Rhonda Morrissette
Teacher, Project Manager, and Consultant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Hi, I'm Teacher Librarian at Renaissance International School Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I received the Dianne Oberg Graduate Prize in Teacher Librarianship in 2009, completed my M.Ed. in Teacher librarianship in 2011 and received the Manitoba School Library Association Teacher of the Year Award the same year. In 2013 I was honoured with the Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Literacy in Manitoba, Canada.
I enjoy working with teachers and students from Early Years to Year 13. I have previously taught all grade levels from Nursery to grade 12, and have acted as a technology support teacher at a variety of levels. Working with teachers as collaborative partners, we help students develop skills of knowledge construction and deep understanding by analyzing multiple viewpoints and building their own arguments. We help students develop a love and stamina for reading.
I launched the first digital download school library in Canada at The Winnipeg Adult Education Centre in 2010. Students have 24/7 access to our library catalog, digital download library and a wide array of information databases. Our students ultimately develop the capabilities they will require as lifelong learners.
Another one of my passions is integrating Indigenous perspectives into the curriculum to honour and create a better understanding of indigenous ways of understanding and beliefs. I was honoured with a Spirit of the Earth Award in June 2012 for working with students and staff to implement a Medicine Wheel Teaching Garden on our school grounds. The garden inspires messages of welcome, inclusion and equality for all.
"With the school library literally the heart of the educational program, the students of the school have their best chance to become capable and enthusiastic readers, informed about the world around them, and alive to the limitless possibilities of tomorrow." - Mary Ga