Month: July 2016

ETL401 – Assessment 1

Reflecting on your experiences as a teacher, write a 500-word piece about your understandings of the role of the teacher librarian in schools.

What do I think the role of a teacher librarian is?

                        Miracle Worker and Jack of all trades

In my experience teacher librarians have so many roles that vary slightly in each school and each circumstance that it is often hard to identify exactly what the role of a teacher librarian is because it covers such a large array of jobs that combine so many different aspects of the educational system.

Firstly, teacher librarians (TL) are information service managers. Australian professional standards clearly define TL’s as information specialists placed in schools to educate students about information literacies. They also educate teachers on how to best utilise resources available to the school both online and physical present (ASLA, 2014). As a result TL’s need to have a wide and varied knowledge of their resources and most importantly know where to find out information if they themselves do not know it immediately (Purcell, 2010).

Secondly, they are a creative force. Teacher librarians need to be constantly challenging themselves to find creative ways to encourage lifelong learning and a love of reading in children. They need to creatively link resources together for teachers and students. They need to be creative about the environment they provide for students to study, relax and work in. (McMeekin, 2013)

Thirdly, they are a learner and leader. TL’s need to be always learning about new technologies and resources in todays complex multimodal environment. Libraries are no longer just books they encompass the online environment and often include resources beyond books that students can borrow e.g. musical instruments, laptops, video cameras. They are leaders and teachers because we need to be teaching and sharing this information with our colleagues and encouraging them to do the same for their classroom environment. This can take the form of mentoring, running classes or just chatting to other staff and building professional relationships. (Lamb, 2011 & Valenza, 2010)

Finally I believe that teacher librarians need to be community outreach advocates. By this I mean that teacher librarians often have a unique ability to run after school clubs, to meet and share with parents and to build community partnerships. These can be beneficial for the students to learn outside the classroom and to encourage parents and community members to get involved in there local area. (Brown, 2010)

References

Australian School Library Association [ASLA]. (2014). What is a teacher librarian?. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/advocacy/what-is-a-teacher-librarian.aspx

Brown, J. (2010). Community outreach in school libraries. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/ilyhwqahpmzc/community-outreach-in-school-libraries/

Lamb, A. (2011). Bursting with potential: Mixing a media specialists palette. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 55, 27-36. DOI: 10.1007/s11528-011-0509-3

McMeekin, M. (2013). 27 Things your teacher librarian does. Retrieved from https://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/27-things-your-teacher-librarian-does/

Purcell, M. (2010). All librarians do is check out books, right? A look at the roles of a school library media specialist. Library Media Connection, 29, 30-33. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?sid=1494c574-6d79-4540-824d-947a33aec09e%40sessionmgr106&vid=0&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ907292

Valenza, J. (2010, December 3). A revised manifesto [blog post]. Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2010/12/03/a-revised-manifesto/

INF533 – Initial thoughts…

Assessment 1

Using your readings and interaction with the subject to date, develop a statement about your current knowledge and understanding of concepts and practices in digital literature environments, tools and uses, within the context of your work or professional circumstances. 

Before beginning this subject I knew that I did not have a firm grasp of what digital literature environments were beyond what I know as a 24 year old computer literate adult. That is ebooks, websites, computer programs, apps… and a strong sense of the overwhelming nature of technology in todays society.

To begin with my current knowledge is very limited to what I have experienced as a student, what I have used in the classroom and what I use in my everyday life to unwind and explore personal interests. I know how to use a blog, I know how to play around with Scratch, I know how to download ebooks and apps; but unfortunately in my professional experiences I have had very limited use of technology within the classroom. Most schools I have worked in have struggled with technology because of outdated resources (old computers, broken Ipads, an ageing staff without a ‘techy’ etc.), and like most teachers I’ve had to work with what we’ve got and make the best of it. However, I have have had the good fortune to have gone through university where training in using smartboards, web 2.0 and a variety of other technologies were explored during my studies.

While reading the initial first module of this subject I’ve been challenged to think more deeply about some of the concepts surrounding digital literature environments, things to be honest I haven’t thought about since I was last studying at university. For example, how literacy is shifting from a linear book and knowledge imparting resources to a deictic or ever-changing multimodal environment (Leu, D.J. et al, 2011). I’ve been reminded of how linked inquiry learning is to technology (The agenda with Steve Paikin, 2013). I’ve been reminded of the importance of teaching online comprehension as much as book comprehension as they require different skills (The agenda with Steve Paikin, 2013). Finally I’ve been challenged to think about what digital literacy environments mean for creativity in classrooms (The agenda with Steve Paikin, 2013) which always reminds me of the Ted talk by Sir Ken Robinson. (Ted, 2007). For a new technology rich future we need to be teaching the future of the human race how to identify important questions, locate information, evaluate information, synthesize and communicate within the online environment (Leu, D.J. et al, 2011). 

Technologies tools and uses in school environments is constantly shifting as new technology is developed. As apple has trademarked “There’s an app for that” (Gross, D, 2010) and if there isn’t already I am sure there soon will be. Personally I have used some of these technologies to research, to create, for enjoyment and for social collaboration within the classroom and I look forward to discovering new ways to do so and how to better use these tools within my own practice and the context of being a teacher librarian.

Finally, my biggest take home idea so far is that technology is a tool that is changing the way we think and develop ideas. It is powerful and scary but it is something worth learning to use and something worth teaching so that our students can have the best chance at fulfilling their potential as 21st century learners.

References

Gross, D. (2010). Apple Trademarks ‘There’s an app for that’. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/10/12/app.for.that/ 

Leu, D.J. et al. (2011). The new literacies of online reading comprehension: Expanding the literacy and learning curriculum. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(1)5-14. Doi: 10.1598/JAAL.55.1.1

TED. (2007, January 6). Do schools kill creativity? Sir Ken Robinson TED. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/iG9CE55wbtY 

The agenda with Steve Paikin. (2013, October 4). Learning 2030: From books to scree. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/215NPpHsQPk 

My initial thoughts on “What is a teacher librarians role?”

What teacher librarians do is a hard question to answer because they do so much. In the lead up to beginning my training as a teacher librarian I had to think about the role and whether it was something I would want to commit to. For most of my life I’ve been surrounded by teacher librarians as my mother took on the role while I was in primary school. I also know quite a few people now undertaking training in librarian roles. It seems all of a sudden everyone wants to be a teacher librarian.

So what do they do? What is there purpose in the school?

Well… for the record here is what I think now:

  1. to inspire
  2. to develop research skills
  3. to support teachers
  4. to develop resources within the school
  5. sometimes the technology guru
  6. literacy specialist

In coming weeks Im sure that my ideas will change and develop. These are just my initial thoughts thrown out into the cosmos and are still very vague. How do I go about doing all these things? How dod I develop these skills? How will they change over the years? I have a lot of questions and I look forward to investigating all these thoughts buzzing around in my head.