The monkeys are on our side

Week 5 - Evidenced based practice is the way to go and a lot of the best changes we have made in our school library have come from data gathered in our annual library survey of students and staff.
While at conference I attended a number of workshops based on research papers. Some of the data had been gathered by using electronic surveys.

Our school has bought a license for Survey Monkey - though there are parts of this website that you can use for free. I am looking forward to using NO paper and having the monkeys analyze my survey. This week I have been given the password and have a library folder. Survey Monkey here I come...

If a tree falls....

in the forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound? If some one posts an article to a blog and no one comments on it ......

No not my blog.

Week 4: Read and make a comment on an article in 'School Libraries Worldwide' ezine. One of the sessions I attended at conference was "Sparking a worldwide conversation on School Libraries 2.0" by Marlene Asselin and Ray Doiron of Canada. Marlene and Ray are co editors of School Libraries Worldwide special topic issue on New Learners, New Literacies and New Libraries. Already this magazine has been the subject of a post on the New Zealand Librarians listserv. The post encouraged people to read the articles.

I read Ross Todd's article

Article 2: Youth and their Virtual Networked Worlds: Research Findings and Implications for School Libraries

which was challenging to me in several ways. I won't discuss all of that here because I did post a comment. I guess my issue is this - it is the first comment. Does that mean no one is reading the articles - I'd like to think not. Does it mean no one is willing to post a comment - probably. Are discussions harder on an online environment like a blog? Are some online environments more conducive to discussions? The article did raise some things for me to work through in my school - thanks Ross.

I saw this line on a teeshirt when I was in Phoenix, Arizona recently "If a man speaks in a desert, and no women are around to hear him, is he still wrong?" Perhaps we could come up with something pithy for what happens if a blogger posts a blog and no one comments.....

Citation Centre - thanks to Berkeley High

Week 3. We went to visit Berkeley High library and there I found the citation centre. It is a clever way to encourage students to write up accurate bibliographies. My version of it is here. On the left are cards. One for books, one for periodicals, one for the Internet and one for encyclopedias. Students fill in a card for each item they use in their research. They may well end up with 8 - 15 cards, depending on how many resources they consult. Then they use the bibliography guide on the right to put the cards into the correct order. Once that is done they can write up a very accurate bibliography for their research. Senior students are using this already.

Libraries can end all literacy crises forever

Week 2 I shared with our EHSAS group about ICDL and about Stephen Krashen's key note address - How libraries can end all literacies crises forever.

Stephen Krashen has been researching how children learn to read and improve their reading comprehension. He advocates "Free Voluntary Reading". Stephen's website is a treasure trove of research papers, great ideas and he believes in making as much of his work available to people through the Internet.

Stephen says that the best thing we can do to assist learners improve their reading comprehension is to encourage them to read - anything they want - no strings attached. No book reports, end of book tests, no activities - just read, things you like to read, and read some more.

Also he encouraged us to drink more coffee, learn a foreign language and READ - to keep our minds alive. His best way to do this - go to coffee shop and read a great book in another language. Quite a challenge.

International Children's Digital Library

Week One was to make time to share with one of the ESOL teachers about the ICDL.

Ann Weeks gave a key Note address about this amazing resource. She was told it could never happen but she made it happen anyway - an International Children's book digital library which has books from a wide range of countries and languages. What a great educator she is - don't you just love people who go ahead and do the impossible?

I cannot take a lot of time to describe it - best you go and have a look. Sign in - join up and use it. It is brilliant. It is free - it is FULL of possibilities.

Do one IASL thing each week

- that does scare me, apologies to Eleanor Roosevelt who apparently said "Do one thing everyday that scares you."

I was privileged to attend the IASL conference in Berkeley, this month. Upon my return home to NZ I have decided to try to do one thing each week that relates to the things I learned, discussed and thought about while at conference. There is so much it can feel overwhelming to try to implement it all in one go. One thing a week is the goal and so far so good - I have had three weeks back at school and I have managed to do three things that relate to conference - one a week.

Subject Association Conferences - little gems for the holidays

I have just spent the last two and half days at the NZATE conference hosted here at TGS. My mind is buzzing with new ideas, strategies and inspiration for the work I do.

Thank you to the organisers, the key note speakers and the workshop presenters. I am in awe of your generosity with your time, skills and resources.

Now I feel I can go on holiday - virtuous in the knowledge that I have worked well and hard on my teaching craft already these holidays.

Here is a little gem to help navigate the textual sea for the rest of the year. Published in Teacher Magazine, an article on the short and happy lives of teachers.

In the article the writer challenges teachers to summarise their lives in six words. The one I really relate to after this conference is "Exercised the muscle of the mind"