In my search for Vulnerable Children by Willms, I found this excellent closing address for the "What Develops? Understanding Assessment in Early Childhood Education" workshop, which took place in SCARFE on May 13, 2004. It was made by presenter Dana Brynelsen, who is the provincial advisor for IDP (Infant Development Programs) of British Columbia. There are a number of startling statements she made in her address:
1. "I am advocating that we move to a system that ensures that from birth every baby in BC has his or her development routinely reviewed at predetermined intervals by trained professionals in concert with their parents."
This comes from the fact that many kindergarten teachers have approached her over the years saying, "you can sure tell the kids who are lucky enough to get into the IDP." Why should luck play any role in children obtaining the services they need?
2. "The prime reason for developmental screening is to ensure that children with behavioural or developmental challenges and their families have the earliest possible opportunities for intervention. Earlier detection of delays leads to improved child health and well-being for identified children and for their families."
3. "Finland has routine developmental screening for all children. It starts at birth, continues at very regular intervals and reaches 99% of the population, in a country with far more challenging weather and geography than B.C. In countries like Finland, with universal screening, there are few surprises at Kindergarten because early delays are caught and children and their families referred to appropriate interventions."
4. "There are about 160,000 children three years and under in BC and 5800 of them or 4% are receiving services from an IDP."
5. "However, most children with behavioural or developmental disability have ‘invisible’ disabilities, and are not part of a risk category... Some never reach their full potential because we failed to find them early in life and offer them and their families support and intervention."
As a mother and a teacher, the remarks made by Brynelsen are sobering. At first, when she started off her remarks by saying screening should be mandatory in our children, the first thought that ran through my mind was "NO!" For goodness sakes, there is enough of mothers- comparing-their-babies-development going on (and much of this, may I add, happens at babytime programs or other parent-infant programs!)... the last thing we need is for a professional to come along and make us worry that our child is developing slowly compared to other children. I also initially felt like constant screening is a bit of a privacy invasion. But that's purely the emotions of a mother!
As an educator and as a responsible citizen, I am convinced that mandatory screening is the way to go during our children's early years. Early detection could indeed make the difference between a successful school career and years of misery for our children. It is probably the single most important investment we can make in our society! From what we're learning in this course, children come into kindergarten with the majority of their pre-literacy skills already in place- skills that pre-determine their receptivity to reading and writing. More attention needs to be placed on the early skills- and early intervention if the skills aren't being introduced- to ensure these children become literate citizens. Really, the future of our society depends on it.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Gender Differences in Acquiring Literacy
Boys and Books by James Maloney is concerned about the male mass of average to below-average achievers, particularly with regards to literacy. David Booth's book Even Hockey Players Read also is concerned with the fact that boys not only leisure read less than girls, but nearly 50% of boys by high school identify themselves as non-readers. Why aren't boys reading? The list of usual suspects point to sports, tv and video games, or not enough books on the market geared to boys. It's easy to use these things as scapegoats, but the real reasons dig a bit deeper. Firstly, Booth points out that the masculine image identified in the media is not usually one with his nose in a book. It's more focused on brawn. Secondly, there is a lack of male role models... the classic "my dad only reads the newspaper." Thirdly, which the previous two points allude to, popular opinion tends to radiate around the idea that "reading is what girls do." Realistically, who is most likely to read bedtime stories to a boy? Who teaches boys to read in the primary years? Who sits through the laborious "read aloud" stage when he is learning how to read? Who is the boy most likely to see reading a book? Who is most likely to encourage him to read? That's right... a woman!
So how can these perceptions be turned around and how can the library help? Well, I think it's important to seek out male role models. Guest storytellers, like getting a firefighter to read to the kids at storytime, may be a good start. Now that men are taking advantage of paternity leave, it seems like there are more males present at storytimes. We can do everything we can to make them feel comfortable and welcome at storytime and in the library so they invite other men to participate in their baby's literacy lives. Choosing books- like non-fiction truck books or information books- during storytime will appeal to the little boys at storytime. I think librarians are doing a fabulous job at these things already... but it would be nice to brainstorm ways of "luring" more men to the profession. Just like wouldn't it be great to have more men teaching the primary grades. Little boys need all the help with literacy that they can get, and positive, male role-models interacting with them in their daily lives are a good place to start.
So how can these perceptions be turned around and how can the library help? Well, I think it's important to seek out male role models. Guest storytellers, like getting a firefighter to read to the kids at storytime, may be a good start. Now that men are taking advantage of paternity leave, it seems like there are more males present at storytimes. We can do everything we can to make them feel comfortable and welcome at storytime and in the library so they invite other men to participate in their baby's literacy lives. Choosing books- like non-fiction truck books or information books- during storytime will appeal to the little boys at storytime. I think librarians are doing a fabulous job at these things already... but it would be nice to brainstorm ways of "luring" more men to the profession. Just like wouldn't it be great to have more men teaching the primary grades. Little boys need all the help with literacy that they can get, and positive, male role-models interacting with them in their daily lives are a good place to start.
