October 26, 2022 • 35 mins
Find out how you can get access to teaching resources at Queen's University's library, what is available to you as a teacher at public libraries and more in our latest podcast!
October is library month in Canada - with the theme: one card one million possibilities. We were lucky to have a chance to talk with two different librarians this week - Kristen Lemay, Acting Manager, Programming and Outreach, from the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, and Brenda Reed, Head Education Librarian at Queen's.
Resources
- Kingston Public Library Events Calendar
- KFPL Teen Reviews
- KFPL Volunteering at the Library
- Sign up for KFPL's newsletter
- Forest of Reading
- Peggy Collins - Harley the Hero
- education.library@queensu.ca - email to get a Queen's Education Library Card
- Queen's Education University Library Research Guide
- Queen's Education University Library
Kristen Lemay's Bio
Kristen Lemay is a librarian with the Kingston Frontenac Public Library. She is currently the Acting Manager, Programming and Outreach. She works with a programming team of librarians and programming assistants to bring programs and awareness of library services to the community.
Brenda Reed's Bio
Brenda is the Head Education Librarian at Queen’s University Library where she has worked for over 20 years. Before moving to Kingston, Brenda grew up in Gander Newfoundland, went to Western University in London, worked at St. Mary’s University Library in Halifax and Bishop’s College School Library in Lennoxville, and then at Queen’s Education Library ever since.
As an Education Librarian Brenda gets to work with people who are dedicated to teaching, learning, and research, from teacher candidates to graduate and faculty researchers. This means that every day is full of learning and sharing and the challenges that come with figuring things out – which really works for Brenda since she loves persisting to try to get to the end of a puzzle. Coming to work every day is pure joy – what other job lets you come in the front door and be greeted by a wall of brand new books – every one of which you’d like to read! – and then work with a team of colleagues all day who are passionate about learning and especially reading. It’s a dream job for sure.
For the past 10 years or so Brenda has also served on the Silver Birch Express Steering Committee and is excited to be Co-Chairing that Committee again this year – check out the Forest of Reading book lists that were released last Friday – you’ve got a winter reading list for K-12 right there!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Talking about innovation inteaching and education.
Popular para discussions thatare topical in sometimes
philosophical, popular, popular.
Welcome to our October podcast.
October brings us so manyamazing events to celebrate both
(00:24):
in nature and in ourcommunities.
Today we are going to focus onone celebration that I get
excited about and personallyknow the importance of, and that
is Ontario Public Library Week.
This year.
The celebration runs fromOctober 16th to the 22nd and has
the impressive motto this yearof one card.
1 million possibilities.
(00:46):
I just love that phrase and havewitnessed the power of it.
We can have the key to thiswonderful world of literacy with
one small library card.
How cool and powerful is that?
I am excited to be speaking withKristin Oay and Brenda Reid
today, who are both librarianshere in Kingston, and the great
thing is that I don't even haveto be quiet.
(01:13):
I'd like to introduce our firstguest to our podcast today, and
that is Queens alumni and locallibrarian extraordinaire.
Kristin Lame.
Welcome to our podcast, Kristin.
Oh, thank you for having me inthis morning.
It's really great to chat.
And as we were just saying, it'sa sunny day out.
So we've got that, uh, wonderfulbackdrop as well.
(01:34):
Um, Kristin, you are a librarianwith the Kingston Front Act
Public Library and are currentlythe acting manager programming
and outreach for the library,uh, which is impressive in
itself.
But can you tell us a little bitabout your path, uh, to this
important position?
Absolutely.
So I'm very happy to be with theKingston Front Act Public
(01:56):
Library as a librarian.
Uh, I actually started out at,uh, Queens University as an
undergraduate and a graduatestudent.
I was here studying Englishliterature, so I'm very familiar
with the Queens campus and Ithink it's a wonderful place to.
I agree.
Uh, ultimately I decided to gointo librarianship and I later
(02:18):
completed my Master of Libraryand Information Science at
Western.
So I traveled across theprovince, um, got that training
and have since worked ingovernment, academic, and public
libraries.
And in these librarian roles,I've had the opportunity to
teach elementary students,undergraduate students, and even
(02:39):
give workshops to teachers andother library workers as a
public librarian.
I have had some specializedroles.
I've worked in digital services,children's services, teen and
new adult services, and I've hadmanagerial roles overseeing
program.
I really enjoyed living inKingston as a queen student.
(03:01):
So when a job opportunity at K FP L came up, I was really
excited to come back.
And we are very excited that youdid come back.
Um, I went on to the yourlibrary website, um, over the
past week, and I was soimpressed with your programming
and outreach schedule events.
(03:22):
Uh, it's endless and, and soexciting.
Uh, I went on to the October,uh, schedule and it seemed like
every single day.
There was something to beengaged with, whether it was a
community event or a guestspeaker.
I mean, there was poetry, therewas coding and tech.
It, it was just so exciting tolook at that as a teacher and a
(03:42):
community member.
Um, can you just give us a quickhighlight of a few of the
incredible events you hold forour community?
Absolutely.
So we run programs for patronsof all ages.
We have early years programmingthat follows the every child
ready to read principles.
So we're encouraging children totalk, sing, read, write, play,
(04:04):
to develop the.
Develop those early literacyskills.
Uh, today, for example, we havesome rhythm and rhyme programs
that we're holding at varioussites throughout the city where
we are not only sharing stories,but we're singing, we're doing
rhymes.
Uh, making a really fun forchildren to develop those
skills.
(04:26):
We also run maker programs outof the create space at the
central branch, and that's aspace where we have a 3D
printer, an embroidery machine,a cricket maker, and much more.
And this week we've been holdingseveral drop in tours, so people
who are coming out for advancedvoting can swing by the create
space and learn a little bitmore about what we have in.
(04:49):
And as you say, if you take alook at our online events
calendar, you will see that wehave a variety of presentations
and hands on learningexperiences for people.
And you may even see us out inthe community.
We're out at county fairs, we'reat swim parks, movie nights in
Springer, Market Square, andother special events where the
(05:12):
community gathers.
We really love interacting withpeople both in and outside of
our branche.
It, and again, just it soundsincredible and, and like you
say, it's, there's just so mucheverybody can get involved.
The one that I saw, and I, Ithink it's passed, but there was
a chat and learn from newcomeryouth and I thought, what an
(05:33):
incredible opportunity formyself, but also for my
students.
To be able to interact, and Ithink it was one on one with,
with newcomers to Canada andhear about their stories, their
experiences, and, and createthat community that is so
important that, that what abrilliant idea.
So thank you so much for, fordoing those type of things.
Um, one of my favoriteexperiences as a teacher was
(05:56):
when I took 35 grade seven,eight students to our community
library.
Now, at first I thought thelibrarian was gonna be, uh, uh,
a little, uh, Nervous abouthaving that many kids all at
once.
But I tell you, um, thelibrarian set up a program where
we were able to get, um, librarycards, uh, pre-approved so that
(06:19):
when I arrived, she handed outevery single student a library
card and.
Kristen.
Out of the 35 kids that I had, Iwould say probably 30 of them,
This was the first time they'dever held a library card in
their hand, which was soexciting to me as a teacher, and
so exciting for them as studentsand for their parents as well.
(06:41):
And this was all organized bythe library.
I all.
