District Technology Day: Questions of Access

The annual District Technology Day began with a plenary of District and student "experts" on teaching and learning supported by technology and was enhanced by a fantastic brunch and many different workshops on blogging, wikis, social media, Wolfram Alpha, video use, digital storytelling, Prezi, and more. 

Epic Wins and Reading ... Teen Features in a Digital World 

Stealing the opening plenary show were Digital Immersion students Ben and Laks.  Ben, a self-admitted internet addict, was a confident speaker who both charmed and worried an auditorium full of teachers; up to 15 hours a day on the internet "absorbing" its truths, he told us confidentially, assuaged his thirst for knowledge; while emerging from a learning experience deep in the net often gave him the feeling of "the epic win," Ben conceded that the social aspects of schooling were important.

Hmm!  I wondered about Googling for The Truth.  I couldn't help comparing this young man's deep fascination with the "epic win" with Csíkszentmihályi's notion of "the flow," the state that takes over during the search for and production of knowledge or creative expression, a journey that takes the seeker into "the zone" or "the groove."   He was ready for inquiry-based learning.

But it was young Laks who shared her view of the important aspects of digital schooling, whose love of books and reading was clearly paramount -- "We should visit libraries more often," she said -- after all, she told us, you can't do anything if you can't read!  I think I know which two Vancouver TLs can take credit for stoking some of her enthusiasm.  Here's one young woman already launched into Inquiry in both the reading and learning contexts.

Mmmm-hmmm!  The mouths of babes were a compelling first dimension to the morning plenary. 

Access: Not Such a Simple Concept

Dr Jordan Tinney spoke about the significance of access in educational contexts being transformed by technology, making the second dimensional connection to what Michele and I were going to talk about; we were going to be "on" today, on the same page, the button, the mark!  

Access -- not such a simple concept, in fact.  I was prepared with the slides and Michele with the activity to share the complexities of access with the group of more than 40 who attended our workshop.  Access begins simply enough as the notion of providing tools and resources to find and work with information in an age where that is expanding exponentially.  The Information Age is characterized by

• rapidly changing tools,
• increasing numbers of resources created by the digitization of text, image, and artefact,
• more demands for users to be critical, creative, communicative, and collaborative consumers of the information,
• evidence of the needs for skills for lifelong learning where citizens are able to apply what they learn to do in the workplace, post-secondary institutions, and life.

Access becomes a far more complex and essential consideration as more technology is delivered into our system.  Resources are no longer simply the textbook; they come in multiple formats, print, digital, and human/expert.   Tools, no longer simply the pen or word-processing packages, are complex, having multiple iterations, purposes, and applications.  Students and their teachers are learners who need support -- in classrooms and in professional development -- for both physical and intellectual access to these; they need support and time to learn to transform information into knowledge, to share and store (or curate, as Stephen Lamb, quoting Maryann Kempthorne, told us) the resources that increasingly they will create as well as consume.   Teachers need support in effectively integrating technology with teaching and learning.

In classrooms that strive to move beyond the textbook, in school libraries, in the hours during and beyond the school day, educators will be seeking to have access even as they work to redress the imbalances that enable some students to have more access than others. The resources, tools, and information found "in the communities" of functionality -- educational, local, global -- are at once universal, national, social, and personal; they need to be equitably distributed, current, accurate, age-appropriate; they need to reflect the wide range of interests, skills, and abilities of our students.  There needs to be freedom to make personal and pedagogical choices amongst resources and tools, to read and learn widely and deeply, to participate in a culture of reading both for pleasure and for information. 

Finally, to optimize the value of tools and resources, the system needs to be able to provide flexible access:

• to a school library as the "hub" of learning, re-designed as the Learning Commons in schools, 
• to the expertise and services of teacher-librarians as learning specialists whose work is to support access in this broadest sense,
• to production facilities that enable new possibilities for products and learning,
• to technology in differentiated instructional and learning configurations,
• to tools, including software and adaptive hardware for special needs students, 
• to real and virtual resources and services, 24/7. 

These were important links to the workshop Michele and I would be doing on the Inquiry-based approach to reading and learning, the Points of Inquiry model which supports teaching and learning for deep understanding and which is enabled by access to the services of TLs as learning specialists as well as to technology tools and all kinds of resources.