Programming Tips
Jane Cobb's new book, What'll I Do With the Baby-O? is a fabulous resource for storytimes! The CD affixed to the back cover of the book is ingenious... why hasn't anyone thought of this before??? I'm particurly fond of the lullaby Babushka Baio. Sigh.
Here are some poignant, research-based points she makes in the first part of the book:
30- "research on child abuse and neglect reveals that infants who have not been held and touched enough [from birth to eighteen months] will develop brains that are 20-30% smaller in size than normal children of the same age."
Isn't that the saddest thing that this kind of research even exists? I suppose it was born from the 50's when scientists disasterously claimed that hugging and snuggling with your young children "spoils" them.
34- "The parent's use of exaggerated inflections and animated facial expressions helps the baby tune in to the speech patterns of the language. Babies respond to this by making faces, wiggling their bodies, kicking their feet, and showing excitement."
"Parenthese" or "motherese" is a new thing I learned in this course. It's so instinctual to raise your voice when talking to babies so I knew it wasn't a bad thing! But now I know there is an actual term attached to it with research to back its effectiveness.
39- "Babies who are introduced to age-appropriate books from infancy on will grow up loving books. It's that simple."
Sooo... what about those people who read Tolkien to their babes in utero? Age appropriate- I think not! Kidding aside, I sure hope it's that simple. My son is in kindergarten and I am doing- and have done- everything within my power to help him in his early literacy years. I joke to my family that if he has trouble learning to read, then all this research is blown to *%$@!
43- "The strong rhythm and beat of nursery rhymes when accompanied by a parent's rhythmic body movement, helps the baby absorb the patterns and rhythms of language with her whole body."
I really like the idea of the physical manifestation of language. It reminds me of clapping out syllables when I was in grade two. I never understood why some kids simply didn't get it- you know, the kids who clapped out "banana" five times! I suppose they weren't exposed to many nursery rhymes in their early literacy years.
45- "Singing also relaxes the adult in stressful situations, and provides an outlet for adult frustration."
AMEN! Just the other day, when my two year old was in the climax of yet ANOTHER tantrum, I carried her kicking and screaming to a quite place. I started to sing "Tall Trees" (a lullaby we sing at bedtime together). It took all of 30 seconds before she was joining in and waving her arms in the air. I honestly don't know what to do when she tantrums sometimes, so these songs help to calm me down and luckily, it helps her calm down too. She probably feels my tension ease.
All in all, I love the book and will buy a copy for myself. Love it, love it!
Here are some poignant, research-based points she makes in the first part of the book:
30- "research on child abuse and neglect reveals that infants who have not been held and touched enough [from birth to eighteen months] will develop brains that are 20-30% smaller in size than normal children of the same age."
Isn't that the saddest thing that this kind of research even exists? I suppose it was born from the 50's when scientists disasterously claimed that hugging and snuggling with your young children "spoils" them.
34- "The parent's use of exaggerated inflections and animated facial expressions helps the baby tune in to the speech patterns of the language. Babies respond to this by making faces, wiggling their bodies, kicking their feet, and showing excitement."
"Parenthese" or "motherese" is a new thing I learned in this course. It's so instinctual to raise your voice when talking to babies so I knew it wasn't a bad thing! But now I know there is an actual term attached to it with research to back its effectiveness.
39- "Babies who are introduced to age-appropriate books from infancy on will grow up loving books. It's that simple."
Sooo... what about those people who read Tolkien to their babes in utero? Age appropriate- I think not! Kidding aside, I sure hope it's that simple. My son is in kindergarten and I am doing- and have done- everything within my power to help him in his early literacy years. I joke to my family that if he has trouble learning to read, then all this research is blown to *%$@!
43- "The strong rhythm and beat of nursery rhymes when accompanied by a parent's rhythmic body movement, helps the baby absorb the patterns and rhythms of language with her whole body."
I really like the idea of the physical manifestation of language. It reminds me of clapping out syllables when I was in grade two. I never understood why some kids simply didn't get it- you know, the kids who clapped out "banana" five times! I suppose they weren't exposed to many nursery rhymes in their early literacy years.
45- "Singing also relaxes the adult in stressful situations, and provides an outlet for adult frustration."
AMEN! Just the other day, when my two year old was in the climax of yet ANOTHER tantrum, I carried her kicking and screaming to a quite place. I started to sing "Tall Trees" (a lullaby we sing at bedtime together). It took all of 30 seconds before she was joining in and waving her arms in the air. I honestly don't know what to do when she tantrums sometimes, so these songs help to calm me down and luckily, it helps her calm down too. She probably feels my tension ease.
All in all, I love the book and will buy a copy for myself. Love it, love it!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Early Years Study
Re: "Early Years Study 2: Putting Science into Action."
This report reinforces the trend going on in the school district I work for (Howe Sound). The school district is finally recognizing that "early childhood [is] a critical period to invest in the development of future human capital" (99). It seems odd that they're finally catching on that “school unreadiness is expensive” (110). Out of recognition of the fact that development during the pre-school years warrants the attention of the educational community, the school board got a nice, chunky grant to invest in early learning initiative partnerships. They're now in the process of changing the name from "school district" to "board of education" to encompass the entire spectrum.
