Enriching Teaching and Learning through the Library

Final Project

2010-03-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend reworking my final project using the CBAM model of change. I followed the outline and ensured I had clear headings and that my writing was organized and easy to navigate. I also integrated the LEARN 360 motto: ENGAGE,ENRICH and EXCEL through out my project including the innovation configuration map. I am really happy with my progress and feel that my project is much more aligned with what the instructor was looking for since the clarification of an example outline. I also appreciated the group work part of this project. It was interesting to see how all 4 of us interpreted the assignment differently. Even with the outline being provided, our learning was demonstrated in unique ways. We have been communicating through email and google docs where we are easily able to edit each other's work and make suggestions. What a cool way to work together! I was so surprised as to how easy it was to set up and get going. We are at the stage now where we plan to share our reflections about our teacher experiences. I would not have tried working this way if it would not have been for working in this course and having a required group work project. I find it amazing the learning and sharing tools that are available to everyone and for FREE! It has been a very worthwhile experience so far...

CBAM project

2010-03-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my third assignment and I felt I was on the right path but after reading the clarification of an outline for the assignment I realized I have a lot of reworking to do! It seemed that there was uncertainty of what was expected by the emails being sent back and forth. Many of the students were asking for an example to follow but before this I just found the CBAM stages of concern to use as a model and went from there. I now see from the instructor's example I would bhave been missing some main points of the assignment. The CBAM SOC is just one part of CBAM. However, in Barry Sweeney's article, he explained that he felt that using the SOC was very influential in instrumenting change. I will now go back in my work and fine tune what I have and also ensure that I incorporate the Innovation configuration Map and the Game Plan Components. Back to work...

Change a teacher

2010-03-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my initial thoughts upon reflection about my discussions with my partner teacher:

When author Barry Sweeney (2003) was asked "What is the one most important thing to know in planning professional growth programs, he stated, "The CBAM Stages of Concern." The author explained that the Stages of Concern is the best tool there is for planning professional development activity to address the individual needs of people. “Actually, the CBAM is a complex, multi-part system, of which the "Stages of Concern" is but one part. However, it is the one part which the author most prefers and with which he has the most successful experiences. He can state with confidence that you will be very successful if you base professional development needs assessment and program and mentor activity planning on the CBAM stages of concern” (International Mentoring Association, 2006).I found the reading about the CBAM model very comprehensive and I found that in all the readings and websites I reviewed, that I most connected with Sweeney’s article and felt that it could best guide us through the process of using this model. I used this tool to develop some discussion questions to stimulate dialogue among myself and my partner teacher.

Awareness: Initially the teacher approached me before I learned of this assignment and asked if I would work collaboratively with her to frame some goals, develop a plan and meet the goals for her professional growth plan. The growth plan focused on using technology with her students. The teacher felt that she was not using technology in any way and that she would like to learn how to use technology with her students.

We arranged a time for our first meeting and I started the discussion by asking the teacher what she might like to do with technology and if she had any specific ideas in mind.

The teacher thought that I could help her to learn to use the laptops with her grade 2 students since she had not signed them out yet this year. She expressed that she felt guilty about not using them but just didn’t know what to do with them. She was thinking that I could show her how to get them going on Successmaker. She said this was her only idea at that point and that she was not very excited about Successmaker.
I explained that I could certainly do that but that she did not seem too excited about it. I asked if I could suggest some other possibilities that she might want to consider that may appeal more to her. It was here where I suggested learning to use the document camera, smartboard, District Online Resources or LEARN 360. The teacher was very unfamiliar with all of these ideas but very interested in becoming aware of all of them. When I explained all three ideas to her, she was very enthusiastic about learning more. We decided we would focus most specifically on LEARN 360.

Why LEARN 360?

LEARN 360 has a motto underneath it’s logo which states: ENGAGE,ENRICH,EXCEL
This is what I was hoping for this teacher. I wanted her to be excited about what she was learning and share it with her students. I feel that it is an engaging tool for both teachers and students and that it can most definitely enrich a teacher’s lessons, teaching and student learning. I also felt that my partner teacher could strive to excel in using LEARN 360 to enhance her teaching and learn to use it independently so it becomes a part of her teaching.

What is LEARN 360?

Learn360 provides access to a web-based digital video library comprised of thousands of K-12 core-curriculum videos, video clips, newsreels, audio and video speeches, still images, and audio files accounts. Learn360 offers play list creation and is the only streaming service to provide slide show capability.

It is accessible from home or school and Learn360 videos and video clips are aligned to provincial standards. Award winning producers such as PBS, National Geographic, Standard Deviants, Slim Goodbody, Sunburst Visual Media and other educational video content producers provide standards-based content and content is searchable by Provincial standards, preferred media formats, grade levels, and/or subject areas.

In School District No. 23, Learn360 is licensed at the District level through the Curriculum Resource Centre and is available free to all teachers and students within the District. Learn360 is accessed through the Curriculum Resource Centre online Medianet catalogue at crc.sd23.bc.ca. Passwords are available through the TL so students can use Learn360 at home.

Information:
I asked the teacher to share with me some of the units she may want to use LEARN 360 with and the unit of study was Science: lifecycles. I provided an example of how she might use LEARN360 by suggesting that she could find media clips on lifecycles of insects, animals or plants just with a simple search through LEARN 360. For example, we searched ladybugs or butterflies and found a multitude of options. There were many different video clips and full videos. I also showed her how we could create playlists for her to bookmark so that she had easy access to them and that she could save them for the future. Instead of being disappointed that a DVD was not available because others have it booked before you or waiting for a DVD to arrive in the school mail, LEARN 360 provides digital media at your fingertips whenever you want or need it. For me, this is what makes it an example of “just in time teaching.” It is also shows how practical and simple it is to enrich a lesson for students.

I also informed the teacher that on February 19th I would be leading the Professional Development day at our school in which we would be exploring many areas of technology. The day would consist of: Meet the Smart board, Introduction to using the document cameras, District Online Resources and LEARN 360. The teacher did not work Fridays but was enthusiastic about coming and learning with her colleagues. I assured her that it would be very worthwhile and that the discussion with our peers about all of the possibilities would be priceless.

On the PD Day, after demonstrating how to use LEARN360, I encouraged teachers to work together to brainstorm some ideas around units of study in which they could find ways to enrich their lessons. As always, the ideas were amazing and soon teachers were creating playlists and pumped up about using what they had learned the next week in their lessons.

Personal:
When I debriefed with my partner teacher after the PD day to find out how she was feeling she was completely overwhelmed. She expressed a lack of confidence with using the computer and projector and was afraid that nothing would work for her. This was a good reminder for me that everyone is at a different stage of comfort and not only was LEARN 360 new to her, so was turning on/off the projector and setting it all up so it works seamlessly. I reassured her that we would do many lessons together as we were doing a collaborative project of research together and this would be a great opportunity to cooperatively teach these lessons incorporating LEARN360. Just knowing that I would be there to support her was a huge relief and I saw her confidence and enthusiasm resurface. I assured her that we would work collaboratively until she felt comfortable and confident to use LEARN360 independently.

Management:
We arranged to meet for two forty five minute blocks each week. I suggested we plan to use LEARN360 for each meeting time. Whether it be a simple image to display or a short clip on a beetle’s lifecycle, the idea was to use and incorporate the resources provided through LEARN 360 and to use it often to help her develop proficiency in using this tool. I reviewed how to add to her playlist and then asked her to take some time to search the content areas using the search terms lifecycle and find some great resources that she felt would be meaningful to her students.

Consequence:
I suggested that I begin to take some photographs while she is teaching using LEARN 360 to document her progress and growth which would be important for her professional growth plan. As we collaborated, I shared that I would gradually release more of the lead teaching to her and this would allow her to develop the confidence she needed to become independent in her use of the LEARN360 tool.

Collaboration:
As the technology leader at the school I had proposed a direction for the professional development and asked staff for feedback. I offered to contact other teachers in the district at primary and intermediate level to come and do a “show and share” for the staff to see what others are doing with this technology in their planning and in their daily teaching. The staff felt strongly that this would be the right next step to take after our professional development day. One of the additional suggestions from the teachers was to free up some funds to go and visit teachers working in their classrooms with these tools. I approached my partner teacher with the idea of presenting at our monthly staff meeting to demonstrate some of the ways we are using LEARN360 together. She was very receptive to the idea.

Refocusing:
After the teacher reaches a strong level of comfort and ease using the LEARN 360 tools, I plan to encourage her to branch out and use the resource further and in her other areas of study.

Linking the Stages of Concern and the "Bridge" .
The idea of a "Bridge" describes the sequence necessary for people to implement in practice what they have learned in training, and the role of mentoring in that process (Sweeney,2002).

My next step is mapping out my ideas using the Game plan...

More thoughts on Geographical Resources

2010-02-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

I checked out altapedia.com and I liked the layout of the home page. It was easy to navigate and clear with 3 options: Countries A-Z, World Maps and Resources for teachers. I checked out the countries A-Z link and found that there was thorough information. However, it was very heavy with text. No pictures or interactive links, just a lot of reading. For example, modern history of Canada was very long. The information was copyrighted 2009.I think that students may try this site but it would be more appropriate for intermediate. Students would lose interest in the site as well because of the unappealing layout and design.

I found the Atlas of Canada confusing to navigate and at first I was quite overwhelmed by the list of links and that the heading or title of the website was Natural Resources Canada. However, it is a very comprehensive site. Again I found that when I clicked on some links, it often brought up more lists of links. For these reasons, I am not convinced that it would be the best choice for elementary students.

The paper atlas I critiqued from our library was the National Geographic World Atlas for Young Explorers,3rd Ed. The atlas was copyrighted 2007. I really liked the layout of this atlas. It is organized very well. It has a section on maps, earth facts, includes information on world maps that focus on nature, environment and the oceans, political maps that focus on humans. You can look up specific places and maps or just browse. I also liked how the book included a section on how to use the atlas website; this is a very good connection. It focuses on the kids section as well.

From here, I had to go check out the website linked to this paper atlas. The link provided in the atlas was no longer active but I was able to find the new one: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

This site was quite impressive. It is much more appealing for students and has many interactive features such as critter cams which capture video and games to play such as exploring the virtual world of the Antarctic. You can also click on or search for any country. In this section it provides 16 or 17 small fact boxes that include information about each place, it also includes, videos, photos and maps. One thing I did not like about the map feature was the maps were very general. For instance the Canada map did not show any provinces or territories. This website had a copyright date of 2010.

I will definitely make sure that I add these websites to my school website. For my other course I am taking right now, we are asked to create a library website. I am thinking that an information and reference section using some of these sites from this course would be a good addition to my up and coming library website.

Evaluating Geographical Resources in Our Library

2010-02-21T13:35:00.000-08:00

I read the article “Collection evaluation: a foundation for collection development” by Jim Agee, where there were many good suggestions for assessment. Keeping in mind every library is different; you need to find the approach that is best for your circumstance. The article talked about the importance of evaluation. “A properly implemented evaluation may help focus concerns, uncover the character of the collection already in place, reveal gaps, measure the currency and historical depth of the collection, or reflect accuracy of vendor profile…” (Agee).

The rationale for focusing on geographical resources is that it is an area which needs some attention and improvement in our library. The reference section is thin with quality, current resources and most of it is becoming quickly outdated. Most of the materials, except for the new resources available are not inspiring or appealing enough to get the students enthusiastic about reading them. This section is mostly non-circulating (books stay in library, no barcodes) which may contribute to the student’s indifference to these sections. The reference section of the library is also dispersed throughout the library. The resources are not in a highly visible area and the section is not clearly marked or labeled. I believe that for all of these reasons, this area of the library is not impacting student learning the way that it could. From the analysis I was able to set some goals for the library in the area of geographical resources to better the collection and to better meet the needs of the students and teachers.

