Beth speaks with Wali Shah who is a spoken word poet, author, Tedx speaker and advocate for education. Wali speaks about the community that school provides and the changes that students are experiencing due to COVID and our current pandemic situation. Wali recounts his experience in high school when his teacher introduced him to a book of poetry and saw the potential in his abilities. He attributes his success and passion for writing to his interaction with this teacher and the book of poetry he...
Nov 15, 2020•32 min
Beth speaks with Angela Stockman who is an educator, an author and a champion for the power of storytelling in its many forms. She has spent her career being curious about what makes writers struggle and how she could help push young writers to see their capabilities. The conversation starts by discussing Angela’s new book- Creating Inclusive Writing Environments in the K-12 Classroom: Reluctance, Resistance, and Strategies that Make a Difference and how Angela is connected and collaborates with...
Nov 15, 2020•34 min
Join co-host Beth Lyons as she explores how school library professionals are “leveraging their LLC” using the Canadian School Library graphic as a starting point for discussion. The panel discusses book circulation as we work to keep staff and students safe as we adopt curbside pickup or a delivery model. An important piece of the puzzle is how might school library professionals provide curriculum support due to repeated re-organizations of staff into different assignments, a lack of tech device...
Nov 01, 2020•48 min
Reflecting on the most “unprecedented” start of school ever. The co-hosts discuss what their roles are at the time of recording, the first weeks of learning and being back at school. A look at how we have been adapting to our roles- whether online or face-to-face or a mix of both. Beth talks about staying in her role as a teacher-librarian and the work of supporting educators and curating resources to have at the ready for the learning community without overwhelming them at the same time. The lo...
Oct 17, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Alanna hosts Australian learning commons leader and educator Jennifer Cain @jennifercain26 as we talk about how she programs an entire week of experiential and participatory knowledge-building using competitive, collaborative and community activities, somewhat akin to the Triwizard cup of Hogwarts, but with much more variety (although less underwater breathing is required). Jennifer shows how the significance of the librarian’s role has been pivotal in the success of her school as they have move...
Sep 25, 2020•48 min
Alanna hosts our school library panel on the topic of instigating collaboration through instruction and building that cycle. Our coast-to-coast #CollaboNation panel of experts Lila Armstrong, Sonja Clark, and Leigh Borden strategize about their menu of collaboration and making sure that the school knows their true range of skills and abilities. How can we continue to push our schools to investigate inquiry projects where the ending (i.e. diorama) isn’t predetermined? Favourites from our panel in...
Sep 25, 2020•47 min
Alanna hosts Australian learning commons leader and educator Jennifer Cain @jennifercain26 as we talk about how she programs an entire week of experiential and participatory knowledge-building using competitive, collaborative and community activities, somewhat akin to the Triwizard cup of Hogwarts, but with much more variety (although less underwater breathing is required). Jennifer shows how the significance of the librarian’s role has been pivotal in the success of her school as they have move...
Sep 25, 2020•48 min
Alanna, Lisa and Beth unpack the 3rd and 4th quarters of the book revealing all! Spoiler alert! jump right into the second quarter of Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven. We talk about the hallmarks of culture in the book versus the ones we might have chosen for ourselves in 2020. We even dissect why Emily St. John Mandel’s characters seems intent on preserving ‘the canon’ of literature and music. Does the novel’s timeline help or hurt all the big reveals that happen? Were we successful...
Aug 28, 2020•52 min
Beth hosts Diana Maliszewski, Mona Cheema, Renee Shah Singh and Ketly Appleton to discuss the recent Twitter campaign launched by the Ontario School Library Association (OSLA) where school library professionals from across Ontario (and Canada!) are sharing their documentation process of student learning, the joy of the school library and the joy of reading. The panel discussed the energy and the vibe of an LLC and the shared passion for creating a school library that is the hub of the school and...
Aug 19, 2020•30 min
Beth explores what makes a good non-fiction text for primary to intermediate readers with fellow PDSB teacher librarian Toni Duval. Toni outlines her experiences on the selection committees for the OLA Forest of Reading program and the criteria used to choose a book for the list of nominees. The conversation takes on the non-linear fashion of non-fiction texts, memoirs as a narrative sub-genre, the amount of visual literacy built into a non-fiction text and the necessity of a good layout to help...