As might be expected, there is a bit of tension that is arising from this on a number of levels. Firstly, as the Early Years Study outlines, there is a training and wage disparity between ECE workers and teachers. Now that the school board is taking an interest in ECE (a sphere traditionally neglected), ECE workers probably feel like an independent country in the throes of colonization! Luckily, the board has hired a wonderful person for the job who is very tactful at developing a collaborative spirit with the ECE specialists.
There is also a fair bit of resistence from the teachers. Many are upset that "school money" is being spent in a domain that perhaps belongs to the people most trained for the job. Some kindergarten teachers feel there is extra pressure to address the pre-kindergarten population. Teachers are already taxed with time- anything extra is a big deal to them!
Outside of the controversies, it was great to read a report on the economic benefits of ECE. I especially like Bank of Canda David Dodge's words during a speech in 2003: "We would in fact achieve amore efficient allocation of resources by reducing the relative share of costs borne publicly for PSE and even secondary schooling, while increasing relative share of costs of ECD borne publicly" (112). It's something that makes so much sense- shape the children while they're at their most shapable- and it's nice to hear it from an economist's perspective.
I'd also like to comment on the fact that "across Canada, early childhood programs fail to respond adequately to the needs of modern families or the new science documenting the importance of early childhood experiences to later health and wellbeing" (107). Having two children in a family-based daycare, I'd have to concede that the early childhood agencies ARE a mess (just like the title of the chapter- Chaos- suggests). It's crazy that these programs are supported through different agencies. I've had my son in five different ECE situations, and they all operated independently of each other. This isolation and fragmentation does not serve our children- or the workers- well. There needs to be some drastic changes to that tangled web.
This report reinforces the trend going on in the school district I work for (Howe Sound). The school district is finally recognizing that "early childhood [is] a critical period to invest in the development of future human capital" (99). It seems odd that they're finally catching on that “school unreadiness is expensive” (110). Out of recognition of the fact that development during the pre-school years warrants the attention of the educational community, the school board got a nice, chunky grant to invest in early learning initiative partnerships. They're now in the process of changing the name from "school district" to "board of education" to encompass the entire spectrum.
As might be expected, there is a bit of tension that is arising from this on a number of levels. Firstly, as the Early Years Study outlines, there is a training and wage disparity between ECE workers and teachers. Now that the school board is taking an interest in ECE (a sphere traditionally neglected), ECE workers probably feel like an independent country in the throes of colonization! Luckily, the board has hired a wonderful person for the job who is very tactful at developing a collaborative spirit with the ECE specialists.
There is also a fair bit of resistence from the teachers. Many are upset that "school money" is being spent in a domain that perhaps belongs to the people most trained for the job. Some kindergarten teachers feel there is extra pressure to address the pre-kindergarten population. Teachers are already taxed with time- anything extra is a big deal to them!
Outside of the controversies, it was great to read a report on the economic benefits of ECE. I especially like Bank of Canda David Dodge's words during a speech in 2003: "We would in fact achieve amore efficient allocation of resources by reducing the relative share of costs borne publicly for PSE and even secondary schooling, while increasing relative share of costs of ECD borne publicly" (112). It's something that makes so much sense- shape the children while they're at their most shapable- and it's nice to hear it from an economist's perspective.
I'd also like to comment on the fact that "across Canada, early childhood programs fail to respond adequately to the needs of modern families or the new science documenting the importance of early childhood experiences to later health and wellbeing" (107). Having two children in a family-based daycare, I'd have to concede that the early childhood agencies ARE a mess (just like the title of the chapter- Chaos- suggests). It's crazy that these programs are supported through different agencies. I've had my son in five different ECE situations, and they all operated independently of each other. This isolation and fragmentation does not serve our children- or the workers- well. There needs to be some drastic changes to that tangled web.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Dialogic Reading
I've heard the phrase before but I've never made the mental connection. After reading a School Library Journal article titled "Charming the Next Generation: A Strategy for Turning Toddlers into Readers" by Renea Arnold, I immediately identify it as the strategy for Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library initiative. As previously noted, I attended a Saroj Gatong workshop on Every Child Ready to Read and she introduced us to the various dialogic reading strategies that are mentioned in the article, including asking the "wh" questions and expanding what the child says. From a teacher's perspective, these strategies certainly set the pre-reader up nicely for many of the reading strategies employed by teachers in future grades. Many outcomes of the performance standards, an evaluative rubric used by teachers to assess reading/comprehension skills (among other things), focus on whether the students demonstrate the ability to wonder about anything in the story (predict), relate an event or character to an experience in their lives, and of course, if they can re-tell the story for comprehension. Having a conversation about the book instead of simply reading it is certainly a good way to set them up for dealing with these kinds of reflective processes.
