My module readings and thinking over the last two weeks has been about something I am very passionate about, the importance of reading for pleasure. I could write numerous blogs about this topic but will start with a short summary here:
Why read for pleasure?
- Extensive research links reading for pleasure to academic success (Haven, 2007; Johnson, 2014).
- Books can be windows or mirrors. We can read about a place or character that we recognise and identify with or they can open the reader’s eyes to a whole new world and allow them to walk in someone else’s shoes. (Bishop, 1990). They help readers experience different feelings and experiences and develop empathy.
- Literature can provide readers with a temporary escape. It can help people who are feeling trapped or vulnerable to gain control and provide them with skills and knowledge (Gaiman, 2013).
- It helps develop global understandings and cultural literacy including understanding the traditions and values of different social groups (Freire, 1983).
- It helps us to live vicariously and “to enter other lives; other selves; other times; places and cultures” (Schakel & Ridl, 2017).
- It develops literacy skills and therefore will help develop Information Literacy skills, which are so important for students to ensure they can identify bias or fake news in their reading.
- It develops the imagination.
The author, Neil Gaiman (2013) spoke so succinctly about many of these topics in his lecture for the reading agency. He also talks about how there is no such thing as a bad book and how that is “snobbery and foolishness.” I thought about that again recently when I listened to Dav Pilkey (2019), the author of the Captain Underpants and Dog Man series. He spoke about the importance of graphic novels for children who have difficulty with reading. He shared how he remembers so clearly the shame of being the worst reader in the class and thanks his mother who would let him read any books with no judgement. He enjoyed picture books and comics and realised how much he liked reading. I have this conversation often with students, staff and parents when they are trying to ‘ban’ graphic novels or make children read books they do not enjoy or are not ready for. I do agree that it is important to work with students to try new challenges with reading. A big part of being an effective teacher librarian (TL) is to work with students to stretch their reading habits when they are ready.
Recently in Book Week one of my TL colleagues suggested that we share some short TED talks about reading with staff and parents. She then asked on social media in the TL community for some suggestions and she curated some very powerful ones. All of these talks elaborate on some of the reasons I have mentioned above. I will finish this blog by sharing these and suggesting you get comfortable, watch, listen and enjoy!
The first is Rebecca Bellingham (2015) talking about Why we should all be reading aloud to children even when they can read independently. This talk demonstrates the magic of reading aloud and reminds us all why reading aloud is so essential and how reading helps us make powerful connections.
The second is Jessica Wise (2012) discussing How fiction can change reality and about how reading and stories can be an escape from real life, a window into another world and talks about how popular fiction can spark dialogue and shape culture.
The third is The danger of a single story and is by novelist Chimamanda Adichie (2012) who tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice. She warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
The fourth is Lisa Bu (2013) talking about the magic of books and How books can open your mind.
References
Bishop, R. S. (1990). Mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors. Perspectives: Choosing and using books for the classroom, 6(3). Retrieved from https://scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Glass-Doors.pdf
Bu, L. (2013, May). Lisa Bu: How books can open your mind [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_bu_how_books_can_open_your_mind?language=en
Freire, P. (1983). The importance of the act of reading. Journal of Education, 165(1), 5-11.
Gaiman, N. (2013). Why our futures depend on libraries, reading and daydreaming. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming
Haven, K. F. (2007). Story proof: The science behind the startling power of story. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Johnston, R. (2014). Literary literacies: Digital, cultural, narrative, critical and deep literacies. In G. Winch, R. Ross Johnston, P. March, L. Ljungdahl & M. Holliday (Eds.), Literacy: Reading, writing and children’s literature (5th ed., pp. 556). Retrieved from Proquest Ebook Central.
O, #8217 Donnell, Alina. (2019). WINDOWS, MIRRORS, AND SLIDING GLASS DOORS: The enduring impact of Rudine Sims Bishop’s work. Literacy Today (2411-7862), 36(6), 16–19.
