jeffyasinchuk

An Infographic: The Flipped Classroom

2012-01-24T12:36:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I was struggling to find an adequate explanation of the idea of the 'Flipped Classroom' that I could share with colleagues.

And then...

This Infographic by technology writer and educator, Peter Pappas, comes the closest, (so far):

iBooks Textbooks a Solution?

2012-01-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

For five and a half years, I've been encouraging teachers at our school to promote and support etextbook use among their students. Yes, there are essentially PDF versions and require a relatively large screen to view. These etextbook versions really offer no more of a benefit to students than not having to haul around fifteen pound biology textbooks.

But, finally, doing what they did for music and tablets, Apple is now revolutionizing textbooks, and with it the education and learning field.

And while I'm excited by this powerful technology I can't help but feel saddened by the news. Is it because I know that our school district, like the vast majority of jurisdictions in BC, we don't see adopting this technology any time soon? Cost prohibitive tools make it difficult and only serve to (and pardon this dated reference) increase the 'digital divide'.

If Apple really does want to save education I think that seriously dropping the bottom line in the name of 'pure altruistic reasons' is really the only sincere option.

What say you Apple...?

How to...Focus...in the...Age...of...Distraction...

2012-01-16T13:53:00.000-08:00

Well, apparently, here's some sage (?) advice (if you can focus...).

Chart courtesy of Learning Fundamentals

Big Data Science: The New Oil (and our kids aren't ready for this!)

2012-01-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

If there's any truth or an inkling of resonance to the following infographic then we are poorly underestimating the kind of education and preparation we are currently offering the students of British Columbia.

Hey, social teacher still valuing the date of confederation as a 'teachable moment' apparently 'data science' is the new oil. Good bye real estate agents, good bye travel booking folks. It looks as though the big 'lovely' data is in, and our ever reactive education system once again appears ill-prepared for what lies ahead regarding gainful employment for our young people.

Infographic courtesy of EMC Data Science Study 2011.

Survey: Facebook is not an evil influence

2012-01-12T08:25:00.000-08:00

The infographic below courtesy of onlineducation.net.

School Libraries and Advocacy

2012-01-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

Founder of Library Research Services, Keith Curry Lance, shares the importance of advocacy at the school and school district levels, including parent based grassroots movements. Maybe it's time for teacher-librarians and school library advocates to get involved with protecting these invaluable resources.

Chapter 5: School Library Impact Studies and Advocacy from LRS on Vimeo.

Wouldn't it be amazing to have a vocal and vociferous parent group like the Spokane Moms to advocate for the importance of school libraries and libraries at both the local and provincial levels?

Indeed, the BCTLA must be committed to exploring various avenues including parent support groups and the educational administration instructor realm where access to administrators and decision-makers are most fertile.

Goodreads Year in Books in Review

2011-12-15T10:47:00.000-08:00

A very powerful Infographic from the folks at Goodreads.

Why Using Video in the Classroom Just Got a Little Easier

2011-12-12T12:17:00.000-08:00

So many teachers refuse to use YouTube in their classrooms for one simple reason: there's far too much 'crap' to wade through to find the diamonds. But help may be here! Google has attempted to make high quality YouTube clips searchable and reachable for all educators.

Our 'Studio School' Vision (of sorts)

2011-11-21T12:21:00.001-08:00

Three weeks ago a senior (see 'seasoned') teacher approached me about an idea: the creation of a social media and production program (an academy if you will) loosely based on the UK studio school model replete with project-based learning methodology operating within an existing timetable.

Before thinking over the consequences and the mountain of work that would lie ahead, I naively (perhaps) blindly said "I'm in!".

In hindsight, there was a serious juxtaposition going on here:

There you have a teacher (a self-admitted technophyte) who really doesn't use his email, not on Facebook, has no clue on how Twitter works ("I have nothing to share with anyone."), and only recently purchased a cell phone the other week (he has asked me to help him to "break it in"), and yet he gets the need to interact and connect with students outside of the brick and mortar classroom. He understands the importance that social media plays in the lives of his students. He recognizes that they do not possess the skills or knowledge to properly navigate the Internet. He knows that we are preparing our students for jobs that do not even exist. He knows that filling up the empty vessel with knowledge is no longer the role of the teacher. And even though he's personally not 'there' (and may never be), he's prepared to get those of us who are involved.

Here's a 35 year veteran returning to a new school after a two year leave of absence fighting a several ailment; a guy that is two years (at the most) away from full retirement; and he wants to start a program that in BC education is unique and enterprising...

And here I am saying an unequivocal "I'm in!"

What the hell have I gotten myself into...?

And yet, I can't shake the idea of this program. At the same tie neither am I filled with a confidence about it succeeding. Nevertheless, I'm very, very intrigued. It's like the train wreck that you see coming and yet I can't look away. You know that you need to be a part of this because it is going to be big.

And so, the work begins...first and foremost we need to develop a mission statement, and at some point seek approval from administration (scheduling is going to be a key factor in all of this).

Our attempt to offer a studio school for our students will compete with other 'electives', probably raise the ire of a couple of colleagues, and leave many students wondering if this is something that they want to be a part of.

For us, it is a two prong offering: incoming Grade 9s will be in-calculated as with a program of media literacy through HCE 9 and English classes.

The thrust of the program will revolve around the graduation program and working to helps students obtain the necessary compulsory credit courses, plan with post-secondary schooling in mind, and become active participants in the new program.

The other angle is tying in our new eportfolio program so that students will have a venue to save, share, and eventually showcase their media projects.

Nobody said it would be easy; but who wants easy? We all decided that it's the challenge (one worth working towards) that we want.

Deep breath...

Google Versus Facebook Privacy and Security: An Infographic

2011-11-21T12:17:00.000-08:00

Well, here's the long and short of it courtesy of veracode.com:

Infographic by Veracode Application Security

The True Drivers of Change in Education: Parents

2011-10-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

Are are excerpts from an interview with Annie Kidder, Executive Director of People for Education discussion how and why parents can (and should) be the true drivers of change in education in Canada.

PTS: A Small Group Making a Difference

2011-10-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

Last week, MP for British Columbia Southern Interior, Mr. Alex Atamanenko, utilized his one minute Member's Statement to address the House of Commons, Parliament, and the people of Canada to let them know of the efforts of a small rural school's efforts to fight the good fight.

Mr. Atamanenko boldly shared with us all the school and community based full-length feature film, Project Turquoise Snowflake, that has nearly finished filming in and around L.V. Rogers Secondary School and the beautiful city of Nelson, BC.

To paraphrase Margaret Mead: A small group of people can change things; it's the only thing that ever has...

The (Real) Mission of (Teacher-) Librarians: Lankes

2011-10-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

As another National School Library Day goes by, once again, Dr. David Lankes has inspired me on the real mission of our profession...

Above my desk at school now hangs this part of his lecture:

The mission of librarians, the missions of you, whether you hold a Masters degree or not, whether this is a part-time job or full-time job, whether you’re doing this for extra time, I don’t care…I don’t care why you became a librarian, I don’t care if you did it because you loved books, I don’t care because you’re good at crossword puzzles, I don’t care because people said, ‘oh, you’re going to be a librarian…how did you know she loved to read as a youth’. I don’t care…you’re one now.

And this is your mission. Your mission is not to maintain the building. Your mission is not to shelve. Your mission isn’t even in having a building. Your mission is to improve society. How do we improve society? We do it by facilitating knowledge creation. We don’t do through circulation, we don’t do it through access. We do it by helping people learn. And sometimes that means talking to them, and sometimes that means doing things online, and sometimes that just means being an ear to listen to. We do it in an active way, to create knowledge in our communities.

---

Other people will say that these statements of improving society, this discussion…that I’m seeking to radicalize librarians…that I’m seeking to foment a revolution. Let me be very clear: they are absolutely right. I am seeking a revolution in librarianship. Not to take up arms, but to arm ourselves and our communities with knowledge. Not to overthrow the government, but to overthrow ignorance. To bring back big ideas, to talk about what we can be...

I don’t care if that victory that is small. I don’t care if the victory is that great. It is the struggle for that victory that defines our profession, that sets us apart from small ideas…that sets up apart from those who seek dollar signs instead of community improvement.

We are a profession that is here to serve. That is an activist profession.

…It is profession of great complexity and caring. It is a profession that is unusual in the history of mankind. For 3,000 years librarians have been debating what makes the world better, have been experimenting, have been taking the chains off the stacks, have been spreading the word, and believing in knowledge. And that discussion, that conversation, that inheritance, is now yours.

That inheritance is now yours. What are you going to do with it? Are you going to simply continue what’s been done, because that’s not what this conversation is about. Melville Dewey and the person who took off the chains did not sit there and go, ‘this is what we’ve always done’. Instead, they said, ‘this is what we need to do’. The conversation, the power of librarianship, is not in reifying tradition, it is in tearing it down, and coming up with something better. Not to dismiss it. To understand that what we’ve done in the past was important to get us here. But it may not take us into the future. That is the conversation that we must have, that is why we are a noble profession, and that is why we have every liberty, every right, and every obligation, to think big.

Beautiful.

Thanks again, Dr. Lankes. Thanks for helping me remember what fight is worth fighting.

To Succeed or Not to Succeed: Are you a Monkey?

2011-10-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

This was passed along by a colleague today...

This appears, to me, to be an excellent representation reason why government exams (or any standardized tests for that matter) when administered for the sole purpose of fragmenting student populations are simply ineffectual and inaccurate gauges of student learning and abilities as well as pedagogy and teaching practices.

Then go ahead and ask the monkey to swim in near freezing Antarctic waters...I dare ya.

Infographic: State of Digital Education in US

2011-10-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

A snapshot of the American digital education state of affairs. As far as Canadian situation goes I've yet to find anything that would indicate that our students are any better (or worse) off than their US counterparts.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

Nuances: Teaching in the 21st Century

2011-09-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

Simply put, teaching in the twenty-first century is no longer about teaching. There is a very subtle yet ground-swelling (and essential) shift in paradigms. And the change involves a refocusing of our priorities and philosophy about 'teaching', 'learning', and 'education'.

Clearly, the accumulation of information at the hands of teachers is no longer a given (or even really necessary) any more. And yet, teachers have become more important now than in the past 60 years of public education.

How can this be you ask?

Surely teachers are on their way to becoming obsolete.

And yet quite the contrary is happening...

The role of the teacher has evolved. Teachers have become the filter for our students. They have become elemental components to learning in the new social media era.

Teaching has evolved into an art of nuances. And our ability to help our students effectively translate the dearth of information into knowledge and mastery has become the role of the 21st century educator.

Students no longer need 'the sage on the stage'; they need a guide with knowledge about digital literacy, copyright, plagiarism, confidentiality, and digital savvy. The teacher has become the specialist who models, guides, and demonstrates critical thinking pedagogy.

The game has changed/evolved.

Have you?

Even more importantly, has your child's teacher?

Provincial Learning Commons

2011-09-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

BCERAC provincial learning commons will offer the features needed for students and teachers to access top quality digital content to support the curriculum and meet the needs of the 21st Century learner.

Here's an eight minute video showing their vision for the future.

But it is apparent that access to quality learning/teaching resources is not really the focus with the new provincial learning commons. But rather it is the stark recognition that blending social media and traditional methods of research and inquiry-based learning are essential components to learning in the twenty-first century; this appears to be the driving factor.

Feel free to send feedback to the folks at BCERAC. The vision appears to be in gear, with the infrastructure (the 'how') being the need-to-commit step in this process.

More TLs Means...

2011-09-21T16:31:00.001-07:00

Recent research has shown that (something we knew all along)--TL's DO make a difference in the education of our children.

Reading scores appear higher in schools with qualified teacher-librarians.

Time to hang our hats on something. Time to take a break advocating for our jobs and positions. Let's enjoy this for a while...and then head back into the fray.

BCTLA Points of Inquiry Poster: A Missing Element?

2011-09-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

In the move toward a 'personalized learning' environment in British Columbia few things could be more relevant and pertinent than the act of inquiry (or inquiry-based learning). And while many of my teacher-librarian colleagues are leaders in their elementary schools, those of us who work in a very rigid, performance test-driven environment here is where the real challenge may lie--introducing, developing, and maintaing a culture of inquiry that is pervasive and predominant.

Recently, the BCTF released a poster version of the BCTLA's Points of Inquiry (POI) document. One of the document's creators, my insightful and brilliant colleague, Moira Ekdahl, posed the question: "Where's the computer?"

Naturally, I started to wonder why such a key element to research in the 21st century is missing on the poster...

Surely there isn't a student in this province (or in the western world for that matter) that doesn't head to the computer for any type of research. Is this a mistake (an obvious omission)? Was it done purposefully?
Perhaps the lack of a 'device' helps to remind us that technology is only one method with which we put our research action plan into motion. It truly is only a tool or an avenue to help in the inquiry process. Critical thinking, inquiry-based approaches, media literacy, and digital citizenship play a far more significant role (than we actually think or teach) in the current milieu of research skills.

It should be noted that while the BCTLA created the Points of Inquiry document, the poster creation was done 'in house' by the BCTF design department with little (if any) input from the POI creators. By all accounts, an avoidable mistake.

See Sally Research: Joyce Valenza TED Talk

2011-09-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

Joyce Kasman Valenza is perhaps the most influential teacher-librarian in North America. A teacher-librarian for over 35 years, few have the experience, knowledge, and creativity that Valenza brings to her library, school, and the students that she engages with on a daily basis.

Here is her recent TED Talk in Philadelphia on the vital imperative of schools to teach and support students with proper research and digital literacy skills in the era of the new media.

Queen Victoria c u later: The Realities (and myths) of Texting

2011-09-06T16:31:00.000-07:00

World-renowned linguist and foremost expert on the English language, Dr. David Crystal, challenges the myths that communication technologies are destroying languages. With results from recent sociology studies on technology use, studious work with old English texts, and thoughts from his own keen observation, Crystal attempts to show that texting has its merits to the development of language.

The myth? Abbreviations have taken over our digital communications.

The reality? Only 10% of text messages are abbreviated! In fact, abbreviation is dissuaded.

The myth? Text messaging thing (and Tweeting thing) with its new abbreviations is destroying the English language.

The reality? You actually need to be an excellent speller to text/abbreviate well!

Crystal puts forth a very convincing argument that's worth addressing in your English department.

Losing Our Ability to Listen (Consciously)

2011-09-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

In our louder and louder world, says sound expert Julian Treasure, "We are losing our listening." In this short, fascinating talk, Treasure shares five ways to re-tune your ears for conscious listening -- to other people and the world around you.