But, while the District Technology Day plenary had provided some lovely connections for our workshop around access, the need to be perfectly ready and to begin seamlessly can so easily be disjarred WHEN YOU CAN'T GET ACCESS TO THE WIRELESS INTERNET!  I had spent two hours the day before getting set up.  I have never developed a smooth recovery from the initial disappointment and stress of the bad start you get when things don't work as they should!   Thanks, Michele, for your unflappable enthusiasm and capacity for flexible delivery. 

Off my game, I failed to utter a single tweet!  For those of you interested in the site-based Twitter discourse, check it out:  #39edtech.  I have tweeted THANKS ("sent a tweet-out") today to the many TLs who attended Tech Day and who gave workshops:  Michele, Frances, Denise, Fred, and Aaron were presenting.  Thanks also to tech-keen others, like Sylvia, who presented at or attended the Livingstone SmartBoard Academy.  And thanks, Patsy and Audrey at the helm as key organizers of the event which was all very good. 
 
Here's the link to the TL Special Wiki and our Presentation, with the sources and tools: 
 
C21L & Inquiry-based Learning: Start with the Teaching & Learning

On Being an Educational Bobsledder

The Jamaican Bobsled Team: An Athletic Metaphor ...

We are getting there, that's the message from those of us planning District "Digital-Everything" Technology Day in mere weeks, not months. The sled is in motion -- new team members and workshop offerings have been added and pared down. The demand for labs to provide hands-on learning opportunities for teachers exceeded what we could initially provide, but that's sorted out. Rooms are assigned; presenters' technology needs are factored in. Everyone coming should now know that lunch will be provided, and the sushi "boxes" are ordered. The student helpers are raring to go. Wirelessness has been assured. People have been told to bring digital cameras and/or laptops if they wish. Stress is elevated. The keynote speakers have advanced their themes; we've got their technical requirements. There are fewer than 60 spaces left, and we expect those to be gone by early next week.

When one's professional life devolves to a single obsessive focus for more hours a day than one likes to admit, one might, as I do, seek relief in humour. (I am wondering if this is what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi meant when he advanced the notion of "flow.") As we tumble towards the District "Digital-Everything" Technology Day, I have come to see the only method we, the organizing committee, could utilize was "the Jamaican bobsled team" approach. Can we once again assemble the talent, garner the resources, shape the day, and retain good professional relations as we work under real time and other constraints to pull off a great District day -- a real contender -- one that district colleagues/educators will be delighted with, in consideration of the time they spend getting there, attending sessions, and hearing speakers? I would say, resoundingly, Yes. Teachers who come for technology learning are, in my experience, happy to have the opportunity to be able to get together for support and new ideas. Theywill forgive the small shortcuts. They have come to anticipate their Day together, of coming "into the zone." The "bobsled team" is assembled out of its own enthusiasm for technology in teaching. We are excited about THE DAY and there is a feeling, a new district spirit, of enthusiasm for technology integration with teaching and learning.

Have you signed up online and shared the Day's information with your colleagues? Need more information? All can be found when you go to the online registration listings. You can also sign up here. It's great to see such staff participation from Laurier, Henderson Annex, and VLN.

Don't You Simply Love February!

February in Vancouver is a dull month, its highlights being the kind we Canadians celebrate quietly ... we don't have Carnevale or Mardi Gras but tend instead to pancakes like the British and chocolate for Valentine's. This year ... well, we may long for our quiet celebrations after this year where already the anticipation of the Olympics has us fretting about traffic and costs and disruptions to schooling. We Canadians persevere. That's what happens when you live in the colder or damper climates. No masks, street parties, and unfettered celebrations, as a rule. You just learn to wait February out and seek replenishment in the small pleasures of shared food, like pancakes and chocolate, flowers, good company, good things to read and watch, and the annual collective gatherings of educators, things like Winter Tonic.

For those of us preparing for February, there are lots of ways to replenish the spirit and lighten the mood in anticipation of Spring and the peace and quiet that must surely follow the hoopla and challenges of the Olympics here this year in Vancouver.

On Monday, February 1, 30 keen TLs are meeting for a mini-Pro D Day to do things digital, technical, and practical at McBride. We will savour the day with treats and make our way to hands-on lessons in weeding. This will be a fun day with special guests on Smartboards and Mentoring who have agreed happily, as is the way of TLs, to come to help out, alongside the usual MK and ME.

On Tuesday, February 9, many more TLs and others will gather at Gladstone after school for Winter Tonic, the annual "professional" evening that is simply more fun than work. And when the workshops are over, we have a visit from our new superintendent who is joining us for dinner -- reported to be an Italian feast in our quiet Canadian celebration of Carnevale. Decorations in the theme are spectacular this year, thanks to Shaughnessy art program. I can't wait to see the fantastic display of masks. All this and a year-long membership in the VTLA for $30. It's such a deal.

