Literacy Worldwide

     As a profession, Teacher-Librarians can attest to the undeniable importance of literacy to educational success. We are also no strangers to advocacy, of many different things. The importance of reading and writing, digital literacy, even the significance of our own profession are messages we preach loud and wide here in a world that knows the importance of education. Imagine then how critical those messages are for those in developing countries. Reading matters. Books are paramount. Trained teachers can make a difference. Education is enabling.

 “Literacy unlocks the door to learning throughout life, 

is essential to development and health, 

and opens the way for democratic participation and active citizenship.”
-Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General

      The United Nations has actually produced some staggering statistics on how literacy, or it's lack thereof, can affect a country and it's people. For example, no country has ever has ever achieved rapid and continuous economic growth without at least a 40% literacy rate. Or that a child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five (http://www.canadianfeedthechildren.ca/what/education). It's clear it is the key to overcoming poverty, improving life expectancies and increasing all areas of well-being. It's also clear a lack of resources is one of the biggest obstacles in increasing literacy rates around the world.

 

 Photo courtesy of http://quoteimg.com/want-to-wage-war-against-illiteracy-poverty-unemployment-unfair/

     So how to go about it? Leftovers from our libraries? Book drives? Sending Kindles? Dropping laptops? I was quite amazed while researching to find a profusion of organizations who specialized in getting materials into the hands of children in developing countries. From Room to Read, the African Library Project, The International Book Project to Worldreader the opportunities for those who want to contribute are abundant. But how to choose who and what to support?

      Several important factors stood out to me about the different approaches these organizations encompass. First, I was pleased with the fairly stringent guidelines most provided for book donations. But I was more impressed by groups like Room to Read that went the step beyond and had established local publishing facilities for local authors in native languages. While our Western English books serve their purpose and are well-needed, imagine seeing your own language in writing for the very first time! And anything that improves the local economy and community whilst increasing literacy seems like a home run.

      Then I recalled seeing a tweet from the Digital Shift last week about a library with no books in Haiti (click here for article.) A woman had been doing volunteer work in Haiti and discovered there were virtually no books in most schools. A few schools had progressed to e-books but had very few for hundreds of children to share. So she began Library for All which is essentially a cloud based digital library. Again the opportunity to provide students with reading material in their own language was a priority and the increased access this approach provides is invaluable.

     But do devices have a place in libraries either here or in developing worlds? I think it's hard to deny their existence and contribution to education here in Canada. Anyone who's used an ipad with a student with special needs or even used Bookflix (on any device!) can attest that mobile technology is now a part of our culture whether we like or not and can be a valuable learning tool.

     Does this mean technology devices are the best means of improving literacy, education or even quality of life for developing countries? It most certainly increases access to reading material. It increases access to all different kinds of information. It can improve the quality and content of resources needed in various parts of the world. But it certainly cannot replace qualified, trained teachers who are also desperately needed around the world. Despite the intuitive nature of children, technology and devices, both here AND in developing countries need guidance on how, when and why we use them.

 "In 2011 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council by the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression declared Internet access to be a fundamental enabler of human rights," 

(http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Global-Libraries) . 

  

 The world is headed the way of technology, but it's how we will choose to use it that will make it effective or not.


References:

http://www.roomtoread.org/Welcome
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Global-Libraries
http://www.canadianfeedthechildren.ca/what/education
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2015/0217/In-Haiti-a-library-with-no-books-transforms-the-way-kids-learn
https://www.africanlibraryproject.org
http://www.worldreader.org/
http://bctf.ca/bctla/pub/bookmark/2009winterBookmark.pdf
http://www.intlbookproject.org/

Supporting Teachers. How Can We Help?

     We all know our roles as Teacher-Librarian's have shifted dramatically over the last decade. As the importance of multiple literacies for our students becomes increasingly more significant, teachers themselves struggle to understand and incorporate the digitization of learning into their practice. Professional development workshops are available for those who specifically seek them out, but having a strong leader and user of technology and web 2.0 tools at a school based level is what will really help nurture a 21st century learning approach.
      As mentioned in previous posts this is a niche that can be filled by Teacher Librarians and ensure our positions are relevant and fundamental to our schools. I've tried a few things with my staff to help support their ICT goals, but have seen many more that I look forward to implementing in the future.

