B. C. AND ITS PEOPLE: 1858- 2008 (The Vancouver Sun, 19 Nov 2008, Page A1)

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B. C. AND ITS PEOPLE: 1858- 2008

The Vancouver Sun
19 Nov 2008

read more... Tech Tags: The Vancouver Sun newspaper Front Page

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ME on the Multi-vendor Display:

This year's multi-vendor display, organized as usual by Jonathan Lillow from Knowbuddy/Saunders, was accompanied by a new Chapters Wednesday morning session and in-service by our Maryann; by all accounts it was a success with too little time in half a day to get to everything. Hope you got to have the lunch which is particularly good there.

In reflecting on my short time on the floor at the Firefighters' Hall and at Chapters (I was juggling teaching a class in SLAIS at UBC as well as a meeting of Metro-area TL Consultants and a workshop after school on Thursday), I decided that I have still a finely-honed "library eye."

In the olden days, teacher-librarians had "library ear" that was inflamed by noise, as often evidenced by the stereotypical shhushhing! This sense is still important -- the screaming of the security gate will bring our vestigial "library ear" into play, and despite our understanding that learning is social, sometimes it is simply just too social! And I would draw on "library ear" (some might call this eavesdropping but I saw it as part of my job to be attuned to the real needs of the students who sought out the library) if I thought a student was in distress, sad or conflicted -- these ones were sometimes in need of a little chat with a sympathetic or "motherly" adult, and in serious cases, I might put a word in the ear of his or her counsellor. My "ear" dealt with light counselling only.

I once heard about a TL who had "library lung," although I have never seen any literature on this affliction. I sometimes wondered if I had "library allergies" -- dust, decaying books, keyboards in constant use that I never knew whose job it was to clean them, sick kids with books -- but I am not conscious of any change in my health, for better or worse, now that I am steadily ensconced in an air-conditioned and windowless cubicle.

So what is "library eye"? First, it's the capacity to scan the space quickly and see that five grade 8 boys suddenly convening around one computer means a call for instant intervention. It's seeing bookshelves that need straightening. It's spotting poor shelving and less-than-optimal visual merchandising. It's seeing the escalating interest in one hot new book ... and buying more. It's seeing the bargains when you are out shopping on the weekend, the book you know belongs with an upcoming unit or that is likely to have some real appeal to one or more students. It's certainly the ability to see a book and know where it would fit in your collection or your annual plan for collection development.

But I have a new dimension for "library eye" as your TL consultant. Deprived as I am of much of the fun of book-shopping, I take my advisory role very seriously and love to "shop" vicariously. I really appreciated the newer TLs at the multi-vendor who took me along to browse and buy at Chapters: what do you think I need, Moira, they would say? Old skilled "library eye" enjoyed this a lot, but -- because she-with-a-highly-developed-library-eye tries not to miss the big-picture -- was also attending to the natural "gaggles" of TLs in deep conversation ... in the bargain section, in the children's section, in the non-fiction.

In thinking about what was going on, I caught wind of a whole new selection tool. We shop with reviews in mind, with curriculum needs, with peer reviews ... but when have we ever used the "book squabble" as a tool? Two of our seasoned TLs (secondary) were disputing how many copies of a bargain book each would take, in the ever-so-charming way of TLs: "No, you take three, I'll take two. It would work with this unit or that unit," and so on. Eventually they agreed how to split the pile ... and then all the books were gone.

Aha! Clearly this was more than a bargain. I advanced upon Chapters Accounts Manager Anne-Marie who had hosted our early-morning session. Yes, she could bring together enough copies for all the other secondary school libraries and arrange for them to arrive at our nearby store or the Oakridge Coles Books for pick-up, which constituted a little consolation book-shopping for me. Elementary libraries received The World of Stories in September, so I needed to do something for "the secondaries." The deal was made; I have paid. These have arrived. The Great Migrations: From the Earliest Humans to the Age of Globalization (London, UK: Quercus, 2008) by author/historian Dr John Haywood includes accounts of 50 human migrations, many of which can be linked to social studies curriculum, including all secondary grades. The book begins:

Migration is one of the defining characteristics of the human race. No other species has ever ranged so far and colonized so many different environments .... Human migration has also been incessant, with the numbers of people on the move increasing constantly, keeping step with the growth of the human population. It is its ceaseless nature that makes migration one of the great driving forces of work history, spreading technology and ideas, and creating and destroying nations and empires. The importance of misgrations as agents of historical change has long been recognized. Migrations, both real and legendary, form essential components of many national identities .... Migrations both promote diversification of human cultures and provide the means for the transfer of information and technologies between cultures.

