I just received the March 2013 issue of School Library Journal; arguably one of the best resources for teacher-librarians and library media specialists. And with great gusto I quickly leafed through the issue to locate those little nuggets that I will head back to read in greater detail later this week. And once again, I found … Continue reading Advocacy Research Continues to Reach The Choir →

One month to go...To help give those interested a bit of a sense of what our students will be experiencing during their upcoming trip to the Gwich'in First Nations hamlet of Fort McPherson, NT early next month (April 6-14), I have been sharing an NFB film that focuses on the local radio station, CBQM (also the title … Continue reading Seek To Understand: Hard Lessons →

I spent an entire day last week at Canyon-Lister Elementary School (CLES) just on the outskirts of beautiful Creston, BC. By invitation of the principal, David Falconer, and teacher extraordinaire, Patsy-Anne Casemore, I venture over the snowy Kootenay Pass to host an informal discussion about the future of the school's library.After viewing the BC Learning Commons … Continue reading Be Careful What You Wish For… →

Last month, I was asked by Selkirk College to moderate a local TEDx Talk which will feature contributions from some of the most innovative and creative educators in the Kootenays.Official Poster of the SelkirkCollegeEd TEDx Event, March 1stAnd of course, I replied with an enthusiastic "Yes!" well before I really understood what 'moderating' a TEDx Talk … Continue reading To Moderate or Not (sort of) →

last November, I participated in a debate hosted by Selkirk College Teaching and Learning Institute: Be it resolved that social media is making us lonely.Not so unique. This has been written about in countless publications by countless 'folks in the know'. But what was unique and important to recognize about the debate was not the resolution, the … Continue reading The Great Debate: The Bigger Picture →

Our fall professional book club has finished its book first read of the year, Paul Tough's How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. (Kudo to our principal, Tim Huttemann @lvrprincipal for leading this professional development opportunity!).Like several books on pedagogy, learning and teaching, I read Tough's book through the lenses of … Continue reading Grit? Who Needs It? Apparently, Our Kids →

The statistics speak very strongly of the need of libraries now more than ever!Graphic courtesy of opensite.org

We all know that the British Columbia Ministry of Education is rewriting the competency standards for BC students to align with twenty-first century skills that are necessary for all contributing members of society to possess. To date it has identified several cross-curricular competencies as crucial: critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, problem solving, digital literacy, emotional literacy, … Continue reading What’s to debate? Debate already! →

Blogger and educational technology master's student, Gretel Patch, recently created a Period Table of Connectivism, as part of an assignment to interrelate the deep concepts of connectivism (put forth by George Siemens and others), personal learning networks, and communities of practice (perhaps even communities of learning?). This is very powerful visual concept and she deftly manages to connect … Continue reading A Periodic Table of Connectivism →

By now we've all heard the term 'learning commons' and it has become so you can't go to any school library professional gathering, conference, or workshop and NOT hear the term referred to by a presenter or keynote speaker. There are amazing stories of schools, school libraries, and school districts that have embraced the concept … Continue reading A School Library Repackaged? →