by Diana Maliszewski, Dawn Legrow, and Sarah Wheatley
How can elementary and secondary teacher-librarians “combine forces” to better serve their students? Impressed by a recent Ontario Library Association study of transitions between secondary and post secondary, the writers embarked on a quest themselves. In their research and conversations, they explored the challenges facing both panels in preparing students for successful transitions. The writers invite you to share strategies and approaches you use to address this critical problem.
Diana Maliszewski OCT, BA, BEd, MEd (she/her) is a teacher-librarian in the Toronto District School Board in Scarborough, Ontario. This is her twenty-fifth year in teaching, with twenty-four of those years working in a school library learning commons. Diana is the one of the vice-presidents of the Association for Media Literacy. She was the editor-in-chief of The Teaching Librarian, the award-winning official publication of the Ontario School Library Association, from 2006-2018 and now is a course instructor for the Teacher Librarianship Additional Qualification courses for York University and Queen’s University. She has presented workshops at conferences all over North America on topics such as gaming in education, graphic novels, popular culture, professional learning communities, and children’s literature. She has written five Treasure Mountain Canada papers, with two more planned for 2022.You can read her blog at http://mondaymollymusings.blogspot.com or catch her on Twitter as @MzMollyTL.
Dawn LeGrow BA. Honours, B.Ed, Librarian Specialist at Marc Garneau C.I. TDSB. This is her 23rd year of teaching. She has come to the library through the Social Sciences. Dawn enjoys being an early adopter of technology and learning new things through MOOCs. This is her first publication for Treasure Mountain. You can find her on IG teachlibrarianlegrow.
Sarah Wheatley is the teacher-librarian at Westmount Collegiate Institute in the York Region District School Board. She has been in education for 27 years. Her passions include knitting, reading, binging Marvel tv shows and spoiling her cats. She is passionate about expanding the canon, creating a resource centre that moves beyond the traditional library and helping teachers incorporate Indigenous material in all subject areas. This is her first publication for Treasure Mountain Canada. You can find her on Twitter @ksarahwheatley and on Instagram @wheatabix.
Yes, I did listen to every word. And this type of conversation across levels and beyond to academia are essentials. I have a few questions: What is a learning commons and how does it differ from a library? What percent of your students are headed toward academia vs. other skill careers? Does traditional inquiry prepare this group? What is the difference between the consumption of knowledge that is already known vs. the creation of knowledge at all grade levels a foundational element of the learning commons? Is process as well as product a part of the mark? If not, why not? What might happen if design thinking projects reach both the creative and the inquiry ideas you have in mind? What is the STIC Model and could its lateral thinking help? Suppose you created an alivelibrarian.info demonstration site for Toronto. Would that help? How could micro documentation of learning experiences where partnerships of TLs with teachers measure the percentage of learners who met both adult's expectations help you document your impact? One thing is certain. Every time you stick your nose into a learning experience alongside a teacher, the more and indispensable you will become, not just with the adults, but also the learners.
David, I appreciate your questions so very much. Can you explain what the alivelibrarian.info demonstration site is? Sarah, Dawn and I will definitely digest some of your wonders. Missed seeing you in BC - maybe another time!
Yes, I did listen to every word. And this type of conversation across levels and beyond to academia are essentials.
ReplyDeleteI have a few questions:
What is a learning commons and how does it differ from a library?
What percent of your students are headed toward academia vs. other skill careers? Does traditional inquiry prepare this group?
What is the difference between the consumption of knowledge that is already known vs. the creation of knowledge at all grade levels a foundational element of the learning commons?
Is process as well as product a part of the mark? If not, why not?
What might happen if design thinking projects reach both the creative and the inquiry ideas you have in mind?
What is the STIC Model and could its lateral thinking help?
Suppose you created an alivelibrarian.info demonstration site for Toronto. Would that help?
How could micro documentation of learning experiences where partnerships of TLs with teachers measure the percentage of learners who met both adult's expectations help you document your impact?
One thing is certain. Every time you stick your nose into a learning experience alongside a teacher, the more and indispensable you will become, not just with the adults, but also the learners.
David, I appreciate your questions so very much. Can you explain what the alivelibrarian.info demonstration site is? Sarah, Dawn and I will definitely digest some of your wonders. Missed seeing you in BC - maybe another time!
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