#Literacy

LIBE 441: Reflective Bibliography

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LIBE 441 Reflective Bibliography I teach in Secondary Schools, so I didn’t know if a Children’s Lit course could offer me anything that I could use. I thought I would be stuck reading picture books. I’m happy to admit I was so very wrong. This bibliography consists of the greatest reflective learning moments I had during this course.  First, I took  a journey back into my childhood and discovered how childhood itself can be rather hard to define. Second,  I slowly peeled away the blinders I had been wearing regarding canon, context, literature and diversity. Then I opened a bunch of sliding doors and entered into worlds I never thought to explore. Finally, I looked to the future where reading aloud isn’t just for children and that authors provide much needed authenticity and narrative, giving their books added context and voice.

Defining Childhood

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I view my childhood through a romantic and nostalgic lens: a young, rebellious girl who’d rather run wild amongst trees and have her nose in a book than conform to expectations. I gravitated towards fantastical reads like Howl’s Moving Castle in order to escape my isolation of growing up in a mountainside valley. Books were and still are my escape. Discovering that childhood might be defined by adults, through a historical, cultural and societal lens (Frijhoff, 2012), made me pause. From the outside, this may be true. However, there is something to be said for hearing from authors who really don’t consider themselves writers of children’s books. Rather, they consider themselves writers who write books and some of those books happen to be enjoyed by children. Mourice Sendak is one of those authors who challenges my viewpoint on children’s books, which I always thought were just for children. Now, I realize that is such a narrow viewpoint to hold. What stories have I missed? What characters have remained strangers? What worlds have I not discovered?

As Mourice Sendak so graciously stated,  we still hold the same beliefs and fears as we did when we were children, so childhood never really ends. Not really. That notion seeped into my mind and rolled around throughout this entire course. I started to see children’s books as just books. Wonderful books. Funny books. Sad books. Fantastical books. It doesn’t sound too profound, but as a Secondary Teacher, it challenged me to explore books that aren’t a part of literary or classic canon.

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Context, Canon and Change

There are long-held thoughts regarding canon, Literature and the YA genre. These thoughts are like wearing blinders: you can see straight ahead, but not next or behind you.  The cultural context and  who the students are and how they live impacts the way they interact with any text. Relying on the Classics doesn’t create inclusivity, but rather it often creates narrowness and exclusion. Classics tend to focus on Eurocentric canon and dominant cultural narratives. The key is to take those blinders off, step away from traditional forms of storytelling and in doing so, students can find new ways to connect with world around them, without having to rely on literature from the past (Fassbender, 19-23). It’s been a long held standard that teachers use classics to teach literature. Literature is more than that. It has to be.

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Teacher-librarians must question and challenge the definition of Literature itself because it is more than just a list of books everyone ‘has to read’ in order to be considered literary. Literature must create empathy in the reader and provide levels of meaning in new ways that can reach the hearts and minds of the many, and not just few. SF Said believes “that books for young readers have the deepest impact of all. They’re the books that shape us and stay with us forever. Like ancient myths, they deal with the biggest questions: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where do we belong? How should we live?”

Literature can be Graphic Novels, Comics, Young Adult books and Mangas. Literature comes in all forms and formats. I have seen the positive impact Mangas like FairyTail have on students. Reluctant readers who will sign out 20 or more volumes and consume and analyze every single page, gaining empathy and insight through the imagery. All forms and formats have the capacity to use language and pictures to create intricate plots, dynamic characters, whimsical and realistic events and actions, all in intricate ways that mean something to those who read them. Ways that connect and make them consider something they never thought possible.

Connections and Considerations

I’ve connected canon and cultural context with diversity and representation. It’s about asking questions about the context of a book, how the audience will interact with that book from their own personal context, and what the content is actually about. Does it perpetuate negative stereotypes? Long held Eurocentric narratives? Who does it represent and whom is it written for? Who wrote it and why? It is about finding authentic authors who represent their respective cultures?

