As a full-time classroom teacher never having held a teacher-librarianship position I am going to use the library at my current school (a single-stream K-7 elementary) for context.
This poor old library hasn’t seen much love in the last few years. The teacher-librarian
As a primary classroom teacher I have not had much access to technology that I can use with my students. Up until this year I’ve only had four iPads in my classroom and a one-hour block of time in the aging computer lab. The iPads were used mostly for the “outliers” in my class - those needing enrichment or those needing support. This year our computer lab has been disassembled and I will now get to share access to a class set of Chromebooks. I’m really looking forward to exploring the new learning opportunities this provides.
When thinking about becoming a teacher-librarian my thoughts revolve around what I would do if I landed in a library that was still operating under a very traditional model. How would I change the layout? What would I add to incorporate technology? What would get taken away? How would I justify changes with reluctant colleagues and parents?
Scaling some of those questions back to an achievable inquiry question, I began to think about the basic needs of a school learning commons. What do I hope to achieve in the space and what do I need? Learning commons provide so much more than traditional libraries. They need to go beyond book research and engage students in hands-on learning involving a variety of tools and resources, including technology. My search terms to address these topics will include:
- Converting library to learning commons
- Teaching primary students with technology
- Technology use in the library/learning commons
- Apps to use in the library/learning commons
- Teaching literacy with technology
- Teaching digital citizenship in the library/learning commons
* All pictures acquired through Creative Commons and are labelled for noncommercial reuse
All of your topics here circle around effective implementation of a Library Learning Commons program and Teacher-Librarian support. These are lofty and important goals that can be achieved over time with involvement from the entire learning community. It is a great place to start and there are many useful documents, publications, videos and articles that will support your growth and inquiry into this very important topic. It also sounds as if your school library needs this direction and investment to help move the whole school forward.
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