Leading Learning in the School

It seems fitting that the topic of professional development for staff comes in the week that almost all of the covid restrictions in Switzerland and my school are being removed.  For the past two years, all of the focus has been on managing online learning, modified learning at school, and a mix of the two.  As most staff have been entirely focused on just trying to manage what became our new normal, and as there have been far more months where we weren’t allowed to gather together, or this was very restricted, professional development and even collaboration, in many respects, has been pushed to the side.

This week is the first time in two years that parents are allowed on campus, we no longer offer at home learning, and all of our ‘bubbles’ that have been carefully maintained have just about disappeared.  So what does this mean for professional development in the future?  At a time when relationship building is going to be critical, and staff are feeling really tired of all things computer-based, how can I meet their needs and ensure I am offering the support my diverse community needs?

Modelling Learning

In the past, I made different pictorial tutorials to enable staff to see step-by step instructions for a resource.  During the lock down, we’ve been working on enhancing this idea by also providing video tutorials.  These have been very successful as busy staff have been able to really see how something works, even if we can’t be there to offer the advice in person.  We are also fortunate to have a member of the team who has an excellent video tutorial voice.

 

                                                    Sample tutorial video from ISZL

Many of my colleagues feel pressed for time and don’t want to read emails or articles.  I think that by attending meetings and proposing different lesson ideas/tools to be integrated, and then offering to come in and lead the lesson in the class will be the most successful model.  While there are some things that staff could easily take on themselves, seeing a lesson in action, or watching a tool be introduced ensures they understand what is being proposed and takes the pressure off of them having to master something new to teach to their class.  This also provides opportunities to build our relationships further and gives me the chance to offer feedback to the teacher in the moment to propose next steps or way something could be adjusted for future success.

Using Visuals

I mentioned previously about providing Loo Lit as a way to let staff know what resources we have in the library and I am seeing more examples of using these types of displays to share opportunities for staff PD, or giving more information about how a digital tool could be used. The addition of QR codes to these displays is a great way of allowing staff to take the information with them. Another option is a weekly email to staff with a choice board look to show links to new resources. I think as long as you keep things brief and offer yourself as an expert, staff will be more likely to read the information. 

Sample of a newsletter from Van Meter Library

Presenting our knowledge

I am a very uncomfortable presenter when speaking with groups (unless they are young children). I also find staff feel overwhelmed by having to attend meetings or more formal training events.  Having read about different school offering drop in times at lunch, I think in the future I would like to offer some drop in sessions after school, or if we can make our timetable work, offering some lunchtime get-togethers where we can demo different tools.  We’ve learned that food and drink have power in our school so by creating a social atmosphere with snacks, we may entice more people to join in with training.  This would also reduce the pressure to present for myself and help me to feel more comfortable in this aspect of my role.

What do they need?

I think as an important beginning step, we need to survey the staff and find out where their needs and interests are.  There was a huge amount of technological upskilling that happened at the beginning of the pandemic, but with a very large and diverse staff, there are also many different needs.  I think often there is an assumption of what people want and need to learn, but by reaching out to the staff to find out here they want to go next, we can develop sessions that are actually wanted.

What about books?

We are very fortunate in our school to have passionate staff that are happy to make book requests. We have a large professional collection that we weed every few years, alongside our curriculum coordinator, and are able to buy most requested resources.  I do think as a next step, we need to talk with our administration about funding for this collection.  At the moment, the money comes from the library budget, but after a recent change in our PD model, we are seeing more groups of people requesting books to read together.  This change has become costly for the department and we need to find a way to ensure we can continue to support their requests.

 

References:

Future Ready Librarians. Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved February 24, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/groups/futurereadylibrarians.

Hacking School Libraries (and Other Classrooms!). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved February 16, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/groups/HackingSchoolLibrariesAndOtherClassrooms

Int’l School Library Connection. Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved February 24, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SLAsia

ISZL Libraries (2022). Destiny Back Office.

