Supporting Teachers’ ICT Curriculum and Pedagogy: On-going Professional Development

As the teacher-librarian at my school, I fully feel that a large part of my role is to support the teachers and aides at my school. I have always felt that I am in a unique position where I have the flexibility to see and visit different learning spaces around my school while also welcoming and working in my own LLC. I love being able to bring new ideas and resources with me to work with all these groups so that we can all learn and teach better.

This Infographic made the rounds a few years back but it still so relevant…

(J. Murphy, 2013)

In order to respond to the needs of our school community, there are a few things I feel need to be in place.

Accessibility

The most important aspect of being able to support teachers in their development and learning is to be easy to get to. I always ask the teachers at my school to shoot me a message if there is anything that is needed or that they would like a hand to organize for upcoming projects. I often get emails or texts during the day which keeps me in the know of what is happening. Being accessible means that the teachers feel comfortable and able to reach out to me when they need to. My library space is also always open for them to come in and peruse materials or to talk things out.

*A note about the “Professional Collection”: I used to have a section in the library for teacher resources and a parent section as well. Due to district and administrative policies, I am no longer able to offer those. I feel it is a real loss since we have new staff nearly every year, it can be difficult for them to get started or have materials at the ready right away. Having a central area for resources with someone at the helm who knows what is available is invaluable, in my opinion. I would always have a welcome back session at the start of the year to highlight and remind teachers of what amazing resources we had so that they would be utilized to their full potential. Housing professional readings and journals were also useful because I could see what was being circulated and it would give me a good indication on where to offer service.

 

Listen, listen, listen some more

The biggest part of my job is to pay attention and know what is happening in the classrooms so that when the students come to me in the library I can support or enhance their classroom learning. This can be great when a teacher lets me know ahead of time – at one of my past schools, my admin availed me to year plans at the start of the year so I could see at a glance what fell where. Other times, I have created surveys so that I can track monthly happenings. My district is on MS Teams so creating a Form to send out to teachers would be an easy method of surveying their needs. Beyond these more formal methods, simply listening (okay I may be a bit of snoop) when I walk down the hall or in the lunchroom, I often hear conversations that can alert me to trends that I can support. For example, a quick conversation with our pro-d chair where she said there were a lot of teachers going to outdoor learning sessions is leading me to create a Collection of books and resources to ease that transition.

 

Curating things that matter

There is SO much information out there! Thinking back to June and the amazing and fantastic resources flying at us left, right and center, I recall how overwhelmed so many teachers were. Our district had an amazing IT team who worked hard to put tools in place for us but there were daily emails from them, from our admin, from district resource teachers sharing helpful things but also too many things. Not all of it was relevant to my teachers, our level or our school. I became a gatekeeper of sorts, weeding out what was needed and helpful. Likewise, I do the same for many of the subscriptions we have to educational sites or organizations. I peruse them and offer highlights of useful items to teachers for their grades and interests.

Advocating

The best thing I can do to help them meet the ICT professional needs of the staff at my school is to advocate for them. In my position, when I work in different classrooms and with every teacher, it becomes quite apparent where deficiencies lie. When I see inequity of tech equipment because a teacher was new to the school and did not know what was available, or that there is one classroom where the WiFi connection is truly deplorable, or seeing that moving more of our teaching online is really tough for a lot of my peers – I speak up. I ask for more tech and facilitate acquisition, I tell them that it isn’t normal to be constantly dropped from Zoom meetings and get IT to investigate, I ask for time and organize after school sessions to work with the teachers who could use some time acclimatizing to online apps and tools.

Going forward…

I know this year is not the norm. I know this year is not what I am used to. I know this year is very different and that my school needs me to operate differently. I know I can’t fully offer all the services I was offering before. I know I need to be patient and kind to myself and know that I am doing my best while working with the constraints placed upon me. It is hard and I have been frustrated but I know that my colleagues are all feeling it too. I have really made it a point to focus on the present and the half of the school I currently service – it has allowed me to get to know those teachers better and I think in the long-run, as I build these stronger connections, it will be beneficial to us all.

References

Murphy, J. (2013). I am a {social} librarian [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.elsevier.com/connect/infographic-portrait-of-a-social-librarian

Developing your own ICT Skills and Pedagogy

A large part of why I have so enjoyed taking the courses towards my TL Diploma is that it has kept me fresh and given me so many ideas to implement even as I learn. These past few years have been some of the most interesting and rewarding in my years of teaching. Most of this is due to having access to and new ways of thinking, conversations with peers and instructors and resources to engage with in my teaching.

When I had the chance to teach in a new district a few years ago, I made it a point to find out what local supports were in place for me. Once I was able to contact the teacher-librarian group in the district and joined their professional learning network (PLN) I found it much easier to learn about my role in the district and resources available to me, it also gave me the chance to get to know my colleagues a lot faster through meetings, sessions, and workshops that were offered. Provincial Specialist Associations (BC-list) such as the BCTLA offer the chance to attend conferences and get support.

