Read Into This

Beth speaks with Wali Shah who is a spoken word poet, author, Tedx speaker and advocate for education. Wali speaks about the community that school provides and the changes that students are experiencing due to COVID and our current pandemic situation. Wali recounts his experience in high school when his teacher introduced him to a book of poetry and saw the potential in his abilities. He attributes his success and passion for writing to his interaction with this teacher and the book of poetry he was given to read. They discuss the importance of sharing culturally responsive texts with students that allow the students to see themselves in the characters and authors they are exploring. Wali shares about the book he is working on with author Eric Walters and the appreciation he has for the opportunity to learn with and from Eric as they collaborate on this new book. The book will allow students who connect with the immigrant experience and growing up as a Muslim to see themselves in a book written by an author who looks like them and understands their lived experience.




Books Mentioned in this Episode-
The Rose that Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur
Damn Good Advice for People with Talent by George Lois

https://www.lifeaswali.com/
@LifeAsWali

Shout out to Eric Walters @EricRWalters

Beth speaks with Angela Stockman who is an educator, an author and a champion for the power of storytelling in its many forms. She has spent her career being curious about what makes writers struggle and how she could help push young writers to see their capabilities. The conversation starts by discussing Angela’s new book- Creating Inclusive Writing Environments in the K-12 Classroom: Reluctance, Resistance, and Strategies that Make a Difference and how Angela is connected and collaborates with so many school library professionals and other educators in Ontario. Angela explains her thoughts about the role reading has in the writing lives of students and the intertwining of play and storytelling. Angela says that ”[s]tory is not the property of English language arts and English teachers. Story is a power force inside every single industry.” We discuss the cultural reckoning that is happening across the world right now and the importance of bringing in students’ lived experiences to the classroom and valuing many forms of storytelling.


Books Mentioned in this Episode
Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon
Design Is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott


http://www.angelastockman.com/
@AngelaStockman

Look for The Building Better Writers group on Facebook

Join co-host Beth Lyons as she explores how school library professionals are “leveraging their LLC” using the Canadian School Library graphic as a starting point for discussion. The panel discusses book circulation as we work to keep staff and students safe as we adopt curbside pickup or a delivery model. An important piece of the puzzle is how might school library professionals provide curriculum support due to repeated re-organizations of staff into different assignments, a lack of tech devices as they are being given out to online students and not available to those learning in the face-to-face model. The panel shares how they are creating and curating lists of available resources and making “how-to videos” to support the needs of their community, especially as the virtual library learning commons becomes a more central piece of how the library functions. The current role of various communication tools and how we are getting the needed information to families is considered as many boards look at which tool- Google Classroom/Site, Brightspace, and/or Messenger, can be used as Virtual Learning Environments and the importance of building capacity with these tools in order to best serve the needs of our learners. Finally the panel looks at collection building- what are school library professionals looking to purchase and use to build a rich and diverse collection especially in light of the Ministry report highlighting the anti-Black racism in PDSB and the ongoing societal shift as we open our eyes to the need for these materials.

On a personal note, I want to thank the four educators who joined me to discuss their current roles and goals as we returned to school for the 2020-2021 school year. The emotion and stress attached to all educational roles this year as educators work to pivot to our new reality while still working to support students as best they can is palpable and I am grateful for their trust in sharing their stories. ~Beth

Thanks to our guests:
Jonelle St Aubyn @Ms_St_Aubyn
Dawn Telfer @DawnTelfer
Jess Longthorne @LongthorneJess
Diana Murrell @Murrell_TL

CSL Graphic- https://www.canadianschoollibraries.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CSL_LeverageYourLLC.pdf
Jonelle St Aubyn mentions “EML” which stands for Empowering Modern Learners from the PDSB.

Books Mentioned
I Will See You Again by Lisa Boivin
The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi
The Third Path by Dr. David Tranter, Lori Carson, and Tom Boland
The Last Houseguest by Megan Miranda
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib
Mystery authors- Ruth Ware and Mary Kubika

Podcasts Mentioned:
88 Cups of Tea

Reflecting on the most “unprecedented” start of school ever. The co-hosts discuss what their roles are at the time of recording, the first weeks of learning and being back at school. A look at how we have been adapting to our roles- whether online or face-to-face or a mix of both. Beth talks about staying in her role as a teacher-librarian and the work of supporting educators and curating resources to have at the ready for the learning community without overwhelming them at the same time. The loss of school libraries across the province at this time as boards struggle to fill class needs with educators reflects the legacy of devaluing school library professionals and the loss this represents for educators and learners is recognized and discussed. While reflecting on the new normal of school the Lisa and Alanna share their experiences in face-to-face and online/remote learning and the changes they are seeing in both educators and students- from the ever present worries and need to pivot at a moment’s notice, the continued importance of a PLN (professional learning network) to support your pedagogical learning, the dichotomy of the increased independence of students and inability to focus for a long duration of time. The episode finishes off talking about what the co-hosts have read and loved recently, what they hope to read soon and the on-going debate of separating art from the artist.


Books mentioned in this episode:
Lovely War by Julie Berry
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
The Library of Legends by Jamie Chang
Creating Inclusive Writing Environments by Angela Stockman
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
Summerwood/Winterwood by E.L. Chen
Worlds of Making: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School by Laura Fleming

Podcasts mentioned in this episode:
Unlocking Us with Brene Brown (June 10th episode with Austin Channing Brown)

Alanna hosts Australian learning commons leader and educator Jennifer Cain @jennifercain26 as we talk about how she programs an entire week of experiential and participatory knowledge-building using competitive, collaborative and community activities, somewhat akin to the Triwizard cup of Hogwarts, but with much more variety (although less underwater breathing is required). Jennifer shows how the significance of the librarian’s role has been pivotal in the success of her school as they have moved to remote learning during the pandemic. Jennifer provides a wealth of perspective as we compare Australia’s model and proactive response to transitioning to remote learning and the importance of a literacy and learning leader during this time.

