Thursday, August 13, 2009
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!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Organisational theory
| From: | Rosemary Hawke | Date: | Mon 10-Aug-09 09:22 pm |
| To: | Organisational theory | ||
| Subject: | Quality management in Education | ||
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.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
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.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, July 24, 2009
2nd Semester Learning Journal
Well the good news is that I have got 2 credits and one of the markers said I am well on the way to understanding and synthesising the ideas of what makes a good librarian. I didnt know I had it in me. My collection management policy was also good. Roy has said that it is good to reflect and in doing so, keep a learning journal. So part of the next semester is about recording our thoughts and ideas on our learnings. The first subject is the TL as a leader. I asked my boss for some literature on leadership as I see him as a fine leader. He told me that I was a leader. I looked at him funny and said " Im not a leader now, but I will be by the end of the semester. " He smiled and walked away. Since reading a bit about leadership I have discovered that a good leader helps everyone to feel that they have leadership qualities. By bringing out the leader in everyone, everyone benefits both internally and externally. There are visions and strategic plans to follow as well as dips and anxiety being felt in the initial stages just like in Kuhlthaus info skills models. Oh well here goes .....
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Part C Critical Synthesis of My Changing View Of The Role Of The TL
My journey along this teacher librarian (TL) path has been one of intense learning, incredible personal growth and overcoming of seemingly impossible challenges.
I happily took on a three-week or so, casual appointment as a teacher librarian (TL) last year and spent the first day with the transferring TL who stated to me “You’re in for a steep learning curve!” When I commented to my TL friend from a nearby school how easy it was, she answered with “Rose, it’s a pandora’s box!” Well it didn’t take me long to figure out that she was right. In my blog entry (6/3 Pandora’s Box) I commented on this aspect and the fact that later I realised that I had only just opened the box and I could begin to see that it was the tip of the ice- berg. The first mission in my course was to set up a blog. I remember writing on the forum what fun it had been and had no idea at the time, of the importance of reflecting on your learning and recording your thoughts in a journal. McGregor (1999), states that metacognition, or, thinking about your thinking, allows students (and TLs!) to evaluate their own thinking and to use appropriate thinking strategies in their learning. It is useful to look back on your journey and reflect on where you started and how far you have come, and how your understanding of the role of the TL has developed.
My philosophy of the TL role has evolved as I have become aware of the multi- faceted role and dual nature of the TL involving being a teacher and a librarian.
I have learnt that the role of the TL is a very important one if the library is going to be at the hub of the learning community. By critically analysing the Twelve standards of Professional Excellence for TLs (ASLA/ALIA, 2004), and synthesising how that can be applied my role, I have become even more keenly aware of the knowledge, skills and attributes needed, and how these standards can be applied to the TL role.
Initially, I believed that the library was its own entity and worked in isolation to the rest of the school. In an earlier blog entry (23/2, Professional Discussion) I spoke with a TL from a nearby school and we discussed the fact that the first thing to setting up an ILSC is to get the principal and the executive on board. After reading some of the literature, Henri & Hay (1995), and forum entries, Caitlin White’s Thoughts On Topic 2 (18/03/09), I realised that the TL must work closely with the principal to gain their support and to inform them of the short and long term goals of the TL. Through reading various suggested and prescribed literature, such as Watts (1999), on the role of the TL, it is clear to me that the TL should have a vision for the future as technology has changed our role and a massive job is ahead advocating for support for the library.
In my blog entry (Today’s Walk, 27/4), my friend and mentor, Lyn, described to me how she had created a collaborative learning community by getting the principal on board and by working on one teacher at a time, to instil in them the benefits of collaborative teaching and resource based learning. The word spread fast and she soon had teachers lined up to book their classes in for some flexibly scheduled time with her in the library.
A short time later in a blog entry (Aaahhh Haaaa Moment, 3/3), I reflected on a comment that a staff member had said. She remarked to me that collaborative teaching and flexible scheduling was what was supposed to happen, wasn’t it? I agreed with her and my topic 4 forum entry Hawke, R. (Collaborating and How Do We learn, 21/3), thoughts, gave me some ideas on this topic. As I reflected on McGregor’s (1999), theories of learning and ideas on collaboration, I gained some ideas on where to start. By joining and leading curriculum committees, meeting with teachers and informing at staff meetings reasons for collaborative planning, developing and assessing units of work and reasons for linking the acquisition of information skills to the curriculum and to what they are studying in the classroom, a collaborative teaching environment can be developed.
