The PGPL has some interesting uses within the paradigm of Teaching. Beyond the resources designed for education, including many that would be exceptional for primary students. For secondary students and high schoolers the resources are less numerous as something tactile. As a method of adding more difficulty personally I decided to not choose a resource that would be easy to use, such as the kits or the novel study collections. Instead I chose to look at something from within the main body of the library, the adult non-fiction section.
This section is difficult to use without the inclusion of the BC curriculum. After reviewing the math curriculum the concept of reading clocks, within the Math 4 curriculum, took my interest. Undoubtedly clocks would have some available books and have the option for a tactile and involved activity. Coming across the few books on clocks, those not being one the upkeep and repair of them, a book on the history of civilizations through clocks gives an opportunity to show how clocks are used with far more depth than a simple needed, giving students an opportunity to extend as well. The first chapter and sundials were highly interesting, as were the others, though they were less curriculum applicable. After seeing some concepts of a 24 hour clock that seem to match up with a sundial the choice was inevitable. There would probably be an arts and crafts book giving the instructions on the making of a sundial, but a web page is more easily shared if the students wanted access for their own use. Even without using the resources designed for teachers the information that can be shared is immense at the PGPL.
Returning to the topic of using the library resources it seems like untapped potential. A web page detailing the history of clocks would be easy to share and use, though would not be more certainly reliable as a library book. The internet is unreliable in the particulars. The reliability is also expressed in the adaptability of the librarian to provide additional help if asked. To have a professional be able to gather and make available resources on differing topics into a single bundle for you to peruse and take what’s needed is a chunk of research time that is outsourced to those to whom the task is their expertise. Their willingness to help is even greater when considering that they are available to have tours of the library and are willing to help students produce their library card for their own personal use, which seems to be an imposition from the outside. This all ignores the library as a workspace, which would be useful to focus on productivity if its reasonably close by.
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