Jennifer Cain can be reached at: [email protected]

Shoutouts to Australian Library and Information Association https://www.alia.org.au/

Link to the original article in Canadian School Libraries Journal: https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/creating-knowledge-building-skills-designing-and-implementing-a-knowledge-week/

Alanna hosts our school library panel on the topic of instigating collaboration through instruction and building that cycle. Our coast-to-coast #CollaboNation panel of experts Lila Armstrong, Sonja Clark, and Leigh Borden strategize about their menu of collaboration and making sure that the school knows their true range of skills and abilities. How can we continue to push our schools to investigate inquiry projects where the ending (i.e. diorama) isn’t predetermined? Favourites from our panel include book sets, anticipation guides, combining STEM with literacy, continuity pieces that cross all curricula and shifting school culture to embrace dissonance.

Shoutouts to Jenn Brown, Christie Johnson, National Film Board, Mitch Resnick’s Lifelong Kindergarten, Lisa Unger, Reggio, Robert John Meehan, and Walter Isaacson’s The Innovators.

Alanna hosts Australian learning commons leader and educator Jennifer Cain @jennifercain26 as we talk about how she programs an entire week of experiential and participatory knowledge-building using competitive, collaborative and community activities, somewhat akin to the Triwizard cup of Hogwarts, but with much more variety (although less underwater breathing is required). Jennifer shows how the significance of the librarian’s role has been pivotal in the success of her school as they have moved to remote learning during the pandemic. Jennifer provides a wealth of perspective as we compare Australia’s model and proactive response to transitioning to remote learning and the importance of a literacy and learning leader during this time.

Jennifer Cain can be reached at: [email protected]

Shoutouts to Australian Library and Information Association https://www.alia.org.au/

Link to the original article in Canadian School Libraries Journal: https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/creating-knowledge-building-skills-designing-and-implementing-a-knowledge-week/

Alanna, Lisa and Beth unpack the 3rd and 4th quarters of the book revealing all! Spoiler alert! jump right into the second quarter of Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven. We talk about the hallmarks of culture in the book versus the ones we might have chosen for ourselves in 2020. We even dissect why Emily St. John Mandel’s characters seems intent on preserving ‘the canon’ of literature and music. Does the novel’s timeline help or hurt all the big reveals that happen? Were we successful at unravelling the mystery as the clues were laid out? We also spend a lot of time on Tyler the Prophet and the meaning of the name of the book.

Beth hosts Diana Maliszewski, Mona Cheema, Renee Shah Singh and Ketly Appleton to discuss the recent Twitter campaign launched by the Ontario School Library Association (OSLA) where school library professionals from across Ontario (and Canada!) are sharing their documentation process of student learning, the joy of the school library and the joy of reading. The panel discussed the energy and the vibe of an LLC and the shared passion for creating a school library that is the hub of the school and the recurring theme of community that emerged through the discussion. Diana reminded us that tweets are a media form and that as we use this medium to advocate for our spaces and our learners we need to be mindful of the attention economy. A great inquiry question- How might we create tweets with engaging hooks to push our advocacy for school libraries forward? Listen for shoutouts to other school library professionals that inspired us and if you haven’t yet shared a tweet using #ONSchoolLibraries or #ShareYourLLC, remember- your ordinary is someone else’s extraordinary

Panel
@MzMollyTL - Diana Maliszewski
@MsCheema_TDSB - Mona Cheema
@IngleboroughLlc - Renee Shah Singh
@Kappleton_GG - Ketly Appleton

Shoutouts to the School Library Professionals Who Inspired Us
@MrsVandendool Alloa Public School LLC
@NHS_Library1 NHS_Library
@originalmissg Ruth Gretsinger
@DNevilleTeach Danny Neville
@JennMacBrown Jenn Brown
@WilshireLibrary Wilshire Library
@MrsGoodybdps Laura Goodfellow
@LibraryScott Connie Scott
@msbordenTL Leigh Borden
@Lila_TL_EWP Lila Armstrong
@MsTravassos Cassandra Travassos

Land Art- Andy Goldsworthy

Beth explores what makes a good non-fiction text for primary to intermediate readers with fellow PDSB teacher librarian Toni Duval. Toni outlines her experiences on the selection committees for the OLA Forest of Reading program and the criteria used to choose a book for the list of nominees. The conversation takes on the non-linear fashion of non-fiction texts, memoirs as a narrative sub-genre, the amount of visual literacy built into a non-fiction text and the necessity of a good layout to help young readers make sense of the text. Beth and Toni discuss how students benefit from having positive models of reading in their lives, the shift from only valuing fiction and novels during their parent’s education to opening the door to readers to choose what they like to read and why that is an important aspect of the role of a teacher librarian. Their brief disagreement over a book chosen for the Yellow Cedar nominee list is discussed and they move on as friends! Signage, book displays and ideas for promoting non-fiction in their library learning commons is a common thought for both teacher librarians and they share how they have shifted their practice to learn more about #OwnVoices within the non-fiction publishing world.

Toni Duval @toni_a_duval

Books mentioned:
Meatless?: A Fresh Look At What You Eat
by Sarah Elton, Julie McLaughlin (Illustrations)
Killer Style: How Fashion Has Injured, Maimed, and Murdered Through History
by Alison Matthews David, Serah-Marie McMahon