- addressing your initial essential question;
- giving a summary of the evolution of your curation;
- suggestions: perhaps summarizing your ideal library, anticipating where you want to make a difference in your school. It is up to you, at any rate, it should tie up your learning curation.
- The school library must be known as the central learning hub for the entire school community. What steps must a newly trained teacher-librarian accomplish to "reel in" his/her colleagues to actively participate in age-appropriate library activities for their students?
- Many colleagues I have spoken with are either discouraged or afraid of the "big changes" coming its way to B.C. education. With full implementation of the new B.C. ed curriculum beginning next year, how can a teacher-librarian support teachers (and students) transition from using the prescribed learning outcomes to thinking about core competencies and big ideas.
With the library program being a "central learning hub" for the school, a qualified teacher-librarian fully understands the importance of accessing high interest books, collaborating with staff and providing adequate lessons on demonstrating the multiple literacies. What steps are needed for teacher-librarians to support teachers into thinking about the new curriculum and its core competencies?
The learning curations and lesson modules have provided further knowledge into the realm of school libraries and teacher-librarianship. Initially, I understood that a teacher-librarian needed to be an educational leader. But how? A leader takes the much needed time to promote the importance of the school library program, advocate for the school's learning needs and shares professional development ideas at staff meetings. Thus, it is important for a teacher-librarian to "showcase" him/herself. Equally important, is understanding the multiple literacies. Literacy is no longer based on just printed formats, rather, the focus needs to encompass print, media, digital, information, etc.
My revised essential question has evolved to think about the new curriculum, diversity, social justice and the multiple literacies. Recently, several of my colleagues have stated that they are quite nervous about next September. I responded with, "We need to promote the library and an increase in time for the teacher-librarian. A teacher-librarian will be well equipped with the transition and helpful when it comes time for students to demonstrate how to be critical thinkers and to communicate properly (eg. using Web 2.0 Tools)." Some teacher-librarians have already begun to create grade-level pathfinders (by subject and big ideas) for their colleagues.
As Stephen Krashen suggests, to see student success, a school requires a full-time teacher-librarian and access to a variety of books. It is time for districts to realize the importance of school libraries and not see it as a budget hinderance. School libraries are safe places for students to discover new ideas and most importantly...to celebrate a love for reading! For me, I do not want to be sitting behind a desk and collating the new library resources. I want to teach, collaborate, and share my knowledge with my colleagues and students. Also, I would like my students to communicate with others outside the school walls using such tools as video conferencing. Therefore, I need to continue my personal professional development with the learning community. It will be a goal to share all levels of literacy with them.
And the questioning, discovering and sharing continues...