In my Blog entry, An Expert (10/3), I noted that I was beginning to be seen as an expert by other teachers in sourcing information especially with internet- related activities. My confidence and ability has grown tremendously and this has been helped by finding associated course readings online and having to find and print online resources in the first ETL 503 assignment.
In conclusion, the experiences and readings that I have encountered along the way in this course have all contributed to my changing view of the role of the TL. I now see my role as being highly important, multi-faceted and complex, involving a diversity of interactions, activities and responsibilities in a variety of teaching and learning contexts.
Bibliography
ALIA & ASLA (2004), Standards of Professional Excellence for Teacher Librarians, Australian Library and Information Association and Australian School Library Association, \accessed: 17 April, 2009. Available at: http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm
Hawke, R. (2009, March 21), Collaborating and How Do We Learn? Topic 4, Sub Forum entry, Information Literacy. ETL 401. Available at: http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?task=forums
Hawke, R. (2009). Roses Teacher Librarian Blog available at: http://rosehawke.blogspot.com
Henri, J. & Hay, L. (1995). The principal’s role in developing and supporting an information literate school community. Paper presented at the Australian School Library Association 14th Biennial Conference, Fremantle, Western Australia, 1-5 October.
McGregor, J.H. (1999), How do we learn?, in ‘Learning in libraries in an information age: principles and practice’ Stripling, B.K. (ed.) Englewood, Colorado, Libraries Unlimited, p25-53.
White, C. (2009, March 18) Thoughts on Topic Two, accessed: 20/03/09.: Topic Two Forum. The role of the teacher librarian. Available at:
http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_200940_W_D_forum
Watts, J. (1999). The teacher librarian past: A literature review,
pp. 29-42 In The Information literate school community: best practice, J.Henri. Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW.
I happily took on a three-week or so, casual appointment as a teacher librarian (TL) last year and spent the first day with the transferring TL who stated to me “You’re in for a steep learning curve!” When I commented to my TL friend from a nearby school how easy it was, she answered with “Rose, it’s a pandora’s box!” Well it didn’t take me long to figure out that she was right. In my blog entry (6/3 Pandora’s Box) I commented on this aspect and the fact that later I realised that I had only just opened the box and I could begin to see that it was the tip of the ice- berg. The first mission in my course was to set up a blog. I remember writing on the forum what fun it had been and had no idea at the time, of the importance of reflecting on your learning and recording your thoughts in a journal. McGregor (1999), states that metacognition, or, thinking about your thinking, allows students (and TLs!) to evaluate their own thinking and to use appropriate thinking strategies in their learning. It is useful to look back on your journey and reflect on where you started and how far you have come, and how your understanding of the role of the TL has developed.
My philosophy of the TL role has evolved as I have become aware of the multi- faceted role and dual nature of the TL involving being a teacher and a librarian.
I have learnt that the role of the TL is a very important one if the library is going to be at the hub of the learning community. By critically analysing the Twelve standards of Professional Excellence for TLs (ASLA/ALIA, 2004), and synthesising how that can be applied my role, I have become even more keenly aware of the knowledge, skills and attributes needed, and how these standards can be applied to the TL role.
Initially, I believed that the library was its own entity and worked in isolation to the rest of the school. In an earlier blog entry (23/2, Professional Discussion) I spoke with a TL from a nearby school and we discussed the fact that the first thing to setting up an ILSC is to get the principal and the executive on board. After reading some of the literature, Henri & Hay (1995), and forum entries, Caitlin White’s Thoughts On Topic 2 (18/03/09), I realised that the TL must work closely with the principal to gain their support and to inform them of the short and long term goals of the TL. Through reading various suggested and prescribed literature, such as Watts (1999), on the role of the TL, it is clear to me that the TL should have a vision for the future as technology has changed our role and a massive job is ahead advocating for support for the library.
