January Extras - Super Conference 2005 Summary

Ontario Library Association Superconference 2005

Thursday February 3, 2005

Session: 126
9:00 am - 10:15 am
Collections and Resources
HOW TO UNDERSTAND MANGA AND ANIME
Christopher Butcher, Sales Associate, The Beguiling.

Increase your cultural awareness while listening to experts discuss the history of "Manga and Anime", Japanese comic books and cartoons, in order to provide a cultural context for the work. Gain helpful ordering advice and information on how to help you shelf these types of materials in your library.

My $0.02: This was very educational. Chris knows his stuff. The Beguiling is the vendor we buy most of our school’s graphic novels / mangas.

Session: 222
10:35 am to 11:50 am
Advocacy and Marketing
SHARING SUCCESS STORIES: FROM ADVOCACY TO ACTION VIA EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE (EBP)
Deborah Braithwaite, Teacher-Librarian, Oakridge Junior P.S.; Diana Maliszewski, Teacher-Librarian, Agnes Macphail P.S., Toronto DSB; Sandi Zwaan, School Library Consultant.

What is EBP? Find out in this session! Teacher-Librarians will be empowered with strategies for documenting and sharing their success stories through Evidence Based Practice. Join us to learn how EBP can transform advocacy efforts into action. Discover how to provide the school community with irrefutable evidence that your school library program improves student achievement.
Convenor: Roberta Henley, OSLA President, Grand Erie District School Board.

My $0.02: I can’t comment without bias on this one, as it was my session. There seemed to be a positive buzz following the session and Deborah and I got invited to participate in a “think tank” in Pittsburg!

Session: 420
3:45 pm - 5:00 pm
Reading and Literacy
COMBINING LITERATURE CIRCLES WITH BLUE SPRUCE AND GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
Cynthia Sneath, Teacher-Librarian, Westminster P.S.; Jennifer Wright, Grade 3 Teacher, York Region DSB.

Want a 'how-to' guide for organizing Literature Circles for the primary grades? Come to this workshop. Participants will be provided with detailed information about literature circles and how to adapt them in a primary setting. The integration of graphic organizers and the thematic groupings of Blue Spruce titles will also be explored.
Convenor: Barb Ross, Halton District School Board

My $0.02: This was okay, but the least satisfying of the sessions I attended, partly because they read everything that was on their Powerpoint and were thrown by the size of their audience.

5:15 p.m.
THE ONTARIO SCHOOL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
SCHOOL LIBRARY AWARDS PRESENTATION

the Teacher-Librarian of the Year Award
the Distinguished Administrator of the Year Award
the Award for Exceptional Achievement
Generously sponsored by Saunders Book Company

My $0.02: Wayne’s speech (and mine) were the best of the lot. The audience was a little rowdy (the late hour and alcohol may have had something to do with it). Summaries will appear in an upcoming magazine.

Friday February 4, 2005

8:00 am

OLA's FOREST OF READING™

Sponsored by National Book Service

BLUE SPRUCE AWARD™ 2004
Stanley's Party
by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Bill Slavin

SILVER BIRCH AWARDS™ 2004
Fiction:
Newton and the Giant by Michael McGowan

Non-Fiction:
Survivors! True Death-Defying Escapes by Larry Verstraete

RED MAPLE AWARD™ 2004
Hit and Run by Norah McClintock

WHITE PINE AWARD™ 2004
The First Stone by Don Aker

GOLDEN OAK AWARD™ 2004
Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis

See Session 921 on THE EVERGREEN AWARD™, coming in 2005 to the Forest.

My $0.02: It was nice to hear the authors talk about their experiences writing and being part of the OLA Forest of Reading. They are all quite well-spoken.

Session: 511
9:00 am - 10:15 am
Curriculum and Learning
Highlight
BOOSTING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT: ELEMENTARY
Dr. David Loertscher, Professor, School Library and Information Science, San Jose State University.

The books are shelved; the computers work; the discipline is effective - but there is no impact on achievement from this library. Hardly a surprise. But what does make a difference? Models, activities, measuring techniques, ideas, and program focuses will be explored to bring libraries into the center of learning. This session will concentrate on ideas in elementary school libraries.
Convenor: Sandi Zwaan, School Library Consultant.

My $0.02: This speaker is incredible; his work was the basis for the EVP session Deborah and I did. He inspires people to develop higher level thinking and “ban the bird unit” and merely regurgitation of information. I will be submitting some of our Partners units for his project.

10:35
All-Conference Plenary Session

Stephen Lewis

Stephen Lewis was recently named Maclean's Canadian of the Year and awarded the Pearson Peace Medal for his outstanding achievements in the field of international service and understanding. He holds 20 honourary degrees from Canadian universities and in 2003, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest honour for lifetime achievement.

From 1984 through 1988, Stephen Lewis was Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations, where he chaired such ground breaking committees as the first International Conference on Climate Change. From 1995 to 1999, Mr. Lewis was Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and in 1997, he was appointed by the Organization of African Unity to a panel to investigate the genocide in Rwanda. His recent work at UNICEF is merely an extension of a life-long dedication to social causes and improving the human condition. In 2001, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Stephen Lewis as his Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

In the light of the recent tsunami disaster, his observations on the role of Canadians and libraries in world issues could not be more timely.

