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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.
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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:
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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.
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.
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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