McClintock Miller, Shannon (2019). Tech talk! A new way to share with our teachers & community! Vanmeter library voice. https://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/p/shannons-instagram.html

 

 

A Librarian Never Stops Learning: Developing My Own ICT Skills and Pedagogy

Passionate and innovative professionals are people who are constantly striving to further their skills through learning and trying things out in their practice. Professional development can (and should) take many forms and in a time when there is so much knowledge online, there are never-ending possibilities to discover new ideas and inspiration.

Personally, I find the most powerful professional development allows for opportunities to interact with other practitioners. While watching video tutorials works very well for me, when it comes to a conference option, I have quickly realised I need to be in person to be able to interact with others instead of passively watching a presentation.  This has been especially challenging during the last two years of covid restrictions.

Bearing that in mind, and with the hope that soon live conferences will be possible again, I have put together a list of some of my favourite places to go for personal development, and resources I hope to use in the future.

Online groups:

As I mentioned in a previous post, Future Ready Librarians on Facebook is one of my go-to groups. I find this one can be very US focused, but there are so many knowledgeable posters on the page that bring information about all topics library-related. There are many articles and resources that are posted and it is a great jumping off point for further research. Shannon McClintock Miller is a member of this group and I have also begun to follow her blog, https://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/p/shannons-instagram.html, for more inspiration.

A second group I am active in is  Int’l School Library Connection, which is more focused on issues related to IB schools and our curriculum needs, as well as things like Data privacy and copyright laws, and access to different tools, databases and other resources in non North-American countries.

In my searches today, I also found the group Hacking School Libraries and Other Classrooms.  I haven’t had a chance to explore it too deeply, but I think there is a potential to see some great ideas for bringing Maker Space and technology into the library.

Personal Learning Networks:

Although these various Facebook groups are critical to my learning, I am not sure I would consider them a part of my personal learning network as they lack actual relationships.  I think the majority of my PLN are colleagues at school or in Switzerland, where I have had the opportunity to build relationships in-person.  At school, I have a collection of library colleagues, class teachers, and other specialists that I know I can go to for support, inspiration, and collaboration.  They are people I feel I can get honest advice from and know they are also passionate in growing as an educator.

 In Switzerland, we have a Librarian group for members of the Swiss Group of International Schools.  We were able to meet together twice a year in the past, as well as offering visits to see our programs and practice in person.  However, the group has become very quiet and we need to work on building up our connections again. I would love to hear how often groups in your areas meet, and how you have stayed connected over the past couple of years.

Books:

I still like to read books on different professional topics and think my focus now needs to be more on innovation and change in the Library.  The following books are on my shortlist for summer reads this year:

Transforming Libraries : A Toolkit for Innovators, Makers, and Seekers by Ron Starker

Based on the description of the book on Book depository and after searching some of my FB groups, I think it is an important one to read:

 

Design Thinking In The Classroom : Easy-to-Use Teaching Tools to Foster Creativity, Encourage Innovation, and Unleash Potential in Every Student

This book will especially be of use with my work in my EY2 and KG classes as they have specific units that really look at design thinking.  I want to help move them beyond the product to look closely at the process and I think understanding more about the design process will enable me to support them.

The final book I’ve heard really great things about is Developing Digital Detectives : Essential Lessons for Discerning Fact from Fiction in the "Fake News" Era

Although I work with younger students, I do teach research skills and digital literacy and I think it is important to continue to build knowledge on the topic at a time when the spread of misinformation is so great.

Future Professional Development options with a tech integration focus:

Learning2  This organisation offers excellent PD opportunities for educators in Europe.  I haven’t attended a conference yet, but I have heard that the sessions are run by educators, demonstrating how to integrate different tech tools into the curriculum in an authentic way.

Exploring Future Ready Librarianship: Practices for the Emerging Leader  The ISTE website provides links to some PD opportunities and this one in particular, which has been developed in collaboration with Future Ready Librarians sounds particularly interesting.  

