Supporting Teachers’ ICT Curriculum and Pedagogy

As I shared in my last post, part of my own professional development involves facilitating professional development because in the process of preparing for the event and sharing information, I learn a lot from others as well. I enjoy being able to support teachers in accessing resources and developing new skills and strategies. According to the British Columbia Teacher-Librarians’ Association (2014), “Access is key to creating a Library Learning Commons” (p. 8). This represents access to resources, expertise and tools for learning as well as access to a Teacher-Librarian who is able to “[p]lan, work, and teach collaboratively with other teachers, support staff, and experts in the community” as well as “[c]o-create and implement technology-enhanced, inquiry-based, innovative, and creative learning opportunities” (p. 8). As I was working on this post, a friend emailed me this graphic produced by the Surrey Chapter of the BCTLA and the Surrey Teachers’ Association. I will definitely refer to this graphic in the future because it provides a clear illustration of the importance of collaboration to the role of a Teacher-Librarian.

What Can Collaboration With a Teacher-Librarian Look Like?

Collaboration is what brings classes and teachers into the library and provides for opportunities to support teachers through professional development. As I read the second page of this document, I thought about the ways I am already supporting my colleagues and areas where I would like to do more.

I have always been involved in professional development in some capacity and this year I am facilitating coding sessions for teachers. I teamed up with a retired principal from my district who now works for The Learning Partnership and we hosted a session at the Central Okanagan Teachers Association Conference in August and two sessions at the Innovate-Ed Conference in Kelowna in October focusing on the Coding Quest program and the practical applications for coding in the curriculum. In addition, I recently attended a Community Learning Forum to share what we are doing at our school in terms of numeracy and technology with community members and parents, I facilitated a session for other Teacher-Librarians on coding and inquiry at a recent Library Learning Commons Network meeting and hosted a half day session on integrating coding in the curriculum for teachers and students from our district in order to prepare them for the Expo of Awesome in May.

According to Dees, Mayer, Marin and Willis (2010), “As a school librarian, the goal should be to look at what students are learning and what teachers are teaching in the classroom and see where your knowledge and skills can fit into that plan” (p. 11). As a Teacher-Librarian and Classroom Support Teacher, I am always looking for ways to support teachers with inquiry-based learning and suggesting ways to integrate technology in the process and as a means to share student learning. I work collaboratively with the three grade 4/5 teachers to support them in integrating ADST into the curriculum. Last year, we worked through design thinking challenges, engaged students in Genius Hour and introduced coding and robotics. This year, we are using parts of the Coding Quest program to support students in designing a video game related to their topic of inquiry. As part of the inquiry portion of this project, I am hoping to spend some time on information literacy skills because many of our students know how to use technology but have difficulty locating reliable information online at their reading level. In addition, as part of my role on the numeracy team at my school, I co-plan and co-teach math lessons through math stations, so I often support two stations – one where I work with students on an open-task and one that engages students in coding and robotics to support numeracy.

According to Dees et al., “The librarian demonstrates leadership within the professional learning community (PLC) by providing professional development for classroom technology integration, sharing information about new resources, and demonstrating innovative instructional tools” (2010, p. 10). In terms of providing support in developing new strategies and skills, I support teachers with their technology questions on a daily basis. I also share quick tech tips with teachers during staff meetings or by email. For example, I recently sent teachers a video outlining the steps to mirror what they see on the iPad to their projector, I showed the grade 4/5 teachers how to use Padlet with their students and I am supporting all the grade 4/5 teachers in setting up their students with Google accounts and using Google Classroom since we will be getting Chromebooks in the next two months.

While I facilitate professional development for other teachers in my district and support the grade 4/5 teachers at my school with integrating technology into their teaching, I would like to host more lunch-and-learn or after school sessions to support the rest of the teachers at my school so they can experience success with technology as well. For example, last year I hosted a virtual field trip session for teachers, went into a few classes to support them with their first virtual field trip and now all of these teachers are hosting sessions on their own with their students. Just as it is rewarding to see students get excited about their learning, I feel the same way when teachers start to feel comfortable with technology to the point that they’re using it on their own and willing to try new things.

According to Dees et al. (2010), “From instructional partner to program administrator, the librarian can have a great impact on student learning through modeling good instructional practices and providing relevant curriculum materials” (p. 10). In terms of supporting teachers with resources, I have been weeding our library collection and advocating for more money for books for our school. In addition, I have led several discussions with the entire staff around a long-term vision for our Library Learning Commons in terms of what we want the space to look like as well as how we want to spend our funds. I have purchased several new anchor books and teacher resources that could be used to introduce Genius Hour, design thinking challenges, coding and computational thinking. I also share resources I create with the teachers at my school and colleagues I support at workshops via Google Drive, but I would like to start using Twitter to share information as well. Since I manage all of the school’s iPads, I evaluate and install apps like Epic on the school’s iPads and support teachers in using them with their class for the first time. To support teachers in finding recommended apps and other useful tech tools, I would like to develop a teacher resource page as part of a larger Library Learning Commons website.

In summary, my goals are to:

-       Host more lunch-and-learn or after school sessions to support the teachers at my school in integrating technology in the curriculum

-       Use Twitter to share information with a larger community

-       Create a Library Learning Commons website for my school and include a list of resources for teachers

References

British Columbia Teacher-Librarians’ Association (2014). From School Library to Library Learning Commons. Retrieved from https://bctladotca.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/school-library-to-library-learning-commons.pdf

Dees, D., Mayer, A., Morin, H., & Willis, E. (2010). Librarians as leaders in professional learning communities through technology, literacy,and collaboration. Library Media Connection, 29(2), 10-13.

Surrey Chapter of the BCTLA, & Surrey Teachers’ Association (2018). What Can Collaboration With a Teacher-Librarian Look Like? Retrieved from https://surreychapterofthebctla.com/2018/12/17/what-can-collaboration-with-a-teacher-librarian-look-like/