My $0.02: Stephen Lewis is funny but also very passionate in his politics and in his position on helping Africa with the AIDS crisis.

Session: 709
2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Curriculum and Learning
DIVERSITY AS A CURRICULUM RESOURCE
Patricia Chow, Teacher, Thornwood P.S., Padma Sastri, Teacher-Librarian, Joseph Pileggi, Teacher, Floradale P.S.; Peel DSB.

Peel elementary teachers collaborated on a project with York University (Sandra Schecter and Jim Cummins - OISE/UT) to develop multilingual and multicultural approaches to promoting reading and writing with pupils of ESL backgrounds. Find out how reading and writing dual language books build on language and cultural knowledge that students bring to school, and support all students' development of global awareness and appreciation for each other. Enjoy dual language book-talks highlighting curriculum connections and student created dual language books.

My $0.02: This was very well presented and gave huge, copious amounts of handouts and ideas for benefiting all students, especially ESL students. You should see the list of books to get!

Saturday, February 5, 2005

Session: 902
9:00 am - 10:15 am
Technology ; The Internet
SPECIAL SOFTWARE FOR SPECIAL STUDENTS: IMPROVING INFORMATION LITERACY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
Marilyn Legault, Information Technology Consultant, Hamilton-Wentworth DSB.

Learn how this Ministry-licensed software can be a tool for special needs (and mainstream) students as they access, process and communicate information. Find out how it can assist students with the writing process, as well. Software titles demonstrated include: Clicker4, Co:Writer, Write:Outloud, Smart Ideas and Dragon Naturally Speaking. Participants will take away various print resources and may borrow a CD-ROM containing the software discussed.
Convenor: Lisa Radha Weaver, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.

My $0.02: This fits so well with our upcoming Language Lab that Renee will be working with. Lots of great handouts and software shared.

Session: 1019
10:35 am - 11:50 am
Curriculum and Learning
ROLE PLAYING GAMES IN THE LIBRARY
James Maliszewski, Freelance writer; Diana Maliszewski, Teacher-Librarian, Toronto DSB.

RPGs, otherwise known as role-playing games, made headlines in the 1970's and 1980's. James Maliszewski, a freelance writer working in the RPG industry, discovered this literacy-rich hobby through his public library many years ago. He will explore the history and evolution of role-playing games from its "D&D" origins. His wife, Diana Maliszewski, a teacher-librarian, will explain how carrying these books can encourage boys and reluctant readers. Finally, the Maliszewski's will present the latest and greatest the RPG publishing industry has to offer potential "games" of today.

My $0.02: Once again, I can’t comment too much on this as it was my own session. My husband did an excellent job! ;-)


12:15
ALL-CONFERENCE GALA CLOSING LUNCHEON

Cathy Jones

Gemini award-winning actor and writer and founding member of the award-winning comedy troupe CODCO, Cathy Jones is Canada's leading lady in character-driven comedy. Starring in the 12th season of the hit comedy series This Hour Has 22 Minutes Cathy reveals her remarkable ability to portray complex and difficult characters including the sassy suffragette Babe Bennett and the wise Mrs. Enid with remarkable ease. Over the years, Cathy has had several successful ventures; including her much admired one-woman shows, Wedding in Texas and most recently Me, Dad and The Hundred Boyfriends. In addition to winning numerous Gemini Awards, Cathy Jones has earned three Canadian Comedy Awards for Best Writing in a Comedy Series for her work on This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

My $0.02: To be honest, I didn’t stay for the speaker. The lunch was a fabulous, wedding-style buffet!

January Extras - Superconference 2008 Summary

Ontario Library Association Superconference 2008

Summary of Sessions

Note to readers: It’s a challenge to be able to contain in a nutshell all the fabulous things I got out of attending this annual conference in a way that can adequately convey the excitement of the event in a timely fashion – I can’t sit down with each of you over a cup of tea and a good meal to discuss at length some of the workshops! I hope this method will suffice for now. Feel free to e-mail me to chat about any aspect of the conference.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

7:30 a.m. – Special Preview of Ministry Library Document

Summary

This was a chance for special guests (OSLA Council, school board library coordinators, etc.) to get an advanced preview of the new Ministry Library Document.

3 key ideas/points

- Leadership Forum to be held March 31 for feedback and discussion (after regional meetings to go over and critique piece)

- “Learning Commons” concept of library > a place to gather to learn, but flow of information goes in and out, from various sources (doesn’t mean we re-label libraries)

- Big emphasis on collaborative nature of learning; heavily influenced by some major names on 21^st century learning (Heppelll, Loertscher, etc.)

So what? My take.

Ø This document is an important “vision” piece that will help set the stage for further action by the Ministry regarding school libraries. We need to support it but also make it the best possible document.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

9:05 a.m. – PLCs and TLs: A Natural Fit (by me)

Summary

My workshop dealt with PLC concepts, the roles TLs can play (in various scenarios) and how to form/operate PLCs.

3 key ideas/points

- definition: “A PLC is composed of collaborative teams whose members work interdependently to achieve common goals linked to the purpose of learning for all”

- possible to apply concepts in PLCs (collaborative culture / student learning / SMART goals / common assessments / evidence (data & results) / best practices / strategic interventions) in school-based PLCs, TL PLCs and even where no PLCs officially exist

- most promising strategy for sustaining school improvement – build capacity of school personnel to function as their own PD within a PLC (fits with Tribes, evidence-based practice, etc.)