On Monday, February 15, the District Day, teachers in the district have a choice of venues and topics. These they can "shop" for by perusing the online Current Professional Development listings and registering through the VSB website. You might choose:

• The Smartboard Academy at Livingstone
• Technology Day, "Everything Digital" at Magee, with keynote Steve Cardwell in the afternoon
• Assessment Day at the Italian Cultural Centre - registration by school group
• ESL Focus Day at Tupper
• Science Day at Hamber
• and so on and so on and so on ... check out Pro D listings.

My work life in February is narrowed to supporting professional development in several venues, the biggest of which is the Technology Day at Magee, not that I want to press you ... but I do hope to see lots of TLs there. Workshops will include:

• Web Writing and Design
• Collaborative Internet Tools: Web 2.0 for Teaching and Learning
• LEGO Robotics
• Digital Storytelling
• Simple Stop Motion Videos
• Titanium Chef / Le chef titane: A Digital Game for Grades 6-8
• Introduction to Digital Cameras
• Introduction to Smartboards
• Quickstart: OpenOffice and Google Docs
• VSB Digital Library
• Moodle
• Picasa

David Brear, Alan Zisman, Brian Kerr, Bruno Vernier, Maryann Kempthorne, and many other Vancouver and local educators are lined up to provide a full array of digitally focussed enrichment opportunities. Stay tuned for more details, but do be sure to register online (it's under Registration there, see?) ... we need to be sure to have enough food.

It's the first one -- Web Writing and Design -- that I am most delighted to be offering. This worshop is designed to appeal to anyone who is personally interested in writing, in writing for the web, and in visually designing that web presence, as well as to TLs and teachers of English and Language Arts who acknowledge the new genre of writing for the web. The presenter is Amanda Grondahl who several of us met recently through the EastmeetsWest Book Club. Amanda is the designer of a downtown eastside women's book club and Intrepid Pens writers' workshop about which you can read in the blog attached to her website (click onto the DTES tab). She is also a freelance writer, editor, and design consultant and the granddaughter of a long-time now-retired Vancouver secondary science teacher. We think about acorns and trees when we work with Amanda.

Vancouver TLs and their various associations have provided support for Amanda's DTES projects; we follow their literary journeys with amazement and joy. We are learning as they go.

And yes, I know, this blog doesn't really use "web writing strategies" so I may just be attending this one myself. I have asked to have this workshop in the library.

Looking forward to seeing you at something this month.

A Wonderful Day with Dr Jason Ohler ...

Dr Jason Ohler, on Tech 2.0:

Teaching for Today and Tomorrow

February 20 Pro D Day at Magee, Vancouver

This week's blog is only about Technology Day, sponsored this year by Learning Services here in Vancouver. I am just so delighted to be so delighted with the whole day, and I think it took all of 15 minutes of listening to Dr Jason Ohler to know that the 230+ educators who had convened at Magee were going to be in for a very good day. The group included teachers and teacher-librarians, support workers, teacher candidates, administrators, our district systems librarian, TOCs, a couple of outside educators, district management, and a Vancouver trustee.

Jason was at once engaging, fun, practical, informative, and visionary -- what he said made so many connections to what we know to be good instruction; by simply applying new notions of "literacy" for 21st century students and presenting so many ideas about how we can do it with conviction, with sound educational grounding, and with little or no cost, Jason ensured there was little chance anyone in the room wouldn't find a place in what we heard to make connections to their own work with kids in our schools.

Ohler began by talking about all the "well-intentioned paperwork" that has accompanied initiatives such as No Child Left Behind in the US and the contrast of this kind of learning to those "teachers who opened doors" that might not have been apparent if they had been following the new scripts for student learning that are prepared for educators in the literacy field. The doors were opened because teachers knew the students and saw the potential and were not bound by prevailing wisdom about limiting the ways students can progress and be shown to have progressed.

Literacy has changed -- students need to be engaged by their work with text and image; they need to be able to "write collage" or write as they see on the web, some traditional writing, some visual imaging, some design components, all artistic and productive and creative, yet subject to sound assessment practices that ensure clarity through feedback and wisdom. It is no longer satisfactory for educators to assign A's to "anything that moves," but rather to see in the media product its inquiry, discovery, and transformational roles, the processes by which it has been created, and the learning that takes place within the story being told.

