The essential question that I have chosen for my learning curation is:
How can I inspire my colleagues and students as a Teacher Librarian?
Over the last few years, I have found myself in an ever-changing state about my career. There is no hesitation that I want to stay in education, however, even in my ‘short’ career of just over 10 years I have seen the tasks and stresses of a classroom teacher increase (especially in our current world state) and I honestly do not know how much longer I would be able to stay in a positive mental state if I keep on this path.
In 2017, I was presented with an opportunity that gave me a new insight on my career path. There was a posting for a ‘Technology Support Teacher’ within our district and the job description sounded very intriguing. I reluctantly applied, thinking it would be great for people to start recognizing my name. Well, to my surprise I got an interview and was granted the position. This is where my new outlook on my career started. I absolutely loved this position because it combined so many things that I loved about being a teacher: a lot of collaboration with my team, meeting and working with staff all over the district (teachers, Teacher Librarian’s (TL), Vice-Principal’s, and Principals), discovering new technology and troubleshooting how to introduce this into a classroom and lastly, working with students all over the district. Just over a year after started this position we were blessed with our son and I started a year long Mat Leave at the beginning of 2019. My district position was only a 2-year role, so my return to work was a very shocking one and then led into a global pandemic.
While on Mat Leave, I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do with my career moving forward. I loved my role with the district and was trying to think of ways that I could have a similar job. I had many callouts to Teacher Librarian’s across our district that were just being introduced into transitioning the ‘Library’ to the ‘Student Library Learning Commons.’ This made me think that this is a path that would be right for me. I love helping others (as we all do as teachers), however, I have always been drawn to working with my peers as well. When I learn something new, I want to share this knowledge with others, usually to make their life easier. As a classroom teacher in an Elementary setting, it is hard to have collaboration and connection with colleagues. We all have different prep blocks and not everyone takes their lunch break to have short discussions in the staff room.
I am hoping that with a change in position I will be able to inspire others again. When I was in my district role, the title itself gave some leverage to the information that I was sharing. I am keeping up with leadership opportunities, such as instructing at upcoming District Pro-D sessions, but I am hoping that this course will give me some more insight on different resources and tools that are exciting and may be of interest to others. By sharing information and collaborating, I am hoping that I can be a leader in my school or district once I find myself in a TL position.
The transition from the Library to the Learning Commons has made me think that I can be a leader if I am a TL. We have learned that, “The role and impact of the teacher-librarian can be synthesized quite simply: teacher-librarians impact student learning and achievement by forming strong and positive relationships with members of the school community, especially the school principal; by collaborating with classroom colleagues to plan, develop and assess independent learning abilities in students; by fostering a recreational reading culture in the building; and by providing informal staff development opportunities (CLA, 2014, p.21).” As I mentioned before, I hope to inspire by leading others through collaboration and staff development.
The other way that I wish to inspire others is to continue to learn and grow. I feel like this is the message that I am getting from all my coursework towards my TL Diploma. We need to be life-long learners and continue to grow to inspire others to do the same. I feel like the most powerful way to inspire my peers is to continue this education journey that I am on and keep learning, even once my TL Diploma is complete. Strive to learn at least one or two new things a month and then share this new knowledge with my fellow staff and students.
I came across this TED Talk while researching for my essential question and I feel like Drew (2010) has really nailed it on the head. My goal is to create those ‘lollipop’ moments in life and really appreciate them. You do not know the power that your own positivity or wisdom can have on a person.
As a yoga instructor, I have had members come back to me months later repeating something that I had said to them before/during or after a practice and they had claimed that it changed their lives. They were holding onto something that they should not and finally let it go. They made more time for themselves because I had taught them that self care is not selfish. At the time, I was just doing my job as an instructor and had no idea what an impact I would have on my members.
Moving forward, I hope to continue to inspire others without the intention of doing so by constantly learning and growing as an educator. Even if I can have an impact on just a few people, I know that I am paying it forward and being a successful leader in education.
Works Cited:
Canadian Library Association. (2014). Leading learning: Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada. Ottawa: ON
Couros, G. (2018, May 30). 5 Crucial Quotes on Leadership and Why They are Important. Retrieved from https://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/8277
Dudley, D. (2010). Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership?referrer=playlist-how_leaders_inspire#t-361419