LIBE 467 Blog Post #3: A Vast Sea of Beautiful References

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Starfield - Elements of this Image Furnished by NASA

Theme 3

This deep dive into the bowels of our Reference Services has been very important and eye-opening for my practice as a TL.  I remember thinking at the beginning of this course that we would mostly be looking at digital resources because we are already at the point where physical references are obsolete in classrooms.  I was delighted to discover that I was wrong and uninformed in this matter.  I have had many conversations with teachers about the references in the library and we have often agreed that we should just go ahead and rename the non-fiction section, “Mini Google”.

What I have learned through this experience is that there is still a place on the shelves for well-curated and thoughtfully chosen encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri (which is fun to spell and say), atlases and almanacs.  It reinforces my bias towards physical books that has become a widening divide in our education system.

Instead of leaving reference sections to turn to dust, we should get in there, go through the books, discover what is outdated and then seek out those newer sources that can replace the old.  These reference are snapshots of history, so it may not be the best move to discard them if they can be of use to our students of today.  It might even be fun to engage a keen group of students in this process, such as my grade 6 Book Club.  Get in there and geek out with them over what information is useful and what is no longer relevant, appropriate or potentially harmful to our present student body.

The Deep Web

Free Stock Photo of Cloud Computing - Digital Cloud on Circuit Board

In this lesson we took deep dives into the unknown and discovered The Deep Web. From the relative safety of our VPN’s, we learned just how much is actually going on under the surface of The Web that we all thought we knew how to navigate. Thankfully, our imaginations can conceive of the vastness of the internet even though most of us have only seen a small percentage of the expanse.  I will admit that my spidey senses were tingling at the thought of accidentally venturing into unknown or unsafe spaces.  My takeaway was that when we expect librarians to be expert researchers, it is impossible for them to be so unless they have at least a basic understanding of The Deep Web and grey literature.  It was a challenging experience and I learned a ton.

Bibliographies

Stack of colorful books. Education background. Back to school. Book, hardback colorful books on wooden table. Education business concept. Copy space for text

Oh how I love bibliographies!  I also love how in French a library is called une bibliothèque just because it sounds more like bibliography.  Book lists are one of the most useful tools that I use on a day-to-day basis when trying to support teachers and students find the books or resources that they need.  As Reidling so succinctly says, “a bibliography brings order out of chaos” (Reidling, p.29, 2013); and to that I say, Amen!

One of the most interesting think-pieces that came up during this module was the notion of a Universal Bibliography.  The sheer breadth of imagination that is required when conceiving of something like that blows my mind. “A universal bibliography (although it is currently a nonexistent entity) would include everything published from the beginning through the present.  Time, territory, subject, language, or form would not limit it” (Reidling, p. 29, 2013).  I am not sure that I would want to be the one to take this on, but I would commend anyone who may attempt it.

General and Specialized Encyclopedias 

   Closeup of word on wooden cube on wooden desk background concept - Wiki

The Wikipedia debate.  This is the module where we dove into Wikipedia.  What was memorable about this lesson was that we were looking at articles that came out when Wikipedia was in its infancy and the realization that the same questions plague us until this day.

I understand the concept of crowd-sourcing, but it was interesting for me to step back and think about how Wikipedia is creating a community around itself.  We need to help students understand how to access information that comes from a collective instead of simply condemning it, as we have in the past. “Community is key in Wikipedia.  Anyone can participate, but a relatively small core community does most of the work. There are written community standards, like intolerance for bad behavior (vandalism, trolling, personal attacks); encouragement of a friendly, helpful, thoughtful environment; and writing from a neutral standpoint” (Berinstein, 2006).  All this considered, Wikipedia is not the Wild West that it has been painted as.  It has now been around for 20-something years, so it has proven to be enduring.

Dictionaries and Thesuari; Almanacs, Yearbooks, and Handbooks

Collection of very old farmer's almanacs

This module was eyeopening for me because it showed me the incredible usefulness of resources that I thought were and should only be available online.  There is still room in the day of student for both print and digital reference books to be certain. I had thought that these resources had become obsolete, “because it is so easy and cost effective to update information available online, many organizations have ceased their print directories and now publish them only in an online format.” (Reidling, p. 38, 2013).  However, if we look at what the kids grab off the shelves it is still The Guinness Book of World Records, and hilarious almanacs on various subjects.

I had a great time exploring almanacs online and will definitely be sharing this knowledge with my students. “An almanac is a resource that provides useful data and statistics related to countries, personalities, events, and subjects.  It is a publication containing astronomical and meteorological data arranged according to days, weeks, and months of a given year, and often include a miscellany of other information” (Reidling, p. 38, 2013)

Maps, Atlases and other Geographical Sources

Atlas Obscura, Secnd Edition

The digital atlases were incredibly fun to explore. “Online atlases offer much more than the maps alone.  Pictures from various locations around the world, as well as facts about these places are presented in an attractive manner” (Lesson 13 notes, Beaudry). Most of them are free which made the access easy and smooth.  However, I would be interested in learning more about those that are more subscription based to see if we can do away with the advertising.  It is still important to protect our kids as the search online, even more now than ever.  I think school should be a safe space away from capitalistic marketing, but maybe that is unrealistic at this point.  Still, I will do my best!

Conclusion

In this final theme, I feel grateful to have been able to explore new and fresh ideas about what I thought were old and outdated references.  It has given me the inspiration and support that I need to tackle that dusty corner of the library that I have been ignoring for the past 7 years…no more!  I am excited to revamp and recreate the space so that it will become an attractive destination for students instead of something they overlook.

Beaudry, R. (n.d) Lesson 13 notes. University of British Columbia.

Berinstein, P. (2006). Wikipedia and Britannica: The Kid’s All Right (And So’s the Old Man)Links to an external site.. Searcher 14(3), 16-26.

Foer, J., Thuras, D., & Morton, E. (2019). Atlas Obscura: An explorer’s guide to the world’s hidden wonders. Workman Publishing.

Grey literature tutorial. YouTube. (2012, September 4). Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://youtu.be/m9-0ZYnCmAI

Harris, C. (2007). Can we make peace with Wikipedia? School Library Journal, 53(6), 26. – Available though UBC Libraries

Stockvault.net. (n.d.). Stockvault: Free Stock Photos. Free Stock Photos, Images, and Vectors. Retrieved April 10, 2023, from https://www.stockvault.net/

LIBE 467 Assignment 3: The Reference Improvement Plan

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“Learning resources on controversial issues should be selected with a focus on maintaining a balanced collection representing various views. Such resources might be chosen, for example, to show the relationship between contemporary issues and past issues, with an emphasis placed on recognizing and understanding social and economic challenges” (ERAC, 2008). 

  1. Analysis and Evaluation of the current reference collection:

Encyclopedias and Atlases

Our Encyclopedia and Atlas section is in need of some attention.  This school library with 350 students houses 44 encyclopedias with an average age of 1983.  There are only 2 that were published after 2013 and the oldest are from 1952 and 1965.  My recommendation would be to discard any encyclopedia from before the year 2000 and purchase new ones.