It's interesting that even though I know all this stuff, I hardly ever do it with my own children! We read books in the morning and in the evening (and in the afternoon if I'm around), and that's all I do is simply read to them. I wonder why I haven't been practicing dialogic reading with them? Crazy. And this from someone who knows better! Can I blame it on the nutty pace of life (sometimes I'm shocked I even get one story read to them during the course of a day) or is it pure laziness (the old, I-know-I-should-read-them-a-story-before-bed-so-let's-get-this-over-with-because-I-need-some-peace-and-quiet routine)? The article I read says that dialogic reading comes naturally to us... I'm not so sure about that. I can still remember Saroj Gatong demonstrating expanding a story: "What's that?" A duck. "Yes, a yellow duck." "What's that?" a fire truck. "Yes, a big, red fire truck." At the time, it seemed rather contrived and unnatural to be quite honest. Don't get me wrong... I see that this technique has its moments and its obvious merits. But I'm glad the article ended with the idea that kids crave variety, and although dialogic reading should be a part of everyone's reading routine, there's nothing wrong with reading a book cover-to-cover either. Variety is the spice of life. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to converse with my kids over a picture book!
It's interesting that even though I know all this stuff, I hardly ever do it with my own children! We read books in the morning and in the evening (and in the afternoon if I'm around), and that's all I do is simply read to them. I wonder why I haven't been practicing dialogic reading with them? Crazy. And this from someone who knows better! Can I blame it on the nutty pace of life (sometimes I'm shocked I even get one story read to them during the course of a day) or is it pure laziness (the old, I-know-I-should-read-them-a-story-before-bed-so-let's-get-this-over-with-because-I-need-some-peace-and-quiet routine)? The article I read says that dialogic reading comes naturally to us... I'm not so sure about that. I can still remember Saroj Gatong demonstrating expanding a story: "What's that?" A duck. "Yes, a yellow duck." "What's that?" a fire truck. "Yes, a big, red fire truck." At the time, it seemed rather contrived and unnatural to be quite honest. Don't get me wrong... I see that this technique has its moments and its obvious merits. But I'm glad the article ended with the idea that kids crave variety, and although dialogic reading should be a part of everyone's reading routine, there's nothing wrong with reading a book cover-to-cover either. Variety is the spice of life. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to converse with my kids over a picture book!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Innovative Partnerships
Bookstart, the UK version of "Books for BC Babies" (or rather, the prototype of Books for BC Babies), is not only impressive in its mission "to provide a free pack of books to every baby in the UK, to inspire, stimulate and create a love of reading that will give children a flying start in life." It's the partnerships that got my brain juices flowing! The organisation has developed some pretty darn impressive partnerships in their efforts to get the kids into the libraries and reading. I love the "book crawl" idea: every time kids visit the library they earn stickers that can then be traded in for "certificates." The certificates have been designed by well-known authors and illustrators. As the website says, they're "lovely keepsakes of children's earliest years as library members." Partnering with authors/illustrators in this venture is beneficial for everyone (it keeps the publishing wheel going...)
I'm also loving the fact that the libraries and booksellers have collaborated... what a concept! Instead of seeing big box bookstores/independent bookstores as competition, the libraries are working with the stores in their early literacy pursuits. They have a token system integrated with the bookstart packages so everyone receives a voucher towards a book in participating bookstores (over 1200 bookstores are involved! Holy smokes that must have been some work to establish). I'm inspired by this relationship- it truly illustrates how libraries have been continually flexible to make themselves relevant and necessary.
The Every Child Ready to Read program is amazing... I love all the resources that come with the site. I have been to a Saroj Gatong workshop before and learnt many practical ways to integrate educating the parents in with storytimes. I find it gets a bit formulaic sometimes- it seems a bit artificial to pop in things about phonetic awareness during a rhyming book- but overall I think the background information gives us a good basis for programming. It makes me realize we're doing so much more than entertaining young ones... we're actually "literacy professionals" who have created programs thoughtfully with a big picture in mind.
I'm also loving the fact that the libraries and booksellers have collaborated... what a concept! Instead of seeing big box bookstores/independent bookstores as competition, the libraries are working with the stores in their early literacy pursuits. They have a token system integrated with the bookstart packages so everyone receives a voucher towards a book in participating bookstores (over 1200 bookstores are involved! Holy smokes that must have been some work to establish). I'm inspired by this relationship- it truly illustrates how libraries have been continually flexible to make themselves relevant and necessary.
The Every Child Ready to Read program is amazing... I love all the resources that come with the site. I have been to a Saroj Gatong workshop before and learnt many practical ways to integrate educating the parents in with storytimes. I find it gets a bit formulaic sometimes- it seems a bit artificial to pop in things about phonetic awareness during a rhyming book- but overall I think the background information gives us a good basis for programming. It makes me realize we're doing so much more than entertaining young ones... we're actually "literacy professionals" who have created programs thoughtfully with a big picture in mind.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Babies are smart
Diane McGuinness, in her book Growing a Reader from Birth, relates a number of studies that have been done on the communicative patterns of babies. My favourite one is the Scottish study that filmed mothers in conversation with their young infants. Here are a few reactions the babies had to mom's soothing voice:
- when mom swayed closer, so did baby
- every time mom made eye contact, they locked onto mom's eyes
- when mom gazed and talked to her infant, she got a bright smile in return
- when her voice dropped in cadence and she paused slightly, the baby would pause with an ooh or a wiggled fist.
