Looking Back and Looking Forward

      I am excited with the many, many ideas and blogs, posts and research we have piled through this month.  The best part of it all for me is that it is applicable to the work I am doing!  It made this course not feel like a hoop to jump through, but one where I have tonnes of takeaways, lots to be interested in, and lots I have already incorporated into my work.

      One new avenue for development for me personally is that just this week I received another inquiry grant from my school district.  The grant is for my little TL group in which we began as an inquiry group working to transition our libraries to a learning commons.  This year we are collecting resources and sharing with each other our learning.  This is a huge help to me professionally as I am given time to talk, share, discuss, and learn with fellow TLs.  I feel I learn LOTS from simple conversations.  

      We will continue our march on towards becoming a full library learning commons and are almost there.  There are so many ideas I gathered from this last month, such as Book Clubs or Book of the Month to continue the development of the reading culture in our school community. 

retrieved from:
https://fernie.bc.libraries.coop/adult-book-club-books/

Our group also hopes to bring in a neighbouring district guru, Amber Hartwell, to help inspire other teachers in our district to transition their libraries and give us guidance, as well.  I like the idea of having my own personal inquiry in that I am modelling the process for colleagues in our school, just as we embark on a school wide inquiry process.  Another area for me to development in my own practice is staying on top of an efficient and practical way to curate resources.  I think heading forward I hope that my library webpage will hopefully house resources through links, my blog, and twitter.

      Moving forward from what I learned this month is I will be sharing out!  I had thought about it briefly before, but my biggest takeaway is definitely the importance of sharing out and how not just others benefit from it, but me too! 

retrieved from:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00998J5YQ

Richardson (2012, p.387) named reasons that teachers don’t share out, from fear to a culture of competition in schools, but I feel the biggest factor for me is time.  Really the lack of time is my issue.  However, sharing out with fellow local librarians, colleagues, and other TLs is an area needing growth for me, one that I can attain, and one that will help me professionally, as well.  A quote from Paige Bredenkamp found in fellow wolf Karla Germaine’s blog has stuck with me since I read it: “Knowledge is the result of interactions and experiences through connected networks in a community”.

      I have some highlights of learning I have gained from others over this past month and one is that it is time, past time, to have a blog and active twitter account for my school.  Although twitter has not been my favourite social media form (I don’t feel I have time to sort through what people had for breakfast to find things of interest to me), I do like being able to get snapshot ideas.  It is growing on me now that I found some that are specific to teaching and like the quick snippet idea.  Two new accounts I am now following are from Hannah's blog : https://twitter.com/bctla  and Darryl Beck's blog: George Couros, which both provide professional and thought provoking ideas.  I still feel blogs are more valuable overall to me and I have appreciated blogging with my fellow wolves.  For me it is the discussion feel, like a conversation, that I am drawn towards.   I also like the building on the plentiful array of ideas.  I give an idea, but others tag in and say…”I also tried this”, which is a little new tweak to something I had just done.  It adds a fresh zing to add onto an idea.  Every single blog post from my colleagues has had a little idea or two I have either incorporated already or hope to do.  For example, as TLs we are always looking for a perfect book for someone and ask questions of them, “what did you last read?  What is your favourite book?” etc., but I have tried Hannah’s reader personality test and students had fun with that.  They were shocked to see that some of the books recommended to them from the test they had already read so the simple quiz seemed to work for many.  Thanks to Alison's blog for 2 peas and a dog blog, which I now like to peruse.  Another tidbit idea from Karla’s blog, which is still rumbling around in my head, is about helping students and colleagues with their PLNs.  I have been focused on me, but Karla shared the ideas of Irene Hanreates and her ideas which has me thinking of how important sharing out is, the need to model it, to work on my own PLN, but to help others gain the benefits of this, too. 

retrieved from: https://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-define/

      The one topic that resonated with me most this past month is in regards to how I will continue my own professional development.  This is my last library course and it scares me a bit to become stagnant.  So often you see a teacher teaching the same grade and same material year after year.  They are doing what they know well, but not updating or challenging themselves with something new.  It isn’t enough to go to a pro-d day, but in a role as TL I can do so much more to be inspired and to inspire.

References

12 Ways a School Librarian Can Help Teachers - 2 Peas and a Dog. (2018). Retrieved from https://2peasandadog.com/2018/07/12-ways-a-school-librarian-can-help-teachers.html

BCTLA (@bctla) on Twitter. (2018). Retrieved from https://twitter.com/bctla

Beck, D. (2018). Mr. B's Blog. Retrieved from http://kidstonkokanee.blogspot.com/

Couros, G. (2018). George Couros (@gcouros) on Twitter. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/gcouros?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Cuthill, A. (2018). LIBE 477: Special Topics in Teacher Librarianship - New Media and Technology in the School Library. Retrieved from https://critiquelecture.wordpress.com/

Germaine, K. (2018). Reflections of a New Teacher Librarian. Retrieved from http://kargermaine.blogspot.com/

Reader Personality Types - A Book And A Hug. (2018). Retrieved from https://abookandahug.com/reader-types/

Richardson, W. (2012). Why school. New York, NY: TED Conferences.

