Creativity is one of the goals of the Board of Trustees in School District 8. It is an important and necessary one, indeed. And yet I often struggle with cultivating and nurturing its presence in my life, my children's lives, and those of the students that I work with. I'm willing to bet that I … Continue reading Creativity: Stimulated →

All bookphiles know that smell. Antiquarian book stores are ripe with that odour. Here's what causes that smell (chemically speaking!)...

While reducing your digital footprint is more than reasonable, complete removal from the Internet is virtually all but impossible. We would be foolish to think otherwise. However, here's a great get started guide on "How to Disappear Online" courtesy of Who Is Hosting This?Courtesy: Who Is Hosting This?

Yep. It has been a while since I have posted anything on to blog. But educator extraordinaire David Wee's latest blog post is forcing me to reflect on my personal practice. Both at work and at home.Courtesy of David Wees 2014After posting this graphic to Google+ David received nearly 30 views in two hours. I also … Continue reading Why My PLN Is Priceless →

If it were just that easy...imagine the only skill you ever needed to learn was how to 'Google' to guarantee success in a post-secondary environment. Think about it. If only...Actually, that is what is really happening. Our graduates are returning to tell us that while the rigor and work ethic that we helped to instill … Continue reading Googling Does Not Make One Post-Secondary Prepared →

A findings from a recent study by MediaSmarts reveals a very alarming (but not surprising) trend among young Canadians.   After all the examinations and waves of useless information is pushed into their brain (only to become useless) in two hours our students will still not have learned any truly useful skills needed--digital citizenship and … Continue reading →

I have come across this THINK acronym before (below). And each time I find myself asking if this poster best represents students the repercussions of an all-too-common-moment of indiscriminate social media sharing: Are dumbing things down, too much for our kids? Are we simplify a very complex issue for our students? If so, should we … Continue reading THINK: An Oversimplification →

According to the infographic below, incidents of cyberbullying are increasing at a prodigious rate.In a recent student technology use survey conduct at L.V. Rogers Secondary, 44% of 553 respondents indicated that they had 'not learned' or 'covered' online safety, privacy, cyberbullying, and the digital tattoo/footprint. If our students are not learning these essential and necessary digital … Continue reading Cyberbullying: Big Than We Think →

This is a topic of conversation that frequently arise when others learn that I am a librarian. And of course, the standard reply has always been consistent: the answer is purely personal and subjective. Or is it? While it is interesting to note that a year and a half ago Amazon announced their Kindle ebook sales … Continue reading Do Digital Books Acutally Rule? →