Now, when the babies were propped up to watch a replay of the mom's portion on a different day, something really interesting happened. The baby's face lit up "like a ray of sunshine" as soon as mom's face appeared on the screen. As the seconds ticked by, and baby would interject with a gurgle or a happy grunt and mom's response did not fit in with what her baby did, the baby's eyes opened wider. The baby stared harder. Each time he tried to take a turn, and mom didn't respond with the appropriate behaviour, the infant became sober, the corners of his mouth dropped, his brow furrowed, and it was long before he started wailing!
This proves that even at the tender infant age, the conversational dance between baby and mother is recognized as important by the baby. Babies are much more intuitive than people give them credit for! A lot goes on behind those seemingly dozy eyes. This kind of research is fascinating for a new mom, and would be the perfect thing to mention during any type of librarian-led storytime to reinforce the importance of singing/rhyming/reading with your baby. Eye contact and responding to the reactions of babies/conversing with them is CRUCIAL right from birth. According to that study, the babies have basically told us this themselves!
LIBR529: Services for Families and Early Literacy in the Preschool Years
This entry marks the beginning of a new course! We will be exploring all the research around early literacy and language acquisition. For the first week, we were supposed to choose a book from a selected bibliography and pick out five points that piqued our interest for further discussion. Since I did not have access to those books, I found a database article that I would like to comment on: "Babies and Books in the School Library." It is also a nice transition piece from my previous LIS460 posts.
I am a teacher who is VERY eager to return to the schools in a teacher librarian capacity and my tummy does flips at the possibility of integrating a baby/tot program in the school library. As is evident through an early literacy mandate and provinical grant for early learning initiatives in my school district, educators are finally embracing the research that indicates "50% of a person's intellectual capacity is developed before age four" (Dorothy Butler, Babies Need Books). What a fabulous thing that the schools now recognize that the building blocks of early literacy happen before school starts! It makes sense to not only work with the families of school-aged children, but the families of the surrounding school communities to ensure kindergarten readiness. What's that old saying, "it takes a village to raise a child?"
A baby/tot program run through the school library would only lead to wonderful things. It's almost like an insurance policy! During a storytime program, all the songs, rhymes and stories provide ample opportunities to introduce the parent to all of the research about early brain development. If the parents practice the rhymes at home, sing songs, read to their babies and take the research to heart, then their children will have the foundation skills necessary for a positive start in kindergarten. Not only that, they will have a built-in, positive association with books and the library. It's a win-win-win-win situation!!!
I am a teacher who is VERY eager to return to the schools in a teacher librarian capacity and my tummy does flips at the possibility of integrating a baby/tot program in the school library. As is evident through an early literacy mandate and provinical grant for early learning initiatives in my school district, educators are finally embracing the research that indicates "50% of a person's intellectual capacity is developed before age four" (Dorothy Butler, Babies Need Books). What a fabulous thing that the schools now recognize that the building blocks of early literacy happen before school starts! It makes sense to not only work with the families of school-aged children, but the families of the surrounding school communities to ensure kindergarten readiness. What's that old saying, "it takes a village to raise a child?"
A baby/tot program run through the school library would only lead to wonderful things. It's almost like an insurance policy! During a storytime program, all the songs, rhymes and stories provide ample opportunities to introduce the parent to all of the research about early brain development. If the parents practice the rhymes at home, sing songs, read to their babies and take the research to heart, then their children will have the foundation skills necessary for a positive start in kindergarten. Not only that, they will have a built-in, positive association with books and the library. It's a win-win-win-win situation!!!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Second Life and School Libraries?
Boy was that a fun way to end the class! I had lots of fun exploring with Linda and Eileen in SL earlier this week. "Exploring" is an appropriate term... I really felt like I was a foreigner in a strange land, and although Linda clearly has more experience, it felt like she was exploring with us. I think that was the most wonderous thing about it: feeling like we were a little group that stuck together, learning new things. I really see how that would translate so nicely in a school atmosphere. I personally think it would enhance the social spirit in a classroom community. Everyone would learn new things together.
I'm not sure how excited I was about the libraries there- pardon me, I mean cibraries! I just can't get beyond the idea of a library without books. Entering those empty spaces to sign a guest book and access the library's catalogue online wasn't quite cutting it for me... it honestly felt very cold and personality-less. Perhaps this will change as the infrastructure evolves.
After reading all the problems classmates were having logging on and staying on, I wonder if it would be practical to introduce SL during a library lesson? I think it's true- all things like this need an alternative lesson "back-up," but wouldn't it be frustrating nonetheless. Especially because anything "alternative" would be a huge disappointment for the students! (How could a lesson be more cool than creating avatars to explore a virtual world????)
That's not to say I'd rule it out. I would just give lots of practice runs before going for it!
