Changing the narrative
My call to action: stop teaching chronologically.
Latest Posts
Gutter Child by Jael Richardson
This is the must-read book of the year and I can’t wait to teach with it.
Apocalypse Kitchen by Jen Mt. Pleasant
Apocalypse Kitchen by Jen Mt. Pleasant My rating: 4 of 5 stars I can’t wait to try out the recipes! Jen has some whacky treasures of how to save and preserve food for an apocalypse. I particularly enjoyed the section on proteins. She also has a taste for spicier stuff than I usually go for. […]
Crow Winter by Karen McBride
I haven’t had such a big crying cathartic end to a book in a loooong time.
He Must Like You by Danielle Younge-Ullman
He Must Like You by Danielle Younge-Ullman My rating: 3 of 5 stars Caution spoilers ahead! I realize that last year’s Danielle Younge-Ullman book Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined was stellar….like I gave it 10 out of 10 and it was in my top 3 of the year. So I had high hopes for He […]
Avoid the Summer Slump: for Secondary Students
If I were you and I had just come out of this semester feeling like a squeaky wheel, rather than a finely tuned speed racer, I would want to get back up to speed in time for the new semester or even for the next step in your post-secondary pathway.
Rescue Me by Anne Shillolo
Rescue Me by Anne Shillolo My rating: 5 of 5 stars Shillolo manages to develop her 3 main characters really well in just 150 pages. Rescue Me is a great title for the ‘me’ refers to each of the narrating voices, and also the polar bears that they seek to save through their protest actions […]
Setting Up Communication with Students in Distance Learning
I would like a secure Google Doc/Form way to communicate mark updates with students. I’m wondering if we can use something like DocAppender on a spreadsheet to mail merge a column to users with a specific email address …
Fostering Literacies to Empower Life-Long Learners: A Look at the CLA’s Leading Learning
Originally posted on LB's Learning Blog:
As a teacher who has unreservedly and loudly argued that literacy instruction is the responsibility of ALL teachers, I chose “Fostering Literacies to Empower Life-Long Learners” to explore in the Canadian Library Association’s Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada (2014). The framework…
Remote and responsive teaching: Distilling the essence
I have a garden and last summer I had a bumper crop of black currants last summer. There are often times at harvest when I have too much to handle and so I’m learning strategies to save that summer taste for use all winter long. I like to approach any sort of abundance with the […]
The Dime Box by Karen Grose
The Dime Box by Karen Grose My rating: 5 of 5 stars For a debut novel, this is an author to watch. Karen Grose carefully weaves the present with the past in the story of Greta….neglected, abused and isolated with her parents in the woods of Muskoka. In the present, she is the prime suspect […]
Social Media Distancing with students
So as cool as I am, and as much as I am on social media, I don’t want to hotbox with my students in their social media spaces.
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood My rating: 5 of 5 stars Masterful. If I could write like anyone in the world, it would be Margaret Atwood. Make time to read The Handmaid’s Tale, binge watch the series, and read this book. We finally get to understand the Gilead system inside and out. We find out […]
The Impressions of Walquiria: Buenos Aires comes to Canada
This article was originally published in Canadian School Libraries Journal Spring 2020. It is the third part of 3 articles on my relationship with the school libraries in Buenos Aires including 1) Donde esta Alanna King? At the Jornada de Bibliotecas Escolares and 2) Getting on the Train: A Decade of Shifting Culture in the […]
My acceptance speech: Angela Thacker Memorial Award 2020
I’m the type of person who generally doesn’t like surprises. 2019 has been full of them for me.
threadbare beauty 