Using Google Maps

Hi I have just started experimenting with Google Maps as suggested by J. Herring in Improving students' web use and information literacy (p.22). I could show  Stage 1 how to use it for their walking tour unit and Stage 2 for the literacy research unit.
Here is the link for the map. This will give an extra dimension to the unit of work the children will be doing. In Stage 1 we can use their photos in the map we create.

Annandale North PS Walking Tour Sample Test

Donkey Library

What can I say? This man is a hero. I look at him and feel so thankful for all the advantages we take for granted every day. Barbara Braxton shared this on OzTL net. She also suggested that it be watched after reading My Library is a Camel.

Exciting changes in my library work and studies.

Oh how quickly things are moving for me this year. V. is starting to study more; R too and U is growing up so quickly. On a professional front, I am making my own website for school using Weebly. This can be used for my assignment for my masters so that works in nicely. Also, it means that I will have to buckle down and make the website more quickly than I originally had in mind, which I suppose is a good thing. I can't put a link to the website because it is, at the moment, unpublished.

Another exciting thing that has happened recently  is that Fearless from the book by Colin Thompson is coming to our school this week. I have the children all primed for his arrival. I did this by bringing my stuffed Lu Lu to school saying that she came to wait for her new friend Fearless. The children are almost as excited as I am. I will take pictures and use them to make a Photopeach of his visit.

Part C- Critical synthesis of my view of the role of a teacher librarian

Part C –  Critical synthesis of my view of the role of a teacher librarian

As Marcoux (2009) said it should be, my learning curve as a trainee teacher librarian (TL) has been rapid and ongoing. This blog entry is a critical synthesis of how my view of the role of TL has changed. In this essay, I will discuss what I think the role of the TL is, followed by a discussion of the strengths and limitations of my learning journey through this course.

 After studying this subject (ETL 401) I am beginning to understand  what  the roles of the TL are. For me the roles described by the Learning Resources Council (2005) are the most relevant. They describe the TL as a leader, collaborator , teacher and manager.

Strengths

One of my main strengths before beginning the course was my interest in learning about how to be a TL. This is an example of how I was beginning to be a lifelong learner.  I was developing an interest in how technology can be used to facilitate learning. Examples of my use of web 2.0 tools in my teaching are provided in the following links - Wikispaces (Ramrakha, 2011a), Delicious (Ramrakha, 2011b) and Prezi (Ramrakha, 2011c). In the blog entry in March the impact of the ETL401 is apparent, as it is evident that I am beginning to think about how to use the wiki to teach information literacy.

Limitations

After reading during the first assessment task, Herring (2007) and his list of roles  and the 12 Australian School Library Association (ASLA, 2004) standards  of excellence, I was unsure whether I would be able to reach that sort of level. Since then, I have been thinking that the best approach is to tackle one major role/job at a time.  For example, at the same time as writing this essay I am writing 400 report comments at work. I want to design a website for the school library but I also want to upload my comments in time for the other teachers to read and use them, so I will put off the website until they are finished. That is to say, that before commencing this course, not only did I not have an awareness of all of the different roles of a TL which I should have, I also did not understand how or the need to balance (Ramrakha, 2011a) them (Abilock, 2004).

Furthermore, when I first started the subject, all I could do was to paraphrase other writer’s opinions about the role of the TL without truly appreciating what these words meant. Examples of this can be found in the following two blog entries: they are More on the role of the teacher librarian (Ramrakha, 2011b) and Description of the duties of a teacher librarian (Ramrakha, 2011c).  Now I am developing a vocabulary of terms that are used frequently in the TL world. These include: inquiry learning, information literacy, collaborating, leadership and constructivism. This has meant that I can read the information about the work of a TL and understand it, more deeply.

Before completing this subject I had no idea of the centrality of the role of information literacy (Herring, 2007 , Purcell, 2010, ASLA ,2004 and Marcoux, 2009).  I thought my role was to stimulate ‘love of reading’ more than anything else. Unfortunately, I had little grasp of what the term information literacy and the information skills models referred to. I realize now, that I should have read more about my role, as I was working part time as a TL for two years before I started this course. 

Initially, my understanding of the role of the TL was that I thought it was one of service. I still believe that my role is to assist the school community in its work but as a leader and a collaborator not as a servant. Leadership, according to Everhart (2007) is when the TL provides access to information to the school community , regardless of their needs. Furthermore, Everhart describes how it also involves the development of IL across the curriculum using a collaborative approach. The research I conducted and wrote about on the ETL 401 Forum (Ramrakha, 2011g) regarding learning organizations highlighted  to me how all aspects of  SC need to work together for successful collaboration to occur.