Brought my kids on the bus,walked over there, and this was
all arranged for us.
And coming out of that library,the sense of excitement and, and
the wonderment of what washappening, uh, was just, was so
raw and it was so exciting.
So what are the, some, someother ways that teachers can
(07:02):
engage with libraries that arein their communi.
Oh, well, you know, I think thatyou've hit on the most important
thing that teachers can bedoing, which is connecting with
library staff about bringingyour students in for visits.
Depending on the library system,you may have some choices in
terms of what the visit willlook like.
Some libraries offer storytimes, tours, and specialized
(07:27):
classes, and we definitelyencourage you to get your class
library card.
Some of your students may befrequent visitors to the
library, but there will beothers who have no idea how a
public library works and whatthey can borrow, uh, which seems
to be the experience that youhad with your class where so
many this was their firstinteraction with the library.
(07:49):
And certainly whenever we doclass visits, we see the
children's eyes light up whenthey learned that we land out
video games.
So bringing your classes intothe library, that's, it's such
an important way that you canfoster those literacy skills and
a desire for lifelong learning.
(08:09):
If you're a teacher at asecondary school, you can ask
your library about volunteeropportunities for your students.
Many library systems have youthadvisory committees where teens
are in volunteer hours forgiving their feedback about
programs and books that thelibraries should consider
running or purchasing for teams.
(08:32):
Um, and at K F P L we have anadvisory committee.
We have a reading buddiesprogram.
We have a review board.
Members of the teen review boardearn hours for submitting short
reviews about folks, music,movies, and games in our
collection.
And then we publish thosereviews to the website, the team
(08:52):
page, so that.
Peers can see what the libraryhas and what other teens are
getting excited about, toencourage them to come in and
also borrow these materials.
Um, and one of, Oh, go ahead.
No, and, and, sorry, I didn'tmean to interrupt you there,
Kristen.
I, I had totally forgotten aboutthat volunteer connection, the
(09:14):
ability to actually volunteerand what that might lead to.
Uh, not only a love of reading,but the leading into different
career paths that, that, thatare available through that.
So thank you for mentioningthat.
Yes, absolutely.
So if someone wants to go intothe library field, that's
fantastic.
But these volunteeropportunities also develop
(09:34):
leadership skills, writingskills, project management
skills.
So there are so many differentpaths that come come out of an
opportunity like that.
And looking ahead to June.
Uh, as you are probably aware,students experience learning
loss over the summer, enrollingyour students in summer reading
clubs.
(09:55):
That's a wonderful way toencourage your students to keep
up their literacy skills.
So you can talk to yourprincipal about having a library
come in to give a presentationfor the school or for individual
classes.
And if you're able to integratethat tracking of your classes,
reading into your lesson plansin June, you'll be helping your
(10:16):
students set reading habits forthe summer that will make them
success.
And everything you were talkingabout, Kristen, is things that
teachers want to do.
And, and by letting you be partof that process, it just makes
it that much easier for theteacher or more accessible, um,
because unfortunately, a lot ofschools don't have that library
(10:38):
connection in their own schoolsanymore.
So we need to reach out to ourcommunity and find ways that we
can still be engaged in thatprocess.
Uh, just, I get so excited andI, I, I'm so excited to get back
into the classroom.
Um, you've sort of answered the,the next question that we had or
what are the, some ways of the,of, uh, K F P L engages with
(10:58):
schools and, and you talkedabout that, that, uh, being able
to beep.
Participating in the actualdecision making in the library,
which to me, that student voice,student choice, that power, uh,
is being transferred over toyounger kids, which we often
don't think about when we thinkabout libraries.
We think of them about bigconglomerates that just sort of
(11:20):
churn on.
But we, we can have a say inthis process and we can have a
big impact on it as well, whichis so important to the
community.
Absolutely.
So when we're planning program.
And buying books, DVDs, gamesfor the collection.
We want people to come to theprograms.
We want them to borrow thesematerials.
(11:42):
So if we're able to hear fromyouth what they're interested
in, I think that uh, bothparties are going to get what
they want, right.
It, it's, it's one of thosethings we've, we've got to use
these resources, uh, becausethere's been so much effort and
time and, and expenditure to getthem.
We, we need them in the, uh, toincorporate them into our
(12:04):
classroom activities.
Um, Chris, and thank you so muchfor taking the time out of your
busy schedule to speak with usand, and to motivate us to visit
our local libraries again.
Um, if you could give, and thisis a, a question I always ask at
the end, if you could give onepiece of advice.
To a new teacher or a teacherthat just hasn't had the
opportunity to work with theirLO local librarians and library,
(12:27):
what would it be?
Just something that they cansink their teeth in and get
started.
Oh, well, I always encouragepeople to come in, visit the
spaces, talk to library staff,but if you are looking for a
first step that you can do, Takea look at your local library's
website and see if they have anewsletter that you can sign up
(12:48):
for.
So in our newsletters we talkabout upcoming programs, we talk
about new releases, excitingthings happening in the library.
So that's a great first step tofamiliarize yourself with what.
Your class might be interestedin taking a look at, and even if
you can't be bringing them tothose Saturday programs, you can
(13:10):
let them know that they exist sothat there is learning happening
outside of the classroom aswell.
I absolutely love that ideabecause we're always looking for
that home connection as well.
Taking the learning outside ofthe classroom and what a great
opportunity to, to get theminvolved in something, uh, that,
as you said, that will be alifelong passion for a lot of
(13:32):
people.
Kristen, thank you so much.
I really appreciate you comingon to the podcast, and we'll be
providing additional informationabout the Kingston Front knack
public library, um, uh, throughour website as well.
So thank you so much, Kristen.
Thank you very much.
And I encourage all of yourteachers to come out to the
library and sign up for the veryown library cards.
(13:54):
I hope they do.
Our next guest to the podcasthas played an important part in
my own science and technologycurriculum development here at
Queens University and someonewho I get excited seeing every
time I'm at the faculty ofeducation.
Brenda Reed has been our headeducational librarian here at
(14:15):
Queens University for the past20 years, and I'm in very
excited to have her at thepodcast here today.
Welcome, Brenda.
Thank you so much, Chris.
I'm excited to be here.
Brenda, every time I see you,and I'm not exaggerating, you
have a smile on your face andbooks in your hand and you're
excited.
It's like it's Christmas time.
(14:36):
Every time I see you and youshow me these new, whatever new
is new is in the library.
And as I always look forward tothat, um, can you give us a
quick glimpse into your path tothis position?
And why it's so exciting foryou.
And the only reason I say quickis that I know when you and I
start talking about books, timeseems to fly really quickly.
(14:58):
Yes, Chris?
Um, I am in the dream job forsure.
I mean, in this building ofMacArthur Hall where we have the
faculty of Education, everybodywho works here feels like we are
just at the heart of thebuilding, and we are the
luckiest people here because weget to come in the front doors
every day and just be greetedby, um, Shelves of new books and
(15:21):
who wouldn't want that position?
So to get to this position, itwas a really fortuitous path for
me because I went to, um,Western and did a teaching
degree there.
But it was during the years whenit was very difficult to find a
teaching position.
So I ended up moving to Halifaxand working in a library that I
(15:45):
loved.
So I went back to Western anddid a library and information
sciences degree and changedcourse.
