WTL504 Team work and colloboration

It is clear from the readings that groups and teams are different. Groups are people working in the same organisational structures, teams are people working together to achieve a focused outcome. A team must have a dedicated leader in order to succeed. The leader must be able to lead and develop individuals as well as the team.
As a Teacher Librarian it is important to lead collaborative teams to ensure the learning of information skills. It is also the role of the teacher librarian to be members of teams, even where they are not leaders. They must confirm their role and achieve their directive.

ETL501 Searching the internet Topic 3

There are so many more search engines than I realised. It has opened up my eyes to the extent and quality of information found by different search engines. There are different search engines for different reasons and there are even websites that allow you to find the search engine that best suits your purpose. I have also been exposed for the first time to Bolean logic and other search 'tricks'.

ETL501 Wikipedia

My opinion on wikipedia is that it is useful but cannot be trusted to contain accurate information. As a teacher librarian I would not encourage students to use it, however, I would not stop them. I would advise them to use it to look at the references provided by editors of the site on the topic they are researching and use it as a starting point to find relevant and accurate information.

ETL501 What is reference material?

I think that the term reference material needs to be defined in a new way. Reference material seems to be material that is gathered and stored together about a particular topic or topics. I think that the term is redundant when it comes to library items that may not be borrowed and needs to gain a broader meaning.

ETL504 Decision Making and problem solving.

It is clear from the readings that decision making and probloem solving is a much researched area. The readings all advocate similar steps in the decision making process. They start with defining what the problem is and gathering data. They do not offer solutions until these steps are done. I have tended to look for solutions before analysing the problem and problem solving for me has not always been in collaboration with others. From these readings I learn that I do not always have to solve problems on my own, in fact it can be benificial to me and the implementation of the solution to the problem to deal with problem solving and decision making in a team. One of the most important role of the Teacher Librarian is collaboration and this fits in very nicely with the readings. They advocate collaboration when making decisions and solving problems.
As a collaborative teacher librarian it is important to work in small groups all of the time. It is an important skill, shown in these readings to be able to share the decision making processes with these small groups. To define the 'problem', gather data, offer solutions, chosing solutions, implementing and evaluating solutions as a collaborative team is important to ensure that all stakeholders will be enthusiastic in the implementation of programs.

ETL504 The 12 quality principles

This was a very interesting reading. It definately put the 12 principles of quality into context. It is clear that a school community needs to work together, right from formulating the school's mission, to strategically planning, implementing and evaluating organisational systems. The 'client' is key and quality and value are defined by them. Actions must be mutually agreeded upon and participants must be enthusiastic. Participants will be more enthusiastic when they are part of the decision making process and part of planning the organisational systems. Participants work in the system, but in order to have quality they must work on the system in order to improve it. Systems must be based in fact and data (opinions may be data too) and must be sustainable. Systems must take not only the isolated school community into consideration but also the wider local community and nation. It is important that leaders set an example and do what they preach.

ETL504 Quality Management Web Reading (Tribus)

This model concentrates on creating a lifelong learner with a joy and passion for learning. It advocates a system where all stakeholders have input into education. It teaches students how to not what. This system is against testing where ranks are included. I especially liked the point made that 50% of students will always be in the bottom half of the cohort! Interesting point. A teacher librarian can use this system to encourage change in the perception of their role. They can show that information skills, and the student, not the product, are important. It can be used to encourage collaboration with both collegues and students and promotes a joy of learning.

Initial Thoughts (ETL504 learning journal)

Communication
Communication in its most basic form is verbal. This may be one on one with students and / or collegues, or in a group. Written communication is also important and this may take the form of hard compies or electronic communication. Communication between students, collegues and executive is vital.
Communication between peers outside the school community is also improtant. This may be with other local and similar schools or with a national or international network of peers. This is probably easiest done through electronic means.
As a leader the teacher librarian should be actively communicating and contributing to a network of their peers. As a leader, they should be instigating and facilitating discussions.
As a classroom teacher communication with students, collegues and executive staff is important and is slowly starting to become electronic in my personal situation.

Organisational Theory
I have little technical knowledge in this area. I guess it means how to be organised and the benefits received from being organised. It is how you fit the role of teacher, librarian and leader together and fulfilling those roles within time constraints.

Strategic Planning
Again, I have little concrete knowledge. Perhaps planning to teach, long term planning to build and develop the library collection, and on a broader scale, planning short and long term school goals. This may include planning human resources as well.