I recently took part in an online conference with my team from 21Century Learning. Although the course was online, and based in Asia, we were able to watch the presentations together so we could stop and discuss the tools within the context of our own school. Many schools in Asia are ahead in terms of staffing, resources and technology integration so it is exciting to see what is being done there. https://www.21c-learning.com/21st-century-schools-series/

References:

Future Ready Librarians. Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved February 16, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/groups/futurereadylibrarians.

Hacking School Libraries (and Other Classrooms!). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved February 16, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/groups/HackingSchoolLibrariesAndOtherClassrooms

Int’l School Library Connection. Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved February 16, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SLAsia

ISTE (2022). Exploring future ready librarianship: Practices for the emerging leader. ISTE. Retrieved February 16, 2022. https://www.iste.org/professional-development/iste-u/library-practices?_ga=2.36263840.1655835513.1628526599-1341423513.1605563246

LaGarde, Jennifer and Hudgins, Dennis (2021). Developing digital detectives : essential lessons for discerning fact from fiction in the "fake news" era. International society for Technology in Education.

Learning2. Learning2 europe. https://learning2europe.org/

Lee, David (2018). Design Thinking In The Classroom : Easy-to-use teaching tools to foster creativity, encourage innovation, and unleash potential in every student. Ulysses Press.

McClintock Miller, Shannon . Vanmeter library voice. https://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/p/shannons-instagram.html

Starker, Ron (2017). Transforming Libraries : A Toolkit for innovators, makers, and seekers. Jaquith Creative.

21st Century Learning International (2021). 21st Century schools workshops. https://www.21c-learning.com/21st-century-schools-series/

Supporting a Culture of Reading through Access and Education

 Ready access to a wide variety of reading materials increases the chances that learners will become readers and choose to read (Krashen 2004 as cited in Reading Position Task Force, 2020, p.1). 

I’m fortunate to work in a school with a strong culture of reading. The library is a highlight during new family tours and, pre-covid, our space was very busy after school with families checking out books or reading together. Our students in the primary school have weekly scheduled Browse and Borrow times every week, starting in EY1 (our three year olds) and it is rare to have a student that doesn’t want to check books out. 

When I first joined the library team, this was not the case. There were a lot more policy restrictions in what and how students were able to borrow materials from the library, and we often heard class teachers asking students if they could read the book they chose or telling students to put a book back because it was ‘too hard’ or ‘too easy’. While there are many different things we do to promote a culture of reading, in this post I am going to focus on our work in changing the culture through education and how we let students access the resources.

Over the last few years, there were three books in particular that really changed my opinions on book access and made me reflect on my own practices as well as the policies we have in place in the library.  Krashen (2004), Miller (2012), and Ripp (2016) all emphasise the importance of providing students with choice and variety when choosing their books.  

 

It is my role as an advocate for my students to educate staff and parents on the role of the library in offering students free choice with regards to their books. This has meant discussions with community members about the library being a space for students to choose books that they are interested in. It may mean pointing adults towards our levelled book room to find books for this purpose and sharing articles like 'Thinking Outside the Bin',  or working with individual students to find authors or series that meet their reading interests and needs.  It also means listening to the students and purchasing books based on their interests and requests. 

Developing our section of books in different languages has also allowed more access to our students, particularly our beginner EAL students.  These students need to develop their language skills in their home language as well as in English, and by providing rich literature that reflect their own cultures, we are providing them with another way to connect with books.

 

Books in different languages are marked with flags so they can be easily found by the students

“Providing students with the opportunity to choose their own books to read empowers and encourages them. It strengthens their self-confidence, rewards their interests, and promotes a positive attitude toward reading by valuing the readers and giving him or her a level of control” (Donalyn Miller, 2009, p.23).  