I also make it a point to keep track of up and coming books or items of interest by reading publications such as the School Library Journal, it can be quite expensive for a subscription individually so when I first started in the library, I actually got together with a couple other schools to split the cost and we shared the print copy. However, they have free digital access right now due to COVID so it might be worthwhile to sign-up. A few other resource sites I subscribe to include: Edutopia, Common Sense Media Education, Brightly, and A Mighty Girl.

Access digital copies of current and past publications for free!

Personal development can happen at any time and I try to take full advantage when I can. Through word of mouth this past summer, I was able to participate in Pro-D opportunities such as STEAM Days of Summer at Science World. I spent two weeks learning about teaching computational thinking, coding and having the chance to have hands-on experience with coding hardware and software. It was intense but so worthwhile and I felt very lucky for the opportunity.

Edison Robot (Photo by author)

Micro:bits (Photo by author)

LEGO Education (Photo by author)

Most importantly, I get inspired by fantastic colleagues and other teacher-librarians who share the amazing work they do. I attended a workshop by Anna Crosland and follow her blog to see the engaging makerspace activities she does with students at her school: @crosland_a (Twitter). And this past June, I connected with another TL, Christopher Hunt @ExLibrisMrHunt on Twitter who was looking for resources for the teachers at his school and we collaborated to create resource lists.

As with every other course I have taken so far, I hope to gain new friends and follow more people as they continue their learning journey. We guide and inspire each other.

References

A Mighty Girl. (2020). Retrieved 18 October 2020, from https://www.amightygirl.com/

BC Teacher-Librarians' Association. (2020). Retrieved 17 October 2020, from https://bctla.ca/

BCTF. (2020). Provincial Specialists Associations 2020-21 [Ebook]. Retrieved from https://bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/public/AboutUs/ServicesHandbook/15PSA.pdf

Brightly | Helping Parents Grow Lifelong Readers. (2020). Retrieved 18 October 2020, from https://www.readbrightly.com/

Common Sense Education. (2020). Retrieved 18 October 2020, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/

Crosland, A. (2020). [Blog]. Retrieved from https://annacrosland.edublogs.org/

Edutopia. (2020). Retrieved 18 October 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/

School Library Journal. (2020). Retrieved 17 October 2020, from https://www.slj.com/

Fostering Reading Cultures in Schools

Ah! The joy of reading. I can’t think of time when books weren’t a part of my life. I think I am very lucky that my dad always encouraged my brothers and I to read by providing ample fodder in a very diverse range. He loved books himself, and they were one thing he was always generous in having available. Books for me were an escape and a source of wonder, my elementary school library and Mrs. Gowan (my librarian there), provided a safe and welcoming space that nurtured and developed my interest – I not only loved the reading aspect but the organizing and classifying and helping with the card sign-out was invigorating. I guess it comes as no surprise that I am now in the role of teacher-librarian, myself.

The sense of safety and inclusion is what I most revere of my school memories and I have worked hard over the years to ensure that my classroom, the LLC, has that same atmosphere. Regardless of the size of the collection, the shape of the room, or the décor – I hope the environment I created in the six school libraries I have had the privilege of serving in has always been one where my students felt welcomed and happy.

A decade ago, I came across the book Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers by Steven L. Layne. It is a book I have returned to often over the years and it has really helped me to be thoughtful in how I present reading, books and myself to my students. There are plenty of strategies worthy of attention but three really stood out. I had not consciously thought about them until Layne laid them out succinctly.

1. Target alliterate students

The most powerful words, states Layne (2009), is “I thought of you.” Often our students who choose not to read do so because they have never had exposure to books that are meaningful to them or maybe they haven’t had positive experiences with reading. To take a closer look at these kids, get to know them, and connect them to a book that you have specifically chosen for them can be a start of a beautiful relationship. I have used those words many times and it is just as potent every time.

2. Know your students

I ask my intermediate students to fill out an interest survey at the beginning of each year. It helps me to refamiliarize myself to their likes and gives me good input, especially in a year like this one, to be able to tailor suggestions to classes. It also keeps me on my toes to the new fads that I may otherwise miss.

3. Read with your students

This one was so important for me when I was in the classroom. I would often feel guilty when my students were reading to pick up a book and read too. Shouldn’t I be marking or getting the next activity ready? Being a model for the behaviours we want our students to exhibit is so important, so why shouldn’t we model reading?

In the LLC, I do frequent book talks and create thematic displays.

Photo booth wall for "I Read Canadian" Day. (Photo by author)

I have “Books of the Week” where students put their names in for a draw to be the first to take out new books. I also ensure my students have tools at their disposal to find what they need. I teach how to use our catalogue system and highlight resources like Novelist. During remote teaching, I built a Padlet to keep my students connected. I am still adding to it as we have transition learners at home, it’s a fun space to highlight resources and activities.

Leigh LLC Padlet

For me, the best part of fostering a school-wide reading culture are the exciting events for the students and staff. There have been inter-school competitions such as Battle of the Books and Reading Link Challenge in collaboration with the public libraries. We are taking part in the Global Read Aloud again this year, joining schools around the world in reading books and sharing our thoughts. 

