Place-based teaching and learning in SD61
Questions for you:
Get the link to this Canva Infographic here. You may use this as a template and edit to suit your personal learning goals!
In minute 3:37 of Sandra Averill’s overview of the BC K-9 ADST curriculum, I hear something that clicks into place for me:
“My concern is that we will take a traditional approach to this non-traditional curriculum.” (3:37, Averill)
Unlike traditional models of teaching, ADST is not intended to be a unit that we begin and complete. Instead, it is a model of thinking and learning that is woven throughout the curricula. The moment we apply constraints to the ADST process, we are limiting and moving away from the purpose of exploration, individualized learning, collaborative design, and growth mindset.
Sandra describes the ideal ADST process as “meeting the same learning outcomes, but arriving there through different materials.” (7:40, Averill)
Immersion, problem-solving, creating, big-picture thinking, uncharted territory, expeditionary learning, inquiry, context, life-improving, inspirational, stages of a project, skills for life… these key words help to define how ADST can transform the idea of what it means to be a teacher and a student in the 21st century. It starts with a problem and moves almost immediately into several questions to help define and meet that problem.
“I feel that schools shouldn’t just be about learning about problems, I think they should be about solving them. Because, if you aren’t learning about solving problems, then what will you do when you’re out of school?” – Liva Pierce, King Middle School, Maine School Engages Kids With Problem-Solving Challenges
As students move on to future grades, they may forget the particulars of the content they have been taught. That is to-be-expected. We retain what is relevant, interesting, and useful to us. What does not go away are the life skills: communicating with others, defining and tackling a problem, approaching an unknown with curiosity and wonder.
Imagine the products of an educational system that focussed on life skills over content, relevancy over ease-of-delivery, inspiring and empowering students to follow their passions over the more traditional “sage-on-the-stage” method of delivering content.
I’m curious, what is preventing more teachers and schools from adopting the problem-solving approach to learning? How can those barriers be addressed by the school librarian?
References:
Applied Design Skills and Technologies K-9, published by Sandra Averill through Issuu.com on Oct 22, 2017
ADST Design Thinking K-9, uploaded by Sandra Averill through Vimeo.com on March 24, 2020
Maine School Engages Kids With Problem-Solving Challenges, a PBS NewsHour piece on Youtube, uploaded on May 6, 2013
Exploring integrating SAMR into the classroom? Here are three resources I have found to be most helpful, accessible, and critical of the process:
A full break-down of SAMR in the classroom, with suggestions and ideas for implementation: https://www.edutopia.org/article/powerful-model-understanding-good-tech-integration
A critical look with some excellent questions to ask yourself: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-10-18-what-the-samr-model-may-be-missing
Lesson inspiration, critical questions, and scaffolded ideas: https://www.emergingedtech.com/2015/04/examples-of-transforming-lessons-through-samr/
SAMR: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition. This model, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, helps guide teachers into using technology to both enhance and transform their classrooms towards 21st century digital integration. I see it every day in my district (SD61):
In the library, the implementation of SAMR is also visible:
If you would like a fun project to do with your students, in the classroom or library, I’ve created the Time Capsule activity below as a fun way to kick off the year with identity exploration, reflection, goal-setting, and creative expression. This would be so fun to re-open at the end of the year!
What are some ways your library technology fits the SAMR model?
It’s Summer 2021 and I’m just kicking off my last two of five online courses towards a certificate in Teacher Librarianship (TL-ship) from Queen’s University. It’s been a journey of nearly no days off since January 2021, of forum posts and interviews with TLs in my district, of Boolean operators and graphic design, of networking and eagerly testing out the role as a Teacher-On-Call in SD61: Greater Victoria.
Along the way, I’ve discovered that this might be my dream job.
Now, I get a lot of sniggers when I say that to folks I meet. And I can understand why… close your eyes and conjure up a teacher librarian. What do you see? What are some words that come to mind to describe a librarian?
I’m happy to be joining the ranks of folks who are out to break those stereotypes and transform both the role of the School Library and perception towards Teacher Librarians into something more dynamic than the old scan-in-scan-out hat & trick. For starters, I’m exploring what it means to be the school’s tech lead. Teachers and students don’t just need books. They need digital resources, spaces to create digital artifacts, tools for exploring and playing with tech, and someone who has the savvy to troubleshoot and offer recommendations.
Basically, my job over the next couple of months is to play around with tech, pore over the curriculum, read lots of books, network with teachers, find and beta-test new curricular resources, prototype and build gizmos, and subscribe to librarianship resources…. aka, AWESOME! Yup, that’s 100% my idea of fun.
I’ll be testing things out and sharing my experiences and findings into the wide world. Let this be a sort of scientific journal of the journey into Teacher Librarianship.
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