Pilkey, D. (Presenter). (2019, November 18). How graphic novels help children with learning disabilities. Speech presented at Singapore Book Council, The Arts House, Singapore.
readingagency. (2013, October 22). Neil Gaiman Reading Agency lecture 2013 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/yNIUWv9_ZH0
Schakel, P. & Ridl, J. (2017). Approaching literature: Reading, thinking, writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.
TED. (2012, August 23). Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
TED-Ed. (2012, August 23). Jessica Wise: How fiction can change reality [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctaPAm14L10
TEDx. (2015, December 30). Rebecca Bellingham: Why we should all be reading aloud to children [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBuT2wdYtpM&t=2s
Four years into my masters and I am finally completing a subject about children’s literature and I am delighted. The start of ETL402- Literature Across the Curriculum has involved reading about the changes in both parenting and the experience of childhood and how children’s literature has evolved over time. We have been asked to reflect on our vision for the future of children’s literature and who will be the drivers of change. I have had a lot of thoughts regarding this and my biggest hope is that the lack of diversity in children’s books is addressed. I also hope that digital technology can continue to enhance the reading experience, without taking over from print and if the last decade is any indication, I believe that is where we are headed.
Short (2018) and Harvey (2015) talk about how there is still strong growth in the print book market, whereas other readerships have stagnated. I also reflected on this in a previous post, Digital and Print books for children where I had discussed how there used to be fear that the demand for print books for children would decrease as digital took over. The children’s book market is one area where this has not occurred and many enjoy the benefits of using both digital and print. In fact, in a recent survey I conducted in my school students indicated a preference for print but an openness to use both. There are many studies to back up this reading preference. We recently changed to a different eBook library at school, because we wanted a company that also offered audiobooks. We are now using BorrowBox and have discovered so far that students have a preference for audiobooks to eBooks.
Wolf (2014) argues that technology can enhance the world of story and gave examples of beloved books where this has been done. These included Lane Smith’s It’s a Book, Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret. She discussed how when movement, sound and interactivity enter the scene an enhanced experience can occur. There is no disputing this. In fact, in this subject module, we have been shared these incredible interactive stories, which I will be sharing with staff. My belief is that the concern should not be what content is being used by our children, but whether they have opportunities to discuss and evaluate after consuming the print or digital resource. Are their teachers, parents and friends engaging with them in meaningful literary discussions?
Short (2018) in her study into children’s literature trends expressed concern regarding trends in cultural diversity and also put the responsibility onto teachers to ensure they are “selective in the books shared in classrooms to avoid establishing and reinforcing stereotypes” (p.295). Short was very much looking through the lens of American publishing but from my experience, it is the same globally. My experience is mostly with British and Australian books and the concerns are similar. There are not enough books where the main character is not middle class and white, there are more male characters than females and there are more male authors published than females. The Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls phenomenon started a brilliant movement with creating awareness and promotion of inspiring women in books. I often share this video, The Ugly Truth in Children’s Books with parents, staff and students and it starts some fascinating conversations. In my school, this has led to us changing some of the texts that were studied in English. We reflected on how the majority of them had a male character which related to the mistaken belief that boys will not want to read about female characters, yet girls would be less discerning with regards to the gender of the protagonist. When changing some of our texts though it did prove more challenging to find some middle-grade books with strong female characters that appealed to the masses. We were also looking for cultural diversity and we were trying not to choose realistic fiction because we were already using some excellent examples of that genre. For our new Year 6 text the strong contenders were Rooftoopers by Katherine Rundell, Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi, Thief by Mallory Blackman and The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis.
The topic of cultural diversity in all literature, but particularly children’s literature is one that teacher librarians aim to address when developing their library collections. Living in Singapore, which is a melting pot of cultures, allows me to be exposed to a plethora of children’s literature from around the world. One experience that really helps with that is being in the Red Dot Book Award committee, where we longlist and shortlist a selection of books in different age categories. One major criterion is for us to look for Diversity. Diversity in the countries where the books have been published, a range of countries represented in the story and the genders of the protaginists and of the authors is also part of the selection criteria. More on that in a post to follow. Another committee that I am involved in is the organising committee for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content. Our theme for the 2019 festival was Diversity and particularly exploring books published and set in Asia as a focus. I reflected on this with a Singaporean colleague recently when she connected so deeply with the main character in Kelly Yang’s Front Desk. She mentioned that she had hardly ever read a book as a child with an Asian character. As Short states “the continued lack of diversity in children’s literature is devastating for children as readers, many of whom rarely see their lives and cultural identities within a book” (p.293). Fortunately, I have seen first hand that Asian publishers are growing stronger in the marketplace and my hope is that the future sees more of theses titles included in mainstream publications.
