#IReadCanadian #NowMoreThanEver Celebrate on February 17, 2021.

 

I was asked to volunteer with the #IReadCanadian committee this year and I happily agreed. Last year, my Grade 7 students did a great job as the IRC media campaign organizers for our school. We excitedly promoted IRC Day in our school community and we used the #IReadCanadian hashtag to share our activities across social media platforms.  

This is the second year that we are celebrating Canadian children's literature with IRC Day. The goal is to raise awareness of our amazing Canadian identity by reading a Canadian book for 15 minutes on February 17th. It's a great opportunity to grow our readers!

This year, I have given more time to the promotion of IRC day.  I helped to update the toolkit for educators and librarians on  https://ireadcanadian.com/day/  I joined forces with my Barrie Public Librarian, to complete the proclamation request. The City of Barrie will now proclaim IRC Day on February 17th!  We hope other municipalities will also proclaim IRC day!!

As a fledgling celebration, we are work with no official funding sources. We rely on the generosity of volunteers through several reading advocacy organizations.  I decided to ask the Barrie Rotary group if they could fund the creation of IRC flags that will be raised throughout the month of February. Gratefully, I received a Yes, to my proposal. Our local Flags Unlimited, created our first batch of flags. They are  3'x6 ' and will be delivered to schools, libraries and organizations to help celebrate the day.

My favourite part of the IRC Day planning was the chance to connect and collaborate with other reading advocates across the country.  Our celebrations may be online this year but I think we will have more participation than last year. 

Thanks to Eric Walters for the inspiration and the invite!  Don't forget to pick up a Canadian read for February 17th!

#Reading #Books#CanLit #KidLit #ForestOfReading #NowMoreThanEver #IReadCanadian @kidsbookcentre @ontariolibraryassociation @communication_jeunesse @ericwaltersauthor @orcabook @accesscopyright @TellingTalesOrg @IReadCanadian  Ontario Library Association, Canadian Children's Books Centre, Canadian School Libraries, Canadian 

TVO Ambassador role @TVO #TVOMPower @maureenasselin

I accepted a part-time position with the educational organization, TVO. I am an ambassador for their digital platforms. It is easy to promote these educational materials because they are of high quality and were designed to support Ontario students. I have enjoyed meeting and working online with other TVO ambassadors.  I especially enjoy working with Maureen Asselin as she is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable leader;)

I am making presentations virtually all across Ontario. I've noticed a few things about virtual classes and their learners. I have really enjoyed hearing and seeing the students as I show them how to use the TVO math programs. Kindergarten students are capable of the technical requirements of logging into mPower and they ask thoughtful questions. I've enjoyed seeing how capable and excited the students are to learn new skills. Parents and teachers are true partners in children's learning in these classes.  It is great to see the teamwork. The teachers I have been working with are handling these difficult teaching times with grace and enthusiasm. 

We are all learning together and I'm glad that I can help students to engage in their learning this year. 

All of the digital resources can be accessed here: TVO Education Tools. 

Wow Retirement!!

I have happily retired from my teaching role with the Simcoe County District School Board after 28 years. 

Here's a summary of my time:
28 years of service
18 principals
9 schools
9 AQ courses and M.Ed.
3 countries
Countless memories with kids and colleagues!

I hope to use my experience and skills in a different line of work. I look forward to the change of pace, change of location and new challenges!

Pandemic Ponderings

I've been thinking a lot about how I ended my 28th year of teaching. It was certainly a new experience-as a distance teacher.  I actually enjoyed the learning of and using of new digital tools and the communication with the families that were able to participate, were quite positive. I did not enjoy wondering how my non-participating students were doing. I usually learn so much about my students by looking into their eyes as a check-in.  For many of my students that daily check-in ended back in March. I was tired of the whole thing by June and luckily for me I still had some interested students who kept me motivated until the end of June. I really missed my colleagues too!

Now, I am wondering how I will I be able to engage my students in September? There are so many questions about how it's going to work or will it?  Sitting in rows, no sharing of resources (math manipulatives, art supplies, computers??) No rotary, clubs, most sports, singing, no socializing during recess or lunches. If they only have one teacher per day that also changes expectations. There's no variety or change so it will be a challenge. How do we help kids learn math without physically being over their shoulder when they're working on something new? Everything, from where I will eat lunch, use the washroom or even how I will drink water will require extra thinking.

 I know students will be disappointed about the lack of social interaction and the use of masks will diminish the opportunity to have meaningful discussions. The way students will learn in our COVID classes and the way I teach will be very different!  I hope I can summon the creativity to find ways to engage students. I hope we can still learn together without the interaction that we all expect and demand when learning.

Every year I learn from my students and this year will be no exception.  I am anxious to figure out the learning but I guess I will not be able to prepare ahead of time.  My teaching assignment is unknown at this time and my working conditions will be dramatically different. We will all have to learn together!!

The Role of a Teacher-Librarian

As the New Year approaches here in Vietnam called Tet I have begun to reflect on the time I have left here at the Canadian International School in Ho Chi Minh City. I will return to Canada in June.