I'm not sure how excited I was about the libraries there- pardon me, I mean cibraries! I just can't get beyond the idea of a library without books. Entering those empty spaces to sign a guest book and access the library's catalogue online wasn't quite cutting it for me... it honestly felt very cold and personality-less. Perhaps this will change as the infrastructure evolves.
After reading all the problems classmates were having logging on and staying on, I wonder if it would be practical to introduce SL during a library lesson? I think it's true- all things like this need an alternative lesson "back-up," but wouldn't it be frustrating nonetheless. Especially because anything "alternative" would be a huge disappointment for the students! (How could a lesson be more cool than creating avatars to explore a virtual world????)
That's not to say I'd rule it out. I would just give lots of practice runs before going for it!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Trust
Relationship-building with teachers, students, parents, and the community at large is probably the most important part of being a school librarian. Even as the children's librarian at the public library, I find that building relationships is one of the most integral parts of fulfilling my role effectively. The technology aspect really works to enhance these relationships... every time we initiate any one of the "techie" things were learning in this class in our workplace, if we keep this at the forefront then we'll all be successful.
As I'm nearing the end of the my library studies, I'm really starting to buy into our value! I mean, I always knew that libraries are the cornerstones of the community and the heart of the school, but the actual role of librarian was always somewhat fuzzy to me. Unfortunately, I'm not alone... patrons don't have a clue about how a library is structured, or what librarians actually do. People always look at me somewhat perplexed when I tell them about my crazy day at the library. I even had one neighbour say to me when I told him about my schooling, "ha, you may as well make $20 an hour checking out books!" Librarians have never been very good at marketing themselves. I think with these technology tools, we'll be able to smack people in the face and let them know we can help! Now that our roles are demanding an understanding of technology, we'll be more visible or at least more valued in the community's eyes. At the very least, our role will be more highlighted as the information professionals we are...
Along the same lines, relationship building requires a huge investment of time and energy on all ends. HUGE. In my neck of the woods, we have a crazy "temporary contract" phenomena swooping our school system. If school systems aren't willing to gaurantee a continuing contract for their teachers and teacher librarians, this relationship-building goes all to pot. I sure hope this changes with the rash of retirements everyone keeps talking about! (I came into teaching six and a half years ago and when I graduated from teacher's college, they told us all "in the next five years you'll have your pick of jobs." Still not seeing that happen). Patience, patience, patience.
As I'm nearing the end of the my library studies, I'm really starting to buy into our value! I mean, I always knew that libraries are the cornerstones of the community and the heart of the school, but the actual role of librarian was always somewhat fuzzy to me. Unfortunately, I'm not alone... patrons don't have a clue about how a library is structured, or what librarians actually do. People always look at me somewhat perplexed when I tell them about my crazy day at the library. I even had one neighbour say to me when I told him about my schooling, "ha, you may as well make $20 an hour checking out books!" Librarians have never been very good at marketing themselves. I think with these technology tools, we'll be able to smack people in the face and let them know we can help! Now that our roles are demanding an understanding of technology, we'll be more visible or at least more valued in the community's eyes. At the very least, our role will be more highlighted as the information professionals we are...
Along the same lines, relationship building requires a huge investment of time and energy on all ends. HUGE. In my neck of the woods, we have a crazy "temporary contract" phenomena swooping our school system. If school systems aren't willing to gaurantee a continuing contract for their teachers and teacher librarians, this relationship-building goes all to pot. I sure hope this changes with the rash of retirements everyone keeps talking about! (I came into teaching six and a half years ago and when I graduated from teacher's college, they told us all "in the next five years you'll have your pick of jobs." Still not seeing that happen). Patience, patience, patience.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Dreadful Databases
I was excited to learn about federated searching today. I have a real love/hate relationship with databases. As a graduate student, I love the access to the hundreds of databases in the UBC system. I'm always able to find highly relevant, full-text articles for my research. Full-text is important to me, because my time is valuable and I hate being led on a wild goose chase following link after UBC e-link only to hit a dead end. Before entering UBC as a graduate student I was terrified of databases. I didn't even know what they were, really! In my undergraduate years (93-97) I never even knew they existed. I did all of my research through journals and books at the library. I think I'm not alone in my (prior) fear of databases. They are intimidating, and as Baule pointed out in his article Data Data Everywhere, they're awkward to use because of their specificity. It's no wonder that students tend to "satisfice," or find the path of least resistance and settle with mediocre information for assignments. I think we're all guilty of this! Google rocks.
But I was reflecting on my practicum at the local high school here, where I had the opportunity to give a ten minute mini-lesson on finding information for each classes' assignments. I pushed the online databases that were available to them (ThomsonGale and EBSCO) and no one went for it in their research! I think this had a bit to do with what Baule was talking about- Google is just easier- but as I was perusing the articles available on ThomsonGale and EBSCO, I realized it's because the information is presented dreadfully! At least with online web resources the students can find something that will reel them in- either it's formatted with lots of white spaces, the print is bigger, there are lots of interesting visuals, or the colour combination/background colour appeals to them. There could also be lots of different medias on a website- from auditory to video streams, and opportunity for social interaction through comments/feedback links and blog-type entries.
