Over the last 3 weeks or so our class has done a series of blog posts on the culture of reading in schools, developing a PLN, supporting teachers’ professional development and world libraries.  I believe the postings that resonated most with me were the ones about supporting teachers’ professional development.

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All of the topics have helped me learn, grow and reflect as a professional educator, however, I think that I have been hesitant to support teachers’ professional development because I am still a new teacher and was uncertain what I had to offer my colleagues.  After doing my own post and reading my group members’ posts I can see that as a teacher-librarian there are many ways I can support my colleagues.
My key take-aways from my fellow bloggers are:

Ms. K Birkland:  Ms. Birkland provided an infographic, titled “Working Together Is Working Smarter” from AASL that outlines various ways teacher-librarians collaborate.  I think this graphic provides an interesting visual that showcases the many areas teacher-librarians “play a critical role” (AASL).

Mme. Leslie:  Mme. Leslie reminded me that every educator comes to the table with a different perspective and a different ability level.  She also reminded me that teacher-librarians “need to be good listeners” “in order to best respond to the needs of the staff” (Leslie, 2014).

Kacy Morgan: Kacy mentioned that teachers need time to explore the resources.  Perhaps, that means the teacher-librarian teaches a class something and instead of the teacher assisting, the teacher could learn with the students.  In a teacher’s already busy day, having 30 minutes to sit down and explore a resource with students might make a difference in their confidence and their ability to use this tool in their classroom.  Kacy also mentioned that students “can be your greatest assistant in learning technology” (Morgan, 2014).  My thought is that a teacher-librarian could set up a technology group who could be called upon to assist teachers in their classrooms.

Leisbet Beaudry:  Leisbet spoke about a workshop she attended that sparked a collaborative project with a grade 2 teacher.  This project continued the next year and the teacher had plans to show other teachers how this collaboration benefited the students and herself.  This example helped me understand that teachers are one of a teacher-librarians best marketing tools.  Start a small project with a teacher and that teacher will spread the word to other colleagues.  I don’t need to jump right in by running a professional development session.  I can start small by supporting one teacher and this may in turn bring me other teachers to support.

Works Cited:

American Association of School Librarians. (2014). Working together is working smarter. [image online] Available at: http://www.ala.org/aasl/research/ncle-infographic [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Beaudry, L. ( 2014,February 16, 2014). Supporting teachers learning ict.Beaudry Library Journey, [web log] Retrieved from: http://beaudrylibrary.blogspot.ca/2014/02/supporting-teachers-learning-ict.html [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Ben-Avraham, Y. (2011). Solving jigsaw puzzle. [image online] Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/epublicist/8718123610/in/photostream/ [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Birkland ( 2014,February 28, 2014). Supporting teachers’ ict curriculum. Ms. K Birkland’s UBC Blog, [web log] Retrieved from: http://mskbirkland.blogspot.ca/2014/02/supporting-teachers-ict-curriculum.html [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Leslie, J. ( 2014,February 21, 2014). Supporting others. Mme Leslie, [web log] Retrieved from: http://mmeleslie.blogspot.ca/2014/02/supporting-others.html [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].

Morgan, K. ( 2014,February 19, 2014). We could all use a little help from our friends. Kacy Morgan LIBE, [web log] Retrieved from: http://kacymorganlibe.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/we-could-all-use-a-little-help-from-our-friends-inquiry-blog-post-3/ [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014].