Blog Post 3 LLED 463

Again and again throughout my courses in teacher-librarianship I am seeing the issue of 'access" and how it affects student learning. Students need, as Kopak states, access to quality and up to date information (Kopak 46). In our class discussions we were able to share a wealth of resources for students to find information (Factmonster, Awesome Library, ThinkWriteRead.org, etc.) as well as discuss the benefits of using and reading blogs and following colleagues on Twitter. Guiding students away from Google, Wikipedia and "copy and paste" is an important part of making students embrace new technologies and finding better sources of information. To this end teacher-librarians need to guide or facilitate student's access to the web in always showing them the best possible path(s).

Works Cited

Kopak, Rick. "Open Assess and Open Journal Systems: Making Sense All Over." School Libraries Worldwide 14.2 (2008): 45-54. Web. <http://asselindoiron.pbworks.com/f/14_2kopak.pdf>.

Blog Post 2 for LLED 463

 

Our libraries and schools are just not set up for today’s learner (Asselin 1). In many ways I feel truer words have never been said. I think our technology has advanced faster than the school system can keep up and often teachers, including teacher-librarians, are struggling to keep up. How do effectively teach “digital natives”? I think it is important for teacher librarians to keep up new technologies but at the same time apply the important principles of learning so we are not using technology just for technologies sake. As students and their needs have changed in this digital age, so has the job of the teacher librarian.

I see my job taking on more and more information literacy lessons and teaching students not only how to use the internet but how to evaluate information they find on the internet, detect bias or faulty information and understand the concepts of intellectual freedom and intellectual ownership. I also think it is interesting that there is a focus on student’s activity using the internet to exchange and respond to ideas rather than just mindlessly gather facts (Asselin 4). In our class readings and discussion we talk about how teacher-librarians can “easily go beyond having their students use the internet only for research projects” (Asselin and Doiron 43). Learn by doing is a great way for teachers, in my opinion, to approach education. Web 2.0 tools provide an interactive place for students and teachers to work and learn.

In our class discussion we talked about making on-line learning environments safe, pros and cons for using Web 2.0 tools as well as how to come up with ideas for effective information literacy lessons. The consensus was that yes, we need to change how we teach but we need to do it in a meaningful way through inquire and personalized learning. Many of us in our class discussion expressed some familarity with Web 2.0 tools but also had some concerns with using tools we were not familar with.  I think it is important for the teacher-librarian to keep up with professional development with Web 2.0 tools so students do not find the library (aka the media centre!) dated. 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

Asselin, Marlene, PhD. "Towards a Transformative Pedagogy for School Libraries 2.0." School Libraries   World Wide 14.2 (2008): 1-18. Web.           http://asselindoiron.pbworks.com/f/14_2asselin_doiron.pdf

Doiron, Ray, and Marlene Asselin. Literacy, Libraries and Learning: Using Books and Online Resources to Promote Reading, Writing, and Research. Markham, ON: Pembroke, 2005. Print.

Blog Intro for LLED 463

I have continued this already existing blog for my final assignment for another teacher-librarian course, LLED 463: School Library Resource Centre Programs. My main purpose in creating this blog is to have a user and reader friendly way to reflect on my practice as a beginning teacher librarian.  As teachers, we know that powerful learning can happen via reflection for our students, so I think it is important for me as an educator to model this. Sometimes it is difficult to absorb what you are learning all at once; taking a break from the topic and reflecting on what it means to me and how I will utilize it is important. Throughout this course we are learning and discussing several different topics such as: social justice issues in the library, the role of the library and teacher-librarian in the school, online learning resources, powerful literature and strategies and print resources for students. I like the idea of taking the theoritcal and turning it into the practical.

            Another reason I have created this blog is to show others; namely my colleagues, (but also others outside of the teaching profession such as parents) what exactly the teacher-librarian does and why this is an important person for every school to have.  This is advocacy, really, and an important way for me as an individual to promote my job and profession. We were asked to reflect on articles on education to do with Web 2.0 tools, as such, this is largely what I will be blogging on in my following entries. 

            I decided to use the blog format because out of the choices we were given for this assignment it was the one I was the most familiar with; I had already created this blog for another class and it seemed appropriate to expand a tool I was already working with rather then start from scratch.  Blogs present a simpler format for my two main goals, reflection and advocacy. I also use blogs in my teaching with students and have had great success and insight reading my students blogs.

            I haven’t really had any major challenges or surprises so far as I was already familiar with the blog format, but at times I suppose certain class topics can be hard to relate to for practical reasons such as my lack of time at work for special projects or “extras”.  At times, maintaining a consistent blog schedule given the demand on my time was challenging. I have learned that professional reflection is extremely beneficial to learning and should be given priority.

            This article outlines some tips for successful blogging which I believe are worth considering.  I especially like the tip regarding picking a weekly, monthly, etc. schedule for blogging and sticking to it consistently. One day I would like to maintain a school library blog that outlines current events and reflective practice in the library of the school I am working at. For example, I might blog about an array of topics from new books in the library, to my experiences at a TL conference to author visits to articles on TL advocacy. I would also like to include visuals in the future. I would recommend sticking to a “doable schedule” and making the topic of your blog entries a relevant as possible to my readers.