Connections Issue 91
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Available on the SCIS website at www.esa.edu.au/scis ISSUE NO. 91 | TERM 4 2014 ISSN 1440-2089 To inspire or in this issue page 3 SCIS is more to instruct 4 Taking the guesswork out of genre During May and June this year, I travelled Australia as part 6 Graphic novels: providing a different of the Positive Schools Initiative to speak and network with perspective teachers and educators. Doing so provided an insightful 8 Historical fiction in the classroom: introduction to what teachers are thinking and drew thousands to Fremantle, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. reflecting on Our Australian Girl and The convention centres were full with educators coming Do You Dare? from miles around–some travelling overnight from smaller 10 A world of online distraction townships–seeking new ideas and positive answers to questions from the classroom. It was humbling for me to 12 Collaborative learning with Scootle witness the universal passion attendees came with. They all Community knew one thing: that change is needed in schools. 12 Supporting Australian book creators Students are looking for leadership. Teachers and educators must take ownership of teaching their students and understand 13 Schools Online Thesaurus (ScOT): that attendance does not constitute a willingness or eagerness Read All Over to learn. 14 Website and App Reviews Read more on page 2 15 For your classroom To inspire or to instruct (cont.) Those who work within the education the humble library will come into the fore • utopian/dystopian societies sector, whether as a teacher, a librarian, more now than ever before. Librarians • factions or a social worker, need to understand are trained to assist students in sorting • conformity that students have to be inspired to want through information sources. They help • the role of government to learn. students to learn to use new tools, and • power answer their questions. This means • creative freedom The world is full of fast evolving librarians are a necessity no matter how • restriction and confliction distractions. What I, as a student back one looks at it. • freedom of choice in 1982, faced on the way to school is • what sacrifices are made for love completely different to what students It is up to the library to coordinate and • friendship. face on their way to school today. become an indispensable ‘centre’ where Generation Z (people born between 1995 creativity and technology become Do these sound familiar? If you ask most and 2009) are the first ever generation an innovative and complementary students what is important to them to have never experienced life without extension of learning. As many people today, you’ll find much of that can be the internet. Accordingly, they are have mentioned to me, the library is slotted into the above categories. technology focused and the internet the avenue where students can seek If a school does not have a pioneering is their first port of call for information. refuge. It is also the place where instead teacher with a lesson plan for any of The advancement of science, ideas, and of pushing ‘traditional’ books as some the above books, try starting a book technology has meant that we can live a schools are still doing, they can push club through the library to introduce better, easier way of life. for more relevant and current titles. these books to students. In your regular A student’s life today, whether it be At the annual School Library Association meetings, you can discuss character in New Zealand, Perth, Melbourne, of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA) analysis, similes, themes, history examples, Sydney, or Brisbane, has little relevance conference in 2013, I was asked whether quotes, hypothetical theories, reflect on to the 1930’s Salinas Valley, California I thought school libraries were getting actual world events and conflicts that are of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I have left behind in the digital age. My answer happening now, and how these things can nothing against George, Lennie, Candy, is still the same a year later. Libraries happen just like in the book. or John Steinbeck for that matter. should be the centre of technological The point is that many students find life Looking back at my own life, my love of innovation in schools. The library is the at school tough and often lonely. Some reading came about through the passion creative heart of a school and I believe students are having their own ‘midlife’ of the elderly patients in the hospital beds crises. The very least we can do is to beside me, rather than my trained teachers provide reading materials that have some at school. It was these patients who inspired bearing on what is happening today. me to read with passion, they