Tag Archives: collaborative inquiry

February 20, 2016 · 12:10 pm

Theme Two: The 21st Century Reference “Collection”

As I studied through Theme Two, I found the study was quite straight forward as the tasks of a teacher-librarian (TL) were clearly laid out with guidelines.

One of the many tasks of a TL is to conduct reference interview in order to gain insight of the learning community better. The teacher-librarian should invest time into building relationship with the patrons (students and staffs) and focus on their needs. The information gathered through reference interviews should be considered when selecting new reference materials.

Another task of a TL is to manage the reference collection. The Surrey School District (SD 36) provides the teacher-librarians with guidelines in selecting and evaluating reference materials in the district’s Teacher-Librarian Handbook. Riedling, Marlow, & Shake (2013) have discussed in detail in evaluating different formats of reference resources. Bishop (2007) listed the advantages and disadvantages of different formats of reference materials, as well as discussions in the selection criteria, implication of collection development and copyright considerations for each format. Since the TL is acquaintance with the needs of the learning community, the management of the reference collection would become a less challenging task.

Regular evaluations of the reference service are required to improve the service. Lamb & Johnson suggested that library collection could be evaluated through the mapping of collection, along with the circulation statistics. Surveying the patrons could help the TL in evaluating the physical collection as well as the service provided by the TL. I think it is important that a TL should have an open-mind and willingness in accepting any suggestions and opinion, criticism or complementaries on the collection as well as the service. Placing a suggestion box on the library counter would encourage students and staffs to provide suggestions.

suggestion_box__mf0c54__myisc5

Photo courtesy of http://www.mindsatwork.com.au/creativity-2/the-suggestion-box/

The 21st Century Learning Commons and Reference “Collection”

In this 21st century, the libraries, including school and public libraries, are gradually changing into learning commons. There is no question that the roles of the TL change accordingly. As the learning community focuses on inquiry-based learning, the TL is expected to work collaboratively with teachers and students. Besides being the manager of the library collection, the TL is expected to be educational leader whose goal is to build a collaborative learning community. As I browse through the web in search for image to be included in this blog post, I came across this image:

Bad, Good, Great Libraries

Photo courtesy of http://quartz.syr.edu/blog/?p=1600

We had been discussing about building collections and providing services, however, what make a 21st century library great is that it provides a platform to building a learning community. The above image lead me to a blog post titled with the quotes in the photo above, composed by R. David Lankes. In the blog post, Lankes stated:

“So, do good, bad, great, and ugly libraries have collections? Yes. But great libraries realize that the collection is not what sits on the stacks, but the members and their worlds. The focus is on connection development, not collection development.”

Moreover, in the same blog post, Lankes further discuss the kind of collection that a school librarian should have:

“…great school librarians have a collections of lessons they teach, student teams that assist teachers with technology, and collections of good pedagogy.”

I definitely could resonate to those statements. Please do not misunderstand. The statements do not mean that we should throw out the physical reference collection in the library, but to shift our focus from the physical to relational. The video below, which I discovered on YouTube, shows how a public librarian went over and beyond in bringing resources to build a learning community. I had learned inspirational ideas from the presenter, Pam, such as bringing in live animals and providing reference books on the animals to encourage inquiry learning. Hope that Pam’s sharing could inspire you as well.

References:

Asselin, M., Branch, J., & Oberg, D., (Eds). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian School Library Association & The Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada.

Bishop, Kay. The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts, Practices, and Information Sources. 4th ed. Westport: Libraries Unlimited, 2007. Print.

Lamb, Annette, and Larry Johnson. “Management: Collection Evaluation.” Multimedia Seeds: Audio and Video Collections in Schools and Libraries. Web. 16 Feb. 2016. <http://eduscapes.com/seeds/management/cd4.html>

Lankes, R. David. “Beyond the Bullet Points: Bad Libraries Build Collections, Good Libraries Build Services, Great Libraries Build Communities.” Web log post. R. David Lankes. 11 Mar. 2012. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.
Link: http://quartz.syr.edu/blog/?p=1411

Riedling, Ann Marlow, Loretta Shake, and Cynthia Houston. Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools and Tips. Third ed. Linworth, 2013. Print.

School District No. 36 (Surrey) Teacher-Librarian Handbook. Surrey School District, 2007. Print.

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December 5, 2015 · 12:55 am

Final Vision Project & Reflection

Yes I Did It

Photo courtesy of http://quotepix.com/1622/order/top/tag/Motivational

Finally, it is done! Not only the final vision project is done, but also the course. I have reached to the top of the stairs!  My learning through the course had been a roller coaster ride experience. There were times that I was excited about my new discoveries and learnings, however, there were also times that I was overwhelmed and felt incapable of facing the new challenges ahead of me.