The encyclopedia sets in our library will soon be outdated or are already outdated (older than 5 years) so they should be replaced. I will plan to purchase a new set of World Book Encyclopedias every 4 years. I find that these books are rarely used. The only time they are used is when I highlight them or use them in my projects with students. I find that these resources tend to be largely ignored by teachers and students. Teachers appreciate when I introduce their students to them and teach the skills they need to use them. We have a few new atlases that were purchased this year but they are reference materials that are non-circulating. By purchasing some additional atlases it would be possible to allow additional copies to be circulating. By highlighting these resources, I am sure they would be popular at book exchange time. I know that student love to sit at the tables in the library and just peruse the atlases, there is something very intriguing about them. When students see others reading them, they too want to have that reading experience. Enthusiasm is contagious! I purchased a new globe and a wall map for our library this year. I recently did some weeding of our picture file and map section which was fairly outdated. Canada maps without Nunavut are now obsolete. I plan to purchase some new poster size maps to be readily available for circulation for teachers.
By creating a designated space for the reference materials in the library, the resources will be much more visible and accessible. Clear and bold signage will also grab reader’s attention. I have a section in the front of the library where Reading Power books are kept. This area is very quiet and only for teachers. I am going to move these books to another area to allow this space to be used for reference materials. It would be able to accommodate all of the volumes, sets and would also be able to display the most recent and appealing materials on the top shelf to grab the attention of the patrons in the library.

I am continuously looking for new resources in book format for countries, mapping and other geographical topics. Many of our books are getting older and need to be refreshed. I find that there are many books available but they are not appealing, accessible (readability) and are not organized with the important features to help students read non-fiction. Gear (2008) suggests in her Nonfiction Reading Power program that while readers learn to zoom in to the text they are learning to understand that the purpose of the features and structures of nonfiction text are there to help the reader locate, learn and remember specific information. Students learn that certain features in nonfiction texts are signals for the reader to stop and pay attention. Fonts and specials effects such as: titles, subheadings, boldface print, italics, bullets, captions and labels, all signal the reader to pay attention. Graphics such as diagrams, cutaways, cross sections, overlays, distribution maps, word bubbles, tables, charts, graphs, and framed text graphically inform nonfiction readers of significant information. Illustrations and photographs in information books play a prominent role in reader comprehension because readers can identify much information just by studying a picture closely. This is an especially important feature for children who have difficulties reading or young learners who are not yet fluent readers. With the ongoing goal to continuously seek and find quality books for all of our students, there will be more choice and reason for students to take an interest in this area of the library.

Our district subscribes to a number of valuable online resources and they are available on the district website and I have also included some of them in the “surf some sites” section of our school website. I feel that I could improve the organization of the websites/databases by creating a special section for geographical online resources appropriate for our students on my library website. I am currently creating a new library website for another course and this would be a great addition. I will create an information and reference section and one of the subheadings will be these geographical resources. I plan to use many of the reference resources from this course. I think this change would make the resources more visible and more accessible rather than getting lost in a long list of sites under information and reference sites.

Another database/online resource that I plan to purchase was recommended by my peer in this course. On blackboard, Leslie Henry stated: “We subscribe to Culturegrams which is, hands down, my favourite database. It is SO perfect for Elementary students, and has maps that are ideal for kids of this age group. Students have the choice between viewing/printing outline maps (only indicating the capital city) or detailed maps (indicating the capital, major cities, bodies of water, and neighboring countries).” I find that one of the most valuable resources is the recommendations made by fellow teacher-librarians. They speak from experience and provide valuable insight about what resources really work for students.

I feel that by focusing on these changes and improvements, student learning will be impacted because they will have more choices for reference materials, appealing, engaging and appropriate materials at varying levels to meet the diverse needs and interests of all of the students. By reorganizing and adding to the reference section in the library and on the school website and bringing these changes to the attention of the teachers and students, the numbers of users that access these resources will improve significantly.

Kenneth Whittaker stated, “The purpose of reference and information service is to align information to flow efficiently from information sources to those who need it. Without the school library media specialist bringing source and student together, the flow would either never take place at all or only take place inefficiently”(49). This statement is a reminder of what a critical role we as teacher-librarians play in bringing students and resources together.

During cooperative planning, I will highlight and plan to use the resources that I have selected and purchased as a result of this evaluation. I will promote these resources with the teachers I work collaboratively with. During the research process using the Research Quest (Find and Filter), these resources will be valuable for students.

At the February 19th professional day I presented to my staff: introduction to the smart board, document cameras, collaborative workspaces, SD#23 online resources and LEARN 360 digital media access. I feel that as a teacher librarian I play a role in rallying the staff to get excited and educated about the possibilities of technology in our school. Only by getting teachers aware and involved with the online resources, will student learning really be impacted. What they learn through staff and professional development will be reflected in their own daily practice, therefore, impacting student learning.

I think that a reasonable timeline to implement change would be 4-6 months. I feel that this would give enough time to replenish, purchase and process new materials. This timeline would allow for some physical changes to take place in the library which serve to make the reference section more prominent in the library. Finally, it provides enough time for the TL to promote and share these resources with teachers and students.

Each month we have a staff meeting and the library always has a place on the agenda. I can communicate changes to staff at these times. Email is another great tool to share any new resources or things you need people to know in a timely manner. The changes will also be communicated through the school library website in the “library news”. With students I would plan to do a series of book talks to promote the resources during book exchange time.

Determining Success
To determine if my plan was successful I would monitor the change in circulation through the statistics function in mandarin to track student/teacher circulation patterns. I could also do a quick survey with teachers to get feedback about the “new” reference focus in the library. I know that I would feel the change in the library because all you have to do is listen between the shelves to hear what the students are excited about in the library.

In this course I have developed awareness about geographical sources in the library. I now have a strong focus on changing and improving a section of the library by evaluating the reference section, setting some goals and developing a plan to determine the level of success in meeting the goals outlined. I believe that this evaluation plan has not only impacted my learning, I trust that it will also greatly influence student learning and enhance the library reference services at our school.

Reidling states, “As stimulating as geographical materials are for the imaginative mind, they are also an invaluable part of any school library media center reference collection. As a school library media specialist, you will find that there are as many reasons for consulting geographic resources, as there are students in your school.”

References
Agee, J. (2003), "Selecting materials: a review of print and online resources", Collection Building, 22, (3), 137-40.

Gear, Adrienne. (2008) Nonfiction Reading Power – Teaching students how to think while they read all kinds of information. Markham, ON: Pembroke Publishers Limited.

Riedling,Anne. (2005) Reference Skills for the School Library Media Specialist: Tools and Tips(2nd ED).Worthington,Ohio:Linworth Publishing,Inc.

Whittaker,Kenneth. (1977), “Towards a theory for reference and information services.” Journal of librarianship ,(9), 49-63.

District and Local Databases

2010-02-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Our School District subscribes to a number of online resources including the ERAC bundle. I recently attended a PD session funded by our district with a distance learning teacher from Vancouver and an ERAC rep, named Aaron Mueller, it was excellent. The teacher took us on a tour of all the online resources available to us, including the ERAC toolkit which I found very helpful. We also have many other electronic resources available to us. A one-year subscription to the bundle is $1 per fte.

Check them out at: http://www.sd23.bc.ca/CurriculumResources/AboutOnline

I will be presenting these online resources to our staff on the upcoming pro-d day on the 19th of February. The teachers that I have worked cooperatively with this year were very enthusiastic about World Book and now use the databases in their teaching. The staff members that are attending on Friday are excited about hearing about the resources and having some time to play with the tools and explore the possibilities.

I use World Book in my teaching all the time and Novelist for a number of reasons; to access reviews about resources I am interested in purchasing, recommended read alouds, theme books to add to the collection and I also really like the articles featured. I have not used Novelist with students like someone mentioned, but what a good idea, I will definitely have to try this.

I explored our local public library database collection for the first time and I was really impressed at the selection. I have always used the University databases and my district's. Many were the same as our school district but they also had others I was not familiar with like: Academic Search Elite, Access World News, All Data, Ancestry.com, Canadian News Stand, Dear Reader, The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Gold Book Online, Library To Go eBooks, Opposing Viewpoints, and Outlook. One of the things I noticed was that there were about 4 data bases on car repair and automotives, this was an unusual find.

Check them out at: http://www.orl.bc.ca/eresources/

Evaluating an Online Reference Database

2010-02-16T20:54:00.000-08:00

I chose to evaluate WORLD BOOK KIDS because it is a resource I use often with my grade 3-6 students.

Resource: World Book for Kids

Format: Electronic

Location: http://www.worldbookonline.com/kids/Home

Content Scope: WBO states that it is from the publishers of The World Book Encyclopedia and provides access to reliable, authoritative, easy-to-understand information and supplementary search tools and information sources.

It seems to me that the scope of the content is focused on information and subjects that are not time sensitive, such as world events.

Basically, information that doesn’t change quickly, such as “bears” or “provinces” is prominent. Information on topics that are fluid and ever changing like technology and current events such as the Olympics in Vancouver are not a focus. However, there is a very good article on the Olympics in general (history, lighting the flame, etc) but there is no mention of the Vancouver Olympics, only that the Olympics are planned every 4 years, including 2010. It seems that it is a very general approach to content and scope.

Accuracy, Authority, and Bias: There does not appear to be any authorship stated among any of the articles. However, I did notice that all of the pictures are copyrighted with a name attached. There did not seem to be any bias and I did notice that in the article about the Olympic games that 3 different pictures were included: Muhammed Ali lighting the Olympic flame at the previous games, a picture of all the athletes upon a podium, fireworks in Greece at opening ceremonies and a picture of Cindy Klassen speed skating. There seemed to be fair representation of a variety of countries.

Writing Style: Appropriate for elementary students; very accessible. Simple things like the font are easy to read and reader-friendly. Text is not overwhelming for students. Pictures, maps and symbol links are provided through out the articles to break up the text into smaller chunks.

Arrangement and Presentation: When I first introduced this site to a group of grade 3 and later a grade 5 class, the reactions were the same, they were engaged and enthusiastic to delve into the site. It is appealing with its format, very enticing for students with the colourful layout and stunning pictures to represent each menu button. The video access on the first page is very intriguing for students. Immediately, they want to check it out! I find that the layout and options are not overwhelming and students can navigate easily on the home page. There is a general search box but also a menu of subtopics in which students can search within to narrow their search. There is a dictionary and map link as well that is helpful.

Relation to similar works: The World Books we have are not as reader-friendly and definitely not as engaging with their small font and lack of bright and catchy illustrations. I prefer the online format.

Timeliness and Permanence: WBO Kids site is copyrighted 2010. There is no date of revisions or updates. However, as I mentioned none of the articles have a date. The citations provided at the bottom of each article are dated 2010 as well.

One thing I did notice was that while I was working with my grade 3 students on research of their province and territories, which the populations of each were from a census conducted in 2006. I openly discussed this with the students and asked what they thought about this. I asked them if they felt they should use it as their source for population or if they should consult a more recent resource such as our new series of books entitled, “Canada up close.” We decided that a copyright of 2009 would be more accurate for this specific information that we needed for our research. Then we discussed how certain subtopics like industries and size would not be so directly affected by changes over time. The WBO Kids would be sufficient for these other subtopics. These were great teachable moments!

Cost: Our district provides this online service.

Evaluation: I feel that WBO Kids is a very valuable resource. I like that it is safe and reliable especially for younger students. I use it as a starting point with many of my classes.

However, I feel it does have some limitations such as being very general and having brief articles but it gives students a feel for the subject and if they are required to look further, then that is acceptable. Depending on the subject, it may be all you need but if you are looking for something more current and ever changing, you most likely will need another source. This instills the idea that we must have a number of resources. I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing.

In my experience with World Book, it has shown the value of having a good, current and relevant book at your fingertips! It serves as a good reminder that books are indispensable even in the electronic age!

Wikipedia vs Encyclopedia

2010-02-13T22:53:00.000-08:00

I found the article very interesting on Wikepedia and I was quite surprised to hear about the Wikipedia’s distant cousin-the Oxford. I had no idea the process was so similar but it makes sense to me. As a teacher-librarian I find myself somewhat critical of Wikipedia and have never used it in my post graduate studies for research but it does surface with my students on occasion.

Upon reflection, I suppose I am not overly warm to the idea of using it, but I do acknowledge it and of course, it’s shortfalls. From reading the article, I also did not realize that the entries were as accurate as Harris reports. Honestly, I am not that familiar with it because I do not use it myself. However, I am reminded of being “with the times” and maybe I should consider getting to know it and working with wikipedia because it is so relevant to my students. I guess you could look at it like a new series of books that has swept over the kids. We read those books so we can remain current and are able to be part of the conversation with students; I guess this is the same thing. They are both important for being informed of relevant popular culture of the students we teach.

