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/