking them about what they like to read, the amount of students saying "I don't like reading" is disheartening. How can we change that? This week's blog topic: Fostering Reading Cultures in schools is important to me for a variety of reasons. My first teaching job landed me in a school two hours from where I attended school and in a community of less than 600. Most of my students rode the bus, up to an hour and a half each way, often coming in from the neighbouring reserves. The students who chose to come to our school off-reserve were often in it for daily access to town services and the Automotive Technology program, run by a respected local plant worker turned teacher. In year three of my career in this community, I had the great idea that I would start a reading course. Our division was going through a Re-Imagining process where the staff and students in the division worked to Re-Imagine how school was done. There were some really great things that came out of the process, including programs running today such as building homes and auctioning them off in the community, becoming a Leader In Me school, and my own reading course. My great idea was that there were kids in our community who would love to have the opportunity to read for a whole class, so why not allow them to do that? I created a syllabus, talked to students, and obtained help from the school librarian. I ended up having two different courses running at the same time: creative reading and creative writing. In the first few days of class, I sat each student down at my computer and told them to go nuts on Amazon. I had them fill up an Amazon cart with all of the books they wanted to read. I then went to the principal, showed him the list, and said, "we need to buy these books for the kids." He was more than willing to finance our idea and told me to place the order and get a cheque requisition form. At the end of our first semester, most students had students reading anywhere between 3 and 30 books, with thousands of pages read between them. To bring this back to our topic: how do we foster a reading culture? I think the way this question is phrased is important. We, as teachers, teacher librarians, and even administrators simply cannot create a reading culture. We must foster it. The video above demonstrates that reading is not just important for learning in a classroom environment, but it is important for real life (like telling a girl you like her and cannot wait to spend time with her). For other examples, read Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet - the literate ones always get the girl... it's a reoccurring theme! (Forgive the endings though, those are simply tragic). I think there really are a lot of different ways we (as a school community, as teacher librarians and classroom teachers) can foster a reading culture. In one of my other classes, I created a video chronicling the recipe for success for a school library learning commons (see below). I think the items mentioned in the video are important, but I think one piece is missing from the video to answer the question of how to foster a culture of reading. The answer is this: relationships. While I would argue that relationships are likely the most effective way to foster a reading culture, Webster states in her article, Fostering a Reading Community (2017), "increasing the variety of texts students can read in the typical language arts classroom" (p. 28) is more beneficial to student learning and engagement versus whole class novel studies. I think that in my experience, the more that students are trusted and given choice (there's the relationship building!), the more ownership they take over their learning. Not only is the relationship between the classroom teacher and the student important, but Webster goes on to say that "one of the most critical components of a successful independent reading program has been the support of the school librarian" (p. 29). This role that the teacher librarian has is so important, because unlike my previous situation, most teachers do not have an unlimited budget for books - in my (limited) experience, the opposite is true: administrators believe that there are plenty of resources in the library or SLLC. If someone who was in charge of the SLLC were to say something to the contrary, I think it would have more effect. Also, refraining from limiting student choice is important, according to Webster, "[the school librarian] encourages students to check out any books that interest them rather than confining them to a certain reading level" (p. 30). I think it really is a shame that students might feel as if they were unable to check out a book because it wasn't a "good fit" for them. According to the Daily Five, there are three different ways we read a book: by reading the words, reading the pictures, and by summarizing or paraphrasing the text. Finally, using the formed relationship to engage in conversation about texts is a significant aspect to consider. Penny Kittle's book, Book Love stresses the importance of book talks. Ever since I heard her speak when I worked in Manitoba, I feel as if transferring my own love of books is so important to getting our students to love reading. Kittle warns, however, that "we need to balance pleasure [reading] with challenge, increasing volume for all readers" (p. 8). I feel like I am constantly giving my students new texts to read by giving them a bit of glimpse into the book to get them interested. I was pleased to read that "A booktalk is motivating, and when done well, grabs students’ interests immediately so as to create a sense of urgency for them to read it" (Webster, p. 31). Book talks work with students of all grade levels! To summarize, here is a list of things I personally can do to help foster a reading culture: - Student choice - Unlimited student choice - Allow students to help choose texts to bring into the SLLC - Develop relationships with staff and students - Ask for staff input - Utilize digital technology - Use warm colours, comfortable furniture, and a variety of workspaces - Involve administration - Share the variety of ways in which we read - Give booktalks! References Boushey, G., & Moser, J. (2014). The daily 5: Fostering literacy independence in the elementary grades. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse.
Hsu, V. [Vert Hsu]. (2006, October 15). Indigo - Love of Reading Commercial [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/h5SIONYCuLs Kittle, P. (2013). Book love: Developing depth, stamina, and passion in adolescent readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. [Logo]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2018, from https://www.theleaderinme.org/ Webster, R. (2017, 12). Fostering a reading community. Teacher Librarian, 45, 28-31. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/1979764335?accountid=14656 |
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