Phonebooth Libraries

Remember when you always had to carry a quarter with you in case you needed to make a call?

But that was a long time ago. With the incredible surge of cellphone usage, the phonebooth has become nearly defunct in our society. However, some creative thinkers in New York City and the United Kingdom have come up with an alternate use for these small spaces.

Welcome to the 24-Hour Phoneboox.

One of two NYC locations, created by architect John Locke.

A small set of shelves are popped right over the phone, and books placed on the shelves. Everyone is welcome to take a book, with the hope that they will return it, or another tome, in exchange. Results have been varied so far; some people love it, while another location had all its books and even the shelves stolen.

My thanks to George Stroumboulopoulos for sharing this on Twitter. For a more detailed explanation of the NYC Phoneboox and more photos, check out how the shelves are designed and the designer's hopes for this project.

James Econs from Horsley, Surrey, England created something similar, and posted this video online about his version of the phonebooth library. I hope that this idea catches on; it could completely change the way we think about sharing literature and the standard format of a library. My only concern: what about when it rains?

Slam Poetry

Today in Multiliteracies at Althouse, we discussed slam poetry and how it can be applied in the classroom. We started with watching this awesome Taylor Mali poem, and then wrote our own slam poems in our groups. The following is a collaborative work by Kristine, Frank, Waleska, and myself.

What If

What if I can't find my classroom on the first day?
What if my students ignore me?
What if they won't put down their damn phones?
What if, no matter how hard I try, they won't engage with my lesson?
What if they stare at me with blank looks all the time?
What if their home lives distract them from their schoolwork?
What if a student flips their desk?
What if I don't know as much as I think I know?
What if my students figure out I don't know as much as I think I know?
What if a student sets the classroom on fire?
What if they tie me up and put me in a closet?

But what if none of that happens?

What if they respect me as their teacher?
What if they do engage?
What if they're more creative than I could ever imagine?
What if they strive?
What if I inspire just one student?

What if I stop worrying, and start believing?


For other slam poets, try Verbs on Asphalt for a great variety of videos. If you'd like to see some slam poetry in person, consider seeing a performance by SPEAKout Poetry, who have toured Southwestern Ontario over the past two years.

The Living Library

I recently heard about a new program that the Ottawa Public Library is running with the Canadian War Museum and CBC Ottawa. It's called the 'living library,' or 'human library.' Here's how it works:

A number of people have been selected from the community to make their stories known to others. Library patrons can go to the library, look through a pamphlet describing the stories available, and select a 'book' they'd like to 'read.' They get 30 minutes to sit with their book and hear the stories available. And there's a wide selection available. Across the five library branches and the Canadian War Museum, there are over 60 people who have donated their time to this cause. Patrons can talk to a WWII veteran, an Algonquin spiritual advisor, a refugee, a lesbian, a female firefighter, a night club bouncer, a stripper, and a runaway child, just to start the list.

Hunter Denn, 94, recalls his participation in the 1945 liberation of Puten. CBC Ottawa.

In a time when certain stories, such as those told by WWII veterans, are beginning to die out, perhaps the living library is a way to share knowledge before it is gone forever. If nothing else, it's a wonderful way to step inside someone else's shoes, someone who lives right in your community, and walk around for a little while. And how often do you get to ask your book a question as you read, and have it answer back?

The Human Library Website

The Revised Lesson Plan

During my first practicum placement, I was working in an ESL English classroom. For the ESL DOI class, of which I had two sections, I was in charge of a monster unit. To kick-start the unit and get the students hooked, I showed the class a series of pictures of different monsters, without telling them the unifying theme. The idea was to get the students to think up the word 'monster' themselves, and then discuss what they thought 'made' a monster. Later in the unit, students would read a short monster story, write a quiz, and the research a chosen monster and make a short presentation to the class about it.

To show the photos on the first day of the unit, I simply opened the folder on my USB drive, clicked on the first photo, and cycled through them. The problem was that I'd named the photos after what was in them, for example, 'cyclops' or 'hydra.' A few observant students caught on relatively quickly, and began calling out the monster names as they read them. I had avoided using a Powerpoint presentation because I only have OpenOffice Impress installed on my computer, and it often has glitches when opened in Microsoft Powerpoint, and I wanted to avoid any disruptive problems. Unfortunately, the visible names somewhat ruined my hook to the unit, and for the second section of the class, I renamed all the photos to numbers to avoid the same problem.