While some of the encyclopedic information is unchanging and relevant, the cultural and racist omissions of the time need to be remedied.  As outlined in Reference Skills for the School Librarian (2013), most print reference material should be replaced every 5 years (Reidling, et al., p.24, 2013). In looking at our available encyclopedias and dictionaries, we are very behind the times in terms of currency.

We especially need to purchase new materials that address the history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada so that we can properly reflect their existence and importance in Canada in our classrooms and represent the B.C. curriculum accurately.  According to the Evaluation and selection of learning resources: A Guide (2008), “learning resources should be supportive of continuous learning by the individual and be relevant to the needs of the student” (ERAC, 2008).  Learning resources should also, “reflect sensitivity to gender and sexual orientation, the perspective of aboriginal people, and cultural and ethnic heritage” as well as, “promote equality by enhancing students’ understanding of a multicultural and diverse society” (ERAC, 2008).

The recommendation: to add the Canadian Geographic Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada to the collection in accordance with theTruth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. 

Truth and Reconciliation Section Cover Art First Nations Section Cover Art Inuit Section Cover Art Métis Section Cover Art

We will follow Reidling’s recommended evaluation:

  • Content Scope

The content here is not like anything we have available at the moment in our library collection.  It is appropriate for gr. 9-12 and would also be a valuable teaching tool for teachers, teaching any grade, as support in their own education.

  • Accuracy, Authority, Bias

The atlases were written in partnership with “Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Métis Nation, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and Indspir” (Goodreads, 2023).

  • Arrangement and Presentation

Colourful images and photography and giant floor maps.

  • Relation to Similar Work

The encyclopedias and atlases that we have are very dated and do not contain detailed information about First Nations communities, history, culture, the legacy of residential schools, climate change, and language.  These references will act as complimentary material to Indigenous novel studies (Language) , current affairs (Social Studies) and our relationship with the natural world (Science).

  • Timeliness and Permanence

The time is long overdue for us to have this resource available for teachers and students.  As history books omitted or ignored much of Canada’s First Nation’s history, this will now be a go-to for educators who are looking for support in their teaching.

  • Cost

The cost of the 4 books is $99.99 + shipping.  The poster is $6,600 + $300 for shipping.  Needless to say, the books are affordable and will serve our purposes.  We may even be able to get a set for each classroom.  The poster will have to remain on the wish list, unfortunately.

Dictionaries and Thesauri

Our Dictionary and Thesaurus section is in better shape, but still in need of some attention.  We currently have 21 dictionaries, but only 3 of them were published in 2000, 2003 and 2014.  Most of the books were published in the 1990’s and 19970’s but the oldest one we have was published in 1952 and that brings our average age to 1983.  My recommendation would be to cull all of the dictionaries from before the year 2000 and replace them with new print and electronic versions.

It is important that our library have dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, almanacs and handbooks available to students in both print and digital forms.  As Reidling asserts, “there is such a thing as a division of labour – not only among people, but almost among types of books and reference materials.  Sometimes a dictionary or encyclopedia is precisely what is required, regardless of format” (Reidling, p.61, 2013).  The vast variety of vetted information that is encapsulated in these reference books will be immensely helpful to student’s in their research and crucial in developing their critical thinking skills.  Many of the electronic versions of dictionaries that we may utilize are free for students to access, so it is important that we create awareness for our students of what resources are available to them.

Therefore, we need to update our dictionaries and ensure that we keep updating them often. To keep costs down, I recommend that we only buy 5 at a time but also direct students to our online reference tools as well, so that they can access them at home when completing assignments.  Also, we should have print dictionaries for the younger students because, “print materials are used most often in the elementary grades because young children often experience difficulties with managing the more adult-oriented online environment” (Reidling, p. 64, 2013).  We will leave the online subscriptions to the older students who are using them for their assignments.

The recommendation: New beautiful, colourful, engaging print dictionaries such as; The Dictionary of Difficult Words (2019) written by Jane Soloman and illustrated by Louise Lockhart, and Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary (2016) written by Susan Reddie, Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake, that was found on a list for 20 Stunning Illustrated Dictionaries.The Dictionary of Difficult Words: With more than 400 perplexing words to test your wits!

Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary

Dictionaries will be evaluated, for example, following Reidling’s (p. 62, 2013). criteria regarding:

  • Authority

It is written with Roald Dahl’s words and by his long-time collaborator, Quentin Blake and is published by the Oxford University Press.

  • Format

Big, bright, beautiful illustrations with humorous words and turns-of-phrase.  Perfect for a young child with a bright mind and a developing sense of humour.

  • Currency

It was published in 2016 which is much more recently than our standard dictionaries from the 1990’s.

  • Accuracy

The book claims to have “everyday and extra-usual words” so it is safe to assume there will be some nonsense fun words woven in with the regular words; much like Dahl’s writing.

The recommendation: A subscription to Britannica Kids as there are other online dictionaries that are available, but I would feel more secure with a subscription-based because the other ones can freely advertise to the students when they are using it.  The cost is $99/year for a family bundle which means that we could utilize it in many classrooms.

2. Rationale for why the references need to be updated/ how is it affecting student learning:

These references need to be updated because our collection does not currently include recent reference resources and, “it is more important to have a small but relevant and up-to-date collection of materials than a large collection that is neither useful nor of good quality” (Reidling, p. 23, 2013).  If the collection is just that, a collection of old, clunky books that do not appeal to today’s students, then it is obsolete.

We must strive to keep our collection useful to our students so that they can see their world (not the world of the 1950’s) in their resources.  When the students are engaged in inquiry work, at whatever age, they must have diverse resources that capture various points of worldview. “Maintaining this diverse reference collection is an ongoing process.  Regular inventory of the reference collection and review of individual print and electronic resources are required to identify areas that need to be updated or strengthened” (Reidling, p. 24, 2013).  Electronic resources are more readily updated, but it is imperative that we have both print and electronic available in the library collection.

Step-by-Step Plan:

How will the change take place?

  • We will continue to research the best resources that are available to us and keep to our commitment of upgrading those resources every 5-10 years.

Who will be involved?

  • Teacher-Librarians and Teachers for research and recommendations
  • Admin, for budgeting and funding
  • Parent Association, for budgeting and funding
  • Students, for communicating their research and learning needs

A timeline for improvement:

  • The weeding of older references will be addressed during the fall of the new school year.
  • There will be 2 book fairs; one in October and one in February to build up the library budget for the year.
  • Purchasing/ordering can happen once the books fairs are finished in March before Spring Break.
  • In April, the new books can be entered into the library system and the classrooms.

How will you communicate the plan?

  • Attending the SPG meetings to make sure the library is represented in the strategic planning
  • Emails are used to maintain communication with the Admin team
  • Once the new books have arrived, they will be posted in the Slack channel for teachers
  • A presentation at the staff meeting to introduce the new materials
  • A dedicated shelf where we can showcase the bright and beautiful books to attract the student’s attention.

