This week editor Derrick Grose and his team of editors released their inaugural edition of the Canadian School Libraries Journal. Derrick says: “This first issue of the Canadian School Library Journal reflects the exciting times in which we are working” and “the actual work being done in school libraries”. For those of you who don’t know, […]
In 2015 award-winning author John Vaillant released his first novel “The Jaguar’s Children” saying that the issues of Mexico’s plight are just too complex to do justice in a non-fiction book. The book cover shows a wall….the same wall that everyone is talking about in 2017. It’s this wall that our main characters Hector and […]
In reading Participatory Culture in a Networked Era, I’m reflecting on how not much has really changed since the invention of forums in the 70s … not that I was lurking there, but really it goes like this: post discussion thread, reply to discussion thread, repeat. …Right? Henry Jenkins says:”… It is abundantly clear that […]
Wherever I go, my PLN tells me that they wish we had more time to hang out together….well this is it!! There’s still time left to register (by Thursday night please!) for the Ontario School Library Association council Summer Institute…virtually free to you in Ottawa this August 10-11-12. Here’s our description: Ontario School Library Association […]
Why an online book club and why now? I like to read things that inform my professional trajectory I like to find people who like to read and engage in rich discussions about what we read I want to build a tighter community of educators that cross subjects and grades Last year we used the […]
I posted this blog entry this week in response to Chapter 2 of danah boyd’s book It’s Complicated: the social lives of networked teens I’m really enjoying my role as facilitator in the TVO TeachOntario book club collaboration with the Ontario School Library Association. Our discussions are so rich. It’s never too late to join. […]
The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan My rating: 5 of 5 stars Recent winner of the Ontario Library Association’s Evergreen fiction for 2014, Cathy Marie Buchanan transported me to another place and time with this story of sisters surviving all the odds against them in 1880s Paris. I love it when a book prompts […]
The Silent Summer of Kyle McGinley by Jan Andrews My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is my first read of the 2014-15 Ontario Library Association’s White Pine picks for this year and based on this book alone, I’m very hopeful. Like last year’s Old Man by David A. Poulsen, our main character Kyle McGinley […]
I submitted this paper today in fulfillment of the requirements for my M.Ed. INTRODUCTION From curious to competitive I always felt most comfortable working with students in portfolio courses where students knew what they needed to accomplish and had ample opportunity to do and re-do their assignments until they were satisfied. I came into being […]
Lately the idea of how to design for learning has become a focal point in setting up classrooms. When it comes to a secondary school library, unique challenges face this space which is more mature than an elementary school library and more juvenile than a post-secondary library. The secondary school library serves a role where […]
So many of the changes in our library, representing the new Ontario School Library Association’s document Together for Learning, are fundamentally shifting how we see popular culture’s role in education. The document recognizes the need for social networking and meeting the students where they are whether interested in graphic novels, anime or gaming. I allow gaming […]
threadbare beauty 