1. Lunch and Learns - I find as a staff we're often in all parts of the city on Pro D days, are constantly short on time during staff meetings and get caught up with prep and marking after school hours. I've discovered that lunch is often a great time for me to communicate with my colleagues about Library programs, new resources, or sometimes specifically new online tools. I'll invite teachers to eat their lunch in the library, show them a few new things and have some brief discussion.

 

 Photo courtesy of www.smithfreed.com

2. Supporting Pro D Topics -  I sometimes find Pro D tricky because on one hand I like to personalize my own development and bring ideas back to my staff that they wouldn't get otherwise. On the other hand, I find supporting what they're learning in THEIR Pro D is often easier when in attendance. Either way, it's important to assist our colleagues in their goals and help them find the resources to implement improvements to their practice. Often separate goals can compliment each other as well. For example my desire to utilize the digital creation of graphic novels in connection with a colleagues inquiry goals have made for an incredible collaborative unit!

3. Collaborative Days - In our district we're lucky enough that each school is given an allotment of collaborative days. As a school of 500 students we were given 18. These days are for teachers with a goal or program in mind to have the time to collaborate with each other to achieve it. It's a great opportunity for the TL to work together with colleagues, identify goals and correlate resources, programs, apps and activities that will help realize those objectives.

4. Webinars - This is something I have not done, but would like to do in the future. While doing research for this inquiry post I came across edtechteacher.org which seemed to have some great free webinars and other tools for supporting teachers with incorporating ICT into their practice. I can envision planning a webinar workshop where interested staff could participate together in the library and discuss how to implement ideas at a school or classroom level. Also on their website they have featured examples of innovative projects, for example this inquiry non-fiction project using ipads and the Explain Everything app.

5. Wiki's - I've seen several other Teacher Librarians use Staff Wiki's for numerous things and have always wondered how best to utilize one (please let me know if you have a successful one!). Whether it just be for a sharing of ideas, curating of resources or general communication I'd be very interested in implementing one for my school.

Lastly I think being open to the needs of your staff is most important. Whether it's ipads, social networking or presentation tools, listening to what your colleagues are doing or wanting to do and being responsive and an accessory to those needs is how we can best address broad school based success!

Keeping up with computers

     Well, the title really should read keeping up with technology, digital literacy, networking tools, apps, software, personalized learning etc., but who doesn't love a good alliteration. As Teacher Librarian positions become fewer and fewer, the importance of digital literacy is becoming increasingly more significant, leading to an obvious niche that TL's can fill and use to promote and advocate the importance of their role in schools today. We have always been literacy specialists, we just now need to broaden our definition of literate! But in a world where the development of technology is so exponential as to be outdated or replaced shortly after creation, professional development takes on a whole new meaning.
     In most districts there are some fabulous workshops available. From use of ipads and smartboards, to open sandbox type meetings where any topic can be discussed, I always try to ensure I use my professional days to learn something new or hear someone speak I haven't heard before. Some great resources for finding these workshops are your local district's website, the BC Teacher Librarian's Association (http://www.bctf.ca/bctla/info/pro-dev.html) or the BCTF's Professional Development website (https://www.bctf.ca/ProfessionalDevelopment.aspx).
Here in Vancouver, we always have several update sessions and Winter Tonics, which are hosted by TL's within the district with workshops from colleagues, local bookstores, speakers or language specialists. It's a great time to connect with one another and learn something at the same time. It's often difficult to schedule these kinds of events in, but in order to stay current and relevant I believe it's critical.
      We all, as teachers, take time on our professional days to seek out the latest workshop, collaborate with colleagues and attend speakers to improve on our skill and qualifications. But are 5 days a year enough to maintain our professional skills? I would argue, particularly for TL's not. One of my goals this year is to better connect with professional journals, networks and prominent figures in the field via social networking and blogs. For example during research recently I just discovered "The Digital Shift," sponsored by the Library Journal and School Library Journal. Subscribing to one of their blogs such as "Cool Tools by Richard Byrne", or following them on twitter (https://twitter.com/ShiftTheDigital) would be an easy way to have great ideas or news stories land in your lap, without the hassle of scheduling, researching or setting aside large chunks of time for reading professional books.
     Lastly I don't think we can emphasize enough the importance of colleagues in our development as teachers and technology specialists. Will Richardson touches on this in his first of six points on unlearning/relearning ideas (coincidence, or actually THAT important? ;). He states,  "we can raise the teaching profession by sharing what works, by taking the best of what we do and hanging it on the virtual wall." I've been lucky enough to have 2 great Teacher-Librarian mentors who have guided me through not 1 but 5 different library jobs. With their help, I've not only learned what successful libraries look like (by visiting theirs and vice versa) but have discovered some amazing programs, apps and how best to incorporate technology into my school programs. After three years, I'm noticing the relationship becoming a bit more reciprocal, as I learn I pass ideas along to them and we've created a growing network of learning and teaching.
The KEY to being educated is to keep educating yourself!