So although, I can not do any crystal ball gazing my hope for the future of children’s publishing are backed on some research and experience. The drivers to this change needs to be the consumers, including educators so that publishers react to this demand of needing more diverse stories. My hope is that every reader can see mirrors as well as doors in their reading experience.
References
Chibana, N. (2015). 10 mind-blowing interactive stories that will change the way you see the world [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://visme.co/blog/ 10-mind-blowing-interactive-stories-that-will-change-the-way-you-see-the-world/
Favilli, E., & Cavallo, F. (2017). Good night stories for rebel girls: 100 tales of extraordinary women. London, U.K.: Particular Books.
Harvey, E. (2015, December 8). Five trends affecting children’s literature. In Book Business.
Potter, B. (2006). The world of Peter Rabbit: Box one. London, UK: Frederick Warne.
Rebel Girls. (2017, March 7). Goodnight stories for rebel girls [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Jbd4-fPOE
Short, K. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts, 95(5), 287-298.
Selznick, B. (2008). The invention of Hugo Cabret. London, UK: Scholastic.
Smith, L. (2011). It’s a book. New York, N.Y.: Roaring Brook Press.
Wolf, S. (2014). Children’s literature on the digital move. Reading Teacher, 67(6), 413-417. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1002/trtr.1235
Harris discusses how we live in an era of “information saturation” and that “the proliferation of low-quality content is the latest, possibly greatest threat to student researchers” (2011, p.31). This has implications for teachers and teacher librarians (TLs) when guiding students through the research process. Lederman (2016 ) discusses the importance of educating students about the three layers of the web and teaching them how to access the second layer, the deep web, which includes databases and subscriptions to online encyclopedias and reliable research information. I have seen many versions of this image below and like using it with staff and students.
Lederman (2016)
My practice has focussed on directing students to the deep web, with our school subscriptions, and I blogged about this in Physical and digital formats for reference material. I work with staff to try and embed the use of our online encyclopaedias Britannica and Pebble Go and we are currently trialling BrainPop.
Despite this direction, most students (and teachers!) will continue to default to Google when searching and therefore it is very important to teach them how to use google well. This includes teaching them how to use tools to modify the date content was published and to use advanced settings. They need to be taught how to use keywords, how to do advanced searches, how to skim and scan and how to identify bias. This will ensure they are not just using the web superficially. Many will also continue to use Wikipedia as a reference source. I wrote about my shift in thinking regarding this in To Wiki or to not Wiki?
It is also important to introduce staff and students to a web evaluation tool such as the ones I included in the blog, Reading V’s Understanding. Through this subject I also learnt that there is no such thing as the wrong search engine, it just may be that one search engine is better for a particular search.
In ETL501 I have found some interesting tools that I wanted to share here as a record of places to come back to.
Goog A Who is useful to compare results from two different search engines.
Duck Duck Go is a safer search engine without advertising.
Sweet Search is a search engine for students created by librarians.
Finding Dulcinea is a search which only searches and finds high quality and trustworthy websites.
And that is just the very tip of the iceberg!
References
Harris, F.J. (2011). The school librarian as information specialist: A vibrant species. Knowledge Quest, 39(5), 28-32. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=61819926&site=ehost-live
Lederman, A. (2016). Google just gets to the tip of the iceberg: How to get to the gems in the deep web. Refer, 32(2), 16-20. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1803449019?accountid=10344
How much information do our students understand when they read online? I am often speaking to the students about not using google as their first place to go when researching. All students should be taught a web evaluation tool and Kathy Shrock’s 5W’s of website evaluation is suitable for primary aged students and the CRAP test is great for older students.