Works Cited

BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association (BCTLA), (2011). The Points of Inquiry: A Framework for Information Literacy and the 21st-Century Learner. https://bctladotca.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/the-points-of-inquiry.pdf

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://kids.britannica.com/kids/browse/dictionary

Evaluation and selection of Learning Resources: A Guide. (2008). Retrieved March 28, 2023, from http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/ed_ESLR_08.pdf

Facebook.com/readingmiddlegrade. (2022, October 31). 20 stunning illustrated dictionaries for kids. Reading Middle Grade. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://readingmiddlegrade.com/dictionaries-for-kids/

Indigenous peoples atlas of Canada. Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/

Reddie, S., Roald, D. (2016). Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary: From aardvark to Zozimus, a real dictionary of everyday and extra-usual words. Oxford University Press.

Solomon, J., & Lockhart, L. (2019). The dictionary of difficult words: With more than 400 perplexing words to test your wits! Lincoln Children’s Books.

Truth and reconciliation commission. The Canadian Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/truth-and-reconciliation-commission

Truth and reconciliation commission of Canada: Calls to action. The Canadian Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/truth-and-reconciliation-commission-of-canada-calls-to-action

Riedling, A. (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth.

LIBE 467 Assignment 2: The Collaborative Teacher Librarian

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Introduction:

This paper will focus on using the Concerns-Based-Adoption Model (CBAM) to approach cooperative collaborations with two teachers at my school. “The strength of the concerns model is in its reminder to pay attention to individuals and their various needs for information, assistance, and moral support” (CBAM, p. 2). In both cases, the goal is to find a way to support the teacher’s use of digital and physical reference materials from the school library and help to evolve their practice.

Teacher #1: Audra

Grade: 6

Level of Use: Routine

Routine: Team members are making few or no changes and have an established, comfortable pattern of use.  Little preparation or thought is being given to improving (CBAM, n.d.).

Intervention: Study and research to deepen content knowledge in focus area, application of learning to the classroom, examination of student work, development and use of formative assessments (CBAM, n.d.).

Scenario and Learning Outcomes:

Audra has been doing planet posters for 5 years now as a project in her Science 6 curriculum: components of our solar system and the research portion, has become stale for her.  She used to rely heavily on the internet for student research, supplemented by a few old books that still named Pluto as a planet. Some of the reliable websites are no longer available and she finds that most of the time she is having to manage the students who wander off topic into the abyss of the internet.

Objectives: 

Audra wants to bring in some focused digital and physical references that the kids can use for their research as a way to keep her students on task.  She is also looking to support her students who have a lower reading level than the rest of the students

Recommended Reference Resource (Information Skills):

Instead of letting the students research in the wild, we will direct them to National Geographic Kids where their research can be streamlined and safe.  This website is very bright, colourful and easy-to-use so the students interest will be piqued and maintained.

I have also recommended a set of books by Heos and Fabbri (2014) and it depicts what it would actually be like if you were to take a vacation to the Milky Way.  The planets that are included are: Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Uranus, The Moon. The reading level is a bit low for this grade, but Audra has many students who would benefit from a resource that is easier for her students who struggle with language.

Students are trying to research characteristics of their individual planets and this resource lays all of that out for the kids in a clear and fun way.  The intention is that these books will supplement any additional research that the students will do, but it will also give them a book that they can practice referencing using a citation generator.  The advantage here is that they can physically see the information that they need in order to reference the work properly inside of the book, rather than copy and pasting from the internet.

Activities and Design Collaboration: 

As a fresh spin on her old poster project, Audra and I have been planning a to-scale replica of the planets.  Using measurements to distance the planet group from each other, the students will physically represent each planet.  The presentation will be outside along a large biking path that is near the school. The other classrooms will be invited to come for a “Galaxy Tour” where each group will present their research findings.

Evaluation:

Audra has always used posters as the final product, but we decided to give the students more variety of choice for them to represent their learning. The final product for this project will be a brochure, a trifold board and a diorama.  The students will hand in their research checklists, as a formative assessment, so that we can see they have done the leg work and that they have the information they need to perform their presentation during the gallery walk.  The other classrooms will be invited to take part in the walking tour and act as an audience for each group.

Teacher #2: Trevor

Grade: 8

Level of Use: Preparation

Preparation: Team members have definite plans to begin participating and are learning the processes and skills needed for successful implementation (CBAM, n.d.).

Intervention: Guided overview of tools and materials, advice and tools for management, modeling and practice with teaming strategies, consensus on area for team focus (CBAM, n.d.).

Scenario and Learning Outcomes:

Trevor is organizing a unit on Truth and Reconciliation in his grade 8 social studies curriculum specifically on colonization and indigenous civilization (gov.bc.ca). He is nervous about it because he himself is not First Nations, he is new to the city and he feels that his knowledge is limited.

Recommended Resource:

Trevor is seeking guidance from a local author and intending to use the textbook, Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith. https://www.orcabook.com/Speaking-Our-Truth

Along with purchasing the textbooks, we also bought a digital copy of the Speaking our Truth Teacher’s Guide written by Tasha Henry from Orca Publishing.  This is the support and guidance that Trevor needs to tackle the content that he wants to present to his students.  One of the first things that the Teacher’s Guide asks when taking on this important content is if you have consulted with any local First Nations.  The author, Monique Gray Smith, is local to Victoria so we would also be able to reach out to her to potentially come and speak during Trevor’s unit.

Activities and Design Collaboration:

We are using Leading Learning standards to evaluate and facilitate our instructional design.  At this point, we are at the Evolving Stage of Instructional Partnerships because we will, “cooperatively develop units of instruction that engage learners in inquiry learning” (Leading Learning, 2014).

The first inquiry experience will be one where the students investigate the Medicine Wheel.  We are endeavouring to have the various corners of the classroom set up with information about each directional value and for the students to take notes on each one by moving around the room (Smith, 2020).  This is the first step into the content, and the students will come back to this initial exploration throughout the mini-research projects along the way.

Evaluation:

The culminating assignment will be a First Person Historical-Fiction Letter (Henry, n.d.) using all of the knowledge that has been gleaned over the activities and lessons during the unit.

Conclusion:

Teacher time for collaboration is limited and so it is best to have digital and physical resources that they can easily take with them from your planning sessions, along with some quick and easy lesson ideas.  Leaving the door open to them as a place where they can find support is very important so that they do not feel alone in their efforts.

Works Cited

Building student success – B.C. curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2023, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/science/6/core

Henry, T. (n.d.). Speaking our truth teacher guide. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from    https://www.orcabook.com/Speaking-Our-Truth-Teacher-Guide-P4026

Heos, B., & Fabbri, D. (2014). Do you really want to visit Saturn? Riverstream          Publishing.