Ohler's website offers lots for those interested in re/viewing what he said today or what he showed us, all of it powerful testament to the very powerful work he advocates doing with students often described as least likely to succeed in traditional measures of literacy and learning but who are, like the students described by Torres and November and Leu (see previous blogs), so empowered by being recognized for their abilities to work in the new or multi-literacies and with technology. This website features his photo, using Photoshop, Biceps Version, he told us!

Kids, he told us, don't need more "clicks-and-tricks"; they need teachers for quality control. When we teach for digital literacy, as educators, we need to shift from text-centrism to new writing in what Ohler calls "media collage." We need to value writing more than ever; it must be deliberate, planned, but now visually differentiated in boxes, with bullets, breaks, boldface, and so on. We need to adopt ART as the 4th R but, while new ISTE standards include innovation and creativity, issues of copyright are real. This new literacy is digital / art / oral / written. It hinges on understanding that attitude is aptitude; digitally literate learners quickly transform new information into something they need. Literacy in the digital era is practiced both privately and socially; we no longer write in isolation. Educators and users will need to develop the codes of responsibility about using digital tools. And literacy is not enough; fluency can leverage action and success. While we can harness both report and story, it is story we must embrace. It is story that our students engage with and remember and can create and be transformed by.

The Day was one of those beautiful crisp sunny West Coast days of late winter, the kind of day that has every Vancouverite smugly congratulating him/herself on choosing to live here, a day that lent itself easily to walking briskly into Kerrisdale for a quick lunch before the featured afternoon Sandbox sessions for different interest groups. So uplifted by what we heard in the morning and by the weather, it is worthy of remark that there was little that distracted our keen crowd from the afternoon sessions back at Magee, even though for many Friday is the "short day." They came running back ...

Some attended sessions on Moodle

... or Ubuntu Linux

... or Rosetta Stone

... or Smartboards, while

... others went to hear more from Dr Ohler on the art of teaching for storytelling.

Twenty-plus teacher-librarians convened in the -- you guessed it -- school library with Sandra Lee, notably of the VSB Summer Institute and UBC TL'ship online program. We reviewed some Web 2.0 applications and then looked into the 9-day online international conference about Transforming School Libraries with Web 2.0 which was beginning today. Fourteen Vancouver teachers and TLs will participate over the next nine days in the actual conference, the proceedings of which will be available into April.

We are entering a new educational world of "continual beta" -- that's how Sandra Lee described today the new landscapes of school libraries called Library 2.0 -- where beta means "in the testing stage" so everything becomes something you can't count on in the version you had yesterday but you get used to that and get better at handling technological change, like students! They just figure it out. Some who work amongst us can attest to the fact that we do in fact move along the technology-learning spectrum to become more flexible -- less fearful -- in adapting to and using the new technologies.

Will we see some of you this week at TL Studio in Kerrisdale at our monthly "sandbox" for trying out tools and applications that can work with school library programs? For dates, check the online Pro D (or the yellow Pro D Connections booklet for February, which has all upcoming dates for both Kerrisdale and Gladstone sessions).

Sandra Lee and the TLs

Thanks to the Technology Day Organizing Committee, as well as Associate Superintendents Val Overgaard and Laurie Anderson, for all the effort, commitment, sponsorship, and support that went into putting this show on the Magee and district map. I heard nothing but positive comments; many were very excited about taking digital storytelling back to their schools, excited in ways I haven't seen in a long time. One was heard planning where to put the green wall.

Thanks again to Trustee Lombardi and CIO Lamb and Associate Superintendent Anderson for coming to join us there as well -- your juggling things to come to Magee into what we know to be an intense schedule of meetings and obligations characteristic of this time of year back at the mothership was important for Vancouver educators who I think, by their attendance alone, amply provided evidence of how keen and committed they are to find creative ways to move ahead with technology innovation and integration with teaching and learning because this is what works with and meets the learning needs of our students.

Resource Notes

I knoq I said the blog would be only about Technology Day but who can resist great "bits" for the technology integration theme that pervades our discussions of directions for school libraries and the work of teacher-librarians.

Found while poking around in the Online Conference and Alberta TL Arlene Lipkewich's blog and related links:

• have a look at the global YouTube version of Stand by Me and consider as Arlene had done with her students how such a YouTube could have been created.
  