Another important element of evaluation websites is to assess the readability of websites. There was an activity in ETL501 module two where we were required to use readability software to test the reading level of different content. I had never used a tool like this before and think they are really useful and am quite excited by this new tool in my learning kit. In fact, I am writing about it in this post so that I can share this with the staff. Four such tools are:
With all of them, you can cut and paste part of a text and it will scan the text and provide scores using readability indicators. These include the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level which tells you the American school grade you would need to be in to comprehend the text and the Gunning Fog Score which estimates the years of formal education needed to comprehend a text. I have explored these tools with lots of different texts and find them a useful guide for finding age appropriate content. I found it very surprising how high some of the results came back with paragraphs from Wikipedia (often a student’s first search result) scoring reading comprehension results suitable for 24 year olds. I even used them with some articles from Britannica in the different levels and some text in the easiest level was coming back as being suitable for year 7s! It has made me think again and how challenging reading online can be for some of our students. It also made me reflect again on the importance of sharing tools with students that have audio support and ones with videos.
It is worth raising that the results were not all consistent with each other. I found WebFX the easiest to use and it is also completely free. It allows you to cut and paste part of a text or to add in a URL and it will test the whole site. The fact that the same piece of text in the different tools would come back with different reading ages really highlights the importance of teacher librarians and teachers curating resources to guide students when researching. This is one tool that can be used to help, but teacher support is clearly something that really needs to take place to support students in developing information literacy skills.
References
Mitchell, P. (2017). Critical thinking tool – the CRAP test. Teacher. Retrieved from https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/critical-thinking-tools-the-crap-test
Online Utility (2009). Readability calculator. Retrieved from https://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp
Readable. (2019). The Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. Retrieved from https://readable.com/blog/the-flesch-reading-ease-and-flesch-kincaid-grade-level/
Schrock. K. (2009). The 5W’s of website evaluation. Retrieved from http://www.schrockguide.net/uploads/3/9/2/2/392267/5ws.pdf
Wikipedia has undoubtedly changed the information landscape in a dramatic way. Just four years ago when I became a teacher-librarian many people, myself included, were telling the students to NEVER use Wikipedia when researching. The students were able to rote tell us that it included a lot of inappropriate and incorrect content. However, the reality continued that it was the first place they looked and they saw their parents (and many teachers) look when doing a simple google search. Plus there is the reality that as soon as you tell students not to do something, there will be some that become immediately interested! As Harris states, “Educators need to understand that students will go to Coogle and will use Wikipedia outside of school if not inside, no matter what alternatives we provide. It is in their best interests and ours to provide students with the intellectual tools for assessing what they find in those places “(2011, p.31).
Fast forward four years and I tell my students that it can be a useful place to start research as it will not only provide lots of information, but it can provide links to lots of credible, reliable and useful websites on a given topic. However, they still know that it is not a source I would expect to see in a reference list. Also, because I teach primary school students we often talk about how the content is not written in language that is always easy to comprehend for their age. Then I launch into the wonders of our online resources including Encyclopedia Britannica which has different reading levels to choose from, as well as an audio tool. We also subscribe to PebbleGo, which is a great resource for the younger students and in the senior school we have both Ebsco Host and JSTOR. However, often students can’t find the information they need on these online databases. This is why it is so important that teacher librarians and teachers work with students to help them to be discerning when they search for information online.
My readings this week included some articles on the Wiki debate which provide different perspectives and some really interesting information. I want to share the links here because I know that I will direct teachers and some of our older students to these articles. Cronon (2012) writes an interesting perspective in Scholarly authority in a Wikified world. He discusses the virtues of the largest, most comprehensive encyclopedia in all of human history that is in “270 languages and is written or edited by 82,000 active contributors”. Polson-Brown (2014) writes a blog The Wikipedia revolution: Whatever happened to Britannica? and compares the almost 6 million Wikipedia articles to the 40 000 in Britannica. He also argues the very interesting point, “Wikipedia has been shown to be more accurate than common belief would hold, and more accurate than traditional encyclopaedias. Wikipedia itself even has an article that lists studies into the reliability of Wikipedia (and yes they have a page on Criticism of Wikipedia for balance). There is also a page on Wikipedia FAQ’s for schools. ” Proffitt (2012) has some valid arguments in the article, Why Wikipedia doesn’t belong in the classroom.
