Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to.....

Nope, not Sesame Street, LOL. I have been thinking about the geographical references from lesson 9 quite a bit lately. Perhaps it is because it is summer and I tend to use a lot of maps this time of year. I have printed off maps for a self guided "Haunted Victoria" tour for a trip at the end of the month, how to get to Rodd Hill Lighthouse, where my hotel is in Victoria, how to get from my in-laws' home in Ladysmith to my great aunt's friend's home in Nanaimo and maps of the Circle Farm tours in the Fraser Valley. Obviously I use maps!

I am a visual learner. I remember the first few times my husband took me to Victoria I was completely lost. I had been there many times as a child but I trusted my father to get us where we were going and knew I wasn't going anywhere without him so I didn't need to know how to get anywhere. With my husband it was different. I wanted to know where I was but because he had lived there for four years in his university days he never took the same route twice. I complained so much that our friend bought me a map! Aha! What a difference. I could now get from McDonald park where my husband was umpiring, to UVic and back again. I could find our friend's apartment and the Michael's store I wanted to go to. It wasn't enough for me to be told the directions, I needed to SEE where I was going. I am also fiercely independent so a map is perfect. I don't need to ask for direction, I can find them myself!

So how does this translate to my role as the teacher-librarian and a reference resource. For me, it means I think maps, atlases, travel guides and other geographical references are important. I think map skills are just that, skills, like riding a bike, reading or swimming, they are necessary. Although most of my maps this summer have been found on-line I also have a collection of purchased maps for other destinations. Whenever my family goes on a "big" vacation I order our destination's "Visitor's Guide" which usually includes maps of the areas. These are important references for me. My students need to have these skills as well. They cannot rely on GPS's or other electronic devices because they still require map skills that need to be taught with a printed map resource.

I began my career as a social studies and English teacher but that has now evolved to English and teacher-librarian. I still use maps in my English classes. My grade 12's read The Kite Runner and The Life of Pi this year. Both novels involved locations that were unfamiliar to the students. We used atlases to map Pi's possible route as he was lost at sea and we followed Amir's travels from Afghanistan to the US and back to Pakistan. We looked at the map when many of my students were surprised by the snow in Kabul. Their understanding of latitude and longitude helped them put the story into perspective.

I think there is also a certain joy in looking at an atlas. There are so many amazing features and specialty atlases that are like works of art. It is fun to browse an atlas searching for places one has read about or heard about. It is also fun to imagine visiting new places. Being able to use maps and other geographical references is an important skill that I don't think will be replaced by technology any time soon.