The information presented in databases on the other hand is just BORING. The articles seem to always be on a plain white background, they have tiny print, they lack any sort of media- at least, it's hardly integrated in the body of the article- they are just boring paragraph after boring paragraph of information. It's like a textbook digitized. What student would pick that over the exciting way websites present information?
If we as school librarians are paying the big bucks for online databases, I want to be darn sure that the kids are going to use it. Sure, there are databases that kick it up a notch higher than ThomsonGale and EBSCO like Searchasaurus, Primary Search, and Student Research, but even though their interface might have a touch more pizazz the content is presented in the same way: BORING! If anyone knows of a good database that would give a school library the best bang for their buck, I would love to hear about it.
But I was reflecting on my practicum at the local high school here, where I had the opportunity to give a ten minute mini-lesson on finding information for each classes' assignments. I pushed the online databases that were available to them (ThomsonGale and EBSCO) and no one went for it in their research! I think this had a bit to do with what Baule was talking about- Google is just easier- but as I was perusing the articles available on ThomsonGale and EBSCO, I realized it's because the information is presented dreadfully! At least with online web resources the students can find something that will reel them in- either it's formatted with lots of white spaces, the print is bigger, there are lots of interesting visuals, or the colour combination/background colour appeals to them. There could also be lots of different medias on a website- from auditory to video streams, and opportunity for social interaction through comments/feedback links and blog-type entries.
The information presented in databases on the other hand is just BORING. The articles seem to always be on a plain white background, they have tiny print, they lack any sort of media- at least, it's hardly integrated in the body of the article- they are just boring paragraph after boring paragraph of information. It's like a textbook digitized. What student would pick that over the exciting way websites present information?
If we as school librarians are paying the big bucks for online databases, I want to be darn sure that the kids are going to use it. Sure, there are databases that kick it up a notch higher than ThomsonGale and EBSCO like Searchasaurus, Primary Search, and Student Research, but even though their interface might have a touch more pizazz the content is presented in the same way: BORING! If anyone knows of a good database that would give a school library the best bang for their buck, I would love to hear about it.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Clutter
I'm wondering if experimenting with all these great web publishing tools is merely adding to information clutter on the web. Don't get me wrong... I think it's fantastic that it's so easy to publish on the web. But with the mind-boggling amount of information that is created each day, I wonder if our egos are getting in the way of social responsibility. I mean, is it really necessary to have people's journals online for everyone to sift through when searching by keyword? Let's face it: a lot of the information on the web is trite and its presence contributes to information overload. I'm not trying to be an intellectual ellitist... I don't think everyone should publish something intelligent or not publish anything at all... but I'm just wondering how much stuff on the web is directly related to personal ego gratification as opposed to information dissemination?
After all, that's the hook with podcasts, blogs, wikis, and any other social networking tools we're introducing to kids in the classroom... the public audience is what gets them going. It's the idea that someone- some person in the "real world" will listen if you publish online. I'm not sure if that's entirely true, though. What a wonderful project those Coulee kids are doing with their classroom podcast... the teacher's introduction and explanation of their podcast journey was truly inspirational. But to be quite honest, who would subscribe to that from the general public? The only ones listening to them are the students themselves, the teacher, the principal (maybe), perhaps the parents, and people like us who are directed! I sound like a real pooper, but I'm only questioning the public availability of it all. It just seems to add to the information clutter on the web. I wonder if the deep web is a better place for these things to be, and that way it would only be available to a specific audience.
Audience aside, I think these tools pose amazing possibilities for teacher collaboration! I love that the South African curriculum is a wiki. It makes PERFECT sense to have a place where teachers can post lessons, edit lessons because something didn't work, and network with other subject-specific teachers on an ongoing basis. This discovery was the most exciting for me, since anything that connects teachers is important to me. In my experience, being a classroom teacher is one of the most isolating jobs. That's why I loved being in the school library- because you actually work with other adults to create better learning experiences for the students and I find that very gratifying. Being in the classroom can be awfully lonely, so a wiki for posting lessons/reflections/questions for people in parallel positions to ponder and respond to is wonderful.
After all, that's the hook with podcasts, blogs, wikis, and any other social networking tools we're introducing to kids in the classroom... the public audience is what gets them going. It's the idea that someone- some person in the "real world" will listen if you publish online. I'm not sure if that's entirely true, though. What a wonderful project those Coulee kids are doing with their classroom podcast... the teacher's introduction and explanation of their podcast journey was truly inspirational. But to be quite honest, who would subscribe to that from the general public? The only ones listening to them are the students themselves, the teacher, the principal (maybe), perhaps the parents, and people like us who are directed! I sound like a real pooper, but I'm only questioning the public availability of it all. It just seems to add to the information clutter on the web. I wonder if the deep web is a better place for these things to be, and that way it would only be available to a specific audience.