If you decide not to use wikipedia here are some great alternatives: refseek; and Top 7 alternatives to Wikipedia. But if you decide to use it, these articles have some ideas on how to use it with students:
How to: Use Wikipedia in the Classroom Responsibly
Information literacy lessons in Wikipedia
To use or not to use? Wikipedia in the classroom
But don’t take my word for it, have a read of these articles and links and see for yourself! Then you can decide ‘to wiki or not to wiki?’
References
Cronon, W. (2012). Scholarly authority in a Wikified world. Perspectives on History. Retrieved from https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/february-2012/scholarly-authority-in-a-wikified-world
Harris, F.J. (2011). The school librarian as information specialist: A vibrant species. Knowledge Quest, 39(5), 28-32. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=61819926&site=ehost-live
Heckler, A. (2016). How to use Wikipedia in the classroom responsibly. Fractus Learning. Retrieved from https://www.fractuslearning.com/2013/05/13/wikipedia-in-the-classroom/
Mitchell, P. (2015). Information literacy lessons in Wikipedia. [Slideshare]. ASLA Online. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/ASLAonline/asla-wikipedia-webinar
Open Education Database. (2006-2017). Top 7 alternatives to Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/top-7-alternatives-to-wikipedia/
Polson-Brown, C. (2014). The Wikipedia revolution: Whatever happened to Britannica? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blog.iinet.net.au/wikipedia-revolution-happened-britannica/
Proffitt, B. (2012). Why Wikipedia doesn’t belong in the classroom. Readwrite. Retrieved from http://readwrite.com/2012/09/12/why-wikipedia-doesnt-belong-in-the-classroom/
RefSeek. Retrieved from https://www.refseek.com/directory/encyclopedias.html
Tomaszewski, J. (2012). To use or not to use? Wikipedia in the classroom. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/how-to-use-wikipedia-for-academics.shtml
Does my library need more physical or digital reference sources? I think that this is an important question that many librarians ponder when managing their reference collections. Alderman (2014, p.1)) states that the reference collection is limited to just the resources that are for in-library use only. We have very few reference materials that are for ‘in-library use only’ because I believe the students should have access to take most titles home. The only exceptions are some very heavy Atlases and the current year of Guinness Book of World Records, because it is so widely used by all of the students and it tends to get damaged quickly when taken home in school bags. My personal experience is from a Primary School library and I do believe the needs are different for secondary and university libraries. In my library, we are intentionally not growing the reference and non-fiction collection for sustainability reasons and to ensure our collection remains current, relevant and accurate. We are spending more time encouraging the use of our online Enclopaedias Brittanica and PebbleGo and using these and other digital resources as tools when researching and teaching information and digital literacy. As Farmer (2014) argues, maintaining these subscriptions do have budget implications because they are expensive, however, after doing a costing analysis, I believe it is the best use of our budget. I am also aware that I am in the fortunate potion of having a good budget and this will not always necessarily be the case.
Farmer (2014, p.70) talks about the reference section life cycle which includes acquisition, processing, organisation, circulation, maintenance and deselection. I related to working through all of these stages and have spent a lot of time both organising and deselecting or ‘weeding’ titles. My library staff and I have undertaken a massive reorganisation of the non-fiction collection. We still use an abridged form of Dewey but have re-catalogued many books with different Dewey numbers to avoid having titles on their own and perhaps where they are less likely to be discovered. For example, a biography about a sportsperson could be placed in the 620 section with sports or it could be in the 920 section with biographies. We always ask the question “where is this most likely to be discovered by a patron?’ when we decided where to place it. We have also been undertaking a fairly significant weed and only replacing those titles that are high interest or those that are linked to curriculum topics. Therefore I agree with Farmers point that all 5 stages of the life cycle are important.