Developing your "conscious listening"...beautiful.

What Treasure says seems to resonate whole-heartedly with teachers who believe that conscious, connected listening is paramount in the classroom. Modeling by educators speaks volumes when it comes to improving student listening abilities.

This year I plan to work towards becoming far more connected to our students. Developing a 'conscious listening' approach, especially in times of stress, is an important skill that few of us (hope to) possess, but far fewer of us actually utilize to engage, connect with those in our school communities (and I suspect at home, too).

DEAR 2011 Kicks Off With New Poster

2011-06-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

Here's one of four different posters created for our 2011 Drop Everything and Read campaign by Al Smith. Many thanks to Al for his efforts and passion to "getting it right". Bookmarks on the way, too!

Get yours at the BCTLA website to download and make copies for your school and/or school district.

Next up? Official DEAR t-shirts.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter @BCTLA_DEAR and friend us on Facebook.

Our official blog is www.dropeverythingandreadbc.ca.

The countdown to October 24, 2011 is ON!

The Brain Rule: We're not all wired the same...

2011-06-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

As the opening keynote speaker at ISTE 2011 conference in Philadelphia, PA, University of Washington's Dr. John Medina seeks to provide an answer on "what a good teacher might look like".

In a passionate and convincing presentation, Medina explains how our brains are wired similarly and not so similarly, and how these affect learning and teaching.

Medina argues that it's the "boulevards and alleyways within the structure of our brains"--the deepest recesses if you will--where the individual differences between humans actually lie. It is here that learning and specific differences reside. So, what makes a good teacher good is not readily apparent.

There are two parts to learning Medina argues. Collectively, improvisation and creativity are important parts of learning. And so too is memorization (to an extent and for a specific purpose). BUT, there is an important underlying balance between improvisation and creativity coupled with memorization (crystallizing knowledge); to be successful at learning anything both are equally essential to the process.

improvisation/creativity + database/knowledge = rich learning

NOTE: I just wish we could see his slides--it would make the video all that more complete.

Coming to a TEDTalk near you perhaps?

Professional Learning Project: A Beginning

2011-06-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems as though our senior administration with the blessing of the board of trustees has recognized the importance of professional development from the personal perspective, for the need for educators to explore, learn, and collaborate on ideas and foci of their own volition. Top-down mandated professional development was never successful in School District. Partly because it was so poorly organized. Trying to be everything to everyone. Educators are different. Their interest are, too. And even how we learn is vastly represented at staff meetings and other group 'functions'.

Yesterday, in my email was a note with an attachment

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/06/textbooks-of-the-future-will-be-born-digital-and-accessible.ars

http://www.fluency21.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=2004&utm_source=Committed+Sardine+Blog+Update&utm_campaign=afba9c60ee-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email

It seems that the message is getting through. But I'm still not convinced until the funding to support such a vision is forthcoming. We all know that talk is (especially in public education) very cheap...

60 Seconds...on the Internet

2011-06-29T07:47:00.000-07:00

Here's what happens on the Internet EVERY 60 SECONDS everyday. Absolutely mind-blowing!

Inforgraphic by Shanghai Web Designers

Middle School Boys & Technology Use

2011-06-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a terrific infographic courtesy of technology blogger Greg Swanson and his colleagues and students.

As part of secondary school faculty, this sort of information is really effective me lens through which to view our incoming Grade 9 students and their use of technology and of course a baseline of their level of digital literacy.

For more information about creating, using, and sharing infographics you can visit Cathy Schrock's resources site for hundreds of related links.

One Heck of a September: The Perfect Storm?

2011-06-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

In his recent post Difference Between a Bureaucrat and a Teacher thirty-year educator and teacher-librarian extraordinaire, Al Smith, comments that the golden age of education in British Columbia is over. And I don't think that he's waxing poetic either. Teachers and more importantly, BC students and the education system, are in for a huge surprise (and not the kind that bring joy and delight either!) come this fall. We are all walking straight into the perfect storm.

The BC liberal government has (again) come late to the international educational discussion still tied up in its fight over the importance of standardized tests and government exams. Intentionally orchestrated or not, the government has dragged its feet into a discussion that has been going on for at least twelve years.

Throw-around terms like "21st century learning" and "personalized learning" seem to hold little meaning for a society when its government attempts to leverage such pedagogical speak for ourely political and capitalistic propaganda. Surely, this is what is unfolding in front of our very own eyes. I mean, isn't this just the perfect storm for a government with a hidden corporate-supported agenda? Perfect you say? Some of the key elements to the ugly storm a brewin' include a powerful drive towards a 'new' teaching and learning paradiagm; a collective bargaining with BC teachers on the backburner; edu cators voting whether or not to take job action in September (with the potential for an 'illegal withdrawal of services'), and a looming provincial fall election (many political watchers forsee a move to the polls in early October). September will be the perfect storm. Ah yes, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle brough to bare.

The stress of the unknown educational landscape in British Columbia appears to be turning teachers on each other. A colleague recently made the comment (not sure whether it was to ruffle my feathers) that my "job [as teacher-librarian] probably won't be aroud in 2 or 3 years, eh?" Now, I might agree with him in this time of fear and uncertainty, but I'm just not too sure if he even really knows (or cares) exactly what my "job" is...

And why my job and not the job of a colleague that really...well, doesn't do his job all that effectively?

At any rate, I'm not sure how educators can 'collectively' negotiate with our employer if we can't even find the cohesion and strength amongst our own rank and file. We are in trouble.

And what about the new teachers with fresh energy and inspiring ideas? All is not lost, you say. We have the younger generation, you say.

Here's an excerpt of my reply to Smith's 'Bureaucrat' blog post:

I'm afraid that the government is going after not just teachers in general, but like you mentioned, the professional culture that BC teachers have created is in great peril. Technicians-in-training for sure (unbeknownst to many of us)!
And as you mentioned most of the young teachers really have no idea of how the landscape is quickly tilting against the education profession. And quite honestly, most don't seem to care or are indifferent. Many are prepared to jump ship when the weather gets rougher--and for several reasons (seniority rules, over-worked and undercompensated, effective government spins to make education issues murky, etc.)--because they are prepared to accept the fact that (unlike most of us) education is not a life-long calling. It's commitment.

So, the question begs, "Are young teachers as committed to our students as previous generations of educators?"

Part of me can't blame them for either looking the other way or making plans to hit the life-rafts.

Perhaps the really known 'unknown' is that it is going to be one heck of a September. Batten down the hatches, y'all!

Quiet on the Set: Authentic Learning in an Authentic Environment

2011-06-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I helped a group of young, motivated, and enthusiastic young adults (and this was on a Sunday morning!) move and transport over $50 000 worth of lighting, sound, and camera equipment for a day of shooting (film, not ducks) in the beautiful Slocan Valley of the West Kootenays.

Our school, L.V. Rogers Secondary in beautiful Nelson, BC, is in mid-production of filming the first ever of its kind: a feature length film involving the entire school (students and staff) and members of the local community. The movie has been in production (including pre-production) since September 2010, and filming is scheduled to wrap up in mid-July. A tentative release date has been set for April 2012. And to the unaware Project Turquoise Snowflake (PTS) has been far more of a success than anyone could have ever imagined, including its creator.

PTS writer and director, Robyn Sheppard, is a passionate educator and thespian who has been working on the idea for Project Turquoise Snowflake for over four years. She has successfully melded her love of theatre, film, the environment, and social activism into a project that has even caught the eyes of Vancouver movie equipment company which donated over $220 000 of production equipment. Project Turquoise Snowflake has also received financial backing from generous local philanthropists to help cover the unavoidable costs of production. And, of course, the school and Nelson community are completely onboard.

Aside from the experiential learning process in which all the students are embedded, what is most astounding about the PTS production is the level of professionalism and focus with which the students undertake each component of the production.

With over 75% of the cast and crew made up of LVR students you'd often expect well...issues of sorts (motivational issues to be more precise). But my preconceived notions were quickly smashed when I arrived on-location Sunday morning. There they were: sixteen young adults, each one of them springing into action setting up props, hauling lighting and sound gear around, getting wardrobe detail ready, and the make-up stations organized (even the student-actors were hauling lights of the truck--no prima donnas here). But the buzz of activity only happened after hugs and good mornings were shared around.

Nearly ten hours later, I returned to the rural farm location to pick-up the gear for trucking back to LVR only to see the crew wrapping up their final shoot of the day. And once again (and I'm sure Lucas, Spielberg, and Lynch would concur) I was a little stunned with what become a characteristic level of professionalism (there's that word again) displayed by the young crew members.

While waiting for the final scene to be finish, I took a casual walk around the beautiful farm locale expecting to see tired and weary faces. But despite the long hours of working in the sun (and...gasp, without cell phone coverage), and Monday morning classes not more than eight hours away the scene remained...professional. Not one word of negativity. Not one complaint. Not one regret.

Just more darn hugging.

As the sun began to set at 9:00 p.m., here's some of what I overheard from our students:

"I'll grab the lamps upstairs."

"That's gonna be some good stuff."

"Can I help you with that?"

"That was a long day, but we got a lot of good footage."

"Let's grab the stands and get them by the truck."

"Hey, Mr. Yaz, how was your day...?"

It should also be noted the last one was asked of me by four different students. Odd as this may sound but the students seemed excited that I was there to witness their efforts. My brief help and simple presence seemed to indicate to them that I acknowledge and support their passion for the project. That I care.

So, I'd like to encourage all of my colleagues on staff to take a half hour out of their busy weekend at some point before filming wraps up next month, and drive out to a shoot location, and...just be. Thirty minutes. That's all it takes. It truly means a great deal to those young adults.

And you'll be glad you did.

Hartzell: Despairing of School Library Advocacy

2011-06-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

In a terrific paper on teacher-librarian advocacy, Dr. Gary Hartzell argues that the only real traction (in terms of advocacy for teacher-librarians) is to strike at the heart of educational administration training. We need to set our sights on the professors and instructors in the hollowed hall of higher learning that help churn out our future educational leaders.

These people, Hartzell argues, are the folks that CAN have the greatest influence on the new school administrators being created, and thus affect their leadership views on teacher-librarians, school library, and the key roles both play in every school.

Of course, this is not without its drawbacks either.

Hartzell admits that by even undertaking this level of advocacy right now, we would only see recognizable results in these changes at somewhere 8-10 years down the road. Eeesh…

Nevertheless, there is great merit to his argument. And as my fall project, I will begin to undertake steps toward researching these suggestions and avenues; discussions with teacher-librarian professors and instructors, and then attempt to broaden the discussion as connections are formed toward the teachers of our educational administrators.

I mean, what other choices do we have...?

If you would like a copy of the Hartzell paper (I don't have it posted anywhere online) please leave a comment or contact me at jyasinchuk@sd8.bc.ca and I'll forward it along.

If you are a teacher-librarian or concerned with the fate of school libraries in Canada then it is well worth the brief and enlightening read.

Change IS Necessary

2011-06-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

After only nine weeks since its inception and with nearly 200 members on board, the British Columbia Teacher-Librarians' social network has not been without its detractors.

Over the past few weeks there have been several comments on the BCTLA Google Groups forum expressing concern about the extra effort that will be required after joining the new Ning platform. Of primary concern is that of being inundated with emails as the various group and forum discussions increase in frequency. At first glance, it seems to me that many of my colleagues are simply having trouble managing their own email accounts in the first place (by the way, there are means by which one can handle email overload, but that's not what this post is about). I'm not sure email inundation really has anything to do whether or not one joins an social network. I could be wrong...

Yes, my friends, I get it. Change is difficult. Change can be a pain in the ass. Change is usually unsightly and it is definitely not pretty (at least not at first glance). Sometimes change is...yes, inconvenient.

But change IS necessary.

So, instead of focusing on what's maybe not-so-good or on the obvious issues that will need to be addressed in the month ahead, how about this: let's attempt to focus on some of the positives of the new platform.

To date there are:

Over twelve chapters with a page for its members to discuss local and relevant issues including a BCTF bargaining page where members are welcomed to join in dialogue as the collective-bargaining continues (sort of);

Several progressive and influential provincial education leaders as members including West Vancouver Superintendent (SD45), Chris Kennedy;

Twenty-seven blog posts written by teacher-librarians sharing their thoughts and seeking ideas on issues relevant to education and school libraries;

Still links to the official BCTLA website (Note: eventually all the material will be migrated over to the Ning, but even the Romans cut Michaelangelo some slack.);

The names of several new and young BC teacher-librarians that rarely (if ever) participated in our current Google Groups forum; (This is VERY important to note since this is where the young professionals will be going to meet, connect, learn, and share. It's called social media, and well, it's not going away); and

Nearly a dozen forums from bargaining to plagiarism to library collection maintenance springing up offering ALL teacher-librarians a chance to continue to cultivate deeper, multi-layered professional conversations (and learn from each other).

So, BCTLA forum via Google Groups will shut down at the end of June. I sincerely hope that those regular contributors to that platform do join the Ning and continue to inspire, enlighten, support, connect, and collaborate.

See you there!

In the Right Direction

2011-05-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

A young superintendent with a progressive educational mindset. Don't see many of these around...

Sadly, we just need about another 40 more of these kinds of people in positions of influence.

Chris Kennedy shares his thoughts on what education is in the new media.

2011 May YEM from SFU Education on Vimeo.

Teacher-Librarian to become Extinct?

2011-05-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

In the face of mounting reports of teacher-librarians being axed and school library availability being drastically reduced I suppose it's hard to stay positive. It looks as though the onslaught has begun.

If you're interested here's a brief list of what's happening to our colleagues in eastern Canada within the past two weeks.

The Toronto Star

The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail (opinion)

CBC

The Windsor Star

The Hamilton Spectator

The Ottawa Citizen

Global TV Toronto

Canada AM

Not a very positive prognosis.

Smile Baby Smile

2011-05-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

Ron Gutman is a guy who loves to smile. Research has shown that smiling is a powerfully instinctual action. And the benefits easily outweigh the drawbacks.

Simply, I love to smile. It just seems so much easier than the alternatives.

How about you? How many times a day do you smile? Gutman says kids smile up to 400 times a day. Adults are lucky if we smile twenty times each day...

Smile, baby. Just smile.

Q: Who will speak for the (teacher-) librarian?

2011-05-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

In his monologue yesterday, Jian Ghomeshi, the host of CBCs Q, defended the teacher-librarian as more and more school districts across North America begin their termination of positions.

He're a guy who gets it. An voracious reader. A parent. And a concerned member of society that recognizes that while the landscape of information media has changed, the necessary help needed to access it still remains paramount.

