collaboration

Well I m feeling good about our assignment. We spent 2 hours tues night on skype Discussing, communicating, changing the document. We have spent time on the google doc getting down the basics and quotes etc. Thurs night we spent another hour moving things around etc . We allocated slides to each other and i have done mine,. Sue and I met yesterday and had another hour getting note boxes put in, for the references. Part B is about to start and we will need to go thru part A again and it will be nearly ready to go, We meet again this arvo so good nearly done.

along the track-quality management

Quality management- this model can be used to enhance the info service provision at school and my profile. You can collaborate with teachers and customers ,kids in the library.The TL canbe an active contributor valued for creativity ( always finding creative ways around a situation)and intelligence, constantly transforming inputs to outputs of greater value to the ultimate customer. Quality and innovation of services is provided . Providing for the greater good. Every one wins or no-one wins.
Train up the office staff to know how they fit in Reward staff and monitors.They will perform at their best enabling the system to work efficiently when they have the knowledge and training to maximise their contribution to the process. chocolate works well. Collaborate to help improve processes. Work as a team.
Quality princip e no 1. The TL works on the system constantly trying to continouusly improve it....dinner time, See Quality management in education- Myron Tribus

A beginning of an assignment.

This has been a more difficult task than I considered it to be. I am used to people being up to date in technology and I even bought a new laptop with camera and microphone in it so that I would do the assignments with no hitches. I was not even considering the fact that others wouldnt have cameras and microphones or even the internet! It seems it has been difficult for some to even get the internet working ,one still doesnt have it operational due to moving house. So any way, we have done our best thru email and phone and last night I finally conne cted with one group member and tonight I connected with another . A third member is considering dropping out if internet challenges are not sorted soon. I have done a lot of emailing, texting, ringing and been on chat rooms and wikis and forums. I have been the pusher in the group, maybe because of my speedy work ethic. I like to get things done quickly and over quickly. I have discovered on this road that others are a bit more relaxed than me( or busier than me) and are taking more time to do things and get technology sorted. I have instigated most of the meeting times tho others have not been available at times. Frustration has set in at times esp where internet and skype is concerned. Last night I spent 2 hours emailing the lecturer and setting up a google doc to work on as wiki was a bit of a joke. Too sdmall to see much on it at all. The next meeting will get more done I am sure! Its interesting we have chosen the relationship theme for our assigment so we will have to develop good relationships in order to get our powerpoint finished. we might be very pleased withourselves when we are finished.

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Forming new relationships by Tracy Avery
The steps taken, by a leader, to foster a working relationshipWhen forced into a new relationship with colleagues, there are many steps to be taken along the path to fostering a relationship that sees no one person as the dominant figure. The steps can be defined and relate closely to the similarity of courting a beau. As an individual, one must assertain the degree to which they wish to contribute and the personality type they wish to portray within these relationships/groups in the workplace.When placed in a group for a group assignment, much time is spent setting up the relationship with the other peolpe forced into this situation. There is much to-ing and fro-ing to firstly introduce oneself and enquire about the personal background of each person, as well as setting up compatible talking times. This is the "Getting to know you" stage. One then can move onto the "Relating and being friends/or not" stage, where by the decision can be made as to whether you like the personality of the people you have met. These two stages may take a considerable amount of time and development of trust from each person. Within this stage a degree of caring and sharing can develop between the group members. Sympathy and empathy can develop and foster to help with trust building.Now that you have built a rapport with your group you can begin to work cohesively. Each personality should be known, including limitations. Each persons leadership qualities, or lack of, will be shining through as will the committment level they portray be easily seen.The "Check my personality" stage begins.As an individual within this group, you need to decide upon the leadership role you wish to take on. How are you going to potray yourself? How will decisions be made, autocratic, democratic or collaborative?With all these important factors sorted, it becomes time to knuckle down and start on the project at hand, thus begins the "Let's get moving" stage. During this time, the initail 3 stages will be constantly revisited.Oh, but wait! There's more!One more person to add to the mix, coming in 2 weeks behind the completed stages.Now come the many questions, What if she doesn't like what we've started? What if I can't appreciate her personality? Will she be willing to accept all that we have done and pick up from there? Will she comtribute, plus more, as she has been absent? Do I resent her for not being here in the beginning? Or more to the point...Can I continue to develop my qualities as a leader and continue the great role that I have undertaken within my group?Keep watching this space as the story unfolds.
Posted by Tracy at 4:11 PM
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Topic 3- Effective search straegies

