Mrs. Welsh's Reading Nook

My thoughts and opinions have evolved over my journey to achieve my Teacher Librarian (TL) diploma. Before I started the program I was like “Oh, how nice it would be to have groups of students come in, read them a book and help them sign out books.” Little did I know what the whole scope of a TL position entails. Now that I am on my final course I have a far better understanding of the role of the TL. Not only are TL’s responsible for creating a welcoming environment for the school community, they need to ensure that the Library Learning Commons (LLC) is a place where the school community can come for help to find appropriate resources, lifelong literacy skills, support in answering questions, and access to a wide range of topics and ideas.  Managing the Library Learning Commons This theme held lots of great information about how a TL should run a functional LLC.   I am a daydreamer, so I sat with this information for quite a while planning out my LLC and how I would like to “...

  Part One The Library Learning Commons (LLC) I will be using for this assignment has a population of about 500 students. It is located in an elementary school that ranges from kindergarten to grade 5. In the LLC the physical reference section is housed in a small back room. As a current grade 3 and 4 teacher I choose to look at a reference collection called Wildlife of the World published by the Marshall Cavendish Corporation.  Vol. 2 front cover, Wildlife of the World Content Scope: Wildlife of the World is a 13 volume collection that introduces 300 different animals from around the world. Every animal featured gets at least a full double page describing the animals habitat, behaviour and adaptations. The content aligns quite well with the curricular content of elementary school children. However, the curricular competencies state that teachers should focus on the local environment and adding First Peoples perspectives and that content is not included ( BC curriculum ) Acc...

    Through my journey to complete my Teacher Librarian (TL) diploma, some of the topics discussed in Theme 1 are not new. I am currently not in a TL position and to be honest feel like I have not used reference materials with my students as much as I should be. I feel like Theme 1 has done a great job informing my practice on what and how reference materials can be accessed in an elementary Library Learning Commons (LLC). I feel like my major takeaways from Theme 1 are; how we as TL’s can support the school community to become critical thinkers and to develop information fluency skills. With the use of appropriate reference materials and the skills to think about the information, 21st century learners will hopefully become lifelong learners.  How can inquiry develop critical thinking skills?      As a classroom teacher I have tried many different ways to integrate inquiry into my teaching practice. I have always felt overwhelmed on how to support my ...