Then I ended up moving toLennox, where again, very hard
to find a position, especiallybecause I didn't speak French,
but I ended up in a schoollibrary that I just loved, and I
stayed there for about eightyears.
(16:07):
Moved to Kingston.
And at the time there was anevening position available in
this library.
I ended up sharing it withanother librarian, Donna Lynch,
who I've worked with for manyyears.
And too many local teachers willremember from our teacher, uh,
resource center here inMacArthur.
Uh, and that position ended upbecoming a full-time position.
(16:29):
So just luck.
Luck and changing paths.
Bid weight through.
Maybe luck, but we are sofortunate to have you in this
position and being able to workwith you here at Queens
University.
Um, you talk about your, yourpast when you were a, um, a, a,
a school librarian, and Iremember when that's, that's
(16:52):
horrible.
It seems like I'm dating myself.
I remember when, uh, thelimestone schools had libraries
and the librarian was such animportant.
Of my teaching pedagogy, I wouldget excited.
Every new unit, I would just godown to the library and say,
This was what I'm teaching andI'd get this, this treasure
trove of resources brought intomy classroom.
(17:14):
And it was one of the favoritetimes of, uh, uh, my teaching
when I was co-teaching with thelibrarian, uh, which is such an
exciting.
It is.
And Chris, there are teacherlibrarians all across Canada
encouraging governments toconsider the role of teacher
librarians and to bring backthat role into all of our
(17:36):
schools across Canada.
Um, not all parts of Ontariohave the luxury of having
teacher librarians in theirschools.
Um, and that's a realdiscrepancy and a real, um, lack
of equality across our provincefor.
And I would love to have that asa podcast topic with you all by
itself, because as it is awonderful topic and something
(17:59):
that we definitely need to bringlight to as well.
So, um, now Brenda, for the past10 years, uh, you've served on
the Silver Birch ExpressSteering Committee.
And we'll be co-chairing thecommittee again this year, which
is exciting.
You mentioned that the Forest ofReading books list will be
release was released last Fridayactually to me, didn't you?
(18:20):
And, and that gives teachers,students, and everyone a great
winter reading list.
This is Canada's largestrecreational reading program,
celebrating Canadian books,authors illustrators, and
publishers.
So my question to you and forour listeners, why should
teachers get excited andinvolved in.
Forest of Reading program.
(18:41):
I love talking about the Forestof Reading program, Chris, and
I've met already with all of ourprimary junior teacher
candidates here to share theforest of reading and what it
is, and.
In a nutshell, the forest ofreading is a huge, um, promotion
of Canadian authors, Canadianbooks for the purpose of
(19:05):
encouraging children to justlove reading.
It's all about.
The joy of reading.
It's not about studying books,um, taking books apart to look
at, um, sentences or anythinglike that.
It's 10 books, um, selected fordifferent age ranges.
And because it's a forest, allof the programs within the
(19:26):
forest have tree names.
So, The best part of teachingabout the forest now is that
teacher candidates coming toQueens now typically have
participated in the forest whenthey were in school in Ontario.
The program started in Ontario,so we have the blue spruce is
for the greats catered two, andthen there's a silver Birge
(19:47):
Express and fiction, but yellowcedar.
Nonfiction.
And then for the high school,there's a grade seven, eight Red
Mabel.
And um, the upper years have theWhite Pine Award.
So every year volunteer teachersand teacher librarians select 10
books for each of those awards.
The books are.
(20:08):
Titles are released in October,and yes, it's pretty exciting
last Friday to hear what allthose titles are.
And we have actually alreadyreceived all of the books
because Tin Lids is a bookdistributor that, um, many
schools across Ontario youth,it's in Toronto, and they know
about the.
Selections before the releasedate and have boxed sets of
(20:32):
books that they immediatelyshipped out last Friday.
So we are super excited here.
We're getting the books allcataloged.
Um, so the love of reading isthe purpose behind the program,
but of course, many.
Hidden things happen within theumbrella of the love of reading.
One thing that I'm really proudof with the Forest of Reading is
(20:52):
that we're really supporting theCanadian publishing industry,
especially children's authors,and I know that you know that
our Canadian children's authorsare just the best.
There are so many beautifulbooks.
In fact, last year the book thatwon the Blue Spruce Award was
written by.
Local, Peggy Collins, who wrotea book called Harley the Hero,
(21:17):
and this year when I talkedabout the Blue Spruce with
teacher candidates, there was ateacher candidate in a class who
had been in the school whereHarley, he's a service dog, was,
and Peggy Collins had come intothe classroom and read the book
to the students.
So everyth.
Really came together last yearwith the Harley of the Hero
(21:38):
Winner.
It's an awesome book.
And Peggy Collins is anupcoming, um, Canadian author.
She's, um, she's really foundher voice, uh, the forest of
reading is, Uh, used at thefaculty of Education with our
pre-service teacher candidates,both in the PGA program where
it's used in our literacyclasses and the red maple and
(21:59):
white pine books.
Uh, five of those books areselected and teacher candidates
in the intermediate seniorEnglish program create lesson
plans and, um, activities forthe books at the high school
level.
So we're big participants in theforest and Meredith touching who
is.
Brilliant director of theprogram and who has taken it
(22:19):
from an Ontario program to anationwide program.
Um, she has a soft spot forQueens and invites us to the
Festival of Trees, um, to bevolunteers.
And, um, we just are so happy tosupport this reading program.
And, and I love the excitementin your voice and, and when you
(22:39):
talk about it, and I know ourteacher candidates have, have
been well versed and are excitedabout it.
Um, how do we.
Teachers that are in theclassroom right now, how do they
get involved in something likethis?
So all teachers need to do isknow the link to get to the, the
pretty awesome website that theforest has.
If you Google Forest of ReadingOntario, you will find the
(23:02):
website it tells you all aboutthe program, gives you so much
free information.
So teachers will love the openaccess content on this site.
All of the reading lists for allof the years of the program are
available.
What a gold mine for ourCanadian teachers who can look
at that list.
The list.
Go back on.
(23:23):
Well, the Silver Birch is theoldest and it goes way back to
1994, but teachers can look atthose lists and see which book
was selected by the childrenthat year as their favorite
book.
I didn't mention that, butthat's actually one of the other
big parts of this program andwhy it's so successful is that
the winners are selected by thestudents.
It's not an adult selection, andthat's maybe why it's such a
(23:47):
popular program.
So what we know is, uh, theseare the books over the years
that your students have lovedand.
It's just a great way forteachers to find the best read
aloud for younger children.
The best chapter books that, uh,kids wanna read in the junior
grades, and the same with theyoung adult material.
So when teachers go to theForest of Reading website,
(24:09):
they'll see a series of tabs atthe top of the page, and one of
them is registration.
For registering a school, it'ssomewhere around$55, but with
that$55 you can participate inas many programs as you like.
So you could do blue spruce,silver birch could do red maple.
Um, and then as I mentioned,there is an official book
(24:32):
distributor.
It's tin lids.
This year and they sell thebooks as packages.
So you don't have to go in andselect book by book.
You just say, I want the blueSpruce books.
And they'll package up the 10books for the Blue Spruce and
um, send you those books.
If you buy the package, you getlittle blue spruce labels that
you can put on your books and aposter for your classroom.
(24:56):
And as a registrant in theprogram, you get all kinds of
extra perks.
