Being a leader in professional development is a new role for me. This is my second year in the library and I spent most of last year just trying to keep my head above water. This year, because I feel more confident and I have a better idea about what needs to be done while in the library, I feel like I can take on more of a leadership role in professional development. One change that has happened this year is we have new administration and with this change, my spot on the staff meeting agenda has moved up. With my new admin, she values the resources and work that I am doing in the library. Now I present different professional resources each staff meeting. I am also presenting this at the beginning or middle of the staff meeting, which we all know is a prime spot because by the end of a staff meeting many of us are tired after working all day. Before the staff meetings I put out new materials for teachers to look at when they come into the library. Making sure teachers know what is in the library is important, so they know what is available to them and it also sparks conversations between me and my colleagues.
One area that I would like to improve on is my connection to the classrooms and what they are leaning, in order to better support the teachers and finding resources for them. In our library we have a large collection of teacher resources, we are lucky to have them but they are widely underused. Being in the library only two days a week can be tough to maintain the connection between the library and the teachers to help teachers find these resources. One way I want to combat that is to send out a quick survey for teachers. This survey would include questions about how I can help them better, if there were resources I could pull for them or topics I can help them find information on. Doing this once a term would help put all of our resources to better use.
Finally, we have very supportive and informed Teacher-Librarians in our district who send out articles and resources through emails. These emails range from best practices from our own staff, article about the benefits of have Teacher-Librarians in schools and Freedom to Read. They want us to share their findings with our own school colleagues and use them to help improve our own teachings.
Here are a few of the resources that have been shared to me from some of the TL’s in my district.
This first is by the Heiltsuk Nation which is located near Bella Bella, B.C.. They have created an interactive map of a 6,000 year old village. Finding resources that are authentic to Indigenous peoples is a big topic of discussion for Teacher-Librarians and this one is definitely a useful resource.
This resource is from UVic and it is called iMinds. This resource focuses on addition, substance use and mental health which fits into the PHE curriculum. Again it is helpful to have a Canadian resource that discusses tough topics.
Finally here is a graphic that was shared that shows just how important we are to children’s lives. This graphic was shared to us and it is from the American Association of School Librarians.
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| (http://www.ala.org/aasl/) |
Being fairly new to being a Teacher-Librarian, I feel like doing these small steps will start me on my way to being a better leader in professional development. By promoting myself, as well as resources at staff meetings, sending a survey to teachers and sharing important articles and resources, I will be able to be on my way to being a leader and go-to person in my school for professional development.
Bibliography
- 1. “Heiltsuk Tribal Council Bella Bella, BC - Home of the Haíɫzaqv.” Heiltsuk Nation, www.heiltsuknation.ca/.
- 2. “IMinds - University of Victoria.” UVic.ca, www.uvic.ca/research/centres/cisur/publications/helping-schools/iminds/index.php.
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI am in my first year in the library and too only work there two days a week, so I feel your pain in connecting with everyone the way you want to. We had multiple teacher resource shelves hidden away behind the circulation desk and covered in dust that clearly had not been used in a while, or ever. I weeded out the old/no longer best practice ones (there were a lot!) and then asked around other schools for a wheely shelf. To my surprise I got two! I have placed our teacher resources on both sides of the wheely shelves and have been moving them around the school to key locations (the staff room, copy room, office etc.) with a sign asking people to please sign the books out or at least send me a quick email stating what they have taken. I cannot believe the response this has received. I try to mix the shelves up regularly and often hear "I had no idea we had that!". Since the change we have had many of the books signed-out (and I am sure many more taken with no notice, however, this is a better problem to have then the resources not being used at all!). I highly recommend this as the resources are now readily available even on the days I am not there.
Katelyn
You are building a solid foundation as a professional development leader. Having a regular spot at staff meetings is a great way to connect with staff, especially given the restrictions of your schedule. Keeping connected to other TLs is an excellent way to to stay on top of new ideas and resources. Thanks for sharing some sample resources in your post. The interactive map fits perfectly with a unit I teach.
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