Leading Technology Workshops and Book Clubs for Professional Development

   As I have examined different sources and reflected on my previous posts, I realize that leading professional development can be offered to not only teachers and staff, but for the local school community as well. This includes parents and other members of the community who may need access to certain skills and knowledge. By inviting collaboration between the local community and school through open house workshops, students will be able to have support both at school and in their community. Therefore, I plan to host different professional development sessions, such as technology workshops and book clubs, for both educators and community members. 

  One of the many roles that teacher-librarians fill is digital mentor. I hope to be a digital mentor for teachers and parents by hosting technology workshops. According to Dwiyasa, “[I]t is very important to educate and develop the level of cognitive, skills and awareness in using appropriate, safe, and responsible digital technology tools for students” (30). I believe children need to develop skills in digital literacy and media as soon as they can. It should be taught both in school and at home. In BC’s Digital Literacy Framework, one of the standards emphasizes the importance of “students understand[ing] human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior” (3).  Therefore, I would like to offer workshops on digital literacy and technology to colleagues and parents so they can mentor these skills to children wherever in the local community. Workshop topics would include tutorials on using different devices, applications, video games, social media platforms, using online databases, analyzing information found online, research, and social media safety. I found an interesting video of a workshop that teachers host to help parents understand what their child is learning and how to support it at home. This workshop at Design 39 Campus includes looking at technology that children use in the 21^st century world and what digital literacy skills they need to be successful:  

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https://www.edutopia.org/video/parent-workshops-strengthening-learning-community/

I also like the idea that students are involved in the workshop and helping their parents learn. I hope to follow this example while having teachers, administrators, and staff participate too. An inclusive workshop is another opportunity to build relationships between the school and the community. 

  Another form of professional development that I would like to provide is book clubs. I love books and collecting them, but wish I had more time to read them. The idea of leading book clubs with teachers and parents as a professional development session sounds fun to me! 

 Image found on Gallatin Highschool Library website, http://gallatinhighschoollibrary.weebly.com/teacher-book-club-list-sy-20-21.html

It would be a great opportunity to showcase new books that are being added to the library, review books that teachers and parents have suggested, and lead informative sessions on professional resources that teachers can use in their curricular units. In the article “School Librarians Take the Lead Collaborating on Professional Development,” Mary Catherine Coleman advises to construct professional development workshops with the following standards in mind: 

·      Focus on content and how students learn content

·      In-depth, active learning opportunities

·      Links to high standards

·      Opportunities for teachers to engage in leadership roles

·      Extended duration

·      Collective participation of groups of teachers from the same school, grade, or department (12). 

I hope to lead book clubs as a chance for teachers to reflect their teaching and collaborate with each other. Book clubs require the active participation of everyone involved. Everyone has the chance to read through the materials themselves and express their ideas to each other. For instance, in the article “Professional Development that Promotes Powerful Interactions: Using Teacher Book Clubs to Reflect on Quality in Teacher-Child Relationships,” Kelley Mayer White describes what teachers experienced during these book club sessions: 

  They read multiple selections given the major aim of the professional development was to help participants become more familiar with multimodal resources and digital texts… They also liked the book club because it required them to be active learners instead of simply listening to a facilitator” (28-29). 

Furthermore, hosting a book club would be another way for me to be a reading advocate. I could promote more reading in children by promoting reading in adults too. White highlights one book club’s results where “participating teachers and parents reported reading more often, wanting their children (or students) to read more, and purchasing more books for their children (29). These two sources by Coleman and White also provide strategies and plans on starting and maintaining a book club. I found two more resources that list ideas in hosting a book club: 

Edutopia: 

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-book-clubs-promoting-professional-development-cheryl-boes

Book clubs for professional learning: You won’t readgret it! By Lisa Gedak: https://wordpress.kpu.ca/tlcommons/book-clubs-for-professional-learning-you-wont-readgret-it/

 

Image found on Edutopia, “ Online Teacher Book Clubs: Promoting a Culture of Professional Development,” https://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-book-clubs-promoting-professional-development-cheryl-boes

  To promote these professional development experiences, I will use teacher-librarian blogging. I have learned in this course that a library blog is a great way to communicate with the school and community. A blog would help me provide professional development to teachers throughout the year. I could post new ideas and knowledge that occurred in technology workshops and book club, especially for teachers and parents who may be unavailable to attend in person. For example, on a blog site called “Elizabeth A. Hutchinson School Library,” Hutchinson has created posts that help teachers learn more about implementing technology and digital literacy in their classrooms. I reflect back to the website “20 Tips for School Social Media” where Alyson Keenze states, “ With nearly four billion users across all platforms, school social media is a great way to communicate with families and faculty — as well as boost your student enrolment, promote the daily happenings in your school, and build your school’s online brand and reputation.” Blogging about what happens in technology workshops and book clubs can promote these events in the school community to gain more participants. 

 To lead a professional development session in front of teachers and parents is a scary prospect for me. However, after reading articles and blogs, I realize these workshops would be useful to teachers and the local community. My goal is to provide continuous professional development on technology and reading through workshops that allows colleagues and parents to engage in meaningful discussions and interact with resources. 

                                                                        Works Cited 

Coleman , Mary. “School Librarians Take the Lead Collaborating on Professional Development .”

          Knowledge Quest , vol. 49, no. 2, 2020, pp. 10–18. 

  

Dwiyasa, Arnelia, et al. “Analysis of information Processing Capabilities and Digital Data on

          Digital Literacy Skills of Elementary School Students.” JURNAL PENDIDIKAN DASAR

           NUSANTARA, vol. 8, no. 1, 2022, pp. 28– 37, https://doi.org/10.29407/jpdn.v8i1.18278.

 

 

Hutchinson , Elizabeth. Elizabeth Hutchinson School Libraries, 

            https://www.elizabethahutchinson.com/blog. Accessed 21 Oct. 2023. 

 

 

Keenze, Alyson. “20 Tips for School Social Media.” SchoolMint Blog, 21 July   2022,         

          blog.schoolmint.com/20-tips-for-school-social-media.

 

 

Ministry of Education and Child Care. “BC’s Digital Literacy Framework.” Province of      British   

            Columbia, Province of British Columbia, 15 Mar. 2022, 

             https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/teach/resources-for- teachers/digital- 

              literacy. 

 

White , Kelley. “Professional Development that Promotes Powerful Interactions: Using Teacher Book 

              Clubs to Reflect on Quality in Teacher-Child Relationships.” Dimensions of Early Childhood , 

                vol. 44, no. 3, 2016, pp. 28–34.