Here's a guy speaking for teacher-librarians...

Thanks, Jian.

Thanks.

What's That Smell...?

2011-05-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhh...

Smell that?

Yes, the wonderful and rich aromas of spring time renewal.

But that other smell?

Sure. Concentrate. It's out there.

If you're a teacher-librarian in North America then you may already be acutely aware of this odour.

It's budgetary and staffing time in school districts big and small, rural and urban, and that familiar smell is of teacher-librarians having to again go on the defensive (Why can't we ever become proactive? is a question that always begs) again.

It's that time of the year when school boards and administrators begin making projections for staffing based on probable student enrollment for the coming fall. Unfortunately, it's also the only real hard evidence that district leaders have to go on when crafting a staffing budget; and the need to make the hard (and thankless) decisions about the personnel within schools. Nevertheless, the teacher-librarian and school library programs are again focused squarely in the cross-hairs.

Image used courtesy of Creative Commons

It's also the time of the year where the media becomes flooded with stories of teacher-librarians having to defend their relevance (ad nauseum), and the school libraries within which they do their work. Even after only five years in this position it has become an all too routine event that make the month of May an uneasy one as stories of colleagues fighting tooth and nail for their jobs increase with regularity.

Image used under Creative Commons

In California, school librarians face an inquisition of sorts, having to justify not only their positions in the library, but as teachers, too; basically as part of the state public education system. My apologies, but demeaning and pathetic are the best that I can do...

In Ontario, the Windsor school board is looking to axe its library technicians and do away with all of its school libraries. An article in the Globe and Mail today acknowledges the alarming rate at which school districts are choosing to destroy their school library programs.

Image used courtesy of Creative Commons

The People for Education, an Ontario grassroots registered charity, is concerned about the declining number of school libraries and those facilities that are inadequately staffed. This year a survey, involving more than 2000 schools, revealed that school libraries are rare, and those operating to any significant level are even rarer.

I have my suspicions that this situation is going to get a whole lot uglier before it gets better. Hold on tight, and try not to inhale too deeply.

Godin: the NEXT Library

2011-05-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Not sure what's gotten into Seth Godin lately. I probably shouldn't be questioning his motivations and intentions, but here's an award-winning author; the kind of guy that the young marketing dudes revere with the utmost of respect. With even his books Linchpin and Tribes influencing countless number of business executives and MBA schools, Godin turns a bit of a corner.

And now he's winning friends over in the public sector, too...

First his succinct and highly agreeable post on why we need high schools last week and now...this? 

Godin's goes to bat for public libraries, and argues that THE NEXT LIBRARY has to much to offer in the twenty-first century and the age of the Kindle, social media, and the i-generation.

Here's a couple of tidbits... 

The librarian [of the next library] isn't a clerk who happens to work at a library. A  librarian is a data hound, a guide, a sherpa and a teacher. The  librarian is the interface between reams of data and the untrained but  motivated user. The need for librarians to adapt and maintain a role in media leadership has been an evolving one since the early 1990s, the dawn of the Internet. And many of my teacher-colleagues would, under Godin's definition, qualify as a librarian.

The next library is a place, still. A place where people come together  to do co-working and coordinate and invent projects worth working on  together. Aided by a librarian who understands the Mesh, a librarian who can bring domain knowledge and people knowledge and access to information to bear. A librarian is a collaborator, and certainly none of us profess to be the giver of knowledge; we do offer ways to support individuals and leverage technology effectively.

The next library is a house for the librarian with the guts to invite  kids in to teach them how to get better grades while doing less grunt  work. And to teach them how to use a soldering iron or take apart  something with no user serviceable parts inside. And even to challenge  them to teach classes on their passions, merely because it's fun. This  librarian takes responsibility/blame for any kid who manages to graduate  from school without being a first-rate data shark. It might be argued that librarians, as a whole, do follow their passions, but I think Godin's right here: librarians, in many ways, have yet to really share and teach these passions with our students. 

The next library is filled with so many web terminals there's always at  least one empty. And the people who run this library don't view the  combination of access to data and connections to peers as a  sidelight--it's the entire point. It should be a seamless transition from information medium to medium; skilled librarians appear to do this magically.

We need librarians more than we ever did. What we don't need are mere clerks who guard dead paper. Librarians are too important to be a dwindling voice in our culture. For the right librarian, this is the chance of a lifetime. Amen. Spread the word!

What IS High School For?

2011-05-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

So, it finally happened, did it?

First it was Gates, Zuckerberg, and Oprah.

But unlike those corporate-type folk who seem to know how to fix the system, Seth Godin asks the simple question: What's high school for?

And unlike the upper-class illuminati who believe that an allegiance with corporate America is the only way to fix the static and ineffectual public school system, Godin gets it. It's a much simpler solution; one that asks educators to reconnect with their students. So...

What's high school for?

Godin suggests we consider moving away from the closely interwoven focus of personalization and technology, and that "perhaps we could endeavor to teach our future" what is required to be fully functioning and participatory members of western society:

How to focus intently on a problem until it's solved. For too often we give up ourselves, and of course, why should we expect our students to persevere in the face of adversity?

The benefit of postponing short-term satisfaction in exchange for long-term success. Once again, in the age of entitlement (helped mostly by baby boomer parents), this is a tough rough to overhaul and repave. But, it's one worth hoeing.

How to read critically. Remember, the Northwestern Tree Octopus?

The power of being able to lead groups of peers without receiving clear delegated authority. Sadly, the concept of self-direction may be all but dead; online courses certainly haven't improve its chance. A diet of prescriptive curriculum lead blindly by the need for standardized testing has numbed both teacher and student. Can you blame 'em?

An understanding of the extraordinary power of the scientific method, in just about any situation or endeavor. I used to cringe at having to teach the scientific method in my science classes. And like many of my science-teacher-type colleagues, I would gloss over a simple process that requires critical thinking and analysis, and problem solving attributes on many levels. I simply didn't know how to properly utilize this methodology and expand its relevance; a disconnect was evident.

How to persuasively present ideas in multiple forms, especially in writing and before a group. As a young student, not engaging in formal public speaking assignments was not an option at the various schools I attended. And to this day, I'm so glad that it wasn't.

Project management. Self-management and the management of ideas, projects and people. So few of us are equipped to take the lead; to enter a place outside our comfort zone when working with others (especially, strangers) that for many adults it is a paralyzing thought.

Personal finance. Understanding the truth about money and debt and leverage. As a forty-year old with a solid amount of personal finance training (both formal and informal), I'm a far better financial position than many of my peers. My focus is not about making ends 'meat', but enjoying it.

An insatiable desire (and the ability) to learn more. Forever. Again, if parents and teachers cannot effectively model this type of behaviour, then what chances do our students have?

Most of all, the self-reliance that comes from understanding that relentless hard work can be applied to solve problems worth solving. But, I'm not even sure that school alone can teach self-reliance. Mom and dad, are you listening?

So, another question comes to mind: Why hasn't Godin been on Oprah, yet?

L.A. Teacher-Librarians Face Inquisition

2011-05-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

My colleague and mentor, Literate Owl, would be the first to admit that he has witnessed, (and he himself has bared the brunt of) asinine, unfounded, and ill-informed rhetoric in his thirty years as a teacher, parent, and educational advocate. This is especially true when it comes to teacher-librarians having to continually defend their jobs. To this day, his self-admitted 'obsessive' passion for school libraries and the folks that work in them has not waned an ounce.

I remember it well.

It was four years ago in the beautiful Kelowna Secondary School Library. I had just begun my 'new' career as a teacher-librarian and went to visit my mentor in hopes of gleaning ideas for library layouts, book selections, and even budgeting advice. After a tour of the very new facility, Al took me to his desk sat me down and made it very clear: I am now a teacher-librarian; but I should never forget that I am a 'teacher' first and foremost. That is what we are and do. We must never forget that that is where your passion working with children lies. It is that love of learning and teaching that makes working in a school library all that more important and necessary.

Truer words were never spoken...

Now, Los Angeles area school librarians are being asked to defend not only their roles in schools, but as professional educators.

In the basement of the California Mart building in downtown Los Angeles, one can find a series of bright, cavernous rooms buzzing with the sound of the fluorescent panels that hang from a ceiling of exposed ducts and wiring. In the back of one of these rooms sits three long tables decorated with black table skirts along with perhaps a dozen rows of hard, plastic chairs. The room is exceptionally cold. Footsteps can be heard echoing each time someone makes his way to the restroom or to take a phone call. This is the setting for the Los Angeles Unified School District’s hearings for educators who have received a Reduction in Force notice. In other words, this is where teachers come to defend their qualifications in front of a judge in the hopes that someone in the legal system will understand what the students of this city really need.

So begins the first-hand account of the hearings from L.A. teacher-librarian, Ms. Nora Murphy.

Few, if any, educators, need to continually work to prove their value and worth. Teacher-librarians spend a tremendous amount of our jobs advocating for ourselves and our students. It's a strange place to be where you constantly feel the need (subconscious or otherwise) to defend to fellow teaching colleagues, school administrators, district bigwigs, and of course, the school board of trustees (most of whom really think that I just put books on shelves all day long...) what it is that I do day after day. Week in and week out.

(Note to self: time to ramp up the advocacy and shake a couple of trees...)

I'm a school leader. I'm a collaborator. I'm a technologist. I'm a counsellor. Hey, I'm even a writer, too.

Yes, I am a book-lover. And yes, from time to time I do wander the stacks learning our collection looking to improve its scope and quality for our students and staff.

But, above all else, I'm a teacher. That's what I do.

Is Social Media Ruining Students?

2011-05-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a powerfully illustrated analysis about the ills and praise for social media on college students:

Arrival: Personal Learning Device in School

2011-05-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Now more than ever I am convinced that schools can keep up with the pressures to provide adequate technology infrastructure, and possess some control over balancing the rising costs in the name of progress (ie. replacement costs, technician time, vandalism, replacement, upgrades, etc.). The key, is appears, lies in the relationship between providing opportunity for unfettered Internet access and support to utilize personali devices to access it. Better yet, just ask the students...crazy, eh?

This past fall hundreds of thousands of teachers, students, and parents from across the United States and Canada participated in Project Tomorrow's Speak Up for Education survey. After a brief cursory scan of the results, two main trends regarding technology in education, from the perspective of the students, became apparent: (1) efficient wireless network that is dependable is essential; and (2) a learning environment where students are encouraged to bring and utilize their own personal devices to work in a blended fashion with online and in-person course interactivity is paramount.

These two factors are what students believe to be a fundamental requirement for the shift towards the personalized learning agenda of the 21st century. Students view these facets as levelers of the technology playing field. In fact, this high-road approach takes technology (or lack thereof) out of the equation. Technology (its inadequacy) itself is no longer the issue; rather it is the quality of education for the society of tomorrow that regains its priority, and rightly so, holds sway.

And two recent articles pulled from my personal learning network have convinced me that education leaders are on the right track as we blister ahead into the second decade of this century. Listen to the students and take technology inadequacy off the table as an issue.

Far too frequently, school administrators, superintendents, and boards of trustees fail to include a key stakeholder in any discussions about learning, educational technology, and even pedagogy: the student. A solution? Just ask them. According to a recent Mindshift blog post, student do know what they need at their schools--a level playing field for technology.

The financial pressures exerted on school districts (and schools) to supply functioning computer labs (which in and of themselves are 'static' in nature; and are quite possibly the worst type of teaching and learning environment that exists) no longer need be a continually failed legacy. Alternatives do exist. We just refuse to exercise them.

Why aren't we leveraging what our students already possess and utilize on a daily basis for numerous tasks--including learning? Why do we insisted on supplying a one-dimensional utilitariam technology when clearly it is not what is needed? Why are folks in power making informed and poor orchestrated decisions that impact our students? Why do we continue to ignore (or deny) what has become commonplace in our society?

The number of students attending school with personal wireless-enabled devices doesn't appear on the wane. In fact, this is only the tip of what is surely to become a key component to one monstrous paradiagm shift in education.

We need to continue to lobby at both the school and school district levels on the importance of seizing the opportunity to help more families leverage the power of bulk purchasing (there is an enormous difference between $450 notebook and $240 version, no?). Why couldn't the school district broker deals with device vendors on behalf of its families? What could be better than helping families help their children?

At any rate, schools are finding ways to reduce the fiscal crunch that declining enrollment and budgetary cutbacks. And our students are leading the way.

The Cancre: Influence of Parents

2011-04-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading a terrific interview with French author and teacher Daniel Pennac. I'm also currently reading his book School Blues (or Chagrin d'ecole) that was recently translated into English. This is the follow-up to his critically acclaimed The Rights of the Reader.

It is neither the purpose of this post to either review or retell the story of School Blues. There is a terrific review of the book by The Guardian book reviewer, Michael Rosen for that. And indeed, if you are a parent or educator this is a must read.

But during one of Pennac's discussion of how the outcast, the cancre, becomes and remains alienated from public education and learning, he notes that the "fear of school can extend to parents".

Hmmm...

I actually see the opposite as the reversal of influence. In many cases, students struggling with school early on in their educational career look to their parents for advice (and in not always overt ways either) on how to deal with the stress of failure and an inability to get a into school.

But, the fact is that many parents are unable to provide that adequate sense of emotional support. Many of them still subconsciously cling to personal past histories of revolving around their own fears of school. Suck it up, Johnny. I had it rough, too, but I turned out OK. Oh, I was never any good at science. I hated math. Just hang in there, it gets better. The sour memories of these parents only serve to instill the same distaste and mistrust of school in their children in which they were educated. My gym teacher was mean. I never liked to read. I don't miss school at all and I'm so glad I never have to go back. And on and on.

So, how can any education system compete with support like that?

Pretty tough, I think.

Sure, there are a lots of reasons why many parents distrust the education system, unable or unwilling to support their children. But I also think that it's fair to say that NO ONE would ever acknowledge or argue that the public education system is obsolete. Not yet.

The Library Technologist Gets It!

2011-03-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

In early February, I received an unsolicited phone call from a student in the Library and Information Technology program at Langara College. She inquired about the possibility of completing her mandatory ten-day school library practicum at our school library.

Now, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was initially shocked, and then flattered. I asked her why of the hundreds of large and well run secondary school libraries in this province, why she would want to come to Nelson to work in an under-funded, under-staffed, heavily-utilized, very small rural school library?

I attempted to dissuade her (honestly, I did!): the library is very small, we don't have a large collection, we use L4U; but nothing seemed to work. She was excited and wanted to spend her practicum with us.

Still, I pressed her.

Why?

Her response?

