Laura's TL Blogspace: My journey as a Teacher Librarian

  Posted on   July 15, 2024 REFELECTION: Think about your own journey as an educator – what has changed in your teaching practice over the course of your career with regards to technology use and literature? 10 years, even 5 years ago, technology was an unavoidable, yet often annoying part of my daily practice as it would be too slow or not work at critical times. Myself and my students struggled to build our patience and often gave up, reverting to a physical medium. Technology and my skills have come a long way since then. Now, I am an advocate for the immersion of digital devices and interactive technologies in the classroom as I appreciate the benefits and understand that it is our students’ future. It is essential that we provide opportunities for growth in students across all that they do and this includes the true inclusion of technology in the classroom. I have been fortunate enough to witness truly future-focused classrooms and experience the impact of this on student...

  Posted on   January 14, 2025   Statement of personal philosophy A quality Teacher Librarian is a confident, competent professional who demonstrates initiative and maintains future-focused practices conducive to their context and users, in alignment with professional library standards. They must be organised, highly resourceful and maintain an up-to-date knowledge of library resources to ensure their current users are provided with the best possible options to meet their needs. A high standard of written and oral communication is essential for maintaining effective relationships with the library users, colleagues and leaders of the organisation. The Teacher Librarian must promote their unique and important role as well as the significance of the library space. This image from Capstone (2024) highlights the international influence of Teacher Librarians. REFERENCES: Captsone. (2024). Learning is for everyone. CapstonePub.com.

  Posted on   January 15, 2025 I have critically evaluated my learning throughout the Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) course, guided by a reflection process from Corley and Zubizarreta (2012). This evaluation is based on the three themes outlined below.   Digital literature My understanding of digital literature has changed profoundly across my learning journey. As is evident in  my blog post  (July 9, 2024), I initially thought that this term referred to any piece of literature that had been digitised, however I learnt very quickly that is not the case. Digital literature has surprised and inspired me as it is much more complex than I initially considered and has infinite potential across the globe (as highlighted by Haines, 2017). I now see digital literature as a key component of my profession due to this great potential. As noted by O’Connell, Bales & Mitchell (2015), it has the power to teach and inspire the next generation in ways that woul...

  Posted on   January 15, 2025 Evaluation The Master of Education (Teacher Libriarianship) course has been highly beneficial in developing my research and critical thinking skills. This will assist in leading future school operations as I will critique processes prior to implementation to ensure my school is guided by the most reliable and evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning as well as ensure that the processes and procedures are the most applicable to the school context in which I work. Allen, Reupert & Oades (2021) note the importance of leaders utilising evidence-based education and emphasise that this practice has a positive influence on all school processes. My strengthened critical thinking and solid research skills will also assist in my future beyond the school environment as I consider a career in a university library or another information sector such as a museum.   My ability to consider and use future focused practices to support the next ge...

  Posted on   July 9, 2024 Digital literature is everchanging, intriguing and creates a world of opportunities for citizens across the globe. My initial thoughts on this concept are that digital literature includes any text that is made and accessed through a digital device. Before listening to DiRosario (2018), I would have considered photocopied PDF versions of texts as digital literature, however she suggests this is not the case. Digital literature is interactive, originally designed with and for use on a digital device. I am intrigued by the concept of interactive texts, such as those mentioned by DiRosario (2018). The possibilities for student engagement in the classroom through such texts are endless! Students will be learning through doing, as they become immersed in the subject and seek their own new knowledge. I am excited to uncover other such realisations through ETL533 and discover the full potential that digital literature brings to the primary classroom.   ...

  Posted on   July 15, 2024 REFELECTION: Think about your own journey as an educator – what has changed in your teaching practice over the course of your career with regards to technology use and literature? 10 years, even 5 years ago, technology was an unavoidable, yet often annoying part of my daily practice as it would be too slow or not work at critical times. Myself and my students struggled to build our patience and often gave up, reverting to a physical medium. Technology and my skills have come a long way since then. Now, I am an advocate for the immersion of digital devices and interactive technologies in the classroom as I appreciate the benefits and understand that it is our students’ future. It is essential that we provide opportunities for growth in students across all that they do and this includes the true inclusion of technology in the classroom. I have been fortunate enough to witness truly future-focused classrooms and experience the impact of this on student...

  Posted on   August 8, 2024 Your Heritage, Your Story This is a valuable text for inclusion in any virtual library. Your Heritage, Your Story is an interactive documentary, created in the United Kingdom (UK) exploring archaeology and heritage through the perspective of immigrants. The text is available on a website, enhancing accessibility across multiple devices. The author Hamzaki notes that this text has been designed to promote equity and justice within the archaeological sector and beyond. The careful selection of digital design tools and layout of Your Heritage, Your Story strengthens the authors ability to achieve her lifelong work of promoting social justice and change (Council for British Archaeology, 2023). The documentary follows Annabelle from the United States and Teresa from Hong Kong as they present their new life in the UK through a range of short films. The story effectively achieves its purpose by subtly examining the influence of archaeology on a person’s s...

  Posted on   August 8, 2024 As the Crow Flies  As The Crow Flies is a unique example of digital literature that relates well to the intended audience and brilliantly achieves its purpose. This is a free webcomic, electronically accessed through a website, created in the United States by Melanie Gillman. The digital platform enables it to be shared and discussed by audiences across the world. Additionally, the online format allowed Gillman to continually add detail and update chapters, extending this text as they continued to create the story. The text has consistent features with other webcomics including the layout, structure and overall design. As The Crow Flies includes colour illustrations and written text (English). The story sensitively explores complex themes as it follows teenagers searching for self-identity and belonging while on a religious youth camp. Gillman (cited in Carlson, 2017) states that this text was inspired by their personal experience of youth cam...

  Posted on   August 8, 2024 Blades of Light and Shadow 2  Blades of Light and Shadow 2 is an interactive fantasy text that allows the reader to choose their own adventure as they explore a range of different realms. The inclusion of dynamic characters allows the reader to engage and become fully immersed in the experience through intriguing characters and detailed artistic depictions. The author states that the strengths of this text are the unexpected twists and turns of the storyline and the gripping adventures that the characters experience (The Choices Team, 2023). Pixelberry Studios (2024) hints that the purpose for this text is to evoke relationship building and management techniques among readers while they explore love interests throughout the digital story. The author adds that the character names are used to symbolise contrasting personalities, adding to the complexity of relationships in the text (The PB Community Team, 2022). The creators have effectively ach...