 
I have truly enjoyed my teaching time here in Vietnam.  I am appreciated and valued by colleagues, administrators and especially the students. I received a Merry Christmas email from a student while on holidays so I know that I'm making an impact.

Here's what I hope to achieve by the end of the school year.

• help the new incoming Teacher-Librarian get situated and teamed up with the amazing library colleagues I have here before I leave.
• run successful Red Maple and Silver Birch teams of readers
• initiate a small Battle of the Books team in HCMC with other international schools to promote reading
• encourage students to develop a digital portfolio to showcase their great learning 
• encourage teachers to create a professional digital presence for future career options

We will see how it goes!!

Year 2 at the Canadian International School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

There are many advantages of working at a school two years in a row:

1. Names!
I love the fact that I know the names of many of our students by name.  I see 450 students in a week and I would normally know their names by now but here in Vietnam many students have the same last name like Nguyen (pronounced Win) or Tran.  Students also go by two names here.  They have an English name that they choose to use while at school ( and they can change it whenever they wish) and they also have their given name.  Sometimes I know their preferred name but don't always know thier given name.  sometimes I know their given and preferred name but have not been able to successfully pronounce it!  Attendance when covering a class can be a challenge as I really want to pronounce each students' name correctly.
I also have learned several names in the many departments and we have developed some positive relationships in the marketing, purchasing and IT departments that are making my job much easier this year....
Luckily, Phuong my library assistant, is here and she is an amazing translator and communicator of our crazy ideas in the library learning commons!
As we teachers cycle in for two year stints I had to say goodbye to my elementary teacher-librarian partner, Karen in June. She was a great mentor for me last year as she helped me learn the procedures and policies that are unique to CIS school and to Vietnam. Thankfully she was replaced by Claire who has learned the job quickly!  She is an enthusiastic and a positive force!

2. Connections Around the City
Our VP Andrew has been part of team of other international school administrators that have been working hard to have us connect for social and professional goals.  I am looking forward to the November PD day where I will be working with other Teacher -Librarians from 6 other international schools.  I know we wil learn a lot from each other.

3. PD through Twitter
I have been able to keep up on professional news from home and away via Twitter just as I had when I was at home.  The 12 hour difference has made it challenging to participate in some chats (there is one called #pubpdasia) but technology such as Flipgrid has provided a great solution to connecting classes and teachers.  We are really trying to enhance our global literacies.

4. ELL is so interesting!
I am learning so much more about the way the Vietnamese language is spoken and learning how to create resources that are both mirrors and windows for our students here.  For example I have highlighted the Orca sounding books and encouraged our ELLs to read them as quick reads.  I am also gaining insight into the structure of the Vietnamese language as I see similar patterns in their English writing. I did not really understand the struggle some of our students face last year that I do now.  I think living in a country where you cannot speak the dominant language has been a real learning opportunity for me.

5. I have been getting more and more students to read!
I love that I have more books and because I know the students better this year I can better match the book to the students.  I decided to genrefy the small Senior Fiction collection and I think it helped me to weed out irrelevant books and it's now helping students to find books that interest them. Students are asking me for suggestions more and more which is exactly why I am here!

Life is busy and I feel like I'm making a positive contribution!

Teaching at an International School

This year I accepted a post at the Canadian International School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
My husband and I packed up our life in Barrie, Ontario and have settled here in Vietnam for the next two years.

I  am the Grade 7-12 Teacher-Librarian for approximately 400 students in our K-12 school.  We teach the Ontario curriculum to mostly Vietnamese students who plan to attend post secondary school in Canada or other English speaking countries.

We only have a few weeks left til the end of year and I have a few reflections:

I am having my best year yet as I close out my 26th year of teaching!
The students, my colleagues and the administration here are team oriented and want to the best for kids. Vietnam has a Teacher Day and being a teacher in Vietnam is a well respected position. So I am feeling valued, appreciated and useful here!  I have been able to co-teach with most of the high school teachers which has been rewarding and look forward to making some cross panel collaboration next year.

We have started the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading program here at CIS.  Over 400 students read books from the Blue Spruce, Silver Birch and Red Maple nominated titles.  Our hope was to create excitement around reading and to introduce our students to Canadian authors.  It was a big success and something we will do again.  We are one of a dozen schools who participated in the Ontario based reading program while being outside of Canada!  We connected with several of the authors via Twitter and email and it really helped our students get excited about their reading.
We also were able to invite one of the nominees Helaine Becker to our school to speak to the students.  Most of the students had never met an author before and it created a lot of excitement.

I'm not finished learning!
I added the role of Extended Essay coordinator of the IB diploma program to my professional learning this year.  It has been great to connect with other EE supervisors and coordinators from other schools and I enjoy helping the students to find the resources they need. It fits with the role of a TL perfectly and the IB world is a whole new teaching opportunity for me.

I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to have a career where I can try new challenges!