So what? My take

Ø I ran the workshop, so I can’t be too objective about it all J It was an interactive presentation, with lots of audience talk, and it was educational for me to hear how OFIP should (and sometimes doesn’t) fit with PLC in various regions of the province.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

10:40 a.m. – Re-Wiring Our Youth (by Sgt. Robyn MacEachern) (OPP)

Summary

This workshop dealt with the cyberbullying and other dangers present while using the Internet and other forms of technology. Sgt. MacEachern showed ways of protecting young people from victimization.

3 key ideas/points

- 70% of exploitation with MSN/IM on the Internet deals with password stealing and misuse of webcams; therefore, “treat your password like your toothbrush” / create passwords creatively (e.g. make a sentence you’ll remember and use the first letter of each word, along with some significant numbers in between or at the end), cover up webcams unless in use (in visible area of house), and enable the MSN feature that saves a log of all IM conversations

- reason why students don’t report cyber bullying is that the common adult reaction is to take away the child/teen’s Internet privileges, their prime form of expression & enjoyment

- teens look at their behaviour models on the Internet = other teens, and often the more flashy or outrageous you are, the more “popular” you are: “Lord of the E-flies”

So what? My take

Ø Although it was a very sobering and “scary” presentation, there were many useful nuggets (like sleeping with the computer keyboard if you suspect that your child wakes up in the middle of the night to sneak on the Net). I’ll present part of this at a parent council meeting.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

2:10 p.m. – All Conference Plenary Speaker (Ethan Zuckerman)

Summary

Ethan founded Geekcorps and Global Voices On-line. His talk was around how the Internet was meant to unite and understand others, whereas now in some places it is being used to separate and isolate, and how we can “aggregate, curate and amplify the global conversations online”.

3 key ideas/points

- bridge bloggers are key people: they provide context, “translate” and explain their society and their “cultural shorthand” to the rest of the world (for example, in the “Great Firewall of China”, the term “harmony” is blocked [it refers to your blog being censored by the government] and the Chinese script symbol for river crab is close to the symbol for harmony, so having a river crab on your page sends a message)

- scam baiters and the misperceptions on both sides: the wealthy Nigerian e-mail scam has been around as the “imprisoned Spanish king” scam of 1570, except this scam is complicit with the idea that Nigeria is a corrupt place where you can get money easily > scam baiters try to trick the people they receive the e-mails from into doing crazy things (like carving a computer out of wood or filming the “dead parrot” scene from Monty Python and sending it to them) > one group feels the others are criminals, the other group sees the first group and greedy and stupid > unfortunately this leads to people searching for ways to disconnect or shut each other out (the “Internets”)

- 6 years ago, only 2 countries actively blocked Internet content; today it is 48 countries

So what? My take

Ø I liked his phrase “resist homophily / faciliate serendipity / be a xenophile”. Although it is human nature to flock to ideas and people that are similar to you and yours, we need to expand our horizons.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

3:45 p.m. – Character Education @ Your Library (by Kendra Godin-Svoboda)

Summary

Kendra showed us about how to “use your book award programs as a vehicle for teaching and promoting virtuous characters and behaviors… learn strategies and resources to create a culture of virtue in your library and school, use exemplary resources for partners units, teach specific character traits and behaviors in the library, and promote character in the library and among staff and students.”

3 key ideas/points

- remember that every child is someone’s gift / miracle, and treat them in that way

- 2 great resources: “Life’s Greatest Lessons” by Hal Urban, and “Winning with People” by John Maxwell

- incorporate it into everything from your hall displays to your lessons to the way you teach the lesson (e.g. after reading “The Librarian of Basra”, talk about what admirable characteristics she had)

So what? My take

Ø It was interesting that Kenda focused less on nailing down definitions of specific character traits and tackling them month by month and more on nurturing the general atmosphere and “walking the talk”

Thursday, January 31, 2008

5:15 p.m. – Ontario School Library Association Annual Meeting

Summary

The Annual General meeting is open to all OSLA members.

3 key ideas/points

- the Queens University school library research study is in phase 2 now

- the Educational Institute is not being used enough by the school library sector and we need to tap into this resource better

- talks are ongoing with the government on the election promises of increased and directed provincial funding of school libraries

So what? My take

Ø This is an exciting time for OSLA, with lots of efforts coming to fruition. We need to keep abreast of developments. (This meeting was followed by the OSLA Awards Reception, which doesn’t require a summary.)

Friday, February 1, 2008

9:05 a.m. – Harnessing the Changing Shape of Information (by David Warlick)

Summary

Due to the snowstorm, it took me 2 hours to make it downtown and I only got to hear the last 10 minutes of David’s talk. L

Friday, February 1, 2008

10:40 a.m. – All Conference Plenary Session (Carl Honoré)

Summary

Carl “builds a compelling case for slowing down as a way to live better and get ahead in this fast-paced world.”