• check this out: TIME 100, The Teaching Resource of the Century

Also, here's Joyce Valenza's Manifesto for 21st Century Teacher-librarians: you know you are one if ... and everything we are doing is keeping us "fresh" in the new learning environments. Here's the proviso I like the best: Unpack the good stuff you carried from your 20th century trunk. Rigor, and inquiry, and high expectations, and information and media fluency matter no matter what the medium. So do excitement, engagement, and enthusiasm (Valenza, Manifesto).

Have a great weekend.

Happy Valentine's Day

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Winter Tonic with a Theme of Love

This year's Winter Tonic was perhaps the BEST ever. Certainly well attended, the event at once entertained us, moved us, nourished us, and informed us, all in good spirit and spirited participation. Thanks to all kinds of people who made this a success, including the VTLA Winter Tonic organizing committee who always do such a great job, the VTLA Exec who saw the need to invite and welcome new TLs, the newbies who came and we know will be back, the presenters who "wow'ed" us, and the out-of-district TLs who always join us too.

Our Superintendent warmed to the invitation to say a few words on one or more aspect of this year's theme of Love, Libraries, and Chocolate. Using a booktalk approach, a strategy we are very familiar with and were delighted to see, Chris shared three authors' perspectives on love.

• From Robertson Davies (in When We Were Young, ed. Stuart McLean), on the subject of a young boy's realization of love and life while gazing at peonies -- for a review of McLean's collection, see page 66 of Adult Canadian Books for Strong Teenage Readers, by Margaret McKey et al, published with 10th edition of Resource Links. Davies' use of this moment in other writings would suggest it is for the child a moment poignant and exquisite, as well as autobiographical.
  
• From Shantaram: A Novel by Gregory David Roberts, the largely autobiographical story of Lindsay, later renamed Shantaram, or "man of peace," who escapes an Australian jail to become a slumdweller and petty operator out of the Mumbai slums. Writes Lindsday in the opening lines, “It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realised, somehow, through the screaming of my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn’t sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when it’s all you’ve got, that freedom is an universe of possibility. And the choice you make between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.” No copies of this 900+ page read are available from our schools!
  
• Finally, from Buckminster Fuller, in his 1970s free verse book Intuition: Fuller coins the term synergy, seeks to explain life's complexities as well: Writes Fuller, “Love is omni-inclusive, progressively exquisite, understanding and tender and compassionately attuned to other than self.” Suggests Kelly, as are schools.
  

Mary, looking for all the world the proudest mom, was with us all for the early evening. The young performers astounded the crowd, taking us instantly from thoughts of love to high culture. Amazing, they were.

I went to see the Adult Reads this year, where Jennifer from Hager Books "booktalked" 25 books in 45 minutes. I will attach her recommended list to the tlspecial wiki (linked to this blog in left-hand sidebar) ... this was unquestionably a dizzying repertoire of reading possibilities and one of the very best we've seen do this.

I dropped in on David Brear's Web 2.0 lab session where 40 people were jammed in. Suzanne from Maple Ridge, who was extremely happy she had come in for the event, noted that the hand-out alone was worth the trip! I found the lab just as jammed when I came to find a seat for Ciara and Gwen doing databases. Fantastic amounts of work went into making databases more accessible for inquiry and curriculum-related projects.

I am hoping that people who attended Tiffany's session -- she talked about her new book, to be published in the Spring -- will add reviews of her session as comments in this blog. Also, Linda's puppets were very busy. Your reviews are important. Please use the comment feature to add to the description here.

Sales of books and puppets seemed brisk. Thanks to our friend Helen for the fantastic meal and Valentine desserts, along with the serving princesses Nancy and Sylvia whose very presence at an event makes everything more fun. Thanks to Cecil for putting up with all of us.

Allison thanked me for bringing in Dr Jason Ohler for next Friday's Technology Day. She'd heard such great things from her husband who had seen him in October and she was so pleased she'd be able to see him too.

So here's the reminder: Have you registered for Technology Day yet? We are still looking for 70 more to register. AND I need more people (10 to date are committed) to the online conference which I am sure will be something like the Summer Institute, an event you won't want to have missed.

Coquitlam's Pro D Day:

Three of us took the New Databases / Technology Integration workshop on the road and travelled out to Port Coquitlam to Coquitlam's Technology Day event. In addition to doing a workshop for 20 or more TLs, we knew we could hear their keynote speaker Marco Torres, an educator whose work with new visual and other technologies, whose message to become more involved with the verbs than the nouns, whose focus on the process, has inspired young learners in his San Fernando school and community. We attended Alan November's session as well. I also ran into Tom Grant ... and guess what? He blogs every Friday!

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Be sure to READ the GiggleIT information (Feb 10 posting) below!

