ETL 504 - Introduction

That time of year is here again - the beginning on another uni year. Having read all the module titles and assessment items, I must say I am really quite nervous. This subject sounds REALLY hard. I just spent last weekend reading the text and didn't get a whole lot out of it. Quite a waste of money. (Should I even write that given that the author is the lecturer??)

I have made a start and read through the introduction. The other two subjects I have so far completed have made reference to the TL as leader, but I didn't really get the idea of that. To me a leader was one of the executive, and I had never heard of a TL on the executive team. Even with the little bit of reading done so far I now have a completely different view. Phew - something is sinking in :)

Donham reading - 'Leadership'
A recurring theme is collaboration - not just in this article but in this course so far. There is good news and bad news here. The good news is that there is a focus at school at the moment in working collaboratively (Although poor TL not included - just collaboration between grade partners is the focus. The bad news is that during staff meetings on this topic I have completely tuned out and taken very little in). I'm sure someone on staff will have the name of the 'expert' that Dr G continually refers to.

I like the information of internal/external locus of control. We all have the external locus in us at times - some more often than others!

It was a relief to read that TLs cannot be expected to excel in every facet of their role. However, at HS the TL role is very much about resources and how quickly they can be placed in our hands. There is an expectation that library skills will be taught. But information literacy? Not the domain of the TL - at least this is what the general opinion of the staff is. As a result, the teachers at school think our TL is the queen of all TLs. She can name practically resource available for every unit of work in every KLA in every grade. Information literacy is pretty much either a. not taught or b. taught by classroom teachers. This is why, as excellent as I think our TL is, there is a lot lacking in her daily role. I know that she is frustrated by this, but as she is heading towards the end of her career she has said that she really can't be bothered fighting a losing battle. I guess this is an example of external locus of control. God bless you HC - you are a great TL and this isn't meant as a criticism of you but more of how your role is perceived.

Leading from the middle is a new concept to me. Essentially it means that you have no recognised leadership role as such, but very much are a leader through the very nature of your role. Donham makes mention that TLs lead through influence - and this is based on establishing expertise, collaborating with others, maintaining a good 'say-do' ratio and reflection and assessing. Communication is essential - an TLs need to articulate information literacy curriculum and how it can be measured.

Strategic leadership is also highlighted. I think this is the basis for assignment 2 - the vision statement. It compares a library as a 'resource-filled centre for teaching and learning' as opposed to a 'storehouse for educational resources' and an 'academic centre for the school' as opposed to 'an academic support programme'. In both instances I believe that the staff at HS see the library as the latter. And to be completely honest, until a year ago I did too! This to me highlights the need for the TL to communicate their role and responsibilities.

Action strategies highlighted include

• learning and teaching - identifying expertise and using this to develop the library
• information access and delivery - making the library more visible via school's web page and a library homepage that can be easily navigated
• programme administration - involve others in strategic planning for the library programme, which to me = collaboration

My learning journey continues. My head is hurting and I have only just started :-o

Too long between posts!!!

It has obviously been too long between posts. Firstly, I went to wikispaces, which was what I thought my blog was. Then I had no idea of my username or password. I have just spent the better part of the last half hour trying to get in. If only my computer still had all the usernnames and passwords stored. Hmmmm

ETL501 - Topic 3: Effective Search strategies

Okay, this has been a learning curve. I am such a 'googler' that I really hadn't ever considered using another search engine! I liked the information on '7 Habits of Highly Effective Web Searchers'. I am still a bit lost with a lot of this - boolean, specific phrases etc. I know that this is just the basics of web searching and all educators should be proficient in this area. The whole concept of 'inurl' was almost too much to cope with - I was thinking about ending my time in this course there and then. However I am confident that I will eventually get my head around it all. It doesn't help that I haven't taken my class to the IT lab for YEARS - thhis is don't by the other teacher who is in 1 day a week. Next year I am going to change that wround and will take over that area myself.
My goal for the time being is to familiarise myself with different search engines. I have made a very small step towards this by bookmarking some of them.

Topic 1 - Teaching and Learning

                                                                        behaviourist

constructivist

This topic is all about the teacher librarian and teaching and learning. There are some things that have been covered in this topic that, as I read/listened to them, I had a flashback to ACU roughly 20 years ago!

