Miss M. Reads

A Lot of Work in a Little Time It's an unusual experience completing a university course in a month's time, especially when working full time. That's exacerbated further when coursework happens to overlap with the end of the school year and all the hectic energy that that brings. During the timeline of this course, my life has had several major changes: I got a puppy a couple weeks in which added yet another busy element, and then a couple weeks before the course ended I found out I would be moving into a Teacher-Librarian role in the fall.  This term is my very first in the Teacher-Librarianship Diploma program, and LIBE477B is one of my first two courses. I didn't really know what to expect from this course, but I have found it has been an excellent opportunity to reflect on my current teaching practices and how they could possibly transfer over into a Library Learning Commons setting. I found that the opportunity to reflect made me more closely consider the excellent...

I used to despise poetry.  Examining rhyme scheme (ABCB) and hunting for poetic devices in a poem written before I was born by a poet I had never heard of? I didn't understand why I had to do this? How was it relevant? Well... it wasn't. Not at that time in my life anyways. Nowadays I'm eager to search out poetry that I might read on my own time, that I might study or at least annotate to appreciate the language's beauty. Back then though, if it wasn't particularly relevant and if it was particularly challenging, I wasn't going to enjoy it.  Now I teach English to middle schoolers, and part of the curriculum is poetry - and to my greatest surprise it has become my absolute favourite unit, my "baby." My love for this unit is so well-known that when I told my students that next year I would be in the library instead of the classroom, one of the first reactions I got was "but does that mean you don't get to teach poetry?" I am already advoca...

 When I was young, my mom bought me The Breadwinner  series by Deborah Ellis. We would discuss the book, and this story always stayed with me in my mind, especially whenever the country of Afghanistan and the Taliban regime would make news headlines. When contemplating this blog post about library projects in developing nations, my mind went to the recent resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and how that is affecting the educational rights of children, particularly girls. It is fitting also, that the book The Breadwinner  centers on a young Afghani girl, Parvana, who earns money for her family by dressing as a boy and reading messages for people who are illiterate. I knew that I wanted to learn more about the library programs in Afghanistan and how they've been impacted by the events of the last couple of years.  In my research, I came across an organization called Charmaghz. It is a non-profit organization based out of Kabul that provides mobile library services...

I recently interviewed for a teacher-librarian position in my district next year (and yes! I got the job!), and for a significant portion of the hour I spent with the interview team we discussed the roles and responsibilities of the teacher-librarian, including what it takes to be a leader, how decisions would be made in regards to resources, and how a teacher-librarian should work with the teaching staff in a school. These are all significant parts of the job that require serious consideration.  image by DarkMoon_Art from Pixabay When I was asked about how I would make decisions in regards to resource collection, I explained that it would be important to me to be informed about the general curriculum of each grade and subject at the school I teach. Now that is absolutely a tall order, but I believe that the true potential of a resource could not be properly evaluated if the acquirer was uninformed about the usefulness of that resource. By understanding the curriculum taught at the...

I am not the first, nor will I be the last, person to believe that consistently striving to be a better teacher is a crucial attribute of any educator. If our goal as teachers is to impart the importance of learning and education, then it is imperative that we ourselves are not also learning and improving, but that we are communicating to our students that we are continuing to learn and improve. Fortunately, we are learning, living, and teaching in a time where we have easy access to like-minded educators all over the globe from whom we can learn. Below I’ve highlighted three different networks that I access frequently, and how they help me develop as an educator. 1. School Network I am incredibly grateful for the school that I work in because it is filled with collaborative educators who are willing to share their successes and strategies, and who care for the wellbeing of their students, and their colleagues. In affiliation with my district’s policies, my school (and every other scho...

As an educator, fostering a reading culture is something I pride myself on doing well, and I certainly have my work cut out for me on some days. While I may not convert every student into a devout reader, I have definitely helped many students see “the light.” Nothing brings me more joy than when students initiate conversations with me about books, whether it's what they've been reading lately, their reactions, or questions about my favourite bookshops! Sitting down to ponder the various steps I’ve taken to create a reading community in my classroom, I was surprised by how extensive the list became. When I first started teaching English three years ago I felt completely overwhelmed and like I had no idea what to do. But with time devoted to bettering my practice and an invaluable PLN I have gained incredible confidence. Read on for my absolute favourite strategies! 1. Curating a Library Space with Creative Displays My library at the start of Sept. 2022... it's already cha...