As the TL at the school we are expected/ regarded as the expert when it comes to searching using search engines and compared to others we are. We need to try and use advanced google and boolean logic when searching. We also need to teach the students who are not good at searching, how to use the search engines and not just take google as gospel. The 7 habits of search engines is a good one, as is noodle tools and Kathy Schrock's guide and search engine showdown.
By doing the Volcanoes school teaching search it was interesting that the best sites werent at no 1 and 2 position on the web page. ask.com came up with no good info, Yahoo.com had a good powerpoint which was bright and written in kids language at no 4 on the web page. No 5 was very good also. Surfwax was a waste of time and had nothing of value to a highschool teacher.
The seven habits of Highly effective web searching is quite a good teaching tool as it explains in straight forward language some handy hints for successful web searching such as "Why is the sky blue?" is a better search strategy than a"sky blue question". Using your time wisely is the best idea yet, as time wasting on the net is such a frustrating annoyance for all of us.
Learning more about how stuff works on the web is important as its crucial to develop effective web search habits and you need to know how to do this effectively. The more effective you are the more you will cultivate a love of discovery and the more time wise you will become. Trying other search engines and search tools including meta search engines is a great idea also. 7 good habits is a gr8 website.

Getting started on a collaborative assignment

Well it seems everyone is busy and its very hard to get everyone together at the moment to wiki and I am sure it will all come together on the weekend when people have more time! And that is a precious commodity at the moment! I have gotten the ball rolling by posting on the chatroom and forum advertising for our members to come forth. As DET students we had a day with the lecturers and thus we have been split thruout the groups I guess to show a bit of leadership and guidance especially to those in our groups that are new to all of this. We have 2 new students and 2 who have survived last semester. We are the old hands and seem to be putting input into this task earlier than the others, perhaps because we know whats involved. One of our group has a new school, no internet and not done the readings yet, so it is a bit tricky trying to contact her. I have emailed everyone the names of journals we could be writing for and some good readings. Beth is emailing me an access article that she thought was good. Beth and I have nutted out a topic and a plan to get some ideas down this weekend on the wiki. Hopefully everyone will be on Skype by then. Time to go to bed!

Organisational theory

From:	Rosemary Hawke	Date:	Mon 10-Aug-09 09:22 pm
To:	Organisational theory
Subject:	Quality management in Education

http://rosehawke.blogspot.com
rosemary.hawke@det.nsw.edu.au
The Quality management guide in Education can be applied to the TL job in the library. Quality management is a different way to organise the efforts of people. This article says that leadership provides people with PD and growth. Win/win situations are sought after and problems will be prevented when people see how they fit in, eg if you train up the office staff, they will see themselves as being beneficial to the library and will see their place in the niche that is the library.Reward staff and library monitors, parent helpers. have a vision for the future . Collaborate to help and improve processes and work as a team. share and make known your values and beliefs, mission and purpose. Surveys can be used to assess needs and advertising successes can be advertised in the newsletter. The only good competition is seen as competing to get better at pleasing the customer or helping the environment thru recycling. The wooing of the customer is never done and thus the library needs to be constantly reinvented and new products processes and the features of the environment is constantly improved upon.
In the library we can discuss with the students what it is that they need to do well. How can we enable that to happen?
Attention needs to be placed on the teaching learning process and above all students participating in creative team (BLOOMS) activities learn to set goals, work together and develop social skills.

TL as a leader

Well we have our groups and I have been in contact with 2 of the students . I think we will get along fine and they are keen to get going. Have had a play with the wiki and communicated thru chat and wiki to Bethany and Susan. When ever anyone asks my topic eg TL as a leader, I say we are middle managers, We lead from the middle. We are not in an authoritive position but have influence and contact with the whole staff and all students in the school on a regular basis making us perhaps the most influential member of staff. We are teaching explicit information seeking skills, involved in linking IL skills to the curriculum making it relevant to their learning. We are responsible for ensuring collaborative planning and teaching takes place and it is important that we get that message out to the rest of the staff and the teachers in general. This would be a good topic to follow up for assignment one, maybe a title TL, How managing from the middle can help you in your school! or words to that effect.

2nd semester 504

I am beginning a new semester and at the moment my knowledge of leadership is limited . I have picked up a book by Covey Called The Leader in Me. It is about a school which encourages leadership and the 7 habits in all of the children starting off with kindergarten. It looks like a sensational school and I hope to have a vision of helping to create a sensational school after I have finished this course.
Communication- well I realise that a good leader has to be a good communicator and this is integral to effective leadership. They must be able to communicate with all levels of the staff in order for a cohesive well in formed group to exist.
Organisational theory, Well I dont know much about that and I dont know how it relates to the TL.
Startegic planning.- i guess this means that there are strategies to be developed and adhered to, and a vision to develop, a mission statement must be developed and aims and objectives devised in order to follow a route to an end or a means to an end! I think I can learn a lot here.