I feel I could have learnt more about collaboration during the course. I have a need to learn more about it, as I believe it is the key to teaching information literacy across the school, effectively. As a lifelong learner, I will continue this pursuit in the future.

To conclude, I now am beginning to comprehend what it means to be TL. Furthermore, during the course I have gone from working as a TL in a very naive and uninformed position to one in which I can see in my daily practice what it means to teach information literacy, collaborate, lead and manage.

References Part C

Australian School Library Association. (2004) Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. [Policy sheet].Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm

Abilock, D. (2004). What's Your Name? Knowledge Quest, 32(3), 9-10.

Doll, C.A. (2005). Collaboration and the school library media specialist. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc.

Everhart, N. (2007). Leadership: School library media specialists as effective school leaders. Knowledge Quest, 35(4), 54-57.

Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians in the school library. In S. Ferguson. (Ed.). (2007). Libraries in the twenty-first century: Charting new directions in information services (pp.27-42). Wagga Wagga: Centre for Information Studies.

Howard, J. K., & Eckhardt, S. A. (2005). Why Action Research? The leadership role of the library media specialist. Library Media Connection, 24(2), 32-34.

Lamb, A., & Johnson, I. (2008). School library media specialist 2.0: a dynamic collaborator, teacher, and technologist. Teacher Librarian, 36(2), 74-78.

Learning Resources Council, (2005, February 9) The role of the teacher librarian [Position paper]. Retrieved from http://aslc.teachers.ab.ca/About%20the%20Alberta%20School%20Library%20Council/Pages/Position-Papers.aspx

Marcoux, E. (2009). Intellectual access to information: the teacher-librarian as facilitator. Teacher Librarian, 36(5), 76-77.

Purcell, M. (2010). All Librarians Do Is Check Out Books, Right? A Look at the Roles of a School Library Media Specialist. Library Media Connection, 29(3), 30.

Ramrakha, S. (2011a, March 17). Using a wiki at school [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011/03/using-wiki-in-school.html#Using%20a%20wiki%20in%20school

Ramrakha, S. (2011b, April 19). Delcious [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011/04/delicious.html#Delicious

Ramrakha, S. (2011c, March 11). Prezi [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011/03/prezi.html#Prezi

Ramrakha, S. (2011d, March 18). "What's in a name?" [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011/03/whats-in-name.html#%22What's%20in%20a%20name?%22

Ramrakha, S. (2011e, March 2). More on the role of the teacher librarian [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-on-role-of-teacher-librarian.html

Ramrakha, S. (2011f, February 25). Description of the duties of a teacher librarian [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://susangwenr.blogspot.com/2011_02_01_archive.html

Role of teacher librarian according to the Canadians.

This posting is here to remind me that this is link is one of the references I want to use in my portfolio response for Part C of  ETL 401.

Delicious

I am loving the way the live feed from my Delicious account  goes into any place I choose. The one on the sidebar comes from my Delicious tag library. On my Stage 3 wiki I have a tag for gold which provides a live feed as I find any useful websites. What I might do in the unit I am teaching is include there any worthwhile sites that the children find too. This will allow them to see how the process works.

TL Role Rubric

The rubric that belongs to this link gives a clear description of the role of the TL and points at which I can see myself and my work. It also provides for me an excellent example of how a rubric should be written. That is, it gives clear examples of what behaviour should  be evident at various points in one's practice.

Using wikis

I am happy with how the wiki I made for school is becoming more and more useful. Today I wrote up the entire unit on Selecting and the gold rush. I am happy that I persisted with using wikis as it didn't take me long to write. What took longer, of course, was deciding what to teach and how to teach it.  After reading for my course in the TL at CSU I am using graphic organisers to help the children compile their writing. I am also using them as an assessment tool .  I am doing this by putting in a KWL chart which should force the children to record their learning.

Enquiry learning

After having read the wiki site  EduTech (Schneider, 2010, accessed 15/04/10)  I have started to comprehend what enquiry learning really means. Due to previous studies I did have an understanding of constructivist theory which is helping in my grasping of the concept of project based or inquiry-based learning. What it means is that students are no longer given a set of facts to learn (although this may act as a  starting point), rather they are asked to create,  from their own understanding a product. This product could be of their own choosing or one given to them by the instructor.
In order to go through this process they need to be taken through some sort of information cycle. Here is the next question, which version of the cycle is my preferred one? This will be the subject of my next blog.
While I am on this subject I can say that after reading the above mentioned wiki, I feel that I am now starting to understand how to teach from an information literacy standpoint. This is why I have been able to construct an information literacy unit based on the gold rush. In this  unit, the children will be asked to use the sites which are on the wiki which I have put in a live feed from my delicious site; look at the gold rush from one point of view (women , men , indigenous etc) ; use a KWL chart to record their learning and note taking; write a bibiliography as they go along; write a diary entry on a what they have learnt about what life was like to be the type of person they have selected. It all sounds very involved when I say it like that!