She came across our website while she was searching for a place to do her current practicum (she had just come from a government library practicum in Victoria last month) and knew that L.V. Rogers is where she wanted to come. "And besides," she added "Nelson is so beautiful." (I don't think that she's ever been here in April.)

But, after a flurry of emails, some finessing with senior administration, and completion of minimal paperwork, Marcia* began her practicum yesterday.

After a hectic Monday (and what Monday's for a teacher-librarian aren't hectic?), today Marcia and I were able to sit down, have a cup of coffee, and well, talk.

After the essential small talk, our discussion quickly drifted towards the evolving role of the "school librarians" in the new paradigm; the need for the librarian to embrace technology and social media; for the librarian to be a leader in the school.

Marcia, a former bookkeeper and recreational computer programmer, is well versed in HTML and JavaScript. She is on Facebook, has Tweeted a little, and embraces course management systems like Blackboard and Moodle. She wowed me with her impressive eportfolio (for which she wrote the code herself!). At forty-seven years old and into her "third career", Marcia is no technophobe.

I had to know.

"What about the website did you like?" (by the way, I have very little programming experience and the website is created with a Weebly platform).

Marcia shared her observations: she noticed that I regularly blog; Twitter is my friend; we keep an online book review; the website offers online assistance with our digital databases; it provides a page of Web 2.0 tools for students and staff; and it provides a platform that allows for a "two-way communication street with the students" to discuss books and reading. To her these were "indicators of a well-organized, technically-savvy, twenty-first century operated school library."

Marcia also admitted to having been in the libraries of many BC schools over the years, and she felt that the online presence of the school libraries that 'get it' really demonstrate a true connection and a healthy complement to the brick and mortar library, the teacher-librarian, and even the school's vision of the role that both play in the education of its students.

So, Marcia gets it. Teacher-librarians need to make themselves a necessity in their schools because inactivity, indifference, and a lack of advocacy will quickly make oneself very obsolete in the eyes of students, staff, and administrators.

What I can't get is...why don't more of my other teacher-librarian colleagues get this?

Marcia does.

*Marcia is a pseudonym.

Who could blame her?

2011-03-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

Isabella Oleschuck, a Grade 7 students at Amity Middle School, ran away from home last Sunday because, she told her parents, she was stressed out about taking the Connecticut Mastery Tests.

Hmmmm...

I'm willing to bet that Isabella isn't alone in her fears of standardized tests and the immense pressure from both parents, schools, and affects on possible future plans including academic streaming.

Washington Post blogger, Valerie Strauss, argues that the problem stems from the new federal government's approach to throw money at schools and school boards whose students perform well in standardized testing situations. It's all part of the Obama administration's Race to the Top program.

Stories like Isabella's make me appreciate the situation in our neck of the woods, and the undercurrent is something that we need to seriously be conscious of as we enter into our collective bargaining with the Province and our respective school districts. Research shows that merit pay doesn't work. Complete teacher autonomy and professional development has revealed mixed results. And while holding schools and teachers accountable IS an important part of any government education regulation (Hey, I want to know that my kids are getting from their small rural elementary school all that they should.) there still seems to be no logical rationale for standardized tests or an understanding of the emotional and psychological effects that they appear to create.

Indeed, the "how" seems to be the most ellusive of all answers when we try to justify the need for standardized tests in the public education system.

I do know that after having just read Daniel Pink's Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, extrinsic motivation (like losing your job because your students tanked the standardized test) only works for so long. How about money? Surely if you paid teachers more they would produce better students results? Nope. Money works only up to a point, too.

And then?

Not much really happens. At least there's no improvement in performance. In some instances, extrinsic motivators like money, actually destroy motivation and result in poorer performance.

Each year in British Columbia, the Foundation Skills Assessment, is a standardized test taken by all students in Grades 4 and 7. The test results are made public and each school is ranked according to the final results. Great, if you're St. George's School and near the top of the heap year after year. Not so great if you're continually at the bottom as are many on-reserve and remote rural schools. And, of course, there has been a long standing history of opposition by the teachers in this province to the invigilation of the FSAs. Oppositionly, the Ministry of Education claims that "[t]he main purpose of the assessment is to help the province, school districts, schools and school planning councils evaluate how well students are achieving basic skills, and make plans to improve student achievement. FSA is designed and developed by British Columbia educators. The skills tested are linked to the provincial curriculum and provincial performance standards."

Until the stakeholders (including the students themselves!) all agree on the best way for students to demonstrate the mastery of basic academic skills other than by standardized testing methods, more students like Isabella, will continual to stress out over us making them take tests that have no real meaning, and then using the scores to grade them, their schools, and their teachers.

Moodle Do's and Don'ts: A Word to the Wise

2011-03-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

This slideshow is courtesty of Sandy Hirtz, moderator and founder of the Community of Expertise in Educational Technology, and it is a great introduction for teachers beginning to utilize Moodle more intimately in a blended learning sort of environment.

Moodle Do's and Moodle Don'ts

View more presentations from shirtz

Facebook Steps Up the Anti-Bullying Campaign

2011-03-11T06:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Facebook announced new tools in the fight to reduce online bullying through its platform. Essentially, a two prong approach that involves using a combination of a safety education centre and enabling capabilities for reporting bullying or offensive content.

Here's a couple of the newly added features:

These are the first big changes to its 'Safety Centre' since the program was started in the spring of 2010. And it is an important acknowledgment that Facebook supports anti-bullying campaigns. Apparently, the company's plan is to also include feedback from teens about safe and appropriate use of the networking technology.

There's no mention as to whether or not a monthly/annual general report of the reporting details will be shared and/or utilized for further research and prevention.

My CBC Fave Nominated for Two BC Book Prizes

2011-03-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

The nominations for British Columbia's very own awards for literature, the 2011 BC Book Prizes, have been announced. And I'm really, really excited to see that one of my favourite CBC personalities (and rock god), Grant Lawrence, has received recognition for his first book Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound. The book is nominated in the categories of Roderick Haig-Brown Award for Best BC Book ("to recognize the author(s) of the book that contributes most to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia”), AND the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award (“presented to the originating publisher and author(s) of the best book in terms of public appeal, initiative, design, production and content”). Former lead singer for the West Vancouver garage band, The Smugglers, writes passionately about his favourite place on Earth, Desolation Sound.

What's next for Lawrence...?

How about a book about his 16+ years with the Smugglers?

Oh, please, please!

ePortfolios: Documenting Our Changing Relationships and Digital Environments

2011-03-09T06:44:00.000-08:00

As usual, I am indebted to my colleague Tamara Malloff at Mt. Sentinel Secondary for posting this TEDxABS talk on the SD8 Professional network yesterday. I am also thankful for her inspiration and forward-thinking approach about what 21st century learning will look like for both students and teachers.

Here's Dr. Helen Barrett, the grandmother of electronic portfolios, and former professor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage speaking at TEDxABS. Dr. Barrett makes a very strong case for why social networking, the human desire for mastery, and the importance of intrinsic motivation all naturally dictate the inclusion of the eportfolio as an important component to demonstrate not only learning, but of documenting one's own changing relationships and the ever-evolving digital environments to which were are becoming inextricably linked.

A couple of personal highlights from her lecture...

This is a process (3:03)

A portfolio is a record of continuous personal development and NOT just a store of evidence; eportfolios are a process where the means is just as important if not more so than the process

Impact of social networks on eportfolios (3:48)

Facebook closely mimcks the purpose of the electronic portfolio and I'm not sure that this is just coincidence either. The engagement factors of social learning and portfolios are similar!

A digital archive of life (6:13)

Process and product are linked (6:31)

Barrett argues that eportfolios serve us in so many ways, but at it's base level it is really just a digital archive of our lives. It includes informal and formal learning opportunities.

Becoming good at something that matters (8:26)

Isn't that what we really want for ourselves as learners? Then why not for our students, too?

Openness and autonomy (9:03)

While the system chosen for eportfolios (and there are many) requires discussion and thoughtful consideration, ultimately, the system needs to be "as open as possible" and provide the greatest degree of autonomy available.

Self-direction is a basic human need (9:53)

The urge for self-direction is a natural need; the need to be engaged. We have essentially buried this innate human drive in nearly all of our students due to the industrial model of public educational. The shining example of the destruction of self-direction in our student is the proverbial questions: Is this going to be on the test?

A portfolio is a story our own learning (13:16)

Why couldn't this apply to professional development? With many teachers intensely involved in their professional development, the eportfolio offers a way to track and organize our professional development process which is on many levels a multi-media, evolving, personalized journey that we rarely document or recognize as essential to our practice in the classroom.

The eportfolio as an "academic MySpace" (13:40)

Well...the students get it. So, why not the rest of us?

"Rewirement not retirement..." (15:22)

I also appreciate how the idea of a portfolio changes as we age and rediscover our passions--whatever they are--"ongoing ageless framework for self-renewal". And it's never too late to start anything!

Reflection and relationships not technology (18:28)

I'm so glad that she addresses and emphasize this point, because whether you are a technophile or technophobe, as educators we can all appreciate and recognize the important need for relationships and reflection in our lives. Why would portfolios be any different?

I'm slowly starting to wrap my head around the process of eportfolio implementation and usage across all subject areas and curricula, and how I can best begin to 'sell' this idea as the way we do business at school to my administration, my colleagues, and our students.

L.V. Rogers Secondary Celebrates Freedom to Read Week

2011-03-08T22:25:00.000-08:00

Our freedom to read whatever we want as Canadians is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

L.V. Rogers Secondary School celebrated Freedom to Read Week at the end of February by sponsoring a student photo contest.

The theme?

"My freedom to read whatever I want is..."

The 2011 photo contest finalists:

And the most read 'challenged' book at LVR this year?

A book challenged by library patrons in Canada for its emphasis on wizardry and magic: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

For more details and photos of the events at the school be sure to check out our Library Media Centre website.

A Sad Relationship: Facebook & Anorexia

2011-03-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

How Social Networks Spread Eating Disorders

I suppose that it was only a matter of time before Facebook would be held accountable for enhancing the spread of one of the harshest, most relentless societal-driven illnesses today: eating disorders.

Recent research has shown that body image impressions can be transmitted, like a virus, through a social network to affect, second hand, even those without direct exposure to western media.
This research supports an emerging body of work pioneered by Dr. Nicholas Christakis at Harvard and John Fowler at the University of California, San Diego, that demonstrates that emotions such as happiness and loneliness, as well as health behaviours and conditions including obesity and smoking, can propagate among a network of related people.

Christakis' research on the spread of obesity via social networks also offers soberly substantive evidence that we truly do not understand how the social networks we create and join really affect us.

I'm not sure why more educators are not alarmed by these findings. Could it be that we already figured it out?

Nevertheless, while most of us accept the notion that the research provides insight into what seems an insidiously intuitive influence, the bigger  concern we need to start to consider may not be quite so obvious (and it's a  wee bit more complicated, too): How do we work to counteract the growing reach  of social networking that fuels these types of self-destructive  behaviours?

At this point, the only power that we, as educators, really have is  well...education. I propose a greater commitment on the part of teachers  and school administrators to integrate digital and media literacy in all  strands and courses across the curriculum including, and not exclusive to,  Health and Career Planning, Physical Education, and even Foods and  Family Studies courses.

Communication between the  elementary, middle and secondary schools is also sorely lacking. And I'm not so  sure that it is wise choice for the elementary teacher to leave digital literacy  training to the middle school teacher, many of whom simply don't have  the interest, time or capacity to help our students with developing  these skills. And of course, when students arrive at the secondary level  many of us expect (ignorantly, so) that these freshmen have the  necessary digital literacy skills that we jump in headlong with often disastrous results.

Using Google to locate a Wikipedia entry does not make anyone digitally literate...by any stretch.

Here's an idea: let's stop assuming and start educating.

Not All Teachers Are Created as Doctors...?

2011-02-22T12:28:00.000-08:00

Hmmm...ponder with me for a moment:

What if Doctors were Treated like Teachers?

Thomas Baker, an American educator for over twenty years, eloquently frames the mindset that, some might argue, plagues not only educators, but anyone else who considers themself a teacher or instructor or community youth worker: justify your value.

For as long as I can remember, I have always worked with kids: babysitter, swim instructor, youth basektball coach, canoe trip leader, camp counselor. I knew that teaching was a higher calling of sorts, one at which the public often threw its stones. But, I also knew of the personal, emotional, and social committments that were involved (both mom and dad were lifelong teachers) as part of the profession.

Teaching is an enormous responsibility that most of us take very seriously and undertake with great pride. It is also a calling to which many of signed up for not really recognizing the expectations that society had long laid bare: educating our children is the most important things that a society can do for itself (so don't screw it up).

So, What do I make?

And here we are 150 years into this outdated, quickly-becoming-irrelevant, modern industrial-age western education model, and still not much has changed. Although the pressures of social media, the drive to 'personalize learning' (still haven't found a satisfactory explanation of this!), and the blurring of what learning actually is, the expectation for teachers to evolve and continue to lead and teacher and guide remains steadfast.

But, the jokes on them. I'm up for this. I accept and this challenge. Relish it, actually. I hope my kids' teachers feel the same way.

Do you?

But, always remember what we make: we make compassionate contributors to our society.

Could there be an occupation with a greater expectation? Could there be one with an even greater calling?

You would be hard pressed to convince me otherwise.

Many thanks to my good friend and colleague at Kelowna Secondary School, Al Smith (The Literate Owl), for sending this one out!

BCTF 21st Century Learning Discussion Paper

2011-02-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

BCTF researcher, Charlie Naylor, released the long-awaited 21st Century Learning Discussion Paper last month. The paper itself is being touted an avenue for much needed discussion among educators in the province about the shape of education. And while the paper admonishes the government for failing to hold these conversations over a decade ago, it does offer much in terms of direction and focus for British Columbia teachers and administrators.
The comprehensive paper focuses on six main areas: purposes of education, alternative views: a changing world, trends in technology, BC teachers' practices, 21st century skills, and other 21st century learning inititatives.
What struck me as most impressive was the fact that there was very little focus on technology (not that technology will play an important role in the decades); that it was only part of the bigger picture, it was not what will drive the reform. Of note, the "alternative views: a changing world" really helped to set the focus for what we need to be doing in our classes, in all of our classes.

Polygamous School Ranks Perfect: The Homogeneity Factor?

2011-02-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

Last week, according to the latest Fraser Institute rankings of British Columbia elementary schools, the polygamous commune school, Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School (BESS), along with twelve other mostly lower mainland top independent schools, received a perfect score of 10 on the 2011 Education Report Card.

Shocked?

Appalled?

Completely confused?

