Connect the dots – Page 2 – Thoughts and reflections from a Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) student

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy iPad app cover (Kiwa Digital, n.d.).

Digital Literature Review: Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy

August 27, 2023 Amanda Wilson Comments 0 Comment

The popular children’s book Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd (2005) has been digitally reproduced into an interactive iPad app, with digital elements included that support early readers to read the story independently. The digital version of Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy mimics the layout of the print books, with pictures on the left-hand side of the screen and matching text on the right. This makes the format familiar to children who have experienced reading the print…

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Prior Knowledge and Pigeons: My Preliminary Understanding of Digital Literature

July 9, 2023 Amanda Wilson Comments 4 comments

Within the introductory module of ETL533 Literature in Digital Environments, my preconceptions of digital literature have already been challenged. Prior to the commencement of this unit, I would have classed eBooks or PDF books as a part of digital literature, but as explained by Giovanna Di Rosario in her TEDx Talk, Pixelated Words: Literature Facing the Digital World (TEDx Talks, 2018), it pertains to literary works that are created for and on digital devices. From the examples shown within the…

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ETL503: A Reflection On Learning

May 22, 2023 Amanda Wilson Comments 0 Comment

‘Mirrors and windows’ is an analogy that I first encountered during my studies in ETL503. It means students must be able to see themselves reflected in the school’s library collection (the mirrors) and be provided with opportunities to learn about the lives and experiences of others (the windows) (Adam, 2023, p. 1). This analogy has underpinned much of my thinking as I worked through this unit, further developing my understanding of the nature of school library collections and the practical…

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Annual Reporting: Making the Invisible Visible

April 29, 2023 Amanda Wilson Comments 0 Comment

An annual report can be a powerful tool that gives a teacher librarian the ability to provide transparency, take accountability and advocate for their library. In this blog post I elaborate on these three concepts, detailing some of the ways an annual report can be beneficial to a school library and to the role of a teacher librarian. For transparency: Creating an annual report plays a part in making the invisible visible. Karen Bonanno (2011) describes how teacher librarians…

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Censorship and the school library

April 19, 2023 Amanda Wilson Comments 0 Comment

In the article entitled Selection & Censorship: It’s simple arithmetic (2002), Dave Jenkinson outlines the following three challenges when dealing with censorship in the school library. This blog post will analyse each challenge and identify if Australian school libraries face the same challenges around censorship. 1. The majority of school censors are parents, but in-school censorship from teachers and other school personnel is still significant. While it is difficult to obtain statistics around who is censoring materials, there is…

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Mirrors and windows: How to engage learners in collection development

March 15, 2023 Amanda Wilson Comments 0 Comment

When learning about student-lead collection development in school libraries, I was introduced to a theory that really resonated with me. This theory was: mirrors and windows. Teacher Librarian at Melba Copeland Senior Secondary school, Mali Jorm, used this expression to explain how a school library collection should contain literature that shows a variety of different experiences and perspectives (School Improvement Branch, 2021). Students should be able to see themselves reflected in the literature that they are accessing (mirrors); and should…

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The difference between a proficient and highly accomplished teacher librarian

March 9, 2023 Amanda Wilson Comments 0 Comment

What separates a proficient teacher librarian from a highly accomplished one? By analysing the Australian School Library Association’s Evidence Guides and the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2011), one can identify the skills and qualities that set highly proficient teacher librarians apart from those who are proficient. This blog post will use teaching standard 3.4 Select and use resources to compare and contrast. As all my experience has been centred around classroom…

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Collection Development and Management

February 26, 2023 Amanda Wilson Comments 0 Comment

At first glance, it can appear as if the terms ‘collection development’ and ‘collection management’ are interchangeable. Once I was able to tease out the differences between the two, I was able to see that both processes, while intertwined, have the teacher librarian using their knowledge and expertise in different ways. In this blog post, I explore my current understanding of collection development through the creation of my own process diagram and reflect upon what I believe are the differences…

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Engagement with the School Library Collection

February 26, 2023 Amanda Wilson Comments 0 Comment

When reading the key findings from the 2021 Softlink Australian School Library Report (Softlink, 2022), one emerging theme that stood out for me was the difference between teacher and student engagement with the school library collection. The key finding that focused on teacher engagement stated the following: “When asked about the level of teacher engagement with the library, 32% of respondents reported a high to very high level of engagement, 47% reported a moderate level of engagement, and 21% reported…

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Time Management and Negotiation

May 23, 2021 Amanda Wilson Comments 0 Comment

In my professional and personal life, I have always been excellent at time management and prioritising what needs to be done. Being in a demanding profession such as teaching has honed my time management skills even further. On the other hand, negotiation is an area that I need to further develop if I want to become an effective teacher librarian. When I think about teachers who I have worked with in the past that possessed influential qualities, my mind…

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