School Library Visits #tlchat @oslacouncil #scdsb

I have the privilege as the Teacher-Librarian Resource Teacher to support 101 school libraries in my school district. Many of my teacher-librarian colleagues direct their own professional learning.  Already I have been invited into 23 different elementary and secondary school libraries. Every time I step into a different library learning commons I continue my learning along with the teacher I am supporting.

There are a few new teacher-librarians who are trying to "learn the ropes" and adapt their skill set to their new role.  I am lucky to be able to support them when they have technical or programming questions.  As I support them I get a chance to relive the excitement as they realize that they will teach all students in all grades.  It is the busiest classroom in any school!

For the experienced teacher-librarians, they realize that they are lead learners and so they push me to keep up to date on reading engagement strategies, Google Apps for Education (GAFE) updates and how it all fits into out provincial document called Together for Learning and the national guide called Leading Learning.

The most popular reason that I have been invited into a school this month has been to assist in the implementation of maker spaces.  Many teacher-librarians believe that the library learning commons is the perfect place to introduce the maker movement to students, parents and staff. I completely agree!  The maker movement is multi-disciplinary by nature that emphasizes collaboration both of which the teacher-librarian has expertise.

Having a space where students and teachers can collaborate, create and tinker is an authentic way to improve problem solving skills, learn deeply and practice the growth mindset approach to learning.
It is really exciting to help transform traditional libraries to library learning commons to support student learning.  All stakeholders are excited to begin and have managed to eek out some way to demonstrate the maker movement in their school.

 In all my school library visits the topics are varied but the goal is the same.  They all want to collaborate more effectively with students and colleagues. For some that is through the establishment of a maker culture and/or developing a relevant collection for inquiry teaching models or encouraging the love of reading through special programming.

I am excited to continue my visits and to connect those with similar goals into meaningful professional learning networks.

Collaborating with Provincial TLs TALCO and @OSLA council

Collaborating with my colleagues in my district to create engaging and rich learning opportunities for our students is the best part of my job.  I gain enthusiasm and expertise whenever I get to co-plan with fellow teachers.

I also have the chance to learn from teacher-librarians when I  represent my local colleagues at two provincial organizations.  I am the co-chair of  TALCO  (The Association of Library Consultants and Coordinators of Ontario) This organization meets regularly to support the provinces' school libraries and the Ministry of Education draws on our expertise from time to time for input.
I am in my second of a three year term as the mid-central region council member for the OSLA (Ontario School Library Association). We work together to create resources to support and advocate for school libraries and for the teacher-librarians across the province.
The opportunity to collaborate with teacher-librarians from across the province is an honour and privilege. I love to learn from my colleagues in different English and French schools.  I also like to learn more about the diversity of the teacher-librarian role in high school and elementary schools in other districts.  Having a provincial perspective about school libraries enriches my experiences and it makes me a better leader in my own school district. This year I have had the opportunity to share some of the successes we have had in our district with the province!

The OLA plans and organizes the largest educational conference in Canada called the Super Conference. I eagerly attend as the energy generated from the learning and collaboration propels me through to the rest of the school year!

I always return from the Conference with  practical ideas and solutions.  The Together for Learning Showcase is always a highlight and a great opportunity to network with more colleagues from across Ontario.
This is an amazing time to be a teacher-librarian as we are able to support students with the integration of technology and in the development of their inquiry skills.

Collaborative Sessions with Lead Learners -Teacher-Librarians #scdsb #bettertogether

Teacher-Librarians (TLs) are lead learners in their schools.  They are the "go to" people when curriculum changes, when new initiatives need clarification and when one's technology plans need a plan B.  Many of my fellow teacher-librarians are actively engaged with their (Personal Learning Network) PLN through our district's email list serve and on Twitter. Sometimes though, face-to-face sessions can be valuable.  I think the "lateral learning" from side conversations that arise when an engaged group meets can be just as important as the planned content.  This week those side topics were about maker-spaces, book collection, digital citizenship and other tech related topics.

I felt that I had the chance to collaborate in two different ways this week.
First,  I had the opportunity to organize and facilitate two full day professional learning sessions for teacher-librarians (TLs) with the help of three Elementary Student Success Teachers (ESSTs), and three Instructional Resource Teachers IRTs.   We co-planned and facilitated  two sessions to help teacher-librarians understand the importance of the Creating Pathways document and some of the electronic tools that are available.  Then we gave the teacher-librarians the time to play with the various software.

 The second half of the day was designed to further our collective knowledge and to determine this year's professional needs to create successful inquiry opportunities for students.
The ESSTs presentations were engaging because they demonstrated their passion for Grade 7 and 8 students as they described some of the tools teachers can use to support students.  It was also an opportunity for the teacher-librarians to meet with their ESSTs and learn more about Pathways.  It is important that teacher-librarians are kept up to date so they can assist students.
The teacher-librarians appreciated the time to network with colleagues -one mentioned he enjoyed meeting his PLN from Twitter face-to-face;)
The chance to co-plan and present with staff from Student Success and Program was one positive aspect of the sessions because it gave me an opportunity to connect and learn from other talented teachers in our district.
The other positive effect of the day that I didn't expect was the requests for more collaboration opportunities. I am now booked to help one TL develop a D2L site for her school library, another wants to learn more about Genius Hour and I can't wait to help another increase his fluency with online presentation tools.  I feel that we achieved our goals around Pathways and Inquiry at these days and I think that the positive attitudes and openness to learn encouraged others to ask for more support. It was a perfect example of a growth mindset at work.
We have three more presentations for TLs in three more areas over the next two weeks.  I will get the chance to co-present with additional  IRTs and ESSTs and I look forward to learning more with each session.
I wonder if the participating teacher-librarians realize that they help me to learn and grow when they share their successes and challenges? I will have to thank the next group!

#Inspire_TIBF Reminded me of the excitement of books!

In my role as instructional resource teacher I get to learn various teaching strategies and think of ways to integrate new technology to enhance learning.  I was able to do that in my previous role as a teacher-librarian but my recent trip to the Inspire! Toronto International Book Fair reminded me that I do more.  As teacher-librarians we have the opportunity to inspire students and guide them in their choices.  The point isn't to guide them to our preferences but rather to listen and observe. We must take the time to learn students' interests and then find the "perfect" book for them.  I always loved it when I could find just the right book for an avid or struggling reader.
I got to feel that excitement again as I spoke with publishers, authors and illustrators about their newly published books and I got excited when I heard about their next projects. I was excited for students as there are many talented writers who are interested in what our students have to say. Thanks to social media, kids can connect to their favourite authors almost instantly which can influence the author's work.  It can also make an impact on what students' choose to read and write too.  I hope to get more students blogging for publishers to create authentic reading and writing opportunities for them.
I want to create more real life opportunities for students and publishers to connect so that they can learn from each other. Although the traditional publishing houses are changing and at times feel the industry is threatened I think the love of reading has continued to grow.  Who knows what the publishing world will look like in a few years??
As we were leaving the Book Fair we saw Jeff Kinney's bus drive by.  It is awesome to see a children's author has tour bus!  I love the fact that Dav Pilkey and Jeff Kinney are celebrities!
It means that students will continue to get the chance to read for fun, no matter the format of the "book." Who knows one day the readers of Captain Underpants and the Diary of the Wimpy Kid might aspire to be like Jeff and Dav too!