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It isn’t enough to say, “Diverse books are important.” That’s a given. I need to dig deeper and search for books written by diverse authors who represent their culture and experiences. I need to house more Indigenous picture books, children’s books, YA and adult books written by Indigenous authors who can provide authentic voices. Instead of relying on previously recommended books that may house harmful and stereotypical views on said culture, I want to have a variety of diverse selections so students will be able to recognize themselves in the traditional Western Literary Canon (Wilste, 23).

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One way to do this is to offer  lessons that reflect different ways to interact with the content through multimodal responses of learning (Leland et al. 127). Creating opportunities for students to interact with the content in a meaningful way and transform what they have read into something new, whether through dance, art, and fan fiction, to create personal meaning. Diversity has propelled mainstream comics, like Marvel to create diverse characters like Riri Williams in Invincible Ironman: Ironheart and Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel.  As a Teacher-librarian I need to showcase these changes.

This connects with everything Rudine Sims Bishop talks about in her essay, “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors.” Bishop states that “when children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson on how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part.” It’s a holistic approach to diversity where those in the dominate culture, who do not have to look too far to find their own reflection in a book, can and will benefit just as much as those who need and deserve equal representation.

Diversity is the Sliding Door Towards Empathy

Bishop’s words are rooted in the very power of what books can be. Books have the greatest capacity to teach its reader empathy.  The reason why diverse authors and diverse books are important is because if we only read books that are reflections of ourselves, then we will not learn that there are people who do not live, think, or believe like we do. Representation in books matter not just for those who deserve representation, but for those who already have it and need to learn that the world doesn’t revolve around their narratives and beliefs.

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One goal a Teacher-Librarian should hold in high regard is creating a Learning Commons where students feel welcomed, safe and seen. To be truly seen and accepted is one of the truest gifts you can give a student. With each book I have discovered and read, I challenged myself not to see my reflection by making sure each book, comic, graphic novel, Manga is not a reflection of myself. Instead, I need to start viewing all my reading choices as if they are windows and sliding doors. One way to do this is to question my own privilege and beliefs. To challenge them. To learn from them. To read and recommend books that explore immigration, race, sexual identity, gender stereotypes, social constructs, differing cultures, beliefs, mythology, history and backgrounds. There are so many stories out there. The process of eliminating my own blinders has been rather liberating.

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Having worked in Secondary Schools, I was always annoyed when the English teacher would leave a lesson plan that would require the TTOC to read aloud to the class. Utter and complete dread spread over my body knowing that I would loose my voice by the end of the day and then I would have to take a day off for it to recover. But this course offered me a chance to challenge my held beliefs. The importance of reading aloud so students can hear the story in a new way and strengthen their own language skills. I always felt it was a sort of punishment, but as a child my mother read to me every night. Where would I be without that? And what if Secondary students never had that chance in their home life or in Elementary School?

Moving forward, I will try to incorporate more Audio Books  in my Learning Commons, so students who struggle with reading can have that extra support, and for teachers who aren’t great orators and dramatists can get a bit of a vocal break. Furthermore, it is just as important to connect the book with the author and incorporate their inspiring stories within lessons, to give context and an authentic voice to the story. Hearing Rukhsana Khan read her book The Roses in My Carpet has far more power and impact than if I read it aloud. It is her story to tell and it is important to give her space to tell it.

And Finally….

With the help of #IMWAYR weekly posts, the modules, browsing through my local library, and asking the public Librarians, I discovered books I wouldn’t have considered before and in the process discovered the lives of others, our differences and our similarities. What a gift to have been given every week. I hope to give that back to my future students.

All I could ever ask of a course is to teach me something, to create opportunities for me to learn and to help me grow as a person. The resources listed below did more than that. They will enable me to be a better Teacher-Librarian on a wide path, looking both to the left and right, behind and ahead, with my blinders off.

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Bibliography

Articles

Bishop, R. (1990) The Ohio State University. “Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors” originally appeared in Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, vol. 6, no.3, Summer.

Fassbender, W. J., Dulaney, M., Pope, C. A (2013). Graphic narratives and the evolution of the canon: Adapting literature for a new generation. Voices from the Middle, 21(1), 19.

