Library Land

I was drawn in to explore traditional and digital library projects in developing nations.  Because I am  old-school, I was looking at the BOOK BUS, a roving library delivering old-fashioned paper books to people in Zambia, Malawi and Ecuador. This organization has been operating for over ten years and has reached over 100,000 children. The goals are not only exposure to books and having the opportunity to read, but also to improve literacy and reading amongst children of these countries.  "We also provide activities and arts and crafts materials which helps build on learning and storytelling skills, develop vocabulary and most importantly of all, builds on a love of reading and discovery." They work with teachers and schools to help bring the appropriate materials to the children. World-renowned illustrator and author Sir Quentin Blake is the major patron.  I love books and I love to hold a book and feel the weight in my hands. This tangible throwback in t...

https://www.smallbusinesspro.co.uk/marketing/leadership-styles.html As a new teacher-librarian, I still feel insecure about my ability to be a leader in my school. I feel like I have several years of learning ahead of me before I will feel like an authority or a specialist. I am comfortable working one-on-one with fellow colleagues in curriculum collaboration, but leading the whole staff is daunting. I will have to push myself in the coming year to step forward into leading workshops and inservice around new strategies, resources and school technology. There are some areas which I have spent some time in the last year that are important to me. One of which is the building of our indigenous collection; fiction, non-fiction and teacher resources. This last month I have re-organized the collection into easily accessible bins, sorted by topic (Inuit, Intermediate level, Science Connections...etc.) I have attempted to engage my staff to use these bins in their classrooms. My staff is...

I often feel like I have one foot in the past of traditional ways of teaching and learning and the other is tentatively reaching for technology and the future. I am definitely more comfortable unplugged and have my biases about computerization. I know I want to become more familiar and relaxed with the online world. I turn to my techie colleagues to find new ways to integrate technology into my lessons in a comfortable way. A few teachers on staff are tech wizards and love to share what they know (if only I had more time to pick their brains!) Many of the ways in which they use technology include having access to our class set of Chrome Books. There is a struggle at my school to have technology available for all.  This week, I jumped into Kahoot, to further my own own skills, pedagogy and professional development. I want to add new technology strategies, tools, and resources to my teaching in the Learning Commons. Some of my colleagues use it regularly with great student enth...

I love reading and am always surprised to meet child or adult who doesn't. This is my second year at my current school and there is a ways to go in cultivating a reading culture. Students read, but not all are given daily time, nor is there a school-wide initiative. I have thought about boosting circulation and passion for reading since I began in the library. Last year I created a wall in the Learning Commons of all the staff with pictures of their favourite books, to illustrate and remind everyone that reading is for everybody! I am continuing with this tradition, changing it up as staff and year shift. Along with this staff initiative, I created and handed out the "Yostie Award" to my staff member, Mrs. Yost, who had the highest circulation number for the year. I continue to encourage others to usurp her numbers, but she is in the lead again this year. (Trying to stir up a little healthy competition).   In my private life, I belong to a once-monthly book clu...

I am excited to take my Teacher-Librarianship further down the path of Media Specialist. Next year at my school, I will have increased time with classes to pursue technology in bigger projects and concepts. I want to spur their interests and passions, focusing on inquiry and research. I am in the beginning stages of exploring  Genius Hour . A colleague has taken her class through the first stages of Genius Hour and the results are amazing. The students are so pumped to do research, build their project and share it with others. I am hoping I can implement some of this theory with my classes in the upcoming year. I hope these projects can create lasting knowledge and excitement about learning. One of my favourite online sources for media advice, scrutiny and information is Common Sense Media.  https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship   There is so much to explore! They host a plethora of resources, reviews and lesson plans for teachers, parents ...

As a new teacher-librarian there are so many topics and opportunities I can pursue in the near future. B.C.'s new curriculum, which focuses on indigenous learning models and content is one of those exciting topics. For my small elementary school, I feel like we have a solid beginning of indigenous books and materials. Part of my job this year has been to organize the collection to become more easily accessible for teachers to utilize in their classrooms. I strive to display and emphasize our healthy and varied collection. The topic gaps that I see in my indigenous library collection are the lack of local information and resources. We could use more books about local landforms, plants, animals and traditional peoples. I have far more books about the Inuit people than I do about the Coast Salish. Thankfully, I  am fortunate enough to live in a community with a indigenous publishing house and retail store that includes some of the finest resources in Canada. The publisher, Stro...

Finishing up with another course, learning the ins and outs of Librarianship, absorbing the vast charts, graphs and lists that itemize my responsibilities and duties as a teacher-librarian, I find myself overwhelmed, and inspired! I know that I will continue learning for the duration of my career. The possibilities of improving the Learning Commons from its current state and possibly elevating it, not only to acceptable standards according to the AIL, but perhaps even meeting some exceptional standards is something to be excited and optimistic about. My biggest hurdle is to figure out a way to become more motivated, and less despondent about the current state of my Learning Commons funding. It seems that this will be an eternal struggle, books and literacy always seem to take a back seat to the current educational trend of the day. I'm going to have to learn how to be creative, tap resources, and educate and engage my school  community to care as much as I do. As I'm only i...