Designing learning environments to support participatory learning. Leading Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/learning-environments/

Levels of use – concerns-based adoption model. Google Sites: Sign-in. (n.d.)              Retrieved February 28, 2023, from                            https://sites.google.com/site/ch7cbam/home/levels-of-use

Planets – national geographic kids search. National Geographic. (n.d.). Retrieved        March 9, 2023, from https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/search?q=planets&location=srp&type=manual

Smith, G. M. (2020). Speaking our truth: A journey of reconciliation. W. Ross              MacDonald School Resource Services Library.

The concerns-based adoption model (CBAM): A model for change in individuals.         (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2023, from                                     https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/731/2015/07/CBAM-explanation.pdf

Theme 2: Cooperate, Collaborate and Evalutate

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Page 11 of Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell’s book Art Matters. ART MATTERS by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell is published by Headline on 6th September

Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell, 2018.

Cooperative Programming:

I am always somewhat bias towards books, as the beautiful On Why We Need Libraries: A Essay in Pictures (2018) touches on above. If TL’s have space for computers, there should be a computer station where a student can do research with the guidance of an educator.  However, more likely, the reference services at an elementary school will exist for teachers. It is teachers who are going to come in and look for certain books to augment their monthly themes.  It is teachers who will wander in, somedays on the morning of, needing to find where the “arctic owl section” is.  So, librarians would do well to prepare themselves in advance to be in a position to anticipate the needs of the teachers that will be coming through the door.

It stands to reason that a school library, over years of use, will have evolved to house the books that teachers come to rely upon being there. This creates an expectation, a precedence and a pattern that librarians can begin to predict as the years go by.  In this way, I strongly believe it takes a new librarian 3-5 years to truly get a handle on what their collection has to offer as well as what the expectations of the teachers are.

Collaborating:

Reidling (2013) describes the need for the reference interview between a librarian and their students.  While I agree that this is a responsibility and privilege to investigate the literary appetites and research requirements of students, the more important, and often overlooked, interview lies between the librarian and their teacher colleagues.  As Reidling eloquently says:

“In the reference interview, the school library media specialist’s goals are to determine efficiently and productively, the nature, quantity, and level of information the student requires, as well as the most appropriate format.  The effective reference interview takes practice and creativity; this process can efficiently connect knowledge with the student’s information needs.  It is crucial that the school librarians learn to listen and communicate more effectively with students” (Reidling, 2013, p. 99).

No librarian in their right mind would argue with this statement in wanting to help a student to find their way, but what if we replace “student” with “teacher”?  It is very difficult for teachers to carve more time out of their schedules; this, we know.  However, if a faculty member is going to utilize their school library, thus immobilizing the librarian as a resource in and of themselves, presumably, this act should take some weight off of the teacher’s shoulders.  More appropriately put, “as in most professional activities carried out by the school librarian, effective collaboration development is done collaboratively” (Reidling, 2013, p. 17).  Even more succinctly put: we need to work together.  All too often teachers are floating on their own personal islands while the sand recedes around them. I they only had more time they could access the resources around them to make them feel less alone. Dramatic perhaps, but true nonetheless.

One of the key components of professional collaboration must be a positive and mutual respect between the teachers and the TL. At my school, because there are two teachers per classroom as per the Montessori education model, adding a third party can sometimes feel cumbersome or uninvited.

Other blocks to this elusive collaboration are outlined at length in Strategies for Successful School Librarian and Teacher Collaboration by Kammer, Donahaye and Koeberl (2021). “Another barrier to collaboration is the comfort level that either teachers or librarians have with their content areas.  If a librarian comes from a humanities background then they may not be as comfortable collaborating on a science project for example (Kammer, p. 6, 2021).  These excuses are irrelevant when approaching this important professional collaboration.

Teachers need to be as open to receiving support as librarians need to be open about offering it. “School librarians and teachers are engaged in efforts to collaborate at various levels to increase student achievement and be more effective teachers.  Some of these efforts include co-teaching and supplementing an existing content-area lesson with library instruction” (Kammer, et. al., p. 2, 2021). Communication is the key to successful collaboration, and yet it can still be very difficult for some to approach and achieve.

Evaluating: 

If our intention is to inspire creative collaboration and planning with our colleagues, then we need to ensure that we are able to offer them quality reference sources.  In order to do that, we need money, plain and simple, and a vetted criteria that helps us to make decisions. “Selection policies are vital because they explain the process followed and the priorities established before any resource is purchased and placed in the school library collection” (Reidling, 2013, p. 18).  If these policies are not observed, then the decisions become subjective and both time and money can be wasted.

Thankfully, we have some standards to guide us in these endeavours as, “the Ministry of Education and ERAC organize evaluation criteria under five main headings: curriculum fit, content, instructional design and social considerations” (BCTLA.CA p. 75).  ERAC lays out these guidelines for us in order to maintain a certain standard and to help librarians make these important decision so that we are better equipped and able to support teachers and students.

Works Cited

BC teacher-librarians’ association. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://bctla.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/erac_wb.pdf

Gaiman, N., & Riddell, C. (2018, September 6). Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell on why we need libraries – an essay in pictures. The Guardian. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2018/sep/06/neil-gaiman-and-chris-riddell-on-why-we-need-libraries-an-essay-in-pictures

Kammer, J., King, M., Donahay, A., & Koeberl, H. (2021). Strategies for Successful School Librarian and Teacher Collaboration. School Library Research, 24, 1–24. Retrieved February 24, 2023, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1292862.pdf.

Riedling, Ann, (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth.

LIBE 467 Assignment 1: Should the Resources be as Old as Me?

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Introduction:

In a library that houses a collection of over 15,000 books and resources the section that is in the most dire need of upgrading is Geography.  According to our Follett Destiny TitleWise collection evaluation, the History & geography section has an average publication year of 1991. Reference skills for the School Librarian (Reidling, et.al. 2013) says that this section of the collection should be updated every 5-10 years (p. 24) so it feels incredibly outdated to be picking up books from the 1980s.

Our shelves have books on them that are decades old and I have left many of them there over many years of weeding because of barriers like cost of replacing and being afraid to lose the historical information. I always have to pause and think, would this outdated information be useful to a student?  However, the real question is, is this outdated information going to to hinder or help?  This perspective is supported by Canadian School Libraries when they write: “History doesn’t change, but perspectives on history change radically over time as more is uncovered and more voices are represented. Student inquiry should be informed by current perspectives” (2023).

A few weeks back, the grade 1/2 teachers came to me asking for books with current information about different countries in the world.  The group of texts that we had on the shelves were from the year one of the teachers was born.  If teachers come to me with a request and the books I have on the shelves are inadequate, then I need to get rid of those books and find something more appropriate to their age group.  Our younger students do not utilize the internet, in our school at least, so we must provide engaging, current and attractive resources for them to use.

Part 1: Out with the Old

According to Achieving Literacy (Asselin, et. al. 2003) an exemplary library collection requires that the “materials are current, in good repair” (p. 26).  For this reason, I am recommending replacing the “Take a Trip” series by Keith Lye copyright 1984/1986 in which there are 16 titles.

