Last Day of Classes

June 15, 2010 — liberrylady

The last day of classes for the year is always bitter sweet.  It feels incredibly liberating to reach the end of class time, but then we enter the next phase of our year and the wind down.   Books returned, assignments finished, students studying like mad; it’s actually one of our busier times in the school library.

The routine is shattered and it’s time to think exams.  Whether they’re in-school or provincial, the finals are tough on everyone and there’s a fair amount of stress out there.  It’s another learning experience for many of the students as they work out the best way to prepare in each subject.  How much do they remember, and do they have to, of  things learned last fall?  How do they balance studying for two tests on one day?  How hard will the test actually be? When will they get a chance to sleep??  There’s so much to do and very little time to do it.

The faces in the school are about to change.  Our grade 12s  say good-bye and we  hear all about their exciting plans for summer and fall.  Our teachers look ahead to  next year and learn whether they’ll be back.  In these uncertain times there seems to be no guarantee.  The school community may be very different come September.  This is probably one of the most difficult things to adjust to.

There’s no doubt  my feelings are up and down in June.  I’m tired and ready for a break, but I don’t want to say good-bye to so many good people.  The last day of classes is just another reminder of endings and beginnings as time goes by.  Which reminds me, I better get back to work!

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Professional Development

May 6, 2010 — liberrylady

On our last pro-d day we enjoyed a presentation by Charles Ungerleider on the role of education in the development of citizens.   He provided some questions designed to encourage discussion following the lecture.  It was refreshing to look at the larger picture for a change because we often get bogged down in the details of our day to day work.  In groups of 4-5 we looked at the following:

  1. What criteria should Argyle school use to determine that it has fulfilled its educational obligations to the students for whom it is responsible?
  2. How do the opportunities and activities that Argyle School offers fulfill those criteria?
  3. Given that time and other resources are limited, how might Argyle best use its resources to fulfill its educational obligations to the students for whom it is responsible?

Answers and ideas were varied and interesting.  No two groups came up with the same list and there was a lot of great debate.  Opportunities like this are  important because they generate discussion.  We’ve been looking at our school goals lately and the suggestions offered can easily be included in our plans for next year.

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Writing Again

April 26, 2010 — liberrylady

Attributes of a BC Graduate

I was looking at the BC Graduations Transitions Program Guide section titled “Attributes of a BC Graduate” and discovered competency in writing is one of the first goals listed under intellectual development.  This adds strength to our argument about how critical writing skills are.  The education ministry feels it’s important for graduates to be able to communicate effectively.  I agree.  High school is the perfect place to offer opportunities for writing.  Students can receive the guidance of experienced teachers trained to work with different grade, subject and skill levels.

Our committee is going to share our ideas with the staff at school.  We hope to create some excitement and desire to develop school wide objectives to meet this goal.  We feel we can create a culture where writing is valued across the curriculum.  We hope to encourage a group of teachers from different subject areas to join us as we work on strategies and lesson plans to share with the staff as a whole.  It’s a “big picture” idea.   I’m excited to be involved in the beginning so I can see how it evolves!

A link to the Graduation Transitions Program Guide

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Writing

April 20, 2010 — liberrylady

I was at a great meeting last week where we discussed one of our current school goals.  We’d like “To improve students’ writing skills across the curriculum”.  How do we accomplish this? What are our objectives and strategies? Why do we even want to do this? Is it worthwhile?  How do we sell the idea to teachers, parents and students?

Developing writing skills to communicate ones’ ideas, opinions and knowledge is certainly a worthwhile goal.  Our world today is filled with many forms of technology that encourage sharing.  In order to get good at writing we must practice.  We must cross boundaries of subject, medium, age and ability. I think most people agree with this statement but, it’s not always such an easy thing to do.

I think this forum, my blog, can provide me with an opportunity to work on my communication skills.  Now I have to convince myself that, yes, I do have things to share with others.  Liberry Lifeline is a good place to start.  Let me know what you think!

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That ugly thing called plagiarism!

February 10, 2010 — liberrylady

  “Copy from one author, it’s plagiarism; copy from two, it’s research. “  Wilson Mizner (1876 – 1933)

Students in high school often have a difficult time understanding what plagiarism is.  They’re used to sharing work with friends, cutting and pasting  from the internet  and copying homework.  All of these activities actually fit the definition of plagiarism.

Plagiarims happens when someone uses another’s ideas or work as their own.  It can include written work, artwork, photography, research projects, music, web site information and even a student’s own work.  Yes, you can actually plagiarize yourself  if you complete an assignment for one teacher and subject and then use that same assignment in another class!

 

“If you don’t want your teacher to know you are doing it, it is probably plagiarism.” (Melinda Miller-Widrik 8)

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Love your library!

February 4, 2010 — liberrylady

ImageChef Word Mosaic - ImageChef.com

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Creating booklists

January 7, 2010 — liberrylady

One of the jobs I enjoy as a teacher/librarian is creating booklists for teachers and students.  I love the challenge of coming up with the perfect titles for an assignment.  You often have to find books with a particular theme or plot line, so it makes for interesting searching.  I always seem to find a number of books that I’d love to read!

Today we had a class of  Comparative Civilization 12 students looking for books on different cultures.  Their teacher gave me a list of titles she’d researched, and I added to it with suggestions from our school library.  Oh the places they’ll go!  I found books to take them around the world and through any number of time periods.  Everyone found something of interest and I’ll look forward to hearing what they have to say about them once they finish their projects.

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Holiday Reading

December 29, 2009 — liberrylady

 

 

good omens

There’s something about the holidays and being able to read what ever you want! I’m in between book club dates, have time off,  and can fill my days and nights with a good penny dreadful or a more substantial educational read. Oh! The joy of having choices!
I was at a party the other night and ran into one of my recent graduates. She told me I’d started her on Terry Pratchett and she loved them.  Her current favorite was “Good Omens” by both Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. As luck would have it, I had a copy at home in the stack by my bed.  It’s been fun reading this book and thinking of my student’s reaction to it. I can hardly wait to see her again so we can discuss all the funny bits and my take on the plot! She was so excited about it I couldn’t help but want to read it too!

It really adds to the experience when you can look forward to the discussions to come.  This is one of the reasons I belong to the book club at my local public library.  I always find the groups’ reactions and thoughts about our books gives me a whole new perspective on what I’ve just read.  It’s also one of the best things about being a teacher/librarian.  I love talking about books!

If you’ve read something you’d like to share or discuss please let me know! Then we can take the time to discover each other’s perspective on a favorite read.

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Hello world!

November 25, 2009 — liberrylady

Hello technology!  Here I go into the world of web 2.0!

It’s time to stop watching and start doing.  A good place to begin is probably by telling you a bit about myself:

I’m the teacher/librarian at a large high school in B.C.  My job is challenging and exciting and I find no two days are ever the same.  I’ve been learning new things in this position for almost eleven years now and wouldn’t have it any other way.  I haven’t written publicly too much before, so this is a pretty big step for me.  The whole idea of putting myself “out there” for the world to see and hear is very overwhelming!

I love to read so I’ve included a list of recent books.  I read everything and anything so you’ll notice it’s quite a diverse selection. I enjoy talking about novels and would love to hear any comments you might have on my selections.  I belong to my local public library book club and always find the discussions interesting and lively.

I’m also active with high school athletics and enjoy sponsoring a number of different teams.  I help with girls field hockey every fall and am working with the bantam girls basketball team this winter.  In the spring I hope to sponsor the golf team because the game has become one of my passions!

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