At first, this was just going to be a Jennifer Brown (PDSB TL) appreciation post. It's still going to be a love letter to a great teacher-librarian, but it's also going to squeeze in themes of collaboration, shared virtual calls, and Track and Field Day.
First, a note about Jenn Brown. I met her initially in 2016 and since then, she's been a wellspring of inspiration. She challenges my thinking. She makes me a better educator and person. We've travelled together to Winnipeg for conferences and co-taught Summer Academy sessions for ETFO in 2019, in 2020 and in 2021. We served together on OSLA Council for a time, and in both 2018 and 2019 she agreed to be an in-person presenter for my AQ courses. Once we moved online, she has continued to speak to TL AQ candidates for me and is a powerful speaker. She makes excellent book recommendations.
I'm going to quote myself from a previous blog about Jenn Brown:
I had so much fun with Jenn, even when the work was serious and sobering. I've tweeted and written in the past about what a joy it is to be in her presence at these type of events. At the risk of repeating myself ... I feel so fortunate that I get to spend time with this person. She is passionate, caring, energetic, experienced, authentic, equitable, observant, hard-working, and knowledgeable. I even spend time with her for recreational reasons (on our Animal Crossing New Horizons virtual islands). Thanks for including me in your life Jenn! Love you oodles!
This is all still true. Considering all the links to previous blog mentions of Jenn, you think I'd be tired of talking about her, but she still continues to teach and amaze me.
On Wednesday, May 10, she made an appearance as a guest speaker for the York U TL AQ courses. Her theme was on collaboration. She created a tailored-for-us presentation and from beginning to end celebrated us and educated us. She continues to make wonderful book recommendations that make me want to find and read more. I've read This Book Is Anti-Racist but I love the approach that Jenn provided. Jenn includes the author as a co-teacher in the room. The second photo is of a new book she is currently reading.
Did you notice the other person in the second image? That's Francis Ngo. He is co-teaching the Part 2 and Specialist sections of the TL AQ with me, and thank goodness he is, because we have an exceptionally large enrollment this term. We work so well together. Eventually, I will get around to writing my Francis Ngo appreciation post; in the meantime, just know that his involvement with the AQs make them better AQs.
Back to Jenn ... I knew that she had an impact as I read post-May 10 reflections from the AQ candidates, citing Jenn and sharing relief and delight; she opened their eyes to different interpretations of collaboration in the school library setting, alleviating some of the pressure they feel that they "don't do enough" while still aiming to do more.
The more we can involve others, the better. This was proven earlier that same day (May 10) during our school's Track and Field Day. I'm no athlete but as part of the shared responsibilities, I was in charge of the 80m / 100m sprint event. We had to record results to help the Track and Field Committee (another important example of collaboration) decide on the students to send to the regional competition. Thank goodness that I had two adult volunteers with me to help with the task. I'd mention them by name but I didn't obtain consent first. One stood at the starting line to signal when to go. The other stood with me at the finish line to help me see the placement order. This wasn't always easy, as sometimes the distance separating the runners was quite small. We eventually started video recording the end of the race to double-check. Thank you, thank you family volunteers! Thank you Track and Field Committee!
Another example of a team effort happened/happens during the weekly online chat my sister and I have with our parents. I didn't realize that one of the features of the particular platform we use to connect (Facebook Portal) includes an option to read interactive books. My sister picked a Dr. Seuss book yesterday to share and it really entertained our mother. (My brother kindly kept our mom hydrated with healthy drinks during this time.)
Multiple heads / minds / eyes are going to be part of this coming week's events. Next week's blog post will most likely be about the Festival of Reading, which has taken a lot of coordination from a lot of different people. I'll thank them after the event is over and we have time to catch our collective breaths!
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