So the steering committee thatI'm on is a team of teachers and
teacher librarians who arecreating, uh, activities, all
kinds of fun materials toaccompany the books.
And those are not open access onthe website.
Those are for registrants only.
(25:19):
And those will be behind apassword for teachers who
register their schools toparticipate.
And they'll get all kinds ofother materials, um, for the
program there too, including theright to vote in the official
vote, which happens in April.
And we find out in May at theFestival of Trees, uh, who the
(25:42):
winners are.
I should give a shout out to CBChere too, Chris, because for the
past few years of the pandemic,the cbc, um, screened the Forest
of Reading winners, and we'll dothat again this year, even
though we're hoping to be inperson at Harbor Front in
Toronto again this year.
Yeah.
It was exciting during the, weneeded some excitement during
(26:03):
the pandemic, so it was, it wasgreat to hear it on CBC as well.
Um, I've been in several schoolsthat have, have registered for
the, uh, Forest of Reading andthe effect it has on the kids,
and it goes back to a sayingthat I love student voice,
student choice, Um mm-hmm.
being able to empower our kidsto be able to.
Pick novels and, and books thatthey're interested in to win
(26:28):
these awards is just phenomenal.
And I think it's just an amazingprogram.
We will be able to attach thewebsites and the links to the
Forest of Reading, um, on ourpodcast site as well, Brenda,
which is exciting.
Um, One of the questions Ialways get from other teachers
is that we know that teachercandidates have access here at
(26:49):
Queens to your services and yourresources, but do classroom
teachers in the Greater Kingstonarea have these amazing
resources available to them aswell through the faculty of
education at Queens University?
Chris, I am so glad that youasked me that because one of our
goals here in the educationlibrary this year is to make
sure that teachers know they areso welcome.
(27:11):
To use this library, we offerany teacher who can come to this
library, a free teacher cardthat is, um, available to them
just by emailing education dotlibrary@queensu.ca.
And I'll give that link to youto add with the others on the
podcast.
Um, we'll get the, um,information we need to create
(27:33):
the Mac card.
and they just come in and theycan borrow anything in this
library.
It might be puppets, it might bethe hands on signs and
technology books.
It might be the latest forest ofreading set.
Um, and more good news.
Last year we stopped chargingfines.
So teachers, there are no fineson our books anymore.
(27:57):
And you are welcome to borrowwhatever you would like.
We're open in the evenings.
We're open after school.
We're open on weekends onSaturday and Sunday afternoon,
and we would love to see youhere.
I'll include my email on thatpodcast page.
Chris and teachers are welcometo email me and ask for, uh, me
(28:20):
to pull some materials for themto take a look at.
We know teachers are very busypeople, and if you'd like 10
things on.
Habits Habitats told for you totake a look at.
I can do that for you.
And, um, you can sign out theones that, that you'd.
Thinking of habitats, I shouldslo mention that we are the home
(28:41):
base for the new, um, museum ina classroom kits.
That's right.
Um, I, I think I heard LindaColgan on one of your podcasts
talking about Yes.
Just astonishing kits.
I, I don't know if you've seenthem, Chris.
These kids have, um, fossils inthem that include things like,
uh, the upper teeth of a step B.
(29:05):
And we're not talking plasticpieces.
These are from this, um, amazingfacility in Trenton, Research
casting International who do,um, World class.
They work with museums all overthe world to produce casts of
fossils.
So these are the mostextraordinary pieces in these
kids and teachers.
(29:27):
We have a junior kit for gradesfour to six and senior kits for,
uh, the upper grades.
They're here and, uh, you'rewelcome to borrow them.
And on our science guides, uh,which are online, we have links
to the digital version of thosetips, which have 3D interactive
versions of the fossils.
It's, it's just extraordinary.
They are amazing.
(29:47):
I had a sneak preview at it and,and such an impressive thing.
So I, I'm hoping that you'reinundated with, uh, Kingston
teachers.
Now we know that in Kingston weare blessed with all of the
resources we have.
But what about teachers who livein other towns and cities that
might be close to otheruniversities?
Um, what can they do to haveaccess to these rich resources
(30:07):
that maybe their, theiruniversities might have?
Or is there a way.
I think that each university hastheir own, um, policies about
sharing outside of theuniversity.
So I'm not clear on that.
But one thing that we're doinghere, Chris, to try to serve
teachers who, um, can use onlyour online resources is to build
(30:31):
subject guides online for everysubject K to 12, and to provide
resources like Bookless.
Open access, high qualityresources from teacher
associations, like linking toanything we find that's high
quality and valuable online to,For example, I'm looking right
(30:52):
now at our page and we have agallery of Islamic Heritage
Resources for teachers.
It's a.
It's a set of probably 20 titlesto celebrate Islamic Heritage
Month, and one of those guidesis an open access Islamic
heritage teacher resource guidefrom the tdsb.
The Toronto District SchoolBoard shares a lot of the such
(31:16):
valuable information that theirteachers put together.
And this is like a 200 page PDFof, um, resources to celebrate
this month.
So that kind of content, when wefind it, we bring it together
and are sharing with teachersthat way.
That's amazing.
And as a, a classroom teacher,I've used the Toronto District
School Board resources nonstop.
(31:38):
It's just an incredible, uh, uh,district to be able to, I mean,
it's the largest there is.
And, and they share resources,which is wonderful.
Uh, so thank you for bringingthat to our attention as well.
Um, I'm gonna have to wrap itup, Brenda, and it is always,
it's just incredible to be ableto talk to you about something
that both you and I arepassionate about.
Um, if you could offer one pieceof advice to new teachers or
(32:02):
teachers that haven't had theopportunity to access services
and resources from, uh, QueensUniversity or any library in the
University library, what wouldit be?
What would be sort of the, theone tidbit that you would give
to those teachers?
Come into your library and don'tbe afraid to.
It, it's so sad that so manypeople come in and I think, feel
(32:24):
afraid of the library.
I know that I felt afraid oflibraries when I was at
university because I didn't knowhow to use them.
But in, um, faculty ofeducation, libraries, your
public library, if you have aschool library, get in and dig
around and make friends with thelibrary in there because for.
We learn from you.
(32:45):
I've learned so much from you,Chris.
And the best part of havingteachers from our local school
boards come in is I learn fromthem all the time.
Andrea Barrow is a local, um,secondary teacher.
She's the equity consultant at LD S D.
I learn from her every time shesteps in here.
Kim Lockhart is, um, working sohard locally, uh, about the
(33:07):
study of.
Ways to teach reading.
I learned from her.
I've purchased probably 20 booksthat she's recommended.
So we learn from you teachers asmuch as we might be able to, um,
share with you.
So don't think that you'reasking for something from us
because we're, um, we'relearning from you and taking
from your wealth of knowledge.
(33:29):
So just take those initialsteps, get into a library, say
hi to your librarian, and, andbe able to be part of this
incredible resource that is ateaching tool that needs to get
out of the library in, into theclassrooms.
Uh, it doesn't do as any goodsitting on the shelves.
Uh, it needs to be used andhandled by the kids and so they
can get excited about thewonderful literacy that's
(33:51):
available to us.
Sounds great.
Chris.
Thank you so much, Brenda.
I so appreciate it and uh, Ihope you are und.