Me, too.

After several years of turning a blind eye to these 'rankings' which, in fact, do very little to actually improve BC elementary schools (We all know the problem with many of the results is that the solutions to improving the schools lie not just within the schools themselves, but within society, as a whole.) I decided to learn what and how a close-minded, highly censored, group of people that rarely follow British Columbia curriculum standards could pull off such an astonishing feat. Or was it really that astonishing?

And while, in some respects, this rather odd anomaly (as many educational bloggers have labelled the result), offers far more questions than answers, it is important to understand how the Fraser Institute, a conservative, free-enterprise-focused think-tank, formulates its annuial rankings and then releases its Report Card on BC elementary schools.

So, what is the criteria?

For the most part, the rankings are based solely on a set of standardized tests known as the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) which are administered annually to all students in Grade 4 and Grade 7. According to the British Columbia Ministry of Education website:

The main purpose of the [foundation skills] assessment is to help the province, school districts, schools and school planning councils evaluate how well students are achieving basic skills, and make plans to improve student achievement. FSA is designed and developed by British Columbia educators. The skills tested are linked to the provincial curriculum and provincial performance standards.

According to the Fraser Institute, its Report Card is an altruistic tool to help parents, teachers, and all other shareholders, gauge the effectiveness of their elementary school and make appropriate remediation (we all want improvement, no?).

An excerpt from the Fraser Institute's website declares the Report Card's mandate:

The Report Card on British Columbia’s Elementary Schools: 2011 Edition collects a variety of relevant, objective indicators of school performance into one, easily accessible public document so that anyone can analyze and compare the performance of individual schools. By doing so, the Report Card assists parents when they choose a school for their children and encourages and assists all those seeking to improve their schools.

The British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF), the provincial teachers' union, does not support nor endorse the administration of FSAs, and in fact, each year many teachers refuse to participate with their classes. Teacher administration of FSAs has been a heavy sticking point for many years between union and government. While educational socialists like Donald Gustein refute the validity, reliability, and the actual purpose of FSAs, the government, the public, and many other 'special-interest' groups argue the need for a form of meritocracy, fairness, accountability, and regular evaluation of schools, teachers, and school administrators (and, oh yeah, ensuring that all students are receiving appropriate levels of learning.).

But, how does Bountiful climb to the top of the heap from literally out of nowhere?

Over the past few days there have been many arguments proffered as to why the tiny school of the Mormon breakaway cult in Bountiful made it to the top of the list this year. After having taught at St. George's School for seven years and now in my current role working with Aboriginal youth in the public system, it has become readily apparent that the influence (both positive and negative) of school population homogeneity (i.e. race, socio-economic, etc.) plays in predetermining ranking results colours the rankings as racist, biased, and highly inaccurate.

While St. George's year after year sits atop the rankings, there are those elementary schools that regularly fall to the bottom--those predominantly on First Nations reserves or those predominantly made up of First Nations children--and languish in the dregs year after year. Of course, this trend is really no secret to anyone in education. And yet, both the rankings themselves and their publication really do very little to redefine and change the status quo. And in this light, perhaps Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School and St. George's School have more in common than we think...

But far be it from me to attempt to rehash the debate (it's not my intention anyway). I do feel, however, that perhaps a bigger and more encompassing question for us to ponder in months ahead is: Will BESS continue to remain at the top of the ranking in future years? And if so, why? Are there some fundamental shifts in approaches to teaching and learning that the vast majority of the schools in British Columbia need to take note of?

School Libraries: A Right

2011-02-11T22:52:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, United Kingdom-based, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) released a statement, School Libraries - A Right, on the role and value of school libraries. It sets out the core entitlements that every child, school's teaching team and wider school community should expect to receive. It provides the case for a properly resourced, professionally staffed school library.

With school libraries continually under staffed, under utilized, and under valued by everyone from school administrators to school board trustees to senior administration and even government busybodies it's no wonder that CILIP (and other library advocates) has put out a position paper of sorts; the right for every student in every school to have access to a professionally staffed.

The British Columbia Teacher-Librarians' Association is in complete support of the CILIP position paper. Check out the BCTLA's position papers on leveling books and school library programs.

Born Digital Video: Identities

2011-02-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

The Summer 2010 class of interns at the Berkman Center for Internet Society at Harvard University took on a huge assignment: pick a chapter from Urs Gasser and John Palfrey's book, Born Digital, and make a short video inspired by that chapter. This video, inspired by the "Identities" chapter, was created by Denise Linn, Paul Kominers, Molly Sauter, and Sunanda Vaidheesh, with production assistance from the Berkman Center for Internet Society, Youth and Media Project. It is released under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution Non-Commercial license. A copy of Born Digital is available in the LVR library in the professional catalogue.

BCTLA Celebrates "Love Your Library" Day

2011-02-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

What better day to celebrate school libraries than with showing the love? Join the British Columbia Teacher Librarians Association and hundreds of teacher-librarians and school libraries around British Columbia on Monday, February 14th with Love Your Library Day! Drop by your school library and check out the goings on including contests, free book giveaways, and much more!

Go ahead, hug a teacher-librarian today!

Freedom to Read Week 2011

2011-01-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

As another February draws near, so to does another Freedom to Read Week. Freedom to Read Week is a national campaign sponsored by the Freedom of Expression Committee which is a committee of the Book and Periodical Council. L.V. Rogers will once again be participating in the event to celebrate the freedom of expression including the freedom to read whatever it is that we want, free of censorship. 

We will be celebrating the fight against censorship from February 20-26, 2011.

Be sure to stay tuned to the Library website and LVTV for details for upcoming events including a photo contest and challenged book display.

Teaching the Ten Steps to Better Web Research

2011-01-27T13:04:00.000-08:00

The good old teacher-librarian Diigo group comes through again with another gem.

There are some very interesting results from a survey demonstrating perhaps how ineffectual the research skills of middle and secondary school students.

Of note:

half of all high school students "rarely or never" check the date of an article;
2/3 "rarely or never" check the author;

Worth a view if you are a teacher and have your students utilize the Internet for research or even if you use the Internet for personal and/or professional research.

Teaching the Ten Steps to Better Web Research

Video Games are not a Cause, but a Symptom: Gaming to re-engage boys in learning

2011-01-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

Instructional designer and author, Ali Carr-Chellman, shares her thoughts on why boys are disengaged in their learning. Note: it is not due to video games.

Why does Johnny need to be allowed to write about violence?

Why are too many female elementary school teachers not such a good thing?

Why is Kindergarten is the new Grade 2?

Why Grandma's on Facebook

2011-01-18T12:47:00.000-08:00

So, Grandma's on Facebook and using social media...

Can't say I'm not surprised. But what is startling is the rate of increase of use among our seniors using digital social media and closing a bit of the gap on the digital divide that exists.

According to PEW Internet and American Life Project, the 74 and over age group has shown a jump of social media use of 4% in 2008 to 16% in 2010; that's a quadruple jump! Totally unexpected or maybe not? Just the natural chain of events in the evolving social media landscape? An inevitability? Perhaps. But, like so many other things in its short existence, social media networks have finally made inroads towards populations thought by many technologists as somewhat immune--the elderly--and with surprisingly positive effects.

So, why is Grandma on Facebook and surfing the blogosphere? And what could she possibly be doing there?

Therein lies a very simple rationale: to better improve the quality of their lives. By crossing that 'digital divide' seniors are better able to access health information, and reduce unnecessary trips to the local library and their MD to ask questions, and to gain better control of their individual health issues. Once again, access to technology levels the playing field and makes access to information a powerful thing.

Last year, the Department of Sociology and Social Work at the University of Alabama at Birmingham began a "five-year, $1.9 million National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant to study the ability of computer use and social media networking to enhance the quality of life of elderly adults through online social connections and easier access to health information." And while the study is still in progress, its purpose cannot be denied as absolutely essential.

According to the principal researcher and sociologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Shelia Cotten, "a primary benefit of the study is that it will help decrease inequalities in access to health information due to age-related declines in mobility. An increasing amount of health information is available electronically...Once older adults cross the digital divide, they can access health information much more easily using the Internet than they can go to the library or visit a health-care professional."

Time to start teaching the old dogs new tricks; time to empower those that face an overt (and not-so) societal barrage of ageism and anti-aging attitudes.

Once Again Google Gets It: Sponsors Global Science Fair

2011-01-13T22:09:00.000-08:00

Not CISCO.

Not Intel.

Not even Microsoft or Toyota.

Google. Only Google gets it.

The bigger picture.

The future of science and technology needs this.

The future generations of scientists-in-waiting need this.

Google announced that they will be sponsoring the first-ever online science fair. Check out their promotional website for registration and information.

200 Years in Four Minutes...really!

2010-12-09T20:48:00.000-08:00

This video has been circulating around the blogosphere for a few days now. In the video, Hans Rosling, co-founder of Gap Minder, presents 200 years of history in four minutes. The video focuses on the connections between health and wealth from 1810 through 2010.

How to give the ultimate (or worst) possible TED talk...(statistically speaking, of course)

2010-12-09T20:44:00.000-08:00

After reviewing hundreds of TED talks, stats guru, Sebastian Wernicke, uses statistical analysis to design way to create and delivery the ultimate (or worst) possible TED talk in a very tongue and cheek(y) delivery. Remember: never, ever quote the New York Times, ecetera, ecetera, ecetera...

Rude or the new face of meetings?

2010-12-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

Truth be told, I don't attend a great deal of meetings. Don't get me wrong. I like meetings when they are properly scheduled and serve a purpose other than to just disseminate information (Just send me an email, OK?).

Last month's school leadership meeting was the background for an interesting dynamic that occurred. Of the eleven professionals that sat around a rectangular table constructed from several smaller student desks, five individuals sat with laptops open and operational (I was, of course, one of the five).

With our discussion about engaging students in their own learning (I think cell phones had something to do with it) in full swing, a colleague noted that she was frustrated by the fact that I was hiding behind the computer screen and she couldn't fully see my face. It was difficult for her to tell if I was engaged; if I cared about the discussion at all. (At this point in the meeting, I had offered a couple of thoughts and suggestions and was responsible for the current direction of the meeting.) A colleague immediately came to my defence denouncing the fact that she, too, was multi-tasking and had been actively engaged in the discussion.

The colleague who called me out was a thirty-plus year teacher who was currently several years in a non-enrolling position. At the time, I didn't think much of her observation, but upon reflection I wonder:

Was I being rude by not following the conversation with greater (perceived) attention? Maybe the laptop was a distraction to others and I need to be more cognizant of this fact?

Or was she just showing both her inability and reluctance to acknowledge the changing face of meetings? Of what is happening in our classrooms?

Photocopied Education: Textbook

2010-12-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading Photocopied Education, by National Post's Kenyon Wallace. And, no doubt, the fears that the new copyright law, Bill C-32, will bring to Canadian textbook publishers is well-founded. But, I think that it's more of an issue of ill-founded assumptions rather than what big-publishing might have us believe. These "concerns"appear to be the cries of a desperate industry that is quickly recognizing its unavoidable (r)evolution, and is not willing to risk change.

As the British Columbia Ministry of Education prepares to unveil its grand plans to embrace 'personalized learning' (finally!), the rise of the etext and PODs in our schools, the push for more collaborative/cooperative learning, the documented successes of inquiry-based learning, and those here-for-good formative assessment practices teachers have begun to embrace, will all push the boundaries of the twentieth century print textbook. At the very least, these pressures will redefine the purpose of the standard textbook in our classrooms.

Yes, Bill C-32 contains a caveat "that 'education' become a category under the bill’s fair dealing provision has authors and publishers waxing prophetic on the coming end to Canadian content in the classroom if the bill, as written, becomes law. And Nordal and his ilk fear that this extension of the fair dealing definition will allow teachers and students the rights to photocopy textbooks and other "educational" materials without permission or payment to publishers.

True enough.

But, that's not what is at issue for me...

Nelson Education CEO, Greg Nordal, makes the all too obvious (and ignorant) connection that the demise of printed textbook will somehow lead to the demise of learning about Canadian history. In a sense, yes, Nordal is right. In our schools for nearly one hundred years, textbooks were THE source of teaching and learning of Canadian histories. Heavily edited, light on details, and heavy on breadth, the print textbook served its purpose for learners of the industrial age.

But, we all know that this is no longer the case. And the white elephant in the room, the one that Nordal and others in the textbook publishing industry won't acknowledge--the Internet--has become the preferred choice for many teachers and students.

Indeed, this is truly a fear-mongering approach that Nordal and his publishing industry folks has chosen to leverage; but it will turn out to be an extremely ineffective form of rationale.

Enter the knowledge age. Young and newly minted teachers fresh from two years of teacher training immediately recognize the need to impact student learning, and no longer use just one source in both preparation and delivery of Canadian civics classes. The expectation by both schools and school districts is that their teachers offer students greater variety or resources (and teaching styles for that matter) in order to meet the varied learning styles, and individual needs of their students. In fact, many colleagues are currently not using any one textbook in their classes. And they frequently cite the increased freedom and flexibility that this new approach brings as refreshing and far more liberating and impacting on student learning.

Nordal assumes that education needs textbooks and other standardized publications in order for learning to happen in our school. Nordal asks, "How can content creators and publishers support Canada's educational aspirations without assurance of compensation for the work? And how can educators expect to achieve their desired outcomes if the publishing community is not there to support them?"

Again, I'm not so sure that Nordal has been doing his due diligence on this one: the face of education is/has been changing for over a decade. Yes, Canada has been slow to respond. Yes, under the current system that has become obsolete, textbooks have their profound niche. But, this niche, too, will continue to morph.

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/Photocopied+Education/3927482/story.html#ixzz17IB3h0uP

And I'm all for paying for intellectual property as it relates to legal "educational" usage. As a teacher-librarian, I am the advocate of a need to respect and ahere to copyright regulations among my staff and students. The onus falls to teachers and teacher-librarians to model appropriate copyright behaviours and help our students to understand intellectual property and fair dealing practices in our schools. We can no longer continue to shriek this responsibility but simply turning a blind eye.

But, isn't it time for the "education" publishing industry to have a better long term plan, too?

Educational leaders in this country have begun to adapt and embrace the new face of learning in the new media age. Personalized learning is where the ship is headed. No one is saying that big-publishing is not wanted on the voyage. They just need to pack a little more effectively...

PLN: Right under my nose

2010-12-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

Every single educational technologist, educator, administrator that truly values the power of the Internet for its ability to connect, collaborate, and learn knows all about PLN--personal learning network--and the important role it plays in lifelong learning. People like Fisch, Shirky, Alec Couros, Shareski, Richardson, and Warlick live on a daily diet of Twitter feeds, Google Reader, and the like.