However, if I were to redo this lesson plan, I would use Prezi to create a visually impressive presentation that goes beyond simply opening the photos in a slideshow. A number of photographs (I used fifteen) can be added into the Prezi, and linked in any desired order. I had written the monster names on the board as they were discovered, but with the Prezi, I could simply make the monster name the next screenshot. This would minimize the time I have to spend with my back to the class, and display the words in a large, clear font for easily copying. I had also shown a short clip from "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," featuring the fight scene with the basilisk. This could also be embedded in the Prezi without having to skip out to a browser window.

You can check out the new Prezi here!

At the end of fifteen photos, the Prezi would allow me to zoom out to look at all the monsters at once, to remind students of everything they had just looked at. At this point, we would discuss as a class what traits they think belong to a monster. This could be written on the board, or if there is a Smartboard available, the students could write the words themselves on the Smartboard. These traits should be divided into 'Physical Characteristics,' 'Personal Characteristics,' 'Special Powers,' and 'Purpose of Existence,' with the student explaining why they would put each trait into that particular category. If using a Smartboard, the students' answers can be shuffled around easily without having to erase and rewrite.

I believe that using a Prezi for this lesson would streamline the process of working through the photos, videos, and text that the students will be encountering. It would remove the awkward transitions between mediums, and create a single page that the students can view. If desired, the students can even look at the Prezi online after class, since it is easily available online. The Prezi can be downloaded and played offline (although this can create problems with embedded videos), so the teacher does not have to rely on a steady Internet connection to make the presentation. All in all, a Prezi paired with simple boardwork or a Smartboard would tidy up this lesson neatly, and create a cool-looking hook for the class to enjoy.

Justification for the survey

I chose some basic questions to begin the survey, the student's name and the name they prefer to be called, to help introduce me to the student. Students with difficult-to-pronounce names might give alternatives, or perhaps a phonetic version of their name. I also asked what their first language is; from personal experience, I've learned that former or current ESL students often struggle in a regular English class, where many assumptions are made about their abilities or academic past. I hope that this question will help avoid language-based problems before they begin.

I thought it was important to see what their past experience with English is, and which units they most enjoyed and least enjoyed out of it. If most of the class as a whole enjoyed the novel unit, I could perhaps allocate more time towards that unit. I also thought it was important to see what kinds of books students are reading in their spare time (fiction, non-fiction, biographies, mysteries, supernatural, etc.), to help guide the text selections for the upcoming year. At the same time, if half the students have recently read "The Hunger Games," then it might be prudent to choose something else for a required text. The frequency at which students read is also key, since it will give me an idea of how much reading the students are used to completing on a weekly basis.

Knowing what types of media the students engage with will likely be helpful for the media studies unit, and may help address any concerns about technicalities (eg: text speak) that may arise during the course. It will also give me an idea of the types of media they prefer to interact with, such as visual (graphic novels, television), audio (radio, podcasts), or any combination thereof.

Many students might claim that they do not engage in any writing in their spare time, so this question serves the double purpose of telling me what types of writing they do, as well as opening their eyes to what they are doing on a daily basis.

The transportation question might seem a bit odd, but knowing whether or not students are able to stay after school or arrive early is important when it comes to supplying extra support for students outside of class. Students who take the yellow bus, or another form of fixed transportation like a carpool, will be more likely to need support during lunch or a spare period.

While not all students may know what type of learner they are, having them identify which type they associate with will also be useful when planning lessons and assignments, to ensure that all students have a fair chance at doing well on them.

The last three questions are open questions to give students the chance to communicate their needs to me. The purpose of the 'What you wish to learn in English this year' question is similar to the previous question asking their favourite unit last year; it gives me the information to plan units of study that will be appealing to the students. Students might also give me creative ideas on how I can help them learn, perhaps by reading Shakespeare aloud to them, or having an 'open door' policy during lunch. The final question gives me the opportunity to learn a bit more about the students' personal needs, including any extra-curricular activities that they might be involved with, medical problems, or anything else that they deem relevant.

Overall, I hope that this survey gives me a broad overview of the needs of my students, as well as their likes and dislikes. With any luck, they will also see this survey as a chance to speak up, and the first of many communicative links between teacher and students.