I really appreciated the 3 “rules” that Harris stated regarding the wiki enhancing research. I think doing some lessons on using the wikipedia would be very meaningful for students: learning to check our facts and verify sources. This connects really well with my scope and sequence I am developing with teachers at school in preparing students and going through the process of research with students. This would be very relevant and purposeful for the students, teachers and me. I have long decided that I need to teach students the proper way to use google because I know they will use it, so why not teach them some tools and tricks to use Wikipedia. This makes good sense to me.

One of my colleagues who is a fan of Wikipedia said to the students, “Most of the contributors of Wikipedia are very passionate about their subject and take pride in their entries.” I never thought much of it at the time, but maybe he was onto something there. Amazing how 1 article and some discussion around it can make you think so differently and open your mind to new possibilities!

The Berinstein article was a very interesting read and I appreciated how she provided both sides. For someone like me, who is relatively unschooled in Wikipedia, the information presented in this way was very informative. I now understand the goals of Wikipedia, as a community consensus type of information gallery that is ever changing. I did not know that there were a number of volunteers who monitor the entries and changes. I thought the idea of implementing a ten minute delay between submitting an entry and the actual online posting for open reading was a creative way to deter people from intentionally misusing the resource.

My initial perceptions of Wikipedia before reading this article were that it was far more chaotic and ruled by trouble makers with a foul agenda. I can now see that my perceptions were wrong. I also now see how the philosophy of Wikipedia is different from that of Brittanica.

One main thing I took away from this reading was that Wikipedia is a starting point, a legitimate and worthy source, but even Wikipedia community members would agree that it and any other source of information should be verified by checking other sources.

Evaluation of Reference Materials

2010-02-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

One of the many roles that the teacher-librarian plays in schools today is that of the “information resource specialist” whose main responsibility is to teach students skills to locate, comprehend, and evaluate information.

Before we can teach students these skills, we must evaluate and select reference materials for our collections. After reading about Reidling’s approach to evaluation of reference materials I was reminded of how I have many sources for reviewing resources but that most of those are focused on fiction, such as Novelist and other online sources such as Booklist. I was also reminded that reference materials should be as carefully selected and the same thoughtful reflection should be required in the process of evaluation, as it is with fiction. I appreciated the valuable sources for reviewing reference materials provided in the readings and on the course website. As my colleague, Joann Gorjanc stated on blackboard, "I can now look at my collection with the guidelines in mind, but I don't feel that I HAVE to follow them. Sometimes it's a matter of common sense, and knowing your audience. Input from experienced TLs is invaluable too." I too value my colleague's opinions and input about what works and what does not. In my district, we have a COTLA conference online where we are continuously asking for one another's recommendations. This is an invaluable resource!

Reidling advises teacher librarians to verify the authority and reputation of lesser known publishers. Upon reflection, when I am ordering and purchasing reference materials, I have my old standy-by’s that I trust and I look forward each year to see what they have that is new. However, I also find that there is a plethora of reference resources and informational text becoming available by publishers today. With the number of various materials available, this evaluation and selection criteria is critical.

This is an area in which I am focusing on in our library. I am striving to find reference and non-fiction resources that are accessible and readable for all of our students. In our district we have an annual publisher’s display event where we are able to peruse fiction as well as these types of reference materials. Just because it is new does not mean it is quality or organized in a student-friendly format. I find that there are many books and collections that are still not appropriate in terms of organization and accessibility.

As teachers plan research projects for their students they require support in obtaining print resources but they also need guidance in selecting online resources; this is where the classroom teacher connection to the teacher-librarian and the library program are essential for student learning. Teacher-librarians are crucial in ensuring that our school libraries have current, accurate, quality and engaging information books available for students. Jobe and Dayton-Sakari (2002) also suggest criteria for evaluating books which focus on content, writing style, visual appeal and ease of use. These authors also provide lists of award winners that have been recognized for meeting and exceeding the criteria for engaging information resources.

“With support, even young children can enjoy and understand informational texts; however, to successfully introduce young children to informational texts requires collaboration between the teacher-librarian and the classroom teacher” (Filipenko, 2005, p. 56).

Filipenko (2005) suggests two critical ways that a teacher-librarian plays a significant role in supporting young children in their information literacy development. First, teacher-librarians can develop a school library collection that includes non-fiction that ranges in interests and reading abilities of all students who attend the school. Secondly, teacher-librarians can work collaboratively with teachers to address skills and strategies that students need to acquire competence in information literacy.

Recently, there has been much research available in terms of helping teacher librarians to ensure that resources have appropriate content, organization and layout. Adrienne Gear(2008) provides educators with instruction in teaching reading power strategies that help students with comprehension of informational text . Gear provides invaluable lists of resources that highlight important non-fiction features and she also provides examples of authors who do not, for comparison and contrast.

One of my professional goals is to focus on continuing to build our collection of informational text and ensure that all of our students (K-6) have developmentally appropriate; quality information books to access that are rich, fascinating and compelling. I will be especially focused on books for primary students because this is the area that needs the most growth and attention in our library. In my prep program for primaries, I use Adrienne Gears Non-fiction reading power strategies to provide instruction in reading comprehension of informational text. I also plan to make a conscious effort to bring more non-fiction into the library read aloud program.

The suggestions provided by Riedling and other prominent sources are critical for teacher librarians because they establish guidelines for evaluating and selecting reference materials. Then educators such as Gear provide teacher librarians with important strategies for instruction in comprehending these resources. It demonstrates that teacher librarians play a significant role in this partnership that supports and scaffolds student learning in the area of informational text.

“This role is crucial in the information age when the ability to understand, evaluate and use informational text is central to success, and even survival, in advanced schooling, the workplace, and community” (Duke, 2000, p. 202).

References

Duke, N. (2000). 3.6 minutes per day: The Scarcity of informational texts in first
grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35, 202-224.

Filipenko, M. (2005). Building Young Children’s Comprehension of Informational Text Structures during Daily Read-alouds. In R. Doiron, & M. Asselin (Eds.), Literacy Libraries and Learning (pp. 56-64). Markham, ONT: Pembroke Publishers Ltd.

Gear, A. Non fiction Reading Power. (2008). Ontario, Canada: Pembroke Publishers.

Jobe, R., Dayton-Sakari, M. (2002). Info-Kids: How to use non fiction to turn reluctant readers into enthusiastic learners. Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers.

Riedling, Ann. (2005). Reference Skills for the School Library Media Specialist: Tools and Tips. Ohio,USA: Linworth Publishing,Inc.

Student Choice

2010-02-01T20:55:00.001-08:00

In the discussion area, we were discussing how much influence or control a teacher librarian should have on students choices for book exchange. I feel quite strongly about student choice. However, this does nto mean that I do not try and encourage students to try something new or different. For exampe, in Kindergarten today, a young boy picked 2 thick Star Wars novels for his choices. I had a discussion with him about who would be reading the books and did he have someone at home that would read them aloud because they were quite difficult. I suggested he take one of the 2 novels and choose something from the young readers section for his other choice. I find that usually children can see the reasons why they should make a different selection. However, some are insistent that they do what they want.

I have also had teachers request that I encourage students to only take books from the "Everybody" section as they have parents complaining about their book choices (too hard, too long). This usually is the case with grade 1 students. I do not feel like I am restricting the students with this request as we have developed a very nice, accessible section of non fiction including machines, animals, and many other popular topics.These books are readable for primary. I continue to add to this area and we also have moved these books from the nonfiction section of the library to the "everybody" section into labelled tubs for easy access for primaries. These books would hardly be used if they were in the other section, but by being visible and easy to access they are in high demand.

Another issue that I had that came to my attention when our new principal introduced Accelerated Reader as a program. Some teachers bought into it and some did not. What I found that I needed to do was increase the number of books allowed for students as I felt strongly that they should have more choice. AR is quite restricitve as the students have to stay within their colour and often they pick a book just because it is the right colour, they are not particularly excited about the book. This was a real issue for me but that is a whole other discussion. But in a nutshell, I found a way to provide students with more choice.

I think that libraries represent choice and that this is fundamental to ensure that it remains this way. We as TL's play a critical role in ensuring this happens!

Small Current Collection vs Big Outdated Collection

2010-01-31T15:44:00.000-08:00

In the discussion area one of the students posed a great question: Is it better to have a very small collection of current books or a very large collection of books that are outdated? I think the question is definitely not as black and white as it seems. The obvious answer it that a small and current collection is better but in reality when you have a teacher come into the library and request all the First Nations books for her next unit, how do you explain and defend your decision to have discarded most of the books? It is not as easy and simple as one would think.

I feel that there is respect and professionalism issues that come into play. From experience, I have had teachers jump on me about discarding "old" teacher resources or books from a particular topic area because as they say: "Yes, I know it's old but it's all I've ever used and now there is hardly anything there!" Teachers like to hold on to things and generally do not like things to be thrown away, especially books. What is missing from this issue is the respect for a TL's professional integrity and the desicion making that is required as part of our job. If we were to worry about making everyone happy we would have overloaded shelves with tattered books and old, inappropriate, unpolitically correct books lining the shelves. What needs to be considered is that TL's make the decisions for what is best for the collection and the patrons that use the library.

For example, It is not reasonable to keep a book on the Inuit who portray Inuits as Raw meat eating eskimos and contain valued judgements regardless of how well loved the book is. In this situation the book must be replaced as well as others like it. It is true that some books are out of print and cannot be replaced even if they are well-loved and appropriate but if it is falling apart we do our best to find something that will almost replace it.

I find weeding one of the most difficult parts of my job for all of these reasons and I am probably considered pretty conservative among my colleagues. However, you can second guess your decisions but I think that everyone does their best and that we must trust and respect each other's professional decisions. I don't think it is a matter of being right or wrong but as balanced as possible. For example, am I going to discard all the animal books that are considered outdated by their copyright date? Honestly, no I am not. It depends on each particular book as every book is different and would not meet the criteria for discarding. I would ask myself is this information relative, correct, appropriate? Is it displayed in a pleasing way? Is it readable for my students? Are there illustration that complement the topic and provide additional information? Does it circulate? Is it well-loved by the students?

In terms of reference materials like almanacs, atlases, etc I feel differently about them. I am okay with just having a few of these on hand, current and as up to date as possible. With the internet to complement these areas, we do not need heaps of these resources.

With books in the area of Science, for instance, Pluto books. I had a tough time letting go of all those fairly new and beautiful books on Pluto but I let them go because the information in them was no longer accurate. An instructor once said to me, "You do not want to let those books fall into kids hands and then they take what the book says as true. We can't rely on us to intervene and provide clarification because we are bound to miss someone. Then the child walks away from reading that book with incorrect information" This made good sense to me.

I find my colleagues offer differing points of view and I appreciate that. Bottom line, Teacher librarians are thoughtful and insightful individuals. This is what I strive to be, always thoughtful about my practice.

Reference Collection Standards

2010-01-29T22:56:00.001-08:00

In my first library course with a fellow colleague who was the instructor we became very familiar with this book as we were asked to do evaluate our libraries using the standards provided in the text. This was a challenging task because the standards are so high and it was hard not to be discouraged at the gaps that were highlighted in the process.

My observations during this reading were that in the preliminary discussion (pages 24-27) and what makes an exemplary, acceptable or below standard collection, I would feel very comfortable saying that our library is exemplary. However, when you read on and the standards become very detailed with numbers attached, my perspective changed.

The size of our collection is significantly lower than below standard. It is so interesting to think about the numbers because I felt that our library collection was quite large and relevant, meeting the needs of our staff and students. However our population has greatly increased over the years. The library steadily grows but this process takes time.

We have a very large percentage of non-fiction and fiction so we faired well in this area. I am currently working hard on developing the non-fiction section of our library. This will be ongoing as the publishers seem to be coming out with beautiful, readable, and captivating non-fiction for even the primaries each year.
In terms of reference materials: I purchased a set of new World Books 2 years ago. I also purchased a few copies of the newest atlases, almanacs, etc just to have some quality hard copies on hand in the collection. I still love how students enjoy holding an atlas in their hands and pour over the wonder of all the places in the world and how oceans separate the lands. Demonstrates the power of a good old fashioned book!

In many of the other area of periodicals, indexes, newspapers and non-print resources etc we are in the area of acceptable. Without looking at these numbers, I as others would think that are library was in pretty excellent shape but the numbers are harsh and my library report card would leave me feeling a bit discouraged. However, I realize that we need to continue to do our very best with the time and resources that we have and the knowledge we gain in this ongoing learning process. It is something to strive for, high standards of course and also a very good reminder of how we must be advocates for ourselves as TL’s and what we do, and also for our library collections. One would trust that those that can claim they are exemplary are exemplary advocates as well!

