New Library Blog

Due to our new Library opening this term, I have started a new Library blog to introduce all of the new resources to our school community. I can't wait for the shelves to go in so that I can finally put books in and get everything up and running. Very exciting! http://bcslibraryblog.blogspot.com.au/

Christian Resources for the school library

One of the most important features that I envision for our School Library is Christian Resources. I tend to purchase all of my Christian Resources from Koorong Bookstore however I have recently been made aware of Christian school suppliers in Queensland. Christian School Suppliers is a specialist provider of school supplies, school resources, teacher resources, educational resources, teachers professional development, school leadership resources and library school books. Their educational supplies and school library books are selected based on the needs of those in Christian education, and their popular book reviews also reflect Christian values. Teaching resources are available for a wide range of subjects, and as the publishers of Review, the Christian School Library magazine, and providers of the Christian School Library Standing Orders, they are rapidly becoming the library suppliers of choice for Christian schools. Why not check them out at: http://www.christianschoolsuppliers.com.au/

My first hub get-together

Yesterday I attended my first ever TL Hub meeting at Tyndale Christian School. It was great to meet such enthusiastic Teacher Librarians all keen to share ideas. They were all overjoyed to discuss the prospects for the CSA TL Conference planned for next year. The difference between e-books and e-textbooks also enlightened me to some of the pitfalls of e-textbooks. Creative ideas from Book Week were shared including: 1) A Reading Expo (similar to a Wedding Expo), for Years 5-8. Groups had to make a stall to try and sell, advertise their book ( a book on the shortlist for book week)eg. Students made a stew and some bookmarks to hand out for the book Wombat Stew, other groups made book trailers (Children's Book Council) 2) A Reading Olympics - Reading Incentive which began with an Olympic Torch moving around each classroom. Students had to complete Reading events, eg. sprints=1 Home Reader=1 point, Hurdles=3 Bible Stories=3 points, Ping pong= Read a book and pass to a friend=points. Reading Logs kept in Library. 3) Reading Quiz - Guess who's Reading? Pictures of Teachers with face covered by a book. 4) Reading Hour -Over 1 week, whole school during Devotions. 5) Teacher's reading their favourite short-listed books to the school. 1 per week to each class - teacher's move to each class, students stay in their own classrooms. Teachers dress up and take props to make their Readings interesting. Wonderful Picture Book - " Bus called heaven". Idea for opening of our new Library - Guest Writer - Penny Reeves (author of 11 Children's picture books). What I need to research? 1) Wheelers. 2) Read Cloud. Viewed an amazing School Library at PLC - Croydon, They have 4 floors and a digital TV and interactive whiteboard on each level joined together by a single column.This library is really embracing 21st Century learning!!

Teacher Librarian as Leader: ETL 504 (Insights from Donham Reading)

Who is an Educational leader? “Educational leaders are people who care deeply about teaching and learning and who work, often very, very hard, to make enterprise function more effectively..... one main goal: to improve our students’ education.” (Lerman 2004, p. vii) The TL as leader: Leadership attributes (Warren Bennis 1999) * Visionary – ways in which the library program intersects with all aspects of the School community and curriculum. A comprehensive view of the school. Fullen (1996), suggests 3 attributes for a sound vision: sharedness, concreteness and clarity. Continual reflection and self assessment. Strategic leadership. * Works collegially – with teachers, parents, staff and administrators. People skills: communicate effectively, listen attentively and negotiation. Do not work in isolation. Establish Collaborative learning. Communicate, Inspire and delegate. * Bring Expertise – Literacy, Information Seeking Process, applications of technology appropriate for setting. Unique Technical competence. Models best practices. * Conceptual skill – procedural knowledge , principles that guide their policy making (organisation, access, confidentiality, ethical use of information) and concepts (understanding information systems) that inform resource management and information dissemination. * Decision maker/Judgement – Make daily decisions promptly, even with imperfect data, regarding purchases, resource allocation, scheduling, work assignments and instructions. High say-do ratio. * Character – Strong set of beliefs related to the principles of Librarianship and the principles of the Education profession. Primary beliefs include – commitment to open access to information, confidentiality for information users, affirmation of intellectual property rights and equity. Internal and External locus of control in Leadership External locus TL – looks at others/facilities and how that may affect effective learning taking place. “There is nothing I can do”. Internal Locus TL – listen to concerns and offer/find alternatives/solutions to make learning work for the students’ sake. Embrace responsibility to make good things happen at their school. “I can find alternatives/compromises”. Proactive – looking for change opportunities, anticipate and prevent problems, take action and persevere. Seizing every opportunity. Jim Collins suggests 2 important things to keep in mind to become great leaders as TLs: 1) Understand what you can and cannot be best at. 2) Pursue what you are deeply passionate about. Having influence and leading from the middle = Establishing expertise, working collegially with others, articulating one’s ideas clearly, maintaining a high say-do ratio and establishing processes for continuous reflection and assessment. Learning and teaching: Identify your special expertise to develop Library media Program. Establish relationship with teachers. Develop skills in other areas to meet needs.