3 key ideas/points

- putting in tons of overtime does not necessarily make you productive: one company found that executives were not taking their owed vacations, but absenteeism skyrocketed and people got burnt out; once the company completely shut down for 2 weeks in the winter and 1 week in the summer, thereby forcing people to take a break, they saw the benefits

- we live in a culture of speed and we become addicted to the adrenaline rush of zooming from one task to another but often times deeper understanding of a subject is neglected in favour of quick surface learning of several topics

- we don’t have to reject technology like cell phones and e-mail; we just have to control them (e.g. have a “no e-mail afternoon” – statistics show that when you are distracted or interrupted when you were concentrating on doing a task, sometimes it can take up to 15 minutes to get “back in the groove”, e-mail is a distraction that we can control)

So what? My take

Ø This was a very powerful talk for me, so much so that I bought the book for myself.

Friday, February 1, 2008

2:10 p.m. – Meeting of Great Minds (by Stephen Heppell and David Warlick)

Summary

Two of the leading online education experts and visionaries of 21^st century learning came together to answer questions from the crowd.

3 key ideas/points

- Q: I’m older and I have no interest in getting involved in Facebook, so how do I keep up-to-date with the Web 2.0 technology and what my students are into? = it depends on your community of interest, look into something that appeals to you where you can talk with people you wouldn’t get a chance to, find a place where they need to know who you are and build a level of trust (it doesn’t necessarily have to be Facebook; it can be a community of bloggers – a study in 1996 showed that the best learning experience has the following traits: invovlment / others rather than isolated / people around to guide and coach / you can make or do something / chance for the individual to move forward in some way)

- Q: I get depressed when I see these wonderful possibilities but then I take these ideas back to my school and there are teachers that don’t allow these sorts of conversations, so what’s it going to take to get this moving? = the worries about the economy and 21^st century skills will drive it; pay attention and respect kids’ information experience and showcase what they are doing (e.g. at a tech fair, let kids show the learning from video games); remember that teacher-librarians are powerful spheres of influence, like an army of gentle but subversive powers of change; co-opt what the kids are doing, direct their enthusiasm and synthesize their learning; kids want to converse (e.g. once using blogs, kids start to beg for writing assignments, once they see it as more than just a writing exercise but as communication)

- Q: My admin worries about liability and my board has a firewall that prevents kids from going on YouTube at school so how can I access these things? = swamp sectors with news of the good stuff (celebrate the excellence and remember that the media “sells fear and death” so counter that with your own examples, e.g. statistics that 57% of teens use online social networking systems to discuss school work); instead of firewalls, use logs so we entitle the students and help them be responsible

So what? My take

Ø For me, Warlick and Heppell help justify my sometimes-unconventional teaching methods (e.g. using Webkinz to teach primary media literacy) and reassure me that I’m on the right track

Friday, February 1, 2008

3:45 p.m. Deconstructing the Movie Machine 10 (by Fiona Denzey and Doug Atkinson)

Summary

These two people work for CVS (see www.cvsinc.ca) and examine Children’s DVD releases. They talked about and showed clips from several of the new films from 2007.

Key ideas/points

- remember that “get the most bums in the seats” is the philosophy of major film studios, so movies often advertised as “kids” movies have many elements that “take things up a notch” to appeal to other target groups (to make money, they need to get people other than “mom dad and the kids” in, such as “couples on a date” and “groups of teens”) / one example was Aragon and The Last Mimzy, based on a kids book but with a lot more scary scenes that might be too much for some

- some films that you expect to be garbage were actually surprisingly okay, such as Night At The Museum and Bratz the movie

- many films released were re-releases and re-packaged material, so be alert (but some are worth it – their favourite they showed was The Jungle Book)

So what? My take

Ø this was a nice light way to end the conference sessions, and it was good to get to peek at movies I hadn’t seen before and hear their opinions on them

Friday, February 1, 2008

5:15 p.m. Larry Moore Tribute Event

Summary

This was a reception and tribute to the director of the Ontario Library Association, Larry Moore, who is retiring after 34 years with the OLA. It was hosted by Evan Solomon. There’s no need to make key points, other than that Larry was a pivotal person to libraries in Canada and will be greatly missed.

January Extras - Super Conference 2010 Summary

Ontario Library Association 2010: Step Up Your Passion

Summary of Sessions and Events by Diana Maliszewski

This year’s conference was, as usual, a pleasure to attend. My learning occurred not only during the sessions offered, but in the conversations and networking opportunities in between. These were long days (at home at midnight Thursday, at 11:00 p.m. Friday, and at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday) but well worth the drive back and forth.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

9:05 a.m. - Exciting Technologies for 21s Century Teachers (Pekka Baier-Reinio)

Summary

Pekka demonstrated a variety of different kinds of technological tools you can use in your classroom to engage students and meet expectations.

3 key ideas or points

- It’s not necessarily the tools but how you use the tools that helps learning; Scratch (from MIT) is open-ended, free, and the students never tire of it (like the costly Lego Robotics)

- Blogs are a great way for the parents to keep up-to-date on what’s going on in the class (Pekka subscribes to a service that’s a bit fancier than Blogger)

- Take advantage of things like Wikipedia Simplied English version for an easier reading level of many entries

So what? My take.