With emails and people justwanting to, uh, get access to,
uh, all of the wonderful thingsthat you guys do at the library.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Chris.
That does it for another episodeof Popular Pedagogy.
(34:13):
Again, thank you to our amazingguests, Kristin LeMay and Brenda
Reed.
I hope that our listeners takethe opportunity to visit your
local library in the near.
And discover this incredibleteacher tool and resources for
themselves.
Josh, as always, where can ourlisteners subscribe to make sure
they don't miss any of ourpopular pedagogy podcasts?
(34:35):
Yeah, you can find this podcaston Apple Podcast, Google
Podcast, Spotify.
The Faculty of Education websiteand, uh, pretty much any other
place you get your podcast.
Please don't forget to check outour Queens University of
Education website and search forpopular pedagogy for additional
resources and information.
Well, that's it from myself,Chris Carlton, and our
(34:57):
incredibly talented andresourceful podcast team of Josh
Fine and Aaron York.
Stay healthy, Stay.
And stay connected, and we willsee you next time for another
episode of Popular Pedagogy.
Talking about innovation inteaching and education.
Popular para discussions thatare topical in sometimes
philosophical, popular, popular.
Welcome to our October podcast.
October brings us so manyamazing events to celebrate both
(00:24):
in nature and in ourcommunities.
Today we are going to focus onone celebration that I get
excited about and personallyknow the importance of, and that
is Ontario Public Library Week.
This year.
The celebration runs fromOctober 16th to the 22nd and has
the impressive motto this yearof one card.
1 million possibilities.
(00:46):
I just love that phrase and havewitnessed the power of it.
We can have the key to thiswonderful world of literacy with
one small library card.
How cool and powerful is that?
I am excited to be speaking withKristin Oay and Brenda Reid
today, who are both librarianshere in Kingston, and the great
thing is that I don't even haveto be quiet.
(01:13):
I'd like to introduce our firstguest to our podcast today, and
that is Queens alumni and locallibrarian extraordinaire.
Kristin Lame.
Welcome to our podcast, Kristin.
Oh, thank you for having me inthis morning.
It's really great to chat.
And as we were just saying, it'sa sunny day out.
So we've got that, uh, wonderfulbackdrop as well.
(01:34):
Um, Kristin, you are a librarianwith the Kingston Front Act
Public Library and are currentlythe acting manager programming
and outreach for the library,uh, which is impressive in
itself.
But can you tell us a little bitabout your path, uh, to this
important position?
Absolutely.
So I'm very happy to be with theKingston Front Act Public
(01:56):
Library as a librarian.
Uh, I actually started out at,uh, Queens University as an
undergraduate and a graduatestudent.
I was here studying Englishliterature, so I'm very familiar
with the Queens campus and Ithink it's a wonderful place to.
I agree.
Uh, ultimately I decided to gointo librarianship and I later
(02:18):
completed my Master of Libraryand Information Science at
Western.
So I traveled across theprovince, um, got that training
and have since worked ingovernment, academic, and public
libraries.
And in these librarian roles,I've had the opportunity to
teach elementary students,undergraduate students, and even
(02:39):
give workshops to teachers andother library workers as a
public librarian.
I have had some specializedroles.
I've worked in digital services,children's services, teen and
new adult services, and I've hadmanagerial roles overseeing
program.
I really enjoyed living inKingston as a queen student.
(03:01):
So when a job opportunity at K FP L came up, I was really
excited to come back.
And we are very excited that youdid come back.
Um, I went on to the yourlibrary website, um, over the
past week, and I was soimpressed with your programming
and outreach schedule events.
(03:22):
Uh, it's endless and, and soexciting.
Uh, I went on to the October,uh, schedule and it seemed like
every single day.
There was something to beengaged with, whether it was a
community event or a guestspeaker.
I mean, there was poetry, therewas coding and tech.
It, it was just so exciting tolook at that as a teacher and a
(03:42):
community member.
Um, can you just give us a quickhighlight of a few of the
incredible events you hold forour community?
Absolutely.
So we run programs for patronsof all ages.
We have early years programmingthat follows the every child
ready to read principles.
So we're encouraging children totalk, sing, read, write, play,
(04:04):
to develop the.
Develop those early literacyskills.
Uh, today, for example, we havesome rhythm and rhyme programs
that we're holding at varioussites throughout the city where
we are not only sharing stories,but we're singing, we're doing
rhymes.
Uh, making a really fun forchildren to develop those
skills.
(04:26):
We also run maker programs outof the create space at the
central branch, and that's aspace where we have a 3D
printer, an embroidery machine,a cricket maker, and much more.
And this week we've been holdingseveral drop in tours, so people
who are coming out for advancedvoting can swing by the create
space and learn a little bitmore about what we have in.
(04:49):
And as you say, if you take alook at our online events
calendar, you will see that wehave a variety of presentations
and hands on learningexperiences for people.
And you may even see us out inthe community.
We're out at county fairs, we'reat swim parks, movie nights in
Springer, Market Square, andother special events where the
(05:12):
community gathers.
We really love interacting withpeople both in and outside of
our branche.
It, and again, just it soundsincredible and, and like you
say, it's, there's just so mucheverybody can get involved.
The one that I saw, and I, Ithink it's passed, but there was
a chat and learn from newcomeryouth and I thought, what an
(05:33):
incredible opportunity formyself, but also for my
students.
To be able to interact, and Ithink it was one on one with,
with newcomers to Canada andhear about their stories, their
experiences, and, and createthat community that is so
important that, that what abrilliant idea.
So thank you so much for, fordoing those type of things.
Um, one of my favoriteexperiences as a teacher was
(05:56):
when I took 35 grade seven,eight students to our community
library.
Now, at first I thought thelibrarian was gonna be, uh, uh,
a little, uh, Nervous abouthaving that many kids all at
once.
But I tell you, um, thelibrarian set up a program where
we were able to get, um, librarycards, uh, pre-approved so that
(06:19):
when I arrived, she handed outevery single student a library
card and.
Kristen.
Out of the 35 kids that I had, Iwould say probably 30 of them,
This was the first time they'dever held a library card in
their hand, which was soexciting to me as a teacher, and
so exciting for them as studentsand for their parents as well.
(06:41):
And this was all organized bythe library.
I all.
Brought my kids on the bus,walked over there, and this was
all arranged for us.
And coming out of that library,the sense of excitement and, and
the wonderment of what washappening, uh, was just, was so
raw and it was so exciting.
So what are the, some, someother ways that teachers can
(07:02):
engage with libraries that arein their communi.
Oh, well, you know, I think thatyou've hit on the most important
thing that teachers can bedoing, which is connecting with
library staff about bringingyour students in for visits.
Depending on the library system,you may have some choices in
terms of what the visit willlook like.
Some libraries offer storytimes, tours, and specialized
(07:27):
classes, and we definitelyencourage you to get your class
library card.
Some of your students may befrequent visitors to the
library, but there will beothers who have no idea how a
public library works and whatthey can borrow, uh, which seems
to be the experience that youhad with your class where so
many this was their firstinteraction with the library.
(07:49):
And certainly whenever we doclass visits, we see the
children's eyes light up whenthey learned that we land out
video games.
So bringing your classes intothe library, that's, it's such
an important way that you canfoster those literacy skills and
a desire for lifelong learning.