Aug 16, 2020•38 min
Read Into This co-host Beth Lyons, Ontario School Library Association (OSLA) Vice-President, and Jenn Brown (OSLA Past President) chat with Tim Boudreau and Connie Scott about the most recent #ONLibChat that was held on July 28th. The chat still centred around the question “How might our school libraries look in the fall if/when we return to school?” but shifted to focus on ideas around advocating for the role of school libraries within a learning community and how school library professionals m...
Aug 12, 2020•53 min
Alanna hosts author and educator Jennifer Casa-Todd and we talk about her journey from being a fearful and reluctant parent of teens in regards to the use of social media, to blogging and using social media with her students, and now student voices on a global scale. Jennifer gives some solid advice about setting up norms in social media for student participation and handling multiple perspectives for learning. Shoutouts to Alec Couros, George Couros, Dean Shareski, danah boyd, Henry Jenkins, Le...
Aug 05, 2020•50 min
Alanna hosts author and reading advocate Eric “Momentum” Walters and chair of Canadian School Libraries Anita Brooks Kirkland as we dissect some of their year of passionate intention to increase reading engagement in K-12 students. Eric suggests that all he needed to do was a little spark to the fire that teachers and school library staff already do. He wants more passion for student choice and voice in reading choices. Anita talks about how her research and data collection convinced key stakeho...
Aug 05, 2020•39 min
Beth explores how podcasting has helped educators Pav Wander and Chey Cheney find their voice and work to share it with others. Chey and Pav are the co-hosts of The Staffroom Podcast and The Drive and have found that by sharing their voice and ideas with others using these mediums they are becoming more comfortable with having courageous conversations and pushing their learning forward. During the episode Beth, Pav and Chey discuss the intertwined literacies of listening, speaking, sketchnoting ...
Jul 27, 2020•57 min
Alanna, Lisa and Beth jump right into the second quarter of Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven. In this episode we unpack some of the themes that are emerging and we are particularly drawn to Mandel’s use of memory and time with multiple narrators and also a non-linear timeline. We start to explore the abandoned places that are explored in the novel, and the technology objects that are left behind. We talk about Ai Weiwei’s work as a protest against Chinese nationalist policies and how...
Jul 27, 2020•1 hr
Read Into This co-host Beth Lyons, Ontario School Library Association (OSLA) Vice-President chats with Jenn Brown (OSLA Past-President) about the recent #ONLibChat they facilitated that took place on June 25th and looked at the question- “How might our school libraries look in the fall if/when we return to school?” The chat was an open discussion between school library professionals across Ontario (and BC!) and a few key themes and concerts emerged: Will school libraries open if/when we return t...
Jul 09, 2020•42 min
Alanna, Lisa and Beth dive into the first quarter of the Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven navigating the wicked discomfort, and juicy details about survival and finding civilization, or at least meaning, in a pandemic. We talk about our own intentions and survival strategies during the pandemic compared to the characters’ choices in the book. We also wonder about the meaning of using Shakespeare’s King Lear as the opening scene and recurring theme in the book…..what does it all mean?...
Jul 09, 2020•53 min
Lisa, Beth and Alanna talk about learning and unlearning about racism personally and taking this learning into the professional realm. In this episode we start to unpack how to translate our reading into action. We talk about the real struggle of providing resources that are not from a deficit lens. There are so many resources again in this episode but we’ve shouted out to our favourites. Shoutouts to Colinda Clyne, Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga, the film Deeply Rooted by Cazhhmere, The ...
Jul 02, 2020•57 min
Alanna interviews Richard Beaudry, who currently chairs the Canadian Federation of Library Associations / Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques (CFLA-FCAB) Intellectual Freedom Committee, representing Canadian School Libraries. Richard got the opportunity in November 2019 to see what was on the cutting edge at the American Association of School Libraries (AASL) conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Richard is known in Canada for his activities to promote human rights and freedom ...