References
Alderman, J. (2014). What is a reference collection? LIS1001 Beginning Library Information Systems & Strategies. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=bliss
Farmer, L. S. J. (2014). Developing resource collections, Chapter 4. In Introduction to reference and informations services in today’s school library [Rowman & Littlefield Publishers version]. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/csuau/reader.action?ppg=52&docID=1664627&tm=1499996228722
Module one in ETL501 has asked students to revisit Bloom’s Taxonomy. I learnt about Bloom’s in my first degree 20 years ago and my current school uses it a lot. A few interesting resources have been shared which I will include here because I think they will be useful both for my own learning, but also to share with staff at school.
A simple summary of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy can be found here, with many links to teaching resources and this great pyramid.
Bloom’s interactive pyramid with direct links to computer applications is organised to correspond to the stages of learning. Author: Samantha Penney, samantha.penney@gmail.com.
Another useful resource is this article by the Electric Educator, which explains how to use Blooms create “google proof questions” for students to avoid setting tasks where students can google an answer and cut and paste it. For a completely different perspective, Shelly Wright writes an article, “Flip This: Bloom’s Taxonomy Should Start with Creating” and explains why she believes the order of skills in Bloom’s should be flipped and if this is done it will encourage more higher-order thinking. She argues teachers should begin at the top of the pyramid by creating opportunities to create, evaluate and apply as a priority and to avoid only creating lower-order thinking tasks from the bottom of the pyramid.
The best resources that I came across was this video, What is Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. The video is made by the wonderful people at Common Sense Media who create such useful content for parents and educators. This short video not only explains how Bloom’s was updated in the 1990’s but it also goes on to explain how digital tools can be used with Bloom’s Taxonomy and it emphasises that the focus should not be on the digital tools but how they can be vehicles to support cognitive learning. Then in Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything, she blogs here and includes many apps you can use to incorporate the 6 processes in Bloom’s in one place. I used all of these resources to create a task in module one. The task is to look at how Bloom’s Taxonomy might be used in the curriculum for a study about ecosystems.
| Objective |
Question |
Resources/Web 2.0 tool |
| Knowledge |
What is an ecosystem? |
Dictionary – print or online or basic textbook, eg. Wordnik, Visuword, specialist glossary, … |
| Knowledge |
Define an ecosystem and list the varieties that are found in South Australia. |
Britannica, DK Find Out, PebbleGo |
| Comprehension |
List the different parts of the ecosystem and explain what they do. |
Labelling with Adobe Spark Post |
| Comprehension |
Compare a marine ecosystem with one from another area of our state. |
Mindmup, Create a Venn Diagram |
| Application |
Using a diagram, show how the water cycle operates in an ecosystem. |
Showcase with Ipevo Whiteboard, Create a Powerpoint |
| Application |
Demonstrate what happens when humans interfere with the water cycle. |
Flipgrid |
| Analysis |
Contrast the natural water cycle with that used by our community. |
Padlet |
| Analysis |
Examine an ecosystem that has been damaged by human interference. Avoided how? |
Thinglink |
| Synthesis |
Identify an unspoilt ecosystem and design a way of preserving it. |
GoogleMaps |
| Synthesis |
How would preserving our local ecosystems enhance our environment? |
Book Creator |
| Evaluation |
Is it reasonable that people pollute our waterways? Defend your answer. |
Write a blog or create a podcast. |
| Evaluation |
Assess the impact of pollution in our local waterways. |
Digital Debate, iMovie |
References
Common Sense Education. (2016, July 12). What is Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqgTBwElPzU
Loose, J. (n.d.). Bloom’s Revised Technology [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://morethanenglish.edublogs.org/for-teachers/blooms-revised-taxonomy/
Schrock, K. (2019, May 28). Bloomin’ apps [Blog post]. Retrieved from Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything website: https://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html
Sowash, J. R. (2009, November 6). Google-proof questioning: a new use for Bloom’s Taxonomy [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://electriceducator.blogspot.com/2009/11/google-proof-questioning-new-use-for.html
Wright, S. (2012, May 29). Flipping Bloom’s Taxonomy [Blog post]. Retrieved from Wright’s Room website: https://shelleywright.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/flipping-blooms-taxonomy/
I have just started ETL501, The Dynamic Information Environment, and one task we have been given was to enter an online discussion on how to make a library space more engaging. When contributing to this discussion I realised that I have a lot to reflect on and have decided to write a blog about my journey so far. I am quite fortunate that I am working in a library that is only five years old, is well resourced and I am provided with a good budget to spend. The school and the library were only two years old when I moved into the TL role and my predecessor had done a great job to establish the space. For the first two years, it was a primary and secondary school library so my role was to adapt the space to become just a primary school library.