(08:09):
If you're a teacher at asecondary school, you can ask
your library about volunteeropportunities for your students.
Many library systems have youthadvisory committees where teens
are in volunteer hours forgiving their feedback about
programs and books that thelibraries should consider
running or purchasing for teams.
(08:32):
Um, and at K F P L we have anadvisory committee.
We have a reading buddiesprogram.
We have a review board.
Members of the teen review boardearn hours for submitting short
reviews about folks, music,movies, and games in our
collection.
And then we publish thosereviews to the website, the team
(08:52):
page, so that.
Peers can see what the libraryhas and what other teens are
getting excited about, toencourage them to come in and
also borrow these materials.
Um, and one of, Oh, go ahead.
No, and, and, sorry, I didn'tmean to interrupt you there,
Kristen.
I, I had totally forgotten aboutthat volunteer connection, the
(09:14):
ability to actually volunteerand what that might lead to.
Uh, not only a love of reading,but the leading into different
career paths that, that, thatare available through that.
So thank you for mentioningthat.
Yes, absolutely.
So if someone wants to go intothe library field, that's
fantastic.
But these volunteeropportunities also develop
(09:34):
leadership skills, writingskills, project management
skills.
So there are so many differentpaths that come come out of an
opportunity like that.
And looking ahead to June.
Uh, as you are probably aware,students experience learning
loss over the summer, enrollingyour students in summer reading
clubs.
(09:55):
That's a wonderful way toencourage your students to keep
up their literacy skills.
So you can talk to yourprincipal about having a library
come in to give a presentationfor the school or for individual
classes.
And if you're able to integratethat tracking of your classes,
reading into your lesson plansin June, you'll be helping your
(10:16):
students set reading habits forthe summer that will make them
success.
And everything you were talkingabout, Kristen, is things that
teachers want to do.
And, and by letting you be partof that process, it just makes
it that much easier for theteacher or more accessible, um,
because unfortunately, a lot ofschools don't have that library
(10:38):
connection in their own schoolsanymore.
So we need to reach out to ourcommunity and find ways that we
can still be engaged in thatprocess.
Uh, just, I get so excited andI, I, I'm so excited to get back
into the classroom.
Um, you've sort of answered the,the next question that we had or
what are the, some ways of the,of, uh, K F P L engages with
(10:58):
schools and, and you talkedabout that, that, uh, being able
to beep.
Participating in the actualdecision making in the library,
which to me, that student voice,student choice, that power, uh,
is being transferred over toyounger kids, which we often
don't think about when we thinkabout libraries.
We think of them about bigconglomerates that just sort of
(11:20):
churn on.
But we, we can have a say inthis process and we can have a
big impact on it as well, whichis so important to the
community.
Absolutely.
So when we're planning program.
And buying books, DVDs, gamesfor the collection.
We want people to come to theprograms.
We want them to borrow thesematerials.
(11:42):
So if we're able to hear fromyouth what they're interested
in, I think that uh, bothparties are going to get what
they want, right.
It, it's, it's one of thosethings we've, we've got to use
these resources, uh, becausethere's been so much effort and
time and, and expenditure to getthem.
We, we need them in the, uh, toincorporate them into our
(12:04):
classroom activities.
Um, Chris, and thank you so muchfor taking the time out of your
busy schedule to speak with usand, and to motivate us to visit
our local libraries again.
Um, if you could give, and thisis a, a question I always ask at
the end, if you could give onepiece of advice.
To a new teacher or a teacherthat just hasn't had the
opportunity to work with theirLO local librarians and library,
(12:27):
what would it be?
Just something that they cansink their teeth in and get
started.
Oh, well, I always encouragepeople to come in, visit the
spaces, talk to library staff,but if you are looking for a
first step that you can do, Takea look at your local library's
website and see if they have anewsletter that you can sign up
(12:48):
for.
So in our newsletters we talkabout upcoming programs, we talk
about new releases, excitingthings happening in the library.
So that's a great first step tofamiliarize yourself with what.
Your class might be interestedin taking a look at, and even if
you can't be bringing them tothose Saturday programs, you can
(13:10):
let them know that they exist sothat there is learning happening
outside of the classroom aswell.
I absolutely love that ideabecause we're always looking for
that home connection as well.
Taking the learning outside ofthe classroom and what a great
opportunity to, to get theminvolved in something, uh, that,
as you said, that will be alifelong passion for a lot of
(13:32):
people.
Kristen, thank you so much.
I really appreciate you comingon to the podcast, and we'll be
providing additional informationabout the Kingston Front knack
public library, um, uh, throughour website as well.
So thank you so much, Kristen.
Thank you very much.
And I encourage all of yourteachers to come out to the
library and sign up for the veryown library cards.
(13:54):
I hope they do.
Our next guest to the podcasthas played an important part in
my own science and technologycurriculum development here at
Queens University and someonewho I get excited seeing every
time I'm at the faculty ofeducation.
Brenda Reed has been our headeducational librarian here at
(14:15):
Queens University for the past20 years, and I'm in very
excited to have her at thepodcast here today.
Welcome, Brenda.
Thank you so much, Chris.
I'm excited to be here.
Brenda, every time I see you,and I'm not exaggerating, you
have a smile on your face andbooks in your hand and you're
excited.
It's like it's Christmas time.
(14:36):
Every time I see you and youshow me these new, whatever new
is new is in the library.
And as I always look forward tothat, um, can you give us a
quick glimpse into your path tothis position?
And why it's so exciting foryou.
And the only reason I say quickis that I know when you and I
start talking about books, timeseems to fly really quickly.
(14:58):
Yes, Chris?
Um, I am in the dream job forsure.
I mean, in this building ofMacArthur Hall where we have the
faculty of Education, everybodywho works here feels like we are
just at the heart of thebuilding, and we are the
luckiest people here because weget to come in the front doors
every day and just be greetedby, um, Shelves of new books and
(15:21):
who wouldn't want that position?
So to get to this position, itwas a really fortuitous path for
me because I went to, um,Western and did a teaching
degree there.
But it was during the years whenit was very difficult to find a
teaching position.
So I ended up moving to Halifaxand working in a library that I
(15:45):
loved.
So I went back to Western anddid a library and information
sciences degree and changedcourse.
Then I ended up moving toLennox, where again, very hard
to find a position, especiallybecause I didn't speak French,
but I ended up in a schoollibrary that I just loved, and I
stayed there for about eightyears.
(16:07):
Moved to Kingston.
And at the time there was anevening position available in
this library.
I ended up sharing it withanother librarian, Donna Lynch,
who I've worked with for manyyears.
And too many local teachers willremember from our teacher, uh,
resource center here inMacArthur.
Uh, and that position ended upbecoming a full-time position.
(16:29):
So just luck.
Luck and changing paths.
Bid weight through.
Maybe luck, but we are sofortunate to have you in this
position and being able to workwith you here at Queens
University.
Um, you talk about your, yourpast when you were a, um, a, a,
a school librarian, and Iremember when that's, that's
(16:52):
horrible.
It seems like I'm dating myself.
I remember when, uh, thelimestone schools had libraries
and the librarian was such animportant.
Of my teaching pedagogy, I wouldget excited.
Every new unit, I would just godown to the library and say,
This was what I'm teaching andI'd get this, this treasure
trove of resources brought intomy classroom.