As a final reflection of my learning, I read through all the blog posts that I have done for this course. I could see my vision growing from teaching multiliteracies in the classroom, to fostering school-wide reading passion, and moreover, to advocating collaborative inquiry as a tool for professional development. For a passive observant like me, the growth of vision made me feel like a butterfly breaking out of its chrysalis, spreading its wings and ready to fly. I do not think I could fly yet, but my learning in building my personal learning network (PLN), my practice on writing blog posts, and the use of Digg Reader to organize the blogs that I follow equipped myself to become an educational leader in the school community.

At the beginning of this course, I had struggled creating my blog and the postings. I think I spent more time on learning how to create the blog and how to embed links an video than writing the first post. But now, I am glad that I did it. I found that blog posts is an effective tool in sharing ideas and gathering feedbacks. If possible, I would like to use blog as a tool to encourage ideas sharing among staffs at school. Would blog be the best tool? I am not sure, but I would survey my colleagues, or maybe do a collaborative inquiry session on this matter?

My Final Vision Project

During the process of creating the video, I had the general public, including elementary aged students, in mind as my audiences. Therefore, I made my points as simple as it could be. Powtoon is very user-friendly, and the “how-to” videos on the website tutorial page are very helpful. I do not encounter any technical challenge during the process of creating the video.

At last, here is my final vision project.

Link: https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/bkc0Mo1nnBc/collaborative-inquiry/

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November 28, 2015 · 8:48 am

Vision Contents: Working with Uncertainty

bees-overwhelmed

Photo in courtesy of http://www.sonyanoonan.com/feeling-overwhelmed/
That’s me, the bee on the left. After reading the comments to my last post, I decided to do a generic video for advocating collaborative inquiry. However, almost all of the scholar articles that I have read focus on teacher collaborative inquiry and why it is a more practical and productive format of professional development than the “traditional” way, such as attending workshops. As now I have broadened the range of my targeted audiences, I have to redefine my rationale which I found challenging. Originally, I chose “collaborative inquiry” as the topic for my final vision project because I would like to change the way teachers at my school community do professional development. I had a focus and a clear “mission or task” in mind back then, but now, I feel like I’m lost in an open space. Oh well, just like the other bee says, “Just pick one flower, and start from there…” I have to start at some point, so I chose to start with the learning of making PowToon video.

I watched all the videos on the Tutorials page of the PowToon website. PowToon seems to be user-friendly and I felt confidence that I could make a presentation with this tool. On the right of the page, there is a box titled “Scientist’s Tips – Before You Start Remember.” Its “Step 1 Write Script” caught my attention. The video embedded provides me with guidelines and tips on how to write a script prior to making the slideshow or video, and so I did.

IMG_2100

*My sketch of my storyboard.

My Challenge:

I am not an artistic person, and I realized that most of the slides in my video have the format of “one picture, one sentence.” I found that a bit “boring” and I wish I could be more creative with animation. Hopefully, I could overcome this challenge as this project progress along.

PowToon in Progress:

I have started my work on PowToon and this is what I have so far:

Screenshot - Powtoon in progress

*Screenshot of my PowToon in progress.

This is a “tester,” but could also be my final product. I am hoping that once I could master all the different buttons and functions on the PowToon, I might try making a more enhanced one. But for now, I feel that I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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November 23, 2015 · 7:43 am

Vision Rationale: Shaping or Re-shaping

Collaborative Professional Inquiry

Photo in courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/7815007@N07/13983341233/in/photostream/

Professional development (Pro-D) is a “must do” for educators. It is important that we, educators, keep ourselves inline with the changing world, the changing curriculum, the changing pedagogy and any current educational issues. There are approximately six Pro-D days scheduled in the school year, to provide learning opportunities to educators. Teachers might attend a workshop, or do a self-directed Pro-D activity such as working on an action research, or reading academic articles, etc. Pro-D became a passive experience, and the effectiveness is questionable. Please do not get me wrong, I am not saying that attending a workshop or doing self-directed Pro-D activity individually are not effective. If the topic and issue addressed in workshop or self-directed Pro-D fits your need or the challenges that you are facing, it is worthwhile. However, I do not believe that “one size fits all” when it comes to Pro-D. Students’ learning is our ultimate goal, and I think it should be the drive of educators’ Pro-D so that our Pro-D is more practical and worthwhile. I hope to find a Pro-D format that is customized to the needs of any particular educator, or school community. When I came across “collaborative teachers inquiry,” it seems to be able to do the trick.

I like the answer of one of the interviewed teachers in the video: Why not? Why not give this new Pro-D format a try? As we encourage our students to learn collaboratively through inquiry, why not we do it ourselves? With a first-handed experience of collaborative inquiry, teachers will be able to understand and facilitate collaborative inquiry among his/her students.

