When I sat down to brainstorm my thoughts for this section of the course, I didn’t quite know where to begin. I really want to make this meaningful for where I am at this point in my career and in my current job. I would like to focus on the concept of developing a learning commons space in order to support inquiry-based learning. I am new this year to having my own space and am very excited to be able to transform it into something that students and staff would really like to use. I am also very lucky to be strongly supported by the PAC to make improvements in the library.
Some of the issues that I think I may come across would be a
lack of resources or technology to support 21st century learning
such as inquiry. This would be an
issue across all curricular areas.
I would also be concerned about getting staff on board with this style
of teaching/learning. We have a
few staff who are very interested and others who are interested, but would
appreciate it if it was broken down into simple steps and the resources were
easily accessible for students. I
am also only half time at each school, which I understand is the reality of the
situation in my district, however with more time in the library, I could be
available to support students and teachers as needed.
I think that in order to engage students we definitely need
to keep up with technology and bring in current resources. Our school is currently looking into
purchasing a set of Ipads for the school so I think that those will be a great
resource for students. We also
have a computer lab that is connected to my library. One of my big goals for this year is to weed my non-fiction
section and bring in books that are more reader-friendly. By bringing in more trade books at
different reading levels, we will be able to engage students and get them
excited about learning.
Some of the keywords that come to mind for me as I start
thinking about this topic are: trade books, databases, web 2.0 tools,
resource-rich environment, user-centered space, availability of staff,
availability of librarian. I am
sure that I will come across many more as I continue to research this
topic. I look forward to diving
in!
A good start to your personalized inquiry! Your brainstorming and contextualization were well done, but some of your key-words might be difficult to find traditional resources on. Try to explore "learning commons design" instead of "resource rich environment" and "library staffing" rather than "availability of librarian". Overall, a good bunch of topics to explore and dig a little deeper into.
ReplyDeleteHi Harpreet,
ReplyDeleteI too am working in an elementary library. I am very interested in engaging reluctant readers and will be working towards this goal. As such, I was interested in your mention of 'trade books'. What are trade books? Currently, I have been exploring ways of integrating technology to enhance student interest and proficiency, such as the use of tablets and e-readers. I know it's not in this years budget, so I am going to have to get creative and look to free on-line options to use with our laptops. You had a great point however, about getting PAC support. I will definitely be looking into that! Thanks.
Nicole
HI Nicole,
ReplyDeleteTrade books are a variety of non-fiction materials that can be considered an alternative to text books that students can use for research. Often times, textbooks are written at too high of a reading level for students or do not go into as much depth on a topic because they have to cover so much in one book. Trade books are a excellent alternative because you can pull a variety of of books at different reading levels to cater to all students. This way they can dive in deeper with their research as well.