What funny Canadian stories do we need to share?

Tech Day Redux ...

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Apologies for the clogged blog. No matter how hard I try today, I can't create space between paragraphs. I am resorting to using hyphens to create spaces between ... can anyone offer advice on how to avoid this slight impediment to joyful blogging?

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I am still not sure how many members of my teacher-librarian community are able to access this blog at their school library workstation as the battle to inoculate our schools' computers, one by one, continues across the district.

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Last week's blog began the description of some of the issues. Our TL Studio 1 session, a technology "sandbox" for educators exploring new and not-so-new technology applications that enhance teaching and learning -- cancelled! And, despite rumours there might be a delay, we were paid!

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Tech 2.0 -- And Sustainability Too!

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Optimistically a group of educators (teachers, consultants, and administrators) plough on with planning for the retrieved / reprieved Technology 2.0, a day-long professional development opportunity now under the Learning Services umbrella, to be held at Magee Secondary on February 20. The keynote speaker is the upbeat Dr Jason Ohler whose morning sessions, as described in last week's blog, will explore the ways technology has broadened our notions of what it means to be "literate" in the 21st Century. To quote Dr Margaret Early, LLED, UBC, on the subject of the multiliteracies, it is no longer sufficient for our students to be "merely literate."

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Half of the earliest 30 + registrants are teacher-librarians, so I'm a happy consultant. We are a group well practised is in the arts of inter-site communication as this is our TL/special community. I am now emailing and then running to send a FAX to all schools as one can't trust that everyone has access to an inoculated computer. We have also had an incredible amount of turnover this year, so old technology such as the FAX machine is actually a reminder of the need to stop once in a while to pick up our newest ones, to gather them into the electronic "gaggle."

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We have every reason to believe there will be no issues with the actual technology at Magee which is largely restored to service now ... but has despondency set in amongst the rank-and-file irrevocably? The organizing committee doesn't think so. For that reason we have arranged some afternoon "sandbox" sessions, most of which are now online. Register for the morning and choose one session for the afternoon, if you want to get involved with more.

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You can register for Technology 2.0 Day with Dr Jason Ohler and check out the various afternoon Sandbox sessions by clicking onto Current Pro D Opportunities on the VSB website. Scroll down to the bottom of the Pro D page ... the last option is Tech 2.0. Or click here for more information on and registration for Dr Ohler's morning session. If you are reading this blog, you can complete the online registration! If you are not reading this blog, I will simply have to FAX you and use up more paper ... which brings me to the sub-theme of this Day.

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We are short on time. This is a Day retrieved by busy educators who want to encourage others to use technology in their teaching and learning in spite of the obstacles it will inevitably impose. And we are practicing sustainability. Given the shortage of time to organize (we began for last year's event organizing in October), you can expect a "barebones" approach, certain economies with this Tech 2.0 Day, not the least of the economies is in paper and food. No name tags, no program, very little signage ... but there will be a list of registrants, sign-in, muffins and coffee in the morning, print instructions for locating your afternoon sessions, and helpful student helpers wearing Magee T-shirts!

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Might we suggest you plan to brown-bag it for lunch? Bring your own water, or juice. We are considering ordering in pizza for those who might prefer to buy on-site. There will be an hour for lunch which isn't much time to get into Kerrisdale and grab something, if you are coming back for a Sandbox session.

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Why Sandbox Sessions?

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Sandbox is a term used in particular technology applications where you can go to practice the application, try it out, before committing to acquiring your own version of the own program. It is safe, secure, non-threatening, just-for-fun ... and any online definition I found made it sound more complicated and was more jargonistically and technically exclusive than it really is.

What is the difference between a Sandbox and the usual workshops at District Days? Perhaps a better way to describe a Sandbox is a safe and welcoming environment for interactive exploration with like-minded educators on the topic of a particular technology or genre. These are less structured, less passive, less "practical" (no handout, no tool or handout you can use tomorrow). We hope they are more supportive, more personal, and more engaging.

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Still to come into the online registration format (because they take a while to write and submit and post) are Sandbox sessions for Newbies and Moodlers and Digital Storytellers, as well as ESL teachers who are users or prospective users of Rosetta Stone. You can learn about Web 2.0 with TLs, Ubuntu Linux with Alan Z, contribute to a discussion about technology planning for the district, check out the latest in Smartboards or in technologies that work with Special Needs students.