Reading for ETL504: Leadership for Learning

3 key Leadership Models: – 1980’s Instructional Leadership 1. Directive approach by principal 2. Emphasized “the leader’s” vision 3. Often evident in turn-around situations where major change was needed quickly 4. Principal is “hip-deep” in curriculum and teaching 5. Focused on 1st Order Change – direct effects of the leader on teaching and learning in classrooms Limitations: * Not applicable in all schools * Perceived by some as undemocratic * May not incorporate views and values of all stakeholders * Makes unrealistic demands on expertise of the principal * Creates dependency on the leader * Focus on a single leader makes it difficult to sustain – 1990’s Transformational Leadership 1. Targets 2nd order changes 2. Leadership focused on “capacity building” rather than “leading, directing, coordinating and controlling” learning 3. Leader focuses on understanding individual needs and empowering others – 2000+ Shared Instructional Leadership Emerged at turn of century in recognition that: 1. Schools are communities of learners with Principal as Head Learner (Barth, Seashore-Louis) 2. “Principals can’t do it alone” (Hall, Spillane, Donaldson) 3. Evidence that both instructional and transformational leadership contribute to school improvement (Hallinger & Heck, Leithwood, Marks & Printy, Mulford & Silins, Day,Cheng, Jackson) 4. Conceptualizes key leadership functions of principal, other administrators and teacher leaders Assumptions behind this Leadership Model Distributed expertise * Implementation effect * Decision-making * Career development * Adult learners * 1st & 2nd order leadership effects Donaldson (2001)claimed that any successful model of school leadership must meet two functional tests: – Promote school improvement – Be sustainable for the leaders themselves BE THE CHANGE THAT YOU WANT TO SEE!!! 1. Set high expectations and standards 2. Talk openly about personal & shared values 3. Model key values and behaviors 4. Measure important things

My new Bible

A couple of days ago I purchased a new Bible.

Why? You may well ask, when I have numerous around the house already and even have 3 versions of the Bible on my Iphone. My eyesight is not as good as it use to be and I now have a Bible in Giant print that I can read even without glasses! Yeah! (For all of you who wear glasses for reading, you will know what I mean.) Reading this Bible for the first time without glasses was like when I first had my Cataract Operations and I could see the leaves on the trees in the distance for the very first time. It is like I'm looking at the Bible for the very first time! Anyway, I have just read Matthew Chapter 18 "The Temple Tax" v.24-27. It's just amazing! Jesus tells Peter to go fishing in the lake by throwing out a line and within the first catch's mouth he will find the Tax money (a four -drachma coin). Wow, I have never heard or read this story before! My eyes are being opened for the second time.

Internet's web to get wider and wider

Here is an interesting extract from the Sydney Morning herald dated 23rd April, 2009:

While the internet has dramatically changed lives around the world, its full impact will only be realised when far more people and information go online, its founders said on Wednesday.

"The web as I envisaged it, we have not seen it yet. The future is still so much bigger than the past," said Tim Berners-Lee, one of the inventors of the World Wide Web, at a seminar on its future....

Just 23% of the globe's population currently uses the internet, according to the United Nation's International Telecommunications Union. By contrast, just 5% of Africans surf the web, reported in March.....But that level is expected to rise, said internet co-founder Vinton Cerf.....

The number of websites has since ballooned from just 500 as recently as 1994 to over 80 million currently, with growing numbers of sites consisting of user-generated content like blogs.

…..So what does this mean for Teacher Librarians?

Even more information available at our fingertips?

I believe that this will mean an “explosion” of information available and even more need than ever before for students to learn skills that teach them how to locate and decipher the dependability and reliability of a web source. A little different to when I was a child and the Librarian would show us how to use a microfiche, how to use the index in an Encyclopaedia and how to find a good book to read.

It is an exciting time for us all and we as: TL’s in training, are the future.

The world truly is an “Oyster – shell” with a pearl inside, waiting to be discovered.