Frijhoff, W. “Historian’s Discovery of Childhood.” Paedagogica HIstorica. 48(1), 11-29. 2012.

Leland, C., Lewison, M., & Harste, J. (2012). Multimodal responses to literature. In Teaching children’s literature: It’s critical. Taylor andFrancis, p. 125-236.

Said, SF. “Can Children’s Books Help Build a Better World?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 29 Sept. 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/sep/29/childrens-books-build-a-better-world-sf-said.

“Tech in the Classroom: Audible.com.” Tech in the Classroom: Audible.com | Education       World, http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech-in-the-classroom/audible.shtml.

Wiltse, L. (2015). Mirrors and windows: Teaching and research reflections on canadian aboriginal children’s literature. Language and Literacy, 17(2), 22-n/a.

Discovered Books

Adeyemi, Tomi. Children of Blood and Bone. Henry Holt & Co, 2018.

Choi, Yangsook. The Name Jar. Zaner-Bloser, 2013.

Daniel, Danielle. Sometimes I Feel like a Fox. NNELS/VIRN, 2018.

Ewing, Eve. Libranda, Kevin. Ironheart Vol. 1: Those With Courage. Marvel. 23 July 2019.

Johnston, Aviaq, and Tim Mack. What’s My Superpower? Inhabit Media Inc., 2017.

Jordan-Fenton, Christy, et al. When I Was Eight. Annick Press, 2013.

King, Thomas. Eggenshwiler, Byron. Coyote Tales. Groundwood Books, 2017.

Lee, Stacey. Under a Painted Sky. Speak, an Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2016.

Love, Jessica. Julian is a Mermaid. Walker Books Ltd, 2019.

Mashima, Hiro. Fairy Tale. Master’s Edition Vol. 1. Kodansha Comics. 10 November 2015.

O’Leary, Sara, and Qin Leng. A Family Is a Family Is a Family. Groundwood Books, 2018.

Pearlman, Robb. Kaban, Edna. Pink is For Boys. Running Press Kids, 2018.

Rauf, Onjali. The Boy at the Back of the Class. Hachette Children’s, 2018.

Wilson, G. Willow. Ms. Marvel Omnibus. Vol. 1 Marvel. 15 November 2016.

Wynne-Jones, Diana. Howl’s Moving Castle. Greenwillow Books, 2008.

Yang, Kelly. Front Desk. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2019.

Images

All book images are courtesy of amazon.ca.

Videos

Bishop, Rudine S.  “Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Doors.” Rockets, Reading. YouTube, YouTube, 30 Jan. 2015, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AAu58SNSyc.

Khan, R. (2018). Rukhsana Khan The Roses in My Carpet, Words Aloud 2007, Canada. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXSZdb9pezs.

Sendak, Maurice. “Maurice Sendak on Being a Kid.” Blank, Blank on. YouTube, YouTube, 10 June 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvtgqJTVVhE.

Talks, TEDx. “Can A Children’s Book Change the World? | Linda Sue Park |     TEDxBeaconStreet.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Dec. 2015, http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=40xz0afCjnM.

Websites

“You’re Getting a Free Audiobook.” Audible.com, http://www.audible.ca/.

LIBE 477 Final Vision Project

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Final Vision Project: A Cross-Curricular Coding Journey

For my Final Vision Project, I explored cross-curricular coding. I wanted to integrate coding into the B.C. curriculum, demonstrate why coding is an important skill to have, and why Computer Science is important to explore within the classroom. I chose grade 8 because in my district most of the Computer Science courses are for grades 11 and 12. As an English teacher, I have always wanted to branch out and discover new ways to tell a story. As a life-long learner, I have always wanted to explore coding. I find it fascinating. In many ways it is similar to learning a new language, in others, it is a series of puzzles that when put together in such a way something new happens. That’s exciting! I wanted to take that excitement and turn it into something.

After reading Will Richardson’s Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere, I realized that my excitement could be channelled into a bridge between traditional schools and digital learning. Richardson’s question of why school? propelled me to finding an answer to that question. Why school? Well, because school can still be relevant if schools become agents for change. 