As a member of the Future Ready Librarians and Int’l School Library Connection groups on Facebook, I am able to see many perspectives and ideas surrounding best practice for my patrons. As a result of ongoing discussions in the group and with my team, we’ve looked at the reason why some students are not able to take books home and adapted our policies to ensure we are getting books in the hands of our students making the library a place that feels safe and positive for our students.  Some of these changes have included:

• increasing the number of books our youngest student and families can take out at one time

• adding notes to accounts of students with multiple homes to allow them to take out books for each household in case books are left in a different household one week

• saving books for students for 48 hours in case they have forgotten their books so they can come and change them the next day

• allowing students to take out one extra book in German or their home language to support the development of non-English language skills

• encouraging students to check out a book for the classroom if they have forgotten their books 

By ensuring our policies allow for some flexibility, while still teaching students accountability, we have seen a big increase in circulation amongst the students that would not have taken books in the past.  We do not want library visits to be a negative experience, but the rigidity of some of our rules was creating this environment for some of our students.

Another change I have made is in developing independence for our patrons.  A big issue for some of my students was with regards to finding books that interest them.  If my students can’t find what they want independently, there is a good chance they are not going to find something. The last thing I want is for a student to go home empty-handed, or with a last minute book grabbed off the nearest shelf.  A very simple change I made was through the labelling of my shelves so that they can easily find what they are looking for.  Visual labels and brochures to guide students towards different types of books has allowed them to gain that independence and find books that interest them with ease. Even our youngest students are able to locate the shelves holding the books that interest them, without the need for adult support.

Pictorial labels on the shelves, along with the written description support student independence and success

So now What?

I am constantly reflecting on my practice and looking for ways to improve student access to books. I have begun to look at the organisation of our fiction section and am looking at whether or not genrefying the books would further help student independence and success in finding the books they want. 

I am also thinking about how I can share the students' interests with one another and offer more storytelling and reading opportunities for them during Browse and Borrow sessions. Some things I am considering are:

• how can I share student recommendations with the others in a more dynamic way than a photo display- I'm currently considering recorded book talks with a QR code and photo display
• Using storysacks and storyboxes to provide more storytelling/story re-enactment experiences in the library
• Creating Kahoot quizzes for the classes based on books for the 'Golden Cowbell Award', our Swiss reading award
• As we are beginning to open up, I need to think about how I can get families back into our space after school - maybe through some formal family story times
• I want to completely re-think our summer reading program. We have used a gameboard for the last few years, but it is time to bring some new ideas in to get some excitement back after waning interest in the last couple of years.

I’d love to hear your ideas on any of these points, especially the summer reading program. What are you doing at your school?

References:

Future Ready Librarians. Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved February 11, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/groups/futurereadylibrarians.

Int’l School Library Connection.Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved February 11, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SLAsia

Krashen, Stephen D. (2004). The power of reading: Insights from the research. Heinemann.

Miller, Donalyn. (2012). Creating a classroom where readers flourish. The Reading Teacher, 66(2), 88–92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23322715

Miller, Donalyn. (2009).  The Book whisperer. Jossey Boss.

Parrott, K. (2017). Thinking outside the bin. School Library Journal, 63(8), 42. https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=thinking-outside-the-bin-why-labeling-books-by-reading-level-disempowers-young-readers

Reading Position Statements Task Force (2020). The School librarian’s role in reading. American Association of School Libraries. 1-4. https://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/advocacy/statements/docs/AASL_Position_Statement_RoleinReading_2020-01-25.pdf

Ripp, P., & Miller, D. (2018). Passionate Readers: The art of reaching and engaging every child. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

LIBE 477 Reading Review Part C

 The specific focus for each school must be a local decision based on the school’s needs and priorities.  (Stripling, 2014, p. 10).

As I read through different articles about advocacy in the library, I kept coming back to the idea that although each school may have a framework that they follow based on national or district guidelines, the focus must be based on the needs of their students, teachers and curriculum. Furthermore, each school library program will have different areas of strength and weakness, which will then help to determine areas for growth or expansion.  

