Reading Well(s)

At 2 am one morning in 2015, a loud alarm startled me out of my sleep.  My alarm clock was not on. It was in my head. The beeping would not stop but eventually changed to high pitched buzz. Sleeping was difficult.  I was only 35. Seven years later it is still there. Constant ringing in your ears is called tinnitus. In my case, the cause of tinnitus is unknown. Since that morning my hearing has steadily declined. I wear two hearing aids (which are ridiculously expensive devices). Even with the aids, I regularly do not hear what people say---it depends on the room acoustics, the pitch of the person's voice, and where they look when they speak.  In recent years, as my hearing has gotten worse, I've learned to advocate for myself. I ask people to speak up,  to look up, even to remove their masks. I ask professors for captioning on videos, and I get special headphones when I go to movie theaters. Sometimes I get what I call advocation exhaustion. If I have repeated my req...

Technology in schools is both a necessity and an inspiration. And the best technology integration plans acknowledge both roles. Consider Hughes' R.A.T. model of technology integration ( it was designed to help teachers develop a framework for their"growing competencies in technology integration").  According to Hughes, the transformation step is the most elusive.  I think I've found a technology for classrooms that will almost always be transformational-3D Printers. Students' learning processes while using the printers will change: they will be more involved, they will be required to think creatively, and they will be forced to accept failure sometimes and then problem solve.  Teachers will also be required to alter their instructional practices. They will have to move from a knowledge-sharing role to a learning-along-with-you role because 99% of teachers will not be able to predict how all printed models will turn out. Let's start with some basics.   What is ...

In my 3rd-5th grade building, teachers are overwhelmed. Last year, kids were either remote or in person. Classes were smaller. This year, classes are back up to around 30, teachers have to teach in person, and manage web cams for kids who are quarantined due to COVID. They are exhausted.  Yet, we need to add digital and informational literacy to daily instruction if we want to prepare our kids for the future. . Currently, most digital literacy happens by trial and error, not planned lessons. It is sporadic because it is not part of the curriculum. We have to stop assuming kids know how to use technology because it has been part of their lives since birth. Just because kids can share funny cat videos on TikTok does not mean they know how to troubleshoot if a piece of technology is not working (try shutting if off?), or how to organize papers and notes into folders so they can be found later, or how to determine if information on a website can be trusted. Honestly, many kids cannot e...

Photo by  Thomas Park  on  Unsplash  I 💗the podcast "Fake News and Digital Literacy." I took Dr. Green's suggestion and listened to it while I walked the dog  Thank goodness for the rap song because when I got home, it offered a great summary of what had been said so I could take notes. Since I am raising teenagers and studying library science, I sometimes do informal quizzing about information habits of the teens hanging out in my house. I ask them how they evaluate websites, organize their email, determine fake news etc.  ( it all started when I took 706).  Their favorite answers are, "I just know" and "I check the end of the website address" (you know .gov, .net, etc. ) According to these teens (a very small sample really) the ending of the website is all their teachers have taught them about online source evaluation (and and never use Wikipedia they say). Ever since I took 706 and did research on digital literacy, I've been pondering how you t...

 Necessary background: For 4 years I've been operating a library in an elementary school for 3rd-5th graders in Michigan. Michigan has no state or local (at least in my district) standards for school librarians. I am paid as a parapro. My primary job is to maintain the books, check them out, collect fines. Since I wasn't hired as a teacher, I am not expected to teach. It is a part time job. I am a certified teacher though.  Teaching is instinctive for me so I teach while in the library. There is no curriculum. There are no other librarians to learn, grow or collaborate with. The job is whatever I make it. Even with all the lacking parts, I love the job  How can either the AASL or ISTE standards be applied in a state/district that still views school librarians as book-moving luxuries who can be cut in seasons of budget strains? The standards in both AASL and ISTE align with my vision for what a school librarian should be. Yet, the standards feel dreamy and impossible. One ...

  I spent three years teaching high school English. I loved the idea of teaching writing to kids, but the practice of it was hard.  33 kids x 6 classes = giant piles of papers to grade.  I tried to offer useful feedback on writing assignments only to discover many kids did read the feedback. The librarian where I taught was an older man who liked to gossip. We weren't sure what he had actually did. I have no memories of the librarians at my middle or high school. I have memories of the library space in elementary school but no clue who ran the library. The examples of school librarians I had seen did not inspire me.  I stayed home with my girls for 14 years--homeschooling for seven. We were frequent users of the public library. When I decided to reenter the workforce I did not want to be an English teacher again. I saw a posting for a school librarian job. Twenty-five hours a week. School calendar. High school diploma required. I left that job interview thinking I ha...