Take a Trip to:

  • Scotland
  • Hungary
  • Wales
  • Venezuela
  • Argentina
  • Austria
  • Sweden
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Greece
  • Ethiopia
  • Zimbabwe
  • Sri Lanka
  • Thailand
  • Finland
  • Denmark
  • Poland

The rubric I have created to support the replacement of this series is:

Step I:

  1. Is the book MUSTIE? (Misleading, Ugly, Superseded, Trivial, Irrelevant, Elsewhere Available). – Taken from Crew: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries. If the book receives a 4/6 or more MUSTIE rating, the book is discarded.  If not, then the next set of questions are considered.

Step II:

  1. Will young elementary students find the resource accessible?
  2. Is this resource current? (Within the last 5 years?).
  3. Are there more illustrations than text?
  4. Is there a more modern version of these books available?
  5. Does the book utilize inclusive and diverse language and references?

If the resource in question scores more than 3/5 in YES responses, it is still useful.

*Side note: This is a fun rubric that I found on Canadian School Libraries from a blogger called Library Girl.  I used it as a reference to form my own questions for the rubric.

Just Weed It!

Credit: Jennifer LaGarde aka librarygirl.net (post: Keeping Your Library Smelling F-R-E-S-H!).

The Take a Trip to Ethiopia title in the series, for example, ranked 4/6 on the MUSTIE scale for USTE.  The books are actually still in decent shape despite their copyright of 1986, but the photography is old and is not appealing to new, young readers.  The information is historical up to just before 1980, so it is outdated and has therefore been Superseded and become Irrelevant by the last 40 years of life.  If a student or teacher were searching for up-to-date information on these countries, they would need to look Elsewhere, like on the internet, to find that info.

Part 2: In with the New

The new replacement collection is called All Around the World sold by Smart Apple Media – a book publisher from Collingwood, Ontario. Coincidentally, there are also 16 titles in this series.

All Around the World:

  • Algeria
  • Austria
  • Bahrain
  • Cambodia
  • Finland
  • Iceland
  • Indonesia
  • Jamaica
  • Laos
  • Madagascar
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Pakistan
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Somalia
  • United Arab Emirates

The books:

  1. target grade 2 and 3 students (who do not utilize the internet yet for research projects).
  2. have reinforced binding.
  3. are 24 pages each.
  4. are Copyrighted in 2022.
  5. are sold for $28.45 CAD each but when you buy the whole series you receive a 25% discount that makes the books $21.34 CAD each and they cover the shipping costs.

Smart Apple has quoted that the books will arrive in the next 8 weeks but my teachers are looking to use them for third term, so the timeline works even if it feels a little bit long.  I feel a little impatient waiting for books when Amazon will do 1 day or same day delivery, but this is a Canadian company and it is important to me to use them over Amazon.

Conclusion:

Our goal is to continue to serve the students and teachers of today with as current of information as we can afford to give them.  There is no possible way to keep a physical collection as current as information that may be found on the internet.  With that reality in mind, we must do our best to select reference material that is interesting and engaging for our kids so that they may serve as a comprehensive introduction to an area they may be interested in.  Then, if they choose to continue their own research by exploring other ways and methods then we have placed them on a path for deeper inquiry and learning.

Works Cited

Asselin, M., Branch, J. L., & Oberg, D. (2003). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada. Canadian Association for School Libraries.

LaGarde, J. (2013, October 1). Keeping your library collection smelling F.R.E.S.H! Librarygirl. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://www.librarygirl.net/post/keeping-your-library-collection-smelling-f-r-e-s-h

Riedling, A. (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth.

Media, S. A. (n.d.). Browse our collections. Smart Apple Media – Browse. Retrieved February 10, 2023, from https://www.smartapple.ca/browse#H22A004

TSLAC | Texas State Library and Archives Commission. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://www.tsl.texas.gov/sites/default/files/public/tslac/ld/ld/pubs/crew/crewmethod12.pdf

 

Theme 1 Blog Post LIBE 467: To Weed, or Not to Weed and How to Answer Questions

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Photo: gettyimages.ca/photos/angkor-wat

“What the school librarian does with regard to reference services is fundamentally to assist students in finding the answers to questions and helping them become independent users of information and ideas” (Reidling, 2003, p. 4).

This theme has been an interesting journey to start off our course.  I chose the photo of Angkor Wat because I feel that without librarians and consistent weeding and maintenance, some libraries are destined to become museums, or worse: ruins.  The old and outdated reference books in this metaphor are the roots that have taken hold of the great structures in Cambodia.  Without someone to maintain these collections they can become historical tombs.  Without too much more poetic inflection, this is the scale of the task that I see laid before teacher librarians in education.

I find the maintenance of a library collection to be a privilege and also a great responsibility.  Collections are vital cultural capsules that are necessary for the individual and social education of children.  As stated in Achieving Information Literacy, the vision of a school library is “a resource centre, filled with our literature and a wealth of national and international information resources, which acts as a national endowment for all our children and youth” (Asselin, 2003, p. 3).  Creating access to information and the keys to unlock that knowledge is no small task.

When I took on my TL position 6 years ago I had absolutely no idea what it took to run a library space.  I definitely did not know what synoptic meant, and it took me some time to fully grasp the scope and breadth of the library collection.  If I had purchased Reference Skills for the School Librarian by Reidling, Shake and Houston sooner, I would have been better prepared when I started out.  This job is not as simple or straight forward as some people may imagine.

Aside: I find it hilarious that we are using a physical text book in this course because it was not easy to find and that fact illustrates so poignantly the decline of books in favour of electronic resources.  However, my bias still resides heavily with physical books.  I am one of those people who tried a Kindle in the beginning (1st generation, thank you very much) and then let it become obsolete while singing my preference for physically turning pages (though I do admit, if one is travelling for a long time, e-reader are where it’s at).

As e-books become more of the norm there are complications that can arise and we must adapt to these challenges so that we can lead others down the path. “Critical thinking capabilities are as necessary in using a search engine as they are in using any print resource or database.  Searching the Web requires part skill, and a little bit of art” (Reidling, 2013, p. 113).  I like thinking of research as an art form because it means that we have not wholly given ourselves over to the machines and there is still a need, maybe more than ever, to foster agency in our learners.

When I began to weed the library collection, I was timid.  Then as I got into the process more and more, I became bold.  Then I became sheepish because I had definitely made some mistakes and I found it hard to reconcile the waste that I was generating,  Questions and doubt began to rise to the surface like, “what if someone comes looking for that book?”, or “what if there is a teacher who counts on that book being here?” etc.

Then came the pandemic of 2020 and The Great Realization (Roberts, 2020).  And while we were all teaching online I found myself alone in the library and there I also found my courage and conviction that it was my responsibility to curate the best collection I could for my students. As Reidling says so succinctly, “if school libraries were to be fully developed, they could be the great cultural equalizer that would give children in every corner of the country access to resources that would enhance their learning, give great personal pleasure, and help them learn about themselves and each other” (Reidling, 2003, p. 3).  I feel a bit grand saying this, but it takes vision and bravery to be in the leadership role that a librarian holds.  To quote that beautiful picture book by Tomos Roberts: “but while we were all hidden, amidst the fear and all the while, we dusted off our instincts, we remembered how to smile” (Roberts, 2020).  I took that quiet time in the library as a gift to reimagine what that space could be and what improvements were necessary.