Research Models

2010-01-29T22:40:00.000-08:00

I find that students today need to have some structure or guidelines for research because of the plethora of resources available to them. It is my job to lead in the area of teaching information literacy skills and help support the teacher to best meet the needs of the students. In my experience, the intermediate students do not have as much "know how" as one might expect. They definitely need a lot of direction. People will say that kids today know way more than adults about all the information out there, how to access it and how to use computers and the latest technology. In my experience, this has not been true. When I surveyed my students at the beginning of this year, I was surprised at the results. Most students just used google for searching and few students used it for educational purposes. Most or almost all students across the board used the internet mainly for entertainment purposes.

After returning from a mat leave, a fresh new year, I could see I had my work cut out for me. Exciting yes, but a bit daunting when I acknowledged how much I felt the students needed to know and how much I felt responsible for teaching them. I formed a plan with input from teachers and student surveys. In consultation with teachers, I revised my goals and refined my lessons more than once. The teachers and I agreed that students needed some solid instruction and opportunities to build their skills before taking on a research project.

We collaborated and decided that lessons in internet safety would be a great starting point. We felt strongly that we did not want to assume that students know about how to be safe and smart online. From here we went into effective ways to search for information. Then onto evaluating the information we found. I integrate these lessons into the topics of study setting the stage for research and then ensuring students have the skills to use when we are immersed in the process of research. We are finding that working in this way is paying off because students are more prepared, they can utilize and demonstrate the skills that we have taught them and they are more successful in their research.

During the discussions one of my colleagues made some insightful comments in response to my posting. Glenna Colangelo stated: “We do need to break things down for them. I found a need to teach the students to take their reference information as the first step, then to take notes (another lesson) rather than copy the text! Writing in their own words has been another learning experience, as has organization. Also, using pics that are copy-righted is a problem. It's another lesson I must offer. I will have to reach the teachers first, though. When I mentioned the pics issue to one teacher I was told he did not have time for that! My last step will be to show the students how to prepare a reference page. For this, I have created a "fill in the blank" type form for the younger students to follow.”

Glenna’s comments gave me some things to think about. For instance, where do I go next? I am almost practicing “just in time” teaching. Her suggestions to move from my evaluation of information to note taking and combating plagiarism were very helpful. It would seem natural to use achieving excellence in writing strategies, although simplified to generate key words and sorting out information from important information. From here I will plan to create sentences stressing students use their own voice.

In terms of comparing the actual research models, I find the Research Quest model more accessible for students. I appreciate how the outline is designed around questions that students can ask themselves and it promotes critical thinking and allows students to make choices about the process of learning. When I reflect on the models, I can honestly say we don’t use any exact model. If anything we use the Quest model but it is more simplified for students. We may not use all of the questions but the process is very similar and the main ideas are the same. The overall goals are the same.

Reference Materials

2010-01-27T22:15:00.000-08:00

In one of the lessons we are asked to reflect on the standards that are listed in the AIL handbook. I am very familiar with this book as I purchased it for my first course. I am also not fond of how you feel after reading the exemplary standards for libraries. WOW! It makes you feel like you have soooooo...far to go to even begin to hope to meet the exemplary standards. Again, I revisit the book after 3 years in the program and I am still feeling so far behind. However, what I try to remember is that every library's and librarians circumstances are different, in terms of budgets, allocation of time, job assignments, etc are all critical factors in meeting exemplary standards. We are definitely striving to be exemplary but perhaps are exemplary looks differently in reality. We are doing the best with what we have to work with in so many ways. The most important piece to recognize is that we are meeting the standards for the library collections on page 24 which reflects a more theory based list of standards to strive for rather than a detailed table with numbers attached to it.

Reflections Collection Reflects a balance of print, non-print, electronic and digital resources: In our school we have classrooms that have VHS machines and finally DVD players. We have 2 DVD players that are circulated through the library. This becomes an issue in the library as to what type of recordings to purchase. In my opinion I feel that all of the classrooms should be equipped with DVD players or at least machines that have both options. In the past I have ordered both options of recordings to meet current needs but also plan for the future. We continue to replace the old vhs media with DVD's. This is a costly, time consuming and ongoing process.

Collection Supports the Curriculum:This is an area I have been working very hard to update and enlarge. I find that we still have areas that need addressing. There have been some great improvements but that the struggle is ongoing. For example, when I came to Watson we had two magnet books. This is not an area that has endless examples of books to buy. It is an area that you have to be vigilant about and buy books as they come out. We certainly have more than we did in the beginning but it is still not enough. Another area we have been working on is math/literature books which are also a school goal. I have been purchasing many books in this subject area and many were requests from teachers, new math programs/textbook suggested resources, professional development lists of books. We have also brought great improvements to the area of nonfiction. There seems to be more and more great stuff out there all the time. Publishers are onto the need for readable, engaging, beautiful nonfiction for the very young all the way up to intermediate. I am proud of how we have built this area of books into our library. It is my goal to pick some sections of the library just as that and build upon them.

Collection Contains professional materials:Our library contains these materials but I know for a fact that this is an area we need to build upon. All of the curriculum documents are current and there are some new resources but the definite majority of those resources are old. I think I just need to take the plunge and weed out that part of the library. However, I have tried to purge some of the resources and teachers get very concerned. I really don’t think anyone would miss anything. We have a tight storage space for teacher materials so it would be great to make some room for new and current materials. This is an ongoing process...little by little.

Information Services in my School

2010-01-18T21:48:00.000-08:00

I made many connections to the reading in module 1 and in the textbook regarding the state and perceptions of information services in schools today. When I surveyed my intermediate students about how they use the internet and technology the response was clearly that they use their computers mainly for entertainment, also known as "online games." I was really quite interested in the fact that students say they use the internet very little for research or educational purposes. When I asked what search engines or databases they used if they were needing information, they of course replied mostly with "google."

I have made it my focus this year to provide students with opportunities to learn, explore and develop their information literacy skills. I have created a number of lessons which integrate curricular topics such as internet safety, effective searching, beyond google search engines and databases, and website evaluation. It has been a great way to bring all of the intermediates into the library because it is an area where almost all of our teachers are not particularly comfortable and I am offering something different. Some of these same teachers have never been into the library to work collaboratively with me but they are lined up to sign up to work with me in the area of technology. I love it! It makes me feel like I am really supporting their needs and their students learning needs.

I certainly do not feel as though students are super stars when it comes to technology. Just because they are bombarded with it does not mean they understand it, are comfortable with it or know how to use it in a meaningful way. I think we as TL's are more needed now than ever! We need to use our skills and expertise to help teachers understand the importance of the information literacy skills needed today to be successful in this information age. I feel like my teachers are really getting that and they are appreciating the support that I can offer. This is awesome for TL's but it is also very daunting with all the "stuff" out there that we need to know and be "up" on. The fact that there is so many online databases and information services does not suggest that we be phased out. In fact, I think it suggests just the opposite. Students and teachers need TL's to guide, teach and provide opportunities for using information literacy skills in a purposeful way. However, it is clear that the recent and ongoing cuts to library and TL's that not everyone sees the fall out of these decisions. I have been lucky to have had quite reasonable and supportive administrators who are supporters of the library and it's program. I continue to remind myself that advocacy is key!

Reflections On My Learning in LIBE 462:Information Services

2010-01-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

I am looking forward to the content and discussion in this course as I feel this is an area in which I can really learn how to best support the teachers and students with information services and also improve my collection in the reference area. I find that the best discussions and recommendations come from peers and I find the online learning environment is a great forum for ideas and collaboration.

I believe this is the third or fourth blog I have set up for my courses in the teacher-librarianship diploma program. I did not start over but just added a new title, focus and series of entries for this particular course. I see it as an ongoing reflective journal in which I am documenting my learning through this entire diploma program.

In the first week we did some reading about the terms and definitions and what I found was most of the terms were familiar to me except for one in which I had never heard of "gazateers." In the discussion area it was apparent that many others felt the same. Some students were familiar with it and considered it an old term from way back when. I appreciated the glossary of terms as it is helpful to have a reference to the terms if you are reading and come across something you are unsure of. I did all of the reading in module 1 but I did not post my thoughts and reflections right away so now I need to go back and reread to refresh my mind and to get into a good space for writing. It takes a while to get back into a groove!

Reflections on My Learning in LIBE 465

2009-07-12T22:53:00.000-07:00

The discussion forum was the main form of communication between students in this course. It was a very valuable tool for expressing ideas, opinions and challenging ourselves to think critically about issues that were relevant in this course. I felt that my participation was good in the discussion area and the dialogue allowed me to have opportunities for meaningful connections between ideas and thoughts raised in the course and my everyday practice as a teacher-librarian.

Through writing this blog, I found that some of my teaching practices were affirmed but I also gained and learned much more from my colleagues and the professional reading about how I could contribute and play a significant role through organizing the library in an efficient and user friendly way. I have set some specific professional goals as a result, for my future teaching.

When I began this course I knew it was going to be challenging because it was an area in which I was unfamiliar. I always consider myself a “new” librarian because I feel I am always learning and this keeps the job fresh and exciting. It was a challenging but rewarding course as I feel I have gained much knowledge that I can apply and understand as I return to my position this September. I will be returning to the library after my second maternity leave. I was amazed how much my perspective changed over the duration of this course. Everything I am doing now is much more relevant. I truly believe this course will better equip me to reenter into the library more confidently. I have connected with many other teacher-librarians and learned much about how others organize their libraries. It was exciting to see how the Dewey decimal classification, Marc Records, etc. are related to what we are learning.

I am very comfortable with online courses as I recently completed my Masters in Education through the University of Calgary through Distance Education. I actually prefer this model of learning and teaching at this stage of my life. I feel that it is flexible and I do not mind working individually online rather than in a classroom when I have such a full home life. This is only my second on-line course through UBC and I definitely find it organized, logical and designed for student success. I do like the “discussion & chat” features for this course, but I find it takes a long time to read everyone’s comments. For this course, a group of five of us came together through email to share our learning and reflect with each other. I found this very helpful because I tend to remember things more after discussing them, and visually seeing how things are put together. This demonstrates that as an online distance student you can still create meaningful opportunities with other colleagues outside of a face to face classroom environment. I find this way of working to be moving with technology rather than against it. This makes learning much more rewarding and purposeful in my opinion.

The on-line activities were a nice way to gain and share information. Not having marks assigned to them, made it less pressure and more like a classroom learning and discussion period. In the beginning I liked how we got to reflect on our own library. It was good to have a starting point and begin to reflect on our own experiences.

I enjoyed looking at the different web sites and also listening to other opinions on them. I now have a website list, so when I am back in the library next school year, I can use them for reference and support.

For the Records activity, I must admit, I enjoyed looking at the LCC and DDC much more then the Marc Records. I found the Marc Records challenging and there seemed to be so many places for errors. I understood the DDC and the LCC, they made sense to me. I like the sequence and consistency, and I would feel confident in the library working with them.

I really found the website activity interesting. I so rarely get time to surf the web with a busy schedule. It is like a gift to be given the time to explore. It was nice seeing how other schools set up their website. The library website has always been something I have wanted to do but never made the time to accomplish it. I have some background and training in working with first class as I was the web administrator for our school website and I plan to focus on the library website and have it ready for September. Through this course I am going to make it my goal to create a library webpage and for assignment #3.

In the article review activity, I found it difficult to get to the articles. It took a lot of time to find the three articles. You realize the importance of searching tools and tricks and how helpful they can be. The articles showed different points of view regarding libraries and cataloging. I do believe libraries need to be up to date and leaders in the technology age. They have an opportunity to show how technology and literacy can come together and be effective.

One of the articles I read was by Borgan, Christine.Sandra Hirsh, Virginia Walter, and Andrea Gallagher. Children's searching behavior on browsing and keyword online catalogs: The Science Library Catalog project. January 31, 1995 from http://www.library.ubc.ca/home/proxyinfo/

I liked this article because it dealt with the issue of student’s ability to access information through the public school education system. We all want students to take the initiative to gain knowledge on their own, and this article focused on finding out if they have the skills to do this in the “Information superhighway” time. The results in a nutshell were; search times and matches were comparable with all systems and experiments. The more challenging topics on the SLC were those hard to locate in the hierarchy, and using the OPACs the challenges came in the spelling of search topics or generating their own search names. I think there will be concerns in any cataloging system, but at least there are people out there that are aware of the challenges and are consistently working to make it more easy and accessible.