I began my reading this week with Barbara Stripling’s ‘Reimagining Advocacy for School Libraries’ (Stripling, 2014).  By starting with this article, I was able to quickly see that there is no one size fits all rule to advocating for your program, but there some important points to consider:

• Keep the focus on the students and the learning taking place (p. 10, 11)
• Consider your audience and their preferred format for receiving a message, as well as their priorities to ensure you target the right information to the right person  (p. 11, 13)
• Collect data to support your goals and determine the effectiveness of your advocacy (p. 11, 13)
• Advocacy is ongoing and not only for dealing with a crisis (p. 12)

I quickly realised that I need to first determine the strengths/weaknesses/challenges and success of my own program before I can determine where to first focus my advocacy.  I have been looking closely at the Leading Learning ‘Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada (Canadian Library Association, 2014) and have begun to analyse our program.  A next step is to share this with our Curriculum Director and IT Director to see if we can use this as a framework for determining the path our recent Ed tech/Library merger takes.  This, alongside the ISTE standards and Future Ready Librarians Framework will help me to determine how to best advocate for the power of our current program and where we need to move to be the best program we can be.

Stripling’s article may not have given concrete examples of how to advocate for my program, but it gave me the framework of how to focus my advocacy for the biggest impact. If I focus more on what I have or don’t have, instead of the unique value I bring to the school, I won’t gain the attention or support of members of the community, whose voices can be used to advocate alongside me.

“Many options are available for delivering advocacy messages: email messages, videos, podcasts, photos, blogs, tweets, brochures, presentations, articles, op-eds, infographics, newsletters, library websites, and much more” Stripling (2014, p. 13).

 

After reading Stripling’s article, I was reminded of a module from LIBE 461 and went back to some articles I read there to see more specific examples of advocacy.  Burn (2018), Foote (2010) Giles (2020), Gruenthal (2012) and Howard (2009) reinforced the power of collaboration and building relationships to gain partners in advocating for the program.  I have worked hard to develop strong collaborative relationships with teachers and parents, and now need to consider how I can use these relationships to vocalise the power and needs of my program further.

Through all of this reading, I realised that before I can jump into setting up websites, or starting a blog, I need to determine what I am advocating for and who I need to advocate to.  If I don’t narrow my current focus and determine the best way to meet my needs, I will be unable to sustain any meaningful means of communication. Using the Leading Learning document, as well as the ISTE standards and Future Ready framework to critically analyse my program and space will help me to determine my next steps and how best to approach different members of my community going forward.  What are the current greatest needs? What data and research can I gather to support the need to improve these?  What are my strengths and how can I use these to best promote how the library uses these to support and improve teaching and learning? 

References:

Burns, E. A. (2018). Advocating for change in school library perceptions. In Teacher librarian, 46, 8- 14. http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/2136838594?accountid=14656

Canadian School Libraries (2014). Leading learning:  Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada. http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/supporting-you-measurement-growth-tool/

Future Ready iCal. Future ready framework – future ready.  https://futureready.org/ourwork/future-ready-frameworks/

 

Foote, C. (2010). Everyday advocacy. In School library journal, 56(8), 28-30. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=502997296&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Giles, N. (2020). One small voice: My school library advocacy journey. Knowledge Quest, 48(4), 22. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1250005.pdf

Gruenthal, Heather ( 2012). A School library advocacy alphabet. Young Adult Library Services, 11(1), 13-18. https://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=d04dccf2-4b38-46b4-9515-43be2b1540a7%40redis

Howard, J. (2009). Advocacy through relationships. In School library monthly, 26(2). http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=502988115&site=ehost-live&scope=site

International Society for Technology in Education (2016). ISTE standards.  https://cdn.iste.org/www-root/Libraries/Documents%20%26%20Files/ISTEU%20Docs/iste-standards-e_frl-crosswalk_6-2018_v7-2.pdf?wv1MfDhoPKserxbH7V1mM6CJT39klO3F=&_ga=2.230448604.1994065637.1643545400-18829666.1642092666

Stripling, Barbara K. (2014). Reimagining advocacy for school libraries. American Libraries Magazine, September/October, 8-13. https://digital.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=6c7cb940-d8fb-43d8-8ad8-864bf0e83f38