Wilson, H. (2018). Hannah's Learning Library. Retrieved from http://hannahslearninglibrary.blogspot.com/

500 Hats

retrieved from: http://500hats.edublogs.org/

      I cannot agree more that teacher librarians are looked to for everything from evaluating and acquiring new resources to developing new skills.  I like Barbara Braxton’s blog on the 500 Hats of a TL, as our role is certainly becoming quite varied!   My favourite way to share what I learn with colleagues is through collaboration with them IN their classroom.  I get to connect and learn with students.  It also allows me to share the new technology or learning strategy with a teacher as they learn to use it, which I hope gives them the confidence to be able to try it on their own the next time.  If lucky they may even collaborate with another teacher and the ripple effect will take over!  We have a technology crew (District Technology Innovation Coordinators) in our district with each having a family of schools that they connect with, introduce new technology to, and help with guidance and expertise.  They, thankfully, see the value in a TL position and like to train us with new technology with hopes we can go back and share with everyone. 

retrieved from:
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/getting-started-with-the-microbit

Last year they gave every TL a set of microbits for their school, if we attended the workshop on how to use them!  I have placed an emphasis on building teacher relationships the past 4 years plus getting to know the needs of my learning community and I hope this helps me be able to share out these kind of new ideas.

      As far as my admin goes, mine is energetic, supportive, and forward thinking.  We ran into each other at our last pro-d day where we were at an innovative education conference.  We spent our whole lunch hour bubbling with excitement about plans for the school with our newly acquired ideas.  I am not sure I will be able to keep up with her, but together we share, plan, and support new ideas and our visions for the school.

      To be honest, I think I have more I need to be doing than I am actually doing to be more responsive to the needs of my fellow educators, staff, and parents.  I do think a library website with lists of tools and links to resources and teaching ideas would help meet professional development of staff.  Having it all organized in one easy to find place would at least give staff an idea of what is out there!  Videos on how to incorporate technology into their class would give them inspiration I hope.  I like this quote from 7 Reasons Why Digital Literacy is Important for Teachers: Digital literacy doesn’t require that teachers become experts, but it does require that they understand the digital tools that can unlock their deeper teaching potential.   Although I have emphasized mutual respect and trust with colleagues in the past, this year I can spend more time helping teachers on HOW to use resources with the redesigned curriculum and help teachers’ exploration of curriculum topics and competencies.  I think it is important to gain input from staff in regards to areas we need to explore further.  I have always wanted to get a library committee together that would include staff, parents, and students to create a solid vision for our space and to discuss areas requiring improvement or change.

      I have done well at weeding the student library collection but not the teacher resources.  This week’s assignment has me thinking about how I could handle this.  I am thinking I will put on display teacher resources at a staff meeting.  When it is my turn to share I can remind teacher to browse the resources and ask them which they use and then discard those that no one is using.  Once that is weeded we can then look to see what areas we would like to see broadened.   I came across Anna Crosland’s great idea to get books circulating.  I could do this with teacher resources and our regular collection:

 

Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/crosland_a

      To continue to be responsive to the needs of my educational community, I plan to carry on being receptive and available to teachers’ needs, continue to model my own personal inquiry and improve and share my own teaching skills.  I will continue to bring in experts or skype with them where my expertise cease.  I’d like to follow the Working with Colleagues, A Guide for ICT Mentors as it states that a TL is to provide colleagues with training, support, and advice, and collaborate with them as they move towards more effectively integrating ICT into their teaching and learning (2002, P.14).  Okay, so this article dates itself with the older model computers on the front cover, but some great nuggets of advice in the write up like how to assess the needs and interest of teachers and setting personal action plans.  One other piece of advice I took from it was to start small and build on success (2002, p.23), as you can start to feel overwhelmed with so much one is trying to do! 

      In addition to starting small, I think it is important to work at the comfort level of each colleague.  Edutopia has some good ideas on how I can work with teachers with the tools they have or are willing to use.  For example if you only have one computer in a room, I can offer a bite size option such as: starting a collaborative blog, curate resources, build a google site to house class content, or record screencasts for providing onscreen instruction.  

retrieved from:
http://500hats.edublogs.org/

Finally, we have revived our TL LSA and this means we have the opportunity to share with each other, but also a chance to start a TL mentor ship program to work together with newer TLs.

References

7 Reasons Why Digital Literacy is Important for Teachers. (2018). Retrieved from https://rossieronline.usc.edu/blog/teacher-digital-literacy/

(2002). Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/kindergarten-to-grade-12/teach/pdfs/curriculum/appliedskills/mentors.pdf

Braxton, B. (2018). 500 Hats | 500 Hats. Retrieved from http://500hats.edublogs.org/500-hats/

Crosland, A. (2018). Anna Crosland (@crosland_a) on Twitter. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/crosland_a

How to Integrate Technology | Edutopia. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-guide-implementation