The second article was by Sherman, Will. (2007). Are librarians totally obsolete? 33 Reasons why libraries and librarians are still extremely important. Teacher Librarian. October, 35, (1), 21-27. Retrieved Feb. 10, 2008 from https://revpn.ubc.ca/http/vnwilsonweb.com

This second article I wanted to do because I the title intrigued me. The opening remark was “MANY PREDICT THAT THE DIGITAL AGE WILL WIPE PUBLIC BOOKSHELVES CLEAN, AND PERMANENTLY END THE CENTURIES-OLD ERA OF LIBRARIES” (Blake 2005). That is a powerful sentence, then Sherman goes on to tell us 33 reasons why libraries and libraries are important. Some people believe that everything you need to know is on the internet. This is not true and you need libraries to get access to the hard copy.
You may need to pay to use the internet or the other services it provides. A library is free and open to anyone, not just those who have access to a computer.
The internet can get current information out quickly.
Digitalizing will take a long time, and until then it would be a disaster and will never entirely be true. The issue of copyright will effect whether information will be posted on the internet.
Libraries use technology; they use it to catalog their collections. Books, articles, magazines, etc. would be located by using the DDC. You can look for specific topics and know where to locate them. A search on the internet would probably lead to a library search. Since it could take 200 years to digitalize the millions of books now in print, libraries are very much needed.
Librarians provide so much to their patrons. Guiding and educating their visitors on what and where the information they may need is located.
Physical libraries are adapting to cultural change. They have been adapting to new technologies. Libraries also provide a meeting place for members.
Libraries are a stay place for information. Information on line can be tampered with. There always will be hackers.
“ Books and journals found in libraries have been published under rigorous guidelines of citation and accuracy and are thereby allowed into libraries' collections. These standards are simply not imposed on web sites”. For example: Wikapedia. This is another important reason why libraries are so important. Libraries are stable and there when you need them. You do not need to be educated on how to use them. Your public or school library is probably stocked by keeping your community’s needs in mind.
* I like the social interaction of a library, and the idea of having a paper copy to hold and interact with. Looking at a computer screen has its purpose, but as far as reading books, I like the hard copy. Are librarians totally obsolete? Absolutely not!

The third article was by Crawford, Walt. The Card Catalog and Other Digital Controversies. American Libraries 30:1 (Jan 1999), 52.

The article is about the debate over card catalogs and online catalogs, which is better. A man named Nicholson Baker, believed in the fight to keep the card catalog. Some of the results of the research were the idea of still using a card catalog is time consuming and takes up more space. Many people are just frustrated with computers replacing people. Many are intimated by technology because of their lack of education with computers. Librarians need to make themselves accessible for their users, and make sure they are there to assist them when needed. Libraries are often ahead of their users, which is fine as long as they understand the need to educate and be patient with others learning something new. Some think that cataloging is “passé”, others think it still counts. “Devaluing cataloging devalues the stuff being cataloged”. I like the idea of all information being equal.

Resources used in this class were helpful and sometimes overwhelming. My school did not have an up to date copy of the Abridged Dewey Decimal Classification and the Sears List of Subject Headings so I purchased them. I really liked how the book is organized, it would not matter where you are; everyone is guided by the same headings. Cataloguing with AACR2 and Marc 21 was very helpful when doing activities and assignments, but after talking to many teacher-librarians, they informed me that they would rarely have use for that. I enjoyed using the online tools such as the Library of Congress and Amicus. I am comfortable with information just being a click away. A lot of schools send books away and have someone do the Marc records for them. I tend to use a local service (NuMARC ran by a retired librarian) if I feel that I am becoming overwhelmed with the books needing to be catalogued and the books are taking too long to get into the student and teachers hands. I also will continue to order Marc records from the publishers that provide them with their books as it is so much more time efficient. I am glad I learned how to do it myself because I think it is important to understand the records. I also purchase many books at our local bookstore called Mosaic Bookstore. The service is great and they offer a 20% discount on all books purchased by librarians. They also will order in any books for you. However, no marc records are provided. This is a great example of why this knowledge will be so applicable in my job.

I believe a lot of the public do not value the library as much as I would like to see. Our library is rarely used by parents and the community, even after being invited on many occasions. I think people still believe it is only a place to sign out books and work on research. I hope to continue the effort to promote the library to staff, students, administration, parents, and the community. I plan to create a brochure that could either be mailed out in the summer or sent home in September. I will also use my new library website to pass along and highlight information about the resources in the library and its services. The goal is to promote the library, invite parents in, and provide basic information i.e.; library hours, website address, etc. The more they know about it, the more they will value it. It really is the heart of our school and just about all information or programs brought into our school are done so through the library.

Feedback from all of my peers regarding the organization of the library was very beneficial for creating a tools/resources list and for inviting dialogue about how to best set up the library in a user friendly way. This will be an ongoing and changing tool that will be very useful when I am developing and organizing the collection.

Finally, through developing my school library website I will build a reader friendly and effective learning tool for students, staff, and parents. The web page will be designed to foster information literacy, reference links, provide teachers with teaching resources, a place for students and teachers to discuss and recommend great books, locate and highlight resources in our collection and most importantly, to foster lifelong learning and a love for reading.

This course has affirmed for me that teacher-librarians play a critical role today in organizing and maintaining the library to support teachers with resources and provide opportunities for students to read, write, listen, interact with, comprehend, evaluate and create text which supports the goal of developing the wide range of student literacy skills needed in today’s technological and information age.

LIBE 465:Organization of Learning Resources

2009-05-09T22:53:00.000-07:00

As I begin this course, I honestly think that it will be one that will provide the steepest learning curve for me. Even though I am entering my seventh year of my role as a teacher-librarian, I still feel I have so much to learn and I do really feel like a "new" TL in a million ways.

As I perused through the content of this course, much of it I am reluctant to admit that I am strangely unfamiliar with. My focus is on cooperative planning, information literacy and prep. As I mentioned in my first activity, the library assistant does much of the cataloguing. This creates an issue in which I am not immersed in this particular work on a frequent basis, and like anything, you forget and are not comfortable with your knowledge or skills in the specific area.

I am looking forward to learning more about organization and cataloguing because I do feel that is an area of my position that I could learn more and improve my skills and the efficiency and organization of our library. I think returning to my position next year after my maternity leave with renewed confidence would be very energizing and exciting for me.

Perusing Articles and Websites

This was a very worthwile task as it gave me an opportunity to really immerse myself in the topic of cataloguing. It was somewhat overwhelming with all the terms but I did my best to bring the terms back and make a connection with the cataloguing process at my school. It made me realize how important access points are. I know that I find our cataloguing records often very frustrating as some of the older records are difficult to locate due to the way they were catalogued. I have done my best to make sure that all of the new resources are processed in a way that allows the users to be able to easily locate books in an efficient manner. There is nothing worse than knowing you have a resource but you just can't seem to find it because of the way it was catalogued. It shows you how important cataloguing is in making for users, especially students, to learn to be independent in the library.

Practicing DDC and LCC

My library assistant does most of the cataloguing in our library so I am appreciating the time that goes into creating the records. When I purchase resources I usually use ULS and other publishers that provide MARC records. However, I do use our local bookstore often which does not provide these records. I can see how a box of 50 books in which you have to do a lot of searching through Amicus or Library of Congress could demand much of your time.

An observation I made while practicing DDC and LCC was the difference in the call numbers between my school catalogue records and the one I created for this activity. I found my school catalogue to be quite simple and easy to understand.

When comparing the Okanagan Regional Library to my school catalogue and the records I created in this activity, I found the public library records very confusing. The MARC display had many numerical values and dollar signs that seemed unclear.

Although time consuming, I see how this is a valuable exercise to go through to understand the process.

Checking out Library Websites

I would be interested to see some specific elementary websites because that is my background and where I am currently a TL. I participated in the district training for website administrators and designed our school website using First Class about 4 years ago. I was responsible for (the updating and uploading newsletters, calendars and feature boxes which highlight events etc) every aspect of the school website. Originally I created the library page so it consisted of the online catalogue to search for books, hours of operation, goals and a poem. Very barebones! I have always wanted to develop the library page further. I appreciated being able to take some time to review other school websites. There just never seems to be enough time to do this.There are many ideas that I liked from each of the websites that I could see bringing to our website. This has definitely inspired me to be thoughtful about how I can improve our library page and create an informative and user friendly website that highlights the library and all it has to offer. I am curious to know if this would be a worthy activity for the final assignment in which we are to improve the organization in our library?? It will be a goal for me to develop the school library page during my Diploma program. It would be ideal to work it into my course work!

Delving Into MARC Records

As I attempt to begin assignment #2, I am immersing myself in reading about MARC Records, reviewing teacher examples, practicing myself using the examples as a guide and it is beginning to make some sense to me. The type of learner I am is that I have to start from the beginning and I knew I needed to do the background reading first before looking at the examples as I knew I would be completely lost. So as I read the information on the MARC website suggested within the lesson, I began to feel that there really was a purpose for all of this time consuming work. I like to think of MARC language as computer language. My understanding is that to put all of the fields and codes in English would take up far too much space so MARC has simplified it into computer "talk." After the reading, I let myself take a peek at the teacher's example and it started to begin to make sense. I tried looking at part of the example and then I would try and do the next section on my own and then look back and compare my work to the example provided. Wow! This is a very time consuming assignment but you have to make the time to work through the process and understand it. Next I will tackle Part B!

Muddling Through Assignment #2

Myself and three other students from Kelowna ended up creating an email study group for this assignment. This seemed to alleviate some of the daunting cloud hovering over this assignment. We were able to help one another, clarify understandings and learn together which in turn helped to lighten the workload. I found the assignment challenging and very time consuming. Fortunately I knew others taking this course, and I directed my questions to them. One challenge I found was writing the bibliographies to go with DVD’s and on-line resources. I checked a few web sites, but many had a different way of doing the bibliographies. There was so much room for error in this assignment. It demanded time and a very careful eye to make your way throught the exercises. I continued to use the examples provided as guides and compare my own work to them to see if I was on the right track. It was valuable to have a few of each type of exercise to complete as the first of each one was usually very slow and tedious for me. Then I was able to make it through more effeciently as I moved along. Wow! Did I mention this was very time consuming?

Reflections on My Learning in LIBE 463

2009-03-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Writing this blog has been both reenergizing and inspiring to me and has challenged my own thinking about what my role as a teacher-librarian is in education today. I feel that through this course I have established a clearer sense of my role and how I can support my fellow colleagues and students at my school. I feel as though the question, “What is my role?” has been posted on my computer desk, on my visor and on my ceiling these past few years as I made my way through the completion of my masters program and now as I work towards my teacher-librarianship diploma. I needed to read, listen, discuss, reflect and learn about where I could make a significant difference in student learning and develop my strengths and abilities as a teacher-librarian.

Education is changing in today’s technological and information age. The role as teacher-librarians is changing as well. Education is facing challenges that require the skills and strengths of a teacher-librarian to be a critical part in learning today. The TL is in the ideal position to play a crucial role in supporting teachers in teaching students how to develop adequate reading and writing skills and opportunities to explore the multitude of texts available to them. Teacher-librarians can provide teachers with the support and resources they need and work collaboratively to provide students with learning opportunities to work with text in meaningful ways.

One of the many roles that the teacher-librarian plays in schools today is that of the “information resource specialist” whose main responsibility is to teach students skills to locate, comprehend, and evaluate information. “This role is crucial in the information age when the ability to understand, evaluate and use informational text is central to success, and even survival, in advanced schooling, the workplace, and community” (Duke, 2000, p. 202).

“With support, even young children can enjoy and understand informational texts; however, to successfully introduce young children to informational texts requires collaboration between the teacher-librarian and the classroom teacher” (Filipenko, 2005, p. 56). Filipenko (2005) suggests two critical ways that a teacher-librarian plays a significant role in supporting young children in their information literacy development. First, teacher-librarians can develop a school library collection that includes non-fiction that ranges in interests and reading abilities of all students who attend the school. Secondly, teacher-librarians can work collaboratively with teachers to address skills and strategies that students need to acquire competence in information literacy.

