Welcome!
Diamond Sharp is an online writing project. It has two parts:
This blog is ”Diamond Sharp: reading, reflections, poeisis”. This is largely a reading/review blog. I have been writing this since September 2010. I put essays, book reviews and, sometimes, creative writing on it.
https://diamondsharp.wordpress.com
“Diamond Sharp: Professional Learning” began as my blog for my studies to become a Teacher Librarian. This is where I pondered such things as ‘information literacy’, the place of the library in an online, networked world. Since then, I have moved into academia and it now functions as a research blog.
Both blogs are concerned with my interests in interpretation, deep reading and long-form literacy. I also explore the impact of technology and the new literacies it commands. I argue for retaining ‘deep’ reading as an experience and skill worth having, as well as the networked, information foraging that looks set to be the next dominant form of reading and writing.
Happy reading!
Fleur Diamond
Diamond Sharp 
D’ailleurs, en matière d’académicien, ll se dit que le célèbre libraire Monsieur Collard, qu’on voit à la librairie Griffe Noire, va se présenter pour être à l’Academie Française !. Je suis convaincu que ça donnerait un second élan à l’Académie, foi de Saint Maurien. Non?
Thanks for your comment. I am sorry it took me so long to reply — I had to find someone in my life who could read French! Yes — librarians are finding new roles for themselves and I hope that my studies to become a librarian enable me to combine technology, teaching and literature. All the best, Diamond Sharp
I am extremely impressed with your writing abilities as smartly as with
the structure for your weblog. Is this a paid subject matter or did you customize it your self?
Anyway stay up the excellent high quality writing, it’s rare to see a nice blog like this one these days..
Thank you for the encouragement, Susanna! No, I am not paid to do this. I am a High School English teacher by trade, but would love to write full-time, or at least have more time for it. While I work towards that goal, I (irregularly) post essays here. Thanks again!
Dear Fleur, Thank you for putting me onto your Blog. I look forward to reading it in South America! Best, Berni x
Hi Fleur. I have just discovered your blog and am thrilled to be able to lap up this wonderfully lucid writing from afar.
Hi Tam!
thanks for the support.
fleur
Dear Ms Sharp,
(First of all apologies, I think I might have already posted it on your other blog, I am not sure)
But:
I was just wondering; how do you personally treat the more ‘introverted’ kids in the classroom? This has been a problem for me, as I never particularly liked the teachers who ‘picked’ or ‘victimised’ the quieter kids, which in turn just makes them feel even less confident, and becomes obvious to these students.
However as a teacher, I still believe it’s important to get students to express themselves.
So how do you address this problem and treat the ‘quieter’ ones?
Anna
Hi Anna,
I have the same dilemma. What’s more, my siblings were those ‘quiet’ students and they have told me of the agony they felt when a teacher would try to force them to be expressive in front of all their peers, especially in the form of demanding an on-spec response to a question posed just moments before.
I tend to put writing sessions into my classroom time, and in that time I confer with those students, check their writing, and make sure they are on track. Small group work is another lower-stakes way of building in participation for less extroverted types. I invite students to email me if they have a question and this gives them time to compose their thoughts. Not all of us are quick thinkers, and we often mistake slowness in thinking for non-participation, whereas it just might be the student learning at their own pace.
Just lately, I have asked students to design their own book cover for 1984 – -a way for students to express understanding in visuals as well as words.
What do you do?
Fleur