Kicking It Up A Notch With T4L

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Anita Brooks Kirkland

I recently had the pleasure of working with teacher-librarians from the York Catholic District School Board. This is a resourceful group, and we were very successful in exploring strategies for kicking it up a notch with Together for Learning.

There is a new context for learning in our hyper-connected and technology-enabled age. “New communication tools, emerging technologies, and social and cultural forces are constantly redefining what we mean by ‘literacy’… This world provides learners with unprecedented and powerful opportunities to develop multiple literacies. In doing so, learners can develop deeper understandings in the global community.” (Together for Learning, p. 18)

ConsiderPracticeSo what do we mean by kicking it up a notch? New contexts don’t mean getting rid of existing instructional strategies that are meaningfully connected to the curriculum and that are grounded in sound pedagogy. But by considering these practices through the new filters of collaboration and technology, new opportunities arise to add value and meaning to student learning.

Some of the ideas that emerged in this session included:

  • Building knowledge visibly and for collaborative inquiry learning using Google Drive
  • Having students create book trailers using Voki, and sharing them on the school library website
  • Extending a high school book club online with Goodreads, to connect to a broader community of readers
  • Using curation tools such as ScoopIt, Pinterest, or Storify to gather resources for students to explore as they do their “pre-search” – improving prior knowledge as they engage in research in order to develop richer questions to guide their inquiry

The Implementation section of the Together for Learning website takes ideas from the vision document and suggests practical strategies for implementation – a valuable resource as we consider ways to kick it up a notch!

And of course, I could not resist the temptation of tinkering with Voki as I reflected on the great conversations I had with this amazing group of educators!

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My Super Conference 2013

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Anita Brooks Kirkland

Most of last week I was at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference, 2013 edition. It was a rather monumental conference for me. I am humbled by the attention I am receiving, but so grateful that the work that I and a band of tireless advocates for school libraries is being recognized.

Ontario School Library Association Award for Special Achievement

Award Presentation

OSLA President for 2013, Isabelle Hobbs, nominated me, and presented the award.

I was the recipient of this award from OSLA, “To honour individuals or organizations outside individual schools or school boards which have provided significant support to teacher-librarians and school library information centre development in Ontario through exceptional projects and activities.”

To me the award was affirmation for the innovative work of so many people in OSLA who deeply understand the mission of school libraries in today’s context. As I said in my acceptance speech, “Through our practice, we can put libraries at the core of what our schools are trying to achieve, and advance learning in ways that our colleagues may not have imagined. And we do that by being learners and innovators, and by making opportunities out of the considerable constraints within which we often work. That is what I believe.”

More about the OSLA Award for Special Achievement.

Together for Learning Project: Ontario Library Association President’s Award for Exceptional Achievement

t4l-bannerThe T4L project was the recipient of this award. If you’ve read anything in this blog then you know about the original document published in 2010, and the subsequent work a large group of us have been doing to realize the dream of T4L as a living document. I was very honoured to be one of a group of people representing the project accepting the award from 2013 OLA President Karen McGrath. Peggy Thomas spoke eloquently for the group that included Larry Moore, Esther Rosenfeld, Bobbie Henley, Diana Malisewski, Carol Koechlin and me.

More about the OLA President’s Award for Exceptional Achievement.

Ontario Library Association Vice-President / President-Elect

Last but certainly not least, I began my term as the Vice-President of the Ontario Library Association. What a tremendous honour to be able to serve this great organization in this way, and what a challenge. I am thrilled to be able to work with President Susanna Hubbard Krimmer, Past-President Karen McGrath, Executive Director Shelagh Paterson, and the entire board.

Oh! And I did participate in a presentation, Research Matters!, and in supporting the T4L Launch and Showcase. What a great conference!

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T4L Video Intro

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Anita Brooks Kirkland

I’ve been spending a great deal of time over the past few months working on the new Together for Learning website, which transforms the visionary guideline document for school libraries published in 2010 into a living document.

My most recent effort is this short video introducing the website, which is now on the Ontario Library Association’s YouTube channel.

Our hope is that the video will help connect T4L with teacher-librarians, teachers, principals and a broad range of education and library professionals.

T4LVisit the Together for Learning website: www.togetherforlearning.ca

T4LOntarioFollow Together for Learning on Twitter. @T4LOntario
The website will be launched at an exciting Super Saturday session, Together for Learning Showcase,  at the Ontario Library Association’s upcoming Super Conference 2013.

Super Conference 2013
Learn more about Super Conference 2013

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Getting the Message Right

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Anita Brooks Kirkland

Advocacy for school libraries and for teacher-librarians is a tricky business. Clearly we have powerful ideas and evidence to share. In an atmosphere of seemingly perpetual crisis, however, advocacy often tends to focus on pointing out what is wrong rather than what is right. The net effect is often the assumption of overwhelming odds against progress and consequent apathy from our constituents and from those we hope to influence. This is a huge dilemma and an important issue for us to grapple with in order to advocate effectively.

WLMA Video: Teacher Librarians at the Heart of Learning

I am very impressed with this new video from the Washington Library Media Association. It hits all of main messages, includes the right voices, is positive rather than preachy, and effectively connects with the larger strategic goals of K-12 education. The note of desperation that frequently underpins similar efforts is completely absent. These are competent, trustworthy professionals. Food for thought, and an excellent model.

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