Lee (2005) stated that:
Inherent in the concept of information literacy are the reading and writing skills taught in traditional literacy programs all teachers teach reading, including teacher-librarians. When teacher-librarians help students with research projects, teaching effective online searching skills, how to write project reports, and other information-based activities, they are really teaching reading and writing within the context of information literacy. ( p. 65)

The need to be information literate is a joint responsibility of teacher-librarians and classroom teachers working collaboratively. As teachers plan research projects for their students they require support in obtaining print resources but they also need guidance in selecting online resources; this is where the classroom teacher connection to the teacher-librarian and the library program are essential for student learning. Teacher-librarians are crucial in ensuring that our school libraries have current, accurate, quality and engaging information books available for students. Jobe and Dayton-Sakari (2002) suggest criteria for evaluating books which focus on content, writing style, visual appeal and ease of use. These authors also provide lists of award winners that have been recognized for meeting and exceeding the criteria for engaging information resources.

Teacher-librarians can assist teachers in finding the best resources for them and their students such as books, appropriate websites that complement a study and internet sites that address learning and teaching with technology. Teacher-librarians and classroom teachers can cooperatively plan units of study and work collaboratively to construct opportunities to develop information literacy such as defining questions for the purpose of research, finding appropriate search tools and resources, assessing and evaluating those resources and representing their learning in their own voice and style. By collaborating for instruction, teachers and teacher-librarians can better provide students with opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to become information experts.

The discussion forum was the main form of communication between students in this course. It was a very valuable tool for expressing ideas, opinions and challenging ourselves to think critically about issues that were relevant in this course. I felt that my participation was good in the discussion area and the dialogue allowed me to have opportunities for meaningful connections between ideas and thoughts raised in the course and my everyday practice as a teacher-librarian.

Through writing this blog, I found that some of my teaching practices were affirmed but I also gained and learned much more from my colleagues and the professional reading about how I could contribute and play a significant role in student learning and I have set some specific professional goals as a result, for my future teaching.

In the discussion area we focused on evaluating our own collections and these activities were very valuable in determining what the needs are in my library and to formulate a plan to address them. My main goal is to build our collection of informational text and ensure that all of our students (K-6) have developmentally appropriate; quality information books to access that are rich, fascinating and compelling. I will be especially focused on books for primary students because this is the area that needs the most growth and attention in our library.

Feedback from all of my peers regarding selection tools was very beneficial for creating a tools/resources list on my blog under discussion reflections. This will be an ongoing and changing tool that will be very useful when I am developing the collection.

The discussions on blackboard regarding filtering and censorship affirmed the importance of focusing on teaching staff and students safe and smart internet use. This will be a goal I will prioritize and I am excited to use some of the great teaching ideas and resources that I gained from my peers in this course.

In the discussion area I discussed how as librarians, we are in the ideal position to teach students how to use the internet in a responsible way and to search for quality information. Our role is to provide students with opportunities to develop their skills in information literacy. These skills will help them make choices about what they search for, read and make critical judgements. I think the role of the teacher librarian is to do our best to help dispel fear and panic about the internet and kids. We have a great opportunity to share our expertise about the web with parents, teachers and kids. Our job should be to focus on promoting critical thinking, discussion and understanding among our students.

One of the other important issues that we should consider is educating our parents about keeping their children safe and being smart about using the internet. In reflection, I have some excellent websites on my school website but chances are, the majority of parents do not even look at them. It would be beneficial to send home a newsletter addressing some of these issues in detail, providing websites to refer to for current information. Another idea would be to host a parent information evening and take them through the websites and answer any questions.

These issues are also pertinent to getting teachers to understand the importance of developing students’ information literacy skills and the value of coming to the library to work cooperatively with the librarian. “Given the limitations of filtering technology, the best way to protect children is to teach them how to use the internet. A software program simply cannot do that.” (New York Times, 1998)

Finally, through developing my school library website I will build a reader friendly and effective learning tool for students, staff, and parents. The web page will be designed to foster information literacy, provide teachers with teaching resources, a place for students and teachers to discuss and recommend great books, locate resources in our collection and most importantly, to foster lifelong learning and a love for reading.

Teacher-librarians play a critical role today in supporting teachers with resources and providing opportunities for students to read, write, listen, interact with, comprehend, evaluate and create text which supports the goal of developing the wide range of student literacy skills needed in today’s technological and information age.

References

Agee, J. (2003a), "Selecting materials: a review of print and online resources", Collection Building, Vol. 22 No.3, pp.137-40.

Doiron, R. & Asselin. M., (Ed.). (2005). Literacy, Libraries and Learning: Using books and online resources to promote reading, writing and research. Markham, ONT: Pembroke Publishers Ltd.

Duke, N. (2000). 3.6 minutes per day: The Scarcity of informational texts in first
grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35, 202-224.

Filipenko, M. (2005). Building Young Children’s Comprehension of Informational Text Structures during Daily Read-alouds. In R. Doiron, & M. Asselin (Eds.), Literacy Libraries and Learning (pp. 56-64). Markham, ONT: Pembroke Publishers Ltd.

Jobe, R., Dayton-Sakari, M. (2002). Info-Kids: How to use nonfiction to turn reluctant readers into enthusiastic learners. Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers.

Lee, E. (2005). Teaching Reading Strategies to Build Information Literacy. In R. Doiron, & M. Asselin (Eds.), Literacy Libraries and Learning (pp. 65-80). Markham, ONT: Pembroke Publishers Ltd.

Sanacore, Joseph. “Teacher-Librarians, teachers and children as co builders of the library Collection”. Teacher-Librarian, 14811782, Jun2006, Vol.33, Issue 5.

Schrader, Alvin M. (1998). Internet censorship: Access issues for school librarians in a cyberspace world. Education for all: Culture, reading and information. Selected papers. 27th International Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship, Ramat-Gan, Israel, July 510, 1998. Eds. Snunith Shham and Moshe Yitzhaki. IASL, 1998, pp. 189-210.

Collaboration... A Happy Beginning

2009-03-04T21:48:00.000-08:00

When I read the posts of some of my classmates regarding cooperative planning and the role of the TL, I was eager to jump into the discussion. From my earlier posts on my blog I can see how collaboration and my role as a TL has evolved at my school. This blog has given me the opportunity to reflect on my learning experiences and to provide focus and direction for my role as a TL and leader in the school. I wanted to share my experiences with my peers and I continue to learn from them as well.

Things were really changing at my school when the lab was dismantled from the library. I was on maternity leave at the time but I was excited about coming back to the flexibility and possibilities in the library.

At this time I also started taking courses towards my teacher-librarianship diploma. At this time in my career it was an excellent example of how important professional development is. There is something to say about "learning on the job" but PD is so powerful when combined with being in the job and applying that learning.

One of the things that resonated with me from that course was the significance of being an advocate for the library and for your role as a TL. I became very concious of being a strong advocate and brought this into the library right at the beginning of the year. I was very driven to reach my goal of bringing more collaboration into the library every year and this was the year where I hoped to feel like I was finally getting there. My goal was to try and work with as many classes as I could in some meaningful way in the library and to recruit new staff that were reluctant and had not worked with me before. The way I pursued the goal was by being clear and direct with the staff that this was my goal. I approached cooperative planning by asking teachers, "How can I support you?" I explained that the flexibility created in the library would open up more opportuniteis for me to work collaboratively with them and their students throughout the year.I proposed that there was more to do than just the basic research project in the library. We could create flexible groupings so that they could better meet their students needs, great possibilities for split/combined classes, and enrichment. I intentionally sought out opportunities and brought ideas to teachers.

The library had never been buzzing more with all different kinds of learning happening through out the year. I was working with a Gr 4 teacher with integration of technology in math and social studies, Gr6 teacher with research on energy sources and ppt as the presentation format, Gr 5 students on Hanna's Suitcase, Gr 5/6 and 4/5 split into grade groupings and I completed a research project on the Human Body Systems using Adrienne Gear's Nonfiction study, Gr 1/2 and 2/3 and I took the grade 2's and completed a research project on animals and created a class book of wonders, Grade 1 and 2 enrichment groups created a research project in the format of ppt modelling a nonfiction storybook, and a Gr 2 autobiography project.

It's interesting how when you really work hard at something, something else can be impacted in a negative way. Well in my case I was very busy and engaged with the cooperative planning but I was also doing alot of prep and running clubs such as Battle of the Books and Red Cedar and enrichment clubs and activities. I had squeezed so much into my schedule that I had sacrificed some of my admin/prep time. This is something I definitely need to address for next year so I am able to sustain a solid and strong library program.

At the end of the year, what I found was that my persistence and patience had finally been rewarded by seeing and experiencing the changes. I had met my goal which was that the staff was finally seeing the value of a TL and the abundant opportunities available to them through the library. It was definitely a great starting point and something to work from, it's just the beginning, but a happy beginning.

Leading Change

2009-03-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

There was a great discussion started on blackboard regarding the collaborative role of the teacher-librarian.

When I look back to my first year in the library, everything looked very different from what it is now. We had different administration and the TL component of my job was only .6 and I was scattered all around the school doing a multitude of different intermediate prep. Then and only then did I make my brief appearance in the library for "book exchange day." I have to admit I did love those Wednesdays as I loved being present in the library and feeling like a librarian at least for a day!

In my crazy schedule I was provided with two afternoons a week for cooperative planning. The computer lab was in the library at this time so the lab was booked to capacity on those days. So the library cooperative units had to work around the lab schedule which was "written in stone." Basically the only time you could work with a teacher would be during their computer lab slot which was a measly 40 minutes once a week. You might be lucky enough to borrow another time from the teacher before or after you, but lab time was hard to come by so people were not offering. Also I found that I was basically a lab techy troubleshooting on those afternoons as those old Macs were notorious for having glitches. So much for cooperative planning!

Unfortunately, I don't recall anything amazing or extremely memorable in terms of cooperative planning that year. I teamed up with one eager teacher to do a penguin webquest and I worked with some others in their classrooms on research and a science unit because we just could not physically be in the library because of the computer lab schedule. In the first few years at my school it was clear that cooperative planning was not a common practice. My understanding was that it was not something that happened in the past and teachers were reluctant because of the time commitment, afraid it would be more work and honestly the rigid schedule did not work well for anyone.

In my third year we had a new administrator and the changes were far reaching. I was no longer spread out around the school. I became the primary prep teacher focusing on integrating literacy and technology within the library. This is where I remember a very rewarding and memorable cooperative experience. The grade 2's were divided into flexible groupings according to ability for a specific and consistent period of time. The grade 2 teachers worked with the children who needed specific and direct support. The principal and I worked with a group on a travelling journal writing project based on the book and character "Flat Stanley." The collaborative project was an example of how great things can come out of a cooperatively planned learning experience. As a team of teachers working together we all experienced the benefits of working cooperatively for us and the students and saw the potential of creating other opportunites to work collaboratively again.

In my fourth year even more remarkable changes occured in our school. Our computer lab was dismantled in the library and was replaced with laptop carts that moved from classroom to classroom. This was a huge win for the library as we always had an ongoing competition between demand for the library and the lab and it was very difficult to teach in the same area simultaneously. We also proposed changes in the schedule to move to a more open sign up system. The reasoning behind it was to encourage more meaningful use of the technology and to allow people to use the computers more than once a week in a specific block and time. Also the primaries were more supportive when their computer time would be a prep provided by the prep teacher. The intermediates found the system worked well for them as they often completed projects which are ongoing and condusive to having more computer time.

It was evident at this point of my career that I was a leader in my school. As the librarian, I have had to play a large part in proposing, introducing and leading change in the library and the area of technology at my school.

A Willing Learner

2009-02-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

When I reflect on my learning in the library, I have to take a step back and remember where I started. What a journey it has been.

Upon coming to Kelowna from Alberta, I did some TOC'ing and then a short contract as an LAT. I then interviewed for my first full time position. I had no experience and the job description presented to me was completely overwhelming. I remember sitting across from the principal and him describing the librarian position which also included being a lab administrator(lab in the library), intermediate prep teacher including French, Drama, Art, and CAPP and also the gifted-enrichment coordinator. At the time, I did not know which part of the job overwhemed me the most. I was honest and explained I had no experience in most of those areas, after all, I was a classroom teacher for four years in Calgary.

At my previous school in Calgary, the TL was a classroom teacher with a .1 component of library. The books were outdated, the space was not inviting and the library was rarely staffed. We booked our book exchange whenever the library assistant was there which was not often. We read stories in the story corner to our own students.

