On Creativity, Storytelling, and Sand ...

In this amazing performance-art video, Ukrainian artist Kseniya Simonova uses sand, light, music, and drama to tell the story of Germany's occupation of the Ukraine during World War II:



Well worth 8 minutes and food for thinking about the possibilities within the powerful interplay of the art of digital storytelling, of passionate performance, and of meaningful integration of technology with teaching and learning.

Yes, Lady Gaga Sings About Databases!

How lucky we are!

Just a few things for your last-minute consideration as you head off for summer:

• Have you signed up online for the September Update session?
  

• Have you got your pile of summer reading?

• Have you "bookmarked" The Bookmark (Summer 2009) for summer reading?

• Have you marked this blog as a favourite and made plans to check in occasionally?
  
• Have you sent me an electronic copy of your year-end report?
  
• Have you thought about how lucky we are to be TLs here in Vancouver? Supported as we are by a system that values the role school libraries play in the literacy and learning equations for young learners, we don't have to travel far from our boundaries to find districts where programs just like ours have been hard hit this year by budget cuts. When you heave the sigh of relief that you have survived another year, be grateful you are lucky enough to be in Vancouver. I am cautiously optimistic in saying that, for the first time in years, we may have a small increase in our FTEs. Thank you, everyone, who give hard work and political commitment to keeping cuts away from kids and who ensure that school libraries are valued.
  
  
  

Let the Sun Shine in!
Adapted from photo, K Lindsay's blog, Montreal, CLA Conference, 2009

• Have you thought about how lucky we are to have the reasonable BCTF and reasonably well-adjusted district and school administration, as well as local union leadership, working with us and for us as educators? This news story came from this month's ASCD Smartbrief from a google story and is cited in the Web-bits weekly online bulletin put out weekly by SFU's Linda Hof. It has me wondering, Can this be a hoax? Could this be true in the 21st century? Check out the Rubber Room youtube, described as follows: What happens when a teacher in New York City is accused of misconduct or incompetence in the classroom? They are sent to the "Rubber Room" while an investigation is launched. They spend months or even years there getting full pay and doing nothing. Check out the NY Times and other sources.
  
  All jokes aside -- and many spring to mind -- a google search for more information about the hundreds of teachers paid full salaries to report daily to New York City's "rubber rooms" confirms that, in fact, teachers can spend literally years reporting daily to temporary reassignment centres (TRCs or, as one article calls these centres, DOE Siberia) on the basis of allegations of offences, real or contrived, spurious or serious, to the tune of tens of millions of public dollars every year since this began and that this was agreed to by unions, the school district, and civic politicians. Oh my! There are just some things too egregious to take in. This one sent me into the frenzied search for corroboration and credible alternate accounts ... but it appears it's true! This one ranks as pure Ripley's, in my humble opinion.
  
• Have you thought about all that we are lucky to have in our society, in particular in terms of communications, travel, and technology, that we take for granted? Check out this 4-minute youtube video clip for a truly funny but thought-provoking look at this phenomenon. I thank the thinking administrator from whose "have a great summer" year-end blog to his staff I brazenly borrowed the idea of posting this particular video.
  
  
  

On the Grand Tour of Italy

Drowning as I am in the celebrations and farewells that are inevitable in June as well as planning for Italy and September Updates two days after my return and packing to move to a new lighter smaller cubby, I am compelled to action by thoughts of Tuscany. While I was intent on having the Best Wishes up before you leave, I am being thrown into the frenzy of sorting out the details of our trip and conference with Chris, Mary, and Frances, as well as Italian lessons for which we are truly grateful, Frances.

I am most intrigued by The Angels & Demons Tour I found we can take in Rome and by decisions about our "new" plans that would include either the Sante Croce agroturismo B&B in Tuscany or the 8-day bus and stopover option that Frances has found (The Marco Polo tour) to take us from Rome to Venice! The details of the August 31 pre-conference Guided Inquiry workshop with Kuhlthau and Todd have just been posted. I'm in! How lucky am I! Particularly in working with the wonderful members of the BCTLA Executive, I am very lucky indeed.

I'm working at Churchill in July, and the IASL Conference in Padua starts on August 31 and continues for the first week of September. I will be there with Chris, Mary, and Frances. Check in here occasionally for updates ....

Farewells and Welcomes

We here at Command Central thank you for a wonderful year in school libraries and for your part in building the vision of strong, well-supported school library programs. We will be welcoming some new TLs in September even as we say thank you and goodbye to dear friends and long-time contributors to the energy that characterizes our programs. We will miss them, as well as one, my dear friend Katharine, off to share the joy of working with young people with teacher-candidates at SFU, or others who are off doing the important work of creating future readers. Congratulations, new TL/mothers of which there are a few this year as well. We -- well, they -- are increasingly a more youthful group.