Audience aside, I think these tools pose amazing possibilities for teacher collaboration! I love that the South African curriculum is a wiki. It makes PERFECT sense to have a place where teachers can post lessons, edit lessons because something didn't work, and network with other subject-specific teachers on an ongoing basis. This discovery was the most exciting for me, since anything that connects teachers is important to me. In my experience, being a classroom teacher is one of the most isolating jobs. That's why I loved being in the school library- because you actually work with other adults to create better learning experiences for the students and I find that very gratifying. Being in the classroom can be awfully lonely, so a wiki for posting lessons/reflections/questions for people in parallel positions to ponder and respond to is wonderful.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Eeeks!
I'm starting to get overwhelmed with the jumping between all the different modes of communication we're using! This is a huge change from WebCT (which is a great thing), but I feel like I need some time to wrap my head around it all. I feel strangely disconnected from everyone and am starting to freak out about having only four weeks left in this class. If anything this class is teaching me is that my mind is clearly NOT naturally wired for this online social networking stuff! But that's not to say that I'm not open to learning about it and trying to adopt it. I feel like I'm finally understanding the context of young people's lives! It's a real treat to get a glimpse of their world, and hopefully this will be the beginning of trying to keep on top of it and in turn trying to mould some meaningful educational experiences for them.
I've been enjoying reading everyone's blogs for this class and I'm happy to see that many people share similar fears, hopes, and questions. I wish I could respond to everybody's posts. I like how everything is easily streamed from RSS to Google Reader, but feel a little overloaded at all the links to explore. I just wish I had more time, darn it!
I've been enjoying reading everyone's blogs for this class and I'm happy to see that many people share similar fears, hopes, and questions. I wish I could respond to everybody's posts. I like how everything is easily streamed from RSS to Google Reader, but feel a little overloaded at all the links to explore. I just wish I had more time, darn it!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Social Software: Friend or Foe to School Librarian?
I am loving all the new social networking software available these days and only wish I had more time to explore everything. I constantly get befriended on Facebook by all sorts of people from my school and my past; unfortunately, between classes, course work, work, family, and building a new home (yikes- managing the funds is a full-time job all in itself), I simply don't have time to play! This "Technology in the School Library Media Centre" course is the PERFECT excuse to spend hours playing around with all the softwares I've been dying to explore.
But one thing is nagging at me. I'm thinking back to an interview I had over a year ago with an elementary school principal re: a teacher-librarian job. I was pretty fresh to the MLIS program, and I was excited to share all these new technologies that have enlightened me during my studies! I went on about how I could collaborate with teachers by implementing wikis, and how I could introduce blogs in the library for students to post book reviews, etc. I even talked about improving the library website by connecting the catalogue online.
I didn't end up getting the job, and since I'm incredibly charming and qualified (ha ha), I'm wondering if it had anything to do with my espousal of technology! It's true that the schools in our district don't have huge budgets for computers and system upgrades. I did my practicum in a highschool that didn't allow any video-streaming or gaming simply because these applications were too draining on the system. But I think it goes further than this. My perception is that teachers and schools in general are scared of social software. Their educational potential is outweighed by the fear of a number of things: student distraction, online safety, and the big one: teachers' fear of learning about the stuff! I have great dreams about running workshops for teachers in the school library during lunch hours or after school. But realistically, between all the other tasks they juggle in their time management, and the "stigma" that these types of social software have in schools, I wonder if this would fly.
I do dream about the day when students are allowed access to their e-mails during school hours. I dream about the day when podcasts and video streams are integrated in lesson planning, to appeal to all different types of learners. I dream about the day when schools embrace technology, instead of finding ways to filter and block it from their students. This stuff ain't going away...
But one thing is nagging at me. I'm thinking back to an interview I had over a year ago with an elementary school principal re: a teacher-librarian job. I was pretty fresh to the MLIS program, and I was excited to share all these new technologies that have enlightened me during my studies! I went on about how I could collaborate with teachers by implementing wikis, and how I could introduce blogs in the library for students to post book reviews, etc. I even talked about improving the library website by connecting the catalogue online.
I didn't end up getting the job, and since I'm incredibly charming and qualified (ha ha), I'm wondering if it had anything to do with my espousal of technology! It's true that the schools in our district don't have huge budgets for computers and system upgrades. I did my practicum in a highschool that didn't allow any video-streaming or gaming simply because these applications were too draining on the system. But I think it goes further than this. My perception is that teachers and schools in general are scared of social software. Their educational potential is outweighed by the fear of a number of things: student distraction, online safety, and the big one: teachers' fear of learning about the stuff! I have great dreams about running workshops for teachers in the school library during lunch hours or after school. But realistically, between all the other tasks they juggle in their time management, and the "stigma" that these types of social software have in schools, I wonder if this would fly.
I do dream about the day when students are allowed access to their e-mails during school hours. I dream about the day when podcasts and video streams are integrated in lesson planning, to appeal to all different types of learners. I dream about the day when schools embrace technology, instead of finding ways to filter and block it from their students. This stuff ain't going away...
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