My final project is to create a video to “promote” collaborative inquiry as an in-school Pro-D format. Up to date, I have decided the following contents of the video:

  1. Why should we do collaborative inquiry? (This would be my rationale as above)
  2. Using Edcamp as a reference, explain what the schedule of a collaborative inquiry Pro-D day would looks like.
  3. Suggest follow-up event(s) after the Pro-D day, for example, after school gatherings for updates.

My original plan is to advocate collaborative inquiry to colleagues. However, during my planning process, I thought the video could be designed for a broader range of audiences. As we always encourage students to learn and inquiry collaboratively, if I change content #1 from explaining my rationale to explaining collaborative inquiry and its benefits in general, the video could be used for students, or even parents advisory committee (PAC) to address concerns in school community. But if I do so, my project’s goal will become advocating collaborative inquiry in general, rather than aiming to make a change in our Pro-D practice. What should I do? Should I, or should I not make such a change in content? Please help, my PLN’s colleagues!

References:

Marcinek, Andrew. “Edcamps: Remixing Professional Development.” Eutopia. 19 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2015. <http://www.edutopia.org/blog/edcamps-remixing-profesional-development-andrew-marcinek>.

“System Leaders and Collaborative Inquiry.” Capacity Building K-12 (2015). Queen’s Printer for Ontario. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
Link: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_SystemLeaders.pdf

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November 13, 2015 · 5:56 pm

Vision scope: From learning independently to learning together

At the beginning of this week, I started to think about my “vision of the future.” I re-read my blog postings of the reading reviews, and I leaned towards setting my vision on fostering reading at school by providing tools and platforms to students to share about their reading using information communication technology. However, my observation at my school yesterday, Nov. 12th, 2015, changed my whole plan.

Yesterday was the Surrey School District (SD36) Curriculum Implementation Day. It was a non-instructional day and the Surrey Teachers’ Association (STA) has provided us with the agenda for the day as well as supportive resources that we could study. My school is a small school, and yesterday, there were only 11 teaching staffs at the school: 9 classroom teachers, one learner support team (LST) teacher who is also our professional development committee (Pro-D) chair, and myself. We all gathered in the library at the beginning of the day, and briefly went through the supportive resources that we had received via email from the STA. Our Pro-D chair suggested we study the articles and resources being sent out by the STA, and also, explore the B.C. new curriculum on its website. One of the staff asked if we need to gather in grade groups and work collaboratively as suggested in the agenda, however, all staffs agreed that we will work on our own pace and it is individual’s choice to work collaboratively with others. Hence, there was no afternoon session set for collaborative work. I had observed that there was two or three colleagues work collaboratively for a short period of time in the morning, but for the rest of the day, colleagues (including myself) worked independently in their own classroom, exploring the new curriculum on their own and at their own pace.

As I explored one of the documents titled “Curriculum Framework,” a session in there caught my attention: “How? Structures to support investing curriculum.” Moreover, in that session, there are two terms that spark my interest: Edcamp, and collaborative inquiry. This is the first time I heard about “Edcamp,” I was curiously to know what it is, therefore, I spent some time investigating it. The following video that I found provided me with a clear picture of what Edcamp is.

Video courtesy of http://www.edutopia.org/edcamp-organizer-resources

That is what I would like to see happening at my school, my “vision of the future”: colleagues work collaboratively together, to reflect our teaching practice, inquire new pedagogy or methods, share our ideas and support each other.

“It is ironic that, with all we know about
the benefits of collaborative, inquiry-
based learning for students, we struggle to create the same rich learning opportunities for teachers.”  (Schnellert & Butler, 2014)

At this moment, the following are the goals I have in mind:

  • to encourage and support peers to build their personal learning network (PLN)
  • to advocate collaborative inquiry model as a professional development activity
  • to provide opportunities and forums, either meeting after school or using social media, for sharing idea

I plan to create a Powtoon video to advocate PLN as well as collaborative inquiry within our school community. However, I have never used Powtoon before, there is inquiry that I need to do on “how to use Powtoon” prior to creating the video for my final vision project. Plan might get changed as I go through the process, but at least this is where I am starting.

References:

Adams, P., and Townsend, D. (2014). From action research to collaborative inquiry: A framework for researchers and practitioners. Education Canada, 54(5), 12–15.  Link: http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/action-research-collaborative-inquiry

Edcamp Foundation. http://www.edcamp.org

Powtoon: Brings Awesomeness to Your Presentations. http://www.powtoon.com

“Resources for Organizing an Edcamp.” Edutopia. 24 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2015. <http://www.edutopia.org/edcamp-organizer-resources>.

Schnellert, L., and Butler, D.L. (2014). Collaborative inquiry: Empowering teachers in their professional development. Education Canada, 54(3), 42–44. Link: http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/collaborative-inquiry

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