We wish one colleague every success with her teaching a TL course at UBC this summer. I am sure we in summer school libraries will be in regular touch with each other and with Maryann .... and have I told you how lucky I am to be working with all of you -- TLs are amazing and it's a wonderful thing to be in this leadership role for such a supportive and professional learning community -- and I get to hang out in the finest workspace and workplace in BC here at the penthouse near the corner of Granville and Broadway!

Otherwise, we wish you a joyful summer of rest, fun, reading, and professional replenishment. See you in September!

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.

A Month on the Pro D Circuit

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The End of a 9-Day Conference?

For some of us, it has just begun. It was hard to get into the Transforming School Libraries Online Conference, to find the time to stay current on the presentations, and to learn our ways around. We will be in much better shape for the next one, I can assure you. Occasionally as I popped in an out of places, I virtually ran into people I knew. Thankfully, the conference will remain "up" for us to poke around and consider the artifacts for a month or two longer, and I found some fascinating things.

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But first, you just have to listen to and watch this beautiful international/global video version of the song Stand By Me where, performing together but in vastly separate stages, are artists from around the world. There is a youtube version of this, but the original and other songs performed on the global stage and the articulation of a vision of peace through music are found on the Playing for Change website. I found this, as I wandered through information about various conference presenters, on Edmonton TL Arlene Lipkewich's short-lived blog. She challenged her students to consider the youtube version (both blog and youtube are Web 2.0 tools) and the way in which it was created.

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As I started to say, some of us were just a little overwhelmed by arriving just-in-time at the very complicated Sosius platform and the various places and formats in which information and conversations were happening. I really enjoyed Arlene's voicethread presentation on various Technologies for Learning, old and new. In this Web 2.0 presentation, we looked at how hardware, software, and 'webware' can be used for both teacher and student learning. Now there remains no evidence I attended the session as I didn't actually log in, just observed and kept an eye on the discussions ... but you will find others we know there, like Pat from Gladstone and Karen from Victoria too.

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Arriving at a presentation a few days late didn't matter as participation was asynchronous. Notice that some of the participants in this discussion presented themselves in text and others used audio features. This was my first ever voicethread discussion; I think it offered a great learning opportunity for many of the conference attendees and you will see and hear their learning as they go along. While this is ultimately a long presentation and discussion, it is really interesting: how might this format be useful for working with teachers as well as students?

I also participated in a regional meeting of the westcoast conference attendees using a webtool new to me called Mobee. Needless to say, it cannot be accessed through our district filters as it is a chat program, or so we discovered at the TL Studio this week ... but you can enter the chat rooms at home using any chat tool. That is, you don't have to be using the same tool. I don't chat much but my gmail has chat capacity, so in I went to the "tsl" (transforming school libraries) chat room for a fun two hours of library-chatting one evening. James Henri and Sandra Lee were there too. I will have to go back as there were some fantastic "library" videos added to the discussion wall.

Not all the sessions are accessible from the outside but I am happy to be able to show you some of the tools being used for TL discussions and professional growth. Another open-access site within the conference is Coquitlam TL Judith Comfort's online consideration of the seamless and blended nature of collaboration between Ts and TLs at bestlibrary for online learning support, both for Ts and for students.

I also went to Anne Robinson's Librain blog of the online conference. Anne is in the UK. I think you will find lots here to think about from Anne's report and I see no need to repeat, only to recommend you peruse her discussions of the event at this link. Thanks, Anne, for this.

Does social networking produce cognitive side effects?

Facebook and Bebo risk ‘infantilising’ the human mind

Posted to IASL listserv by Gerald Brown, Winnipeg, from The Guardian (U.K.), Feb. 2

British physiologist Lady Susan Greenfield warns that social-network sites risk infantilizing the 21st-century mind, leaving it characterized by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathize, and a shaky sense of identity. Greenfield, professor of synaptic pharmacology at Lincoln College, told the House of Lords that children's experiences on social-networking sites "are devoid of cohesive narrative and long-term significance ...."

Here is the audio link to Lady Greenfield speaking on social networking and your health.

BCTF Conference for New/er Teachers

What? These don't look "new/er" to you?