And, I've become a disciple of the personal learning network/lifelong learning movement, too.

Recently, I had a lengthy conversation with a popular teaching colleague that was...

Inspiring.

While we rarely talk about anything related to school and curriculum (although I wish did), this morning's interaction was...

Unique.

Our impromptu dialogue began with a conversation about renown atheist and Darwinist, Richard Dawkins. My colleague mentioned a discussion about intelligent design he had with his History 12 students. He alluded that he often screens Ben Stein's film, Expelled, to enhance the classroom discussion. When I mentioned that I had not seen the controversial documentary, he quickly ran to his room and returned with "one of the copies" and insisted that I "give it a go".

So...what did I have to lose?

You know that moment where it all just seems to make sense? That once-in-while 'aha' moment that inspires you to rethink your beliefs, your biases, and your need express your confusion? 'Expelled' did that for me. Stein's project enhanced my professional practice and personal growth.

A personal learning network is as much about being 'local' as it is about connecting with others on a global context.

And, yes, it is true: sometimes an old dog can't (or won't) learn a new trick, but they almost always offer the wisdom of their experiences.

"Bullying" means very little to teenagers

2010-11-22T22:55:00.000-08:00

Once again, social media guru, Danah Boyd, has forced me to revisit and rethink an issue that I held for so long to be one of black and white in nature: teenage bullying. Once again we, as educators and parents, may not have our collective finger on the pulse of the morphing young adults that we so often believe we possess. And it's not about Facebook either...

Bullying. As teachers and parents we seem to be missing the boat on this issue. But truth be told, that while we may define 'bullying' a specific way, our students are defining it it quite differently. Bullying has become mainstream, in that students don't shy away from addressing the issue, but rather the do so in different terms.

After many casual conversations with young adults, Boyd discovered "that bullying was when someone picked on someone or physically hurt someone who didn’t deserve it." What teachers and parents considered bullying our teenagers viewed it more as playground justice; a vigilantism of sorts.

There is also a set of unwritten rules at work here; an implied sort of methodology that is at play in these sorts of situations. Boyd learned "that you know when someone is messing with you and that if you don’t, you’re stupid. Besides, when someone’s messing with you, you can’t take it seriously." Apparently, there's a sort of ingrained, subconscious understanding of the situation at deeper level than what one sees at the superficial.

A dear colleague, and astute observer of human nature, noted that it is not so much an issue of bullying but rather,

the snarky remarks, the whispered reactions and eye rolls to another student's comment that I notice in my classes. I'm willing to bet that not one of the "perps" would consider herself a bully. I do think it's more overt now. Back in the day, kids would wait until they were out of class with friends to "report" what they saw as a social faux pas. Now, they don't even try to conceal their disdain, or contempt, or whatever it is they are feeling and expressing. It's certainly interesting to watch from the front of the room. Finally, I notice boys are much more subtle about their reactions. What Boyd says about "fronting" seems true, in my experience.

And Boyd is also astute in noting that the problem is not technology (OK Facebook you're off the hook for now) but empathy--or rather a lack thereof. The lack of empathy has become insidious and growing exponentially. From her blog, Apophenia she writes:

When I look at how teens hurt each other, I can’t help but also see how they’re developing training wheels for future relationships and reflecting normative behaviors that they see around them. I hear teens’ dramas reflected in their stories about how their parents fight–with each other, with their friends and family and colleagues, and with them. What teens are doing is more coarse, more direct, and more explicit. But they’re witnessing adult dramas all around them and what they tend to see isn’t pretty. Parents talking smack about work colleagues or bosses. Parents fighting with each other or ostracizing their family members over disagreements. And it’s not just parents…Teens are seeing fights and dramas all over the media. Celebrity fights and dramas aren’t just in their face; they’re glorified! And even if MTV comments on domestic abuse after airing Jersey Shore, the way that the housemates treat each other sets a standard for what’s societally acceptable. Teens are seeing drama everywhere – they’re seeing it as a legitimate part of adult society that can often lead to notoriety.

One can't help but feel that we need to reframe the age old 'bullying' argument that pervades the discussions in our secondary schools. And Boyd seems to agree:

And, for that matter, using the term “bullying” is also not going to help at all either. We need interventions that focus on building empathy, identifying escalation, and techniques for stopping the cycles of abuse. We need to create environments where young people don’t get validated for negative attention and where they don’t see relationship drama as part of normal adult life. The issues here are systemic. And it’s great that the Internet is forcing us to think about them, but the Internet is not the problem here. It’s just one tool in an ongoing battle for attention, validation, and status. And unless we find effective ways of getting to the root of the problem, the Internet will just continue to be used to reinforce what is pervasive.

When I see issues of bullying I always seem to return to a powerful influence of Gordon Neufeld and the importance of attachment with our children (teenagers, too!). Both as parents and as teachers I'm all for helping our young folk develop a culture of respect spiced with a greater sense of empathy. Of course, the trade-off is, well...spending more quality time with our children/students. Sadly, in our go-go busy familial and professional lives many of us are not prepared to travel down that road. At any cost.

As educators and as parents, no matter in which direction we collectively continue to address the issues of bullying, we must begin to recognize that there is a new attitude (or paradigm) pervading western society. The idea of what we once defined a bullying, is one much different from those held by our teenage students. And of course, this changes the whole dynamics about how we define, prevent, and reduce bullying. This changes the game.

It's time to rethink our approach, time to get a greater perspective, and time to ask our teenagers for help...

What are we afraid of anyway?

The truth may hurt, I'm afraid. But at least it's honest kind of hurt.

Points of Inquiry: A chance to rethink our purpose?

2010-11-22T22:22:00.000-08:00

If you haven't already read the British Columbia Teacher-Librarians Association's Points of Inquiry document outlining the role of teacher-librarians' in our schools in the twenty-first century as important contributors to the success of learning for our students you NEED to.

I strongly encourage all BCTLA members and advocates for digital literacy to take some time to read and share this document with their school (and district) administrators. The BCTLA is one of only a few organizations world-wide that has created a position statement outlining the tremendous impact that the role of a professionally trained teacher-librarian has on student learning supported with the current and most reliable research on digital literacy education in the 21st century.

Our colleague at Kelowna Secondary School, Al Smith, offers resounding and unequivocal support for the notion that this is a document that teacher-librarians can be proud to share, support, and rally their school library programs around:

I've been working out some ways to adapt our teaching practices toutilize the BCTLA Inquiry document with our teens. Although this is a K-12 guiding document, it is never too soon to change the way we do business in BC School Libraries. The more I return to this document to rethink, the more I am again reminded what a fabulous document we have here! It is simply amazing and so professional. I am in awe! Everything I know, but cannot express, this Inquiry document has it. I've been revisiting our collection and debating how it figures into our practices.

Personally, as a teacher-librarian, and an advocate for teacher-librarians, school-libraries and our 21st century learners, I commit greater attention, time, and focus towards the Points of Inquiry that it deserves. And I also recognize that I need to work with a greater diligence and sense of determination to better utilize what I can to more effectively help my students, fellow teaching colleagues, and school leaders, but taking an active role in this endeavour. The Points of Inquiry document is the perfect opportunity to do so.

I encourage others to revisit and to reframe what it means to be an effective teacher-librarian in the BC in the 21st century.

So, how about it? Are you prepared to embrace and understand and get messy with the Points of Inquiry? On so many levels, we'd really be foolish not to...

Advice for a Teacher-Librarian

2010-11-21T21:55:00.000-08:00

This evening, while my son lay soaking in the tub, I was immersed in my copy of the December edition of School Library Journal; specifically, I was reading an article by Rutgers University professor, Carol Gordon, entitled "Meeting Readers Where They Are".

Jackson, ever the inquisitive one, asked me what I was reading. 

I answered that was a story was about "ideas to help librarians help students to read more books. It's suppose to help daddy do a better job at school."

Without missing a beat, Jackson offers, "I have some advice, Daddy. You should make sure the kids love the books they're reading. And [they] are age appropriate [his words, honestly!], you know, teenagers like to read books about love, vampires, and fighting. Age sevens [his age] like books on cars, warplanes, adventure, and stuff like that. And they need time to pick what they like to read...like in our library."

[wow.]

He so eloquently framed what Gordon and hundreds of other reading and literacy professionals have been espousing for decades. A modern day Krashen our little guy?

But, now I need to take this intuitive advice and seek out more student input with my students. I've been toying with the idea of a school library advisory council and now the time has come to forge ahead. 

What have I been waiting for?

Thanks, Jackson. 

Thanks, son.

Sinixt Nation: Extinct or Not?

2010-11-21T21:22:00.000-08:00

The other day the injunction sought by Sunshine Logging against the Sinixt blockade on Perry Ridge in the Slocan Valley was denied by the courts.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/business/106771333.html

So, the Slocan Valley advocacy group is one step closer to the long-awaited Perry Ridge Nature Conservancy that the Sinixt Nation and the Perry Ridge Water Users Association have worked so hard and long towards achieving.

But, it also raises another question...

Now that the Sinixt Nation has been recognized by the courts, does this mean that they are no longer considered 'extinct'?

I think Department of Indian and Northern Affairs has some work to do, don't you?

Oh, this is getting good...

Congratulations, folks!

Cheating & the Aftermath at University of Central Florida

2010-11-18T22:06:00.000-08:00

Professor Richard Quinn of the University of Central Florida was so disgusted by evidence that many of his students had cheated in their midterm exam that he gave them a lecture that he hoped would teach them a life-long lesson. In the lecture, Quinn told the class he had enough evidence from statistical analysis and other investigatory techniques to identify most cheats, but instead of handing the list over to the university authorities for discipling, he proposed a deal.

Quinn declared “I don’t want to have to explain to your parents why you didn’t graduate, so I went to the Dean and I made a deal. The deal is you can either wait it out and hope that we don’t identify you, or you can identify yourself to your lab instructor and you can complete the rest of the course and the grade you get in the course is the grade you earned in the course.” He also added a requirement for those who came forward complete a four hour course in ethics. In return, there would be no permanent record of the cheating. So far more than 200 students have admitted to cheating (there are over 600 enrolled in the course).

Quinn has described the reaction and support he has received from the University, the community, and from around the world as "overwhelming", but added he was "looking forward to moving past this incident and focusing on the rest of the semester.”

So, what are we doing at LVR to discussing academic integrity with out students...

While I hold the students completely responsible for the situation at UCF, I can't help but feel that we, as teachers in secondary schools, have also failed them and the system. As a teacher-librarian, this blantant and overt disregard for academic integrity makes me wonder why we continue to turn a blind eye to what we know is going on.

Research has shown that the sources of academic cheating include ignorance, a lack of respect, laziness, and even just plain foolhardiness when it comes to academic dishonesty. Whether it be an essay or an inclass test or examination, I think that at some level our inactivity to collectively address these issues is at the root of what surely is an epidemic in most post-secondary institutions.

Am I putting too much on our teachers? Do I not expect enough from our students? Where's the balance in this? Whose role(s) is it to ensure our students understand what exactly academic integrity? Is there even a place or a need in the new digital media for such a discussion? Would it be an act of futility?

Man, this is giving me a headache...

November asks...What's our culture of teaching and learning?

2010-11-18T15:11:00.000-08:00

Education technologist, Alan November, published a white-paper several years ago, and I had forgotten about it every until recently when our professional learning network began looking at how technology impacts student learning.

It is titled "Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning" and was pretty heady stuff only just a few years back.

Now, more than ever, its message is an important one to heed as we move forward with new leadership and regrouped effort by educators to recognize those drivers that impact student engagement and learning.

A couple of highlights:

Don’t teach children to use the Internet unless you’re willing to teach them to think and discriminate.

I wonder if we really even teach our children HOW to use the Internet. For the sake of reality, maybe it should be clarified a little: Unless you're willing to teach them to think and discrimate then don't let students use the Internet.

We, quite honestly, need to get back to basics. We still need to teach them HOW to use the Internet. Seriously. Using Google can be as ineffectual as you want it to be. When I do digital and media literacy workshops with students, I'm no longer surprised at the response when I ask students if they know about the invisible (or deep) web. Mostly blank stares. And rightly so. We haven't done our due diligence here. Ask a student to find the 'Advanced Search' feautre on Google homepage. Maybe 50% can find it--while looking at the screen--in any given class.

I’m convinced we are going to have live video cameras in many classrooms. There’s no question in my mind. It’s like saying, in the early ‘90s, that we’re not going to have computers in every classroom.

As a parent and teacher, what scares me is teachers is the closed classroom door. Either its too noisy in the hallways or perhaps there is something to be hidden. I, too, think that it’ll force teachers to constantly evaluate what they’re doing, and it will change the relationships among teachers. It will promote more interaction among teachers as they look together at student work and share stories and strategies. Of course, there are two powerful voices that would fight tooth and nail against such a vision (or inevitability): the issue of privacy and the might of the unions. Not sure which is more powerful, but either one will attempt destroy this movement at all levels.

My only criticism of this profession is that we do not tell our stories well. That gets us into a lot of trouble because if we educators don’t tell our stories, there are lots of other people who think they have the story and they will tell it for us.

With his believe that teacher[s] lack a collective sense November is bang on again; and for a couple of reasons: we are still one the main professions where we work in isolation. We either forget to share what we're doing, too embarassed to share, or simply don't want to see or know about what our other colleagues are doing especially in a cross-curricular sort of way. I find the teaching profession to be one of the most hypocritical sort. We expect our students to grow, mature, work together, and continue to learn. Might be time to hold up that mirror, my fellow colleagues.

Create not a technology plan; but an information communication network plan. I am a member of two technology committees (school and district) and for far too long their mandates have been driven by what November calls a "shopping list" type of operation. This focue on automation has put us several years behind the information movement; the movement of individiuals as creators of content not merely consumers.

We do need to let go of the word technology because if we don't we'll keep doing the same things over and over (i.e. purchasing hardware that quickly become outdated and ineffectually utilized), at the expense of not focusing on the need to build "capacity in every family for learning". It is very difficult, and perhaps impossible, for schools to mitigate what is happening at home with respect to technology. And I never really agreed that technology would be the great equalizer, but I do agree that the more we continue to focus on 'technology' the greater the divide grows between those that have and those that have not.

I believe that every high school should require every student to take an entire course online because that’s where higher education is going.

Actually, so do I. But part of the problem is that November is simplifying the environment. As a teacher-librarian, I spend a few hours a week helping students in the library enrolled in online courses. Taking Foundations of Mathematics 10 (Pre-Calculus) on your own? Surely, there cannot be many students having a positive experience with that!

