LIBE 477B Inquiry Blog #5: Phase 2 Takeaways

Having not done a ton of blogging before, Phase 2 was a really great experience in practicing how to create a quality blog post as well as practicing different ways and modes of research. I often found that one quality resource would beget another, whether through links on a blog or webpage or through an article's own bibliography. It was also a very valuable and inspiring experience reading about others' inquiry processes and personal experiences in their practices. I see now more than ever how important it is to have a PLN especially since being a teacher-librarian can be isolating at times.

I feel that I learned a lot about different aspects of libraries from my own research and through my colleagues and have come away with a substantial toolkit of ideas for promoting literacy, teaching digital citizenship and edtech, collaborating with staff members and taking charge of our own professional development. 

I found it especially interesting to learn about how to promote a reading culture in our schools, since it is indeed the cornerstone of what we do as TLs. I was surprised to find so much literature on the importance of expressing our own reading habits to our students... we model everything else we teach, so of course we must model reading- and make it look AWESOME! I also enjoyed reading about colleagues' strategies for getting kids into the library, particularly Christopher Hunt's post abut creative cataloguing and good signage. I've been wanting to make the library at my school more accessible and I think this is a good starting point; I went to two sessions about genrefying my intermediate fiction section at the BCTLA conference and I am excited to get started! I also got some good ideas for Drop Everything and Read day this past week, and I am happy to report that it was a success! I kept it simple and gave "ballots" to classroom teachers to fill out inviting students to share what their favourite book is. Entries were collected into a draw to win one of 3 Chapters gift cards. All of the classes participated which was great, and my principal ran around the school with me helping take pictures of everyone reading.

 I also enjoyed reading about everyone's actual physical spaces and how they have made them welcoming and dynamic.

Image courtesy of: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/79/ed/c9/79edc91327711fd097b93debb1cfb82b.jpg

Drop Everything and Read Day at Bear Creek Elementary!

Another topic that resonated with me during this Inquiry process was the teacher-librarian's role in creating professional development opportunities for their staff. I feel that there are so many other topics that stemmed from this, including advocacy and collaboration. It seemed that a lot of other colleagues felt the same way as me in that establishing solid relationships with our staff and showcasing what we do are key steps in becoming a school leader and garnering respect from teachers. However, many of us, as outlined in Jackie Lam's post, feel nervous about presenting our ideas or teaching tech to our staff, whether it's because we are new TLs or simply not always comfortable being in the limelight. However, I was struck by Jackie's suggestion that we "coach" instead of "lead;" after all isn't that what we tell our students when they're nervous to try something, that they don't need to be an expert? Isn't that what we tell ourselves when we feel we need to be experts on a tech tool before we introduce it to students, that it's okay to learn alongside them and let them take the reins? Again, the awesomeness of having a network to share ideas; having those "aha" moments when you hear something put in a way you hadn't thought of before!

Overall, I look forward to continuing to establish my PLN (whether online or in person) and also garnering some courage, letting go of my perfectionist nature and sharing with the wider TL community about what's happening in my library and in my practice. Since every one of us has had a different teaching and librarian-ing journey, we all have something unique to share and can hopefully help out another colleague!