Reflection: ETL505 Assessment 2 and Life

My second assignment for ETL505 was due and submitted on the Monday just past. I have been very busy and have not had a chance to write about it until now (and can't really afford to dwell too much now, as I need to get stuck into the next module!). I tend to immediately forget/block out assignments after I have submitted them, but I actually rather enjoyed this one so it should not be too hard to remember what I did for it. In fact, I would say it is the best time I have had completing an assignment that I can remember - even though I know that thinking that may make me a strange  person! I know a lot of people had trouble with the concepts - and I'm not saying I thought it was easy and that I am confident I got a perfect mark (I am fairly certain I didn't!), but most of the concepts just clicked, and even when they didn't, it was like a puzzle trying to figure it all out. It has made me realise once again that there are so many paths this course could take me down. I could actually picture myself working for SCIS one day, as a part of the team who come up with these subject headings. I think that I would enjoy that.


cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by B G

I have opened so many doors of late, and this course has only encouraged me to do so. In hindsight, this is rather surprising. I think if you asked me two years ago what I thought I would get out of doing a Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship), I would tell you that I would expect to become a qualified teacher librarian, that I would be better at teaching library concepts, and that I would be able to run the administration side of a library as well. The things I have gotten out of the course have been quite different to what I expected. I am now working in a library two days a week, and am having to learn a lot on the job as far as teaching (though I have lots of big ideas and understand the important concepts like information literacy and digital citizenship that I need to encourage/teach), and definitely as far as running the library goes, but I feel that I am a more well rounded person from this course. I feel that I have learned important skills that I did not expect to gain: leading from the middle, how to create an engaging PowerPoint presentation, how to create an effective weekly plan, and perhaps most useful of all: I have realised that my options really are endless. This course does not narrow my options to fit with the study I have completed, but broadens them.

I am currently working in a school libary on a temporary basis, working in a public library system on a casual basis, and teaching on a casual basis, and I would be happy doing any of these things and others along this spectrum of information and people related career paths. The only thing I know for certain that I would like to have in the near future is for it to be one job, full time. I feel that that day is coming, and I am excited to see what I end up doing, and how much I enjoy it.

ETL505 has been such a different subject to the others that it has made the variety of colours peeping through all those different doors I have started to open seem even more vibrant and exciting. I wonder which door will open fully first...

Hider's main points

I believe Hider's main points to be:
-that information should be easy to use for everyone involved; rules/guidelines/agreements should be followed to make this so.
- we now get information from all over the world, and it is constantly changing, so it is important that we have high standards and work together to organise it.
- we need to ensure that our systems are user friendly, responsive and readily available and that data is easy to understand, so that users are not restricted from accessing information.


Reference: Hider, P (with Harvey, R) 2008, ‘What makes information retrieval systems effective?’, in Organising knowledge in a global society, rev. edn. Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, pp. 21-23.

Reflective zone: Be warned

As I have mentioned, I am on placement at the moment. I have realised that it makes sense to do a daily reflection, thinking over the things I have learned. I reflect best by putting it in words, either on paper or screen. So I have decided: why not bore whoever might happen across this little blog with more details of my learning! Because I am a little slow on the uptake sometimes, I am starting this way too late and will only be able to reflect on 5 of the 10 wintry days this way. Here goes.


cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by CaptPiper

Today disappeared super quickly, as have the others, and I am sad to think that this placement is going to be over before I am ready for it to be. I only taught one lesson today. It was one I planned myself sticking with the TLs theme of children in stories. I read "Imagine" to them, my favourite Alison Lester picture book. I then had them lay on the floor, with peaceful music playing, and to imagine a place that would make them happy and relaxed. They then drew beautiful pictures of their places. Even though time was tight, I was really happy with how this lesson went. I love the idea of using books to encourage children to use their imaginations. I think imagination is so important, and needs to be fostered. As I have been doing in my other lessons, I had the children do their borrowing etc first. I feel that it is more tidy this way as a lesson, though it may make the time a little bit tighter. I am beginning to think that perhaps I should once again try to do it the other way around.

Today I was very excited to be able to help one of the teachers with a technology matter! She was talking about referencing pictures, and I told her about FlickrCC and showed it to her as well as the TL. They were very interested and it was a nice feeling to be able to share some of the wonderful things I have learned this year. I also gave her this blog address so that if she thinks it would be helpful she can learn about Greasemonkey and how to make it easier to attribute images like I have.

I covered a new kind of book today (learned to cover paperback and hardcover books last week): the book with a dust jacket. The covering is so simple and clever; I found it a very exciting experience! Easily amused, I know.

I spent some more time doing the basic library processes using "Alice". Hoping to have confidence and understanding before I come back on Friday to a new operating system - "Oliver". I feel reasonably confident doing the processes, but not confident in my ability to retain the information in the long term at this stage. I am hoping if I do need to use these operating systems again I will have some support. I am concerned that I am not getting practice with OASIS which is the system I will be using in terms 3 and 4, but I'm sure I will pick it up.