I stopped by the Radisson Hotel to see how Janet, Katharine, and Michele were doing in their presentation at the BCTF New/er Teachers' Conference about the ways they could collaborate with TLs. Put on out in Richmond on Friday, Val H was on duty for the provincial association at the BCTLA table. I scored lunch which was fantastic. So was this presentation. Thanks to all for the work that went into the session, as well as the commitment, to promoting collaboration with our teacher-colleagues to create meaningful learning experiences and enjoyable learning communities.


Did you know?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is 40 years old!

From Twitter / School Library Journal: "Librarians and other educators are encouraged to download an activity kit,which includes a free commemorative 40th anniversary poster featuring classroom activities on the back, and a booklet with cross-curricular lesson plans, booklists, and arts and crafts projects such as a make your own Very Hungry Caterpillar mobile."

Posted from IASL: Manitoba - Brown / Stinson

And that, dear collagues, was quite a month of professional development, wasn't it! Don't worry if you couldn't keep the pace. I never quite caught up to the pace. Needless to say, we all have lots to learn. We can perhaps claim ground as leaders in modelling teachers-as-lifelong-learners!

See you next week.

Best Wishes, Professional Reading, Online Resources, and Calendar

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Happy New Year and Welcome Back

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If you didn't get to this before or over the Holidays, now is your chance. Please check the upcoming events which I will keep current until posting again on January 16.

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Downtown
Bay Window

Hudson's Bay Company, 1916
Library and Archives Canada / PA-122005

Best Wishes

... for a restful and joyful holiday from the staff "downtown" who support strong school library programs in our diverse school communities:

ME, Diane, Maryann, Irinya, Thyrza, Donna, Jesse,
Fay, Ingrid, Mike, Larry, Sharon, Frank, and Val.

Where's Santa? Google for Educators is a great place for new ideas for information and tools to empower students and expand the frontiers of human knowledge. Or how about enabling kids of all ages to learn about geography as they follow Santa on his Christmas Eve journey around the world. Google works with NORAD to track Santa's progress (in six languages) on December 24, with daily updates and surprises until the 24th.

Mark Your Calendar: The busy season is coming so you will need to rest up! New professional development opportunities for January are now online. Many more events to choose from as well.

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Resolve to attend one or more of the following:

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January 21: Assessment For Learning and Descriptive Feedback, part 2 of the Provincial Webcast Series, 2008/9, at DT, 3:30 to 6:00 pm.

Each session will include the webcast program with experts and facilitated discussion, electronic copies of all materials, and handouts. Archived materials from earlier webcasts are available here. Assessment is a hot topic in the district so be sure to share this with your colleagues. Register online.

January 23: Family Literacy Day; consider registering your school. Break the Guinness World Record™ for Most Children Reading with an Adult, Multiple Locations by reading Robert Munsch. See email notification sent December 18.

January 27: After-school workshop at Gladstone: Strategies for Reducing Plagiarism; see Miscellaneous and register online. Invite colleagues.

January 28: TL Studio 1, Kerrisdale. Register online.

February 3: 4:30 to 7:30 pm -- Dr Leu on The New Literacies at the Italian Cultural Centre. For more information, contact Meredyth at mkezar@vsb.bc.ca. $65 includes dinner.

February 4: TL Studio 2, Gladstone. Register online.

February 10: Winter Tonic, Tupper. Watch for flyer and email details.

February 20 (am) Of particular interest for TLs at District Day:

Literacy Day at Killarney (check link from online registration under Literacy to view program and get registration information)

Technology Day at Magee. Alan November, keynote speaker. More information about sessions and speakers, will be available in January. Registration will be online.

PLUS

NEW! Online Conference for TLs: 21st Century Learning: Transforming school libraries with Web 2.0 tools -- 1 pm to 2 pm at Magee.

After Technology or Literacy Day events, you can attend the official launch of the 9 days of online sessions and discussions amongst TLs from Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and elsewhere. James "the Guru" Henri and Sandra "Web 2.0" Lee will be hosting more of what we saw in August. If you missed them at the VSB Summer Institute, or if you want more of the same, watch for details of how to pre-register in January. I will let you know when registration will be available online. Cost for VSB TLs ($60 per person) will be subsidized, and lunch will be provided.

February 25: TL Studio 1, Kerrisdale. Register online.

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Some Professional Reading for those Quiet Times

Linking into and from the BCTLA's Virtual Bookmark provides TLs with lots of reading for professional development in the quiet moments of the holiday. Here are a couple of articles posted by online editor and Kelowna TL Al Smith, with links to deeper reading on the topics:

Students Struggle with Information Literacy, by Justin Appel, Assistant Editor, eSchool News:

For additional relevant articles on eSchool News, check here: Measuring 21st Century Skills

Strategy for Overcoming Resistance to Technological Change, by Tom Haymes, Director of Technology and Instructional Computing at Houston Community College Northwest

If technologists just build it, they (the users) won’t come—you need to shape users’ behavior by acknowledging their world view rather than your own as a technology implementer; here is the link for the complete with the 3E strategy (that is, those charged with technology change need to build user awareness that the innovation is evident, easy-to-use, and essential) in EduCause.