Haywood looks at different patterns of migration and the recent work of geneticists which is linking different populations to their likely origins. Can't wait to find out about my own dual Celtic and Norman or Roman (or so my dear old dad would claim -- ) roots. Thanks, Virginia and Susan, for putting this onto the secondary shelves.

"Library eye" was also taken as ever by Paul Yee's recently revised Saltwater City (Douglas & McIntyre, 2006), a book I consider to be a "must-have" for every Vancouver school library. I mean "eye" was forced to look at page 145 as one TL said, "Guess which one is me?" One little girl stood out -- she doesn't appear to be paying attention! Who couldn't resist picking her, and you would have chosen correctly -- the one who appears not to be paying attention is in fact our secondary TL colleague and she is actually reacting to Paul Yee's (behind her) pulling her pony tail! Your guess?

Have a great weekend, everyone. I love the rainy weekends when I have several good books going. I can't read fast enough -- LeCarré's new A Most Wanted Man, my half-finished Follett historical fiction World Without End which I'm not so enamoured of, and the borrowed copy of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which I have discovered has another TL-colleague on the waitlist. Where to start?!!

Oh, DEAR ... and so we read!

Thank you, Minister Bond.
Education Report: 2008 October 31

and this Gold Star is also for Steve Mulligan for

drive-by readings at FIVE schools

on National School Library Day

and for his on-going attentiveness to school libraries --

Thank you, Steve, from all district TLs.

Vancouver schools took part in DEAR on October 27 National School Library Day with enthusiasm. Our Trustees and BCSSTA office staff read at 11 am, Education Minister Bond read at 11 am, colleagues at Learning Services and MLST were observed reading and eating "School Libraries: The Heart of Literacy" chocolate bars , and staff at The Vancouver Sun read too.

October 28, The Vancouver Sun:

Here's a "snapshot" of what you could have observed in our schools:

• Van Horne experienced a rare silence throughout the school
  
• Henderson featured some readers dressed as favourite storybook characters
  
• Trudeau readers with painted faces listening attentively as firefighters read to them
  
• Tillicum's “the reading train” ran down the entire central hallway, complete with whistle stops and loads of book-talking


• Mt Pleasant kicked off One Book, One Class for November and Steve Mulligan did two readings


• Weir's guest readers included Maryann Kempthorne, Angela Brown, Gary Little, Denise North, Steve Mulligan, and VPL children's librarian, Noreen Ma


• Carr students camped out and read in tents; Steve Mulligan appeared here too for a reading!
  
• Moberly invited Wally Oppal; see the picture with Wally Oppal (see blog, October 27) in the blog archives for October 27
  
• Gladstone has silent reading every morning; they read again in the afternoon and teachers were seen nibbling the same chocolate bars as were featured here in Learning Services and elsewhere (but then a student at Gladstone had designed them, so that made it okay to eat chocolate!)
  
• Tupper students got their heads into the brand new school library books
  
• Templeton stopped everything from 10:30 - 10:50 am, as agreed by Staff Committee, and it worked so well that a number of teachers will be incorporating a stop and read on a more regular basis

What's new?

Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable Hycroft Event - November 12, 6-9 pm, 1489 Macrae Avenue, just east of 16th and Granville. Light refreshments after the presentations. Street parking only.

Special Guest Kathy Stinson plus BC authors and illustrators will be presenting their
new children's books

BCTLA Forum posting by Val H this week has generated a flurry of commentary. Read: "Flip This Library: School Libraries Need a Revolution/School libraries need a revolution, not evolution," by David Loertscher in School Library Journal, 11/1/2008. The article begs the question, so how might this look?

My new Australian friend, Patricia Carmichael, whom I met at the IASL Conference, is presently working on her PhD at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. To see how this might look read a summary of a program that offers one version of a program that incorporates the notion of "learning commons" click here and scroll down to the last summary. Consider also that our local university libraries both have Learning Commons within their campus academic library programs.

James Henri suggested revolution to us in August; we need to focus on the teachers, he said, and if we see that the learning that takes place in school libraries is integrally tied to the needs of 21st century learners, we need to find ways that it can evolve with our leadership to better support the learning styles, experiences, and interests of our educational community, including teachers and students. We need to explore ways of building our programs on the "google" concept ... if they build it (the program, the curriculum, the learning landscapes), they will use it. What we have built needs to be carefully considered for nudging along the continuum or we risk being rendered obsolete.

Remember, we are at the start of a revolution and the outcome will be uncertain and it will be stressful along the way. But we most assuredly need to ask ourselves, is what we have been doing working? Is it the best way to serve our educational communities?