In the interview I remember the principal saying that he would be hiring me as a "willing learner" and that he did not expect to be able to find someone who had experience in all of these areas of this diverse role in this school. I considered for a brief moment not taking the job but then accepted the offer with the mindset that I needed to get my foot in the door. It didn't help to hear rumblings about how the past TL decided not to return and the school had been inindated with TOC's for the first three weeks of school. Teachers and students were anxious to get into the library and the lab and were understandably all a little thin on patience. Here I come in , a new ,young, enthusiastic TL with zero experience. Needless to say, I did not have the warmest reception. I almost get those old butterflies thinking about the atmosphere way back then. We have come along way. I have come along way! I remember the first week I was just getting buried and feeling like I had no idea of what was expected of me in the library as I had very little time when I was actually physically in there. The principal freely admitted he had no idea of what the TL did and was quite irritated with all my questions. I had not signed the contract yet and wondered if I was doing the right thing.

Then out of the blue, the principal came to see me at the end of the week with a much more gentle approach and asked me to give him 3 things he could do to help. I replied that the biggest thing I needed was some time to speak with a fellow TL to get a sense of what my role was and he suggested he arrange an opportunity for me to meet a TL at a nearby school who would possibly be a mentor to me. That was like a gift! She arrived at my door at the end of the day, with a smile to boot. From there we arranged times to meet and opportunities for me to jobshadow. I remember just trying to absorb everything. What did a librarian and a library in action "look" like? It was a real eye opener. What an all encompassing job!But now as well as being overwhelmed, I was also excited about the challenge. I signed the contract and carried on as a willing learner.

Reflections on Discussions

2009-01-19T22:40:00.000-08:00

What if we ignored balance?

I think that spending our collection funds solely on areas/topics that teachers use for collaboration could be quite problematic. I can see the benefit of having a healthy range of books for those specific topics. However, what if these teachers switch grades or leave the school? The librarian definitely wants to have the books and resources for the topics we teach or are planning on doing a collaborate unit with .When I taught Human Body Systems for the first time in the library with all of the grade 5's so the teachers could work with their grade 6s, I definitely replenished the books in that area. I found that many of the books were really difficult to read so I searched for books with the readability factor.This was really important for student research projects. I know that all other students (all grade 5's and more)will benefit from these books as well.

My goal is to get teachers into the library, especially the ones that only come for exchange. It is these teachers that I need to get on board. I think the goal is to have a rich selection of resources to compliment curricular areas. This way you can sell your services and have the resources to back you up.

Graphic Novels

When I returned to the library from my year mat leave I could not believe the popularity of the Bone series. The TL that was in for me was actually doing a lottery draw to see which student would be able to take the books out. We had multiple copies(2)of each but we couldnt keep them on the shelf. I found that last year interest was still there but not at all like the year before. I find this is always an issue with popular culture. For instance, the Lizzy Macquire series or High School Musical. These books are popular for a while and then they sit collecting dust on the shelves. It is challenging because you want to have the excitement and enthusiasm that creates that buzz in the library when students visit but you know that many of these books are just fads and do not have any staying power.So yes I am always on the look out for new, engaging graphic novels and think they are a great resource to engage reluctant readers. I would be interested to see a list or recommended titles in this genre. I did purchase a few new titles from ULS to see what they were like and found that the ones I picked just were not appropriate for our school, they were more for middle or high school so I sent them back.

I find that some of the books that students enjoy are not my favourites but I really do think we can hook the reluctant readers with these books even if they are not of the best writing quality. That is a whole other conversation as well: Having books in the library that are not what we would consider quality books. I think these many of these books appeal to a certain audience and that we should have them as well as the award winners. I think that is what is so great about a library:choice! Something for everyone is the goal.

Reflections on Henri Article

I related to the comments about providing teachers and librarians with more professional development to better equip ourselves for these changes and innovations in technology.

Our district seems to be fairly current and progressive with technology implementation. However, many staff members feel that professional development opportunities are not keeping up with the changes. As I mentioned in my post that even though we have all the equipment, it does not mean that it is used as it was intended or in a meaningful way.

I also am in a position where I do prep as part of my role. The prep that I do really cuts into my library schedule and although it has improved over the years, it is still an issue. I think this is where an administrator really has to support information literacy and have the librarian in his/her vision as a key player. These attitudes are reflected in the duties that are assigned to the librarian.

Even though it is disappointing, I feel that at my school, my role will always include being a prep teacher. I have done my best to try and bring the library into my prep so I feel that I am addressing information literacy skills with the primary students that I teach.

What resonated with me in this article is that change in education is evident but it is slow and often very difficult for those involved. It highlights that change is extreme today in so many areas such as technology but in teaching, change is often resisted. Henri poses the question: “So where are these new ways being learned?” One would think that the answer should be: in schools.

I think our school is more an industrial model but in some ways it is working towards being an information driven interdependent model. Our principal has brought in some new ideas that would encourage change in the way we work and encourage collaboration. For example the teaching staff all have common preps at each grade level to allow teachers to plan together or have professional discussions. However, it seems that this time is not usually used to work collaboratively. Working in this way takes a major mind shift in how you teach and it is not something that happens quickly or easily. We have many teachers on staff that are very comfortable working in their own room with the door closed but we also have teachers who are excited to work with someone like the teacher librarian. It is definitely a real mix of personalities and philosophies at our school.

The principal has also brought in many software learning technologies for students which have not been widely accepted. We are also a laptop school which creates many opportunities for flexible and creative learning but it is not necessarily used in this way. The primary students use the laptops in a lab setting and the use of them is directed mostly by the computer prep teacher. This is an example of the technology being way ahead of the people that are to use it. Just the fact that we have the latest and the greatest technology does not mean that it will be embraced or used in the way intended.

Our staff has a range of comfort levels with technology and this is reflected in our weekly sign up schedule. We designed the schedule in a different way a few years ago because we have such a growing school and the hope that people will think about technology in a new way. We set it up as a sign out so that people could sign up as needed and use multiple blocks if necessary. The logic is it is very difficult to do anything meaningful with a 30 or 40 minute block once a week.

Another significant change that Henri refers to as isolation and inappropriate use of specialist teachers reflects what the teacher librarian position was at my school for the first few years. I was covering so many subjects in prep for other teachers that I was rarely in the library except for book exchange day. There was no room at all for any kind of cooperative planning. This has been changed with the new administration and the library looks much different now. It’s not perfect, but we are moving in the right direction.

Upon reflection of my school and how we handle change I can definitely see how the principal must be the key leader in the driving force of change but I think the staff must be on board in order to create real lasting and meaningful change. Beyond having a collection development policy, is it possible that if librarians and staff were to work with the resources in the collection in a more collaborative way, students would learn in more meaningful ways?

In addition to administrators, librarians are in an optimal position to be leaders in change in our schools as well. It is hoped that we work closely with the most current technology (this differs in terms of budgets in each district and school of course) and resources that are needed for optimal learning. We also have opportunities to work collaboratively with teachers and to share our learning and successes with our colleagues. Librarians have the skills to teach students how to develop and use information literacy skills to be competent and confident in today’s technological world. We can share our skills and inform the staff of the need for information literacy skills for students of this generation. This makes us a critical team player in schools today.

Reflections on Collection Development

Collection Development Policies: Reflection
When I started thinking about this activity, I contacted our teacher librarian organizations president and she informed me that at one time we did have a district policy but it's not a written policy anymore. This policy was removed from the handbook a number of years ago. However, the guiding principles for TLs in the district remain the same:

"The selection of learning resources is the ability to apply basic principles of evaluating learning material, with the purpose of developing a collection which will support the instructional program in the school. The teacher-librarian is able to:

1.6.1 develop policies and procedures for selecting materials which meet curricular, informational and recreational needs
1.6.2 implement criteria for evaluating the selecting of a wide range of resources
1.6.3 use a variety of professionally prepared aids and reviews which evaluate learning resources
1.6.4 develop "consideration for purchase" files of book and other media
1.6.5 supervise the ordering and acquisition of all resources
1.6.6 classify and catalogue new materials where required "

When I reviewed these principles I was relating them to my experience and to my own policy at my school. I found these principles to be quite vague. However, they do provide the TL with autonomy in decision making. My policy could definitely use some refining but it gives me guidance and it is easily adaptable to changes in needs and goals within the library and the school.

In the first point of the principle list, I feel that my policy could be more detailed. Are there standard criteria/rubrics to evaluate materials to let us see if we really are meeting curricular, informational and recreational needs, other than referring to a document such as the exemplary standards put forward by the Canadian Association for School Libraries? Are there others who could elaborate on this? I would be very interested in reviewing some of these criteria if other TLs have created some or are using a specific model. I would also like to hear from others as to how they go about the consideration for purchase files. I have a folder which is very informal and I am sure there are other ways to organize this in a more efficient way.
Here is my collection development policy:

Guidelines for collection development:
-Sufficient number of resources (approx. 25 items per child)

-Balanced variety of genre, interest, point-of-view and readability levels

-Collection should demonstrate a balance between print, non-print, electronic and digital resources
-Collection should contain professional materials on learning theories, teaching practices, curriculum documents and innovative, relevant discourse
-Outdated and “well-loved” materials must be regularly weeded
-Ensure discarded “well-loved” books are replaced if possible (sometimes out of print)
-Ensure reference materials are current and relevant
-Collection should display multiple points of view
-Replace lost books
-Clear policies regarding censorship and challenged resources are in effect

-Reflects the needs and goals of the school (ex. Math integration story books)

-Book fair proceeds are used to replenish and stock our library book draw collection (Buy through Scholastic or Mosaics Bargain Books) and to support special projects
-Provide staff with regular updates on collection development
-In the year end report for the principal determine what type of resources were purchased, what was weeded out/replaced and the cost of this process, mention goals for the following year

Short Term Goals
2008-2009
-Continue to regularly weed collection and replace “well-loved” or lost books
-Ensure all reference materials are current and relevant, replace any outdated materials
-Continue to build fiction/non-fiction sections of the library by purchasing new books
-Build popular areas like dinosaurs, trucks, magic, optical illusions, drawing, and pets/animals
-Continue to build curricular areas like magnets, Canada, space, explorers, community, forests, etc.
-Build on magazine section for students
-Purchase a subscription for local newspaper(s)
-Build non-print resources such as posters, charts, art prints, etc
-Build electronic/digital resources
-Develop Catalogued WWW sites
-Focus on purchasing more curricular related DVD’s and replacing VHS recordings with DVDs
-Focus on purchasing relevant, innovative and current professional development materials
-Possibly purchase professional periodicals such as Teacher Librarian, Educational Leadership, Reading Teacher or Technology and Learning

Long term goals for all library collections
Exemplary Standards
*Adapted from the Canadian Association for School Libraries

-15-30% fiction and 70-85% non-fiction/reference
-Reference materials should be no older than 5 years
-Copyright dates within the last 10 years: 80% or more of the collection
-45 plus periodicals
-Access to newspapers or full text news source data bases
-Build non-print resources such as posters, charts, art prints, etc
-Build electronic/digital resources such as CD –ROMs
-1 reference data base, 5 curricular programs, electronic encyclopedias, internet access, presentation software and word processing software
-Networked library catalogue
-Catalogued WWW sites
-Interactive circulation program (OPAC)
-Videos/DVDs should be 400 plus

Hands on Resource Selection

The Digestive System by Darlene Stille Series: A True Book

The book is well written and reads aloud well. The language is reader friendly, considering human body systems is a grade 5 topic.

I found this book excellent for research with my grade five students and a good resource to use when teaching skills from the program Achieving Excellence in Writing.

The author writes in a style that is captivating and interesting. The audience can learn about the digestive system because it is written in a simple way that makes it inviting for a wide range of readers.

It makes relevant comparisons that students can relate to and easily imagine. This helps in the comprehension of the text and content. The headings are nicely laid out with a large font which catches your eye. It provides simple and easy to understand diagrams and captions on almost every other page to aid in comprehension of the text. It is set up in an appealing way with colourful captions that stand out against the page.

It has a table of contents which is important to direct the students to the parts of the book that they may need. At the back of the book it has a section of additional resources such as: books, organizations and internet websites. It provides an important words/glossary section and an index.

The readability level according to the Fry method is grade four.

Oceans Alive-Manatees by Ann HerrigesSeries: Blastoff Readers

This is a new series that I purchased last school year to develop our non fiction section for primary students.