Educational Leadership (Dec 2008/Jan 2009): Data: Now What? The New Stupid, by Frederick M. Hess.

An interesting read about assessment and accountability trends in the US, interesting in light of the recent FSA vote! "Educators have made great strides in using data. But danger lies ahead for those who misunderstand what data can and can't do." The New Stupid, writes Hess, is characterized by "an enthusiastic embrace of data [that] has waltzed us directly from a petulant resistance to performance measures to a reflexive and unsophisticated reliance on a few simple metrics—namely, graduation rates, expenditures, and the reading and math test scores of students in grades 3 through 8."

Launch of A Great New Online Digitization Project:

The British Colonist (1858-1910)

A great digital resource became available last week: The British Colonist Digitization Project is a joint effort by the Times Colonist, the University of Victoria, and a consortium of British Columbia libraries. The website covers the period from Dec. 11, 1858, to June 30, 1910, and offers 100,544 pages. Because the digitizing is only as good as the original or microfiche, you can try searching on the site but may also want to use the Index of Historical Victoria Newspapers.

NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English)

INBOX blog:

Most read blogs for 2008 Inbox on NCTE were about effective writing assignments and strategies for teaching nonfiction along with the summer series on 21st century tools for the classroom. Check out the IRA's ReadWriteThink Resources linked here too. For the rest of this excellent NCTE newsletter, click here. You can subscribe and get this every week.

Great Science Resources to Pass Along

Learning Science:

Here's a really useful site for online tools for teaching science. Collaboratively developed by teachers and Eucation faculty in Pennsylvania, it features the best science interactives and resources from around the world. SFU site-reviewer Linda Hof writes that Learning Science is divided into seven sections: Physical Science, Life Science, Science & Society, and more. Browse through teaching resources: web-based lessons, pedagogical tools, and links to external resources. Particularly good, says Hof, is the "Tools to Do Science" section: find printable rulers, a printable protractor, a stop watch, and printable graph paper. Or search the entire site via a convenient search engine and send along comments.

YT or no YT?

The New Media Literacies on YouTube is a video explanation of how various literacies enable students to have more skills and confidence that will prepare them for the 21st Century.

New Literacies for a New Age on YouTube is the history of how heffalumps brought new technologies to the education system and caused havoc as standardized testing benchmarks and students' abilities to memorize began to falter.

Education from the Outside on YouTube makes the case to bring the images from popular culture into classrooms to teach our students to read them and to learn ourselves.

Web 2.0: Cool Tool for Schools is a wiki full of social networking software programs that can be integrated with classroom learning processes and projects.

And finally, Teachers: Is There a Place for YouTube in the Classroom is the product of the research of a Toronto-area TL on the pros and cons of using YT in the classroom.

Storytelling and Booktalks
From the Honorary Ambassador for the IASL!

This list of suggested resources was compiled by Margaret Stimson, Retired Library Media Co-ordinator (Manitoba), and received via IASL post from Gerald Brown, Honorary Ambassador of the IASL:

Totlol. Developed by a Vancouverite, this video directory is intended for use with younger children, although more senior users like us will enjoy many of the selections. The site is moderated. It's powered by YouTube.

Book Video Ning. Visit or join the ning to find or share videos about books. The ning
was initiated by Joyce Valenza on December 12, 2008. As much as anything, the
ning serves to show us what is possible in the area of booktalks.

Speakaboos. If you like Storylines, you'll love this site as well. There you'll find online books, celebrity readers, teacher resources, and technology that enables kids to make their own recordings.

CogDogRoo Story Tools: This blog is more about making digital stories (or booktalks). Alan Levine offers 50+ web tools you can use to create your own web-based story. He provides several samples that have been made with each tool. In fact, the story of Dominoe the dog is told repeatedly using all of the tools.

Also from Gerald Brown in Winnipeg:

"I wish you a day of ordinary (library) miracles and little things to rejoice in.