Multi-vendor Display and Chapters Workshop

This year's event seemed a great success. Those of us who enjoyed Chapters/Starbucks hospitality had a great opportunity to shop in "gaggles" and hone in on the real bargain-price items, as well as hot new reads for students. Maryann's workshop provided plenty of direction for program and collection building. There were more secondary resources than last year and will be more next year too. Wednesday seemed busier than Thursday, but everyone seemed to be very focussed and deeply occupied with that most challenging part of our job, shopping!

Workshop with Judith Comfort

A few of us "secondary types" spent late Thursday afternoon at Churchill with Coquitlam TL Judith Comfort exploring the possibilities of her approach to technology integration, a strategy she calls multi-level resource-based online learning. Click here and check out some of the Teaching Activities. The group is going to try some out together ... stay tuned for how we do. And thanks, Judith, for a very interesting afternoon. We were a keen audience.

7 from Greg Smith's Social Studies "Top Ten" List

Being Victorian. Welcome to Victoria BC circa 1858-1914! Visit this great new site with an innovative format and written for Social Studies

Green Learning. Comprehensive, fun and free lessons aligned to the BC curriculum and designed to help students participate in their own learning regarding today’s complex energy and environmental issues.

History of Quebec. Get to know La Belle Province a little better. This site has all the information plus great self scoring tests and tutorials.

History Wire. HW invites your perspectives, stories and opinions on the relevance of history in understanding current events, the importance of history education and much more.

Law Courts Education travels BC. The Law Courts Education Society of BC will hold 6 regional law workshops for teachers in early 2009. Kelowna, Prince George, Surrey, Coquitlam, Vancouver and Victoria. Contact Marylou Leung at marylou.leung@lawcourtsed.ca or call 604-660-9874 to attend.

Online Publishing for Social Studies Teachers. Check out Judith Comfort’s site on why, what and how to publish as well as a portal to other great Social Studies resources.

Women in World History. This unique site is full of information and resources to help you learn about women’s history in a global context.

Canadian Children's Book Week and More ...

You e-read this somewhat abridged version:

Information required: Who’s going where? I would like to “announce” and congratulate the TLs who are moving into new positions in the vsbemail. Can it be done in the blog? Can you let me know where you are going – or who will be replacing you -- for next Friday’s release. It would seem that leaving the phoning to get information until Friday afternoon doesn’t work well with many elementary schedules! I’m new but a “quick learner” -- I have some information but I would like to be inclusive of all changes. Thanks.

Inspiration needed? Worth keeping in mind as you do your work today (or this week if you are opening up on Monday) is that there are fewer than 70 TLs left in Alberta. I have taken this quote from an email sent recently: "How is it, [John Ralston] Saul asked, that in one of the richest societies the world has ever known we have convinced ourselves that we are too poor to have libraries? Knowing as we do, without question, that the make or break point for real literacy comes when we are very young - how can we think that we are advancing civilization by reducing children's access to books?" TLs ensure both physical and intellectual access to resources. What you do is important. Many children in Vancouver received a new book from the Canadian Children's Book Centre and TD Financial. Have a really good day as Canadian Children's Book Week comes to a close.

Distribution of The Zlooksh: While this didn’t go without a glitch, it seems to have been okay. If you still don’t have enough, contact my assistant here.

Magazines: Thanks to those who have invited or welcomed me to their school libraries recently and to those of you who have been available to answer my many questions or to help resolve problems. Today one secondary TL and I met with the new Purchasing Manager here and we hope to have some answers for the next round in May to the problems of magazine ordering that will make life simpler for everyone involved. Soon, you will get a list of the mags you apparently ordered, check off the mags you are actually receiving, and send back the form in order that adjustments can be made to make sure you aren’t billed for the ones that haven’t shown up or weren’t filled.

FREE Sun/Province subscription: If you are worried about your access to the free digital newspapers, don’t be. You are not alone. In my visit today to DLG, the only computer that could access the paper was the circulation computer! Ask your technician to assess the capacity of your student access computers for databases and digital resources – you may simply need a relatively easy upgrade. And of the 43 subscribers to the Sun that were checked, only 13 had changed their initial passwords to library. Does this mean you chose another word, or you haven’t got to it yet, or you can’t figure it out?

Meeting for Secondary Department Heads (and generally the teacher-librarians who work in secondary libraries): reminder that this meeting is Monday at 4 pm at John Oliver. See you there!

WEBFEET: There remains very little time for you to review and decide about your library’s subscribing to Thomson Gale’s Webfeet. Would you please confirm or register your interest in this database with ME. We have until November 30. Thereafter when the free trial is over, the price is not negotiable.

