I have been thinking a lot about what I believe would make a good library and what modern libraries are for, but it is now time to consider the creation of something practical- a tool to help the efficient and effective use of school libraries in the future. However, as a teacher with little experience in the classroom, let alone in a library, it's going to take some thinking to know what to produce.
Through my recent inquiries, I have definitely refined and cemented what I consider to be my personal teaching philosophy. Reading Will Richardson's Why School?, I really came to believe that technology is an integral part of inquiry learning in the 21st century, and that it really the "how to" skills that need to be taught in school, rather than the "what". And if we aren't teaching students piles of facts anymore, we have to think about what skills are important, and what can make school better. Some things that I have learned are important to me are: radical inclusiveness, creating practical projects in schools with real audiences in mind, student choice and varying of formats used to teach, collaboration (between classes and with groups/people outside of schools).
Transferring these philosophies to modern libraries, I would like to create a project that supports some aspect of inclusiveness, teaching with a wide variety of formats, creating real-world projects, or collaboration. I would like this to be useful to teachers and relevant to the library. Creating the most inclusive library environment possible would be a huge challenge. I would love to look into what people are doing to make them accessible to everyone. This doesn't just include physically accessible, but intellectually and culturally accessible as well. What would a super inclusive library even look like? I would love to look more into it.
One of the most inspiring writing prompts in this course for me was to write about how we can support the ICT development for teachers. I think this was at least in part because I have more experience as a teacher and can see how this would be practical for me. I found tons of resources and interesting materials on how to use technology in the classroom. The library at the high school where I did my practicum had a 3D printer, and I have always wanted to know how one works. Even more than that, I would love to know how people have been incorporating it into lesson plans. Perhaps a practical guide to using 3D printers for teaching would both help me learn and create an interesting resource for fellow teachers lucky enough to have access to such a tool. This would fit in really well with my personal interests and the idea of "how to" becoming more and more relevant.
I think this would best be created as a blog post linking to great resources that already exist, but I have more to learn before deciding. Perhaps a couple of blog posts instead, for example 1) how to use 3D printers 2) how to incorporate 3D printers in the inquiry classroom
Works Cited:
Neilson, Sonya (2019). LIBE 477 Inquiry 3: Supporting Teachers' ICT Development. Retrieved from https://svneilson.blogspot.com/2019/02/libe-477-inquiry-3-supporting-teachers.html
Richardson, Will (2012). Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere [Kindle Single]. TED Conferences.
schwarz (2018). Inclusive Services Assessment Guide for Public Libraries. Retrieved from https://sparks.winnefox.org/node/700
Ultimaker (2019). 3D Printing in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/education/3d-printing-in-the-classroom
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| Looks like I, too, may need to visit a library. Image care of Whitehots. |
Through my recent inquiries, I have definitely refined and cemented what I consider to be my personal teaching philosophy. Reading Will Richardson's Why School?, I really came to believe that technology is an integral part of inquiry learning in the 21st century, and that it really the "how to" skills that need to be taught in school, rather than the "what". And if we aren't teaching students piles of facts anymore, we have to think about what skills are important, and what can make school better. Some things that I have learned are important to me are: radical inclusiveness, creating practical projects in schools with real audiences in mind, student choice and varying of formats used to teach, collaboration (between classes and with groups/people outside of schools).
Transferring these philosophies to modern libraries, I would like to create a project that supports some aspect of inclusiveness, teaching with a wide variety of formats, creating real-world projects, or collaboration. I would like this to be useful to teachers and relevant to the library. Creating the most inclusive library environment possible would be a huge challenge. I would love to look into what people are doing to make them accessible to everyone. This doesn't just include physically accessible, but intellectually and culturally accessible as well. What would a super inclusive library even look like? I would love to look more into it.
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| Agreed! Image care of Library Sparks. |
One of the most inspiring writing prompts in this course for me was to write about how we can support the ICT development for teachers. I think this was at least in part because I have more experience as a teacher and can see how this would be practical for me. I found tons of resources and interesting materials on how to use technology in the classroom. The library at the high school where I did my practicum had a 3D printer, and I have always wanted to know how one works. Even more than that, I would love to know how people have been incorporating it into lesson plans. Perhaps a practical guide to using 3D printers for teaching would both help me learn and create an interesting resource for fellow teachers lucky enough to have access to such a tool. This would fit in really well with my personal interests and the idea of "how to" becoming more and more relevant.
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| Kids can easily use 3D printers from ready-made design templates. Image care of all3dp.com |
I think this would best be created as a blog post linking to great resources that already exist, but I have more to learn before deciding. Perhaps a couple of blog posts instead, for example 1) how to use 3D printers 2) how to incorporate 3D printers in the inquiry classroom
Works Cited:
Neilson, Sonya (2019). LIBE 477 Inquiry 3: Supporting Teachers' ICT Development. Retrieved from https://svneilson.blogspot.com/2019/02/libe-477-inquiry-3-supporting-teachers.html
Richardson, Will (2012). Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere [Kindle Single]. TED Conferences.
schwarz (2018). Inclusive Services Assessment Guide for Public Libraries. Retrieved from https://sparks.winnefox.org/node/700
Ultimaker (2019). 3D Printing in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/education/3d-printing-in-the-classroom
You discuss two strong areas for your final vision project here. I am intrigued by your ideas about inclusive libraries. I think this could be very helpful for teacher-librarians. Perhaps a digital “how-to” guide with links to booklists, design considerations, lesson ideas/strategies etc. I also like your ideas about 3D printing. Perhaps something like a website with pages to share lesson plan ideas, project showcase, and tips and tricks. The tricky part now will be deciding which direction to take. Please reach out if you want to bounce ideas around.
ReplyDeleteI have never used a 3D printer so if you create something about how to use one and links to resources and lesson ideas, I would be very interested in that! I've never seen a real 3D printer, so I am jealous you have been able to use one. Since I don't have much experience with them I wouldn't even know where to begin. I'm excited to see what you come up with!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the feedback. I've been on the fence all week trying to decide which one I should do!
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