This unit represents a huge leap in understanding and knowledge for me. When I compare it to what I was teaching last year it is an amazing change. Last year I did not understand how to incorporate information into the curriculum. I did not really understand what information skills were. Now I am starting to use my knowledge in my teaching. This process is facilitated by the expectations of the teachers at the school I am part of .

Getting a remark

Well I have to tell the world that yesterday was the most wonderful day for me. 3 things happened:
1. We bought a new camera which will be very useful for the whole family.
2. I handed in my first assignment for ETL401 - Teacher Librarianship.
3. I received notification that the uni had made a mistake and I did not fail ETL 503 and that my academic record will show that I passed that subject. How exciting!! I can't believe it. I was sure they would get back to me and tell me that I had still failed. What a relief!!

Now I will continue my studies with a new outlook. I will try and brush the feeling of failure off my shoulders and move on with a fresh energy. Today I will start preparing for the next assignment.

Digital literacy

I have been reading from the book called School reform and the school library media specialist  - Huges-Hassell and V. Harada (eds) In the article Literacy and learning in the digital world by P .Berger  she talks about digital literacy. She discusses how it requires the learner to think at a higher level. She talks about 6 aspects of this type of literacy. She calls them "navigation" which is finding you way around the net; "Context" which she refers to as seeing the connections between websites and not just looking at one site which can generate very biased information; "Focus" - students need to be encouraged to think deeply and not succumb to the distractions of being on a computer ; "skeptism" -evaluating info sources; " Ethical behaviour" - following the rules of the internet.

Wikis in the classroom

My wiki that I use for school has to be private so I can't put a link to it here because you have to be able to log onto it. The children in one of the 5/6 classes were using the collaborative notes we have made together and said he didn't agree with what it said in one of the notes the children had put into the wiki. I replied that you can't always believe what you read on the net.
The more I use the wiki in the classroom the more I see the opportunity it presents for teaching and learning.

Bookfair

I have just finished cashing up for my first bookfair. The parents and I sold $5700 worth of books. This means we raised $1700 in commission. I have spent this money on purchasing the 365 days series and the 29 Clues series. both of which the other librarians on the listserv say fly off their shelves. One of my personal missions is to get more of the boys reading in Stage 3. Maybe I should do a little action research to see what difference these books make to them. Maybe I could find out how many books they have borrowed before I put them on the shelf and then see what happens after they go out and I have done a few book talks.
I also spent the money on a simple camera for the library so that I don't have to go all the way to the office every time I , or the children want to take pictures. As well as the camera, I  bought the school's first post-modern listening post. I hope the quality is alright.

ASLC

I was looking at the Alberta School Library Council website and I saw they had this video about what TL's do. As it is exactly what we are writing about now I thought I would put it in here.

"What's in a name?"

Basically, it is a short article which talks about what TLs need to keep their role balanced between 'instructional partner, information specialist and program administrator' or we will lose control over one of these areas to the administration.


The article above's details are as follows:

Abilock, D. (2004). What's Your Name?. Knowledge Quest, 32(3), 9-10.

Using a wiki in school

My wiki has finally been allowed access by my students in Stage 3. They are using it to record information about Nationally Remembered Days. It has been interesting because some children have replaced what others have written because it was the same as what they wrote. This was my fault because I did not explain to them that I wanted them to demonstrate deeper thinking by adding to what is already there. Anyway, it has been a learning curve for all of us and now they are not doing  this anymore.


Now it is no longer a blocked site but a private site for my students I will use it to do all of our work over the year. It should be interesting to see how it pans out. At the moment they are involved in collaborative note taking. I suppose I want them to see that note taking is more important than the writing itself as it provides the backbone and framework of any academic writing.

I will put onto it the better reports so that they can all see what a well written report looks like.

School library linking with the local council library

I am writing about this to remind myself that I want to link up with our local library. We had a talk at our Network meeting and they spoke about using the kid's library cards to get them to access the extra databases that the library offers for their study/research. They also said that we could ask the library to drop off a batch of books which might interest our clientele but are not in the library.

Mrs Macs Library Links

Have a look at these links. Mrs Mac is my hero! Also, her blog Skerricks is  award winning. The link is given above.

