Ms.Britney's Library Musings

 Developing World Libraries: Connecting People and Knowledge for the Betterment of the World The subject of how world libraries and how access to libraries around the world could impact developing countries has had me thinking of one of my first blog posts. A throwback to my own work seems a bit pompous but since the subject matter and my own fangirl position is pretty cheesy, I think it's ok. A quick recap in case you didn't click back for review (I wouldn't have either): In 2014, TNT launched an irreverent sci-fi fantasy series called, "The Librarians" as a spin off of the movie series of the same name. It ran for 4 seasons and depicted a motely crew of misfits taking on the role of librarian to save the world. According to Wikepedia, " The Librarians are an ancient organization dedicated to protecting an innocent world from a magical and fantasy-like secret reality hidden from view." It was a fabulous, goofy show that reflected zero real librarianship...

 Supporting Teachers' ICT  & Ongoing Pro-D As I posited in my last post, the TL is ICT.  Yup, I said it. 😳 This is a huge statement that I'm not completely sure I can back up and I know terrifies me to my very core as a wannabe TL, but I think it may be true.  Module 7 of LIBE 447B(2023) reminds us that, " In many ways, Teacher-Librarians are looked to as school leaders in developing new skills, evaluating and acquiring new resources and leading workshops and inservice around new strategies, resources and school technology." and this is reinforced by Haycock's argument in his 2014 report on the standards of practice for school library learning commons, Leading Learning : But how does a TL do this when their colleagues are tired and not necessarily interested in doing more? When perhaps the love of learning and planning has waned? We know that liking or even loving what you do means a higher likelihood of engagement and excellence. O'Keefe (2014) reminds u...

How Does a Teacher Create a Network with blowing a fuse?  TL to the rescue! According to the keeper of all knowledge worth knowing, Wikipedia, a teacher is defined as: " A  teacher , also called a  schoolteacher  or formally an  educator , is a person who helps  students  to acquire  knowledge , competence, or  virtue , via the practice of  teaching ." This is the idea most have in mind when they sign up for their education degrees and dream of having their own classroom.  Having just returned to the classroom after days away for professional development opportunities and union education, I should feel very capable of meeting that definition and creating a clever post on the idea of networking and collaborating in a professional way.   But I don't. Why? Because the much more realistic definition of a teacher and the demands of the role is:  Teachers educate students at all levels on one or more subjects, such as geog...

Evaluating the lack of Reading Culture in Modern High School “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” – Frederick Douglass As an English teacher, I am a passionate reader and a loud proponent of reading. I love all things literary and my classroom is littered with positive reading reinforcements.  -Posters call from my walls to "open a book, grow your mind" -My classroom mug of choice is an alphabet mug and I walk around with it (full of my fuel of choice - tea) daily for all to see.  -There are books on almost every surface. -I engage students with daily vocab and reference authors, books and all things "reading" on the regular.  -I even have t-shirts with famous quotes and lines of poetry on them - for my students to stare at when they tune out my voice.  So..... I'm doing all the things, right? I talk about books, offer books, expose reading as a life skill. But, am I really developing a reading culture? Is my school? Is my Learning Commons? In a v...

 A Review of the Educational Resources for AI  Educational Impact/Uses a hands on practice session with ai and its educational potential So... it's an academic desert out there.   I was all set to do some serious deep dives into the academic literature about the use of Artificial Intelligence in education. Got rid of my kids (temporarily) and had snacks at the ready. I was prepared to read, research and synthesize all the good work Google (and other Boolean search tools) could offer.  Alas, Google, Google Scholar and even Siri could not guide me to an oasis in the parched land that is the online academic analysis of AI in schools. Loads of articles on AI or on inquiry itself but since the evolution of AI as it pertains to education is so new, there just isn't much to dig into. Not much of significance with legitimate, peer reviewed legs at any rate.  What is a good TL to do in such a situation?  Pivot! This blog was supposed to do a deeper dive into the res...