(17:14):
And it was one of the favoritetimes of, uh, uh, my teaching
when I was co-teaching with thelibrarian, uh, which is such an
exciting.
It is.
And Chris, there are teacherlibrarians all across Canada
encouraging governments toconsider the role of teacher
librarians and to bring backthat role into all of our
(17:36):
schools across Canada.
Um, not all parts of Ontariohave the luxury of having
teacher librarians in theirschools.
Um, and that's a realdiscrepancy and a real, um, lack
of equality across our provincefor.
And I would love to have that asa podcast topic with you all by
itself, because as it is awonderful topic and something
(17:59):
that we definitely need to bringlight to as well.
So, um, now Brenda, for the past10 years, uh, you've served on
the Silver Birch ExpressSteering Committee.
And we'll be co-chairing thecommittee again this year, which
is exciting.
You mentioned that the Forest ofReading books list will be
release was released last Fridayactually to me, didn't you?
(18:20):
And, and that gives teachers,students, and everyone a great
winter reading list.
This is Canada's largestrecreational reading program,
celebrating Canadian books,authors illustrators, and
publishers.
So my question to you and forour listeners, why should
teachers get excited andinvolved in.
Forest of Reading program.
(18:41):
I love talking about the Forestof Reading program, Chris, and
I've met already with all of ourprimary junior teacher
candidates here to share theforest of reading and what it
is, and.
In a nutshell, the forest ofreading is a huge, um, promotion
of Canadian authors, Canadianbooks for the purpose of
(19:05):
encouraging children to justlove reading.
It's all about.
The joy of reading.
It's not about studying books,um, taking books apart to look
at, um, sentences or anythinglike that.
It's 10 books, um, selected fordifferent age ranges.
And because it's a forest, allof the programs within the
(19:26):
forest have tree names.
So, The best part of teachingabout the forest now is that
teacher candidates coming toQueens now typically have
participated in the forest whenthey were in school in Ontario.
The program started in Ontario,so we have the blue spruce is
for the greats catered two, andthen there's a silver Birge
(19:47):
Express and fiction, but yellowcedar.
Nonfiction.
And then for the high school,there's a grade seven, eight Red
Mabel.
And um, the upper years have theWhite Pine Award.
So every year volunteer teachersand teacher librarians select 10
books for each of those awards.
The books are.
(20:08):
Titles are released in October,and yes, it's pretty exciting
last Friday to hear what allthose titles are.
And we have actually alreadyreceived all of the books
because Tin Lids is a bookdistributor that, um, many
schools across Ontario youth,it's in Toronto, and they know
about the.
Selections before the releasedate and have boxed sets of
(20:32):
books that they immediatelyshipped out last Friday.
So we are super excited here.
We're getting the books allcataloged.
Um, so the love of reading isthe purpose behind the program,
but of course, many.
Hidden things happen within theumbrella of the love of reading.
One thing that I'm really proudof with the Forest of Reading is
(20:52):
that we're really supporting theCanadian publishing industry,
especially children's authors,and I know that you know that
our Canadian children's authorsare just the best.
There are so many beautifulbooks.
In fact, last year the book thatwon the Blue Spruce Award was
written by.
Local, Peggy Collins, who wrotea book called Harley the Hero,
(21:17):
and this year when I talkedabout the Blue Spruce with
teacher candidates, there was ateacher candidate in a class who
had been in the school whereHarley, he's a service dog, was,
and Peggy Collins had come intothe classroom and read the book
to the students.
So everyth.
Really came together last yearwith the Harley of the Hero
(21:38):
Winner.
It's an awesome book.
And Peggy Collins is anupcoming, um, Canadian author.
She's, um, she's really foundher voice, uh, the forest of
reading is, Uh, used at thefaculty of Education with our
pre-service teacher candidates,both in the PGA program where
it's used in our literacyclasses and the red maple and
(21:59):
white pine books.
Uh, five of those books areselected and teacher candidates
in the intermediate seniorEnglish program create lesson
plans and, um, activities forthe books at the high school
level.
So we're big participants in theforest and Meredith touching who
is.
Brilliant director of theprogram and who has taken it
(22:19):
from an Ontario program to anationwide program.
Um, she has a soft spot forQueens and invites us to the
Festival of Trees, um, to bevolunteers.
And, um, we just are so happy tosupport this reading program.
And, and I love the excitementin your voice and, and when you
(22:39):
talk about it, and I know ourteacher candidates have, have
been well versed and are excitedabout it.
Um, how do we.
Teachers that are in theclassroom right now, how do they
get involved in something likethis?
So all teachers need to do isknow the link to get to the, the
pretty awesome website that theforest has.
If you Google Forest of ReadingOntario, you will find the
(23:02):
website it tells you all aboutthe program, gives you so much
free information.
So teachers will love the openaccess content on this site.
All of the reading lists for allof the years of the program are
available.
What a gold mine for ourCanadian teachers who can look
at that list.
The list.
Go back on.
(23:23):
Well, the Silver Birch is theoldest and it goes way back to
1994, but teachers can look atthose lists and see which book
was selected by the childrenthat year as their favorite
book.
I didn't mention that, butthat's actually one of the other
big parts of this program andwhy it's so successful is that
the winners are selected by thestudents.
It's not an adult selection, andthat's maybe why it's such a
(23:47):
popular program.
So what we know is, uh, theseare the books over the years
that your students have lovedand.
It's just a great way forteachers to find the best read
aloud for younger children.
The best chapter books that, uh,kids wanna read in the junior
grades, and the same with theyoung adult material.
So when teachers go to theForest of Reading website,
(24:09):
they'll see a series of tabs atthe top of the page, and one of
them is registration.
For registering a school, it'ssomewhere around$55, but with
that$55 you can participate inas many programs as you like.
So you could do blue spruce,silver birch could do red maple.
Um, and then as I mentioned,there is an official book
(24:32):
distributor.
It's tin lids.
This year and they sell thebooks as packages.
So you don't have to go in andselect book by book.
You just say, I want the blueSpruce books.
And they'll package up the 10books for the Blue Spruce and
um, send you those books.
If you buy the package, you getlittle blue spruce labels that
you can put on your books and aposter for your classroom.
(24:56):
And as a registrant in theprogram, you get all kinds of
extra perks.
So the steering committee thatI'm on is a team of teachers and
teacher librarians who arecreating, uh, activities, all
kinds of fun materials toaccompany the books.
And those are not open access onthe website.
Those are for registrants only.
(25:19):
And those will be behind apassword for teachers who
register their schools toparticipate.
And they'll get all kinds ofother materials, um, for the
program there too, including theright to vote in the official
vote, which happens in April.
And we find out in May at theFestival of Trees, uh, who the
(25:42):
winners are.
I should give a shout out to CBChere too, Chris, because for the
past few years of the pandemic,the cbc, um, screened the Forest
of Reading winners, and we'll dothat again this year, even
though we're hoping to be inperson at Harbor Front in
Toronto again this year.
Yeah.
It was exciting during the, weneeded some excitement during
(26:03):
the pandemic, so it was, it wasgreat to hear it on CBC as well.
Um, I've been in several schoolsthat have, have registered for
the, uh, Forest of Reading andthe effect it has on the kids,
and it goes back to a sayingthat I love student voice,
student choice, Um mm-hmm.
being able to empower our kidsto be able to.