Eight hands that go up to request the title you've just book talked.
A computer that goes for an entire day without crashing.
A less-than-successful baking experiment taken to the teachers lounge, gratefully
eaten before 10 am.
A child asking for another book "just like this one."
A software installation that does not cause another program to crash.
A parking spot close to the school door.
The principal saying a sincere thank-you.
An unexpected larger amount on your paycheck or a smaller amount on your mortgage payment.
A new book just published by your favorite author.
A student who is actually concerned about the quality of his work.
A dozen doughnuts as "thanks" for service above and beyond the call.
A quick and pleasant response from a technician.
A kid who wants to help you.
A human voice on the phone when you expected a recording.
A student who wants to become a librarian when she grows up.
A chance to show a tech-tip to a teacher who thinks you are a "guru."
A library with windows and sunbeams in the winter.
A request to use the library for a meeting because " it is the nicest room in the school."
A smile of accomplishment from a student who shows you how to do something on the computer. A quickly-answered reference question asked by a teacher.
A library aide you like and who likes you.
A student so absorbed in a book, he doesn't hear the bell ring.
A call from a parent about a lost book found while cleaning.
A student who wants to hold your hand.
Students who give genuine praise to each other.
A small space of time to read for pleasure!

What strikes me, says Gerald, as I read this list of "ordinary" miracles, is how we, ourselves, often make them happen. It is by treating others well that good is returned to us.

__________________________

Blogging off now for a rest from the pace.

What is Web 2.0? Why Do We Need to Know?

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All kinds of social networking software characterize the phenomenon known as Web 2.0. Blogging, building wikis, joining Facebook, using Wikipedia, and trying out new tools in our school library programs, tools like Jing, Skype, Animoto, Moodle, googledocs (for more, check the 25 Tools recommended by Annabelle in a previous blog) are Web 2.0 activities. The feature of Web 2.0 that distinguishes it from the traditional web is that it is intended to be built and used socially and collaboratively. Wikipedia represents the powerful capacity of building on collective knowledge. Google leads the field in creating opportunities for working together in different formats to build projects of our own design and suited to our own purposes.

Many of us work together on last-Wednesdays in a real sandbox (as opposed to virtual sandboxes, a Web 2.0 concept that refers to locations within the tool sites where you can simply play with the tool). Rather than the high-anxiety learning that often accompanies learning new technologies (just-in-time) and tools, in the TL Studio context, the focus is relaxed, we have no strict agenda, we are engaged in social learning, and we are involved in the important and supportive process of discovery and thoughtful consideration of the ways these can be useful for school library programs. What has become clear is that there is great interest in more opportunities for learning about Web 2.0!

And on the platforms where the 2.0 cyberworld meets edu-world, there are more contradictions that pepper the discourse than answers.

In Facebook, we know, bad things happen. Yet our wonderful Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) campaign had a Facebook presence. Ironically, if you were at the October School Library Day / FOSL event on Cyberbullying, you would have heard a parent request for educators to provide workshops for parents on using Facebook so they can better understand the software that puts children at risk. Some of our colleagues use this software; our teacher unions advise caution and with good reason as not everyone is clear about the conventions. Administrators and counsellors know that, while our students may not be able to access this at their schools, they don't have any problems using it outside the school. And any student with internet access on his or her phone has full access within our sites to precisely what we block, and we all know there is a certain appeal to circumventing what is "banned."

In a nearby school district, teachers grieved the practice of blocking internet access on the basis of professional autonomy and won. Decisions about suitable resources to support teaching are now made by teachers in an unblocked arena.

Nings are an example of these Web 2.0 applications; they are frequently blocked in districts as Facebook is a ning. In a recent graduate level course in LLED at UBC, School Library 2.0 (the class that converted "our Mary" to the tech-side) with Marlene Asselin and Ray Doiron, the discussions between the UBC and PEI classes and the products of their learning were posted on iBrary. This ning won two of Canada's leading TL educators international recognition for technology innovation.

For secondary TLs, I am keen to forward information about Shane Koyczan, Vancouver-based slam ("talk rock") poet extraordinaire and author. I will refer you to Web 2.0's YouTube for confirmation of his amazing capacity to gnaw at the issues of adolescence and to inspire tears as we ponder the connections to these issues for teens and those of us who work with them. I hadn't heard of Koyczan until I got an email from a member of our Social Responsibility team; his work had been brought to their attention by our Superintendent. Copy of his book Stickboy now read and in hand, I would suggest that every secondary school library needs this poetic novel about the damage of bullying -- and counsellors need to know you've got it. Word is that, after his performance, Stickboy was the fastest seller at the VIWF this year. On further research, here's what I found:

• Koyczan is an amazing performer who rivets audiences, young and old. He has performed for audiences around the world.
• His first book, Visiting Hours, was a Book of the Year Selection by both The Guardian and The Globe and Mail.
• Maya Angelou writes of him, "The future of poetry is in good hands," and that's a recommendation hard to beat.
• You can see him on YouTube: We are More (on Poetry Network, about being Canadian, for the Canadian Tourism Association), Gramma's Got It Going (on the importance of the inspirational and caring adult in the life of a young person struggling for meaning in his life), Beethoven (on the struggle for expression of the passions of the genius against a stark and brutal family life), and more.