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PSSSST: Because, as TLs, you are linked daily and systemically by technology, you probably are more likely than many of your colleagues to have "registered online" for workshops. To help promote Technology Day and to build those all-important links around service to teachers (as per Henri), why not offer to help your colleagues register by showing them how to do it? Or if you know of some TLs who are not able to get the blog and might therefore not have the opportunity to find out about Tech 2.0, the day with Dr Ohler, and the afternoon sandbox with Sandra Lee, why not give them a call, and remember that, to promote this Day, you can emphasize that ...

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... it's FREE for Vancouver educators.

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SLRCCC and Teacher Inquiry Project

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"Slirk" meets on Monday morning. This month's topic, postponed from January due to technology issues, will be the new 3 Rs of School Libraries: Reading, Research, and Resources. Of course, we will announce the TLs' successful application for an Inquiry into Inquiry project here in the district.

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New Mr Gumdrop

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The new Mr Gumdrop dropped by this week. As I know many of you like to shop on site with Mr Gumdrop, it is good news to know that, since Lawrence has moved to Gumdrop Ontario, he is now replaced. New rep, same products.

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Things are humming here at the Mothership. I am looking forward to relaxing soon with Winter Tonic, Dr Leu, and TL Studio 2 at Gladstone on Wednesday after school this week. Pat? See you then. Yes, Gladstone's Library computers are up and running. Oh ye of little faith, there really is a DOG!

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See you here next week! I'm off to sign up for Tech 2.0 with Dr Ohler and Sandra Lee now.

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I'm back ... are you still there?

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Hello? Hello? Vancouver here. Downadup be gone! My little local audience of teacher-librarians has been limited by the unthinkable consequences of the onslaught of a little-known new virus. Can you imagine doing our work without computers? Not for circulating, not for communicating across our particularly connected community, not even for working in standard software applications like Excel.

Pending are the deliberations about awards for valiant perseverance and innovative practice, for a willingness to dust off the encyclopedias and hit the books, and for the collective spirit of service delivery Gutenberg-style under the direst of cicumstances. TLs rallied ... and our Maryann ran without hesitation to stem the tide of collapsing circulation due to the faltering system. Not every location has been successfully returned, but school libraries were made a priority for inocculation and restoration, clear evidence that children`s reading and research needs are a priority for schools here. Whew!

Where I work on the penthouse floor of the Mother Ship, technical overtime ensured we were only a little more than three days down. People found lots to do in those 3+ days; at first as a visitor to the building you might not have noticed that all computer monitors were turned off. But the number of phone and personal conversations and small meetings, and focus on filing and paperwork and the FAX machine, even the dying art of writing, not evident at first, would have unfolded for visitors as they moved through floors and various work spaces.

By the third day, I had checked that my Starbucks cards were registered and moved my personal laptop and workload into a jury-rigged office in the nearby cafe. Frankly, with no audience and no computer, it felt as though everything important I needed to pass along was log-jammed in my fingertips.

I blog outside the system but count on those inside to access what I write. Weekly on Fridays I have sent the email (with link) that reminds my TL colleagues to check the blog for the lastest news. Three Fridays have passed now since our return from the arduous Winter Break which seemed, here on the balmy Canadian West Coast, unrelentingly cold and punitive. Contextualize further in the uncertainties of our economic downturn. Then this! One might reasonably ask, Why us, Lord, why us? In some corners, it is rumoured that collective sighs of relief could be heard as the pace slowed, the pressure to move with technology abated, and the focus on reading and basic literacy skills was re-embraced. Then came deadlines for such things as interim reports and groans of despair from schools became audible. Way to go, TL colleagues. You have unquestionably stood up well in the face of trying circumstances. We hope to have you all back soon.
Big News Items

• From the BCTLA Executive Meeting on Saturday -- we are almost finished a hefty agenda discussing many exciting new developments for us. Hearing about The Bookmark due in early February was amazing. More attuned to developments in relation to the work of academic teacher-librarianship now, The Bookmark will feature articles by Branch, Oberg, Asselin, Doiron, and Margaret Ruurs. Of course, you'll find regular contributors Goldsmith, Savard, and Smith. Word is we can look forward to more in this new direction.
  
  Also important is the announcement that the BCTLA proposal for a BCTF Inquiry Project was successful and a great group to TLs has submitted applications to be involved. Whoo-hoo! We are awaiting word on an application for a VSB Inquiry into Inquiry project too.
  
• POSTPONED: Plagiarism Workshop scheduled for January 27 at Gladstone after school, on the assumption that low registration is due to the local technology crisis ... and besides, with stress of last few weeks, Pat and I are still working on this. What is under development is a new webpage with lots of links, resources, and ideas about preventing, not catching, plagiarism. Stay tuned ....
  