Vision & Purpose

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I approached my Final Vision Project with the idea that to learn coding, one doesn’t need a classroom, only the will and time to do so. I had this lingering feeling that maybe if teachers could learn new skills separate from their subject area and tap into the changing digital and technological world, then a bridge could be formed between the now and the future, between teacher and student. I had to pause, talk to teachers in my district, and reflect on the fact that apprehension towards coding due to time constraints were real.

So how could I get teachers interested in trying coding in their English 8 classes? I tossed around a few ideas: a presentation, an infographic, even step-by-step video, but ultimately, a website that teachers in my district could use get an introduction to coding created the best option. The content of the website gave me fits and starts. At first I was doing too much, jumping far too down the line. I had pages of coding language with descriptions and pictures. I deleted all of that and focused. What was my purpose? To get teachers interested in coding in an English 8 Class. I focused on storytelling because that is a fundamental part of the B.C. 8 Curriculum and telling a story is universal.

Rationale & Artifact 

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My rationale behind the artifact was to make things easy for teachers. They are so busy and if I provided a step-by-step approach, then maybe they would be more inclined to try something new like coding. I decided my artifact would be a website made with Wix.com: www.toteachalibrarian.wixsite.com. My technological speed bumps were finding a Wix theme/design I liked and that worked. Ultimately, I decided to just work from scratch without a fixed template. I was familiar with building websites, so it wasn’t difficult, just laborious. Wix.com does make it easy to choose a template or create your own. I love how it shows guide lines, how to size images to match others on the page, and how to add shapes and vector art.

The one problematic aspect about Wix.com was layering shapes and text boxes. I wanted a box border on my step-by-step sections, but if you place that over the text, then the links wouldn’t work. I had to place the text over the box shape. I should have known this was ordered layering like Photoshop, but sometimes learning curves hit you at the most inconvenient moments. Overall, Wix.com was easy to follow, far less time consuming that WordPress, which I use for my blog. Designing a website is a process. I wanted to make sure it was cohesive in design, with connecting elements and colours. Links, resources and information had to be presented clearly. I also wanted it to be functional, ensuring that all the links worked was tedious, but necessary.

Reflection & Journey

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My overall journey was an ebb and flow of frustration and excitement. As challenging as it was trying to find grade 8 level coding resources and the appropriate format for my artifact, the excitement over discovering Scratch and Minecraft, and how wonderful coding can be pushed most of my frustrations aside. The overall reflection I’m left with is that whether a teacher just has students try coding or if they jump right in an integrate it into their course and learn along with their students, there really is no downside. Learning ICT Skills and digital literacy can only create more opportunities, never hinder them. Students want to learn something that is part of their world, something that is relevant to their lives. Coding is part of their lives. I have learned that teachers want to branch out but they are so busy and work so hard that asking them to try something outside their course materials is challenging.

Key Learning & Future Connections

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I have learned to not over think my approach to coding. I have tried both Scratch and Minecraft and yes, they do take a bit of time to learn, but something challenging is usually worthwhile in the end.

I hope to introduce this website resource to the teacher-librarians in my district, so they could link it in their resources page on their websites. Also, I plan on sharing it with a few teachers I know, who have expressed interest. I hope to gain feedback from them, adjust the site as I need to and go from there. If anything, this process taught me that there is no final artifact or resource. I have to view it as something malleable and ever changing because that is what learning and education, inside and outside of the school, is all about.

_________

Final Vision Project Works Cited

Inquiry Blog Post #4

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Mobile Devices and Digital Literacy in Rural Kenya

Imagine having an entire library at your fingertips, but instead of being  in a grand room brimming with books, with an air conditioner humming overhead, you are in a classroom, with a dirt floor, green chalkboard at the front of the room where your teacher stands, and you are surrounded by at least fifty students. In your hand is a mobile device that allows you to visit the same worlds and words as a student in a grand air conditioned room, in another part of the world. That is the power of providing digital literacy opportunities in developing countries. One organization in Kenya focuses on providing literacy and technology to rural areas where there is no access to electricity, water, and internet.