YouTube, like Facebook, is subject to blocking. Teacher-librarians generally prefer not to fetter the access to information but to select the best (like Koyczan's video clips) and to "educate" and guide our students and colleagues in making responsible decisions about using resources, tools, ideas, and the readily-available and highly social internet environment. The school library is a place where teaching for ethical and responsible use happens daily. TLs know what is required to publish and unquestionably see that "online publishing" must be subject to the same rigorous conditions. They see that blocking access at educational sites, as is the present trend, means we lose really valuable educational and professional resources and teaching opportunities.

In an aside, it occurs to me, ever attentive to how we can promote the use of valuable resources, that perhaps we should "block" the databases; that would surely generate keen student interest and awareness and possibly more discourse amongst educational stakeholders requiring us to explain what they are, how they work, and what all the fuss is about!

Web 2.0 represents a shift in the locus of power for knowledge construction, for what is worth knowing, and for who decides what is worth knowing, a role traditionally played by those who wrote and delivered the curriculum; it requires a shift that challenges our traditional notions of teaching and learning to the core. While Prensky rather simplistically applies his concept of "native vs immigrant" to those who enter the cyberworld, some so-called "immigrants" (a concept surely based on age) have lots of savvy while others have simply a lot to learn and a shortage of time, and the so-called "natives" have a lot to learn about responsible "travel" in the cyberworld. We, the "immigrants," not only can learn about this but should, I would contend. After all, we are teaching for lifelong learning and we know the importance of modelling what we are teaching. As educators we need to be there to help and guide our students; we also need to look carefully at the options and consider "the standards" for engagement.

Think of the notion of "the box." In schools, we have always worked inside it. We use the tools provided by the employer and have learned the rules for engagement. (This week, some of us learned to refine the use of the "reply-all" feature!) You may remember, when I started the job here at Head Office last year, I thought I needed to pass along all the information that came to this desk ... and you were inundated with email, a "box" tool that forces the receiver to do something with the communiques as they accumulate; this "box" is down at the moment, meaning that its availability as a tool is not always guaranteed, and we all know it can get overloaded and be overloading. My next "iteration" was the once-a-week email, but it soon became clear that these large missives clogged up your already-burgeoning mailboxes, required you to do something with the pieces in the email, and didn't have any durability or searchability. My days in the "chair" are never without email; it arrives on my phone if I am off-site. I struggle to keep within the size of the box I have been given.


By November, I was blogging. The TL Special Weekly Report blog sits in a place in the cyberworld, and you can ignore it for a while, forever if you wish. Or go to it when you have time, scan for relevant information or use the search feature to look for the bits that apply just-in-time (that is, when you need them). Problem solved, or sort of! You see, it's outside the box. I love the blogging (a common Web 2.0 tool) and I gather ideas all week to send to you on Fridays! Meeting the Friday self-set deadline often finds me spending my Friday evenings getting the post finished. Today is Saturday and the "box" is down again so notices I received this week will have to wait!

When I work "outside the box," I do so cautiously and respectfully, attentive to ingrained rules I know apply "inside"; see the blog entries from Joyce Valenza, well-known US teacher-librarian, and Lisa Nielsen, NYC educator, below, as they grapple with the rules for blogging engagement. I want "the employer" to have confidence in my moving in unfettered ways as I highlight the ways we build our community and give (global) awareness to the scope, nature, and changing landscapes of our work in school libraries. No similar tool presently exists inside our box.


What makes sense is that all the rules that apply for working with resources, students, and communications in schools also apply to our work on and working with Web 2.0, or "outside the box." We know that information about our work and our students and our colleagues and our employer, our social interactions and personal insights, our building learning experiences for students, that is, what is worth doing and using online, will be easier, more relevant, and interactive, but it will also be subject to far greater scrutiny; we need to attend to what lasts in the ether. What is clear is that what we put into and take out of Web 2.0 needs to be of exemplary quality, that it reflects sound current educational thinking, and that we carry on the discourse to create a profile of best practice in our field.


