Lisa Corbett hosts author and stand-up comic Michael McCreary. Michael focuses on how humour has brought light to his autism diagnosis and sharing through comedy is not only hilarious, it's an advocacy piece for neurodiversity. Learning to navigate social norms, including bullying, finding your own identity and voice, and moving out for the first time, this book has something for everyone. Highly recommended for teachers, parents and anyone who knows someone with ASD. Check out his book: Funny, ...
May 26, 2020•30 min
How does the digital fluency of teachers act on their willingness to innovate using technology? How can teachers be supported in their efforts to weave digital literacy into their teaching? In this episode, Lila talks with two Campbell River School District Media and Technology Support teachers Shannon Hagen, and Rod Beavis about how far they’ve come this year, and how we all need to lean on and learn from each other to continue to move forward. The district has only recently moved to make Teach...
May 26, 2020•15 min
Lisa, Beth and Alanna crack open Teaching Tough Topics by Larry Swarz and we uncover the intersections of own voices, gaps in publishing and how much I Read Canadian day has pushed our school literature collections. The pandemic is further highlighting the inequities in our school systems. Lisa describes how tight knit communities seem to ‘make room’ for invisible diversities but have trouble with other intersections. Beth wrestles with global literature and the primary bubble of kindness, and h...
May 26, 2020•49 min
Alanna talks with Rebeca Rubio about the shift from library to learning commons and how having a teacher in the role of programming for school libraries has allowed Richmond, British Columbia to make this shift. Yet the need for ongoing innovation has also grown exponentially so the annual provision of grants for projects has both allowed for concentration on a particular area but also promoted the vision the district has for changes in collaboration, new technologies, and unfamiliar pedagogies....
May 26, 2020•41 min
Rebeca Rubio reads her paper from Treasure Mountain Canada called: Innovation Grants: Supporting Professional Learning and Collaborative Inquiry in the Library Learning Commons https://tmcanada.blogspot.com/p/tmc6-rubio.html
May 26, 2020•29 min
What does work as a public librarian look like during a pandemic? How do you change your approach to client services with almost no lead time? Lisa Noble talks with two public librarians, Erin Kernohan Berning and Karen Bisschop, (one rural, one in a small urban environment) about the challenges and victories of pivoting a public library.
May 26, 2020•48 min
Alanna speaks with elementary teacher-librarian Jennifer Brown about her contribution to Treasure Mountain Canada school library research symposium this year: a website. Jennifer starts each year asking “How can I convince more of my colleagues to collaborate with me this year?” This new website fulfills multiple purposes as an addition to Jennifer’s school virtual learning commons to: incorporate new media types as a model to staff for future lessons; promoting the library’s goals to stakeholde...
May 18, 2020•47 min
Alanna speaks with teacher-librarian Jonelle St. Aubyn and Leigh Cassel, founder and Chief Curation Officer of The Digital Human Library ( https://www.digitalhumanlibrary.com/) . Human libraries really help unlikely relationships to occur and they bring an authenticity to the experience that might otherwise be missing from another form of reading. Whether expertise in a particular topic, or a defining life experience, Jonelle and Leigh agree that the connections made with their human libraries a...
May 18, 2020•39 min
Beth talks with Trevor MacKenzie (author of Dive Into Inquiry, Inquiry Mindset) about how we honour our students as readers in schools. Whether that’s acknowledging the pace at which readers read, the note-taking style or the genre, recognizing the importance of leaning into our own beliefs about what reading is and why we read when we are working with students. Trevor shares about his routine of reading many books at the same time, voraciously reading many different forms of text to improve him...
May 18, 2020•44 min
Alanna talks with Greg about trying to grow a culture of cross-curricular collaboration in the school library through Phenomenon Based Learning. Now that Greg is teaching with Nipissing University he carries his learning through to the pre-service teachers there. Lots of great strategies for taking creative risks and deepening inquiry in this episode.
May 18, 2020•39 min
Greg Harris reads his paper from Treasure Mountain Canada called Participatory Learning through Phenomenon Based Learning: Moving from the Learning Commons into the Classroom https://tmcanada.blogspot.com/p/tmc6-harris.html
May 18, 2020•38 min
Alanna hosts our school library panel on challenges and strategies for enticing your staff to plan collaboration with you. Our #CollaboNation panel of experts Lila Armstrong, Sonja Clark, and Leigh Borden covers topics including: scheduling for maximum collaboration, strengthening your school’s reading culture, and gathering data from staff to inform your next steps. We wonder aloud about summoning the courage to take greater risks in modelling.
May 18, 2020•39 min
Beth, Lisa and Alanna continue to talk about these fine lines of building a collection for a wide range of school library readers. We wonder out loud about diversifying the collection and bringing in authentic voices in addition to teaching the classics. How do you offer a range of topics and decide what topics are appropriate? More great titles and strategies for your own teaching practice including how to keep students reading during the pandemic. Inspired by this article: https://diymfa.com/r...
May 09, 2020•38 min
Beth, Lisa and Alanna talk about building the collection for middle grade and young adult readers. We try to define the lines between readiness, readability and engagement for each level. How do you organize a collection with multiple ages? How do you engage your alpha-readers to promote books? How do the same themes and archetypes stay fresh in the genres? Shoutouts to Hunger Games, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Amulet, Pernille Ripp, Falcon Wild, the Narnia series, Despera...
May 09, 2020•27 min
Guest host Lila Armstrong interviews Cathy Fowler @Cathyfowlersd72 and Robyn Russell @russellrobyn about how the Library Learning Commons can support Social Emotional Learning in all learners. The panel discusses how library activities, student choice and opportunity foster personal growth and success in students. Both guests share personal experiences that speak to the importance of safe, welcoming space in the school, and an open-minded teacher librarian. Shoutouts to The Collaborative for Aca...
