LIBE 477 - Reading Review Part A

As September rolls around I begin my transition from a classroom teaching of 3 years into a teacher-librarian. This will not only be a shift in my physical space but also a change in the way I think about students and teachers. One part of my practice that I have always felt drawn to is collaboration, being in a teacher librarian position will allow me to collaborate and create a wider impact. The idea of collaboration reaches broader horizons when we think about how the library space can be used as a tool for community building for not only our students but also teachers and other community members. 

In the past year I have taken a number of LIBE and LLED classes through UBC. I have continued to broaden my understanding of what it means to be a teacher-librarian. The best way I can explain this roll is that it is multifaceted. We are involved in assisting staff as well as students. Furthermore there are many hats we can wear such as teaching about new sources of media, databases, technology as well as helping to develop skills to locate, analyze and evaluate sources of information. This is of course to be done at the same time as ordering books, shelving and weeding to make sure that the collection is up to date and following curriculum standards. 

Two topics of interest for me are digital literacy and informational literacy. “We are in a cultural environment where the old notions of literacy are becoming pretty anachronistic.” (Kalantzis & Cope, 2019). Our traditional school has always had the goal of teaching only one type of literacy, with the aim of everyone being the same. As technology has evolved the world around us has altered and  thus it is important to recognize that literacy has also changed. In our day to day lives we are often bombarded with copious amounts of digital information. To allow students to succeed we must integrate learning about the digital literacy into all areas of our curriculum. We need to teach students how to develop their skills as critical thinkers who can locate, evaluate and extract meaning and information from different resources. 

Usalis states that "The environments in which children learn strongly impact their attitude, motivation, and their ability to achieve” (28). Keeping this in mind I am interested in how to develop my library space into a Library Learning Commons. At the moment the current physical library space has few connections to technology and is not being utilized by students or staff for much more than book exchange. Abram states that “maker strategies support those who may be great learners but may not be the greatest readers unless they find the right motivation to read. Maker activities can support their learning preferences and talents while giving them a motive to research and read-in print and online.” (11). A Makerspace gives students a place “to create, invent and learn” (Abrams, 11). Some activities that could take place in a make space include: building a website, design, 3D printing, robotics, knitting, sewing and even publishing. I believe that using the Library Learning Commons model will allow me to create a space that values creativity and innovation but also allows for inclusion to thrive. My goal is to create a space that can be engaging to our diverse learners. 

Lastly I would like to continue to learn more about Inquiry Based Learning and how it can help me to engage all learners. I found a video by John Spencer which helped to explain Inquiry Based Learning. Similarly to Will Richardson's Ted Talk there is an understanding that we as teachers are guides for our student. Modern day students have the ability to learn anything they want to learn because there is so much information that is located just at their fingertips. With students being put in the center of their own learning I believe that learning can be enabled, enriches and enhanced. 

References: 

Abram, S. (2015). Real Makerspaces in School Libraries. Internet@Schools, 22(1), 10–11.

Kalantzis, M. & Cope, B. (2019, March 6). 1. Background to the Multiliteracies Project. YouTube. https://youtu.be/WVRehngLMqs

Usalis, M. D. (1998). The Power of Paint: Refurbishing School Libraries on a Budget. School Library Journal, 44(2), 28-35.