Prezi

This is the first time I have made a Prezi. I will use it with my Stage 2 students to teach them about Pemulwuy the aboriginal resistance fighter. All of the videos I found were a bit difficult for them so this should get around this. Prezi's are exciting tools. I bet they are not cleared by the DET either.

What interferes with TL's capacity to do their work?

I have two wikis for Stage 3 which I had hoped to use all year. The organisation I work for has blocked the children's access to editing these sites. This means that I cannot ask them to collaborate online. My employer pays me to go on courses so that children can collaborate and then blocks those sites. I will have to ring them, again, tomorrow to ask them to unblock this part of my wiki. Very frustrating.
They have also blocked bighugelab which means that the children can't use it either to make ads. This fits in beautifully with the work on persuasive texts. Tomorrow, I will also talk to them about this.
What a waste of my time!

Author Visits

The lesson of this story is be careful what you agree to. Without naming names, I agreed to have two authors visit my school and talk to the children. What they really wanted was to promote their books. 2 months before that I have the book fair on from Scholastic. The former is okay because it happens every year and it can be seen as a win win. However, it is still making my head spin, organising it.
I am having to promote the books the book fair is selling and now I am being asked to promote the visiting authors books too. Obviously I will have to do  the latter after the fair is over. Yes it is all a question of time management- not one of my strong points.

Just to make my life a little more complex, I have also been negotiating with a speakers agency, the principal and the teachers to align an author visit for Book Week. I sent off the deposit on Thursday but it took a lot of foot work to get to that point.  Still,  it will be great to have Andrew Daddo come and speak to our children. It should be especially engaging for the older boys who are not reading as much as the voracious readers in the rest of the school.

It all sounds very simple when I write it down but it has been a sharp learning curve managing the book fair and negotiating with the pushy authors.

Reflecting on Delicious

Part of my role is to participate in continuing professional development, and as such, I went to a course on wiki's run by Pam Kelly, a few weeks ago. In this course she talked about the uses of Delicious. I already had an account but did not really understand how it could be used in class.
She showed us how to set up a public account which the Stage 2 children at our school log onto and use to access the websites I am using in my teaching.
Now, all of the websites that teachers suggest at school are going to be put on a school Delicious account for all of us to use and upload to. I was going to establish a school library website but now with Delicious I am not quite sure if  it is all that necessary. Anyway, I have a Stage 2 Persuasive Blog,  a Library Monitors blog and a Stage 3 wiki. This is enough for one school librarian to cope with.

More on the role of the teacher librarian

As part of my  Term 1 2011 school library program I wrote about the role of a TL. I have copied and pasted it here so that I can start to track the development of my understanding of the TL's function.

The Role of a Teacher Librarian

A teacher librarian is someone who implements and supports the aims of the school community by developing and demonstrating the use of worthwhile library and information programs which encourage and facilitate the students and the staff to become life long learners.

This is achieved by using their professional knowledge in regards to pedagogy , the curriculum and combining it with an understanding of information management and skills.

It is the teacher librarian who’s task it is to:

·      Provide access to and engage the learners with, an information rich environment

·      Collaboratively plan, resource and teach information literacy and literature outcomes.

·      Manage library and information services to a high standard.

·      Evaluate their own teaching practice in order to improve teaching and learning.

·      Promote and model lifelong learning.

·      Promote the profession of teacher librarianship

·      Participate in continuing professional development.

·      Promote an environment in which reading is expected and enjoyed.

Source:  Australian School Library Association.  (2004) .Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm

Description of the duties of a teacher librarian

I am writing here what I think a teacher librarian is so that I can see how far I have gone by the end of this subject. I have used the notes I made from ASLA as a source. The link is given above.
A teacher librarian:
Manages, collects and maintains the resources in the library; they help staff and students with the information process and its associated skills; encourage use of the library by the school community and serve its needs; work collaboratively with teachers; lead professional development by example and by actual teaching and learning; develop within the students a working knowledge of the ISP.

Social Media and the DET

I set up a  2 wikis, as advised by a course I went to on wikis,  for my Stage 3 students. It took me hours and I plan to use it for research purposes and collaborative note taking. For the former it works perfectly. The children are able to log on easily and access the websites I put their for them. The wiki is set to private so only the children, their teachers and I can access it.
The problem is  the DET won't let them edit their or my work when they  go through their portals. We will have to do it offline and then upload it. Naturally, I will work within the department's guidelines but it is very frustrating.
I received a post today on the NSW TL listserv from Isabelle Cameron that suggested I try Edmodo which I will. However, it is very annoying when I followed the suggestions from the course I went on and I  still had so many problems. I am going to ring the course convener and let her know what happened.
I will keep posting about its progress . Roll on wikiEd.