Facility: We are gently transitioning our library into a learning commons structure, so some facelifts which will help to set the tone for the space, and allow it to be more user friendly are planned. A Learning Commons Leadership Team has been struck to develop a model for our transition period. We feel this transition will progress over the next 3 – 5 years as funding becomes available. We are focussed on developing a vision for the space and have begun researching furniture and design features we see as a valuable first step for our project. Incorporating newly acquired technologies into this plan is ongoing.
Collection Management: I have taken this first year to determine the lack in our collection both fiction and non-fiction areas. I have experimented with inventive display/storage in order to entice readers with genre, series or author groupings. We have taken recommendations for new print purchases, digital resources and construction kits. We are not really leaning toward Makerspace, but now have materials which can be signed out or used in the learning commons which encourage imaginative construction skills. I am developing a monthly weeding/culling process, and hope to streamline our collection this spring.
Collaborative Process: Not only is this my first year as a Teacher Librarian, but this is the first time that we have scheduled collaborative blocks that teachers can sign up for (using Google calendar). This year, we set weekly collaboration times for Kindergarten, Grade 6 and 7 classes. The reasoning behind this fixed weekly block, was to expose the Kindergarten students to the learning commons space, and to encourage regular book sign out practice. For the upper intermediate grades, it was determined that these classes would be using the digital resources, available in the learning commons, intensively for research and presentation purposes. Many of these resources are new to both staff and students, so a plan to collaborate on these projects was deemed a priority.
ADST Curriculum: Using the expertise of the principal in the area of coding, we have begun the exploration of activities and programs which expose students to these processes, and develops their skills. Many staff members are new to this curriculum as am I, therefore we are using this opportunity to explore as students might!
GOAL SETTING: Plans for improvement (keywords)
- Facility: Purchase and installation of hardware and furniture will aid with wider use of digital resources and development of personal learning networks (Smartboard, Chromebook stations, iPad stations).
- Collection Management: Improved access to maker kits, tools and materials to design and create. Addition of apps or website access for use with media arts instruction. Collaborative
- Process: More collaborative blocks open to all classes (better time slots for primary). Creation of a collection of curriculum based examples of inquiry-based projects (including more ideas for primary students). Working out the issues that arise with collaborative publishing.
- ADST Curriculum: Provide resources for teaching staff, and collaborate for instruction of digital literacy and internet safety. Develop lesson plans to incorporate media arts into other curriculum areas. Create a comprehensive list of resources for teachers to use in teaching computational thinking, (Coding)
Well done first blog post! Your pinball analogy is very apt in describing how somedays we are hitting all the right spots and acheiving our goals, and other days we spin from bumper to bumper and end up in the drain, exhausted and feeling setback. Fortunately, those days are few and far between, but they do remind us to move forward gently, to approach things with purpose, and to involve others as we move forward. Try to work on crafting your blog post inside blogger next time to avoid the weird formatting from copying/pasting from your Word Processor. You can also "paste special" without the formatting. Overall, a very good start in identifying your key goals and interests moving forward.
ReplyDeleteWow, Martine, I have to say when I first started reading this post I thought your topics were too wide-ranging to work as an inquiry. But when I looked at your keywords I realized how nicely your questions would work as an inquiry--and I'm thinking a group inquiry, like a learning commons committee let's say. I think inquiry would be a great way to approach the transition from library to learning commons and I had not thought of it that way before. (I was thinking, Hard Sales Pitch). Thanks for the inspiration, Lori!
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