Bulk Purchasing: I have asked David to "navigate" the World Book bulk purchases, World Book 2008 Encyclopedia (print version) and Natural Disasters.

From Knowledge Network comes word of November fall programming. See the new 'All TV and Online Programming' page for programs that support both learning and teaching. Check out the online program guide for the dates and times of your favourite Knowledge Network shows. See also Knowledge Tools for teaching resources written specifically for BC’s K-12 educators.

Upcoming workshop dates: For more information about Powerpoint, the Studio Technology Integration workshop series, EBSCO, Accounting and District Technology or Literacy Day workshops, go to "Announcements" on the tlspecial wiki. As of yesterday, there were 12 spaces left for Powerpoint next week ... and I don't recognize a lot of the names!

Check with TL at Simon Fraser Elementary for information about the performances of the School Peace Choir.

An Evening With Paul Yee, Nov. 29, Thursday, 7:30- 9:00PM. The Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C and St. John's College are pleased to sponsor a talk with Paul Yee, Governor General Award-winning author. Paul will talk about his most recent book, Shu-li and Tamara (Tradewind Books) and the process behind writing, editing and publishing his many books on the Chinese Canadian community. The program will be held at St. John's College, Fairmont Social Lounge, 2111 Lower Mall, UBC (across the street from the West Parkade).

The Simon Fraser series website captures The Vancouver Sun articles by Stephen Hume as well as other important features (maps, colour, etc).

The Vancouver Children's Art Gallery and Literacy Centre: This website is forwarded by Nancy Hundal. It will be will be the first gallery and learning centre in Canada devoted to the development and promotion of art and literacy.While its primary client group will be children and youth, the Centre will also serve a variety of adults, including parents, educators, adult learners. Programming will enhance all clients’ appreciation and skills relating to art and literacy. Directors include Superintendents Chris Kelly and Bruce Beairsto. The art and writing ideas are fantastic. You may want to share this with colleagues.

Author Nancy Hundal, one of "our own," has been writing and publishing while she shares her energies between her family and the school library at McKechnie. Nancy's website is has all the information you need, and you don't have to look far to find an author for a visit. Nancy's 10th book is due out in the Spring. Look for a flyer soon ... and share the information with your teachers too.

Made-in-Canada Children's Book Podcast: Just One More Book is a thrice-weekly podcast which promotes and celebrates literacy and great children's books. Each weekday morning, the creators take a few minutes for morning coffee to discuss one of their favourite children's books. Also featured are weekly interviews with authors, literacy related discussions or audio reviews submitted by listeners. They are building a lively, interactive community linking children's book authors, illustrators, readers (parents and children) and publishers. Episodes range in length from 5 to 25 minutes and can be played directly from the web page or downloaded to an ipod for listening on the go. They say, “This podcast is powered by passion. We have no advertisers or sponsors. Our goal is to link children with great books and help create happy memories for children and the adults that read to them…and to have fun!” www.JustOneMoreBook.com"A podcast about the children's books we love and why we love them -- recorded in our favourite coffee shop" www.SwimmingInLiterarySoup.com"Serving a love of reading and life -- through children's books."

ERAC APPLICATIONS FOR FAST FORWARD: If this is not the event for you or you are applying but would love to go with a teaching colleague, encourage your colleagues, the ones with keen interest in making sure we have lots of audio-visual materials to support their teaching, to apply.

If you don't subscribe to SFU's Linda Hof's Webbits, why not try it for a while. Great websites every time that I could always find someone who was thankful when I sent it ... and who then wanted to subscribe. It's very easy to un-subscribe too. Here's the info: Subscribe to Web-bits, a weekly digest of articles, information and web sites for your educational use. Send a message to: maillist@sfu.ca, then in the subject line put: subscribe web-bits

Media Awareness Network (MNet) has updated the B.C. curriculum outcome charts on its website to support the new B.C. Language Arts curriculum for Grades K-7. In addition, they have added curriculum charts to support the strengthened role media education plays in the new Social Studies K-12 curriculum. The charts link to free supporting classroom lessons and resources.

This link takes you to the overview page Media Education in British Columbia. You can also reach this page from MNet’s home page: simply scroll to the bottom and under Media Education in Canada, select British Columbia. On the right sidebar of the overview page you will see links to the Media Education Learning Outcome Curriculum Charts, listed by curriculum and grade level. Each chart provides links to free supporting lesson plans, teachable moments, educational games, teacher guides and more.