• STILL ON: TL Studio 1 (Kerrisdale) this week with Michele and crew. Hope to see lots of you there ...
  
• Are you coming? Caroline, Nancy, and I are signed up, I think, on February 3 (4:30 to 7:30 pm) to hear Dr Leu on The New Literacies at the Italian Cultural Centre. For more information, contact Meredyth at mkezar@vsb.bc.ca. $65 includes dinner.


• Are you getting ready to meet up at Winter Tonic? Thanks for the generosity of the VTLA, all new TLs are being invited to Winter Tonic as guests. On Feb 10 at Tupper, we'll learn about databases, Web 2.0, Linda's puppets, Tiffany's new book, and some great adult reads, then eat and win prizes, as is our custom.


• Technology Day at Magee is revived under the DLS banner.
  
  You can now register online for a morning with keynote speaker Dr Jason Ohler from the University of Alaska. Jason spoke here in Vancouver in October as the keynote speaker at the CUEBC Conference -- now non-CUE members can hear The Word.
  
  
  Technology 2.0: Teaching for Today and Tomorrow:
  
  Dr Jason Ohler
  Going Beyond Essays: New kids, New Media and New Literacies
  
  Helping digital kids “write the media they read” in order to become active media creators, not simply passive consumers, promotes teachers’ moving from teaching for traditional literacy to creative and thoughtful teaching for multiliteracies. Why not cultivate students’ new media talents, incorporate art as the 4th R, and use research and narrative to create rich, compelling formats for students’ learning? With student-created media stories and articulate, transformative projects, students can imagine the world they want to create and share their work and talents within the collaborative community of the social web.
  
  Dr Ohler will also show practical tools and processes that work with new media narrative and digital storytelling projects in educational contexts. These tools are largely free digital or Web 2.0 tools. Consider with Jason questions about media assessment, media grammar, and the role of research-based digital stories and media curriculum development.
  
  Jason Ohler (Professor, Educational Technology, U of Alaska) is a well-known speaker and storyteller. Having received his PhD from SFU Communications Department in 1994 and recently delivered the keynote presentation for the CUEBC Conference at Magee, Dr Ohler is no stranger to Vancouver. He is noted for the passion, humour and intelligence he brings to his keynotes. Jason has 25 years of experience in the educational technology field; with n eye on the future, he is able to connect where teachers are to their learning and working in the Digital Age.
  
  
• TL Sandbox Session on the Afternoon of Technology Day
  
  Learning 21st Century Style: School Libraries, Web 2.0 and More
  
  As a feature of this year's Technology Day we are offering meetings for groups with similar technology interests. These are to be scheduled in the early afternoon so that you can come from Literacy Day or 4REAL Day or Math Day or many other Pro D events on February 20. Ours, the TL Sandbox, is available now for online registration.
  
  You are invited to the TL Sandbox if you are a teacher/librarian interested in learning how to use Web 2.0 to enhance opportunities for collaboration and working relationships. Teachers interested in and considering careers in school librarianship are also welcome. Here you can meet Sandra Lee in person, find out more about Web 2.0, and hear how you can enroll in a nine-day Online Conference (click link for more information).
  
  The Online Conference, February 20 to March 1
  Professional Development to Transform School Libraries with Web 2.0
  
  For just an hour a day, starting on February 20, using strategies for teacher-librarian collaboration, you can work within a flexible Web platform with featured international practitioners to explore the challenging issue: How can school libraries use Web 2.0 tools to engage teachers as well as students in learning, 21st century style?
  
  James Henri and Sandra Lee, former colleagues at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Education, were recently here in Vancouver as co-presenters at our VSB Summer Institute, The Changing Landscapes of School Libraries. James is President of the International Association of School Libraries (IASL) and Sandra is Information literacy librarian at a private university in Canada. Both teach UBC TL courses online. They are again joining forces to organize an exceptional virtual conference to advance teacher librarianship.
  
  James and Sandra will bring you a world class collection of web 2.0, and school library, leaders who will work with you in a Web 2.0 environment. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage in flexible online learning about Web 2.0.
  
  NOTE: Vancouver TLs (and TLs-in-progress) who wish to register for the 9-day conference will be eligible for both a group discount and district-subsidized rates and should email or contact Moira about registering ASAP. Non-VSB applications to join us for the afternoon will also be accepted as online registrations.