Pick novels and, and books thatthey're interested in to win
(26:28):
these awards is just phenomenal.
And I think it's just an amazingprogram.
We will be able to attach thewebsites and the links to the
Forest of Reading, um, on ourpodcast site as well, Brenda,
which is exciting.
Um, One of the questions Ialways get from other teachers
is that we know that teachercandidates have access here at
(26:49):
Queens to your services and yourresources, but do classroom
teachers in the Greater Kingstonarea have these amazing
resources available to them aswell through the faculty of
education at Queens University?
Chris, I am so glad that youasked me that because one of our
goals here in the educationlibrary this year is to make
sure that teachers know they areso welcome.
(27:11):
To use this library, we offerany teacher who can come to this
library, a free teacher cardthat is, um, available to them
just by emailing education dotlibrary@queensu.ca.
And I'll give that link to youto add with the others on the
podcast.
Um, we'll get the, um,information we need to create
(27:33):
the Mac card.
and they just come in and theycan borrow anything in this
library.
It might be puppets, it might bethe hands on signs and
technology books.
It might be the latest forest ofreading set.
Um, and more good news.
Last year we stopped chargingfines.
So teachers, there are no fineson our books anymore.
(27:57):
And you are welcome to borrowwhatever you would like.
We're open in the evenings.
We're open after school.
We're open on weekends onSaturday and Sunday afternoon,
and we would love to see youhere.
I'll include my email on thatpodcast page.
Chris and teachers are welcometo email me and ask for, uh, me
(28:20):
to pull some materials for themto take a look at.
We know teachers are very busypeople, and if you'd like 10
things on.
Habits Habitats told for you totake a look at.
I can do that for you.
And, um, you can sign out theones that, that you'd.
Thinking of habitats, I shouldslo mention that we are the home
(28:41):
base for the new, um, museum ina classroom kits.
That's right.
Um, I, I think I heard LindaColgan on one of your podcasts
talking about Yes.
Just astonishing kits.
I, I don't know if you've seenthem, Chris.
These kids have, um, fossils inthem that include things like,
uh, the upper teeth of a step B.
(29:05):
And we're not talking plasticpieces.
These are from this, um, amazingfacility in Trenton, Research
casting International who do,um, World class.
They work with museums all overthe world to produce casts of
fossils.
So these are the mostextraordinary pieces in these
kids and teachers.
(29:27):
We have a junior kit for gradesfour to six and senior kits for,
uh, the upper grades.
They're here and, uh, you'rewelcome to borrow them.
And on our science guides, uh,which are online, we have links
to the digital version of thosetips, which have 3D interactive
versions of the fossils.
It's, it's just extraordinary.
They are amazing.
(29:47):
I had a sneak preview at it and,and such an impressive thing.
So I, I'm hoping that you'reinundated with, uh, Kingston
teachers.
Now we know that in Kingston weare blessed with all of the
resources we have.
But what about teachers who livein other towns and cities that
might be close to otheruniversities?
Um, what can they do to haveaccess to these rich resources
(30:07):
that maybe their, theiruniversities might have?
Or is there a way.
I think that each university hastheir own, um, policies about
sharing outside of theuniversity.
So I'm not clear on that.
But one thing that we're doinghere, Chris, to try to serve
teachers who, um, can use onlyour online resources is to build
(30:31):
subject guides online for everysubject K to 12, and to provide
resources like Bookless.
Open access, high qualityresources from teacher
associations, like linking toanything we find that's high
quality and valuable online to,For example, I'm looking right
(30:52):
now at our page and we have agallery of Islamic Heritage
Resources for teachers.
It's a.
It's a set of probably 20 titlesto celebrate Islamic Heritage
Month, and one of those guidesis an open access Islamic
heritage teacher resource guidefrom the tdsb.
The Toronto District SchoolBoard shares a lot of the such
(31:16):
valuable information that theirteachers put together.
And this is like a 200 page PDFof, um, resources to celebrate
this month.
So that kind of content, when wefind it, we bring it together
and are sharing with teachersthat way.
That's amazing.
And as a, a classroom teacher,I've used the Toronto District
School Board resources nonstop.
(31:38):
It's just an incredible, uh, uh,district to be able to, I mean,
it's the largest there is.
And, and they share resources,which is wonderful.
Uh, so thank you for bringingthat to our attention as well.
Um, I'm gonna have to wrap itup, Brenda, and it is always,
it's just incredible to be ableto talk to you about something
that both you and I arepassionate about.
Um, if you could offer one pieceof advice to new teachers or
(32:02):
teachers that haven't had theopportunity to access services
and resources from, uh, QueensUniversity or any library in the
University library, what wouldit be?
What would be sort of the, theone tidbit that you would give
to those teachers?
Come into your library and don'tbe afraid to.
It, it's so sad that so manypeople come in and I think, feel
(32:24):
afraid of the library.
I know that I felt afraid oflibraries when I was at
university because I didn't knowhow to use them.
But in, um, faculty ofeducation, libraries, your
public library, if you have aschool library, get in and dig
around and make friends with thelibrary in there because for.
We learn from you.
(32:45):
I've learned so much from you,Chris.
And the best part of havingteachers from our local school
boards come in is I learn fromthem all the time.
Andrea Barrow is a local, um,secondary teacher.
She's the equity consultant at LD S D.
I learn from her every time shesteps in here.
Kim Lockhart is, um, working sohard locally, uh, about the
(33:07):
study of.
Ways to teach reading.
I learned from her.
I've purchased probably 20 booksthat she's recommended.
So we learn from you teachers asmuch as we might be able to, um,
share with you.
So don't think that you'reasking for something from us
because we're, um, we'relearning from you and taking
from your wealth of knowledge.
(33:29):
So just take those initialsteps, get into a library, say
hi to your librarian, and, andbe able to be part of this
incredible resource that is ateaching tool that needs to get
out of the library in, into theclassrooms.
Uh, it doesn't do as any goodsitting on the shelves.
Uh, it needs to be used andhandled by the kids and so they
can get excited about thewonderful literacy that's
(33:51):
available to us.
Sounds great.
Chris.
Thank you so much, Brenda.
I so appreciate it and uh, Ihope you are und.
With emails and people justwanting to, uh, get access to,
uh, all of the wonderful thingsthat you guys do at the library.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Chris.
That does it for another episodeof Popular Pedagogy.
(34:13):
Again, thank you to our amazingguests, Kristin LeMay and Brenda
Reed.
I hope that our listeners takethe opportunity to visit your
local library in the near.
And discover this incredibleteacher tool and resources for
themselves.
Josh, as always, where can ourlisteners subscribe to make sure
they don't miss any of ourpopular pedagogy podcasts?
(34:35):
Yeah, you can find this podcaston Apple Podcast, Google
Podcast, Spotify.
The Faculty of Education websiteand, uh, pretty much any other
place you get your podcast.
Please don't forget to check outour Queens University of
Education website and search forpopular pedagogy for additional
resources and information.
Well, that's it from myself,Chris Carlton, and our
(34:57):
incredibly talented andresourceful podcast team of Josh
Fine and Aaron York.
Stay healthy, Stay.
And stay connected, and we willsee you next time for another
episode of Popular Pedagogy.
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