Ø I had heard of and used many of the things Pekka mentioned but hadn’t devoted the same amount of time to them (that’s why he said his class’ wikis never took off) and so this encourages me to devote some class time to Scratch, Captivate, Photo Story and some other tools he discussed.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

10:40 a.m. – Complying with Copyright in the Digital Age (Erin Finlay)

Summary

The lawyer for Access Copyright discussed the legal implications and ramifications of digital content. I didn’t stay for this session. A friend of mine from another board who sits on the Canadian Library Association’s subcommittee on copyright said that Access Copyright has no jurisdiction on Internet content. Instead we discussed Access Copyright fees to boards and maintaining standards for cataloguing.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Morning – Forest of Reading Interviews and Expo Hall of Vendors

Summary

Eight students from Macphail and six from Tom Longboat Jr. P.S. came by bus as guests of the OLA to interview the 2009 Forest of Reading award-winning authors. I introduced the students to the authors and, after their interviews, my students and I went to visit the Vendor Hall. They received sweet swag, met other authors and had a great time.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Lunch – TDSB Teacher-Librarians

Summary

Twenty-five teacher-librarians gathered at Joe Badali for lunch. The conversation was enjoyable and energizing. Topics discussed included how to make the most of the conference (especially when you have an avant-garde head of library at your school already providing great in-house PD), returning overdue material to the professional library of TDSB, eventual retirement, and pre-planning upcoming workshops.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

2:10 p.m. – From Overcoming to Embraching: See Opportunity in Adversity

(Aimee Mullins)

Summary

The all-conference plenary speaker was a track star, model, and actress who also happened to be a “double-BK” (an amputee of both legs below the knee due to being born without fibulae).

3 key ideas or points

- maintain a sense of childhood naivete (don’t let assumptions prevent you from trying and doing – she never knew “double BKs don’t do running long jump because they don’t have a real leg to launch off” and by still entering, set a record in the sport)

- just see adversity as change, some new opportunity

- think differently (her “cheetah legs” didn’t look like “regular legs” but who said prosthetics had to – it took her a month to learn to walk with them and at her first meet they fell off due to sweat but she won records with them)

So what? My take

Ø Aimee was a good speaker. I hadn’t heard of her before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I should’ve written down the statements she had in the slides that popped up during her talk so I’d remember. Maybe I shouldn’t worry so much about the students “saying the right thing” or “being impolite” as I should about ensuring their curiosity isn’t stifled.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

3:45 p.m. – Twilight and the School Library (Diana Maliszewski)

Summary

I talked about how I discovered the series, the impact of the movie, what age guidelines can be set, what other books can be recommended to readers of various ages, what lesson plans can be used with Twilight, and the online buzz.

3 key ideas or points

- The first three books of the saga are fine for grade 6 and up but be flexible with your community (most objections center on the implied sexuality but much of it occurs “off the page”)

- There are people who really hate it and really love it; be respectful of their passions (don’t put it down if it’s not your cup of tea – news reports say the series is partially responsible for declining skin cancer rates)

- Be wary of pre-made book lists; due to the popularity among all sorts of ages, recommendations need to consider the age and wants of the reader (supplied a list for juniors, intermediates, teens, and adults)

So what? My take

Ø 38 people attended (at least that’s how many prize tickets I counted in the bag) and people came up to me afterwards to say they liked it. We ended early so the audience and I had time to talk (someone had a series recommendation that I wrote on one of my business cards but I accidentally gave that card away!). It was tricky because 1/3 were elementary TLs, 1/3 were secondary TLs, and 1/3 were public librarians or “other”; in addition, ½ had read the books and /12 hadn’t, so I wanted to talk plot without spoiling it. I was a bit stern with someone who walked in 5 minutes before the end asking for a book list and a prize ticket without hearing the talk at all – he didn’t get either and left empty-handed.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

5:15 p.m. – OSLA Award Presentation and Reception

Summary

This ceremony was a chance to honour the top people in the field and socialize, courtesy of Saunders Book Company.

3 key points or ideas

- the Teacher-Librarian of the Year was Mary Beth Snyder from the Waterloo Region District School Board

- the Administrator of the Year was John Kostoff from the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board

- the Award for Special Achievement went to Tim Gauntley from the Toronto District School Board and Marlene Turkington from the Thames Valley District School Board

So what? My take

Ø It was great to see a director from a board of education receive the admin award. There were many standing ovations so it was obvious these people were very well admired.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Evening – Dinner and Carr McClean After-Party

Summary

Two other teacher-librarians and I dined at Jack Astor’s and enjoyed swapping book recommendations with our waiter as well as describing the sessions we attended and our thoughts on them. At the invitation-only late-night soiree, it was a great opportunity to talk with some of the vendors and meet some new faces – topics included the lack of an ARC for the third installment in the Hunger Games series and the Olympics.

Friday, February 26, 2010

9:05 a.m. – Battle of the Bands @ Your Library (Ellen Stroud and Jennifer Goodman)

Summary

The pair discussed how to host a Rock Band tournament. Unfortunately, it took me two hours to drive to the Metro Toronto Convention Center and I completely missed the session. I’ve been in contact with one of the presenters and she may send me a synopsis of her talk.

Friday, February 26, 2010

10:40 a.m. – Lieutenant General The Honourable Romeo Dallaire

Summary

M. Dallaire was the Force Commander of the UN Assistance Mission to Rwanda during the genocide and is now an author, senator, and speaker.

