Here's Whazzup ...

Trustees Viewed "Sustainable" School Libraries in Action

In June every year our school library consultative committee teacher representatives present a report to Trustees on the state of school libraries in relation to measures or Strategic Directions set by Dr Ken Haycock's extensive report on Vancouver school libraries from 2001.

This year, the report to trustees consisted solely of Cheriee's video as it so amply provides evidence of what well-supported school library programs do to promote learning through building inquiry and free voluntary reading opportunities. It is the evidence too that, in pursuing Haycock's Strategic Directions, Inquiry, and free voluntary reading, children are deeply engaged in active and social/relational learning and working in safe and supportive learning environments; their needs, styles, and choices are addressed, as proscribed in the LEARNS acronym for Inquiry in Vancouver. Nicely embedded into the footage as well is the upending of notions that our littlest ones are the readers; here they are deeply engaged in reading, note-taking, explaining, presenting, and working with technology. The oldest students are the readers! Nice, nice, nice!

I would suggest that the report was a "good news" report that, along with the "Sustainable School Libraries" newsletter which took up my last weekend in its entirety, was well received. TLs and administrators should have copies in the schools now as well.

Whazzup with The Others' blogs?

It is always a good idea to flip into the related blogs to see what they are chatting up.

• Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk features a post (June 12, 2009) on the Reid/Mortenson book Three Cups of Tea which I have just added to my Shelfari, you may note, and which I had selected as one of three "must reads" for the summer (see newsletter: also suggested Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill and Digital Literacy by Jason Ohler).
  
• Peter Pappas' (of Copy/Paste blog) most popular search was Wordle, as you can tell from his cloud.
  
• Richard Byrne, the Maine SS teacher whose blog Free Technology for Teachers is an award-winner, has posted this fantastic flyer, The Twelve Essentials. This week (June 14) he's created a Conduit custom browser toolbar with drop-down menus that provide links to all kinds of cool things. I also thought Nibipedia (linked to Byrne's blog) might be worth some more time to consider as a video search tool with great prospects for sharing with science educators. And how about Google Lit Trips as something your English teachers might appreciate?
  
• Hey Jude! is talking about what she found on Byrne's blog and about using other tools like Twitter to blog less. Time magazine this week is also featuring Twitter as its feature piece. Also check out her Student Tools -- Let Them Fly!
  
• Heather's BCTLA In Circulation blog is talking about us and our video! Nice!
  
• Near as I can tell, Chris Harris of Infomancy became an administrator in NYC and hasn't been back to blog! But I do like what he has to show about the value of the job title teacher-librarian which he says is about $10 000 (and that's US dollars). I am hoping to talk more about school libraries with Barbara Stripling in charge of school libraries in NYC, so will not need to rely on Harris for insights!
  
• From Herring I skipped into Jamie McKenzie's research models. Will get back when I have done some more work on my new Stripling-based research cycle configuration.
  
• Kathy Schrock is into Google Apps and presents a model application for the superintendent's newsletter. This could be my next goal, to work with a superintendent to post the monthly newsletter which is really a googledoc. Also have a look at her weekly Google Goodies.
  
• Joyce Valenza of SLJ's NeverEndingSearch blog has posted her own Springfield Township High School Annual School Library Report. Interesting reading, including the noticeable decline which is hard to swallow in reading from grade 8s to grade 9s. Valenza compares database usage by searches. Pretty interesting stuff. Linked from Valenza to SLJ's Stories to Share, a blog by John Peters. Seems worthy of more time as well.
  
• Whoa! Phil Bradley writes this: There are lots of custom search engines around - Rollyo, Google Custom Search and so on, but the Lijit search is designed to take all your created content from your blog, website, Flickr account, twitter and so on and create a single resource for you. It seems very simple and straight forward -- we'll see, but it does sound like something that I need to pull out the resources in this blog. Thanks, Phil. A summer project.
  
• There wasn't much new on the Pageflakes for Literacy but the North Vancouver TL Booklady is making a Web 2.0 Pageflakes that promises to be cool. Will add Librarians' Internet Index to sidebar, thanks to Schlib in or near Winnipeg who is off her blogging for the present, unless I am somehow not seeing how to find current posts!
  
• Meredyth of LateLiteracy is reading but seems a saddened blogger. The LateLiteracy blog reflects on the loss of her Mac which has succumbed to abuse and on her four years in the Literacy consulting role. I think it will be quieter in our Literacy/Library corner of The Penthouse here but it will not be the same without her next year; having half of Jacob in her place will be very different.

Regardless, the blog-tour reveals connections, connectedness, and a richness that abounds in Web 2.0 sharing.

Had you been meaning to get in touch with me about participating in the YSL Web 2.0 online conference? Now would be good!

Have a great week!

Way Too Busy Writing a Newsletter to be Blogging!

AHA! Ever wondered what an AHA! looks like, and how it can be tied to sustainability?