Jul 02, 2020•45 min
Laughs abound as Lisa Corbett is joined by her daughter Claire and they host author Amy Ludwig VanDerwater http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/ Lisa asks Amy about Betsy the Writing Camper and all of the magical things that inspire this writer. Claire reads a poem called “Dead Branch” and asks all the hardest questions to Amy. Amy reads from her brand new book called Write! Write! Write!
Jul 02, 2020•34 min
Alanna is joined by Shari Green, author of Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess, and middle grade educator Lisa Lewis to discuss how this book works to help talk about disability, ageism, and blended families. Lisa has a chance to bring in the students’ own questions for Shari especially about Macy’s confrontations with her soon-to-be stepfather, Alan. We talk about how this rich book opens up conversations with students to help them find truth and make a difference despite the odds. If you wan...
Jul 02, 2020•39 min
In this Long Story Short episode, guest host Lila Armstrong talks to Teacher Librarian Mary Morrow and Teacher Chelsea Badger about their Forest School programs. Lila’s guests share how they weave stories, poems, oral storytelling, Indigenous language and culture, science and inquiry into their forays into nature. Supported by a local group of likeminded educators, both Mary and Chelsea agree that participating in the wonder of childhood encourages them to continue to expand their outdoor learni...
Jul 02, 2020•19 min
Alanna speaks with teacher-librarian and researcher Amber Hartwell about the TPACK model and how the pandemic has reshaped the significance of having balance between technology, pedagogy and content. Amber emphasizes how this model from 2006 continues to assist her as entry points for collaborative conversations at all education levels, especially for school library staff who want to improve the culture of participatory learning and collaboration in their learning spaces. Read the full article h...
Jun 20, 2020•42 min
Alanna hosts our school library panel on the topic of developing a school library collection collaboratively. Our coast-to-coast #CollaboNation panel of experts Lila Armstrong, Sonja Clark, and Leigh Borden covers really nerdy topics including: the ratios of library resources to students, how to improve the collection with data, vigorous weeding, strategic cataloguing, budget advocacy and the precarious nature of gatekeeping. We talk about working to diversify the collection for culture, compass...
Jun 13, 2020•48 min
Alanna speaks with author and blogger Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano [A Guide to Documenting Learning: http://langwitches.org/blog/2018/01/30/now-available-a-guide-to-documenting-learning/ ] We uncover how the fluid nature of media needs to be taught in the language arts/English classroom. Through the observations/conversations with students, Silvia calls for a new pedagogical mindset to embrace the reach and potential of technology for expression and communication. Her international background as a ...
Jun 13, 2020•43 min
Alanna talks with Heather Buchansky, the Student Engagement Librarian at the University of Toronto Libraries, regarding the gap that exists in information literacy for students in their first year of post-secondary education. She was a part of a collaborative effort between OCULA (Ontario College and University Library Association) and the OSLA (Ontario School Library Association) to develop an information literacy toolkit. Shoutouts to The Assignment Calculator developed by the University of To...
Jun 04, 2020•33 min
Heather Buchansky reads her paper from Treasure Mountain Canada called: Connections between campuses: Creating a collaborative OCULA/OSLA information literacy toolkit. https://tmcanada.blogspot.com/p/tmc6-buchansky.html
Jun 04, 2020•11 min
Alanna talks with Beth Lyons about creating a maker culture in her school and making it fit her context. After a number of successful maker activities, Beth launched into making a Genius Cart which allows for easier management of materials, supervision and changing up the inquiry focus. Beth also talks about the importance of documenting the learning as data for new directions and her hopes for the future of making in her library learning commons. Shoutouts to The Majestic Glue Gun.
Jun 04, 2020•32 min
Elizabeth Lyons reads her paper from Treasure Mountain Canada called: Maker. Space. Inquiry. Place. What might be the connection? https://tmcanada.blogspot.com/p/tmc6-lyons.html
Jun 04, 2020•14 min
Alanna hosts our school library panel on how working remotely as the teacher-librarian changes collaboration with staff. Our coast-to-coast #CollaboNation panel of experts Lila Armstrong, Sonja Clark, and Leigh Borden covers topics including: working on the collection, grooming the knowledge building centre in the virtual learning commons, and solving problems in communication and equity for their schools and school districts. Our wish list for equitable access to software, databases and hardwar...
May 26, 2020•49 min