So now, I consider myself a fierce weeder and defender of those stacks, and even after all of this time, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

This year, I decided to employ some students to help me out.  I turned to the grade 5/6 Book Club and did a mini lesson with them about what an outdated reference book was and what was still useful.  Those busy little bees got to work immediately (seriously, how much do we love the initiative and follow-through that this age group is capable of?) and before I knew it, they has amassed several piles of books for me to go through and weed what needed to go.  As our school does not have official selection policies in place, I have, with the help of these TL courses, been developing my own.

With this keen group of students we have done some weeding and are now moving onto selection and acquisition which is an interesting conversation to have with them. Talking about what books they want to read and have on the shelves versus what they know is appropriate for a school given that there are younger students who may try to access the books is going to be interesting.  I know I will have to draw some boundaries with them, but it also feels really good to be able to give them a sense of agency, creation and ownership of the library space.

I felt reassured by this passage in the textbook:

“remember, however, that selection is not completely the responsibility of the school librarian.  It also belongs to administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community members.  Input from these people is essential for a useful and appropriate reference collection” (Reidling, 2003, p. 18-19).

This understanding takes the weight of the responsibility of populating a collection off of just one person’s shoulders.  As history teaches us again and again, having only one opinion in the room can be a dangerous thing and the equalization of collaboration is always necessary.

Works Cited

Asselin, M., Branch, J. L., & Oberg, D. (2003). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada. Canadian Association for School Libraries.

Riedling, A. (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth.

The Great Realization: Storytime Read Aloud. YouTube. (2020, October 8). Retrieved February 2, 2023, from https://youtu.be/LA7fGLK35wQ

Final Blog Post and Project: Creating Access to Literature

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“Children who are learning to read and establishing their relationships to books need support and need the formats that allow them to do this without barriers.”

Laura Brady, Accessible Books in Classrooms Webinar

This final project is meant to be a living, digital artifact for librarians, teachers and parents to access learning resources for their Blind, Deaf or Hard of Hearing students and children with print disabilities.  This artifact is by no means indicative of the only resources available, nor is it or will is ever be complete.  As technology and teaching practices continue to evolve, this document will evolve with it.  For now, it is a starting point and a curation of resources that I have found useful, thoughtful and interesting during my research for this course.

The intention is also to give the adults some direction instead of having them dive in and start at square one.  With so much information available it feels very daunting to dive in and find the right resources when we are attempting to support a child with specific needs.  I hope that this artifact can get the ball rolling for those parents and professionals who have precious little time to spend researching and planning.

As this journey began one of the first seeds that Leading from the Library (2019) planted was that literacy is at the heart of libraries, “yet today’s modern libraries also include flexible spaces for additional authentic and personal learning opportunities. It’s not about choosing between literacy or innovative opportunities.  It’s about teaching literacy through innovative opportunities” (McClintock Miller and Bass p. xi).  I want to accentuate the word through in this passage because this is truly what we have been diving into with our inquiry work.  What are the technologies and tools that are going to facilitate the development of literacy for our students?

As I continued to dive down deep I decided that I would focus on my students with hearing exceptionalities. The framework that we followed with the weekly blog posts really supported me in focusing my research and discovering what was important.  This process kept bringing me back to the ISTE standard of using “technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs” (McClintock Miller and Bass, 2019, p.101). As the research wore on, I decided that I wanted to also include Blind students and students with other print disabilities.  This is the point where I became overwhelmed.  I would love to say that I was able to include everything I could imagine into this resource, but I had to stay true to my promise to make this resource more streamlined, curated and easy-to-use.  In no way to I just want to heap tons and tons of information onto educational professionals or parents just to prove how much research I can do.  So, this resource contains the greatest hits, if you will, and I will continue to add, or remove, and refine it as needed.

CREATING ACCESS TO LITERATURE DIGITAL RESOURCE

READING APPS

ASL with Care Bears from The ASL App. The app is very cool, cute and colourful and teaches signing to kids and adults.Signed Stories from The Sign Post is another website that offers videos that are closed captioned with American sign language.

Signed Stories from The Sign Post is another website that offers videos that are closed captioned with American sign language.

Let’s Read Asia has nearly 10,000 e-books and audio books that are available in at least 2 languages each for children from different cultures and focusing on under-served languages around the world. The books are organized into 15 categories such as, Science, Mighty Girls, Community, Folktales, Problem Solving and Critical Thinking to name a few, for free.  The issue of equitable access becomes less significant as long as there is some form of digital device with wifi available to a family or classroom.

Global Digital Library is similar to Let’s Read and includes a focus on mathematics as well.  The collection is very impressive and I was so pleased to see many primary level resources that address positive actions we can take to take better care of our planet and address the issues of climate change.

WEBSITES AND WEBINARS

LOCAL SUPPORT AND RESOURCES:

Thanks to Nicole David for finding this brand new webinar from The Canadian Children’s Centre called Accessible Books in the Classroom:

The teacher’s story at the end of the webinar really resonated with me.  It was about a mentor teacher who would record the next day’s chapter of a book every night for a student who needed audiobooks. This was an emotional example for me because it reminded me of my own mom who used to record herself reading books on cassette tapes for her students.  In those days I’m certain she could never have imagined a platform like Audible, for example, or Annick Press who work so hard to make audio and e-books so accessible for the students who need them.

The Canadian Children’s Centre

-This not-for-profit has been around since the 70s and work as tireless promoters of Canadian Children’s Literature.  There are so many resources available here it makes me dizzy.

Braille Literacy Canada

-A literal treasure trove of resources for people working with Blind learners.  It would be my first stop if I was looking to access Canadian services as they seem to be the authorities on how to access services.

BC Family Hearing Resource Society

-The Resource Society has wonderful (and extensive) book lists that I have been chipping away at to make sure I have books in the library that have representation for these kids.

The Centre for Equitable Library Access

-Access to Support groups, training for librarians, Bookshare, databases of content, resources and links to further support and education.

The National Network for Equitable Library Service

-Works in tandem with Canadian libraries and publishers to create access to reading formats for Canadians with print disabilities.

eBOUND Canada

-A Canadian non-profit out of Toronto who work with publishers to get their products out into the digital world.  They specialize in converting books into e-formats, creating audiobooks and even casting actors as required.

GLOBAL SUPPORT AND RESOURCES:

All Children Reading.  The mission statement at allchildrenreading.org is, “advancing EdTech innovation and research to improve reading outcomes for marginalized children in low-resource contexts” (allchildrenreading.org, 2022).  They strive to achieve these aims by providing free access to digital libraries through three different apps: Deaf World Around You, Let’s Read and Global Digital Library.