3 key points or ideas

- A human is a human; one human life is not worth more or less than another > one of the world’s problems is that they intervene only in areas where there is self-interest and sub-Sahara Africa “only has people”, which is why the world didn’t pay attention to the horror

- Canada, as a mid-level power, one of the 20% of the “have” nations, needs to step up to its leadership potential and help out the 80% of the “have-not” nations; yes, blood of our soliders will be spilled in this attempt but Dallaire says we should only pull out if we are successful or if there is no possible way anything we do will make a difference and should not turn to isolationism in the face of terrorism

- When faced with hard choices (he told several stories of children used as bait in the road, a rape pit with survivors still in it but ravaged with AIDS, and child soldiers firing on peacekeepers trying to rescue people holed up in a church), soldiers try to do the right thing and when they return, they should be treated with respect and care

So what? My take

Ø Although the connection to libraries was slim, L.Gen. Dallaire was good to listen to, to put things in perspective when we complain about our shrunken budgets or lack of time.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Lunch – Association of Canadian Publishers

Summary

I was invited to a four-course lunch at the Azure Restaurant in the Intercontinental Hotel to hear about the initiative of the Association of Canadian Publishers, Canadian Books for Canadian Kids. Everyone that attended received a bag of free books. I ate lunch with author Sharon Jennings and my table talked a lot about ways of getting Canadian books promoted and the TD National Reading Summit. (I didn’t realize after I had shared my views on the summit that many of my fellow diners were high-ranking members of the Steering Committee!)

Friday, February 26, 2010

2:10 p.m. – Back to the Future: School Library Trends and Issues over time

(Ken Haycock)

Summary

Dr. Ken Haycock reflected back on his forty years in the field, showing that often the more things change, the more they stay the same.

3 key points or ideas

- In the 1960s they were doing inquiry learning, had well-staffed libraries and collaboration

- There’s been research since the 1950s that shows the importance of school libraries to student success > when asked, Haycock says that the type of research we need now should focus on developing collaboration and ensuring proper action research at the school level is undertaken and shared within the wider community

- We should stop whining and advocacy (or whatever you want to call it) needs to not come from TLs; often when professions feel undervalued or powerless, they change their names to try and gain that power and influence

So what? My take

Ø This was exactly what I needed to help me work on my capping paper for my M.Ed. – Haycock referenced a study that shows that you don’t have to have an open/flexible schedule to have a great library program. It was neat to hear about “how it used to be”.

Friday, February 26, 2010

3:45 p.m. – OSLA Hot Topics

(Ruth Hall, Gianna Dassios, Lisa Dempster, Diana Maliszewski, Roger Nevin)

Summary

The panel discussed the most “happening” issues in school libraries today. The areas mentioned were the learning commons, the new world of reading, technology “must-haves” and social media.

3 key points or ideas

- the learning commons will need to have space for quiet and un-quiet work

- genre and type of reading (fiction / non-fiction) impacts whether or not we read it / access it most often online or in print (the brain processes reading on screen and on paper differently)

- technology favourites of the panel include smart boards, wireless networks, Google aps, Twitter, computing-like / recording devices (can be laptops, cell phones, Blackberrys netbooks, etc.) and such

So what? My take

Ø This was a new approach to the perennial workshop and the two minute time limit for the panelists was useful. Roger and Lisa are real leaders and agents of change and I was glad to hear them speak.

Friday, February 26, 2010

5:15 p.m. – Ontario School Library Association Annual Meeting

Summary

This was the Annual General Meeting for OSLA. The President’s Report described Library Camp OTF, the document and other council activities. Dr. Elizabeth Lee made a plug for the International Association of School Libraries and Linda Shantz-Keresztes encouraged us to visit Edmonton both for Treasure Mountain Canada and the CLA conference.

Friday, February 26, 2010

6:15 p.m. – All-Conference Networking Event (Banned Book Olympics)

Summary

This was the main social event of the conference. People played Winter Olympics on Wiis spread throughout the room, ran relay races balancing books and pushing people in office chairs, and listened to a jazz band. The hors d’ouvres were tasty and the chats engaging.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Evening – Gatherings with OLA staff and Greater Essex District School Board TLs

Summary

Several members of the OLA staff met to toast the birthday of the person responsible for doing the layout of The Teaching Librarian magazine – Natalie Marlowe. Book and TV show recommendations flew fast and furious. After that, I met with friends of mine that are SATLs (Specially Assigned Teacher Librarians) with the GEDSB. We caught up on each others’ personal lives as well as discussed PD opportunities in our respective boards and weeding precautions and regulations.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

9:05 a.m. – New Directions for Ontario School Libraries (Peggy Thomas, Ruth Hall)

Summary

This was the official launch of the new document, Together for Learning.

3 key points or ideas

- “A learning commons is a flexible and responsive approach to helping schools focus on learning collaboratively. It expands the learning experience, taking students and educators into virtual spaces beyond the walls of the school. A Learning Commons is a vibrant, whole-school approach, presenting exciting opportunities for collaboration among teachers, teacher-librarians and students. Within a learning commons, new relationships are formed between leaders, new technologies are realized and utilized, and both students and educators prepare for the future as they learn new ways to learn. And, best of all, as a space traditionally and naturally designed to facilitate people working together, a school’s library provides the natural dynamics for developing a Learning Commons.”

