Continued Development of Skills

Question: Explore how you can continue to develop your own skills, pedagogy and professional development on your own, back in your own library/classroom and environment. What strategies, tools, resources and networks can you implement to maintain your explorations and development? What are some of the ways that educators and professionals are connecting and sharing their learning? What can you do during this class and after it is over to maintain your connections and networks, to further develop your knowledge, experience and skills?

Based on the results of The Teaching and Learning International Survey it was shown that "teachers have been found to learn more from each other than with mentors or in traditional classes and workshops. Even better news is that teachers using collaborative practices are more innovative in the classroom, hold stronger self-efficacy beliefs, and have higher job satisfaction" (Patzer). In his book Why School? Education Must Change when Learning and Information Are Everywhere Will Richardson states that when he travels and speaks at conferences and schools he is always surprised by how few hands go up when he asks "How many of you can I find online sharing your best practices and best thinking about education?” (p. 387). This is likely surprising because technology is around us each and everyday, I personally have yet to meet a teacher without a phone of some kind or a laptop. Our districts are even putting technology mandates into place to make sure there is new and usable technology in our schools. In my opinion connecting virtually is so easily accessible because it honestly is right at our finger tips. Richardson also reminds us that "sharing comes in many forms" (p.387). There are blogs, facebook groups, twitter, videos, tiktok or even just sharing a paper handout, the options to share digitally vary and almost seem endless. However we must remember that it is not the form that matters but instead "putting [our work] out there so others can build on it, make it their own, or just share it in the staff office" (Richardson, p. 387). I think there also needs to be an understanding that there is a vulnerability in sharing, many people only want to offer their best selves online and this in turn can cause issues. I have had conversations with my colleagues around how my classroom doesn't look like a pintrest classroom or that not all of my lessons are instagram worthy. The part of human nature that makes us compare ourselves to others is hard to ignore. Thus we get into the topic of transparency, at the end of the day it is up to us how much or little we want to share online. Although talking to strangers online might seem daunting in the 21st century it is also the fastest way to get feedback, explore and grow. It is also our job as educators to serve as role models to our students of what being a life-long learner looks like. The abundance of information provided through the internet gives us access to do just so. As Richardson states "getting into a transparent, digital sharing practice can actually save [us] time in the long run (think of the amazing archives" (p. 407)

(Hughes)

In her article Count the Ways to Collaborate with Other Librarians Hughs recounts the many outlets for staying connecting within her practice. She has accessed a number of different groups and resources such as: Citywide Consortium of Librarians, Statewide Librarian Associations, National and Global Professional Learning Communities on twitter, and facebook. Hughs also states that she feels "I am a better Future Ready Librarian because of these connections made at the city, state, national and global levels". By reading through her article it has really shown me how many different place and ways there are to support collaboration and growth in practice. Although it may be difficult to juggle all of these I think it is doable to choose a few that I feel passionate about. 

For the past few years I have kept an active twitter account. I follow other educators and I love seeing the ideas and work they are doing in their classrooms. In turn I post and showcase my students own work. I have also been able to engage in professional dialogue. I personally love utilizing twitter as a way to showcase learning because of the ability to post videos and pictures. I have also recently joined a facebook learning community called Future Ready Librarians. By working on my teacher-librarian diploma I have form connections with current and passed librarians. These field experts will always be a source of knowledge for me and I continually have gone to them to ask for advice or clarifications. Within my district we hold monthly librarian meetings, I believe this is a great way to keep connecting with colleagues and see how they are collaborating and using the library space. I have also noticed that along with keeping a library learning commons website there are teacher-librarians that will continue to utilize a blog. For example: Burnaby Mountain Secondary School. I enjoy the layout of this website because when it opens the first thing you see are posts written by the teacher librarian, recently they shared about National Poetry Month. This could also be a great way to share book recommendations or other library updates. Another way to remain connected is to join the British Columbia Teacher-Librarian's Association, which has access to many resources for teacher-librarians. They also run a summer institute every second year which can be a great way to network with other teacher-librarians out of district. I have also subscribed to the BCTLA Official Youtube Channel which offers a number of example and instructional videos. 

(British Columbia Teacher-Librarian's Association) 

References:

BCTLA, 2021. British Columbia Teacher Librarians Association. BCTLA.ca retrieved July 24rd, 2021

Club, Connected Book. “Count the Ways to Collaborate with Other Librarians...” Knowledge Quest, 28 June 2019, knowledgequest.aasl.org/count-the-ways-to-collaborate-with-other-librarians/. 

Patzer, Rico. “Sharing Good Practice: Strategies to Encourage Teacher Collaboration.” Professional Learning Resources & Blog, 18 Feb. 2020, blog.irisconnect.com/uk/sharing-and-collaboration-in-schools.

Richardson, Will. Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere (Kindle Single) . TED Conferences. Kindle Edition.