Sonya's Teaching Blog

In one of my classes, we have been discussing books in a weekly cycle, inspired by the Twitter hashtag #IMWAYR (it's Monday, what are you reading?) so I thought that I would share my thoughts on some of my book discoveries here on this blog on Mondays! I'm going to discuss adult books, children's books, but mostly young adult books, as they are a favorite of mine. Hopefully you will be inspired to do some reading of your own. This week, I want to share with you an amazing children's book by Rukhsana Khan called The Roses in My Carpets . The Roses in my Carpets  book cover care of goodreads . This book was published first published in 1998 and is now many years old, but I think it is becoming a classic and must-have of children's books in schools. It's an incredible story exploring some deep and deep themes in a way that makes them accessible for young people. The story is of a young boy living in a refugee camp and experiencing many hardships, but creat...

Reading Dalton and Grisham's Love That Book: Multimodal Response to Literature , the authors describe using "glogs" as a response tool for students showing their learning from a piece of literature. Glogs are multimedia posters created digitally - they can contain images, graphics and text like a regular poster, but also video, audio, links or even 3D, virtual reality, or other manipulable features. A screencap of a glog that appeals to the geologist in me. Access the interactive version from Glogster here . They are meant to be interactive and give multiple ways to respond to an inspiration such as a piece of literature. More and more, teachers are incorporating student choice into projects they use to show their learning. I have particularly been inspired by author and educator (and one of my professors during my B.Ed), Jennifer Katz (2012) and her work in this area, as well as educator and advocate for inclusive education, Shelley Moore. Jennifer Kat's...

Last week, when musing on my Final Vision project , I was looking into creating a website to help teachers and librarians with access to 3D printers, but no idea how to use them. But why use 3D printers in schools at all? What use are they to teachers, librarians and students? Kids' drawings turned into 3D printed objects. Image from The Guardian . With school budgets getting cut all the time ( with numerous consequences ), and models for classrooms can get expensive. If you have access to a 3D printer, you can bypass the cost of many classroom tools and just make your own. Want a human skull? Make one ! Need a 3D model of your province? Totally doable ! You can even use a 3D printer to build replacement parts on broken tools or models you already have, getting more life out of them. Just this one tool can be used for all kinds of classroom objects, like making rewards for students - they can even choose their own! A 3D printed model of the anatomy of a human heart. Th...

I have been thinking a lot about what I believe would make a good library and what modern libraries are for, but it is now time to consider the creation of something practical- a tool to help the efficient and effective use of school libraries in the future. However, as a teacher with little experience in the classroom, let alone in a library, it's going to take some thinking to know what to produce. Looks like I, too, may need to visit a library. Image care of Whitehot s. Through my recent inquiries, I have definitely refined and cemented what I consider to be my personal teaching philosophy. Reading Will Richardson's Why School? , I really came to believe that technology is an integral part of inquiry learning in the 21st century, and that it really the "how to" skills that need to be taught in school, rather than the "what". And if we aren't teaching students piles of facts anymore, we have to think about what skills are important, and what ca...

The following are two fictional examples of teachers in need of support to improve the implementation of reference resources in their classroom practices. Looking at each case carefully and using the Concerns-Based Adoption Model, or CBAM (from Loucks-Hoursley, 1996 ), I have outlined specific steps that can be taken to encourage these teachers to use the resources available more effectively. Typical expressions of concerns about innovations. From Taking Charge of Change  by S.M. Hord, W.L. Rutherford, L. Huling-Austin, and G.E. Hall, 1987. Typical behaviors at levels of use of innovation. From  Taking Charge of Change  by S.M. Hord, W.L. Rutherford, L. Huling-Austin, and G.E. Hall, 1987. Case Study #1: “Pat” Pat has been teaching Social Studies at the same high school for several years. Classes have an established routine of teacher-centered learning where the students fill in notes from PowerPoint presentations. Pat has decided to branch ...

What on Earth have I been learning? Image care of Britannica Digital Learning . Over the past few weeks, I have been delving into the depths of the internet to research topics that are important to those in the education field, particularly to teacher-librarians. School libraries these days are so much more than just a place from which to borrow books - more and more they are becoming a hub of activity in schools. They are places to learn and use technology, places to meet up and collaborate on projects, places to ask questions and to get unexpected answers. That isn't just the case for the students - it's a place for teachers and librarians to ask questions and to learn and grow as well. I certainly have learned and grown during my explorations. Studying ways to foster reading culture in schools and global access too books, I have notices some similarities. Everyone needs to have access to books that are culturally relevant and language appropriate. In a multicultura...