One of our postcards from our postcard exchange. (Photo by author)

There have been school-wide reads and LiTerrific Day! where I have author visits, guest readers, noisy reading in the hallways, classroom teacher swaps to share their favourite books and the whole school dresses up as their favourite literary characters. 

Noisy reading in the halls with parent participation. (Photo by author)

Local hockey teams and other guest have come in the past to read to students for LiTerrific Day. (Photo by author)

Reading is fun and though I am pretty good at emoting and bringing my reading of stories to life, it is always good to have goals to work towards. One day, I hope to be able to hardcore rap Dr. Seuss like Wes Tank:

I know this year is different and I will need to rethink and restructure programs that I have offered before. It has been overwhelming but I am approaching it a bit at a time. I do hope to make a bigger online presence this year. With our staggered schedule, it has been difficult to coordinate school-wide activities or have student gatherings – I would like to look at ways to facilitate online meets, clubs and sharing spaces so that we might continue reading together.

References

Layne, S. (2009). Igniting a passion for reading: successful strategies for building lifetime readers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

NoveList K-8 Plus | EBSCO. (2020). Retrieved 10 October 2020, from https://www.ebsco.com/novelist/products/novelist-k8-plus

Percevault, E. (2020). Leigh Elementary LLC. Retrieved 10 October 2020, from https://epercevault.padlet.org/Ms_Percevault/LeighLLC

Ripp, P. (2020). The Global Read Aloud. Retrieved 10 October 2020, from https://theglobalreadaloud.com/

Tank, W. (2020). FOX IN SOX: Dr. Seuss Raps over Dr. Dre Beats [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/hqIbEHNqbPs

Reading Review Blog Post #3

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING (CT)

I first took a step back to look at the three main questions I had:

“What is computational thinking?”

“Why should I teach computational thinking?”

“How do I teach computational thinking?”

In reading through and looking at the materials I collected last week. I am heartened to see that it is a skill that will prove immensely useful to my students as they continue their learning in upper levels (high school and beyond) and that these skills can and do lend themselves to be easily blended into my day to day activities and routines.

So, what is CT?

Its FOUR CORE COMPONENTS (BBC, n.d.)
Decomposition – breaking down a problem into smaller more manageable parts
Pattern Recognition – analyzing similar objects or experiences and identify commonalities
Abstraction – focusing on the information that is relevant and important
Algorithms – developing a solution to a problem

I pulled out some statements from Jeannette Wing’s (2006) article that resonated the most with me:

Why should CT be taught in schools? Simply because it is a valuable way of thinking that can be broadly applied to everyday life and will give students the ability to take information, break it down, consider the pieces, and gain a balanced understanding. In Will Richardson’s (2012) book Why School? – he quotes Tom Wagner:

“There's no competitive advantage today in knowing more than the person next to you. The world doesn't care what you know. What the world cares about is what you can do with what you know."

I strongly feel it is for this reason that we need to teach computational thinking to ensure our students have the capacity and ability to take all of this “abundance” of information and make sense of it so that they can use it meaningfully and accurately in whatever setting they find themselves.

How do I teach CT? I was recently reminded in a discussion post by a peer in the course of a series of articles by Kristin Fontichiaro called “Nudging Towards Inquiry”, where she takes elements of Inquiry and breaks them down into small, manageable nuggets so that teachers can integrate it into their classroom teaching and shift their mindset of adapting it slowly; gaining confidence as they built their understanding. I loved her column immensely; it was approachable and took away so many of the fears and concerns I had in what I thought was a huge undertaking. Couldn’t this same tactic be used in integrating CT? Of course it can! And in my collected articles, I found the same sentiments expressed: start with small parts, work it in and build from there.

Some examples:

From Ricketts (2018) – In kindergarten (Algorithms-sequencing)

Read a picture book in which a character travels to a clear sequence of locations.

Write a "program" for the character's movement.

Use a map and doll, run the program by moving the doll to each location on the map.

From Noonoo (2019) – In Social Studies (Pattern recognition)

List state/province names on the board in two columns and have students figure out why they are grouped the way they are. (By etymology, derived from European vs First Nations languages). Leading to learning about geography but also looking at regional toponyms.

I hope to continue my learning while introducing CT to my colleagues. Showcasing to them small parts and sharing activities that they can use right away, I look to pave the way to better understanding and hopefully give impetus to building these valuable computational skills into our day to day teaching.

References

BBC. What is computational thinking? - Introduction to computational thinking - KS3 Computer Science Revision - BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 5 October 2020, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zp92mp3/revision/1

Noonoo, S. (2019). Computational Thinking Is Critical Thinking. And It Works in Any Subject. – Edsurge News. Retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-05-21-computational-thinking-is-critical-thinking-and-it-works-in-any-subject

Richardson, W. (2012). Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere [eBook edition]. Ted Conferences.

Ricketts, R. (2018). Computational Thinking for Kindergartners. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/computational-thinking-kindergartners

Thorson, K. (2018). 4 Early Learning Strategies for Developing Computational Thinking Skills. Retrieved from https://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/03/early-learning-strategies-for-developing-computational-thinking-skills/