May 09, 2020•14 min
Alanna talks with avid readers Fiona Ross and Rachel Siegel about books that helped transport them into new cultures. Both Fiona and Rachel find parallels in how these books allowed them to see new perspectives on gender roles, justice, mental health and loneliness. Shoutouts to read-alikes Inkheart, Once Upon a River, All American Boys, The Hate U Give, Throne of Glass, The Book Thief, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Koyal Dark Mango Sweet.
May 09, 2020•48 min
Alanna talks with Kasey about the paper and the need for a committee to develop more inclusive language in the Ontario School Library Association. Kasey reveals her rich educational journey and her reasons for choosing a library technician route within the educational environment. We discuss how staffing descriptions, staffing allotments, job descriptions and inconsistency of school library staffing models continue to create tension. Through this collaborative committee’s work there is overdue o...
May 09, 2020•49 min
Kasey Mallen Whalley reads her paper Collaborative Professionalism: Participatory Learning within the Ontario Library Association (OLA) By-Law 2 Consultation Committee https://tmcanada.blogspot.com/p/tmc6-whalley.html
May 09, 2020•19 min
Alanna talks with secondary school educators Sarah Wheatley and Daphne Habib about how reading has “infused their worlds”. Whether sharing with a book club or with family, Daphne and Sarah agree that these formative books both include strong female characters, hard-earned love, and learning our parts to play in the game of adulthood. Shoutouts to book bloggers @MalhotraSoumya, @mostlyyalit for continuous inspiration.
May 09, 2020•46 min
Beth speaks with Stephen Hurley and Doug Peterson about how their habits have changed, and remained the same, through their careers in education and beyond, including memories of unusual locations where reading materials were purchased and which books are in your “thinking genre” . The discussion looked at the how and why people write blogs, blogs as a reading genre and the weekly celebration of Ontario EduBlogs. Shoutouts to The Hardy Boys, The Old Reader, Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind and Fyo...
May 09, 2020•47 min
Alanna hosts our first episode in this series on challenges and strategies for collaboration coast-to-coast in the school library. She is joined by our #CollaboNation panel of experts Lila Armstrong @Lila_TL_EWP in Campbell River, British Columbia, Sonja Clark @MrsClarkLLC in Surrey, British Columbia, and Leigh Borden @msbordenTL in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Topics today include making your space more collaborative to entice collaborative planning. Read Lila Armstrong’s article at the Canadian S...
Apr 28, 2020•49 min
Alanna talks with Lisa about the paper and how being part of a selection committee helped give her a solid background for choosing books that would appeal to both children and adults. Lisa shares how her own family background fighting anti-Semetic injustices has given her a deep need as an educator to promote peace and equity. Shoutouts to Undergrounders by David Skuy, Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess by Shari Green and The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis.
Apr 28, 2020•40 min
Alanna speaks with authors Ann Y.K. Choi and David Albertyn, and reader/educator Fiona Ross, about their new project The Author’s Book Club which helps readers and authors to connect. This group is working hard to bring a virtual community together that celebrates the work of Canadian and Indigenous authors. With 50 authors welcoming these connections, the club really recognizes the reader is the heart of everything that authors do. Find out more at: https://theauthorsbookclub.ca/ Shoutouts to T...
Apr 28, 2020•39 min
Lisa Lewis reads her paper Ignite a Lifelong Love of Learning: Create an intergenerational book club in your library learning commons and invite your community to explore the diverse world of the human experience https://tmcanada.blogspot.com/p/tmc6-lewis.html
Apr 28, 2020•19 min
Alanna talks with avid, lifelong readers Aviva Dunsiger and Ramona Meharg about books that greatly influenced them as Aviva and Ramona were also coming-of-age. Ramona explains how reading The Outsiders taught her a lot about the power of loyalty for making friends feel like family. Aviva reflects about how Judy Blume may have formed her later choice of women’s studies in university and how it really is an artifact of the 70s. Read Into This celebrates our very first poem recitation as Ramona per...
Apr 28, 2020•46 min
Lisa Corbett hosts author Jesse Thistle and Ontario educators and book club members in this pre-recorded Zoom Meeting. Lisa asks Jesse about the issues and vulnerability displayed in this memoir. Thistle advocates that this book would be a great addition to the school library as it is both a warning and a success story.
Apr 28, 2020•51 min
Lisa, Beth and Alanna explore some non-fiction topics, including graphic novels, and dig into whether the person who takes us to the library as kids (if someone did) makes a difference to what we read. Shoutouts to our parents, and lots of amazing graphic novel creators. (As well as Rolland Chidiac and Chris Cluff, who started some if this thinking)
Apr 28, 2020•47 min
Pippa Davies, Director of Learning Commons, and her colleague Cynthia Duncalfe, Curriculum Consultant, speak with Alanna about increasing the impact of their digital library learning commons at Heritage Christian Online School. Innovative lessons in pivoting to online learning for schools everywhere here are provided in detail by Pippa and Cynthia. Shoutouts to Seesaw, Zoom, Flipgrid and Lego for helping build rich assignments for remote learning.
Apr 18, 2020•40 min
Pippa Davies reads her paper Exploring Digital Horizons within the Culture of the New Learning Commons https://tmcanada.blogspot.com/p/tmc6-davies.html
Apr 17, 2020•27 min
Alanna talks with Krista Sarginson and Will Gourley about books that greatly influenced them as teens which were, coincidentally, both books by Canadian author Timothy Findley. Krista and Will share their circuitous journeys to teaching and the indelible impressions of edgy Canadian literature. Challenging power structures and the constructs of gender and love, Findley’s influence helped our two guests be critical, suspicious and even subversive. We also try to find middle school books that stir...
Apr 17, 2020•51 min