Thanks, Jo-Anne, for these links that give the first space to the discussion of "conventions" for blogging that I have seen:


The Innovative Educator, blog by New York Department of Education Instructional Technology Manager, Lisa Nielsen, showed this post in May 2008: Mandate Against Professional Blog URLs in NYC DOE Signature

Joyce Valenza (from Neverendingsearch in SLJ, a link in the sidebar of my blog) also posted on the topic:

Meme: What NOT to blog (Part 1): "For three years or so I've been blogging and NOT blogging. Often it's hard to not blog. My blogging absences and omissions ..."

What not to blog--Part 2 (from my colleagues): " In the last post, I explored my own blogging off switch. In this post I report back on what happened when I asked my Twitter ..."

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BC Red Cedar Young Readers' Choice Award 2008/9

Group Leaders Support Site and Bookcase is posted.

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Kari-Lynn Winters, children's lit author, writes that she is available for schools visits: Her first book, Jeffrey and the Sloth, is a picture book about writing. It won the ABCs of Education Award and the Honour Book Award for the BC Book Prize. This book is also recommended by Adrienne Gear--as a "connect book." Kari-Lynn also has eight other picture books accepted for publication. She is very interested in doing more school visits and provides interactive presentations and workshops for students or teachers about literacy strategies, publication, children's literature, and/or drama. If interested, you can email her or visit her website .

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Winter Tonic Evening - "Love your Library"
Tupper Library, Tuesday, February 10th, 2009: 4 pm

Welcome at 4 pm will be followed by two workshop sessions and the usual -- 6:30 pm lovely dinner. Watch for the registration flyer in the first week back in the New Year. TLs from other school districts and TLs in training are always welcome, as are colleagues.

This event is sponsored by the Vancouver Teacher Librarians' Association. Cost will include dinner and VTLA membership (where appropriate) along with refreshing ideas, passionate presenters, the ever-popular book give aways, adult reads, and some other lovely surprises.

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Free UBC Community Borrower Card

UBC Library extends a special offer to the community as part of UBC’s Centenary celebrations. From September 2008 to April 2009, BC residents can obtain a free community borrower card (a $40 value) and borrow books in person from any UBC Library branch. This special offer is UBC's way of saying thank you to the community that has helped support UBC throughout its 100-year evolution. They are also celebrating the opening of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, an innovative new facility on the UBC Vancouver campus. Thanks to the generosity of one of UBC's most distinguished alumni, Dr. Irving K. Barber, the University now has a vibrant meeting place for community members to take part in events and programs in the spirit of lifelong learning. Learn more about the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre . Click here for way-finding directions to any UBC campus location.

Our UBC Friend Jo-Anne sent this notice along with a suggestion that perhaps some Grade 12 students may want to access the physical UBC library with their families. Unfortunately, this card doesn't give holders access to reserve books and/or to electronic resources -- I know because I asked. Most commonly, our colleagues are engaged in research and would like access to the UBC databases, including JStor. I have had some recent success finding what they are looking for in EBSCO's Academic Search Premier, by the way.

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Better a late blog than none? I hope so. I may have missed some of you this week. It's well into Saturday and my Friday self-imposed deadline has passed. I have struggled with this posting; the issues are complex and answers aren't easily found, but searching for them is something we are committed to in school libraries. Next week's will be very short, I promise. Have a great weekend!

Readings: did you read this one?

• Another article on the implications of the proposed new copyright law from The Georgia Straight, Jan. 31, 2008: You can get your ... , by Blaine Kyllo
  
• Downloadable Book posted by Val H to the BCTLA Forum -- Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive -- A digital literacy guide for the information age by Mark Briggs, who makes me feel really stupid when he writes, "Can you send an attachment with email? Then you have what it takes to publish a blog with pictures." He also notes that, "Blogs aren't always pretty to look at, but they can be published by anyone who can click a mouse and type" (54).
  
  I am going to read carefully Chapter 5: "How to Blog!" Here Briggs tells us, "A good blog is an ongoing conversation. It is facilitated by you, but, if it works, it may be dominated by your audience. If that happens, you win ... and most importantly, the readers win." Of course, he is writing for journalists, so I needn't be feeling as though I am having a conversation with myself if you are not commenting online, right? I will also see, in Chapter 8, how to add digital photos ... then I'll be blogging at full capacity. In his chapter on Web 2.0, Briggs writes about YouTube: "Sites such as Wikipedia, MySpace, YouTube, and Flickr create sophisticated warehouses of content -- without creating any content at all. It is ... an upside down model for creation when compared to the traditional methods anyone over 30 has grown up with" (27).
  
