Geoff Ruggero has been teaching in YRDSB for 15 years. He began in the junior division but has spent the last 7 years as Teacher-Librarian. In that time, he has transformed the classic library space into a modern learning commons. Geoff enjoys coaching basketball, soccer and track, and he is also into STEAM, Making, Coding, Lego, and Edtech.
Geoff and I met for the first time at The Youth Edtech Summit (YES) last year for YRDSB. We reflected on how amazing it was to watch our students lead and share their learning so effectively. Geoff fosters that space through his Learning Commons. “I have, actually, zero computer science background, but I jumped full on-board with the coding and edtech part of the gig because students...know more than we do… they learn so quickly, and I learn alongside them…The celebration of learning and succeeding together is so great.”
We spoke about the recent Teacher-Librarian episode of OnEdMentors, and Geoff shared a bit more about his role. “It’s so great in my space, too, because I have it structured in such a way that there are students from all ages in there at many different times, so older students are usually showing younger students how things work...and sometimes the younger students are showing the older students how things work.” Speaking with other Teacher Librarians is special for Geoff because everyone’s space is different, and learning from each other really helps to gain perspective and a sense of other possibilities. Hopefully, he will be available to be on the panel for Part 2 in the new year.
In preparing for his appearance on the P3 Geoff enjoyed perusing his vast music collection. While he was grateful for the opportunity to carve out the time for that, he also shared that it was very difficult. “Music has been such a huge part of my life. I have in excess of a thousand albums either on CD or on vinyl. And then, of course, I went back through all the concert tickets I had and [tried] to replay all my favourite shows that I’ve seen and the bands that I’ve seen on multiple occasions…” He remarked about the loss of nostalgia that comes from digital tickets and sent me these images from his collection:
Geoff’s nostalgic song choice began as a poem by the lead singer of this band. He performed this song for lip sync/battle of the bands one year, and it’s also a song that he recalls blasting very loud growing up. He listened to it almost every day for a decade. “Just the guitar solos and Axl’s voice...the lyrics play a role now that I have two daughters.” Geoff said that Guns and Roses (GNR) was the first band that really got him into rock n’roll. He saw them play a few times, and Geoff describes this song as calm and cool. Here is Sweet Child O’ Mine:
Geoff’s identity song comes from an artist who has been a singer-songwriter for over 50 years. Geoff felt that the lyrics say so much about what he wants for his students. “In a world where I feel they are growing up way too fast, there are a lot of lessons in this song that I try to instil in them.” He gave examples from the lyrics adding that we have to be the ones to provide strong foundations for so many of our students which aligns so naturally with his role, helping him stay young and fun. “There’s a part near the end of the song where it says that even though the winds of change will shift to always be joyful.” It’s great to support play and let students be themselves, always leading by example. Here is the slow version of Forever Young by Bob Dylan:
Geoff’s pick-me-up song is from one of his favourite bands (up there with GNR). He picked it because of the guitar solo, and it’s a song he pulls out whenever he needs to shift gears or just get going. This song was so positive, especially in the context of the other grunge music that was coming out at the time. Geoff said how surprising it is that he and his friends all came out joyful considering how down and pessimistic some of that music was, even if it was cathartic for the artists. “That’s what music is all about,...my space, again, gives students a chance to just be who they want to be. Sometimes, I just leave it open to creation. I given them materials and say go with it.” He tried to bring out his students’ passions so he can share them with others. Geoff just gives them the stage. Here is Oasis with Live Forever:
Even though Geoff found the experience of preparing and being on the show a bit nerve-racking, he’s glad that he did it. He was thrown off by some of the previous guests, but Geoff was excited to be a part of it because it was such a unique way to talk about education. I love that, among so many other things, about this show. If you want to find Geoff, you can follow him on Twitter and see the wonderful student work that he posts.