Yes, students can take an online course, but a huge percentage (and I'm not sure of exact values here) do not complete the course. A main reason often cited? Lack of support. Either from a parent at home or more likely this responsibility falls on the shoulders of local secondary schools which do not have in place the appropriate mechanism to be effective in guiding studens with their online learning. I appreciate his vision, but without a "information communication plan" at the school district and school levels this is always doomed to failure.

The trainer trains the students, not the teacher. If you train teachers in technology, they tend to go back and do what they always did -- they will automate. What we need to do is show models of kids solving powerful problems beyond anything we’ve every done and the only way to do that is in context.

Sage advice that I need to heed and continuallybe cognizant of because while I service both teachers and students, our collective focus, as a faculty IS the student. Never lose sight of that. I often do.

Tell the teachers, "This is not about technology. It’s about understanding the impact of technology on how students learn."

This is not about toys for teachers, its about a new understanding that must be recognized by school administrators and senior administrators. Change is exciting.

Time to revist our no technology plan again!

BC Teacher-Librarian Wins Governor General's Award for Debut

2010-11-17T21:39:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to our colleague and teacher-librarian, Wendy Phillips of Richmond Secondary School, for winning the 2010 Governor General's Award for Children's Literature with her first novel, Fishtailing!

Her inspiration for her work? Her students, of course! Wendy is busy researching for her second book and maintaining the library at Richmond Secondary.

Way to go, Wendy!

Gotta love those multi-talented teacher-librarians!

Next up? A Juno? A Genie?

A glorified in-house sub? Me thinks not...

2010-11-08T22:06:00.000-08:00

So it begins (again)...

Jane Byers Goodwin tweeted, sarcastically, last week to a colleague: "Aren't librarians mostly an in-house sub paid to sit alone in an empty book-filled room most of the day? Many admin. think so!"

I have been asked by my administration to 'sub' only once in three years while in the position of teacher-librarian. But, I work(ed) to make myself unavailable to 'babysit' the kids: I involve myself in various school-wide and classroom activities and events (organizing, taking photos, creating videos and slideshows); I meet regularly with my administration to share my short and long term plans for both professional development and the library itself; I operate and oversee our student-run in-house daily TV broadcast station; I continue do some of the small (and dirty) things that are not in my direct job description (administer school website and Moodle platforms) off the side of my desk.

Essentially, I have positioned and made myself indispensible to the operation of the school. I have been able to show my administration that what I offer is a 'value-added service' above and beyond those offered by the standard teacher-librarian.

That's what I believe you have to do--there's really no other alternative--make yourself indispensible. Develop a value-added routine. This is an attitude above all else.

And yes, I often wrestle with the lack of time in a given day. Who doesn't? And so I have to be clear: I'm not sure that teacher-librarians with less than .5 FTE are able to effectively carve out their specific niche. But, I hope that I'm wrong about this.

Me? Even at .75 FTE I find it a struggle to even spend 3/4 of any day directly in the library. While everyone starts off with the same number of hours in a day, it comes down to how we utilize those hours that matters, right?

And ultimately, I really only care about what my administrator believes about my position at the school. While it would be great to have more teacher support, there are more colleagues in the district--like the Superintendent and Director of Instruction--that know what I contribute and that I offer a 'value added' service: I am a member of two district steering committees; I have been a staff union representative for two years; and I am currently a member of the school professional development committee. Recently, I was invited to sit in on a workshop for school administrators (only 1 of two people not administration to receive an invite), and I am heading back at the end of the month by invitation to begin a dialogue about discussing possible long-term educational technology plans for our district. I also received an invitation to represent our district next February in San Jose, CA for an IBM education technology retreat.

Isn't it the responsibility of every teacher-librarian to actively carve and shape their landscape regardless of their circumstances? If they don't, then who will?

Should we not be destroying these stereotypical perceptions of school administrators about what it is that we do in our empty-book filled rooms all day (which by the way in my school is the busiest room in the building from 8-4 on any given day...and don't even try to come late at lunch--you won't be find an empty bean bag chair or quiet corner anywhere...)?

Sorry, but I simply do not have the time to sit alone in an "empty book-filled room".

FEEDING the Pig or just WEIGHING it?

2010-11-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

Maybe you have had enough Assessment for Learning to last a lifetime, you say? However, isn't true that its one thing to understand what it is (or at least think so), and another to actually put it into regular daily practice in our classrooms. Another analogy...

Okay, so you get the idea. Assessment for learning assumes that learning is a continuous process, and that using a final average of the student's work can interfere with the important task of understanding students and what they have actually learned. An average only shows what could be expected of typical performance of a student and doesn't show any of the trends in student learning. Summative evaluation is only a snapshot in time--not the whole story.

According to my understanding of AFL and that of teacher Chris Werj, "the other error that the coach makes (other than averaging) is that he gives grades at all. Grading is assessment OF learning and very rarely leads to increased learning (Black and Wiliam, 1996). We have all used the "weighing the pig" example whereby if we want a pig to grow, we don't just keep weighing it. According to Black and Wiliam, when feedback is given along with a grade, the feedback becomes significantly less useful than if feedback is given without a grade."

Educational Technologist, David Wees, offers another way to look at it:

"Let's look at a more extreme analogy. Suppose you are trying to become a famous painter. You try and create a masterpiece, but over and over again your work just isn't there. You keep improving a little bit each time because you are practicing, but most of what you produce is really not that good. One day you have a break-through and you paint a masterpiece. Your work goes viral and you make millions of dollars in prints. Are you successful? Should we consider a kid who produces an awesome piece of work to be successful? What if it is their final exam?"

So, are you just weighing the pig or actually feeding it..?

Our Technology Surges Ahead...Literally!

2010-11-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

To be Wireless...or not...

Our school, despite the motions of many schools world-wide to remove wifi, has begun a wireless network pilot project. And only after four days (and without any public announcements or fanfare) we have over 98 student users with accounts (that's about 15% of the school population!). The 'student' accounts are valid for the entire year and offer wifi access in the library and on the second floor commons (for the time being). If the pilot project goes well, school-wide ubioquitous wireless implementation should proceed ahead and be completed by the end of November.

And while many schools and school districts are refusing or altogether removing wifi network setups, it is important to note that there is no current scientific reserach that demonstrates a clear connection between wireless electromagnetic radiation and immediate concerns to human health. We have committed to monitoring the associated research on health risks of wireless networks and if evidence is indicative of possible dangers the school is prepared to remove the system in its entirety.

Apple Educational OpportunityThe school has also applied to Apple Canada in order to enroll in their educational technology pilot project. For four weeks, Ms. Lori Jones will be using 10 iPod Touches and 10 Mac books with her various English, science, and computer technology classes, utilizing various applications and specific Apple technologies to enhance classroom practice and student learning. Of special interest will be the use of the technologies with a class novel study of Cory Doctorow's 'For the Win'--a book about the world of teenage online games that was released under a Creative Commons licence--with a focus on digital storytelling applications.

Math Department Gets Smart

The mathematics department has also begun an action research project aruod effective use of SmartBoard in the classroom to engage students and encourage collaboration among peers. The project is still in the early formulaic stages as teachers are busy learning to use the important Notebook software. One teacher has already piloted its use in her classroom and continues to recognize a link between the Smartboard's effective use and student engagement and learning success in Grade 9 and 10 mathematics classes. More on this in the weeks ahead.

Baby steps. I would have never dreamed three years ago that we would be at the stage where the school could honestly say that it was advancing and experimenting with technology to help increase student engagement and successful learning. Can't wait for the next three years!

Councilor Joel Burns to Gay Teens: It Gets Better

2010-10-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

In a courageous, intensely emotional talk at the city council in Fort Worth, Texas, councilman Joel Burns reaches out to the targets of teen bullying -- kids who are gay, perceived as gay, or just different -- with a vital message about their lives, and the harassment they face.

Amid a rise in bullying and a rash of teen suicides, politician Joel Burns spoke up at an otherwise ordinary city council meeting and delivered a powerful message to teens tormented for being gay.

And no matter what we think about our school, about the level of tolerance (or acceptance) we appear to witness in our hallways and stairwells, classrooms and washroom, bullying does happen here. Yet, while education and zero tolerance policies are pillars from which L.V. Rogers must use to rid itself of bullying, Joel has shown that no matter from what side you face bullying (that of the bully or of the victim), it is essential that our parents (PAC included!) begin to take a greater investment in their children's social and personal well-being.

For everyone's sake...

Thanks, Joel. Thanks for your courage.

Sir Kenneth Robinson Gets Animated

2010-10-19T22:54:00.001-07:00

Here is the animated version from Ken Robinson`s Ted talk from last year on changing educational paradiagms...

Censorship in Connecticut Prisons Inevitable?

2010-10-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

So, does violent reading material incite already convicted violent criminals...?

"Connecticut State Senator John Kissel (R-Enfield) met October 6 with state Department of Corrections Commissioner Leo Arnone to discuss the removal of books containing graphic violence from Connecticut prison-library collections. The meeting took place several days after jurors returned a guilty verdict for the first of two defendants in the murder of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters Hayley and Michaela in their Chesire, Connecticut, home, and the brutal beating of their husband and father William Petit."

http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/10122010/ban-violent-books-prison-libraries-urges-connecticut-state-senator

"Somebody that is moved to commit a crime has much more going on in their lives than simply having read a few comic books or a novel or In Cold Blood,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy executive director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told the AP October 3. Like the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom's deputy executive director, Deborah Caldwell, I find it difficult to wrap my head around how "somebody that is moved to commit a crime has much more going on in their lives than simply having read a few comic books or a novel or In Cold Blood." Seriously.

Although I know very little about the powerful American constitutional law which favours the rights of the individual, I do believe that the proponents of this recommendation will face formidable foes in the American Civil Liberties Union and the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

So, what do you think? Would keeping violent reading material including classics like "In Cold Blood" out of the hands of incarcerated violent criminals assist with reducing recidivism and rehabilitation? Is this simply outright censorship on a huge population of society with very few rights remaining? Does this issue merit any real debate?

Over to you...

Shareski Says...Share and Share Alike

2010-10-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

Shareski hits it on the head in his call for teachers to engage in a more collaborative and shared approach to the professional environment. Sounds good to me!

What do you think? 

Does your department or school promote and support a collaborative approach to educational sharing?

Why School Websites Suck

2010-09-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

Time to head back to the drawing board, I suppose. Everything you thought we knew about website use by students is wrong. So wrong.

Students Utilizing Google Techniques for Digital Databases in Question

2010-09-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

As far as the sanctity and purity of research goes, the act of using Google techniques when searching digital databases like JSTOR and EBSCO has come under heavy scrutiny.

In today's post of Inside Higher Ed the argument continues: Should students know how search engines really work? Why are we need teaching better search techniques? Why are students resorting to Google-like search tactics on JSTOR? How have we failed them? Can we fix this?

While many research purist might argue that understanding the concept of logarithms and how it all works is essential for every student to know. Others, lets call them the pragmatists, recognize that research and learning are not paramount for many of today's students. "Cobbling together a good-enough paper with the first three full-text papers that turn up in a simple search is bad, but for students — particularly those aspiring to nonacademic careers — it might make perfect sense" argues science librarian, Lisa Rose-Wiles. Students don't have the same sort of views and put a priority on research and the papers that they have to write. The papers are a means to an end. The research, ditto.

Surely we can change our students search habits? But how do you when they utilize Google every day for every search for every occasion? It's kind of like asking a butcher so well trained to use specific instruments for years to try using a rolling pin to achieve the same results. Failure every time. I don't think that high schools are doing any justice but turning a blind eye and allowing Google as the sole representation of a research assistant.

Students need to see value in what they are doing. It has to make sense. It has to resonate, It has to fit into the very busy (over scheduled?) lives. Again, "there’s no real way to convince students that that behavior doesn’t pay, especially when they’re trying to juggle six courses and a job and a whole life and all the rest,” Rose-Wiles said. "So unless we can demonstrate some measurable payoff to searching, students aren’t going to do it.”

Casper Grathwohl, vice president at Oxford University Press believes that building a better Google-like trap may help to solve the problem. "If academics are going to improve student research in the age of simple search they will probably have to do so the same way Google changes the behavior of its users: by using better interfaces and more sophisticated indexing methods to nudge them, incrementally, toward competence." So, essentially play the game if you want to stay relevant, because at the moment, JSTOR, EBSCO and the myriad of other powerful databases are well...not so powerful or effective in meeting needs (in the eyes of our students).

Again, we bow to the lowest common denominator. But do we have any other choice?

Do we have other options?

One Month and Counting!

2010-09-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

With just over a month to go we're gearing up for another DROP Everything and READ campaign. To get your free bookmark and poster make sure to visit the official website of the British Columbia Teacher-Librarians' Assocation. You can follow us on Twitter @BCTLA_DEAR and on Facebook (keyword: BCTLA_DEAR).

Stay tuned for an announcement from the office of the Minister of Education as we continue lobbying to have the fourth Monday of every October recognized as BC School Libraries Day in conjunction with National School Libraries Day.

Child-Driven Education?

2010-09-23T23:57:00.000-07:00

I was inspired after watching Sugata Mitra on TED.

"If children have interest then education happens." Powerful.

The capacity for children to learn and educate has been laid bare. I think that I need to help motivate students to utilize that capacity.

No, I won't define that word for you."

"No, I will not spell that for you."

"No, I'm not going to repeat myself five times slowly."

So, students. Do you want to succeed in learning?

Then learn to activate your own capacity to learn. Figure it out. Use a peer. Use your computer, iPod Touch, smartphone, whatever, and the connection to the world that it represents. And stop leaning on me; because soon enough I won't be here. And it will just be you and the world.

LIBRARY SCAVENGER HUNT DIRECTIONS

2010-09-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

OK, FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS TO ACCESS THE QUESTIONS FOR THE SCAVENGER HUNT:

1. Login to the network using your username and four letter password (only one group members has to do this!);
2. Click the ‘Public’ folder on your desktop OR go to “My Computer” and click on ‘Public P’;
3. Find and open the folder titled “LIBRARY ORIENTATION”;
4. Click on the document titled “LVR Library Media Centre Scavenger Hunt” and drag a copy to your desktop;
5. Open up the document;
6. Type your answers to the scavenger hunt directly into this document saving frequently;
7. When finished save it again; and finally
8. Go back to ‘My Computer’ and look for the folder titled ‘MR YAZ DROP BOX'. Click and drag your completed answer sheet over top the folder and let go. It will be put into this folder. NOTE: You will not be able to open up this folder to see. You will only be able to ‘drop’ your assignment. If you are not sure if it dropped see Mr. Yaz.