In my blog entry (Today’s Walk, 27/4), my friend and mentor, Lyn, described to me how she had created a collaborative learning community by getting the principal on board and by working on one teacher at a time, to instil in them the benefits of collaborative teaching and resource based learning. The word spread fast and she soon had teachers lined up to book their classes in for some flexibly scheduled time with her in the library.
A short time later in a blog entry (Aaahhh Haaaa Moment, 3/3), I reflected on a comment that a staff member had said. She remarked to me that collaborative teaching and flexible scheduling was what was supposed to happen, wasn’t it? I agreed with her and my topic 4 forum entry Hawke, R. (Collaborating and How Do We learn, 21/3), thoughts, gave me some ideas on this topic. As I reflected on McGregor’s (1999), theories of learning and ideas on collaboration, I gained some ideas on where to start. By joining and leading curriculum committees, meeting with teachers and informing at staff meetings reasons for collaborative planning, developing and assessing units of work and reasons for linking the acquisition of information skills to the curriculum and to what they are studying in the classroom, a collaborative teaching environment can be developed.
In my Blog entry, An Expert (10/3), I noted that I was beginning to be seen as an expert by other teachers in sourcing information especially with internet- related activities. My confidence and ability has grown tremendously and this has been helped by finding associated course readings online and having to find and print online resources in the first ETL 503 assignment.
In conclusion, the experiences and readings that I have encountered along the way in this course have all contributed to my changing view of the role of the TL. I now see my role as being highly important, multi-faceted and complex, involving a diversity of interactions, activities and responsibilities in a variety of teaching and learning contexts.
Bibliography
ALIA & ASLA (2004), Standards of Professional Excellence for Teacher Librarians, Australian Library and Information Association and Australian School Library Association, \accessed: 17 April, 2009. Available at: http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm
Hawke, R. (2009, March 21), Collaborating and How Do We Learn? Topic 4, Sub Forum entry, Information Literacy. ETL 401. Available at: http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?task=forums
Hawke, R. (2009). Roses Teacher Librarian Blog available at: http://rosehawke.blogspot.com
Henri, J. & Hay, L. (1995). The principal’s role in developing and supporting an information literate school community. Paper presented at the Australian School Library Association 14th Biennial Conference, Fremantle, Western Australia, 1-5 October.
McGregor, J.H. (1999), How do we learn?, in ‘Learning in libraries in an information age: principles and practice’ Stripling, B.K. (ed.) Englewood, Colorado, Libraries Unlimited, p25-53.
White, C. (2009, March 18) Thoughts on Topic Two, accessed: 20/03/09.: Topic Two Forum. The role of the teacher librarian. Available at:
http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_200940_W_D_forum
Watts, J. (1999). The teacher librarian past: A literature review,
pp. 29-42 In The Information literate school community: best practice, J.Henri. Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Weeding and why do we need a collection when we have the internet?
As a new TL I have disposed of some books by putting them in the staffroom and asking people to help themselves. They then got thrown in the dumpster but all of this was done without a policy or process to follow. I can see the value now of a weeding policy and am looking forward to the mid semester break to turf some very old tired and unborrowed books out!
In our school library where we have few computers and most of these are very old, we still use print resources for research as well as internet. We only have 5 computers for 30 kids, so a lot of our information literacy involves research using encyclopaedias and non-fiction books. We have a good collection which provides appropriate easily accessed information. Reading for enjoyment is totally supported and encouraged and fiction books will live on forever I hope in our school collection. Posters, charts, C.D.s, DVDs, and ephemera will always be valuable adjuncts in the learning process and thus will also be valuable additions in our school library collection.
In our school library where we have few computers and most of these are very old, we still use print resources for research as well as internet. We only have 5 computers for 30 kids, so a lot of our information literacy involves research using encyclopaedias and non-fiction books. We have a good collection which provides appropriate easily accessed information. Reading for enjoyment is totally supported and encouraged and fiction books will live on forever I hope in our school collection. Posters, charts, C.D.s, DVDs, and ephemera will always be valuable adjuncts in the learning process and thus will also be valuable additions in our school library collection.
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