This book is designed in a very appealing way with beautiful and real photographs of manatees that capture the interest of students and all readers.

It offers some repetition of high frequency words an appropriate amount of text and varied simple sentences.

It provides a table of contents at the beginning of the book to direct the reader. Important words are highlighted in bold font to bring them to the attention to the reader. It provides simple labels to identify important parts of the manatee. It provides a glossary at the back of the book to define important words.

It gives recommendations of books and websites to learn more about manatees using additional resources. It also provides an index and the back of the book.

I really liked this series because it was non fiction that was interesting to our young readers and they could be successful in reading the text. It has been a goal in the library to build our non fiction collection in the area of primary because much our non fiction was heavy in text and difficult to read.

I used this series to do research with a grade two group and found it to work fairly well. One of the drawbacks in this book was that it did not feature any information on lifecycle/babies.

According to the Fry Readability method this book is grade two level.

World Book Online Reference Center and World Book Kids

The website has many features or tabs such as: Search. Atlas, dictionary, encyclopedia, Educator’s tools, and Explore British Columbia.

I looked at the encyclopedia tool because this is one of the tools I use with my grade 3-6 students in the library. I chose to search Nunavut. It has a table of contents with active links, maps of Nunavut, a table with brief facts, pictures and related information links.

There is also an option where you can choose to have the information read aloud. This would be a great option for younger students. I found that the site offered all the information that would be needed or of interest when researching a topic such as Nunavut. It is an appealing layout and the non fiction features are effective in maintaining your attention.

World Book Kids is a reference site that gives you access to search tools for people, places, animals, science and math, plants, history and government, arts, world religions and sports and hobbies.

It also has maps, dictionaries and activities. It is much more reader friendly than the reference version above. The language is simple and the font is larger and easier to read.

There are photographs and captions with sound bytes available.

There is a table of contents to help orientate the reader.

I chose to do a search on manatees and see if I could get some further information about lifecycles, which was not available in the book above. The information on manatees was limited. They provided a description of a manatee and a picture but other information on the animal was not available.

Weeding

A book that I would weed from the collection is Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl. This is a book in fair condition in our library but not appropriate in content for an elementary library. The following comes with an advisory! One of the poems is very derogatory towards women in its language and illustrations. Some offensive words such as “slut” and “bitch” are used in this one particular poem.

One illustration depicts a male chopping a females head off. I was concerned when a colleague brought the book to me. She was our assistant principal and she was reading this poem aloud after picking it randomly to share with a grade three class. She was covering a class for a fellow teacher who suggested she read some poems from Dahl’s book.

I was not familiar with this particular book. This book was sitting along the shelf with all the other poetry books. This section of the library is very popular with teachers and students.

The other book that I would withdraw from the library is the biography of Abraham Lincoln. It looks like it is “well-loved” but it has not been circulating in over 2 years. The book is just old, not “well-loved” and it even smells! The pages are discoloured and the text is small and difficult to read. There are a few unappealing black and white drawings of Lincoln through out the book. It was published in 1978. I felt we could withdraw this book and find another new and more appealing book of much better quality.

The third book I would withdraw from the collection is the book “Pluto.” The book discusses how Pluto is a planet. In one of my previous LIBE courses, the topic of books on Pluto was discussed. We wondered how to handle our books on the solar system as we all had books on Pluto in our collections. Our instructor suggested we withdraw these books as they provide inaccurate and misleading information. The rationale was that no one is there to give the reader the newest information about Pluto so the reader will take away the wrong information he/she learns in a book. However, I kept another book on Pluto because it clearly states that Pluto may or may not be a planet and that only time will tell as we learn more about it. I felt this book was appropriate and provided accurate information.

Selection Tools

It was so helpful to have everyone share their favourite selection tools.
Thank you to everyone for their recommendations!
I created a reference list to use when in the process of selection.

BOOKSPOT.com: Links to children's literature. One click on the keyword search leads you to a list of curricular areas that you can again click on. Within these, are lists of amazing curricular-related picture books that any teacher could use to focus a lesson on. It is as specific for example, as finding picture books on mathematical patterns (ie: “One Grain of Rice,” by Demi). A definite user-friendly site!

Canlitforkids- One of the tools that I have found to be helpful is the services of CANLIT. I have noticed that through out our postings there is a desire for Canadian content. This is one of my goals as well and I find there service to be of great assistance in working towards building Canadian content in the library. If you are not familiar with CANLIT I will share my thoughts on it and also give you the website to check it out for yourself. Here it is in a nutshell….It is run by a retired teacher librarian and teacher from BC. They search for books that are current (fiction and non fiction) and they read them, evaluate them against their criteria and provide clients with CM book reviews. On the website they provide a synopsis, a photo of the book cover and the review. They put together packages 3 times a year and you can take out or add in different titles according to your needs. The books are all Canadian and they provide teacher notes and lesson plans and themes that have connections to the curriculum. There are about twenty titles in a package. It is available for all grades. They provide free Marc records as well. This service was especially helpful to me when I first started as a TL and it was referred to me by the TL that was mentoring me my first year. Here is the website:http://www.canlitforkids.com/index.html

Canadian Children's Book Centre- best books lists/ comprehensive The Canadian Children's Book Centre (www.bookcentre.ca) publishes a magazine called the Canadian Children's Book News four times a year and Best Books for Kids once a year. You can't access these resources online, but you can order them. And also the Canadian Children's book center publishes Our Choice, their annual review of the best in cdn children’s books -- which was actually renamed Best Books for Kids & Teens last year. The site is at:http://www.bookcentre.ca/publications/our_choiceIf you click on one of the covers, you can read some sample reviews and see how the publication is organized. Very handy!

Children's Lit.com has an author/illustrator section

CM Magazine- Canadian focus/ TL reviews/ easy to navigate

Collections Canada's PIKA database: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/pika/index-e.htmlThis database is useful if you are looking for Canadian material on particular topics. You can search by keyword or subject and get a list of bibliographic entries of Canadian books that fit that query. They are slowly adding summaries to the entries (reviews from Our Choice magazine, etc). I found this to be a very helpful resource when creating lists of Canadian children's books on various themes, for another course.

ERAC (Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium)http://www.bcerac.ca/index.aspxBackground Information (from http://www.bcerac.ca/bginfo.aspx)"Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium (ERAC) is an association of BC public school districts overseen by an Executive Committee and working together on software, video and learning resource acquisition and evaluation. ERAC also offers province-wide novel evaluations. In 2007/08, the consortium is offering “Learning Link” sessions in BC school districts outside of the Lower Mainland and Victoria, to provide Grades 4-12 classroom teachers with assistance in integrating technology use into their classroom practice. By working as a consortium, school districts save on staff time --for evaluating needs, comparing and evaluating products and negotiating deals-- and are able to leverage lower prices for learning resources, software and supplementary videos."This is a great site to view the teacher-evaluated software, technology, audio-visual resources and novels available that are directly connected to the curriculum or are used by educators. Selection criteria is based on evaluation guides in Evaluating, Selecting and Aquiring Learning resources: A Guide (2002 version with updates)(http://www.bcerac.ca/textbook/docs/ERAC_WB.pdf)This is the best place to get recommendations for curriculum-based, quality DVDs (and at a discounted price)!

Another interesting site is The International Children's Digital Library (http://en.childrenslibrary.org/). This site's claim to fame is that it was developed by researchers from the University of Maryland and children. You will notice the cataloguing icons are child friendly. The site is hugely multicultural and available in a variety of languages. Many of the stories have both English and another language on the pages. You can become a member or not, but if you decide not to join, you can still access the books.

Kidsbooks- Another resource: I know many of my teacher-librarian colleagues from Vancouver and Richmond refer to Phyllis Simon (of librarian background) from Kidsbooks Store. If you are not close to one of their stores, (West Van, Surrey and Vancouver) they have a great website where you can look up books under catagories such as, Best Sellers, First Nations, Multicultural, Book Awards;Red Cedar and Stellar, Adrienne Gear book lists for each of her Reading Power strategies. They give 10% discount for teachers and if you set up an account they will ship and give 15-20% off for schools and libraries. (I do not have shares!) Give the website a try:http://www.kidsbooks.ca/default.aspx?

A fabulous site I found for picture books. Do you know http://www.lookybook.com/? Not a review site, but you can view picture books yourself in their entirety, online! Select a book and just click to turn the pages. You can search by genre/subject, or title or author or keyword. It’s quite a new site, just last year I think, so their selection is still quite small, but growing all the time. Has some Canadian representation too. If you haven’t seen it, do check it out. Very cool!

NoveList (part of EBSCO)This is a great resource for students, teachers, parents and TLs. I use this often when searching for books on a particular subject, or want to know an age group for a particular book or just want to peruse the lists. I love that it includes links to reviews so it is an easy-to-use, free (if you have EBSCO) and time-efficient selction resource. (from About NoveList, http://www.ebscohost.com/novelist/default.php?id=10)“There are now over 150,000 fiction titles, and over 4000 custom created articles and lists. In March 2008, NoveList Plus launched adding 50,000 readable nonfiction titles as well. NoveList, the division of EBSCO Publishing, has grown from its three founders to a dedicated group of 35 professionals who love to read, and from a single fiction database to a suite of Readers' Advisory products and services.”Divided into 4 sections• Teens (13-18)• Older Kids (9-12)• Younger Kids (0-8)• Working With KidsInformation available:• Books discussion guides• Author biographies• Award winners• boookTalks• Recommended reads• Curricular Connections• Grab And Go Book Lists (including Canadian lists)• Picture Book ExtendersInformation provided for books:• Subject• Author, publisher, pub date• Lexile• Popularity (based on a 4-star rating)• Age group• Type of book (fiction, non-fiction)• Series• ISBN• Summary • Links (including curricular connections)• Reviews (from sources such as Booklist, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus…)

School Library Journal seems Of all the other online sources I’ve tried, this is my favourite because the reviews are meaty, the search function is user-friendly and versatile (can search by topic and filter results so only children’s books show), and most features are free. lengthy reviews/monthly journal

Filtering and Censorship

In our school we also have a number of district approved electronic resources which are very helpful in providing teachers and teacher librarians with resources that support teaching and learning in many different areas. For example, we have Thomson Gale Online Resources, The Encyclopedia of British Columbia, World Book Online Reference Center, EBSCO Host Research Databases, Novelist, Historica The Canadian Encyclopedia, and E-Stat. We also have a list of school district approved websites.

As a TL I find it extremely helpful to have these supports in place when I am working with teachers and students in the area of technology. When I am teaching I do preliminary searches for websites as I am not a fan of using or relying on google for research purposes. If students can’t find what they need, then I am open to looking into other choices but I find that the allure of google is not appropriate when you have limited time and there is so much inappropriate information available. I guess this is a form of censorship, isn’t it?

An article I read for my Article Review Assignment discussed internet filters in schools, issues with access to the internet and the implications for librarians in schools. The author explained that internet filters can be defined as a form of censorship and it discussed how these internet filters have a variety of problems. One of these problems is how the companies that sell them are creating a false sense of security for teachers and parents. An example of how they do not work is when the context of the writing on the web is ignored and one word becomes more important than the whole story.

I think the role of the teacher librarian is to do our best to help dispel fear and panic about the internet and kids. I think that we have a great opportunity to share our expertise about the web with parents, teachers and kids. Our job should be to focus on promoting critical thinking, discussion and understanding among our students. For example, I work with students on learning how to evaluate websites and information on the web.

One of the other important issues that we should consider is educating our parents about keeping their children safe and being smart about using the internet. In reflection, I have some excellent websites on my school website but chances are, the majority of parents do not even look at them. It would be beneficial to send home a newsletter addressing some of these issues in detail, providing websites to refer to for current information. Another idea would be to host a parent information evening and take them through the websites and answer any questions. Any one else have ideas, activities, resources or success stories they could share?

“Given the limitations of filtering technology, the best way to protect children is to teach them how to use the internet. A software program simply cannot do that.” (New York Times, 1998)

As librarians, we are in the ideal position to teach students how to use the internet in a responsible way and to search for quality information. Our role is to provide students with opportunities to develop their skills in information literacy. These skills will help them make choices about what they search for, read and make critical judgements.

These issues are also pertinent to getting teachers to understand the importance of developing students’ information literacy skills and the value of coming to the library to work cooperatively with the librarian.