The first course I attended was a Kevin Hennah workshop on library design and this really helped me to set the tone of what I wanted to achieve and why. I would recommend his workshops to anyone who is able to attend one. My biggest takeaways from this were:
- To have more book covers front-facing (to sell your product and increase borrowing!) As well as bookstands and displays I bought 100 baskets that I moved series and popular author’s books into and placed them cover out.
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Image 1: More front facing books
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- Clear signage. We have created lots of signs that explain how to use the catalogue and I have also purchased two brilliant signs that have helped patrons to access what they are looking for. The first is section dividers from Merchandising Libraries and the second were signs I had made that hang from the ceiling to identify the different parts of the collection. All of these signs are in Mandarin and English because we are a dual language school. The section dividers in the photo below have replaced the red ones in the above and below photo. The new signs has certainly made searching easier for patrons.
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Old shelf markers
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Image 3: New shelf markers
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Dual language signs
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Image 2: Dual language signs hanging from the ceiling
- Space optimisation: to ensure that there are different spaces in the library to provide opportunities for teaching areas, quiet areas, collaborative areas etc. He also mentioned that circulation desks should not take up masses of space. That is an area I am still working on because this was a big flaw in the design of our library. I am hoping that may be renovated next year. The images below show part of our circulation desk, which is a huge circular desk that sits in the middle of the whole library. My predecessor came up with a great idea to use this as a book display area. We regularly change the books on display here and it is one of the most browsed sections of the library.
- Flexible furniture so that the layout can be changed to suit different needs. All of our shelves are on wheels but the tables are not. Our shelves are quite high for primary aged students and I am still considering getting the top section removed to lower these. The tables are heavy circular tables, which can be difficult to move. That is also something I have proposed to be changed next academic year.
As well as these ideas inspired by the workshop, I have been involved in making many other changes. Some due to trial and error to see what works, some as a result of discussions and surveys with patrons and many changes have been made after visiting other libraries and chatting to other TLs. I have created a portfolio of photos that I have used when creating my strategic plans and also to use when making proposals to the senior leadership team.
Although our tables are heavy, I have changed the layout a few different times and this year I believe we have finally got it right. I have surveyed students and staff about this and the response from the most recent layout has been very positive. I have worked with a strategic group in school and our focus has been innovative learning spaces and a lot of our decisions have been guided by Thornburg’s four learning spaces, which have been well summarised by Hewes here. Our ‘watering hole’ changed this year from a table with desks to the sofa area you can see in the image below. With each change in layout, we have ensured that there are quiet areas where students can feel like they are in their ‘cave’, as well as useful teaching, storytelling and collaborative areas.
Some other areas that I have changed have been:
- Making the entrance more appealing. New entrance signs have been added as well as an inspiring reading quote on the stairs outside the library. I would also like book covers to be printed on the stairs going up to the library and am still waiting on approval for that.
- Adding self-checkout stations so the students can be more independent and this frees up library staff to be more helpful. Library surveys have indicated that students have found this to be a very positive change.
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Quote outside the library
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Self checkout station
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Digital reading promotion
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Library catalogues added to shelf ends
- Adding electronic catalogues to ends of some of the shelves, using Ipad stands that are being mounted to the shelves.
- Creating many electronic resource collections within our catalogue that we promote to patrons. Many of these are book collections, for example, “recommended reading lists for year 3”, but many are curriculum linked and have print and web resources.
- Regularly changing the displays in the library as you can see from some of the images below. I have also added an electronic display screen this year, which we add slides to promote library events, resources and recommend books.