What I Wish I Knew

2010-09-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Reading blogs if little else inspires me. It forces me to go deep and really think about my professional practice and my interactions with students and staff.

Leanne Jones, in her blog Shelf-Consumed, offers ten insights on what every new librarian should keep in mind.

Here's my list based on Leanne's wisdom:

#2 Kids above all else. It feels good to also know that what you are doing in the library and how you approach every day should be seen as essential. Your interactions with the students is paramount. Why bother becoming a teacher-librarian if the students are not your top priority? Who needs an overpaid book-shelver anyway?

#9. I do not fear leaving my footprint. Sure, I faced two years of barbs, sarcasm, and innuendo by staff members, but it didn't deter me from making drastic (and much needed) changes to the school library environment (bye bye dated encyclopedias; massive culling of the fiction section? you bet cha'!). I mean why would you take over someone's room and leave up their wallpaper and paint colour if you didn't have, too?

#4. Don't try and fake 'em out. I've really grown to appreciate the 'fakar' ability that kids possess--if you haven't read it, don't booktalk it. And I recognize the reason to just go home and read and night (tied to #3 below). At the same time, I will NEVER apologize for booktalking the books that are my favourites and that I love to read.

#6. The library is a shared space. It's multi-purpose room. And I tell every freshmen the same thing: this is not my library, it's yours, and I'm just really, really, really lucky that I get to come here for nine hours a day and hang out! Yeah, baby!

#3. Drop everything at the end of the day. Admittedly, like many of my passionate and professional teacher-librarian colleagues, I struggle with this. Go home and just read a good book (and I know that School Library Journal doesn't count!). Some days I know it's what I need to do, but I don't. To be honest, I truly believe that this is one of the perks of being a teacher-librarian: I can (if I so choose) leave my work at my workplace. This is a work in progress. It's OK to leave with a shoulder bag filled just empty Tupperware in it. It should be a good feeling and not one of guilt.

OK, my own two cents:

#11 The principal is your ally. But, you have to be in their corner, too. Bad mouthing the boss behind their back never really does you any good.

#12 Regular self-assessment of your program and your practices is key in order for the program and my professional abilities to improve and best serve the school community.

#13 I do learn from the kids as much (or often more) than I might offer at times. And that's OK, brother!

#14 Recognize that collaboration is really only a means to a specific end; it's not the goal in and of itself.

#15 Understand that there will be detractors on faculty. But who says that you have to work with everyone? Find those key teachers that share common visions and passions and run with it baby, just run!

#16 The teacher-librarian is a school leader; and as such should be involved in policy making at the school and district levels.

#17 Lead by example and develop a strong and effective professional/personal learning network. It is about lifelong learning that we are modeling, no?

#18 Recognize that it's OK to say "No". Balance is key. Without it, not much else gets done. Or done effectively.

My fellow teacher-librarians, what would you add to this list?

JY

Google DocsTraining Videos for Teachers

2010-09-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

I've been inspired to create a one-stop training video arena for Google Docs for teacher and colleagues.

Microsoft Gets into the 'Critical Thinking' Game

2010-09-06T16:12:00.000-07:00

Being pushed by Google and Apple to get more academic-minded and begin supporting education at the grassroots levels in North America, Microsoft in collaboration with ISTE (International Society Technology in Education) put together a thirty-seven page "Critical Thinking in the Classroom" teacher's guide and program. The document is loaded with lesson plans include prerequisites, rationale, essential concepts, and descriptions of related National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) and are designed for beginner, intermediate, or advanced levels, aimed at middle school and secondary students.

Now, I just need the time to go through the document, digest it and attempt to share with my teaching colleagues.

Libba Bray: On "Going Bovine"

2010-09-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

A terrific interview with 'Going Bovine' and 'Great and Terrible Beauty' author, Libba Bray.

And of course, the booktrailer for 'Going Bovine' from last year!

They Get it in New Brunswick!

2010-09-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

OK. One of the smallest provinces, with one of the smallest students populations, and an even smaller education budget has begun their rethink. Can BC be not too far behind? Let's hope not...

Wifi Electromagnetic Signals Dangerous?

2010-08-31T22:03:00.000-07:00

The other day, in my hometown of St. Catharines, Ontario, the faculty and staff at Brock University were warned by the head of the drama department, Dr. David Fancy, about the possible risks involved in working in an environment bathed in wifi electromagnetic signals.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/08/31/con-wi-fi-warning.html

My initial cynical reaction? Is this another inconclusive cell-phone-causes-brain-cancer-fear-mongering or is there a significant body of long-term research to support this supposition?

While I'm not dismissing the claims that EM radiation has affect on living tissues, this is a difficult fence on which to take sides. As our school finally goes wireless later this fall, I hesitate to even begin to think about the possible risks involved. Maybe it's time to get some more research done!

And Health Canada's position?

"Based on scientific evidence, Health Canada has determined that exposure to low-level radio frequency energy, such as that from Wi-Fi systems, is not dangerous to the public," the department said.

You know, Health Canada has been wrong before. More times that I have fingers and toes to keep an accurate count...

Hmmm...

Plagiarism for Beginners

2010-08-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Former university professor, Crawford Killian, offers a terrific article this week in The Tyee; fair warning to all incoming freshmen. Check out 'Plagiarism for Beginners'.

Killian notes that "When the big term papers come due late in the semester, some of you will submit examples of either dumb plagiarism or crooked plagiarism. This is not because you are really dumb or crooked, but because you live on the far side of a cultural gulf from your profs and the whole academic world." While his observation is well founded and couldn't be any closer to the truth, is placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of the student? Truly, who is a fault? The student? His peers? His generation? What about previous teachers? The education institution as a whole? Society? How about mom and dad?

Obviously, there isn't one simple solution--nor should there be--as it is a complex and multifaceted international (and ongoing) problem that involves work ethic, morals, respect, and good old trust.

Have things really changed since 1920? Did we expect technology to change it?

I wonder...

Have we, as educators, failed the class of 2014?

JY

My BookTrailer: DeNiro's Game by Rawi Hage

2010-07-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

Using htrp://animoto.com I created this booktrailer for EDES501 Summer 2010.

My Illustrator of Choice: Michael Martchenko

2010-07-13T15:27:00.001-07:00

My Illustrator of Choice: Michael Martchenko on Prezi

DEAR 2010 & National School Library Day

2010-06-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

While it is still four months away preparations for the 2010 edition of 'Drop Everything And Read' are underway. DEAR is sponsored by the British Columbia Teacher-Librarians' Association (BCTLA), and celebrates National School Library Day (the last Monday in October). So, be sure to mark Monday, October 25th on your calendar. To view, and download, copies the beautiful posters (three this year!) created by our web-guru, graphics-whiz, and dear colleague, Al Smith, please visit the website of the BCTLA. And make sure to follow the official DEAR blog for updates and news as the event unfolds. I'm extremely excited and honoured to be helping bring DEAR to fruition this year! Many, many thanks to Karen Lindsay for both her support and guidance. She has placed a great deal of her trust in me to keep DEAR growing; I will work hard to keep this terrific advocacy adventure going!

Summer Time is Back To School Time

2010-06-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

Summer is nearly here and the professional development continues. I'm really excited about returning to the Teacher Librarian Distance Learning diploma program through the University of Alberta. This summer's selection: Children and Young Adult Literature. The course is exciting with a heavy pre-load of reading--including Sylvia Vardell's text--(it is only five weeks long!); I'm excited to expand my knowledge of young adult literature and other related media. The course requires reading at least fifty children and young adult items, create a book trailer, and complete a profile on a selected illustrator. Young adult literate and reading advisory is definitely a recognized personal 'weakness'--one that I have yet to develop since becoming a TL two and half years ago--and yet one of the most critical of the teacher-librarian. Admittedly, this part of the job has taken a back seat to other duties such as curricular-based selection of resources, and days filled with technology education learning with teachers and students. I'm really looking forward to this class and the collegiality that develops among classmates via WebCT. So, what are you doing for professional development this summer?

The second best job in school...?

2010-06-18T00:10:00.000-07:00

Wow.

Just when I thought that being a teacher-librarian was the best job in any school, I now take over the reigns of one of the most popular courses at L.V. Rogers Secondary: LVTV. The daily ten minute closed-circuit television broadcast, operated by students, has been a part of the school's culture for well over fifteen years. Offering school information on upcoming events, group meetings, sports, and other inter- and intramural co-curricular events; LVTV is the main source of school-related information.
It's also an organization and technological nightmare, or it can be...
Am I a little nervous? Yep. Big shoes to fill? Si. Going to make some big mistakes along the way? You bet ya. Did I ever consider saying no to this assignment? Are you kidding? Nevertheless, I know that I am in good hands. My teachers? The students of LVTV, of course! A good ones at that. As a regular guest with my 'Off the Shelf' spot for the past three years I have seen students take this program very seriously and develop and hone skills necessary for future employment: teamwork, coping with stress, helping each other to cope, pitching in and doing whatever necessary to get each broadcast up and running. Oh, and they have a heck of a lot of fun along the way, too.
Indeed, I am extremely privileged to now hold down the two best gigs at the school.
How lucky can one guy get...?

L.V. Rogers Lauches Its First Ever Professional Book Club

2010-06-17T23:07:00.001-07:00

It's a go! The first annual Teacher's Professional Book Club has twelve eager members. Here's the list of selections for this summer:

The Dumbest Generation, Mark Bauerlein

Girls on the Edge : The Four Factors Driving the New Crisis for Girls, Leonard Sax

Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Learning by Design, Carol Ann Tomlinson & Jay McTighe

The Brain that Changes Itself, Norman Doidge

Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton

Books will be distributed on June 30th, and then let the reading begin. We will convene at an undisclosed location for food, drinks, and terrific discussion!

Thanks to School District 8 (Kootenay Lake) and Mr. Andy Leathwood, Director of Instruction, for supporting the professional development endeavour by purchasing six copies of the Tomlinson and McTighe book.

Happy Reading!

Professional Book Club in Limbo

2010-06-07T10:46:00.001-07:00

And while it's not a done deal, I'm really proud of how far we've come with this inspiring idea from my colleague Bonnie McComb.

And while everyone I have addressed this situation with admits to the power of this professional development initiative few groups have put their money where their perverbial mouths are: our professional development committee requires that members purchase their own books using their personal pro-d funds; our administration has yet to commit; but, admittedly somewhat surprisingly, our school district and director of instruction sees the professional merit of such an undertaking ,and has offered to purchase ten copies of Carol Ann Tomlinson's book on differentiated instruction. Thanks, Andy!

A professional book club will happen at LVR. THere are dedicated professionals that will participate regardless of the support other groups offer. Nevertheless, I think that I will need to ready myself for a relatively low participation rate, and be prepared to build on it next summer until we have ALL faculty members on board.

Worst case scenario. The meeting with my AO on Wednesday will be a pivotal point as to whether the book club operates to its greatest capacity this summer or whether it limps through with a couple of hearty individuals until next year when the real noise can be heard!

Ramble on!

jeffyasinchuk

An Infographic: The Flipped Classroom

iBooks Textbooks a Solution?

How to...Focus...in the...Age...of...Distraction...

Big Data Science: The New Oil (and our kids aren't ready for this!)

Survey: Facebook is not an evil influence

School Libraries and Advocacy

Goodreads Year in Books in Review

Why Using Video in the Classroom Just Got a Little Easier

Our 'Studio School' Vision (of sorts)

Google Versus Facebook Privacy and Security: An Infographic

The True Drivers of Change in Education: Parents

PTS: A Small Group Making a Difference

The (Real) Mission of (Teacher-) Librarians: Lankes

To Succeed or Not to Succeed: Are you a Monkey?

Infographic: State of Digital Education in US

Nuances: Teaching in the 21st Century

Provincial Learning Commons

More TLs Means...

BCTLA Points of Inquiry Poster: A Missing Element?

See Sally Research: Joyce Valenza TED Talk

Top Research Skills Needed for Post-Secondary

Queen Victoria c u later: The Realities (and myths) of Texting

Losing Our Ability to Listen (Consciously)

DEAR 2011 Kicks Off With New Poster

The Brain Rule: We're not all wired the same...

Professional Learning Project: A Beginning

60 Seconds...on the Internet

Middle School Boys & Technology Use

One Heck of a September: The Perfect Storm?

Quiet on the Set: Authentic Learning in an Authentic Environment

Hartzell: Despairing of School Library Advocacy

Change IS Necessary

In the Right Direction

Teacher-Librarian to become Extinct?

Smile Baby Smile

Q: Who will speak for the (teacher-) librarian?

What's That Smell...?

Godin: the NEXT Library

What IS High School For?

What's high school for?

L.A. Teacher-Librarians Face Inquisition

Is Social Media Ruining Students?

Arrival: Personal Learning Device in School

The Cancre: Influence of Parents

The Library Technologist Gets It!

Who could blame her?

Moodle Do's and Don'ts: A Word to the Wise

Facebook Steps Up the Anti-Bullying Campaign

My CBC Fave Nominated for Two BC Book Prizes

ePortfolios: Documenting Our Changing Relationships and Digital Environments

L.V. Rogers Secondary Celebrates Freedom to Read Week

A Sad Relationship: Facebook & Anorexia

Not All Teachers Are Created as Doctors...?

BCTF 21st Century Learning Discussion Paper

Polygamous School Ranks Perfect: The Homogeneity Factor?

School Libraries: A Right

Born Digital Video: Identities

BCTLA Celebrates "Love Your Library" Day

Freedom to Read Week 2011

Teaching the Ten Steps to Better Web Research

Video Games are not a Cause, but a Symptom: Gaming to re-engage boys in learning

Why Grandma's on Facebook

Once Again Google Gets It: Sponsors Global Science Fair

200 Years in Four Minutes...really!

How to give the ultimate (or worst) possible TED talk...(statistically speaking, of course)

Rude or the new face of meetings?

Photocopied Education: Textbook

PLN: Right under my nose

"Bullying" means very little to teenagers

Points of Inquiry: A chance to rethink our purpose?

Advice for a Teacher-Librarian

Sinixt Nation: Extinct or Not?

Cheating & the Aftermath at University of Central Florida

November asks...What's our culture of teaching and learning?

BC Teacher-Librarian Wins Governor General's Award for Debut

A glorified in-house sub? Me thinks not...

FEEDING the Pig or just WEIGHING it?

Our Technology Surges Ahead...Literally!

Councilor Joel Burns to Gay Teens: It Gets Better