The Kenya Connect Project

The Kenya Connect Project supplies schools with:

  • water and health programs
  • professional development for teachers
  • a library card program
  • solar lights
  • a central facility with 30 computers
  • LCD projector
  • Kio Kits

With these resources, schools can have safe drinking water. Teachers are trained in ICT skills. Children have access to public libraries and solar lights so they can study at night at their homesteads. In addition, they also have access to a Learning Resource Centre lab, where there are 30 computers available for the students and teachers to use. But that is not all they provide.

The Kio Kit

In partnership with the Kio Kits, the Kenya Connect Project empowers students and teachers in rural Kenya to overcome lack of access and opportunities regarding mobile devices. Access to technology in rural areas is problematic because there is a lack of electricity and infrastructure like cell towers and fibre optic cables. Kio Kits instantly turns a classroom into a digital one. Each kit holds up to 40 Kio tablets. There is a charge centre that can charge the entire system. It is designed in Africa and has had an impact across the country. It is portable and a has a remote link for internet access.  The tablets are ruggedized, so they are durable and do not break easily. Tablets such as these have transformed rural Kenya from rural isolation to access to globalization.  Access means opportunities for the future.

Future Opportunities

The better access to mobile devices and internet means that developing countries would have access to democratic knowledge found around the world. However, the government’s role in this cannot be forgotten. In China, for example, the government controls content and doesn’t allow access to certain information, same as North Korea.  Having access to technology and mobile devices, doesn’t necessarily mean that democratic content will be easily accessible.  Kenya is a representative democracy and  the government seems to be involved in developing and promoting digital literacy education. This is important because having more access to democratic content can strengthen the democratic process as a whole.

Either way, the future mobile libraries seems bright. There are opportunities to provide books and textbooks to those who cannot afford to have access to all the resources. They provide new opportunities for learning technology in a world that is striving towards more technological advancement every day.  It is important that along with technology, teachers are  trained how to use and utilize new and changing technology. Technology in the classroom won’t be successful without teachers who know what to do.

Inquiry Blog #4 Works Cited

Inquiry Project Blog # 1

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Building Worlds and Literacy Through Minecraft

brown and black wooden docor

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While I do not have my own Learning Commons, I have been been fortunate to TTOC in a few. Each space has similar and unique ways of fostering a reading culture. New book displays are placed in direct view of the entrance. Posters of teachers reading a favourite book adorn the shelves and the school hallways. Book recommendation boxes sit on all the circulation desks. Teacher-librarians go to classrooms or invite classes to the Learning Commons for book talks. If a student requests a book, then Teacher-Librarians will buy the book immediately, give it to the student and then barcode it later. All of these examples contribute to a reading culture within the school.

But what if there was another way to reach students who may not like traditional reading, but love gaming? That’s where Minecraft comes in.

Minecraft & Literacy

In Will Richardson’s Why School? he discusses how Minecraft  can promote learning. As I started my inquiry into cross-curricular coding, Minecraft kept coming up in my research, so I decided to look into how Minecraft could foster reading.

I found a few interesting articles on the connection between literacy and Minecraft. In Danica Davidson’s article “How Minecraft can foster Reading,” she discusses how students who don’t like reading, but adore gaming, love exploring the Minecraft novels, comics, online resources and even resource books. Students are willing to read if they are interested in the topic. If a student loves Minecraft, they will want to learn everything they can about the game. In “Minecraft in the Classroom Teaches Reading and More,”  Jacqui Murray argues that Minecraft promotes reading in the classroom by allowing students to create their own online worlds and then they are motivated to research all about the world they are creating. Interest in the topic motivates literacy. If students are reading more, then it really shouldn’t matter if the topic is Minecraft.

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I would love to see my district Learning Commons branch into Minecraft books. Students might be playing the game at home and would love to read more. I have seen students (usually boys) come into the the Learning Commons and struggle to find something to read. It never occurred to me that having reading material linked to gaming might benefit reading literacy, but now it seems like a novel approach to literacy.

Works Cited