did not instruct me to read. That is the difference. If you are finding it hard to influence reading or to increase student literacy, Image credits try something different. Introduce a Andrew Fiu with Peter Thompson at Positive book that is currently trending amongst Schools Conference, Sydney: the younger generation. There is the © Positive Schools, 2014 Divergent series - Veronica Roth, The Purple Heart by Andrew Fiu. © Random Hunger Games series - Suzanne Collins, House, 2006. The Fault in our Stars - John Green, The Help - Kathryn Stockett, just to mention a few. Some in the education sector might Ta’afuli Andrew Fiu is author of the memoir Purple Heart, his account say that these are not books that could be of growing up Samoan in New used to help a student. As my friend Luka Zealand and of the four and a half Lesson, the renowned Spoken Word Poet, years he spent in hospital coping once pointed out: Shakespeare was the with a serious heart condition. It is studied for rebel of his times. I’ve had many ‘spirited’ NCEA exams and has been an English study text discussions about introducing these so in New Zealand since 2007. He is in demand called ‘populist’ Young Adult books to as a motivational speaker for big business, as school libraries. Yet in the Divergent series well as schools, and appeared recently at The a student will read about: Positive Schools Australia Conferences 2014. Purple Heart by Andrew Fiu http://lifeafter6.com/ a quarterly journal by SCIS Education Services Australia Ltd PO Box 177 Carlton South tel +61 3 9207 9600 ABN 18 007 342 421 Victoria 3053 Australia free call 1800 337 405 Level 5 440 Collins Street (OUTSIDE melb metro) [email protected] Melbourne Victoria 3000 fax (aust only) 1300 780 545 www.esa.edu.au/scis Australia fax +61 3 9910 9800 Dr Ben Chadwick Manager, SCIS Education Services Australia The Magic Roundabout ‘Making the Most of SCIS’ workshops You might have noticed a few changes in Auckland on 20 October, Hamilton SCIS is on our home page. Our attractive book on 22 October, and Wellington on 24 carousel gives selected titles a free ride October. This three-hour workshop is for a few weeks. So far we’ve featured aimed at beginner to intermediate users, titles from the Children’s Book Council and will give you an overview of all of more of Australia’s Book of the Year Awards, SCIS’s offerings. See our professional the 2014 Australian Book Design Awards, learning page (www2.curriculum.edu.au/ and the NZ Post Book Awards. You can scis/professional_learning.html) for Welcome to Connections 91. Thank you click on a cover to see it in the SCIS more details. SCIS will return to the to Laura Armstrong, our Connections catalogue and we’ll often include a South Island in 2015 for workshops editor, for another sterling effort and hyperlink to a new Special Orders page, and SLANZA15. wonderful end-product. where you can choose to download See Also... You Say Goodbye, I say Hello MARC records for your selection of the SCIS releases updated MARC authorities There have been some significant featured titles. twice each year, in February and August. changes in the SCIS camp since Just beneath the book carousel, we’ve If you need help downloading or Connections 90. Perhaps the most brought a few of our most popular links installing the files, see our Authority Files obvious one is the departure of Pru together into one handy list. We hope help page and, importantly, consult your Mitchell as SCIS Manager. Who could this will make it a little easier to navigate system vendor. possibly replace Pru, a veteran and your way around the site. acknowledged guru in the school If you don’t use Authority Files in your libraries industry? Well, I thought I might There have been other changes to our system, you aren’t doing everything you give it a go. My name is Ben Chadwick. Special Orders (scis.curriculum.edu.au/ can to assist your students and teachers I have been at ESA since January 2012. scisweb/specialorder.php) page, too. in finding what they are looking for. To start with I worked with Les Kneebone This page is intended to provide access Michael Jongen recently put together on the Schools Online Thesaurus (ScOT). to bulk MARC downloads for collections a blog post and a webcast about using For the past two years I have also been of electronic records that are either free Authority Files. To subscribe please get in working with SCIS as systems librarian. or available en masse to subscribers to a touch with us at [email protected]. It is daunting to follow on from Pru. given service. Up until now the page has Later in this issue Les Kneebone Nonetheless, I look forward to helping included collections for NDLRN learning mentions the new MARC download you get the most out of SCIS, for the objects, Clickview videos, Campfire for ScOT authorities.