Final Vision Blog #3 Technology & resources for project

My Vision project is coming along...not easily...but it is in the works! I have decided to try to use our District's portal system to create a simple website with a home page (news, announcements, calendar), a media gallery, and a blog section. My project is all about creating a network for teacher librarians to be able to share ideas and resources easily and efficiently. I expect the website to evolve once others begin to contribute to it. I am particular about efficiency and organization so I have started some categories for the blog posts and I am working on organizing the resource links as well.

I choose to use the District's system for a few reasons:
1. The timeline for this project is tight and I couldn't really afford to go "back and forth" in getting permission for another option
2. A huge benefit to the District's system is that I can get support from our District tech department staff (thank goodness!) in creating the website.
3. Another benefit to the District system is that the framework for the website is already in place and that helps to guide me personalizing the space.

One of my biggest challenges was just trying to figure out where and how to begin! Since it is Spring break, most of the tech staff is unavailable so I had to just "jump in" without really knowing if I was making the right decision in terms of the question of which format to choose for the Vision project. Another challenge is that now that I have made the decision to use the District's portal system and I have spent some time "mucking around" with it, I don't really love it. It has all the right "bones", but it is very restrictive in terms of formatting. I like things to be visually appealing and I haven't figured out a way to make that happen on this particular system yet. I am hoping that once Spring break is over (tomorrow!) that one of our tech helpers will be able to help me...fingers crossed that it is just my lack of understanding that is the limiting factor here and not the system...I want colour and pictures on the TL network website! And that's another challenge - I haven't figured out exactly what to call this website. It's not a school library website. It is a sharing site for TL's..."the school librarian's network" or "the teacher librarian's network" or ???

Overall, I am pleased to have started my Vision project and I think that I have overcome a few obstacles on my own. I know that I need some tech support to finish this project properly and realize that simply may not occur before the project is due! I am optimistic about starting this network and I feel confident that, once it is in place, my colleagues will get involved and contribute to a space that meets their needs. I am looking forward to it!

It's a start!

Final Vision #2 Target Audience

 My Vision for the Future project aims to fill a communication gap for my fellow teacher-librarians. My vision is that teacher-librarians in our District (and beyond!) will have a central location to network from. This network will (hopefully) include an area for general discussions, links to resources, ideas for libraries (learning commons, etc.), a student inquiry section, and...much more! I think that classroom teachers may also access the resources that I hope to provide such as links to literature, discussions about good read-aloud books, and 21st Century inquiry learning ideas for students. If things go well, I may include a section for students targeting inquiry based learning such as project ideas, links to research resources, and some sort of support for students as they conduct their projects (maybe a Q&A blog section...???).

It seems I have more questions than answers at this point about what I need to include but I will get there! I am sending out emails to local colleagues to get ideas and working with my tech teacher to figure out some formatting. At this point, my website must be within the school district's portal. We are exploring some options to make it visible to others outside our district. Certainly this project is going to entail a little more "tech-savvy-ness" than I might currently be equipped with...but I'll get there!



I looked at a few websites to narrow down some of the content for my own Vision project. I think one of the challenges will be to keep the website manageable by maintaining focus on the target audience. Even in my rationale above, I can see that it would be easy to "stray"! I need to focus on what my colleagues need in this network project. I can include students and parents on my school library website rather than my TL network. There are many Wikispaces "out there" to use as reference for my Vision...is it just me, or are many of them "cluttered"? It definitely is intimidating to go onto a space that has "too much" (webinars, events, classroom ideas, twitter feeds, digital imaging, book talks, tech knowledge...). I want a space that is a balance of easy to navigate, informative and resourceful, and of course welcoming to anyone looking for support, ideas and discussion in their endeavors as teacher-librarians.

Some Wikispaces for teacher-librarians:
https://teachlibrary.wikispaces.com/
http://tldl.pbworks.com/w/page/23364015/Links-to-Wikis-for-new-TLs
https://tlvirtualcafe.wikispaces.com/home
http://teacherlibrarianwiki.pbworks.com/w/page/19823570/FrontPage

 Here's a great website to look at school library examples:
http://schoollibrarywebsites.wikispaces.com/Elementary+Examples

References for images:
1. Join hands with wikispaces - follow link here
2. Question mark: http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs37/i/2008/258/7/5/Question_Mark_by_Bushlemon.jpg

Final Vision #1

I have two ideas for my Vision of the Future project...decisions, decisions!