Deaf World Around You. The e-books that are offered can potentially be translated into 28 different local and national sign languages.  To the best of my understanding, if a child in Somalia needs a story translated into their local form of sign language, they can adjust the settings and a person will appear beside the screen and translate the story for them.  The translator is also, as far as I can tell, a member of that child’s culture, so they immediately see themselves mirrored in the story.  When I changed the setting to Samoan, a Samoan man appeared on the screen to translate the story.  As I said, mind blown!  The disadvantage that I noticed was that not every language had stories that were available, so there is still work to be done.

STORYTIME

El Deafo by Cece Bell Official Trailer on Apple TV+

Boy by Phil Cummings in American sign language with English voice-over.

CONCLUSION AND FINAL REFLECTION

As I continued to compile all of these resources, I began to imagine how it could become a website.  My experience at this point is at a deficit with creating websites, but I am starting to see the matrix of how to put one together.  I definitely learned so much about organization as this project took shape.  I can see how the materials that I have put together could become tabs and then the information would be more localized.  For now, it remains in a blog post as I feel this can be easily shared with colleagues and parents.

My initial goal was to put all of this information into a Canva presentation but as I began I started to feel overwhelmed by how to present the material.  Instead, I opted to create 2 slides that house the beautiful quote from the beginning of the blog post and a page that brings all the links to the apps together.  My hope would be to build an entire presentation on this, but I am also keeping in mind that everyone is busy and they need something they can access quickly.  Perhaps a librarian or a teacher could keep the slide on their desktop to go back to, or even to add to one day.

This has been quite the learning journey and I am relieved to be on the other end of it, however I can honestly say that I feel much more confident incorporating technology into my work than I ever have in the past.  I am grateful to all of my colleagues who I have followed along with throughout this course.  Being able to benefit from everyone’s learning has been incredibly valuable.  Please feel free to share this resource with anyone you think could use it.

WORKS CITED

Annick Press, & Hoffman, B. (2022, November 24). Annick Press. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.annickpress.com/

Audible.com. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.audible.ca/

Boy by Phil Cummings in American sign language with English voice-over. YouTube. (2022, January 31). Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://youtu.be/GI4BvmO0E3Q

Braille Literacy Canada: Resources for Educators. Braille Literacy Canada | Resources for educators. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.brailleliteracycanada.ca/en/resources/educators

Canadian children’s Book centre. Canadian Children’s Book Centre. (2021, September 16). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://bookcentre.ca/about

Care bears: ASL with care bears app. YouTube. (2016, November 17). Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://youtu.be/OoC1gGbzt9I

Deaf world around you. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://deafworldaroundyou.org/View?id=183

Ebound Canada. eBOUND Canada Home Comments. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.eboundcanada.org/

El Deafo – official trailer: Apple TV+. YouTube. (2021, December 15). Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://youtu.be/SqZ9ncOYRS4

Free design tool: Presentations, video, social media | CANVA. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.canva.com/

ISTE standards: Educators. ISTE. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-teachers

Letsreadasia.org. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.letsreadasia.org/

Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019).  Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age. International Society for Technology in Education.

National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS). National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) |. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://nnels.ca/

Oetman, M. (2022, September 6). All children reading: A grand challenge for development. All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development. Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://allchildrenreading.org/

Resources for professionals. BC Family Hearing Resource Society. (2022, February 3). Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://www.bcfamilyhearing.com/professionals/resources/

Signed stories.  YouTube. (2019, January 29). Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://youtu.be/MMPm_371cc0

Signs and smiles app. Signs and Smiles. (2021, November 30). Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://www.signsandsmiles.org/programs/signs-and-smiles-app/

Wagner, D.A., Castillo, N.M., Murphy, K.M. et al. Mobiles for literacy in developing countries: An effectiveness framework. Prospects 44, 119–132 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-014-9298-x

 

Future Vision Post #2: Who, Who, Who, Who and How?

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“The world needs librarians” (Miller & Bass, p. 89).

As I continue to research and shape this project, it is looking more and more like a digital resource artifact for teachers, families and then eventually, something to be shared with the greater educational community.  As Miller and Bass highlight we are the connection between our community and the resources that they need.  “In school libraries, make your program relevant by connecting the work, language, and collaborations to the other district, school, and community initiatives” (Miller & Bass, p. 90).

The Deaf and Hard of Hearing students that I work with predominantly range from pre-K to grade 2.  I recognize that if I was working in a middle school or a high school, this artifact would be much more elaborate.  It would be more geared towards students because they would be at an age where independence would be important and so my goal would be more towards empowering that independence.  This is also a consideration for my younger students, but they are still so dependent on their adults for facilitating these learning opportunities.  That said, the apps and the books that I have been looking at will begin the process of showing those kids that people like them exist in the world.

One of the book lists that I have been working with so far is from the BC Family Hearing Resource Society and my plan is to research these books and then create a digital poster to highlight the books to the interest of families, teachers and librarians.

As librarians one of our top responsibilities is curation.  We are responsible for distilling large collections of information and making them accessible to our communities.  In this spirit, this project is going to be a living document that will become a one-stop-shop-grab-and-go for students, teachers, parents, admin and the wider school district.  Information, in our profession, is meant to be shared so that we can reach those students who may be struggling to access resources that work for them.  It always comes down to the ripple effect for me in education and the more ripples we can send out the more likely they are to reverberate over the people who need to feel them.

Goals for this artifact:

  1. Connect with Classroom Teachers
  2. Connect with Families
  3. Connect with Students
  4. Share my curated resource with the school district

I plan to connect with classroom teachers to introduce the apps and tools I have researched.  I will share my Canva presentation at a staff meeting or at 15 minute Chocolate and Chat (most teachers LOVE chocolate) and put it on the google drive so that teachers can access it when they need to.

I plan to connect with families by sharing my artifact via the school monthly newsletter so that families can access it but also families who I may not know of who have kids in their lives who made need some support can also benefit from the research.  There will be a visual book list as well as suggestions for apps and story building websites.

I plan to connect with students by playing a story for them on the classroom Smart board that is equipped with Sign Language interpretation.  In this way, not only will the Deaf and Hard of Hearing students see that they are being included, but their friends and peers will be exposed to this accommodation.  Then we can also begin to have Sign lessons in the class so that we can all learn as a crew.

The final phase will be to share the digital poster with book recommendations and my Canva presentation with the wider school district.  This will be done mostly via networking on social media and by activating my supportive community of librarians on Vancouver Island and beyond.  I would be thrilled to share this professional resource broadly, but first I will share it with my cohort in this LIBE course and hope that they will start to send those ripples out in their different directions.

Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019).  Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age. International Society for Technology in Education.

