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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:
- Connect with Classroom Teachers
- Connect with Families
- Connect with Students
- 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/