Sertic's Library Musings

My Learning Journey and Final Vision Project Throughout my journey in LIBE 477, I have learned more than I could have imagined.  It began with rethinking what a 21st Century classroom looks like due to reading the Why School ebook: Shift from content mastery to learning mastery Rethinking assessment (less about regurgitation of information, more about critical thinking) Focus on discovering rather than delivering the curriculum Learning with our students (demonstrating what learning looks like) Learning from each other and experts Less paper and pencil tasks and more creating and publishing for others ...all of which help develop the following:  Next, came my learning from my chosen topic for the Reading Review - how digital technologies can promote collaboration: Justification for using digital tech: And how this benefits teachers and student learning:  Lastly, through several inquiry projects, I learned that I can ta...

LIBE 477 - Final Vision Project: Learner Considerations I know when I first began my training to become a teacher, one of my sponsor teachers passed along these wise words: “Why reinvent the wheel when you can learn from others who have already figured it out?”  There are so many seasoned teachers out there, why wouldn’t we ask them for help with resources, lesson planning, worksheets, methods of dealing with differentiation, and the list goes on? Now, with the advent of new technologies, the same holds true.  Ask those who “know”.  Several years back, technology was obviously becoming a focus in our district with the outfitting of iPads and Chromebooks into schools, district licencing of the G-Suites for education apps, and many professional development opportunities.  I felt nervous and overwhelmed in learning these new technologies, and I know I wasn’t the only one.  Fortunately for me, I have a tech-savvy husband who guided me through troubleshooting ...

LIBE 477: Final Vision Project: Design Considerations What to Do? Where to Begin?  My Process. As I began contemplating where to go with my learning and what to focus on for my Future Vision Project, I knew immediately I wanted to focus on something I could use and share with my colleagues as a classroom teacher to promote 21st century learning and something I could share and use as a future teacher-librarian.  By reading Why School: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere and doing my reading review research, I’ve learned about the importance of teaching in a manner that promotes learning to learn rather than content collection.  With the onslaught of technology, education is no longer something that needs to be delivered.  Students need to be taught how to be self directed, literate, organized, to make sense of people and information online, how to connect and build relationships online in a safe, ethical and effective manner, an...

LIBE 477: Reflection On My Learning  Wow, these last few weeks have flown by!  With the phase two inquiries we had to complete, I have learned so much; not only about the topics, but about myself as a learner and what I’m capable of. In terms of the topics we looked into, my key takeaways were: Developing a reading culture in schools and classrooms can be done in so many creative ways.   There isn’t one single answer.  What excites me about this is I can take what interests me, what excites me, and pass this along to my students.  Hopefully, my passion for creating this reading culture, will “rub off” on my students. Professional learning doesn’t have to be a solo activity .   Learning about ICT, teaching practices, librarianship, anything education related really, is better done when there is more than one person involved.  By sharing our knowledge (ideas, what went well, what did not, etc), we aren’t overwhelmed with the tremendous ta...