Medianet Workshop: Still have teachers who come looking for your help because they don't know how to order audio-visual materials from MLST (online – Medianet)? If you would like me to forward the "Medianet Workshop" file, email me. NOTE: It's a large file that takes a while to download but you could put it onto a staff-use computer and show your colleagues where to go to take the training module!

Thanks for feedback on the Multivendor Display. Keep it coming. Next week I will compile it and forward it to the organizer. I will also solicit his feedback on how successful the vendors found it to be. He has already booked the Firefighters’ Hall for the same days next year and I am not hearing anyone say we shouldn’t have it any more.

Summary Email Morphs to Blog

Here is me "bloggin' it" ....

The TD books The Zlooksh are on their way. If you have submitted your numbers (grade 1s, plus any who sit in classrooms with grade 1s, so there are no tears or tantrums … oh, how much we who have dwelled only in secondary have to learn!) as requested by email this week, then expect these to be delivered early in the week. Morna is phoning for missing numbers and Kim, our clerical assistant, is waiting to count out your books for sending by blue bag. This is the only notice you will get … speak to your administrator if you want to be the one to give these out! Each school, I understand, has its own way of doing this.

Also due next week is Vol 1 Issue 1 of the TL Special News, my first-ever newsletter which, even as I have taken it to press, I am realizing what I left out!

Bulk ordering:

23 schools have given me names as being interested in a possible bulk order of the 2008 World Book (print edition). List: $882.00 ;
9 schools are interested in World Book Library of Natural Disasters List $340;
Lands & Peoples – now Scholastic Online – 3 schools;
Webfeet – 3 schools;
Make it Work – Geography – 1 school.
Any more titles or interested schools, pls let me know this week.

ERAC: Please go to online application form to apply. No district committee is being struck so let’s make sure TLs are available for the 3-day video and DVD selection event, April 30 to May 1. If you are successful in applying for this, ERAC provides release time. You may have colleagues who should be encouraged for their particular expertise.

WEBFEET: I gave erroneous information at one session of the multivendor display. This is not free but I am looking for the balance of a free trial so that those who hadn’t seen it can. Here is the SLJ review, however:

WebFeet Online. RockHill Communications, 14 Rock Hill Rd., Bala Cynwyd,
PA 19004; 888/762-5445; www.rockhill press.com. $495 for schools with under
1,000 enrollment and public libraries serving populations of less than 10,000.
Gr 5 Up--This database of Web sites has billed itself as "the premier
Interact subject guide for middle school, high school, and public libraries."
Unfortunately, it does not even come close to living up to that billing.

· Any feedback on the multivendor display would be appreciated. It was a real disappointment not to see S&B this year due to problems with the transport company. It was a real disappointment for this vendor to have 20 empty tables.

· I have had an opportunity to speak with Ed Devine of Baker & Taylor. We will be exploring possible savings on US titles using this vendor. In the meantime, I have attached more information for your consideration.

· Next week, David and I will split the list of schools not yet subscribed to The Sun or The Province free online subscription and register you, setting the password as library. There is still a hole in the security we need to close.

· Have a look at this: Teachers' Domain is an online library of free multimedia resources as well as professional development courses developed by WGBH - Boston's PBS station - that help teachers enhance their students' learning experiences and advance their own teaching skills using media from NOVA, Frontline, American Experience, and other public broadcast programming. I watched a fantastic video clip about frogs that freeze solid in the winter. Am I smarter than the average grade 5’er? Not even close.

· TORONTO, Tuesday, November 13, 2007 -- The Royal Canadian Geographical Society launched the second generation of its groundbreaking Canadian Atlas Online at a public event held today at the Ontario Science Centre. Check out this great resource.

· ALERT! I hope everyone got the important email message about the pornographic link that needs to be removed from the two titles (multiple sites) we have in the Magic Attic series in Vancouver elementary school library collections. I sent the email last weekend with a red exclamation mark.

If you are interested in, or know someone who is interested in, being part of a TL cohort to start next fall (you can be part-way through your diploma, just beginning, or just taking courses for interest or refreshment!) … let me know.

· I signed up for and get a newsletter from Teachingbooks. This is an excellent teacher resource. Password only: library1.

· Maryann was sighted in the building today … not by me, but others report she was here. Suspect it’s that Reportsmith thing!

Thanks for advice from one TL on the once-a-week summary email – BUT it all gets a red exclamation mark because I am trying to reduce things to ONE you can read over a cup of coffee or over a couple of days. It’s 4 pm and I’ve had enough. I’ll send these on Fridays, as required, with only time-sensitive items in between. Going home! Have a great weekend.