I know that I know a lot more than I did when I first began this course, and I feel better equipped to help students and other teachers. I no longer see reference materials (well, most of them anyways) as stuffy and boring. They can be colourful and appealing, drawing the reader in and making them thirst for more of the same. I am excited about resources like World Book online, and have promoted this resource to other teachers. I plan to continue to explore reference resources, and will definitely be better able to guide students and teachers to a wider variety of reference materials.

I know that there is plentiful material to guide me along the learning journey. I have learned about specific resources and in addition, I have learned how to more efficiently access new material. I guess that means I have better learned how to better learn. Learning how to learn is not just for the young. It’s for all ages, and yes, you can teach an “older” dog new tricks!

I also know that when it comes to collaboration and introducing newness, the aim is to influence, not change people. Self-awareness and understanding of one`s own response and reaction to change is paramount. Self-awareness breeds empathy. Without that leadership becomes ego-based and does not foster collaborative relationships. Change is a process, not an event, and learning, especially internalization of learning, lead to change. I love this connection of basic psychology to library work!

I wonder about….well, a LOT of things, because I love to learn. One thing I wonder about is technology, and how it will continue to influence teaching and learning. Some classrooms no longer have even a white board in them – it’s been replaced by a projector and/or a smartboard. (How will they manage in a power failure, I wonder?) While I agree that embracing and integrating learning technology in a world of iPods, iPads and the like is imperative, not optional, I have concerns making classrooms utterly dependent on it. That said, I do feel much better prepared to explore and utilize digital resources than I did three months ago. And I have an important role to play in teaching the skills to manage technology and information.

I also wonder how teacher-librarians can reach out beyond the core subject areas and teachers. How about an interesting inquiry project for art, food or tech ed? Some of these students are in danger of being left behind because academics are not their strength, and are at risk of graduating with underdeveloped information literacy skills. I think it is important to build relationships with teachers of these subject areas, with a goal of bring their classes into the library and computer lab to explore some interesting and “cool” resources. Since I have first-hand experience teaching home economics, perhaps I can offer that unique link as a teacher librarian.

Knowing, wondering, learning – it’s a cycle that, in an iDeal world, spins throughout the life cycle.

And so it goes: iKnow iWonder iLearn. Embedded in this is: inquire, create and reflect, applying this process repeatedly across subject and time. For inquiry, I think Leonardo DaVinci had the right idea when he reportedly said  “Let curiosity be your guide”. A creative act synthesizes raw materials into something new. The raw materials generate i-D-ahs! followed by concrete creation . Reflection is a me-search quest as we search within to sort what we know, what we wonder, and what we still need to learn. Me-search can therefore lead to more research. Like I said, so the journey goes!

There has been much discussion about databases and their functionality and ease of access. I too find EBSCO host to be the go-to database, and have used from the UBC library web site as well as the Burnaby Public Library. I am becoming more efficient at narrowing my searches, but I still have a ways to go in this learning curve. I recognize that progress with this skill will improve my ability to teach it to classes who are using the school library to conduct research.

March 28

My maternal grandmother (the one I was closest to and who died 31 years ago), was born 100 years ago today. One century has passed since her birth. This occurred to me as I drove to work this morning. After spending the day working in a middle school library, where students worked at computers completing the final touches to an inquiry project I find myself reflecting on how incredibly the world has changed in that century, and especially how communication and learning has evolved. Now we expect instant information at our fingertips. We process our words at computers instead of typewriters. There is more information available a few keystrokes away than we can possibly absorb. No wonder our brains are changing and attention spans are supposedly shortening!

I also spent much of today exploring digital resources, mostly one available through the Coquitlam school district as well as links I followed from those resources. Truly, the vastness of the internet universe is mind-boggling! I spent quite a bit of time reading a blog by the IT go-to person for the district. His blog purports to connect technology and teaching. I also found a list of blogs in a district email from one of the secondary school librarians – yikes, even more blogs to check out.!. I suppose I could list mine there as well, but I don’t think I’m quite ready for the big screen….

Reading other blogs reinforces the importance of clarity and purposefulness in one’s writing, as I’ve seen how self-indulgent blogs can become without judicious editing. Just like web pages, blogs lose their appeal and authority if the author gets too long-winded and spinning madly in all directions with information irrelevant to their topic. (Can you say, “too much information?!”) Sure, a blog is a great tool for reflection, but if that’s the purpose, why foist it on the public? A piece of writing published in print form at least has an editor to give it a decent pruning. However a blogger is usually writer, editor and publisher all rolled into one, and that is not necessarily a good thing. So I must be mindful to avoid the wordiness trap.

It’s also important to edit the information that flows my way.Editing the ever-multiplying virtual pages of digital and online resources is essential for time management. Since it will be impossible to remember all the great resources that have come my way via this course, I will create my own personal and professional database to organize and manage the information so that it is retrievable when I need/want it. Otherwise I could get sucked into the vortex of the digital universe and miss out on the concreteness and beauty of everyday life and interactions with real people. My grandmother never had to worry about that. Hers was the library of card catalogs in wooden drawers and real books in a lovely old building. There is something to be said for simplicity!