LIBE 477- Inquiry Blog Post #5

Putting It All Together

The main topic that really resonated with me from this section of the course was about Fostering a Reading Culture in my school. I feel that this is an area that has really suffered over the past 2 years of restrictions and is very important to instilling a love of reading in students. Our school-wide goal this year has been to build back our feeling of school community, with house teams and other fun events. I would love to keep building on that momentum and bring in some reading / library related activities as well. As stated in Sustaining Reading First, it is important to have “a shared vision of what they want to achieve, and shared beliefs that the desired outcome is attainable.” (Paine, pg.5) I think that since the staff is already on board and working on community building, it should be easy to add in some reading themed events as well. The Australian School Library Association brands Teacher Librarians as curriculum leaders and states that they should “maintain literacy as a high priority, engaging students in reading, viewing and listening for understanding and enjoyment”. (ASLA, nd) Creating school reading events shows students that literacy is a priority in their education. 

I gained a lot of great ideas in this area from reading our classmates' blogs. Some of the ideas that I read about and would like to explore in the future are-

-       More school wide contests and displays (eg: the pumpkin book characters)

-       School wide ‘stop drop and read’

-       Restart our school-wide reading program with incentives

-       One School One Book (This is an American program from readtothem.org where every class in the school is reading the same book. The actual program gives the book to each child in the school, but I would like to start with each class. Then you can build a school-wide theme around the book.)

 

I also really like these ideas that I saw in a Facebook group:

 

Reading Makes Us Smart Cookies. This could be a cute reward for a home reading program, or as a draw to the book fair.

Allison Mitchell Lundy on Library Bulletin Boards and Displays Facebook page

 

A Tournament of Books. I am thinking of trying this out this Spring. I would read 2 picture books each week and have the students vote on their favourites. I have a large window that faces the front of the school that I could use to display this, and then parents and students would be able to see the results before and after school.

Allison Mitchell Lundy on Library Bulletin Boards and Displays Facebook page

 

Over the past month I have also learned a lot from the blog posts on the topics related to technology. 

 

Although I feel fairly confident using many types of technology, I have realized that I tend to stick with the resources and tools that I am comfortable with and use the same sites and programs over and over. Seeing the list of websites and tech resources that others have introduced in their posts has made me realize that I need to constantly be looking for ways to keep up with new technology. There will always be newer and more up to date tools being developed and I can’t stay in my comfort zone without being left behind. I want to be able to help students prepare for their future and staying on top of new developments is one of the best ways to do so. “Technology increases engagement with students, because this is the language our kids speak.” (Welcome, 2019) I know from experience that when students see the laptops or iPads out in the library as they come in, they are automatically more interested in what we are doing that day.

 

A few of the programs that I learned about from our classmates’ blogs and would like to explore are-

-       Book Creator

-       Padlet

-       Wakelet

-       Gimkit

-       Canva

 

There are so many Teacher-Librarians out there that are creating resources and running fantastic programs for their students. I love that the internet has allowed me to be able to learn from them and gain new ideas that can help me to become better at what I do. There are endless possibilities, and it has been very helpful to share blog posts during this class to see what others are discovering as well!

 

 

 

 

Resources

What is a teacher librarian? What is a Teacher Librarian? (n.d.). Retrieved March 2022, from https://asla.org.au/what-is-a-teacher-librarian 

Library bulletin boards and displays. Facebook. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2022, from https://www.facebook.com/groups/459987731551319/ 

Paine, S. (n.d.). Building a Strong Reading Culture: What You Can Do. Retrieved March 2022, from https://www2.ed.gov/programs/readingfirst/support/culturebrief.pdf 

Read to them. Read To Them. (2022, January 7). Retrieved March 2022, from https://readtothem.org/ 

Welcome, A. (2019, April 24). Why keeping up with technology is part of your job description as a teacher. New Learning Styles. Retrieved March 2022, from https://www.innovatemyschool.com/ideas/why-keeping-up-with-technology-is-part-of-your-job-description-as-a-teacher 

YouTube. (2021, February 28). Top tech tools for teachers in 2021. YouTube. Retrieved March 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7etwbRgqsg