how to create a win win win ...
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| photo from https://www.tes.com/news/blog/inspire-students-open-ended-task |
I came across this photo recently and knew it was the perfect one to start this final vision blog post with. It represents how I feel in the last few weeks of this course in that I have had freedom to create a functional, meaningful digital artifact.
This post is my chance to expand on my quick explanation from last week as to why I want to create a teacher librarian collaboration menu. The idea of showing a school staff how their TL could work with them actually came about before I started my temporary library position. One day in early October I was a TOC at an elementary school in a french immersion grade one class. The TL at this school came to the class I was working in to support reading as their teacher had gone on a medical leave and their had been multiple TOC's working with this particular group. I started asking her some questions about her role and the kinds of work she does to collaborate with teachers at her school. She told me she had a made a brochure outlining projects she had done in the past to give teachers ideas. I immediately LOVED her idea and knew this was something that would one day benefit both the staff and myself at a future school.
Fast forward a few weeks and I find myself in this new TL position at school which has a very open schedule, library skills and book exchange time in the afternoon and zero plans for the two mornings. At first it was intimidating to have this open morning schedule but almost right away I could see the great opportunity for collaboration with teachers. Then came the feelings of 'where do I start'? This is a completely new staff and I didn't know any of the children yet. My school is quite complex with many learning needs that make it difficult for teachers to really get into academics and inquiry projects early in the year. So I started working with the grade 4 and 5 classes, using chrome books and becoming comfortable with google classroom. I brought this idea up to the classroom teachers myself and they loved the idea. I could see that me taking charge and offering them an idea was a huge relief. Their students created a google classroom banner using google draw and I now upload their photos to the classroom periodically to showcase their work. As I near the end of this particular project and need to figure out who I will work with next, it is clear that the classroom teachers are just trying to stay afloat with the intense behaviour needs and don't have a lot of time to plan or talk to me about ideas for collaboration. Providing teachers with an artifact that is easy to navigate and will give them practical ideas of how I can support them is now my number one priority. The children at my school respond the most positively when they have time to form a connection with you. Working with them in small groups in the library will be the most beneficial for them and will allow me to really support their individualized needs. Creating a tool to support my collaboration outside of the book exchange time in these small groups will benefit the teachers, the students and myself. Win win win.
Once I began thinking about the format for this, I emailed the Teacher Librarian who originally gave me this idea and asked about what format she used to create her brochure. She couldn't locate the one she created but emailed the Teacher Librarians in our district asking if anyone had something like this. There were quite a few responses which was absolutely amazing and so helpful. One secondary school TL in School District 61, Selena Jensen, created a beautiful brochure using an free online site called Canva. She gave me permission to post an image of her brochure in all its glory ...
You can use the Canva website to help design almost anything, from brochures to infographics to blog banners to magazine covers. And the best part is it's FREE! I really wanted to try out this new tool so I have decided to create two things that will work together:
1. I am going to create a one page infographic based on the steps to collaborating with your teacher librarian using Canva. My hope is that this will show teachers a few basic steps they need to take for us to embark on a project together.
2. I have started a google slides presentation which is the 'menu'. Each slide will outline a different project or idea (including actual samples of what was created) I have done in the past that could be tailored to use with a new group.
I have really enjoyed the process of creating this week and it has been great to use a familiar program like google slides while learning to navigate a new one like Canva.
Stay tuned for the artifacts!
References
Canva.com. (2018). Amazingly Simple Graphic Design Software – Canva. [online] Available at: https://www.canva.com/ [Accessed 17 Nov. 2018].
Jensen, S. (2018). What Your Teacher Librarian Can Do For You. [online Canva brochure] Victoria.
Hannah! That's an awesome idea! I can see myself doing something like that as well when I eventually step into the role of TL. I used Canva for the first time in one of my blog posts for this course. I was experimenting with something new to see if it would be suitable for my final vision project as well. In the end, I'm going with Google Slides. However, I did like using Canva and I think that I will have many uses for it in the future.
ReplyDeleteWell done discussion and description of your goals, identified needs and important reminders of who this resource will be for. An excellent example infographic as well that showcases a useful amount of things you can offer and support. Good discussion of the unique needs of your school community and how you can prioritize these services and roles more prominently. A good reflection on your progress and how you have adjusted as you have learned more about your school, staff and students.
ReplyDeleteYou are going to have one very professional looking way to advertise your many hats as a TL with your colleagues. I think your final artifact will double as a way to advocate for TLs in your district. If I had a brochure like yours, it is something I would want to share with our school board.
ReplyDeleteAs I look at the brochure you have posted I am thinking about other ways to take this information and publicize it. It could be reformatted to become a poster and this could be placed in key areas in the school. It could also become part of a website. There is so much opportunity to put your own design mark on the brochure. I'm thinking a library could have its own logo, or could use the school logo. There is a lot of room for creativity.
ReplyDelete