Cell Phone Book Club...

    Wifi has always been an issue in our district.  Even last year when I worked at the secondary level, students didn't have access to the wifi on their own devices so BYOD wasn't really an option.  This year, we haven't been using any devices in the school because of the wifi issue yet again.  However, we have just purchased 15 iPads and have had wireless routers put in.  I am really looking forward to using these devices in the library and checking out all of the different ways that other teachers are using them in the classroom.  

         

       I had the opportunity on Monday to attend a pro-d workshop on using ipads with primary students.  We were only given a handful of apps to try out but they all seem so exciting and versatile for the library.  The presenter was telling us how she uses the same apps for a number of different things and often combines projects using these same apps.  Some of the apps included were: Doodle Buddy, Strip Designer, Explain Everything, Popplet, Doodlecast, My Story, Story Buddy, Storybook Maker, iMovie, AR Alphabet Flashcards (shapes, space and colours), ColAR, Aurasma, Walking with Dinosaurs, NASA Spacecraft 3D, and Pop Lock Robot.

Njabulo Tazibona

        Libraries in developing nations isn’t really a topic that I have explored before so when I began researching it, I didn’t really know where to start.  I came across this website about a librarian named Njabulo Tazibona who talks about launching a cell phone book club in Zimbabwe.  Because cell phones are so ubiquitous these days, he is hoping to encourage the public to read books off their phones which will in turn promote "…literacy, technology, community and family".  He talks about how technology such as Kindles is not always available, however, cell phones and phablets (as he refers to them) are accessible to most people.  He also talks about how smart phones often have existing ebook readers on them such as Moon+Reader and FBReader.  Tazibona is inspirational in promoting literacy through the use of cell phones in his country.  He is finding new uses for the technology that already exists and by using something that is already so accessible, people are more motivated to make use of it.      

                    Photo taken from Wikipedia of first commercially successful "phablets" 

Reading in the Mobile Era

References:

Rothman, David. "Cell Phone Book Club Vision Excites School Librarian Njabulo Tazibona    in Zimbabwe: How He Can Make it Reality", Library City. N.p. 18 July 2014.  Web. 24 February 2015.

YouTube. "Reading in the Mobile Era". Online video clip. YouTube, 22 April 2014.

Collaboration Leads to Professional Growth...

            When thinking about the professional section in my two schools, I have two extremes.  In one school the section is extremely limited.  In the other, there are so many resources to choose from.  When I started this year off in this school, one of my big tasks was to weed and organize the professional section so I got to it right away so that staff would be able to use the resources this year.  Sadly, even though it is much more accessible now, the resources don’t get used as much as I wish they would.  So with either school, it’s not so much about how big the professional section is, but more so how those resources can be shown to staff in order to encourage them to be used.   I love the idea of “learn at night” and was hoping this year to even share resources at staff meetings, but I just find that time is so limited so it’s often a struggle.  I do try to find out what teachers are teaching so that if I do come across some professional resources that might be helpful, I can share them with them.  The latest resources from the library that are currently being used are Daily 5, Reading Power, and the occasional novel sets. 

            I find this year, I am trying very hard to collaborate with staff on projects.  I will be kicking off an inquiry project in the next couple of weeks with the grade 4/5 teacher and am looking forward to working together on it.  I had the opportunity to meet with a fellow teacher-librarian who gave me a great outline for an inquiry project.  I will be using that as well as ideas from the Alberta Inquiry Model: Focus on Inquiry.  This idea is brand new to the other teacher and I know that she will appreciate being able to work together on it and use this very structured approach.  I honestly think that the best way to meet the professional needs of my colleagues is to work with them.  Collaboration provides a whole new perspective and allows us as TL’s to introduce teachers to new ideas and resources.  It also allows the students to work with a different teacher with a whole other set of expertise.  When I decided to specialize in this new role, one of the things I looked forward to most was collaborating with other teachers.  I am glad that I am lucky enough to have a staff who wants to work with me on different projects!       

Photo Taken From Focus on Inquiry

This Video Was Recently Shown to Us 

at an Inquiry Workshop

Other Links:

The Daily 5

Reading Power

References:

Focus on Inquiry: A Teacher's Guide to Implementing Inquiry Based Learning. 2004, retrieved 16 Feb

       2015 from https://education.alberta.ca/media/313361/focusoninquiry.pdf

YouTube. "Teaching Inquiry Learning". Online video clip. YouTube, 

         7 Dec 2011.

Collaboration Keeps Us Connected...

