Inquiry Blog Post 2-Life Long Learners

Inquiry Blog 2- Life Long Learners

Current Professional Development/Exploration

This year I took up the role of being the Learning Support Teacher (LST). I am qualified however, in teaching high school Social Studies, so the learning curve this year has been massive. I have undertaken a number of things to help support my learning.

1.     Professional Development Workshops- In recognition that many new LST teachers had been hired the district increased the amount, of workshops being offered this year. My administration was very supportive so I was able to attend many workshops. This included a new LST orientation that went over the LST handbook, and practises. I also attended workshops on how to write an IEP, the info session on the new MyEd IEP system, and all workshops relating to the Fountas & Pinnell reading program. I am grateful to have attended these workshops because they helped me to establish my routine, and set me up for my role. The Fountas and Pinnell workshop was particularly useful because I utilize the program regularly. I find workshops are a great way for professional development, and are easy to find in our weekly memos, which highlights them.
                                  
                                            Fountas & Pinnell Website Resources

2.     District Support- I am one of the three new LST team members this year at my school so I find there is always an unanswered question, for which I cannot find the solution in the handbook. This is when I turn to the district helping teacher for support. They are a great resource, as many times they come in to the school to work/support you one on one. I have called mine a few times this year, and have found that every time she comes I learn something new to assist me in my role.

3.     Additional Coursework- In recognition that I am not qualified to do all of the assessment required in LST, I have taken an additional course offered by the district. Almost every other Thursday I go to the Surrey Welcome Centre to attend class on how to administer the level B test. It is a lot of work, but very helpful in that it allows for the level B test to be conducted in support of evidence for a psycho-educational assessment. At this point only one person out of the four is qualified at my school, and so this professional development will assist me in my role as an LST teacher.

4.     Collaboration- Last year, I was an Early Literacy Teacher and so although the role of LST is new to me, I do have some background in how to conduct early literacy intervention. I have games and activities that I have brought from previous experience. I am finding that having this background is helpful in collaborating with the other LST team members. We meet weekly to discuss new ideas/literacy games. By doing so we are able to bounce ideas off of one idea and fine tune what we are doing and why.

Other Educators Professional Development/Exploration

What are some of the ways that educators and professionals are connecting and sharing their learning?

1.     Twitter- In almost all of my Teacher-Librarianship diploma there has been made mention of Twitter, and its use as a professional networking platform. I am aware that professionals from around the world are using the platform to share ideas, and connect, but I have yet to become an active member. I can see the use in Twitter as many educators gain new insight and ideas from other members.

2.     Pinterest/Teacher Pay Teacher- I have also been told not to reinvent the wheel but rather work with what is out there. As a high school teacher, I had never used the internet to find resources, but when it comes to early literacy games and activities many different lesson ideas are shared on websites like Pinterest & Teachers Pay Teachers. I have recently started using the reading mama. Link below:

https://thisreadingmama.com/

                                                Reading Mama Website 

3.     Facebook- Facebook has a Surrey Teachers page where people are constantly asking one another questions and providing assistance. It is a great learning online community.

4.     Participatory Professional Development Workshops- I had mentioned collaboration, but I do this solely with my LST team. As I learned in a previous course the library could be a place for “participatory professional development workshops” (Hamilton, 2011). In these workshops teachers could share the positive outcomes and challenges they encountered on their learning projects on the use of blogs, wikis, and Web 2.0 content-creation tools, and other topics of interest (Hamilton, 2011). These workshops could also generate discussion on the impact of student learning, provide tips for adapting projects, and ideas for future collaborative learning (Hamilton, 2011).

Beyond The Course

What strategies, tools, resources and networks can you implement to maintain your explorations and development? What can you do during this class and after it is over to maintain your connections and networks, to further develop your knowledge, experience and skills?

1.     My first goal is to become more active on twitter, and connect with educators who have similar goals, and are teaching similar subjects. I know from my co-workers that twitter is becoming a great way to share and find resources, and ideas. Educators I search for will be both for TLs and LST teachers.

                                             Step 1: Twitter Created!

2.     My second goal would be to collaborate more with co-workers in a “participatory professional development,” workshop. This means I would present my ideas and they present theirs.

3.     My third goal for this year would be to attend more workshops in regards to teacher librarianship. I have never been in the library and am almost done my coursework so recognizing that I enjoy workshops after this course I would like to engage more in workshops.

My professional development was based on my current role as LST, not as an TL.**

Work Cited

Becky. (n.d.). The Reading Mama: A developmental approach to literacy. Retrieved January 31, 2019, from https://thisreadingmama.com/.

Hamilton, B. J. (2011a). Creating conversations for learning: School libraries as sites of participatory culture. School Library Monthly 27(8): 41-43.