Resources for professionals. BC Family Hearing Resource Society. (2022, February 3). Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://www.bcfamilyhearing.com/professionals/resources/

Future Vision Post #1: The Return of the Care Bear Stare

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As I proceed in this inquiry and tumble deeper into the research and learning that I have done so far, the element that is sticking out to me the most is tech access for my Deaf and Hard of Hearing students.  There are currently four in my school and I have recently been engaged by teachers and parents to come up with resources for these students and I feel a bit empty-handed.  The library collection does not have many books that are geared towards children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing and so far, all I can think to recommend are two books (that are fabulous in their own right) but no real, concrete resources.  The aforementioned fabulous books are:

El Deafo by Cece Bell, a graphic novel that is based on a true story about a girl and her hearing aids.  I also just learned that it is a new series on Apple+.  I can relate to this clip too much in that we use transmitter mikes at our school and I am always afraid that I will forget I have it on and take it to the bathroom with me…

Also, Boy by Phil Cummings, a picture book about a Deaf boy who stops a war between vikings and dragons with his quiet approach.  I was thrilled to find it on You Tube as a read aloud with ASL by the ASL Deaf Mentor Program:

I was so happy to see that these two resources were available in some form online because I love both of the books so much and also because it would be nice to be able to present something beyond storybooks to teachers to use with their students.  As more technology becomes available for our Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, we need to incorporate them as seamlessly as possible into our practices.

In my search for ASL apps similar to the one I had used in a previous post, Deaf World Around You, I came across the app, ASL with Care Bears.  Why it has Care Bears, I have no idea.  I can only assume all of the appropriate licensing and copyright has been observed.  Regardless, this took me on a bit of a deep dive into You Tube and I very nearly re-watched one of my most beloved movies: The Care Bear Movie!  My cousin still teases me about a babysitting night where he was looking after me and wanted to watch the news about the war in Iraq, but I cried unrelentingly because I wanted to watch the Care Bears; I won.

The app is very cool, cute and colourful and teaches signing to kids and adults.  I could see this being used in the class to expand the minds of the students and teach them how to communicate better with their Deaf/HoH classmates.

I also found Signed Stories that is an app that reads stories through Sign.  This app most closely resembles the Deaf World Around You in that there is a translator reading the stories in Sign and also has voiceover.  I found another app that did this as well, but the reviews lamented that it was lacking voiceover and so would not be useful in the classroom because it would exclude the Hearing children.  Of course, this is something I would not have thought of, so I was thankful for that learning and something to keep in mind if I planned to share this with parents or colleagues.

In terms of format for my upcoming project, I am still thinking about using Canva to present it, as well as creating my own infographic.  These are my next steps as I continue to shape how I want all of this to look.  when I think about how many ways one could interpret this assignment, I get dizzy at all of the options.  I’m excited to see how everyone shape’s their own and I will do my best to keep my envy in check.  I am trying really hard to meet myself where I’m at and not overwhelm myself.  Baby steps.

Boy by Phil Cummings in American sign language with English voice-over. YouTube. (2022, January 31). Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://youtu.be/GI4BvmO0E3Q

Care bears: ASL with care bears app. YouTube. (2016, November 17). Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://youtu.be/OoC1gGbzt9I

El Deafo – official trailer: Apple TV+. YouTube. (2021, December 15). Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://youtu.be/SqZ9ncOYRS4

Signed stories.  YouTube. (2019, January 29). Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://youtu.be/MMPm_371cc0

Inquiry Post #5: Taking Stock and Planning Ahead

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Page 18 of Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell’s book Art Matters. ART MATTERS by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell is published by Headline on 6th September

The Beginning of Blogging:

Okay, I admit it freely: I did NOT think I would enjoy blogging for this course.  Nope, I had all kinds of resistance rise up in me.  I have tried blogging before, about 10 years ago, when I was teaching abroad and I enjoyed it.  But for some reason, I have never approached it in my professional life.  I guess I assumed the market was saturated and I’m new to the library world, so what do I really have to say and who wants to hear it, you know?  That is my negative mind blabbering on about how much I am not a blogger and never want to be.  HOWEVER!  Ahem, however, after the first post I remember saying to my husband: “shoot, I like blogging!” and I do!  It has been a learning curve for sure, but I enjoy writing and I found it was a very satisfying way to amalgamate all of the research I was doing.

The perks of blogging, as it see it, are as follows: it helps me to organize my thoughts and explore all of the new information, it gave me a sense of voice because I knew I was writing for other people to read, so I let my sense of humour shine through and it was so helpful to be able to read other members of the cohorts blogs.  At first, I was worried that I would compare myself to them too much and feel like the blogging rookie that I am, but it was actually a really rich learning experience.  I thought it was really cool that everyone was coming to the table with different ideas and being able to dive into their expertise and research helped me to learn and to refine my own scope.  All in all, blogging was a very beneficial learning experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Key takeaways:

My key takeaways are firstly, that I have so much still to learn.  Secondly, that I knew next to nothing about how digital libraries are being used in the developing world.  What an enormous topic!  I had a hard time wrapping my brain around all there is to know there, and that topic, unfortunately for me, fell on a really busy and difficult week.  As a result, I don’t feel like I gave that week the attention that it deserved and, as I believe I said in my blog or one of the comments, that topic could be its own entire course!  I suppose at a graduate level, it probably is.  Maybe I’ll venture there…one day.

All of that said, it has been such a gift to benefit from the other cohorts learning over these past few weeks.  Their posts have inspired new directions for my research to take, have grounded me when I felt overwhelmed by the scope of a topic and have stretched my imagination of what is possible in the digital world.  Credit is due to the following:

Shawnese for introducing my to Buncee and sharing the beautiful posters she has been creating.

Robert, our resident IT expert, for reminding me that as I navigate this expansive landscape I am first a facilitator and not an expert so as to continue to learn along side my students and colleagues.

Megan for the inspirational use of Book Creator and Stop Motion.  I have gone back to those examples many times already and would love to create a Stop Motion Studio in the library space.

The idea of #bookdeserts from Nicole.  Her post on Digital Devices made me look at access and equality in a new light and gave me a deeper understanding of the challenges we as librarians face. Connectivity remains an issue and a barrier for many families, so I am encouraged to continue to seek out those organizations that are doing the difficult and very important work of reaching into communities that need support to connect to literacy tools and helping to bridge the gap for many children and schools around the world.

Moving forward:

The overall understanding that I am coming away from these past 5 weeks is that I want to be more creative about how I can get the books into the hands of the kids, be they physical books or digital.  All of this information and new knowledge has stretched my imagination beyond what I thought was possible, but it all means nothing if I can’t distill it into something that is practical for me in my responsibilities as a TL.  I can feel my focus going from the vast expanses of the ICT universe and coming back down to earth centring on me in my little school library that serves 300 children.  How can I put these technologies to use in way that I can feel good about?  To some, it may seem like I am thinking small, but as my husband would quote Star Wars (and he does, A LOT)…”these are your first steps…”.  So my plan is to start being more visible to my school community through digital means such as making beautiful posters through Buncee and Canva.  These tools make me feel organized and in the know.

Works Cited

Gaiman, N., & Riddell, C. (2018, September 6). Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell on why we need libraries – an essay in pictures. The Guardian. Retrieved November 5, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2018/sep/06/neil-gaiman-and-chris-riddell-on-why-we-need-libraries-an-essay-in-pictures