My first idea is quite simple but I think will fill a gigantic gap that currently exists in our District. I want to develop a "School Libraries" or "School Librarians" network for our local area that is more comprehensive than just email. Now that I have learned about blogging, I am thinking that this might be a good way to go...however, I also think that just developing a website might also be a way to go...
My rationale for this Vision of the Future project is two-fold:

1. Our District doesn't have a School Libraries/Librarians network other than email and I believe that this would be beneficial. Our District doesn't have many school librarians in terms of fte hours as we have seen drastic cutbacks to teacher-librarian (TL) positions. That means that we have  many TL's but they work 'bits and pieces' of library time while they juggle other positions. They simply do not have the time to to go looking for support or resources. A communication network that is easy to find and well laid out will provide a quick "go to" for support and reference.
2. I am passionate about building collaboration across our District. We have "bits and pieces" of this happening through a variety of specific initiatives but overall, our District is weak in terms of sharing resources and ideas. Schools generally operate as "islands" of people and materials and rarely are the human resources or material resources shared. I believe a network that allows for discussion and sharing of ideas will help bridge the gaps between schools.

 Which format to develop this network with requires some thought. Off the top of my head, a blog seems easy enough but I'm not sure if the lay-out meshes with my vision in terms of access for others and the resources I want shared. A website would be much better but I may be limited by the District's system for setting this up. I definitely could create one for our local TL's but it would be inside our District portal, which means that anyone outside our District would not be able to access it. I'd like our local TL's to be able to connect to the rest of the world too!

Add caption

My second idea is to create Vision for the Future project focused on bringing Library Commons to our District. We have "the rumblings" in terms of the fact that people have heard about it, but in truth, Library Commons is a mystery to us! I could make a presentation on this innovative idea that will "sell" the idea of making our Libraries into Library Commons. My rationale for this project would be two-fold:

• I think this could be very inspirational for our District and could be the backbone for the investment into resources to support 21st C learning and the BC Ed plan. We have TL's that are skilled and passionate about student learning but we need resources and time to make it happen.
• This type of project that highlights what is happening elsewhere could be the catalyst for pedagogical shift that some of our TL's might be looking for. Some of the TL's I've talked to personally feel that our libraries and librarians are highly underutilized resources with the current "read-a-story-book-exchange" model. TL's want to be part of initiatives that are happening in the school and they want to support deeper student learning. We need to inspire our teachers to branch away from the current model and see how the library could support them in their endeavours to be innovative, allow for student inquiry, and bring passion and exploration to their students' learning.

In terms of format for this project, I am thinking that a power point with video and sound embedded would be the way to go so that it can be easily shared via email etc. In keeping with my ideals about collaboration, I would want others to easily be able to view my project and perhaps find inspiration in it. While I'm excited about this project and feel that it would be highly valuable, a have a feeling it has already been done (I just haven't had a chance to look yet!).


Collaboration image: http://sipforyourcause.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/collaboration-wordle.png
Learning Commons image: http://library.csun.edu/images/enewsletter/LearningCommonsimage.jpg

Inquiry #5

   John Dewey says that we learn not from experience but from reflecting on our experiences. After all this exploration, I do have a few things to reflect on, leading me to one major takeaway that will guide my professional development and practice moving forward. First, throughout this course I have been repeatedly reminded that communication and connecting with others is important to my development. It is not only an informative piece, but I think more importantly, it is an inspirational piece. Reading other peoples' recommendations, trial and errors, and successes has been a great benefit to me in developing my knowledge but what I enjoyed the most is the excitement in their posts. It reminds me of when children find a book or a series that they just love. They're animated, excited, and insatiable! That kind of energy and enthusiasm for reading is inspiring! I will make it part of my professional goals to maintain communication and find ways to share ideas and resources with other teacher-librarians.
Second, explorations throughout this course have solidified even more so my belief that learning experiences integrating technology need to be authentic and clearly purposeful. Our new curriculum (drafts) is deeply rooted in 21st C competencies and skills and I strongly believe that one of our best avenues for supporting students in these acquisitions is the school library program. Being innovative and "tech-savvy" in the elementary school library helps everyone - the students and the staff! It's the perfect avenue to model and implement technology experiences that are meaningful and support student learning as well as teacher professional development.
My major takeaway from Phase 2 ties both of my reflective pieces into my vision for the future and is quite simply that my library program needs a major overhaul! The current library program is severely outdated and to be honest, it drives me crazy! I will need to find a way to "sell" the staff on the idea of the library being a Learning Commons instead of the traditional read-aloud-exchange-your-books model that it currently is. Obviously this is going to take some time, resources, and will-power! That's where I need inspiration from my communications with others as well as the foundation of 21st Century skills to support this change. It's a challenge that I know I will enjoy and that I will gain a wealth of experiences from. Moving forward, I will focus on proving to my staff how the library program can be an authentic technological experience that deepens learning for their students...now I just need to get my hands on some technology for my library!! It was completely embarrassing today when I had a guest speaker in the library and we had to use a stand alone screen with wood paneling (circa. 1970) on it to project her website onto! Not only that, the top of the stand was broken so we had to stand the screen on top of a table so that it would be high enough for students to see...sigh...one step at a time!











 1. http://www.style-n-naina.com/storage/post-images/reflect-pink.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1365193361991
 2. http://babystepsandtears.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/baby-steps-to-big-dreams.jpg