What might the LLC look like if/when we go back to school?

This has been the question on the mind of every school library professional since the start 
of the shut-down. At least, I know it has been on mine. 

The LLC is a space where students and educators come together to tinker, 
explore, play and of course READ. 

What happens when we need to stay apart for the safety of all? 

How might we re-imagine the methodology and pedagogy behind the LLC in order to bring the learning to the students, educators and their families? 

Jenn Brown and I facilitated an open discussion at the end of the school year with school library porfessionals across Ontario (and from BC!) discussing what the future might hold for our LLCs and the stakeholders we serve. 

You can listen to our debrief here as a podcast episode of Read Into This. We also looked over the notes taken during the discussion and the thoughts submitted from the participants in Google Form to come up with six "big" questions K-12 library questions in a pandemic world. 
These questions can be seen listed in Open Shelf

Of course my mind as been whirling and swirling all summer long. An educator's mind is never far from school and what might be...

A few thoughts I have had about how I might adapt my library program to move beyond the wall of the library space and into the classrooms of students....

BOOKS.
Most importantly, in my mind, is getting books into the hands of students. Each class can have a designated bin of books that is delivered on Monday and picked up the following Friday. The books can be kept in "quarantine" if needed after I pick them up before being distributed to other classes.

Pros: 
-students will have access to books in their class that they can read through out the week
-classes can put together request lists or topics of interest to help guide me in choosing books for their bin

Cons:
-students don't have access to the entire library collection and the self-regulation that comes with choosing their own reading materials in the space
-it will be time and labour intensive to choose and deliver bins of books to 30+ classrooms each week

INQUIRY. 
Last summer when we moved to Caledon East I was very excited to see inquiry style bags that had been curated for busy families. The idea being that families could choose a bag of 10 or so books to bring home without needing to spend time browsing and choosing. Also included in the bags were artifacts, games, and other items that connected with the books or might spark an inquiry at home.

Pros: 
-students love to explore and play with the tinkering stations spread through the library when they visit as part of our free flow routine, by creating this type of inquiry provocation in a bag or a bin student can continue to enjoy and explore within their classroom
-students may get an opportunity to explore a material they haven't previously explored or revisit an old fave
-the bins can be tailored to specific curriculum based inquiries that educators are exploring with their class (this can also help educators with their planning, grade level teams can co-plan with the teacher-librarian to create a set of bins related to the curriculum that can be shared among the classes (with proper disinfecting completed as needed))

Cons: 
-a lack of of free choice in materials to explore, students usually have free range of the library space
-do we have enough materials to spread out among the entire school population?
-completing the necessary disinfecting and tracking of materials to ensure equitable access
-once again time is a factor... 

MAKER. 
Cultivating a maker mindset and a maker culture within our school community has been a huge focus during my time as the teacher-librarian and I'd love for the momentum and passion for making that has been developed to continue to grow... even if we can't create together in the LLC space. I documented our journey and wrote a paper about it for Treasure Mountain Canada 2020. (You can access the paper and accompanying photo essay here.) (I also recorded my paper and was interviewed by Alanna King for the Read Into This podcast. The episodes can be found here and here.)

Once again.... bins, bags, boxes. 
Different maker provocations could be bundled up and delivered to classes. 
Perhaps each grade level could explore a different material? Perhaps it's just a box of materials and the invitation to create anything you can think of? Perhaps it's a guided maker project where the students can explore and learn a new skill? Perhaps it's a focus on the process of making and the creation must be deconstructed (like with loose parts) once the making has been completed and documented. 

Pros:
- students get to make stuff
(That's it... in my mind that's the best rationale there is. Students. Get. To. Make. Stuff. 

Cons:
-materials (budget? containers? disinfecting? amounts?)
-always time...


At this point, no one know what the fall might bring in terms of school or in terms of of school library learning commons but I'm hopeful that the magic of the library will still be there. Perhaps in a different form, perhaps in a better form? 
Time will tell.

Do you have an idea for how you might spread the magic of your school library program if/when we return to school? I'd love to hear about it. 


Forward.

Summer is finally here? Or is it?
It's hard to tell this year as we have been home since March. 
But the temperature is hotter and I'm getting less emails so it must be summer break.

I think many educators are feeling a little adrift this year as we settle into summer break. 
Doug Peterson highlighted this blog post by Lisa Corbett on This Week in Ontario EduBlogs

Lisa was writing about the last week of school but I think this description -

"I’m a ship lost at sea this week – meandering here and there with no real aim." 

- applies well to the first week of the summer. 

We haven't had any real routine here at my house. We are halfheartedly attempting to break the reliance on screens built from months of two adults attempting to work with two young children in the house. We are trying to get outside every day but it's HOT. We need to clean, tidy, organize and straighten all the makeshift works spaces and craft areas that have sprung up. 

But we haven't. Not really.

For the last two weeks I have taken part in the #QuarantineEd chat on Thursday night hosted by Matthew R. Morris and Jay Williams. Both discussions were open, honest and thought provoking. Last night's was interesting as the topic was supposed to center around summer plans but one participant asked an amazing question- 

"Do you think people will burn out or tire of anti-racist education?" 

(I'm paraphrasing and convinced their wording was better than mine. That was the gist.)

Wow. 

So many people shared honest concerns- that'll be worksheet-ified, that it will become something on a checklist to say we've covered it, that people won't see their place in the system and won't do the work, that people will find excuses not to do the work.

A big takeaway from last night for me was-

“You can only meet people as deeply as they have met themselves”

Which means as an educator it is my job to meet myself as deeply as possible. 
To look inwards, to reflect on my place of privilege, to consider my role in past wrongs, to unlearn and re-educate myself, to name and disrupt racism when and where it occurs in my sphere of influence. 

Doug also shared a blog post by Amanda Potts on This Week in Ontario EduBlogs and although I missed the broadcast of the show on Wednesday, reading the blog post really spoke to me. 

Is what I am doing enough? 

Is it enough to read and unlearn? Is it enough to listen and try to understand my role and to do better?
Is it enough to discuss my new learning with other educators and those is my life?
Is it enough to advocate for more books by Black and Indigenous authors for the library collection? To advocate for more diverse authors and illustrators that represent the tapestry of our world?
  To advocate for more books with diverse characters? 

I don't know.


I do know that I will keep reading, I will keep listening, 
I will keep discussing, I will keep learning, and I will keep advocating.

At first I thought picking my own word for July would be difficult given that
 I only picked June's word 13 days ago.
 I know that I originally posted that I might just keep unlearn for two months. 

But I want to be intentional in my own reflections and I want to stay committed to my goal of choosing one word each month for 2020.

Forward. 

July's word is connected to June's word... 

Unlearn. Forward.


As a white woman I recognize that my journey will be unending. 
I will be working every day to acknowledge what I don't know, 
to learn what I don't know, to de-centre myself, to do the WORK every day.

To learn forward. 
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