Meeting the ICT Needs of My School

Leadership

Before starting my position as teacher librarian, I did not realize the importance of teacher librarians having a leadership role in the school.  When I was a classroom teacher, the teacher librarians were always very open and willing to collaborate but they did not take on a leadership role and present new resources to the staff.  I think to be an effective TL you need to be open and willing to collaborate but also you need to share the information that you have acquired and guide teachers into exploring new things.  That being said it has taken me about 4 years as a teacher librarian to feel confident enough to lead a mini pro- d session at my school.  I have done many other things that were more discreet such as setting up reading programs and organizing fun literacy activities but trying to get teachers to buy into the new resource I was presenting was another thing.  I hardly consider myself an expert and so why would teachers listen to me?  After reading this article I can see the value and benefits of having teachers teach others in the school.  This creates a community of learners and sharing from all staff members and becomes normal and expected.   The article also provides many interesting ways of conducting professional development within the school staff. 

“When a community comes together in such a way that teachers respect and trust each other enough to see themselves as teachers of teachers and as learners at the hands of other teachers, they are able to create an atmosphere where anything is possible.”

 - See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin459.shtml#sthash.6WcGA32E.dpuf

Lighting a Spark

I have always enjoyed doing professional book clubs and I would like to try and set one up this spring.  Instead of simply presenting the new book to the staff, I had the opportunity to organize a professional development day with 5 schools for Non-Fiction Writing Power presented by Adrienne Gear.  Adrienne Gear is a fabulous presenter and my staff really enjoyed the workshop. This was the spark and motivation that I needed to get them on board.  I feel that they will be more open to participating in a book club now that they have gained some insight into the book.  I realize that it is not always possible to invite the author of a book to speak to the staff however finding a way to make the book relevant to each teacher is vital in getting people motivated to read and implement new strategies.

This article suggests doing class observations as part of the book club.  This allows other teachers to see in the classroom what teachers are doing and then discuss afterwards how the lesson went and how each teacher could adapt the lesson to suit their needs. This is another way of building a community of teachers learning together.

    

I think it would be interesting to adapt the book club format by creating an “app of the month” club.  Where an app is introduced and at the end of the month each teacher shares how they used the app in their classroom.  Seeing examples of how others used the same app could be helpful.    

Meet Them Where They Are At

An important thing that I learned is to meet all teachers where they are at in terms of technology.  Every teacher has a different level of comfort and experience with technology and you need to gently guide them towards new things.  Teachers already have a lot on their plate and the last thing they need is to feel overwhelmed.  I found doing a demo lesson or a small project using a new app or website was the best way of getting teachers on board.  I managed to get the grade 4 teacher to do use Pixton and create fun comic strips and the gr. 1 teacher used Animoto to display work.  Now these teachers use these apps every year.

Easy access

I created a library website with many links to websites that can be used for teachers and students.  The teachers appreciate having a list of websites easily accessible.  It is a constant work in progress but my goal is to customize it as much as possible for each teacher.  I plan on creating specific links to curriculum topics for each grade.  My hope is that the teachers would be able to use these links to support their teaching or have these links available to students for their projects. I also like the idea of sharing my Delicious site with others once it's up to date. 

Keeping them informed

I would like to create a monthly newsletter for the teachers.  Here I would highlight new books, interesting websites I have come across, pictures of projects or activities done at the library, etc.  In the past I have used Smore to create attractive flyers and I think this could be a fun way of showcasing new resources.  At staff meetings I could then go through what was on the monthly flyer so that I could explain further, do a demo or answer any questions.  I’m also enjoying the weekly video updates in this class and this could be an entertaining way of keeping teachers informed.  Simply sending them a link to a new app is not going to amount to very much.  

Collaboration

Finding the time to collaborate with teachers has been a struggle.  When I did manage to find time, I felt like they didn't quite understand how collaboration works.  Most just told me what they wanted me to cover and how I should go about it.  I was quite frustrated and I found myself taking a step back and not initiating collaboration as much.  In the future I would like to try using collaboration more as professional development for the teacher.  We would choose a topic or technology that they would like to explore and I would teach lessons and demos with their class to help them understand how this resource could be used.  Sometimes I get the impression that the teachers don’t want me to me to interfere with their curriculum and they prefer that I teach skills that can be used in different aspects of the curriculum.  This would become a more 1:1 pro d that I could custom tailor to their needs and then support the implementation of the resource.

 

Once all staff members understand that teacher librarians are not simply the keepers of books then great strides can be made in sharing new resources.  This article is a great case study of how teacher librarians can revolutionize how students learn and how they can become true agents of change, digital leaders and remain relevant.