  Photo courtesy of http://algetler.com/ways-to-be-a-lifelong-learner/

References

Richardson, W. (2012). Why school how education must change when learning and information are everywhere / Will Richardson. New York, NY: TED Conferences. 

Inspiring Schools of Readers

As attention spans seem to be ever fading, with tv and gaming becoming more and more prolific amongst younger and younger users and school library time is becoming sparse, it seems we are at a critical junction. We must hook our students on books early, quickly and use much more inventive methods than simply putting them in their hands. We must inspire kids to become life long readers.

Luckily, kids are like sponges and there are many ways to get them excited about becoming avid readers. These are some tried and true methods I've used in my libraries with great success.

1. Cover the basics. Accessibility is key. Is there enough time in a day for students to come and choose books? Are they allowed to take out enough books to satiate their appetites? Is it open before and after school for those who can't find time during the day?

2. Family literacy. Many students in our school have parents who are learning English and are unsure how to foster and support their children's reading. So this year for all our Kindergarten students, I held a family literacy program one day a week for 6 weeks. Parents learned their way around the library, were taught skills to help their children read at home (pictures, questions, sounding out, creating connections) and were encouraged to create their own library cards. Now for families their confidence has increased, their are more reading materials at home and they feel comfortable coming to read with their children before and after school. Win!

3. Focus on student interest. No matter how well we teach our children to find and choose books, a good display catering to current interests makes choosing books fun and easy for them. After the movie release of the Maze Runner this year, I made a display of survival books. If you mix in popular items such as the Hunger Games, classics like Gary Paulsen's "Hatchet" are given new life. I always keep a Book Request List going as well, to ensure my students needs are matching up with what I'm providing. Stephen Krashen, famous for his research on reading, literacy and the importance of libraries says often “A wide range of studies have confirmed that free reading is the major factor in literacy development” (Krashen, 2012). FVR only happens when books kids are interested in are present. If you've not seen this video and have a bit of time, I'd highly reccomend (there are also many other shorter talks he's given available on youtube.)

 

4. Get students involved. I recently created a bulletin board called our Favourites Bookshelf. I wanted to encourage kids to be coming in before and after school so if they did, they could get a "book" to write down their favourite title and place on our "bookshelf." Not only has it gotten kids into the library, they are sharing ideas with each other about reading materials and are excited to find their new "favourite." (our bookshelf is much fuller than this picture now!)

5. Make reading fun! Any events that make reading fun are great ways to hook disinterested readers. Book fairs, author visits, Camp Read, book giveaway contests, book trailers and talks are all great ways to bring excitement back into books.

6. Cater to your audience. When I recently created a Mature Reads shelf for Gr. 6/7's at my new school, I actually heard several students cheer when they noticed it. Having books that target a specific audience, helps them focus their searching. Not to mention, it makes them feel a bit privileged with their choices and leaves the younger kids looking forward to something new and mysterious as they get older ;)


I truly don't think we can ever do enough to advocate reading to and for our students though. Ideas I would like to look at and work on in the future would be a book club, incorporating more technology into that promotion (ie. students contributing ideas to #ilovereading or creating video book reviews), and participating more in the global community of Book and Library lovers (National Library Day, World Book Day, DEAR etc.) And of course continuing to model and encouraging my staff to model good reading habits!

I'd love to hear what everyone else is doing their libraries that's working!



References

Krashen, Stephen. (2012, April 5). The power of reading, The COE lecture series, University of Georgia.

 Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSW7gmvDLag