This week I had the privilege to attend a TL conference and prior to that an author dinner.  Mantle is the regional Teacher Librarian organisation and organises a conference each year. There was also an author dinner organised. Morris Gleitzman and Jack Heath were the speakers at the dinner. It was a great opportunity to listen to two accomplished authors and their passion for reading and writing.

The conference was a fantastic opportunity to converse with other Teacher Librarians and learn! There were a variety of workshops to sign up for. I have an interest in Information literacy and STEM so those were my focus point.

June Wall is the Library Coordinator for the Department of Education. Her workshop was about Information Fluency. She spoke about the Information Search Process (ISP). Information Literacy is the process and information fluency is the outcome. Wall is working on a frame work for the information fluency for K-6.

Wall made us think critically where the information literacy skills we are already teaching,  fit in these 4 stage. In consultation it was also decided to change the term Basic to Foundation.  A very useful and thought provoking exercise.

During the STEM workshops I learned an enormous amount about the Stem Share Community. An initiative run by the Department of Education, with STEM kits and free websites! I was inspired to dive into the world of STEM and especially Minecraft Education.

The value of the Mantle conference is hard to put into words. Collaborating, communicating and educating. The value the library and its librarians have on students and on schools. It was amazing.

Reference

Wall, J. (2019). Information Fluency. Retrieved from https://www.virtuallibrary.info/information-fluency.html