Our library borrowing statistics continue to improve every year and all of these changes are done with three main purposes.
- To ensure our library continues to be the heart of the school and a place that everyone enjoys using.
- To ensure patrons can easily find what they are looking for.
- To ensure there are engaging and innovative spaces for multiple uses.
I find that I am pulled in so many interesting and different directions in my role that I know there are many more changes that could be made. I have learnt that managing the physical library space it is an ongoing job and in my new library strategic plan I will continue to address how to ensure the library remains a dynamic and innovative space. The library is definitely the biggest classroom space I have had to organise. Afterall, it is the classroom for the whole school community and facilitates both the academic and social aspects of school life. I have quite a few ideas about what else needs to be done and my big focus will be the virtual library space. I will be working with the technology integrator to improve our library web pages to achieve this. Watch this space to hear more about that!
References
Hewes, B. (2013). Using archetypes to match learning spaces with physical and digital spaces. Connections, (85). Retrieved from Hewes, B. (2013). Using archetypes to match learning spaces with physical and digital spaces. Connections, (85). Retrieved from https://www.scisdata.com/media/1341/connections-issue-85.pdf
[Kevin Hennah library design]. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2019, from https://www.kevinhennah.com.au/
Library signage. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2019, from https://www.merchandisinglibraries.com.au/product-category/signage/
Studying by distance can be an isolating experience. However, ETL504 has provided opportunities to build teamwork and collaboration skills through group case studies. Admittedly, when I realised that some of the work would be done as groups I felt frustrated and resonated with the reading by Aguilar (2012) because I believed that I could get the work done faster on my own. However, like she suggests, strong teams can build ideas from shared knowledge and challenge and inspire each other. This happened in group one as we built our understandings in each task. This is an important aspect of distributed leadership which moves authority away from one individual and relies on strategic groups (Harris, 2014).
The AITSL standards for teacher library practice include “to engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities” (Australian School Library Association, 2014). Since becoming a teacher librarian (TL), I have benefitted from networking opportunities within library groups and this subject has added an extra layer to this experience. Making connections with the people in group one has also resulted in us forming a Facebook group to continue to communicate, expanding the network of TLs that I can communicate with.
The case study content provided opportunities to think about some realistic problems TLs can experience and I could identify with some of these issues. In the past, I have felt some of these problems were insurmountable, such as having to manage a very busy diary and library and dealing with conflict and communication problems. I reflected on this in my blog post Courageous conversations. The nature of the case studies forced us to come up with solutions and supported us to think deeper about leadership and when aspects of servant and instructional leadership could be used.
Future learning in school libraries discusses how a TL needs to be an instructional leader (Australian School Library Association Inc, 2013) and this was reflected here and here in the case studies. The importance of leading the library into the future by planning and thinking strategically and using advocacy and marketing were also discussed. In my first post in this subject, Leaders Who Lead, I reflected on my leadership journey and my thoughts on how I had moved out of school leadership when I decided to become a TL. This subject provided me with tools to advocate in a more strategic way than I had before and I posted about this in Advocacy Using Mind Mapping where I explained how I had created another mind map which summed up all of the work I was doing as a TL. I shared this with the leadership team at school when I proposed the idea of having a head of libraries. I had raised this idea previously with no success, but this time using my tools on advocacy, being more strategic in my approach and using data from my annual report I have experienced success. This new role is being created and my leadership journey continues…
References
Aguilar, E. (2012, November 28). Effective teams: the key to transforming schools? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-teams-transform-schools-elena-aguilar
Australian School Library Association. (2014). AITSL Standards for teacher librarian practice. Retrieved from http://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/AITSL%20Standards%20for%20teacher%20librarian%20practice%202014.pdf
Australian School Library Association Inc. (2013, April). Future Learning and school libraries. Retrieved from https://asla.org.au/resources/Documents/Website%20Documents/Resources/2013-ASLA-futures-paper.pdf
Harris, A. (2014, September 29). Distributed leadership. Teacher Magazine, ACER. Retrieved from https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/article/distributed-leadership
