When
thinking about the professional section in my two schools, I have two
extremes. In one school the
section is extremely limited. In
the other, there are so many resources to choose from. When I started this year off in this
school, one of my big tasks was to weed and organize the professional section
so I got to it right away so that staff would be able to use the resources this year. Sadly, even though it is much more
accessible now, the resources don’t get used as much as I wish they would. So with either school, it’s not so much
about how big the professional section is, but more so how those resources can
be shown to staff in order to encourage them to be used. I love the idea of “learn at
night” and was hoping this year to even share resources at staff meetings, but
I just find that time is so limited so it’s often a struggle. I do try to find out what teachers are
teaching so that if I do come across some professional resources that might be
helpful, I can share them with them.
The latest resources from the library that are currently being used are Daily 5, Reading Power, and the occasional novel sets.
I
find this year, I am trying very hard to collaborate with staff on
projects. I will be kicking off an
inquiry project in the next couple of weeks with the grade 4/5 teacher and am
looking forward to working together on it. I had the opportunity to meet with a fellow
teacher-librarian who gave me a great outline for an inquiry project. I will be using that as well as ideas
from the Alberta Inquiry Model: Focus on Inquiry. This idea is brand new to the other teacher and I know that
she will appreciate being able to work together on it and use this very
structured approach. I honestly
think that the best way to meet the professional needs of my colleagues is to
work with them. Collaboration
provides a whole new perspective and allows us as TL’s to introduce teachers to
new ideas and resources. It also allows
the students to work with a different teacher with a whole other set of
expertise. When I decided to specialize in this new role, one of the things I looked forward to most was collaborating with other teachers. I am glad that I am lucky enough to have a staff who wants to work with me on different projects!
Photo Taken From Focus on Inquiry
This Video Was Recently Shown to Us
at an Inquiry Workshop
Other Links:
References:
Focus on Inquiry: A Teacher's Guide to Implementing Inquiry Based Learning. 2004, retrieved 16 Feb
2015 from https://education.alberta.ca/media/313361/focusoninquiry.pdf
YouTube. "Teaching Inquiry Learning". Online video clip. YouTube,
7 Dec 2011.
A very good blog post! You've discussed a very important strategy for engaging and supporting your staff in Pro-D and ICT skill development, personalized collaboration and attention! Many of the times, the best ways to work with your staff in 1 to 1 environments, where you can tailor your strategies and resources to meet just their needs. Also, the Alberta Focus on Inquiry is an excellent resource to explore! Overall, a good discussion, reflection and introduction to many aspects of supporting your staff.
ReplyDeleteHi Harpreet,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your focus on inquiry based learning. The video was great! Best of all, I have a link to a recommended Inquiry Model. I am very interested in taking this step through collaboration as well. There is one teacher in my school that is interested, so we will begin the adventure together with her students. Thank you for the starting point and the discussion. Very helpful and motivating.
Nicole