- Key Components include Physical and Virtual Space, Equitable Access, Learning Partnerships, and Technology in Learning, resulting in Empowered Learners

- Developing individuals in the learning commons involves imagination and creativity, confidence and self-esteem, cultural awareness and social contribution, as well as character education (especially intellectual curiosity, respect and responsibility, and initiative)

So what? My take

Ø The document was received positively and through the interactive activities used to explore the book (e.g. make tweets on your cell phone or on Post-It notes on key points for Learning to Learn), people owned it more.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

10:40 a.m. – Get Your Game On: Gaming In the Library (Beth Gallaway)

Summary

Beth Gallaway is a major player in the world of gaming in libraries and discussed the benefits as well as great board games, video games and activities to do with all of them.

3 key points or ideas

- Ensure your purpose for introducing games is clear, think about your return on investment (it’s often very good) and get genuine feedback you can analyze.

- Card games usually go for $6-$15, board games for $15-$65, video games depend on if you have the controllers, unit, games, etc. (you can always borrow, get older versions at garage sales, etc.)

- Look for games with great replay value that aren’t just “made to teach” as well as ones that are easy to learn but take a long time to master, with short playing time and multiple players (e.g. Apples to Apples is good and deals with grammar, Pictureka has visual literacy and is cross-generational, Ticket To Ride involves geography and problem-solving, Max teaches overcoming failure and self-sacrifice to young kids)

So what? My take

Ø I geeked out at this session (Beth was my instructor in a course I took with Simmons College) and brought my copy of Game On for her to sign. Beth recommended examining the library gaming toolkit from AASL, which I’ve been meaning to but never got around to it; her examples show I need to make that visit sooner rather than later.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

12:15 p.m. – Closing Luncheon Gala

Summary

The lunch was delicious but after three intense days, I was too pooped to stick around to hear the closing speaker, writer Jonathan Goldstein.

January 31 - Getting the most out of a con I didn't attend

OLA's Super Conference is just a few days away, but this weekend, in between the marathon hours sitting in front of the computer working on report cards (yes, I do report cards), I learned a lot from a conference I didn't even attend.

Educon was held in Philadelphia and many of the people that I follow on Twitter were tweeting about their experiences there. I retweeted many of the insightful ones (like having a day where you share moments when you did not succeed, or a good article quoted by Dr. Ross Todd about inquiry-based learning integrating technology). I looked up the hashtag (#educon) and read even more summaries, commentaries, and ahas! A parent attended and was upset by a comment someone said about the level of dialogue "back at school" to be dull compared to the conversations at Educon - they shared this on Twitter too. It reminded me of a couple of conversations I've had recently with school staff that have been "educon-level" for me.

That article Dr. Todd mentioned referred to grade 9s using flip cameras to record their readers theatre. Our grade K-2 team, as part of their inquiry learning PD, received flip cameras for them to use in the classroom, and one of the (talented, fantastic) grade 1-2 teachers sent me a private link to her flip videos, where a grade 2 filmed a math group activity and took it upon herself to ask her peers probing questions about the task they were doing. It was so cool to listen, even cooler for her to share the video with me, and super-cool for us to have that email discussion about the significance of the videos, what they showed, etc. (I'm a little sad that teacher-librarians don't get to be part of this K-2 PD, especially since inquiry learning was a big part of my MEd Teacher-Librarianship training > *waves hands in air* "hello folks, over here, we want in too, we do inquiry too!" - but thankfully the participating teachers are so eager to talk about what they are learning that I get a bit of a taste of it.)

I stayed until after 6:00 p.m. at school talking with the kindergarten teachers about inquiry and assessment. I was hooking up their brand new Ladibugg document cameras and they were spilling with ideas of ways they could use this new piece of technology in their classrooms. I asked them loads of questions about how they translate some of their video evidence into marks and assessment, and when you sense that it's time to move on to a new topic of interest, and they were happy to tell me their struggles and successes. One teacher was very frank about his philosophical/pedagogical shift from mastery learning/providing the basics to a more constructive approach.

My eager fellow colleagues, combined with all the information and ideas I learned over the weekend from the participants at Educon (and for those who are my IRL friends - you better share some more deets!), have enriched my personal PD. Don't get me wrong - I still enjoy attending a conference in person (especially one where I get to travel to new and exciting places), but learning opportunities abound all over the place!

January 24 - The Super Conference Juggernaut

In less than two weeks, the Ontario Library Association's Superconference will take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (Feb. 2-5/11). This is a huge event for Ontario teacher-librarians. For me, it often starts very early in the morning and does not end until late at night. It's a great professional development opportunity, and not just during the sessions I sign up to attend. Even the social get togethers teach me a lot through the conversations I have with people. For the past few years, I've been trying to share what I learn with my staff and with others in my school board by posting summaries in our online school forums. Of course, it's much better to be there in person, but I feel obligated to spread the knowledge in as many ways as I can (and to justify/explain my multi-day absence from school). Now that I use Twitter, I can give info-nuggets to the Twittersphere.