One question asked by James Herring in his podcast was what the learning context of your school was. I would have to say that, for the most part, HS is constructivist. Having said that, there are some teachers there that pride themselves on how technologically savvy they are - only to use IWBs as regular whiteboards would be used ie to copy down information. BLOOMS is used in many classrooms in many different ways. Some of the Stage 2/3 classes seem to favour deBono with the coloured thinking hats prominently displayed in their rooms. I have never incorporated deBono myself, but that is purely because I am familiar with BLOOMS. The main point is that all stages in our school embrace HOTS and incorporate it into their classrooms.

Currently in Year 1 we are using BLOOMS in our shared reading unit for The Paperbag Princess. This is a fantastic unit of work where the children are not only encouraged, but expected to engage in HOTS throughout the term.

The question of how TLs can help develop better teachers was fantastic. I question though how many teachers would agree????? Many seem to see the role of the TL as predominently librarian and information/resource management, rather than teacher. I know that this is an area which TLs need to address in order for the profession to continue.

I particularly liked a comment by Bronwyn Sanderman (Topic 1 Reflection) posted on the forums:

'While we have a job to help locate resources, we also have a job to educate and help others how to do it themselves'

Blooms

Topic 1 is about Blooms. This is something I have used a lot in the classroom. At the moment we are doing a great shared reading unit for The Paper Bag Princess which is based around Blooms.

I really love the top image in this post. It demonstrates which Web 2.0 tools can be used in conjunction with Blooms and where they fit in.

I was interested to read in the intoduction of this topic that 'the web has generally enhanced the role of the TL'. I do not disagree with it and it was heartening to read this after a recent staffroom discussion. In this discussion I was talking about how I was going to be using all my long service leave in study/assignments while I try to complete this course. Another member of staff (who had been bragging about all the international destinations she was travelling to whilst on LSL!!!) wondered aloud why I was putting myself through all the stress of study when principals were looking to move their IT coordinators into TL roles. This absolutely floored me. Surely this is not where th esystem is headed??!! I am really enjoying the learning, but it is coming at a cost - less quality time with the children when assignments are due, using ALL my LSL so that I can try to keep a ballance between study and home life when assignments are due. I know that the powers that be are looking into TLs and hope that some type of mandate is handed down re TL qualifications.

Assignment 2 results

Results are in and once again I got just over 50% of the total marks. At least I'm consistent!

What am I doing wrong? Easy - both markers said that I was describing and explaining rather than cricially analysing and synthesising. The difficulty here is that I have no idea HOW to do this!!!!!

I have been into the CSU learning skills forum and there are a few links there by Stewart McKinney which might be helpful. This is an area I need to master. I feel that I am learning so much about teacher librarians, but this is not evident in my marks. If only there was a Bachelor course - I know that I am not really 'masters' material, but there isn't a choice.

I know where my weakness is, I now just need to try to develop this. Am happy to keep passing and am not aiming for HD or D, but would like to see my marks go just a little higher so that I won't have to worry about getting scaled DOWN in the final grade and then failing.

Not much happening :)

I am pleased to say that not much has been happening of late - with regards to study that is!

There is a link to the next subject on the Interact page. I have gone in and checked out the assignments for the next unit of study and man am I freaking out! I have also googled electronic pathfinder to see if I can get a heads up an what the hell it is. I even asked our school librarian but she didn't seem overly familiar witht eh term.

On a different note, school reports are finished and almost ready to be handed into the principal. Parent/Teacher interviews are in a fortnight, so it is going to be pretty full on until they are over.

I am also trying to sing my teeth into the Web2.0 course and hopefully get that completed before the next semester starts. Will see how that goes. I am sure that there was a mention of it somewhere in the course outline, so better to get throughg it now while there is little else hasppening.

Results are out this week. Keeping my fingers crossed for a pass. Will be pretty distraught if I don't but then again maybe having to resubmit might consolidate a few things for me.

Am really sad that Brid has deferred. She was such a sounding board for me. Feeling very lonely with regards to study - having a colleague doing exactly the same course made such a difference. Oh well, another challenge :)