• Tyee TL Chris's email this week about her trip to Christianne's Lyceum of Literature and Art ; the electronic flyer of professional development opportunities is a downloadable pdf on this site and registration information is there as well. Chris told us she was very impressed! "The space is beautiful, the programs extensive and Dr. Christianne Hayward is unpretentious, extremely talented and knowledgeable." Chris pointed out the 'light dinner' offer with these evening events and would probably love to get a group together for one or more of these. Aren't we lucky to live so close to opportunities such as these. Christianne will be presenting at Winter Tonic, so be sure to come and check her out!
  


• Brad at Point Grey recommends this books: "We just got a book back from cataloguing, and it is a great resource." It's K-12. Click here for more information: PowerPoint for Teachers: Dynamic Presentations and Interactive Classroom Projects (Finkelstein/Samsonov, Jossey-Bass Teacher, 2008)
  


• Jackie, Consultant, Social/Emotional Learning, here on the 4th floor "downtown" recommends this 26-page pdf package from the UK: Confident, capable, and creative: supporting boys' achievements.

Kudos for Their Brilliant TL Performances

• Nancy at Weir: Was that you we saw at the BCTF news conference sharing your experience of the impact of e-testing on schools and, in particular, on school libraries? Check here.
  
• Marisa at Fraser: Was that you we read about in the Murray Dobbin article in The Teacher magazine. It was about the school's Peace Choir and the work of our talented TL Marisa Orth-Pallavicini. Read "Songs of Peace: Making the world a better place", as posted by Val H to the BCTLA News blog. Check out Val's archives as well.
  
• Frances at Hastings has started a blog of great resources for elementary French Immersion students. It was launched at the Technology Day workshop "French Electronic Resources" co-presented by Frances and Katharine from Churchill: http://mmerenzullo.blogspot.com/
  

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More next week on the TL workshops at various District Pro D Day and also Winter Tonic events.

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Be sure to check out the Dragon's Lair flyer from Peggy

... and do let me know if you're bringing a class here.

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See you at Winter Tonic

Gladstone on Tuesday at 4 pm ...

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Resources

Always Worth a Look: Greg's TOP 10 Picks February 2008 (click on Links): Exciting Ideas and Opportunities for Social Studies Teachers and Students! Note that Greg is recommending Awesome Stories.

From Val O: FREE Resources for the first 100 people to complete a short feedback form -- The Gathering Place: An Exploration of Canada's Capital (Grades 5 – 8 Social Science) has now been delivered to over 10,000 schools across Canada, and they want to know what you think! This resource is available in French as well.

Looking for First Nations titles and resources? Deb, our administrator for Aboriginal Education, recommends GoodMinds.com as a great tool.

Web 2.0 - Why Should We Know About It?

What is this Web 2.0 phenomenon? What makes Web 2.0 dramatically different from Web 1.0 that in itself has radically transformed our notion of what constitutes information and resources is its social / interactive / collaborative capacities. Yes, I know it's hard to keep pace with the rapid pace of technology change and ways to work with it in schools. In fact, as many of you know, the tendency to embrace change is neatly and quite definitively offset by the natural inclination to stasis until such time as the pressure to change is overwhelming. This means technology learning is often called "just-in-time" learning and is usually accompanied by heightened anxiety.

CommonCraft video clips make plain sense of some of the Web 2.0 applications. The webpage says their product is explanations in plain English.

TLs Gwen and Mary, along with Susan from UBC Libraries, gave their "New Learners" workshop at Technology Day. Mary addressed the nature of the very steep learning curve for many educators as well as the benefits of the ascent from her own experience. I can tell you that the hardest course I ever took was David Brear's online session, "On the Ramp to the Information Highway." Those who attended David's workshop today left with insights and ideas about how teaching and learning are being transformed yet again by the Web 2.0 phenomenon.

At the blogging mini-workshop I gave for some co-workers at the "mother ship" this week, the STAR pupil was Meredyth: check this one out! There are more coming ...

DE Tools of the Trade is John Goldsmith's technology blog for educators and it's full of news and ideas about new applications of technology. John recently forwarded this Digital Natives video clip to the BCTLA Forum.

Whoo-hoo! Now you can go to TeacherTube.

Here are some more Youtube clips worth checking out:

A Vision of Students Today
NOTE: This clip from the U of Kansas Anthropology Dept was used by Gwen, Mary, and Susan in their workshop at Tech Day earlier today.

Bringing 21st C Learning to Your Classroom

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

The Machine is Us/ing Us

Information R/evolution

Did You Know 2.0 -- Thanks for this one, Lana.

ShiftHappens -- Love that U2!

Happy Viewing!

See you Tuesday .... Gladstone, 4 pm