Inquiry Blog Post 3: How resourceful are you?

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Teaching alone has its own skill set. However, it is also ongoing and continuous in the content and pedagogy area. Professional development is essential in order to evolve as information becomes available. Teacher Librarians (TLs) have to keep up with the trends in pedagogy, and curriculum to foster lifelong learning with students and teachers. Teachers should be able to find assistance from the TL who can direct them to resources that help with implementing new practices. I have created ways to start my first year as the school TL. My steps to doing this are as follows: join the Professional Development Committee, establish a connection and gather input from each colleague by getting to know them and creating professional development opportunities.

Maria Kampen states that “time is not a commodity that you cannot avoid using - but you can spend it wisely… it means maximizing the time you have”. She suggests embedding Professional Development opportunities into the teaching day. For example, hosting a lunch and learn event or a drop in so that teachers can participate on their prep periods; facilitating time where teachers of same grade subject area can collaborate to plan or exchange lesson plans. 

In the Cult of Pedagogy, Jennifer Gonzales has several Professional Development structures (e.g. I would like to use: Learning Walks, Unconferences, Professional Learning Communities, Peer Observation, and Lab Classrooms) that can be incorporated into the teaching day and save teachers time working outside of work hours. 

I would like to try doing the following while I am part of the Professional Development Committee. The following are examples of learning opportunities I feel that I can easily incorporate without disrupting teachers days. 

Learning Walks 

Teachers visit colleagues’ classrooms for 10-15 minutes. Sometimes with a focus in mind. Followed by a debrief about what they observed. 

Unconferences

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Teaching each other in areas of expertise. 

Professional Learning Community

It is a community of professionals who have a shared interest or mutual commitment to growth. This is a community teachers choose to join. This would allow teachers to invest in what they need to know for their teaching rather than waste time learning things they don't need or already know about. 

Peer Observation

Teachers do a classroom visit. Watching colleagues teach. Sometimes a teacher demonstrates a strategy while visiting teachers observe. 

As time passes and I gather more experience I would like to provide opportunities for teachers to use resources virtually so that they can share ideas, practices and experiences with each other. In addition, I would like to develop a folder on Microsoft Teams to put useful links and resources for teachers, students and parents.

References 

Gonzalez, Jennifer (2018, March 4) OMG Becky. PD is Getting So Much Better!! Cult of Pedagogy.  Retrieved from: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/pd/

 

Kampen, Maria. (2019, April 24) 5 Ways to Make Teacher Professional Development Effective [With Examples].  Prodigy Game.  Retrieved from: www.prodigygame.com/blog/teacher-professional-development

Learning Walks: Structured observation for teachers, March 14th, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUTIIOfma90

Network for Educator Effectiveness, May 8th, 2019. https://neeadvantage.com/blog/teacher-professional-development-3-activity-ideas-for-school-leaders/

Inquiry Blog Post 2: skills, pedagogy and professional development

Thanks to information and communication technology, there is a heaping amount of resources at my finger tips. I can access any of these without leaving my chair. I want continue to develop my skills, pedagogy and professional development for my practice and classroom through my own personal learning network which include: 

Microsoft Teams, Blogs, Tweeter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Teachers-Pay-Teachers. 

Microsoft Teams 

I will use the resources from our very talented District Teacher Librarian. Currently there are several files with information that is shared among all Teacher Librarians (TLs) in the district. I am fortunate to work for a district that has many experienced teacher librarians working together. This virtual resource is dedicated to communicating ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. In the application we have folders which contain relevant instructions, procedures and information regarding the Library Learning Commons. We can also ask questions and connect with other TLs in the district. 

Instagram, Twitter, Blog 

I will strategically monitor my social media accounts (e.g. Instagram, Twitter, and Blogs) to keep current and be alerted to the ideas from other educators. I will network with other district TLs and follow them on social media.  There is also a district wide conference that I will be attending in September as well as a training session. Both events will give me a chance to add contacts to my social media.  I have also added the district TL to my Instagram feed along with other district TLs so that I can see their developments and progress as it happens in their classroom. 

Being a teacher I realize that teaching and learning go hand in hand. Not only do I have to teach the curriculum to my students but I also have to learn ways to create and optimize their learning. Going into this LIBE course I knew several acronyms like: TL, ELL, and LLC. Now I know about ICT and PLN. I have been so resistant to learning about information and communication technologies. However, it has surprised me how easily I have taken to it and learned to navigate various applications. I have been using other teacher’s resources for learning for some time but what I didn’t think was possible was to have people find what I have to say interesting or relevant. I read a quote by Chris Lehman which I will keep in mind when making my posts: “It’s no longer enough to do powerful work when no one sees it”. Domeier de Suarez, Lisa. (19 October 2012).  

Pinterest 

I enjoy using Pinterest because there is an abundance of options. The visual aspect is very appealing to me. I am a visual learner who does better by looking at how to do something rather then reading about it. I like to browse through resources that I can see and are visually easy to figure out. 

Teachers pay teachers 

I am an avid user of Teachers-Pay-Teachers. I love the idea of teachers supporting each other and taking part in each other’s professional development. There is an enormous amount of beautiful and useful resources. 

I realize that these digital platforms are not only important for my own personal learning networks but students’ as well. Therefore, it is important for us to know how to use these sources so that we can help our students safely navigate the applications. (Richardson, Will. December 7th, 2007). 

What is most interesting about these technologies is that you learn aspects you didn't even know you needed to know. In an interview with Tom Whitby (by Jerry Pettigrew) he mentions: “not only can you direct what you need to know, you also find out that, which you don’t know”. We are fortunate to be able to choose the platform that best suits our needs for a particular task. 

References

Pettigrew, Jerry. (unknown) How Teachers Create Personal Learning Networks on Social Media.  Retrieved from: www.crisisprevention.com/en-CA/Blog/June-2016/How-Teachers-Create-Personal-Learning-Networks-on

Video: Richardson, Will. Personal Learning Networks. (7 December 2007). [Video file] Retrived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mghGV37TeK8. 

Wagner, Juergen. Moodle and Web 2.0. Retrived from. https://www.scoop.it/topic/moodle-and-web-2-0/p/4041206445/2015/04/12/22-simple-examples-of-social-media-in-the-classroom

Domeier de Suarez, Lisa. (19 October 2012). Twitter: Best Professional Development in 140 Characters. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/lmdsuarez/twitter-best-professional-development-in-140-characters