Just in case you have been lingering in anticipation of the weekly blog announcement, I have jumped in quickly to say, There is much to tell ... but I am working on the TL Special News/letter (Vol 2:2) that I had meant to have out in May. I don't want to miss on putting out two issues a year as I think it's a good way to "push out" and share The Word.

The Celebration of Inquiry was fantastic. The TL Products were/are amazing. New working relationships and connections and respect, utterly priceless.

Inquiry Wiki -- Check out what we've done so far for yourself -- the page links are in the sidebar:

• Cheriee's film (Video Project)
  
• my suggested revision for The Research Quest model, called The Cycle of Inquiry and based on the work of NYC's Library Services Director Barbara Stripling (see Inquiry page)
  
• Michele's "tech integration with teaching and learning" and graphic novels materials (Miltiliteracies)
  
• sample wiki links (Technology Integration)
  
• our Readings (Inquiry)
  
• still to come: the new Mentoring Pilot Model and more.

We are taking Cheriee's film to Trustees on Wednesday evening as our annual report on the status of school libraries in relation to Haycock's strategic directions, set in 2001, and still so important to the crafting of the Vancouver Vision for School Library Programs. What I particularly like about the film is that I have Executive Director status!

So, Teacher Inquiry is about deep engagement and professional growth. Once I had created the new model, I was in the "excited space" which comes with the AHA! experiences of learning. This was late in the process as I seemed to find my place initially as a kind of facilitator to the project, an enabler and technical/clerical assistant more than a participant. But my "AHA!" meant that, once Leann and I had finished the display board on Wednesday, I could set everything else aside to do the one thing I have been meaning to do all year. I was sure it would be quick and easy -- take the photos used on the display board, dump them electronically into Animoto, choose some music, and then see if I could "mount" this as my first-ever youtube production.

I spent the better part of the afternoon of Inquiry Celebration day making a 30-second Animoto video out of photographs and posting it on youtube. I probably misjudged this process a little as I was quite late for the set-up in the room across the hall from my cubby. Anyway, by 3:30, it was posted to the wiki and I was frantically working with Wendy, Linda, Annabelle, Katharine, Gwen, Patti, Cheriee, and Michele (Jo-Anne couldn't make it) to put on the show. Whoo-hoo! Cheriee says that 1 minute of film footage takes 4 hours of editting; my first 30-second youtube took nearly 3 hours but I know the next one will be done in less than half an hour.

As there is a very good chance you may not find my little Inquiry accomplishment, although it is on the wiki, you can simply Go here -- and don't blink or you'll miss it! Next will be a feature- length Animoto video version celebrating more aspects of school libraries because it is such a cool way to capture celebrations. I will have to pay for more than 30 seconds of Animoto but it's not expensive at $3.

Keen for more Pro D? Have I got Pro D deals for you!

• FREE: Follow a discussion Envisioning School Libraries moderated online by Dr Ross Todd and Lyn Hay that explores the future of school libraries, the school library of the future, and getting there, by supporting continuous improvement and capacity building in school libraries. June 1-26, so it's already under way. Here's the pre-reading, "School libraries building capacity for student learning in 21C." Let's check that one out as Todd's work is truly visionary ... he's the one BCTLA VP Karen Lindsay raved about in her CLA Conference blog (see my last week's posting for this link). I saw him in Berkeley last summer and loved him too, and he'll be giving a day-long workshop with Carol Kuhlthau in Padua this summer so I get to see him again!
  
• FREE to the FIRST FIVE e-MAILERS, and $20 thereafter: Let's go as a Workgroup to "hear" Pat P from Gladstone, working collaboratively with Nancy (but not recording partner Joe) and Janet, social studies teachers extraordinaires, doing the Cedar Cottage Walking Tour, in the second of the Henri/Lee YSL Information Literacy and Web 2.0 international online conferences. Mr BigSix is the BIGGEST NAME on the list of presenters who will be keeping company with our little Pat. Several other Canadian presenters are on the list.
  
  The price is right for me to pay YSL for 5 TLs as a workgroup; if you are too late, it's pretty cheap Pro D to come for $20 if you don't make the first cut of 5 here. I think I should probably have the registrations in by Wednesday of this week. And your attending is about supporting one of our own. Way to go, Pat. It's a fantastic model of collaboration, The Cedar Cottage Walking Tour. And what a template for working with subject teachers, including Technology Guy and the whole socials department, with Special Collections at the VPL, and with the Ministry around notions of Neighbourhoods of Learning, Student Inquiry and locally developed curriculum, as well as the press for Digitization of our local history and geography. You are quite a team, Gladstonians! But then that's not news to me.

Back to the newsletter. Wrestling mkemp down to get the facts, just the facts, for the last column. Jockeying calls from Mary on stats, more stats ... sent her off to watch a video clip while I tackle the stats. Haven't put in any news gleaned or photos cadged of Montreal and THE AWARDS since Michele's return, but they did get into the newsletter. Well, okay, here's one photo (posted with a prayer that Karen and Michele won't accuse me of the unethical use of an image ... email requesting permission is on the way, I swear!)

Stay tuned ... Hope you have had a good weekend.