What else happened today... I shared my homemade soup and it appeared to be a hit - I hope they weren't just being nice! I made one more tree to decorate the windows with, and the kids made lots more snowflakes (and mess). Pretty wintry classroom here we come. Oh, the TL showed me the budget she uses, and I will be able to get a copy of it to use in the future which is great. And I finished the day with a bit of food/sleep deprived delirium - I hope my reputation isn't ruined!

Looking forward to another fun day in the library tomorrow :)

Critical Synthesis

Part C – A critical synthesis of my reflection

As a child imagining myself as one day becoming a librarian, I had a very limited view of what this would involve (see blog post, ‘Then and now’, http://tlinthemaking.blogspot.com/2010/03/then-and-now.html). My observations as a student and as a casual teacher had given me some ideas about what a great teacher librarian looked like, and how empty a school felt without one. I had observed a teacher librarian (who was respected though she was still obtaining her Masters degree) who I had perceived as being great at her profession. I noticed the care she took to cater for student needs, and that she put effort into compiling digital resources on the school’s network, so was already becoming aware of the multiplicity of roles a teacher librarian can take on before I began studying – little did I know, I still had so much to learn.

Towards the beginning of the course I began to notice a shift in my thinking – I was beginning to think like a teacher librarian (see blog post, ‘Starting to think like a teacher librarian’, http://tlinthemaking.blogspot.com/2010/03/starting-to-think-like-teacher.html). I began thinking about the roles that I would play, what people’s perceptions of teacher librarians are, and what kinds of work environments I might end up working in. I found myself reading newspaper and journal articles, such as the article by Riley (2010) and wondering ‘what will this mean for me as a teacher librarian?’

One thing that helped that thinking to change was my increase in knowledge as I read through the modules of my subjects. I found that there were quite a few important concepts that I did not have knowledge or understanding of, even though I only graduated with my teaching degree at the end of 2008. I had not heard the term ‘information literacy’, let alone ‘information literate school community’. Not only do I now understand what these terms mean, but that information literacy is vitally important for our students. I understand that there are many things I will be able to do to create and extend students’ information literacy as a teacher librarian, such as scaffolding them as they learn the information process, giving them opportunities to conduct their own research, and collaborating with teachers to plan resource based learning (RBL) units. RBL was another concept I had not heard of before studying this subject. I knew about integrated and inquiry based units from my university studies, but learned from this subject that these can and should incorporate resource based learning, where the teacher and the teacher librarian collaborate and students are able to access resources that suit their learning style and ability. My learning about this concept can be clearly seen in the Module 1 forum (Thomas, 2010), where I profess confusion about what RBL is – I am able to say that I have a greater understanding two posts later, stating how reading Module 3, particularly the Campbell, Flageolle, Griffith & Wojcik reading (2002), helped me.

Reading what others wrote in the forums also helped to change my view of the role of the teacher librarian. An example of this, and of a major point of my learning journey, was the post by Graham Bebington (2010) about ‘evidence-based research’. My response to his post shows the impact it had on me – I now understand the importance of collecting evidence to show that the role I am playing is an important one, for job security, job satisfaction, and respect from colleagues.

Another learning tool which has shaped my learning journey has been the assignment – completing assignments has not only consolidated the learning from reading the coursework, and improved my referencing skills, but has created moments of deep learning in itself. In completing Assignment 1, I became aware of many of the obstacles in the way of information literacy in a school I know. I realised what potential challenges I face, and was able to think of ways I might combat them. This increased my confidence in my ability to be a leader in this area in the future if it is needed – I can encourage the school community to understand the importance of information literacy, and I can encourage classroom teachers to collaborate with me as teacher librarian to support student learning – these are things I would not have thought about doing before starting this subject. The second assignment allowed me to analyse information skills models, and to think about how I will apply them in the future. It also cemented in my mind the image of the teacher librarian I wish to be by asking me to evaluate the standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians (ALIA/ASLA, 2004) – I wish to be a professional who refers to these standards on a regular basis and strives to achieve them, with student learning at the heart of all I do as a teacher librarian.

I no longer just imagine myself in a lovely big room with books (though this is still an appealing part of being a teacher librarian), helping people to find them. I imagine myself making a difference to student learning, as well as to their passion for the written word. I have always known that my passion for sharing my love for reading had the potential to make a difference to the attitudes of children – now I understand it is through my actions as well as my attitude that I will show my passion, and help to pass it on. I understand that being a teacher librarian is being a professional, with many roles to play – even more than is suggested by the title itself.

References:

ALIA /ASLA (Australian Library & Information Association and Australian School Library Association). (2004). Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm

Bebington, G. (2010, March 10). Re: evidence-based research. Message posted to ETL401 Module 2 sub-forum.

Campbell, L., Flageolle, P., Griffith, S., and Wojcik, C. (2002). Resource-based learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Riley, K. (2010, March 8). Why take the teacher out of the librarian? In Education: journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation 91(3), p19.

Thomas, J. (2010, March 19). Is it a question of terminology? Message posted to ETL401 Module 1 sub-forum.