Within the next few days, I plan on re-posting, here on my blog, past reflections / summaries of previous Super Conference outings. That way, just because a conference or workshop was in the past, it doesn't mean that the impact can't continue. I'm also inspired by some new people I follow like Doug, who posts links to his blog on Twitter.

I'm following a lot more people on Twitter thanks to one of the sessions that I'm attending as a presenter at Supercon 2011. I'll be presenting as part of "Web 2.0 Face-Off", a hockey-game styled session. I'll also be presenting with 4 of my students in a workshop called "Students Speak Out!" on the reality of a Learning Commons in an elementary school. Hope you can attend!

January 17 - An Extra Helping of Time, Please

As I was walking down the hall of my school today, I saw a person that looked vaguely familiar. She had a much better memory than I and recognized me as the person who ran her school's Tribes TLC training a number of years ago. She is now herself a Tribes trainer as well as the Early Years / Full Time Kindergarten Support Personnel for our quadrant. (I've messed up her title, so I apologize.) I told her that I'd like to reconnect, so that we could chat about how inquiry as it appears in kindergarten classes can be adapted or married to library based inquiry (teacher-librarians and specialist teachers that deal with kindergarteners unfortunately do not get to attend the special PD for kindergarten teachers and ECEs).

When I got home from dinner (we went out for a second day of celebrating my daughter's birthday - she had her party on the 16th), I checked my email and received an invitation to talk about the Together for Learning document with some teacher-librarians in a different board. Naturally, I said yes - I find I learn as much from running those type of workshops as the participants.

Then I looked at my to-do list. I'm eager to read more so I can learn, discuss more so I can learn, plan more so I can learn, reflect and evaluate more so I can learn - but where am I going to find the time? I've got report card comments to write, and Superconference workshops to prepare for. I also have to ensure I don't neglect my family while I'm at it. On this past Saturday, I had an absolutely glorious time with them, sledding, watching "Avatar: The Last Air-Bender" on DVD, playing with our pet chinchillas and napping. I did nothing teaching related. I don't feel guilty about taking that day just with the husband and kids, but managing all the things I want to do within the hours of daylight can be a challenge. I've been very good so far at maintaining my exercise goals (I highly recommend the Wii's Just Dance game) but that cuts in on the amount of time available as well. Unless I can learn to live with less sleep (not the best option), I'll have to juggle and balance the best I can.

January 10 - Survey Says ...

We've survived the first week back from the winter holidays and it looks like everyone's hit the ground running. The focus for my lessons for that week was reflection. I had my students, using Survey Monkey if they were in grades 5-8 and using the SMART Board Senteo Response system if they were in grades 1-4, answer a few questions about how the scheduled ICT team-teaching model has been for them. I still need to analyze the results for grades 1-6, but I printed out the intermediate division results and sat down with a fistful of markers to highlight common threads. Here are some of the main findings.

From the list of nine technology tools we used in term 1, there were two items that ranked as "very useful to learning" by the students and staff: PBWorks Wiki, our online collaborative workspace, and the SMART Board Senteo Response system, our "clickers" for answering multiple choice questions on the interactive whiteboard.

Grade 7-8 students were asked what they liked about the structure and content of the collaborative ICT classes. Five common themes were:
- the number of teachers, having more than one teacher in the class
- the variety of programs used and the variety of subjects integrated with ICT
- time to finish class assignments, to explore programs, to work on items of their choosing
- the ability to share and communicate with their classmates
- the chance to access many of these tools from home

The same students were asked to state what they'd change about the structure and content of ICT, and recommend things that they would like to do and learn for ICT in term 2. Four common recommendations emerged:
- permission to listen to music on headphones while they work
- more time (double periods, periods twice in a 5 day schedule, time to work on things)
- computer issues (slow network, get a wireless hub, etc.)
- learn more or less (fewer or more programs, new or revisit programs)

I appreciate how the students took the survey seriously, and the teachers and I will meet (somehow, at some time in between report card writing and unit planning) to see how we can implement their suggestions. I have a feeling the headphones are going to get a lot more use in term 2!

January 3 - Reading Resolutions

So is every first-week post in the blogosphere about goals for the new year? Although I do have some creative and innovative bones in my body, those aren't the ones typing today's blog post, and so I consent to writing my "library reading and writing resolutions".

My personal reading resolutions are pretty basic. I tend to read a lot of paranormal romance. I won't stop reading them (after all, the third book by Maggie Stiefvater is coming out this year) but I will try to balance my indulgences a bit more by participating in the "Liturgy of the Hours" - a bit of religious reading.

My professional reading resolutions aren't epic either. I want to read as many of the Forest of Reading nominees as I can, and I've already read many of them. I need to re-read "The Big Think" by Loertscher, Koechlin and Zwaan because I don't think I understood it the first time through. I'll continue to read my Twitter feeds and any new links I acquire at the OLA's Superconference.

The professional writing goals may be a bit trickier to uphold. I'll continue to write for TingL and contribute to both this blog and Tinlids' blog. What I want to do is make more progress on my research paper on whether or not student reader choice award programs make a difference to student reading engagement. Because I am doing this paper of my own free will, and not as part of a course, I don't have the same pressure or deadlines to complete it, which is both good and bad. I also need to write a 200 word abstract for an anthology on comics in education by January 15. I'll have to squeeze in writing my library/ICT lesson plans in there too ;>