       I think that there are a number of ways that we can connect with each other as professionals and work together on common goals to best support our students.  This year, my district has implemented Professional Learning Community (PLC) time twice a month to allow ALL staff to connect with one another, share ideas, and work towards common goals for our students. I find this time hugely beneficial because I don’t always have a chance to touch base with everyone, therefore, this provides the perfect opportunity for me to discuss with teachers areas that they may want to collaborate in.  For example, since one of our PLC focuses is on inquiry, the grade 4/5 teacher and I are working together to put together an inquiry unit that we can kick off very soon. This is such a great opportunity for all of us to be in one room to discuss and help each other grow as professionals. 

Created on Quozio.com

      I am a part of two different staffs because I teach in two schools.  Along with that, I am part of the group of teacher-librarians in the district.  We meet once every other month and are the only group of specialized teachers who meets on a regular basis.  At our meetings we get to share ideas, discuss advocacy and talk about various different issues/upcoming events, etc. We also often have group emails circulating where we share ideas or pass around surveys or google docs.  For example, some recent emails have been about book leveling apps/websites or hoax websites that you can use to teach students about evaluating websites for research. Another way to stay involved is to stay current with the BCTLA.  Last year, I had the opportunity to take part in some webinars which were fabulous.  The other TL’s and I met together and participating in the webinar and were then able to discuss ideas with each other when it was done.  It also helps to keep up with current journals.  We are lucky enough to have a number of journals that circulate through amongst the TL's in our district. 

     Finally, I think that the best way to connect with each other throughout this course and after is to keep up with blog entries and continue to read and comment on other’s blog entries.  I think that there is such a wealth of knowledge that each of us brings to the group that it is really important to share our ideas and not be afraid to ask each other questions. 

How to Create and Share a Google Document

Here are some links to some of the websites I talked about:

BCTLA

Scholastic Book Leveller

The Horn Book

Hoax Site - Dog Island

References:

YouTube. "How to Create and Share a Google Document". Online video clip. YouTube, 

         26 July 2010.

The Daily 5 Makes Its Way Into Our Classrooms…

         

          At my school this year a few of the teachers are incorporating The Daily 5 as a large component of their language arts program.  We really want our students to have the skills to choose “good fit” books for themselves and feel successful at reading which will, in turn, foster a reading culture without our school.  This program is about students understanding how to choose books for themselves at their own reading level and trying their best to slowly build reading stamina.  There are five areas that this program focuses on: read to self, read with someone, listen to reading, word work, and work on writing. 

            

          I really like this program because I can collaborate with classroom teachers on this and use the same program in the library.  I teach the umbrella lessons and use the same consistent language that teachers are using.  There are a few resources that can be used to implement this program as well as endless ideas on how to supplement it in the classroom.  There is the Daily 5 Book by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (“the sisters”) as well as the companion book called CAFÉ by the same authors which focuses a lot on how to set up the classroom to run this program.  I was part of a professional learning group last year where we had the opportunity to explore CAFÉ.  I highly recommend checking out the books.  I have referenced the links down below.  The sisters have also just released a new edition of the Daily 5 book which has a Daily 3 math component to it as well.  We just received copies at my school for the staff so I am looking forward to diving into that one as well.  These books are very straightforward and the lessons an routines are clearly laid out making this program easy to implement in the classroom. 

           

           

Here is a picture of a poster I created for my library to 

help students choose "good fit" books. 

 I got the idea from Pinterest!

    I do the majority of my Daily 5 lessons at the beginning of the year so my goal is to find ways to revisit the lessons in a different way throughout the year.  I also would like to continue to constantly use the language even more than I do already so that students can fully understand and build on the skill of choosing “good fit” books for themselves.  Finally, I would like to create more visuals in the library that feature these concepts that students can refer to. 

Here are some links to some helpful websites:

The Daily Cafe

The Sisters' Website

Teaching Ideas on Pinterest For Daily 5/CAFE

Teaching Ideas on Teacher Pay Teachers For Daily 5

Here is a YouTube video giving a quick breakdown 

of how this program works.

References:

Boushey, Gail & Moser, Joan. The Daily 5 Second Edition, Stenhouse Publishers, 2014.

Boushey, Gail & Moser, Joan. The Daily 5 Fostering Literacy Independence in the
             Elementary Grades, Stenhouse Publishers, 2006.

Boushey, Gail & Moser, Joan. The CAFÉ Book, Stenhouse Publishers, 2009.

YouTube. “Daily 5 and Cafe at Dodgeland”. Online video clip. YouTube, 24 April 2011.